I think I’ve put my finger on one reason I’m finding Haskell hard to read. Consider this algebraic data type definition from Real World Haskell: data Doc = Empty | Char Char | Text String | Line | Concat Doc Doc | Union Doc Doc deriving (Show, Eq) There’s no distinction between the...

Out of My Skin By John Haskell Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 224 pages, $14 John Haskell’s first book, a collection of stories published six years ago called I Am Not Jackson Pollock, was a weird little work that almost seemed to take fiction in a new direction, by being based in fact. Each piece was...

In the past I’ve extensively talked about creating monads, but not as much more around them in terms of why you might use them and what problems they are trying to solve.  Since that time, I’ve been challenged by others to actually prove not only that it can be understood by everyone, but t...

I’m going to write about two Haskell things I’ve used today, both of which were new to me: first, creating/consuming JSON using Sigbjorn Finne’s json library; second, using pattern guards to make the “consuming” part prettier than my first butt-ugly attempts. Earlier to...

Dear Ramaz Family, In my sermon this past Shabbat, I commented on the worldwide financial crisis and the communal crisis, citing the need for perspective. I encourage you to read the remarks, "When Trials and Tribulations Accumulate," as a constructive approach to an uncommonly destructive...

To celebrate the holidays, Queerty is playing Santa to all your favorite folks and asking what they want under the tree/ next to the menorah/ beside the Saturnalia bonfire this year, no Ms. America answers allowed. After coming in third last year on So You Think You Can Dance?, 21-year-old Neil Hask...

Financial, networking, Wealth Gregory T. Huang wrote: On Friday, we reported that Tiger 21, a New York-based network and support group for the very wealthy, is setting up a Seattle chapter, headed by the local entrepreneur and investor Andy Sack. (Tiger 21 had planned to announce the news today, but...

Financial, Support Groups, networks Gregory T. Huang wrote: Think the super-rich don’t have problems? Try fending off friends and relatives who always want to borrow money, or raising spoiled brats who don’t take responsibility for their actions. Not to mention the more obvious financial...

England coach Martin Johnson is looking at a previous game against South Africa for inspiration in Test....

Arrows in JavaScript. Arrows generalise computation schemes from the sequential version provided by monads, and are thus hard to bend one’s head around. It’s interesting to see them in JS. category theory, computer science, computing, functional programming, haskell, javascript, programm...