5 ms·

Ask HN: So what was Knuth's "earthshaking announcement"?

61 points by Kliment 16y ago

Knuth's mysterious announcement at the TeX user group gathered some interest on here, but even several hours later no specifics about it seem to be anywhere online. Can someone who was there or found out about it share what it was about?

nuxi7 16y ago
TeX 3.15
- naradaellis 16y ago
  Tex 6.28
  - schn 16y ago
    Tex Tau
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
mark_h 16y ago
I did a quick twitter trawl an hour or so after, and it seems like it was actually a joke: a new successor to TeX, using XML, arbitrary precision, and auto-layout. Also, my favourite was this one: http://twitter.com/elmindreda/statuses/17444964495 http://twitter.com/elmindreda/statuses/17444964495 "Anyone looking to profile Twitter users can easily identify all programmers today simply by searching for "Knuth"."
- michael_dorfman 16y ago
  Knuth's sense of humor shouldn't be underestimated-- there are a lot of great jokes hidden in the index of TAOCP, among other places. And, of course, his first publication was in Mad Magazine.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
jey 16y ago
I tweeted about it from the event but the corresponding news.yc submission got killed. http://twitter.com/jeyjey http://twitter.com/jeyjey http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1476674 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1476674
- sabat 16y ago
  I truly worry about the overzealous killing of yc news stories. I can't be the only one who's noticed a recent uptick in the number of stories killed for no apparent reason.
  - SkyMarshal 16y ago
    Same thing happened to Reddit years ago. As if a battalion 4chan script kiddies had nothing better to do than sick a downvoting botnet on Reddit to decrease its signal:noise ratio. I hope they haven't targetted HN now too. :/
    - jey 16y ago
      Downvotes don't kill stories, moderators kill stories.
      - hga 16y ago
        I thought I read that enough flags if a story has less than 10 points will automatically kill it.
  - axod 16y ago
    1. It's a tweet submitted as 'news'. 2. It seems that the 'earth shattering' announcement was boring. I think there's a couple of good reasons why it got killed.
    - dhimes 16y ago
      Unfortunately, when they killed it I assumed that it was because it was a hoax submission. It was news that this community was waiting days (months?) to hear about, so, although perhaps not a full news story, it was certainly of interest here. And probably of more interest than "X reasons I love/hate Y" for a lot of us.
mindviews 16y ago
Knuth played a joke and "announced" iTeX. http://search.twitter.com/search?q=knuth http://search.twitter.com/search?q=knuth
- Tichy 16y ago
  The problem is, now if he really proves P=NP, nobody will believe him.
  - fierarul 16y ago
    If Knuth announces that he proved P=NP a lot of people will believe him.
    - Tichy 16y ago
      That was kind of the joke...
  - adambyrtek 16y ago
    Fortunately mathematics is based on rigorous formal proofs rather than belief, so if he really achieved that he would just publish the proof and become even more famous.
    - pfarrell 16y ago
      I may have missed a joke here, but even mathematics is based on belief. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_t...
  - mzl 16y ago
    Most would not believe him straight away, since it is highly unlikely that P=NP. If the proof holds up to scrutiny though, it is not an issue of belief any more (apart form the social process of proof of course).
    - 16y ago
s2r2 16y ago
Am I the only one who's a little disappointed?
- philwelch 16y ago
  In retrospect, if Knuth had an actual "earthshaking announcement" to make, he probably would have pre-announced it a bit more prominently, or not at all.
didtrade 16y ago
<a href="http://www.didtrade.com/ http://www.didtrade.com/ target="_blank"> www.didtrade.com </a> Online sell fashion goods,Accept PayPal.cheap replica fashion goods for sale from china free shipping <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Handbags&SmallClassName=wholesale coach" target="_blank">Coach Handbag</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Handbags&SmallClassName=Replica Chanel" target="_blank">Chanel Handbag</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Handbags&SmallClassName=Replica LV" target="_blank">Louis Vitton Handbag</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Handbags&SmallClassName=Replica Juicy" target="_blank">Juicy Handbag</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Handbags&SmallClassName=Replica Burberry" target="_blank">Burberry Handbag</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Handbags&SmallClassName=Replica Gucci" target="_blank">Gucci Handbag</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Handbags&SmallClassName=Replica Prada" target="_blank">Prada Handbag</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Handbags&SmallClassName=Replica DG Handbag" target="_blank">D&G Handbag</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Handbags&SmallClassName=Jimmy Choo Handbag" target="_blank">Jimmy Choo Handbag</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica T-shirt&SmallClassName=Polo(men)" target="_blank">Polo T-shirt</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica T-shirt&SmallClassName=AF(men)" target="_blank">A&F T-shirt</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Suit&SmallClassName=Fashion Suit" target="_blank">Fashion Suit</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Jeans&SmallClassName=TrueReligion(men)" target="_blank">TrueReligion Jean</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Jeans&SmallClassName=ED Hardy(men)" target="_blank">ED Hardy Jean</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Belt&SmallClassName=Replica Belt" target="_blank">Leather belt</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Jewelry&SmallClassName=Chanel Jewelry" target="_blank">Replica Jewelry</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Fashion http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Fashion Shoes&SmallClassName=Brand Gucci Shoe" target="_blank">Casual shoes</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Sunglass&SmallClassName=Oakley Sunglass" target="_blank">Sun glasses</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Wallets&SmallClassName=LV" target="_blank">Replica Wallet</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Perfume&SmallClassName=Brand Replica Perfume" target="_blank">Brand Perfume</a> <a href="http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica http://www.didtrade.com/Product.asp?BigClassName=Replica Hats&SmallClassName=Wholesale Hat" target="_blank">Nice Hat</a>
vegai 16y ago
A "joke".
BirdWatcher 16y ago
I wasn't aware adults actually used twitter. I thought it was for 12 year old girls
- billswift 16y ago
  There are twits of all ages.
kaveh1000 16y ago
You can see a video of the talk, uploaded with Knuth's permission, here: http://river-valley.tv/an-earthshaking-announcement/ http://river-valley.tv/an-earthshaking-announcement/