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Ask HN: Can we have another Erlang Day?

11 points by nphase ↗ HN
I'm getting tired of the politics on HN lately. TSA talk is everywhere. I can't get away from it, and it certainly doesn't help that I've been in an airport six times this month. Admittedly, I've fueled the fire on HN with my own submissions/comments, and I'm sorry about that.

That being said: I have no idea how Erlang Days happen, or if they're even asked for, but now seems like a good time to have one.

So, hows about it? Erlang Day?

10 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 32.4 ms ] thread
shaunxcode
How about lambda calculus day instead?
MaysonL
Scheme on the iPad!

http://www.speakipad.com/ipad-apps/pixie-scheme-iii-educatio...

shaunxcode
actually installed that earlier, little annoyed that it doesn't work as a repl. At the same time I kind of dig the "smalltalk" "inspect/do it" approach. Probably a good compromise though for working on larger functions considering you can't really save/load files (though you can save the "world" as a whole just not "save as" to have many different worlds.)
kunley
Btw wtf is with TSA, mean how did it make its way here? What's hackish in it?

It's a common practice that if you have some hot social topic you come to the pub to talk it over. Not to spam every possible internet place with what's actually the buzz in your country.

mechanical_fish
What's hackish in it?

God, as a physicist I wish the answer to this weren't incredibly obvious to me: Technologists built all those body scanners. My former colleagues built 'em. Their effort to market their handiwork is a major reason why this storm got started.

It's downright embarrassing.

zingo
I wouldn't mind the discussion if there were something more to it. This is, or should be, a community of driven and "tech-savvy" people. Maybe I'm not paying enough attention but I don't see any "Show HN: GropeStoryShare.com" or whatever.
mechanical_fish
I'm not normally one to argue in favor of HN as a political venue, but I'm not up for Erlang Day. Changing the subject is exactly what the police state wants.

They institute some bogus rule. We grumble. They hold firm until a shiny object comes along to distract everyone. Then the bogus rule becomes the new normal. Nine years and a few dozen iterations later, here we are.

So you can try to change the subject, yet again, if you want. But don't expect help from me. I'm fed up. I'm done with my apolitical pose on this issue.

There is going to have to be a continuous, consistent effort to turn back the police-state tide. Civil disobedience, letters to people in power, and an unrelenting focus on getting things changed. It will be uncomfortable, it will be boring, it will be quite tedious, it will probably come through on HN no matter what anyone does, and it will be better than the alternative.

But if the greater HN community decides to retreat into Erlang and pretend it will all go away by itself, well, enjoy that. I'll go somewhere else for a while. Big internet out there.

johngalt
The issue with news sites and voted articles, is any political leanings on the board quickly causes an unbearable echo chamber (digg).

Precisely because those TSA/XXX-ray articles get voted up is why it's useless for them to be here. All we're doing is repeatedly polling the same people whom all agree with you. Do you think Napolitano reads hacker news? Unless we are going to form a "Hackers Political Party" we aren't accomplishing anything.

_b8r0
The only way to improve Hacker News is to submit more and upvote interesting stuff. If the TSA material is interesting enough to people on here to make the front page, then submit something more interesting and people will upvote it.

FWIW I don't mind technical stories about the scanners, but the political side of things doesn't directly affect me, nor a significant number of the 5.7 billion other people who are not in the United States. That's why I've been trying to post every day here in the hope that it will give others better things to read.