An Earthshaking Announcement

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:14 pm

made by the legendary Don Knuth at the TUG 2010. Enjoy!

http://river-valley.tv/media/conference ... Don-Knuth/

goran · Post by **goran** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 2:41 pm

Brilliant!

Commander Smivs · Post by **Smivs** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:14 pm

I tried to watch it but it seemed to get stuck buffering every few seconds for some reason...not a problem I normally have.
Synopsis, anyone?

caracal · Post by **caracal** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:46 pm

Smivs wrote:
I tried to watch it but it seemed to get stuck buffering every few seconds for some reason...not a problem I normally have.
Synopsis, anyone?

Knuth announces his successor to TeX. Much hilarity ensues.

That sly old fox!

JazHaz · Post by **JazHaz** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:46 pm

Who is Don Knuth?

Post by **Cmdr James** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:49 pm

JazHaz wrote:
Who is Don Knuth?

Very funny.

JazHaz · Post by **JazHaz** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:06 pm

Cmdr James wrote:
JazHaz wrote:
Who is Don Knuth?
Very funny.

Seriously. Never heard of him!

He can't be anyone important. He's not a former American President. Or an A-List actor, as far as I know.

JazHaz · Post by **JazHaz** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:12 pm

Have just looked him up on Wikipedia. Definately not anyone important. I mean, he only invented TeX. Now if he had invented the World Wide Web then maybe I'd get excited, but no.

Post by **Cmdr James** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:27 pm

He only invented TeX?

Thats like saying RMS only write a text editor (emacs).

He is one of the most influential figures in the history of software. The Art of Computer Programming is the one book (or series of books) that is probably the most widely recognised text in computer science.

JazHaz · Post by **JazHaz** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 11:32 pm

Cmdr James wrote:
He only invented TeX?

Not impressed, because he didn't invent digital typography, just added to an already existing technology.

Not a patch on Sir Tim Berners-Lee's invention!

Cmdr James wrote:
He is one of the most influential figures in the history of software. The Art of Computer Programming is the one book (or series of books) that is probably the most widely recognised text in computer science.

Never read it. Still not excited.

Post by **Kaks** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 12:01 am

JazHaz, TeX has been fundamental to printing scientific papers & a lot of the printing industry for much longer than ipods have been fundamental to personal music listening.

And amongst programmers, The Art Of Computer Programming is pretty much a seminal work: it influenced & informed just about anybody involved in computer science since the late 60s & it's still relevant (in its not quite finished state) today, more than 40 years later.

Anywho, excellent presentation, I loved the way he pretends to give in to all the fads in the industry!

JazHaz · Post by **JazHaz** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 12:17 am

Kaks wrote:
JazHaz, TeX has been fundamental to printing scientific papers & a lot of the printing industry for much longer than ipods have been fundamental to personal music listening.

That as maybe, but he didn't invent digital typography, just added to it. He stood on the shoulders of other giants.

And I didn't mention iPods. Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. And changed the world.

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:01 am

JazHaz wrote:
Kaks wrote:
JazHaz, TeX has been fundamental to printing scientific papers & a lot of the printing industry for much longer than ipods have been fundamental to personal music listening.
That as maybe, but he didn't invent digital typography, just added to it. He stood on the shoulders of other giants.

And I didn't mention iPods. Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. And changed the world.

So what?

That makes every person in the world who isn't Tim Berners-Lee utterly unimportant and unimpressive?

And by the way, Tim Berners-Lee didn't invent communication (nor did he invent hypertext), just added to it. He stood on the shoulders of other giants.

Post by **another_commander** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:19 am

To someone who is used to hyper-speed hard core techno music (or, alternatively, doesn't care about music at all), Ludwig van Beethoven may not mean much. This does not mean that Beethoven was not one of the biggest music geniuses of all times, nor that he did not influence music's course in history.

Whether Knuth impresses someone at a personal level or not is irrelevant. He still remains one of the milestone figures in the field where he contributed.

Dave McRoss · Post by **Dave McRoss** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:29 am

So-frakkin' lagging video, I can't watch for long.
But I think he's a nice old man. I made some research on wiki and yes, he's a brilliant and a very intelligent person.

Still, I reserve admiration for other kinds of people.