Eduardo Asafe

Notes on C#

C#, judged by those with no musical knowledge to mean C++++, is Microsoft’s version of Java – which should say much about it. At a first glance, it has all the boredom of Java, but a closer inspection shows how much of the exotic fruit Kool-Aid of functional programming has been sipped. The result is what you’d expect: a holy mess. Here is how clean and intuitive the usual C# program is:

Notes on Haskell

Haskell is a statically typed language- famous for cussing Ocaml’s lack of purity- whose entire presence on Tiobe index consists of people asking “Why should I learn Haskell?” on stackoverflow. Haskell defining feature is ~~monads~~ its type system (however, make no mistake: there are more advanced ones, but Haskell got more web scale frameworks than all of those combined). The nice thing about good type systems is that they force you to see everything in term of types. This statement might seem tautological, but once you get rid of weak Java-like static typing and can spot even the type of types- ahem, kinds- things start to make sense in a sort of organized, Category Theory way, so that you can ditch superfluous things like documentation, as you have all types nicely displayed above the definition of stuff. But what does such type system have that makes it so good and advanced?, may ask you. As always, let’s build leg strength starting up from easy steps:

Notes on Racket

The Racket language belongs to the LISP family. The main difference between LISP and other languages is that you can name like-this, as opposed to likeThis (or, even worse, like_this), and all operators all prefix. That and homoiconicity. Homoiconicity is a fancy name for “code as data”, i.e., LISP code can be manipulated as any other data structure. Such manipulation is achieved by the use of macros- functions that receive code and output code, which in some cases might as well be black magic.

Notes on JavaScript

JavaScript, maybe with the exception of PHP, is the worst widely used language. It is so hyperbolic awful that, akin to when one feels down and listens to sad songs to continue down, one feels the need to use it everywhere for everything. Its meme like terribleness spread to the server, spread to otherwise unthinkable uses of once a blinking pop up maker language; its corrosive effect has a permanent mark in the brain, up to when you find yourself accepting horrible malpractices as commom sense, no matter what they are.

PureScript in production

MeroChat is a friendly random chat. Think omegle but without pervs, and you also got to have a full profile. Being a personal project, I enjoy the freedom to pick the stack, but having something reliable with some guarantee of correctness is paramount if I am to save and make the best of my sparse free time. I ended up choosing PureScript – for both server and client side.

The Man from Earth is still bad

Many years ago (am I getting old?), I watched the 2007 film The Man from Earth after effusive recommendation by denizens of some online forum. The praise was indeed high. “Only movie I ever rewatched right after watching it for the first time”, said one person. My opinion was somewhat different, however. Be it too much expectation, or just not the right mood, I did not enjoy the movie: it felt like a weak attempt at an actually interesting premise, made all the more frustrating by a terrible ending.

The Hunt, or how not to do political commentary

The Hunt (2020) is a satirical thriller which tries to make fun of “both political sides”. While failing at that, it reveals however a more insidious problem with mainstream political discourse.

Philosophobia

Philosophy is useless, or so people will tell you. The general consensus is that it never progresses or solves anything. Or does it?

Why anarchism is bollocks

Every so often, a person who dabbles in political philosophy (i.e., took the political compass test) encounters an odd far left ideology: anarchism. The usual (and rightfully knee-jerk) conclusion is that anarchism is bollocks. Let’s go over, in detail, exactly why anarchism is such complete bull.

Older equals better

In the past, music sounded better, products were built to last (no planned obsolesce!), people were more respectful, happier and healthier. Grandpas, sitting on porches and sporting nipple-high pants, can tell you how easier to find a job, have decent relationships and be meaningful was in the days of old. What raises the question: exactly what was present in the past that made everything better? The answer is nothing. By any objective metric, as time passes, the today beats the yesterday: less famine and violence, greater life expectancy, increased overall progress… For Jesus’ sake, they didn’t have even SMS in the 80s.

The correct religion

Looking around the web, I found an interesting article on the amazing website http://www.gotquestions.org. For those of you who don’t know, GotQuestions.org is a Christian apologetics website, featuring thousands of answers, pulled from the bible, to “polemic” issues such as homosexuality, sin, life after death and whatever. However, the article at hand is a much more fundamental problem- hence, it tries to answer its headline, aptly titled With all of the different religions, how can I know which one is correct?, with sheer “logic”. The first paragraphs read:

The lament of bad guys

Whenever I see a movie, read a book or hear a story I always root for the bad guy. Not that I am evil; is just that, in my head, I have to balance the unfairness bad guys are treated with. You know the plot: good guy appears, bad guy appears, bad guy is winning most of the time, but in the end the good guy come out on top because … he is the good guy. The bad guys are always stronger, more prepared, sometimes way more original, and clearly more passionate yet they always lose as the norm.

(Bad) Taste

I’ve had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane! Samuel L. Jackson in the timeless classic Snakes on a Plane