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dtbx

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Wannabe sci fi writer

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They want to define happiness as the ultimate goal in life.

For me it is not happiness, but intelligence.

Two weeks ago, the economist asked: Can too many brainy people be a dangerous thing? [1]

Yes. It is dangerous. For them.

They want to push happiness. They want to replace GDP with a Gross National Happiness.

Their wet dream is a populace of happy but unquestioning people.

[1] https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2020/10/24/c...

You can use camomile library to handle unicode strings, count code points, perform locale aware lowercase / uppercase, etc

For utf8 regexes, you can use Pcre in ocaml, which is faster than camomile regexes.

There is a novel about that. "Schild's Ladder", by Greg Egan.

But in that novel, the sphere of destruction expands only at c/2.

I like Gnome Shell 14 years ago

How to disable the super key overview manually:

Edit /usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/main.js

Comment this line:

global.display.connect('overlay-key', Lang.bind(overview, overview.toggle));

Restart gnome-shell with this command:

gnome-shell --replace

It's just Javascript, so it's very easy.

Inconsolata 14 years ago

I like M+, a font designed by a japanese.

In particular, I use M+ 1m regular. I like it because I'm shortsighted, so when I put it in 14pt, I can see very clearly.

The right tool for the job is anything that gives you the power to get shit done.

Maintainability is secondary if you can't do the job in the first place. Think about it.

I think that using Haskell in the industry is somewhat irresponsible if you live in a third world nation like Chile. You can't find haskell hackers here! You create maintainability problems!

It is clearly not my fault to be intelligent, know some haskell and live in Chile. Can you blame me?

Certainly, I couldn't have done what I did without Haskell, or with more traditional languages, like C++.

The most challenging task I've done with Haskell, was to find the right combination of parameters in orden to sum an array of satellital images, preserving a set of constrains. I couldn't have dreamed of doing that without Haskell. It was the right choice for the job.

When they discovered the tools I've used, they recognized the problem, but they treated me bad, so I search for another job.

It never occurs to me that a company could be "powered" by Haskell.

In my old job, I used haskell for everything from satellital image analysis to the web frontend, but I didn't tell anyone. Specially I didn't tell my bosses.

When they discovered my functional tendencies, they were upset and worried. They feel betrayed, but it was too late. The company was an "haskell powered company".

I give them an edge over the other companies in the field, but when I leave, they were orphaned and unable to hire a new Haskell programmer (I live in Chile, a very imperative nation).

Too bad for them, but for me, it was "pure" functional fun.

Why go out? 14 years ago

I think she is a little bit neurotic, and she missed all the evolutionary stuff - that we are hardwired for social interaction.

I live an overly solitary life, and I crave for company. My social circle is nearly empty, no GF, and almost all my friends have moved to other cities, so I have just one close friend.

Damn, I need to go out. I need more human contact, not less.

I think that ESR should employ a more radical license for his programs: the "do what the fuck you want to" public license.

If RMS want to dress like St Ignacious, do what the fuck you want.

If RMS wants to be the new Che Guevara, do what the fuck you want, man.

ESR is libertarian, and libertarianism is all about deploying that kind of license in your personal life.

RMS is not a fanatic. He's passionate, and I like his passion and his cause.

I don't think that engineering pragmatism is politically neutral. Sure, you can write a fine piece of software, but Who controls the software? For me, that's the crucial question, and I think is a very pragmatic question, indeed.

Yeah, but the syntax and the verbosity hides your aim.

In the obscure years previous to c++11, meta-programming in c++ would have required a language lawyer.

In haskell, the syntax is so nice that is easily readable, and it doesn't get in your way.

It's a matter of time. If we're all going to live 400 years or more, we could all be super persons. Nobody will rush to achieve multiple things in no time. One thing after another. Slowly and deep.

The people that read HN at least have the crucial ingredient: intellectual curiosity. Others, like me, lack the frenzy.

But this is what we have, and I am Candid, so I believe that this is the best possible world.

What does the author of this essay wants? A mind-reading machine? I RTFM, so I don't complain. In my archlinux netbook there is plenty of room for creativity, and amazement, and fun.

I love what I have. Besides of that, is free, and I can hack it.

Just try to imagine something so awful, so harmful to <X>, and your horrible generalisation would make sense :)

In particular, what happens when the genre is sci fi and the noun is god?

Clearly, that noun is not to be adored. Religion is for that.

Should sci fi say something nice about that noun? That He really exists, after all? Science is for that, and science until now...

I really think that sci fi should take a clear stance against god.

The first half of "Stranger in a Strange Land" is wonderful, but the second... God in that novel actually exists.

For a truly atheist like me, sometimes I want to read a fanfiction of the Stranger, but without god and the religion bullshit. Centered in the economics and the power.

In science fiction, the sole purpose of God is to be mocked, criticized or denied.