Notices by Alex McLean (yaxu@post.lurk.org), page 2

@pettter yep hopefully! I've enjoyed engaging with that field in the past although I imagine it's been overridden by the currently pervasive 'ai' fashions lately?

Who'd be interested in an event with talks and some performances around making notations and programming languages for pattern-making (textile, musical, choreographic etc)? Half focussed online, half focussed in-person, all streamed. Mix of open call and invited talks. All free/open access. Probably in January. Maybe called "Programming Of The Art Computer".

Happy to be taking part in the online "After AI" symposium with @anu1905 on the 17th May, talking about "Algorithmic Patterns after AI" https://afteraisymposium.com/symposium-program#WMQ8490mh8PyRvGR

The more mainstream programming languages I learn, the more I think they're all basically the same with minor tradeoffs, and that the posturing of the more aggressive language advocates is wasted energy. For real difference and possibility you have to look at the weird fringes of esoteric, live and visual languages

@pettter Yes fair points. The original data reporter did supply plenty of context though, making it clear that access to healthcare in the UK has consistently got worse under the tories, due to underinvestment https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1606223922474627073

@pettter According to the graphs I posted, there are three times the number of people on waiting lists than when Labour last left power. Waiting time depends on what they're waiting for, but e.g. for emergencies the people waiting more than four hours has gone down from close to 100% to close to 50% in that time. The point I'm making is that it matters who you vote for, I don't think it's reasonable to disagree with these figures but feel free to share counterexamples.

It doesn't matter who you vote for, they're all the same.

I'm looking forward to 1993

Seeing arguments about how great Facebook UI is and that free/open source needs to catch up to survive. Have they tried using Facebook lately? It's slow, glitchy and bad.

@rml Basically I think what's really holding back programming languages is programming language culture, and this war-like rhetoric is part of that.

@rml More broadly programming language culture is limiting because it is exclusionary, and poorly equipped to challenge its basic assumptions about what a programming language is and what its for.
I think war-like rhetoric is more of a symptom of that, than a cause.

@rml I remember doing a performance with @nebogeo, I was using Haskell, he was using Scheme. A CS person in the audience came up afterwards and said he enjoyed it, but could barely understand how we were in the same room, let alone sharing a stage. I think he was only half joking. That's one aspect of it.

@rml I'm not really in that world, lucky to be able to move between languages and enjoy their different perspectives. But, I don't think it's healthy thinking really, pigeon-holing yourself and then fighting an imaginary war against other kinds of pigeons.

I guess as a researcher, I just see huge value in the idea of a 'research language'. Programming language development has been really stuck for decades so I'm all for learning research languages and trying out a new way of thinking.

It would be nice if we found ways in which the economy could support curiosity and creativity..

@rml interesting to see that there's a weird corner of software engineering where people believe programming languages are perpetually at war with one another