Goof around with the post options, check.

John C.Lily, Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer, New York, 1972.

This actually makes for quite a good motto. Except it’s totally ripped off from why’s guide to ruby, so it’s not a very “researched” motto.

Just trying out the different options in my dashboard, like “post image”, “post audio” etc. Consider it a sort of “testing testing 1 2 3”…

Bear with me, the titles will get more original. The articles too, I hope. But I guess I should introduce myself, in order for us to have a good start, get to know each other, have a few beers…okay, stay on topic, stay on topic.

My name’s Răzvan. ‘Tis a silly name, indeed, for you, kind reader, but it’s quite common out here. I’m a Romanian student with an empty stomach, an empty pocket and too much time spent on the Internet instead of filling said items. I study (who would have guessed?) Computer Science. And I have ambiguous dreams of being a programmer when I grow up. Then people ask me “What kind of programmer?” and I go “aahh…aa…umm…” and remember that I’m grown up now but have no direction weaaah (well, I’m trying to have a direction out here, but I’m not sure how much that’ll help).

What I don’t have is true experience with software/development. Or research/theory. Or anything. I’m not good at marketing myself, as you may have noticed by now. Maybe I’m not that good at frequently posting stuff either, so I’m going to guarantee from the start that I guarantee nothing.

I’m no stranger to this blogging thing. This internet thing, neither. Not sure going into detail would be relevant/interesting. Maybe later. After you buy me those beers. My biggest accomplishment has been the fact that the author of a webcomic has answered a question of mine. Yeah, I’m your pretty average guy. Less than average. I totally, absolutely suck. That makes me great.

Well, that’s all I want to say about me for the moment.

So. Here’s a blog. A tumblelog, actually, or whatever you guys call it. Funny thing that the spellchecker has a problem with “tumblelog”. I’m kind of new to this whole tumblr thing, just signed up a few minutes ago.

And now I have to share my goal with you. I have to tell you why this is called “The meta of meta” and what you can expect to find here. Very well. This is a blog that will try to stay meta-oriented, meta basically meaning “referring to something”, but I’m rather aiming for the “referring to oneself” meaning. Yes, that overabused, overhyped term that seems to, nonetheless, be the basis of a lot of things, including evolution. Including complexity arising out of simple, elementary ingredients. Human knowledge and all. The new thing here is that I hope I won’t choke you with “this is meta, that is meta”.

Cause true meta is rare. It’s rather involuntary, you can’t necessarily say “Hey, I’m gonna be really meta today, to go with my sunglasses”. But there is a way of approaching that direction. There is a trend, a certain intrinsic meta-ness that can be reached by focusing on certain subjects. By thinking. By looking for the philosophy of stuff, even common real-worldly stuff. You can’t hurry, you can’t say “4 steps today, 4 tomorrow”. No patterns, no workout routine. Just a direction and lots of patience. I don’t really know what that direction is. I have my ideas and you have yours and maybe together we’ll learn.

Now, with all the philosophy out of the way, it’s time to disappoint you. This is going to (quasi-?)exclusively be a blog on programming. From the practical aspects of what languages mean or what new technologies are coming our way (the future of computing is kind of an important topic). Going up to theoretical and CS-y stuff as much as I can grasp those parts (the future of computing is kind of an important topic) (the permanent truths about computing are also really cool). Going down, maybe, to quasi-introductory material. Not spammy, “How do I print ‘Hello world’?” things, but basic stuff in basic languages. Cause you can’t always be meta, but you can always learn new, on topic stuff.

And, of course, I want to be famous and have thousands of admirers. And sing in a stadium with a huge crowd. About programming. Something about that image is very, very wrong. Nonetheless, if my thousands of admirers demand that I write about the meta of gay squirrels and I find that I know enough about gay squirrels, I’ll do that. And in order for that to be more than an empty promise, I’ll end this introductory post with a question:

What do you define as meta (in your field or otherwise)?

Testing testing 1 2 3.