6 ms·

Why "finally?" Was thre some petition? Has he been claiming he would for a long time?

ZeroGravitas 5y ago
I can't decide if I need a browser extension that just deletes the word "finally" from headlines, as it never adds anything but unnecessary drama or actively blocks the whole article from my view on the basis that it's probably clickbait bullshit. Has anyone written an AI yet that can read the article and tell you that before you waste your time?
- Fnoord 5y ago
  'Finally' denotes op'ed, subjectivity by author of Wired article. It signals those who care about global warming to click, while those who don't care are more inclined to skip. Ie. it has a use. While you're at it you can do the same with questionmark / questions, cause the answer is probably "No.". HN does use software to (de)prioritize certain titles and URLs.
- drstewart 5y ago
  Don't forget about the word "quietly". Usually trying to insinuate something shady is happening but always leaves me thinking: "Would I really expect them to broadcast this loudly?"
- adwn 5y ago
  Next week on HN: This AI can finally tell you whether an article is a waste of your time
- mejutoco 5y ago
  I have you covered! I developed this half-joking half serious extension to remove the word 'actually', but it already expanded to include words like 'literally. (each word is configurable individually) https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/actually-no-remove-actual/dnjekdlckidinafaebkhcojebjjpphkb?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/actually-no-remove... If you comment on the webstore page with the request to add finally I will add the feature this week.
ycombinete 5y ago
It made me think of David Chappelle's famous "where's Ja?!" bit [0]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo-ddYhXAZc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo-ddYhXAZc
andyjohnson0 5y ago
"We've arranged to meet here to talk about his latest novel, number 17 over nearly four decades of wildly popular, cinder-block-sized sci-fi thrillers." Because climate change is a major, global, and increasingly visible threat to our presence on this planet - and Stephenson hadn't made it a theme of any of his books over the last four decades. In the opinion of the article's author, this is significant. Seems reasonable to me.
- drclau 5y ago
  I have just finished yesterday Greg Egan’s Permutation City (a great read, even though I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone), which was published in ‘94, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the climate change theme in the story, although it was not part of the main theme. More so, cloud computing is present and quite important in this book, even though I don’t think the term was used as such. It’s essentially distributed compute that you rent to run your code, and prices vary based on demand. The climate change theme comes into play here, when all compute is rented to run weather simulations in an effort to fight climate change. There’s also software that edits facial expressions, for instance to eliminate signs of stress during a video call (we’re not quite there yet, but FaceTime’s Eye Contact feature seems to be a step towards that). This, again, is from ‘94. I do wonder often how much of the current tech is inspired by [hard] SF. Another example seems to be Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which very likely was inspired by Iain M. Banks “neural lace” from the Culture series. Edit: typing this on phone, and I edited a few times for corrections and to add more info.
  - andyjohnson0 5y ago
    Permutation City and Diaspora are excellent books by Egan.
    - drclau 5y ago
      Was wondering what to pick next. I’ll pick Diaspora, thanks to your comment. :)
    - mypastself 5y ago
disneygibson 5y ago
Because for many people (this author included), this topic is akin to a religion, complete with holy literature (sci-fi) and a high priesthood (scientists and sci-fi writers.) So when a "god" like Stephenson (the word god is used in the article to describe him) doesn't preach about the imminent End of Times, everyone gets nervous. If you think I'm exaggerating, here is an excerpt: But a few weeks ago, at dinner, a conversation with my teenage son went awry. I was trying to talk to him about possible college plans, and he wouldn't engage. I pushed. We gotta get started, I explained. Applications. Money. Campus visits. And he said, “Frankly, I just feel sort of nihilistic about it.” I followed up. About what? Well, it turned out—the whole thing, really. College, jobs, the ecosphere, the future. The boomers blasted it all into oblivion while Gen X screwed around on the internet. Here's where I blew it. Instead of giving him the we're-all-in-this-together-change-the-future speech, I said, “Kiddo, I think there's a chance that when all this shakes out, some people will get to be inside the dome and most people won't, and I'm just hoping you'll get inside the dome before they shut the door.” Like I said, cultish.
- krageon 5y ago
  I don't understand what that quote is supposed to tell the reader about cultish behaviour.
  - disneygibson 5y ago
    I will add more of the quote. The author was talking to his son, who was feeling unmotivated about going to college because the world was ending soon. The author's reply was the section I quoted.
    - krageon 5y ago
      Within this context it reads as a father instructing his child about the importance of learning so they can recognise opportunity when it arises. Is it culty because of the dome?
      - 5y ago
bloat 5y ago
See also the use of the word "now", which seems to imply "Oh God, after everything else, what are they up to now?" as in (from the Daily Mail) "Now police blame victims for being burgled!"
foo27928 5y ago
"finally" is very much appropriate. No need for petitions. The article quotes Stephenson: “I'm a guy who found a niche writing fiction about technical and scientific topics. It seemed odd to me that I should get to the end of my career and never take a whack at it.”

I can't decide if I need a browser extension that just deletes the word "finally" from headlines, as it never adds anything but unnecessary drama or actively blocks the whole article from my view on the basis that it's probably clickbait bullshit. Has anyone written an AI yet that can read the article and tell you that before you waste your time?

Fnoord 5y ago
'Finally' denotes op'ed, subjectivity by author of Wired article. It signals those who care about global warming to click, while those who don't care are more inclined to skip. Ie. it has a use. While you're at it you can do the same with questionmark / questions, cause the answer is probably "No.". HN does use software to (de)prioritize certain titles and URLs.
drstewart 5y ago
Don't forget about the word "quietly". Usually trying to insinuate something shady is happening but always leaves me thinking: "Would I really expect them to broadcast this loudly?"
adwn 5y ago
Next week on HN: This AI can finally tell you whether an article is a waste of your time
mejutoco 5y ago
I have you covered! I developed this half-joking half serious extension to remove the word 'actually', but it already expanded to include words like 'literally. (each word is configurable individually) https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/actually-no-remove-actual/dnjekdlckidinafaebkhcojebjjpphkb?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/actually-no-remove... If you comment on the webstore page with the request to add finally I will add the feature this week.

ycombinete 5y ago

It made me think of David Chappelle's famous "where's Ja?!" bit [0]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo-ddYhXAZc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo-ddYhXAZc

andyjohnson0 5y ago

"We've arranged to meet here to talk about his latest novel, number 17 over nearly four decades of wildly popular, cinder-block-sized sci-fi thrillers." Because climate change is a major, global, and increasingly visible threat to our presence on this planet - and Stephenson hadn't made it a theme of any of his books over the last four decades. In the opinion of the article's author, this is significant. Seems reasonable to me.

drclau 5y ago
I have just finished yesterday Greg Egan’s Permutation City (a great read, even though I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone), which was published in ‘94, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the climate change theme in the story, although it was not part of the main theme. More so, cloud computing is present and quite important in this book, even though I don’t think the term was used as such. It’s essentially distributed compute that you rent to run your code, and prices vary based on demand. The climate change theme comes into play here, when all compute is rented to run weather simulations in an effort to fight climate change. There’s also software that edits facial expressions, for instance to eliminate signs of stress during a video call (we’re not quite there yet, but FaceTime’s Eye Contact feature seems to be a step towards that). This, again, is from ‘94. I do wonder often how much of the current tech is inspired by [hard] SF. Another example seems to be Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which very likely was inspired by Iain M. Banks “neural lace” from the Culture series. Edit: typing this on phone, and I edited a few times for corrections and to add more info.
- andyjohnson0 5y ago
  Permutation City and Diaspora are excellent books by Egan.
  - drclau 5y ago
    Was wondering what to pick next. I’ll pick Diaspora, thanks to your comment. :)
  - mypastself 5y ago

disneygibson 5y ago

Because for many people (this author included), this topic is akin to a religion, complete with holy literature (sci-fi) and a high priesthood (scientists and sci-fi writers.) So when a "god" like Stephenson (the word god is used in the article to describe him) doesn't preach about the imminent End of Times, everyone gets nervous. If you think I'm exaggerating, here is an excerpt: But a few weeks ago, at dinner, a conversation with my teenage son went awry. I was trying to talk to him about possible college plans, and he wouldn't engage. I pushed. We gotta get started, I explained. Applications. Money. Campus visits. And he said, “Frankly, I just feel sort of nihilistic about it.” I followed up. About what? Well, it turned out—the whole thing, really. College, jobs, the ecosphere, the future. The boomers blasted it all into oblivion while Gen X screwed around on the internet. Here's where I blew it. Instead of giving him the we're-all-in-this-together-change-the-future speech, I said, “Kiddo, I think there's a chance that when all this shakes out, some people will get to be inside the dome and most people won't, and I'm just hoping you'll get inside the dome before they shut the door.” Like I said, cultish.

krageon 5y ago
I don't understand what that quote is supposed to tell the reader about cultish behaviour.
- disneygibson 5y ago
  I will add more of the quote. The author was talking to his son, who was feeling unmotivated about going to college because the world was ending soon. The author's reply was the section I quoted.
  - krageon 5y ago
    Within this context it reads as a father instructing his child about the importance of learning so they can recognise opportunity when it arises. Is it culty because of the dome?
    - 5y ago

bloat 5y ago

See also the use of the word "now", which seems to imply "Oh God, after everything else, what are they up to now?" as in (from the Daily Mail) "Now police blame victims for being burgled!"

foo27928 5y ago

"finally" is very much appropriate. No need for petitions. The article quotes Stephenson: “I'm a guy who found a niche writing fiction about technical and scientific topics. It seemed odd to me that I should get to the end of my career and never take a whack at it.”