
Great developer tattoo, even better explanation.  - robinwarren
http://www.sangwine.net/jim/index.php/2011/09/what-you-tattooed-code-on-your-arm/
======
mhd
This will be fun once the language's popularity wanes. Imagine an old guy on
his walker with an "IDENTIFICATION DIVISION." tattoo…

As for this particular item, I'm not a big tattoo fan in general and have a
particular disdain for writing – it's usually pretty bad typography. While
this isn't all-caps badly kerned blackletter, it kinda looks like someone
invented an automated prison tattoo maker. Sorry.

PS: I know, being German I'm not allowed to mention "identification" and
"tattoo" in the same sentence, but my knowledge of COBOL divisons is lacking.

~~~
eps
The durability of tattoo's subject does not matter in the slightest if a
tattoo is done to record a moment in one's life rather than to impress other
boys in geriatric care. And that's exactly what this guy did.

One thing I would agree with you on though - what an odd typography choice.
Why not a monospaced typeface?! :)

~~~
JimSangwine
"what an odd typography choice. Why not a monospaced typeface?!"

Because my arm was not long enough - Arial Narrow was the only clear one I
could find that would fit : )

------
commanda
When I was a younger game programmer, I considered for a while getting a
tattoo of:

    
    
      function intersectRect(r1, r2) {
        return !(r2.left > r1.right || 
               r2.right < r1.left || 
               r2.top > r1.bottom ||
               r2.bottom < r1.top);
      }
    

After many other tattoos, some spur-of-the-moment and some thoroughly
considered for years, I realized that I like my spur-of-the-moment ones a lot
more. They never had any significance to lose, whereas the well-thought-out
ones are more embarrassingly telling of what I once thought was so deep and
passionate, which all turned out to look naive after a few years.

~~~
jbm
> They never had any significance to lose, whereas the well-thought-out ones
> are more embarrassingly telling of what I once thought was so deep and
> passionate, which all turned out to look naive after a few years

This reminds me a lot of how I felt this past weekend while looking at old
blog posts of mine. :)

------
inoop
I think this is the JS monkey equivalent of having the Chinese characters for
'strength' and 'wisdom' tattooed on your forearm.

~~~
raganwald
Calling people monkeys is rather abusive, and this is specifically forbidden
by the HN guidelines. Ask yourself: Is your comment just as relevant if you
omit that one word? If so, consider editing it out.

~~~
jackpirate
_Calling people monkeys is rather abusive_

I disagree. "Code monkeys" is a common term used for programmers, and it is
not at all derogatory. (If anything, I think it implies a certain level of
respect.) "JS monkeys" is simply a derivative form of code monkeys.

~~~
raganwald
Nobody ever called me a monkey to _my_ face, and I have several JS projects up
on Github. I have trouble believing thismismamterm of endearment or respect,
especially as it was used here.

~~~
khafra
Interesting. I always hit the space bar with my right thumb, too.

~~~
khafra
That was in reference to "thismismamterm," which took me several seconds to
figure out.

------
dmcg
The problem (and the feature) of tattoos is their permanence - what would you
want to live with for the rest of your life? Not an easy question for an
engineer who embraces change.

The solution as usual is to add a level of indirection - a tattoo of a QR code
pointing to a URL. That way when you change your girlfriend you can change the
content.

~~~
stuffihavemade
But what happens when QR codes aren't around in 20 years? You need another
level of indirection!

~~~
dmcg
Yeah, the real solution is OLED tats.

------
TamDenholm
One point i'd like to make. I think its great that people get tattoos that
mean something to them, and i'd totally get a code tattoo too, but i dont
believe tattoos HAVE to mean something to get them. All the tattoos i have
dont have any meaning behind them other than "just because i like it" and
while a deep emotional connection with a tattoo is great, dont talk yourself
out of getting a tattoo if theres no meaning behind it, if the only reason is,
"because you like it", thats a great reason too.

~~~
davedx
Same here! I uhm'd and ah'd for ages before I finally got mine. It's a pretty
standard tribal design on my left upper arm, and I still really like the way
it looks :) No special meaning, though people ask if it has a meaning whenever
they first see it.

------
SkyMarshal
_(function(){var k=[];return function j(){k.push(i);j();}})()();_

Love it, but what that code says to me is Stack Overflow. But I'll reinterpret
it to mean Mind = Blown by all the random cool things you learn in this field
(infinite data structures in Haskell being the most recent one for me).

PS - I couldn't help running it in the Node REPL:

    
    
      > i = 1;
    
      1
    
      > (function(){var k=[];return function j(){k.push(i);j();}})()();
    
      RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded
    
    

Lol :) Seriously though, you may be on to something.

~~~
gojomo
Perhaps he's hoping Skynet will mistakenly eval() its inputs when scanning him
into the human work camps.

~~~
Periodic
Our best defense: code injection attacks.

------
techiferous
> The obvious choice of language was JavaScript.

I hate to be a party pooper, but the only reason JavaScript is so popular is
because it has a monopoly on browser scripting. Because (1) the language has
significant design flaws and (2) heavy client-side programming is becoming
very popular, it's inevitable that it will be replaced by better languages
(plural) and 5-10 years from now JavaScript will be seen as a cumbersome,
clunky, unfashionable old language.

So you will regret having the tattoo.

But on a positive note, in 15-25 years, JavaScript may be seen as "hip" and
"retro", kind of like 8-bit graphics now.

So you will regret having the tattoo removed. :)

------
JimSangwine
I'll be interested to hear comments from fellow hackers. Reactions from
colleagues have been... varied. Jim Sangwine

~~~
raganwald
It’s meaningful to him and that’s what matters. At no time did he say his goal
was to impress us with his coding wizardry, so it’s irrelevant whether I think
it’s clever, pedestrian, elegant, or tortured.

Its stated purpose is to motivate him and remind him of what is important to
his own happiness. Given this clearly stated requirement, the code as
presented, and his statement that it is motivating him, I give declare that
this code _works as designed_.

~~~
delinka
It seems you did not realize that you are replying to the tattoo's owner.

However, your point stands if I mentally modify some pronouns and expresses my
own sentiments as well. Tattoos, piercings, hair coloring, makeup, clothing
are often for ourselves, not for being pretentious.

~~~
bh42222
_Tattoos, piercings, hair coloring, makeup, clothing are often for ourselves,
not for being pretentious._

And yet he posts it on the web, and _specifically_ asks for other people's
opinions.

In my experience people who very much care what others think of them, often
claim not care what others think of them.

~~~
nitrogen
Maybe there are people who are interested in positive observations and
constructive feedback from others, but don't care if others don't like them
and choose to ignore non-constructive criticism.

~~~
delinka
Exactly. I can ask for opinions without seeking approval or being showy.

------
davesims
Nice, and a very cool explanation. But I find it a bit ironic that a snipit of
code meant to be a form of self-identification has the output: "i is not
defined".

[http://jsconsole.com/?%28function%28%29{var%20k%3D[]%3Bretur...](http://jsconsole.com/?%28function%28%29{var%20k%3D\[\]%3Breturn%20function%20j%28%29{k.push%28i%29%3Bj%28%29%3B}}%29%28%29%28%29%3B)

------
erikpukinskis
It's kind of sad, I thought the y combinator was beautiful until it became a
brand name.

~~~
danielhfrank
upvote x10. The y combinator is exactly the sort of thing I would have been
happy to have written on my body, had it not turned into an investor buzzword

------
wslh
Do you remember the hacker emblem? <http://catb.org/hacker-emblem/>

~~~
mhd
Get a lambda. Geeks will nod approvingly and you can tell the jocks that it's
from 300.

~~~
Periodic
My plan is Lambda on the left shoulder, Pi on the right. Lambda for
programming and right-brain, Pi for math and left-brain. I feel that they are
simple, elegant, and have a lot of meaning. My only worry is that they won't
age well, but I have no knowledge of tattoos.

I made a deal with myself and my wife that I will get both tattoos once I have
made a living working for myself (either a successful startup exit or my
consulting taking off).

------
prawn
I've always liked the idea of either the "map" from the Pioneer plaque
(depicting the location of our sun by use of pulsars identified by their
frequencies):

[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Pio...](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Pioneer10-plaque.jpg/757px-
Pioneer10-plaque.jpg)

Or components of the Arecibo message:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message>

------
Create
[http://www.charlespetzold.com/etc/DoesVisualStudioRotTheMind...](http://www.charlespetzold.com/etc/DoesVisualStudioRotTheMind.html)

[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/Charles_petzol...](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/Charles_petzold.png)

------
dave1010uk
Knowledge (k) may increase but there appears to be no way to access or share
it.

------
grandalf
Why js vs λ notation?

~~~
grandalf
In retrospect I realized this question is deeper than I thought. Maybe js is
the new lambda notation.

------
asclepiades
And in 2060 developers will probably think something like what would think
today, if shown a tattoo of "ALTER X TO PROCEED TO Y" in the flaccid forearm
of a 70-year-old.

Still, much, much better than those at Hanzi Smatter [
<http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/> ].

~~~
camtarn
Speaking for myself, if I saw a COBOL tattoo, I'd most likely think "Duuuude,
old school... respect!" ;) Not so sure about JS though - is it perhaps more
likely to seem like Visual Basic in 40 years? As a JS monkey myself, though, I
like it* :)

As for alternatives... would a Lisp tattoo be better?

* Apart from the i coming out of nowhere, which keeps setting off my this-is-a-bug alarm ;)

~~~
inoop

        mov ax,13h
        int 10h

~~~
yaongi
yeah, nice one.

------
galactus
I don't know... I like the message, but a programming language seems to be the
wrong medium to convey it.

I would at least have used a procedure call to represent input from people,
instead of an unbound variable :P

------
almostalbert
Should've just gotten "RangeError" tattooed instead.

------
caller9
I thought about getting this as a tattoo:
++++++++++[>+++++++>++++++++++<<-]>+.>+..++++++.

Then I thought better of it.

------
janto
I'd consider the typical poetic fork bomb :(){ :|:& };: or maybe $0 & $0 &

------
moomin
It should, of course, have read

    
    
        do do -> k=[];j = -> k.push i; do j

------
meson2k
"i" undeclared

