Ask HN: What programming challenges would you kill for a chance to solve?
Suppose you could assemble a team of your choosing, and had infinite funding. What is the most challenging, complicated problem you could go about solving? I'd try to remove complexity, not increase it, starting from: (1) Replace HTML/Javascript with a Lisp and the browser with a REPL. (2) Make a processor that executes only core Lisp axioms; there would be no other processor instructions. (It would be comical if history found chip manufacturers to have over-engineered 99% of the problem.) (3) Replace the Internet with a distributed, single address-space operating system. You won't have to worry about ssh-ing into and between hoards of cloud machines, or to install software; there will only be "The Computer", and you will be logged in when your computer starts. (If there was only one way to make Linux irrelevant, this might be it.) Programs can call any part of any other program in The Computer through Lisp function calls. The value here is the simplification of the programming model; no more APIs. (4) Build a smartphone that is connected to The Computer and can be programmed only in Lisp. (5) Write an AI program or mobile app that tells you the truth. You can ask it philosophical and life questions and it gives you congruent answers. You can feed it HackerNews comments, it can reason about them and respond (or not respond). Like an Eliza or SHRDLU chatting up HackerNews users in the middle of a flamewar. (6) Make future computers start with only one program, nothing else. No System preferences, no Facetimes, no browser, and definitely no windows and virtual desktops; just The Computer. Possibly train humans to understand doing less and keeping things simple is good for them (I'm not entirely sure if it is.) I don't even believe it's possible in the philosophical sense, but definitely AI. I would love to be able to create something that not only could pass the turing-test, but which could interact with its environment, and more importantly, be stimulating and entertaining to me. Imagine an actual worthwhile conversation with a computer program that can interact with the world. My stars. While not particularly useful in the grand scheme of challenging and complicated things, the things I want to do in that situation are: put Firefox's 3.6 interface back on the browser (and perhaps reverse some changes that even that made); make it use libavcodec for media playback and a hardware overlay for video in particular; buy Winamp and mold it how I want. This: http://max.io/theories-on-artificial-expression/ Tl;dr: AI for Artistic Expression. Writing a full OS with apps in 10Kloc(VPRI steps project by alan kay) and enabling similar power to other programming needs. Predictions of basically any kind (well, anything useful...)