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Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype?

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Re: Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype?

#411

Hamilton. I'm not big into theater nor musicals, and I had heard so much about it by the time I watched it on Disney+, I wasn't expecting it to blow me away but it totally did. I'm a huge fan now, watched it several times, listened to the album hundreds of times, read the book, and recommend it every time I can :)

Oh man, I gifted the CDs this Christmas. I listened to the entire album dozens of times before watching it... It still blows my mind

Re: Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype?

#415
post #52
post #38

Two finales: - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. When the seventh book came out in 2007 there was this fear among the fandom that JK Rowling couldn't deliver a great ending. I think most people agreed she did very well (even more than expected, considering the complexity of the story in the prior six books). - Breaking Bad last season / last episode: there aren't many tv shows that can end in a high note (check G…

> Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Man... there is way too much deus ex machina at every plot point of that book to give it any credit. If you have the end of the 6th book as a starting point and the end of series that Rowling had in mind as an end, then Deathly Hallows is just connecting those two points using plot conveniences at every single opportunity. Too many fortunate coincidences in a very short period o…

I'd say a big thing is how old you are when reading HP. I loved all the books and loved the ending. Over time I started reading Asimov and Vinge and became repulsed by the quality of the whole HP story. One lucky boy doing dumb things and getting away with it, all happening in a world where magic is done in the worst balance between mystic and explained. If I recall correctly, they tried to make the most sense of the Snape's magic spells. Compare the nonsense to the way a young man of 16 years imagined magic in Eragon where I really liked how he tried to keep as much consistency with energy cost and implications. Harry Potter really is just mostly for kids

Re: Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype?

#416

GNU/Linux phones, Pinephone and Librem 5. Even though they aren’t daily drivers for everyone yet, they are truly full computers in you pocket without stupid restrictions of the duopoly.

Somewhat related to that, Termux on Android. The few times I've had to use it, it's been a joy. Being able to use a bluetooth keyboard with my phone hooked up to a monitor via USB-C to HDMI was very cool.

Maybe don't get too attached. Google is making a valiant effort to kill it.

Re: Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype?

#418
post #253

Type hints in python. Structured programming in general. Rust. It took me a long time to get remotely comfortable, but once it starts to click, it's awesome how the structure guides your development. Worth the investment, but don't expect to be able to grok it immediately.

> Rust

Man, so many features and the syntax is so heavily annotated and the subjective feeling that everything you interact with is some vaguely defined overcomplicated computer science concept ("what you get back from this function is not a vector but an immutable future-closure-trait-promise-with-sprinkles, you must be familiar with those already").

Not a critcism towards the language, I'm sure that it would make much more sense if I put in the time to study it systematically, but the beginner learning experience hasn't been great. It doesn't seem like a language that you can just dip your toes in, you need to go deep to see the benefits.

Re: Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype?

#419
Half-Life 2

I preordered it in 2003, before the big hack/leak caused Valve to delay release into 2004. Because of the success of the original and the long wait, combined with Valve being almost complete silence during development, there was a huge buildup of hype leading up to the release.

Totally worth it.

Re: Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype?

#420

Zelda Breath of the Wild exceeded my expectations completely. I played it years after it came out and was gobsmacked by how good it was. A strange mixture of pleasant, mildly challenging, big and awe inspiring world.

I picked up a switch exclusively for this game, I only just got off the first little island, so far it's very much living upto the hype. I'll find myself slow walking the area and just exploring more than anything else. Considering all of the games one could play during a pandemic, this was a perfect fit for me.

Same, but a couple of years ago to pass time after a pretty harsh dirt bike accident. My adult gamer daughter thought it was hilarious when I'd get excited about milestones like pulling the master sword.
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