I'm happy to expand for others; regardless of my feelings on the matter the Long Now use of a leading zero creates questions and engagement, thus spreading their message under the mantra of "there's no such thing as bad press" | "get the public talking".
It's an Advertising 101 strategy and not at all idiotic save perhaps at the surface of first exposure.
I've been reminded before that comparing hn commentary to reddit or other communities is itself a violation of hn guidelines. You can just upvote/downvote or "tap the sign" by posting the hn guidelines. No need for insinuating the redditization nor twitterization of hn commentary.
Church of the Long Now wins again.