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Does Georgism work? Five years later

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/does-georgism-work-five-years-later
297•silveraxe93•1d ago•207 comments

Go Concurrency Distilled

https://antonz.org/go-concurrency-distilled/
194•chmaynard•17h ago•60 comments

Flip Fluid on Flip Dots

https://mitxela.com/projects/flipflip
41•blutack•1d ago•6 comments

PipePipe: NewPipe hard fork implementing SponsorBlock

https://github.com/InfinityLoop1308/PipePipe
399•Qision•1d ago•216 comments

DeepSeek Elastic Compute (DSec)

https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.22978
235•shenli3514•13h ago•79 comments

Improving site performance by shipping more CSS

https://github.blog/engineering/architecture-optimization/improving-site-performance-by-shipping-...
32•torutofu•18h ago•13 comments

Show HN: Reladraw – A diagram language where you decide where to place things

https://github.com/reladraw/reladraw
287•jpwalsh234•14h ago•80 comments

Kidnapping kids remains legal in USA, this site has you experience it first-hand

https://elan.school/
4•bingowasthename•1h ago•0 comments

What is the size of Yemen? (2024)

https://theborys.substack.com/p/what-is-the-size-of-yemen
143•kspacewalk2•5h ago•26 comments

A searchable library of forgotten public-domain film clips from 1915 onward

https://www.movingimagearchive.com/
158•momentmaker•2d ago•26 comments

Real-time feedback: My closing move in every interview

https://mgrebler.substack.com/p/real-time-feedback-my-closing-move
35•fagnerbrack•7h ago•26 comments

Biology might not be quantum, but its math is quantumlike

https://www.quantamagazine.org/biology-might-not-be-quantum-but-its-math-is-quantumlike-20260923/
60•pseudolus•2d ago•22 comments

Fifteen years later, the Apple Cards origin story

https://lexontech.org/fifteen-years-later-the-apple-cards-origin-story
392•ksec•22h ago•100 comments

ASML says it sold 'absolutely nothing' in Europe in 2026

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/asml-says-its-sells-absolutely-nothing-...
254•MC995•1d ago•594 comments

Drawgent: Coding agent on a live Excalidraw canvas

https://tangled.org/yanndegat.tngl.sh/drawgent
143•parasitid•16h ago•41 comments

Exploding variance of means of exponentials: least-squares to the rescue

https://francisbach.com/spectral_log_density_estimation/
26•matt_d•1d ago•0 comments

Reverse-engineering the Intel 8087's tangent algorithm: more than CORDIC

https://www.righto.com/2026/09/8087-tangent-cordic.html
74•pwg•14h ago•10 comments

An agent used DNS to reach an external chatbot

https://alignment.openai.com/misalignment-reports/an-agent-used-dns-to-reach-an-external-chatbot/
84•apsec112•1d ago•91 comments

Bob Mackie dressed stars–if they were brave enough

https://www.economist.com/obituary/2026/09/24/bob-mackie-dressed-stars-if-they-were-brave-enough
7•andsoitis•1d ago•1 comments

Turning GLM-5.3-Flash into a Jev-like decision model

https://www.privatemode.ai/blog/system-one-from-glm-flash
84•flxflx•16h ago•30 comments

Evolving programming languages in the AI era

https://dashbit.co/blog/evolving-ai-era
87•pjm331•2d ago•54 comments

Snap Wants to be a State Actor??–Kansas v. Snap

https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2026/09/snap-wants-to-be-a-state-actor-kansas-v-snap.htm
43•hn_acker•1d ago•11 comments

How I changed teaching after AI managed to do all my homework assignments

https://thelastsoftwareengineer.substack.com/p/how-i-changed-teaching-after-ai-managed
191•azhenley•2d ago•171 comments

Promising discoveries about the potential for life on one of Saturn’s icy moons

https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/presse/informationen/fup/2026/fup_26_116-enceladus-cassini-mikroben-s...
52•geox•1d ago•25 comments

We Should Be Able to Change Our Languages

http://jimmyhmiller.com/change-our-languages
42•surprisetalk•1d ago•17 comments

How to keep enjoying programming in a world of LLMs

https://discourse.haskell.org/t/how-to-keep-enjoying-programming-in-a-world-of-llms/14705
217•signa11•22h ago•264 comments

Generate fonts where every LLM token is the same width

https://ampdot.mesh.host/token-space-fonts.html
58•z-mach9•1d ago•12 comments

Modern Object Pascal Introduction for Programmers

https://castle-engine.io/modern_pascal
170•birdculture•2d ago•74 comments

Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station

https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/welcome-to-the-medical-clinic-at-the-interplanetary-re...
67•bucket2015•12h ago•13 comments

The Evolution of Vending Machines

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2026/09/from-holy-water-to-frozen-meals-the-evolution-of-vend...
33•ohjeez•15h ago•11 comments
Open in hackernews

Extending a Language – Writing Powerful Macros in Scheme

https://mnieper.github.io/scheme-macros/README.html
92•textread•1y ago

Comments

neilv•1y ago
A few formatting changes might make this advanced example easier to understand:

    (define-syntax trace-let
      (syntax-rules ()
        [(trace-let name ([var expr] ...) body1 ... body2)
         (let f ([depth 0] [var expr] ...)
           (define name
             (lambda (var ...)
               (f (+ depth 1) var ...)))
           (indent depth)
           (display "(")
           (display 'name)
           (begin
             (display " ")
             (display var))
           ...
           (display ")")
           (newline)
           (call-with-values
               (lambda ()
                 body1 ... body2)
             (lambda val*
               (indent depth)
               (fold-left
                (lambda (sep val)
                  (display sep)
                  (display val)
                  " ")
                "" val*)
               (newline)
               (apply values val*))))]))
The biggest one is to make the rule template pattern variables all-uppercase. I also made a few other tweaks, including using indentation a little more, and naming the named-`let` variable as "loop" (I usually name it `loop` or prefix the name with `loop-` if there's more than one):

    (define-syntax trace-let
      (syntax-rules ()
        ((trace-let NAME ((VAR EXPR) ...) BODY1 ... BODY2)
         (let loop ((depth 0)
                    (VAR   EXPR) ...)
           (define NAME
             (lambda (VAR ...)
               (loop (+ depth 1) VAR ...)))
           (indent depth)
           (display "(")
           (display (quote NAME))
           (begin (display " ")
                  (display VAR)) ...
           (display ")")
           (newline)
           (call-with-values (lambda ()
                               BODY1 ... BODY2)
             (lambda val*
               (indent depth)
               (fold-left (lambda (sep val)
                            (display sep)
                            (display val)
                            " ")
                          ""
                          val*)
               (newline)
               (apply values val*)))))))
Incidentally, all-uppercase Scheme pattern variables is one of the all-time best uses of all-uppercase in any language. Second only to all-uppercase for the C preprocessor, where a preprocessor macro can introduce almost arbitrary text. Using all-uppercase for constants in some language that has constants, however, is an abomination.

(My suspicion of why Java did all-caps is that they were developing a language for embedded systems developers who were currently using C and C++, and they wanted to make it superficially look similar, even though it was an entirely different language. And then, ironically, the language ended up being used mostly by the analogue of a very different developer of the time: corporate internal information systems developers, who, as a field, didn't use anything like C. It's too late to save Java, but to all other language and API developers, please stop the insanity of all-caps constants, enum values, etc. It's not the most important thing that needs to jump out from the code above all other things.)

Y_Y•1y ago
FWIW, all-caps makes this look much worse to me. I understand that people like things like Hungarian notation, arrows over vector names, and shouting Common Lisp symbols. I understand the argument that it can make reading easier. I just can't appreciate that benefit, and it seems to me an ugly hack which obscures the abstract and general symbolic manipulation going on.

This is all highly subjective of course, de gustibus non disputandem.

neilv•1y ago
You mean aesthetically, in that interspersed all-caps makes the code visually less soothingly sensual?

I can sympathize, but let me make a non-aesthetic argument...

In large blocks of code, with all-caps, you can see at a glance where all the template substitutions are happening, and also instantly know as you're reading code what are variables and what are template substitutions?

I'm asking because one of my realizations in recent years is that not everyone reads or sees code the same way.

For example, maybe some people are stronger "visual" and some people are stronger "verbal".

For another example of a different in how people perceive and think, some people can visualize an object in their mind almost as if they're looking at it, but other people can only know and describe what it looks like without bringing a visual of it into their head.

With the benefit of the all-caps, I can glance at this and immediately see much of the structure of the template. Without all-caps, I'd have to work harder to find all the pattern variables, and the structure would be obscured.

For a bit kludgy practical matter, as I'm quickly looking at pieces of code in a template, with all-caps, I can look at a fragment of code in isolation and know what are and aren't pattern variables. Without that, I have to go read the top of the template clause (and read through any syntactic scopes of `let-syntax`) and get that in my head, until I get to the fragment of code I originally wanted to look at.

IDE support can make this unnecessary, with a hypothetical great IDE, with familiar syntax coloring. But still, if there is one thing that all-caps should be reserved for, it's something like this.

With all-caps, your code can be sensual, and the jolting all-caps bits are look out, potentially arbitrary code gets pasted into here.

mnemenaut•1y ago
https://github.com/rogerturner/scheme-macros/blob/main/examp... shows stepwise development of a trace-let [the `(example: (fn arg) => result)` forms are tests - see check-examples library]
Y_Y
•
1y ago
Since you asked, my objection is both aesthetic and semantic, though I was really referring to the semantic part above.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with this visual vs. verbal distinction.

I can add a few clarifying details. I don't use IDEs as much as basic text editors maybe with highlighting, and I try not to rely on any fancy features. It does worry me that the allcaps use you describe is (afaik) not known to the editor or interpreter, so if you make a mistake or the symbol gets out of sync with its meaning (re: pattern variables) you may have a false signal. Finally I'll say that in the end I can't suggest a good way to treat these special variables, and so maybe I don't get it, or tastes like mine would be better served by a different formalism for macros.