4 ms·

If you cut down a 50 foot tall tree with a swiss army knife, I'd like to see how you did it. I think it's clear the author isn't stupid and did this to see what

If you cut down a 50 foot tall tree with a swiss army knife, I'd like to see how you did it. I think it's clear the author isn't stupid and did this to see what was possible with a limited tool.

moron4hire 16y ago
My point was that, with enough perseverance, one can do practically anything with anything (or nothing). Just because something is possible doesn't make doing it an intelligent thing if it's just a brute force effort. While herculean efforts of perseverance are commendable displays of stamina (like (http://links.zigzo.com/files/2007/10/coat_20hanger_20gorilla.jpg http://links.zigzo.com/files/2007/10/coat_20hanger_20gorilla...) this gorilla made out of coat hangers), once the basic theory has been demonstrated, the intellectual interest is over. See also, X program implementation in Y Turing-complete language (I'm specifically reminded of a chess engine written in the infamous Brainf*, which was really just a C chess engine converted to BF).
- sjs 16y ago
  Perseverance and stamina are rare qualities, and that gorilla is a very nice work of art. A ported BF chess engine not so much. Now, a C-to-BF compiler would be interesting. The recent "X in pure CSS" theme is important as it shows how advanced CSS3 is. They are tech demos, which as we know are often not meant to be anything more than that. They display how far you can bend CSS and nothing more. Just like the Blendtech ads, if someone cut down a tree with a pocket knife in an afternoon I bet 1/2 of us would run out to buy that knife. If an artist had done this using more standard tools and rendered it as SVG no one would care. I think you've completely missed the point. edit: It seems that psadauskas made this point some time ago. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1428943 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1428943
  - GrandMasterBirt 16y ago
    I'm sorry but this is a tiny fraction of CSS3. Lets see some real cool stuffs. However, "look what I can do in CSS3" is always fun to see, because it introduces techniques not necessarily just the technology.

If you cut down a 50 foot tall tree with a swiss army knife, I'd like to see how you did it. I think it's clear the author isn't stupid and did this to see what was possible with a limited tool.

moron4hire 16y ago

My point was that, with enough perseverance, one can do practically anything with anything (or nothing). Just because something is possible doesn't make doing it an intelligent thing if it's just a brute force effort. While herculean efforts of perseverance are commendable displays of stamina (like (http://links.zigzo.com/files/2007/10/coat_20hanger_20gorilla.jpg http://links.zigzo.com/files/2007/10/coat_20hanger_20gorilla...) this gorilla made out of coat hangers), once the basic theory has been demonstrated, the intellectual interest is over. See also, X program implementation in Y Turing-complete language (I'm specifically reminded of a chess engine written in the infamous Brainf*, which was really just a C chess engine converted to BF).

sjs 16y ago
Perseverance and stamina are rare qualities, and that gorilla is a very nice work of art. A ported BF chess engine not so much. Now, a C-to-BF compiler would be interesting. The recent "X in pure CSS" theme is important as it shows how advanced CSS3 is. They are tech demos, which as we know are often not meant to be anything more than that. They display how far you can bend CSS and nothing more. Just like the Blendtech ads, if someone cut down a tree with a pocket knife in an afternoon I bet 1/2 of us would run out to buy that knife. If an artist had done this using more standard tools and rendered it as SVG no one would care. I think you've completely missed the point. edit: It seems that psadauskas made this point some time ago. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1428943 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1428943
- GrandMasterBirt 16y ago
  I'm sorry but this is a tiny fraction of CSS3. Lets see some real cool stuffs. However, "look what I can do in CSS3" is always fun to see, because it introduces techniques not necessarily just the technology.