Here’s an interesting page on the Python wiki: PythonVsHaskell. It seems a lot of Haskellers come from a Python background. It’s a remarkably fair piece, although both the Python and Haskell example code are poor examples of language features.
Oops, we passed the Turing Test
I was bored last month. I decided that it would be fun to hack up an AI bot to sit on the #haskell IRC channel.
I wanted this bot to be a conversation bot, so I would need some sort of AI engine. I wanted it to be a learning bot, so it could learn from what people have said before. I searched around, and it seems there aren’t many good learning AI engines out there for Linux. I eventually settled on MegaHAL.
I then obtained the logs for the conversation in #haskell over the past year, and used it to train the bot.
The result was sometimes hilarous, and often riddled with typos and nonsensical (considering the source, many would say that would be expected).
I started a page of MegaMonad quotes with some of the funnier exchanges.
But here’s the best part: there was a person on the channel that didn’t realize that MegaMonad was a bot! Perhaps we just passed the Turing Test accidentally…
Why Wikipedia Must Jettison Its Anti-Elitism
There’s a piece by one of the Wikipedia founders that is very intriguing — he likens many of its problems to Usenet. If you’ve never used Usenet, that’s a dreadful insult indeed.
Haskell: My New Favorite Language
I discovered Haskell not long ago. I even wrote a bit about my initial impressions of it.
This is an amazing language. It’s been a long time since I’ve had this much fun programming. The Haskell community is also great; there are more geniuses there than anywhere I’ve seen before.
If you’re new to Haskell, try reading Haskell: The Craft of Functional Programming, 2nd Ed.. Or, if you want something online, try Yet Another Haskell Tutorial.
What if you just kept working?
This is a great story from a guy who got laid off from Apple, but kept working anyway. A good read. (Original link)
Remembering the homeless
This is a good reminder that no life should go unnoticed.
Refugees Emerge to Discover Vitenam War Over
This is an incredible story from Cambodia. Apparently, refugees fled the Vietnamese, hiding in the jungle, and only discovered the war was over because they finally chose to leave the jungle.
Sometimes it’s hard to forget you’re in Kansas…
… such as those times when you have two steers on the loose just west of downtown. And your squad car suffers damage from them.
Answers To Life’s Vexing Question
Haven’t we all wondered about this?
A Divided America
I was struck by a Nixon quote I saw on NBC tonight. He said, in 1968, to a deeply divided America, that he would make it his top priority to reunite the country. It didn’t work out so well for him. I wonder if Bush will be any more successful in his similar promise.