

Ask HN: Can we have another Erlang Day? - nphase

I'm getting tired of the politics on HN lately. TSA talk is <i>everywhere</i>. 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.<p>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.<p>So, hows about it? Erlang Day?
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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.

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iuguy
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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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shaunxcode
How about lambda calculus day instead?

~~~
MaysonL
Scheme on the iPad!

[http://www.speakipad.com/ipad-apps/pixie-scheme-iii-
educatio...](http://www.speakipad.com/ipad-apps/pixie-scheme-iii-education)

~~~
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.)

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seunosewa
Scala day instead, please?

