Nostradamus Five Year Node Reputation Prophecy Expires Today!

The Original Prophecy of John "Nostradamus" Davies

Old nodes still garner upvotes this year, but this year's nodes have no chance of being upvoted five or more years ago:-). I have no doubt, that in another five years, nodes like Drunk on golf: 99 Bottles of Beer will have well over 100 votes. But by then, the threshold for getting into "Selected Best" will be even higher.

-- davies prophesizes Sep 12 2011, five years ago today

In the spirit of Nostradamus, I've taken the liberty of distilling John's bold and magical prophecies into three quatrains:

Ancient nodes garner praise bounteously in the year
a visionary creator of jobs falls from his apple tree.
Yet the nodes from that year shall have not the opportunity
to be complimented five or more years previous.

In front of a monastery are strewn ninety nine intoxicating vials,
disgorged from an illustrious and ancient line of a monk.
His fame, renown and power through sects and speech is such that
they are deservedly praised more oft than the sum total of bottles.

And yet, five years hence, the threshold for being
glorified and exalted shall rise to a loftier plane still.
In consequence, the ninety nine vessels shall remain bestrewn,
forever unwept, unhonored, and unsung.

Today, exactly five years after John's acclaimed prophecy, I'm bewildered to report that Drunk on golf: 99 Bottles of Beer stubbornly remains forty six votes shy of a century. That makes me feel sad, for I put a huge effort into that node and, fortified by John's courageous prophecy, expectantly waited for five long years to see it finally reach its full potential.

Eerily, the selected best nodes threshold five years ago was around 100 votes ... and there haven't been any centurion nodes for nearly five years now. Since 2010, nearly six years ago, there have been only five centurion nodes:

2010-04-22 (149): A wholly inadequate reply to an Anonymous Monk by pmichaud
2010-09-08 (101): Re: Greediness of * vs. greediness of + by moritz
2010-11-13 (114): What Worked In My 1st Year Of Perl: LOL by luis.roca
2010-12-28 (104): RFC: How to Release Modules on CPAN in 2011 by ELISHEVA
2011-01-11 (103): Re: Why does perl math suck? by ikegami

So only true believers would claim a significant increase in the threshold for getting into "Selected Best". I am a true believer. I feel sure I've misinterpreted the wording of John's original prophecy, and patiently await a contemporary reinterpretation -- and a new prophecy for the next five years.

-- Your loyal servant, Chavigny

Update: I'd like to express my gratitude to the valiant monks who strove to realize davies prophecy, up-voting Drunk on golf: 99 Bottles of Beer from 54 to 67 in just two days!

2014-11-16 (93) -> (101) at May 2023: The First Ten Perl Monks by eyepopslikeamosquito (finally reached 100 on Nov 20 2019, thus becoming the most recent centurion node and the first since 2011)

2013-03-21 (84) -> (84) at May 2023: Old Monks go gentle into that good night. by punch_card_don

2014-02-18 (83) -> (86) at May 2023: in praise of poor old Tk by zentara

2013-02-22 (82) -> (83) at May 2023: Perl is my cast iron pan by talexb

2011-05-08 (67) -> (72) at May 2023: Drunk on golf: 99 Bottles of Beer

See Selected Best Nodes: 2011-2015 for more.

Comment on Nostradamus Five Year Node Reputation Prophecy Expires Today!

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Nostradamus Five Year Node Reputation Prophecy Expires Today! by davies (Prior) on Sep 12, 2016 at 12:33 UTC
They (1) do say that no good deed goes unpunished. I believed. I truly believed. And the munching sound you can hear is me eating my words. Regards, John Davies (1) For a list of who "they" might be, try http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/origin-good-deed-goes-unpunished-5804.html. Update 2017-06-11: not quite like http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/11/politics-professor-eats-book-live-air-promising-eat-words-labour/?playlist=structure%253Anews, though.	[reply]
Re^2: Nostradamus Five Year Node Reputation Prophecy Expires Today! by chacham (Prior) on Sep 12, 2016 at 12:45 UTC
For a list of who "they" might be As revealed by the great Gary Larson, it's Bernie Horowitz.	[reply]
Re: Nostradamus Five Year Node Reputation Prophecy Expires Today! by chacham (Prior) on Sep 12, 2016 at 12:40 UTC
The quatrains language is English, I would have expected some more, That leaves us little to distinguish, And wanting to see it in four. I will simply respond in kind, Though, admittedly, it has no heart, But with nothing particular in mind, You ought to ignore this one part. Regardless, your writeups inspire, The timing, the work, and the code, It is sad to see it expire, I shall at least upvote that node.	[reply]
Re: Nostradamus Five Year Node Reputation Prophecy Expires Today! by eyepopslikeamosquito (Archbishop) on Sep 13, 2016 at 08:18 UTC
In February 1991 ... a module system borrowed from Modula-3 was added to Python -- from the History of Python As far as I'm aware, nobody has ever attempted to mine the prophecies of Nostradamus for Perl or Perl Monk references. So I felt I had to try at least. Though searching for "Perl" and "Pearl" in the quatrains came up dry, there were quite a few references to "monk" and "Wall", with just one mentioning both: VI:73 In a great city a monk and artisan, Lodged near the gate and walls, Secret speaking emptily against Modena, Betrayed for acting under the guise of nuptials. It was clever of Nostradamus to use "Modena" because that word can refer both to Modula-3 and the Perl Module system. I therefore deduce that this one is referring to Larry Wall borrowing ideas from Modula-3 and the Python module system when "marrying" modules to Perl 5 in 1994, the word "nuptials" clearly referring to the marriage of Modula-3 and the Python module system to Perl 5. By combining "nuptials" with "a monk and artisan", Nostradamus further accurately predicted the marriage of Perl to monks and artisans, thus forming the Perl Monks web site in 1999! I found this one interesting: C10:Q89 The walls will be converted from brick to marble, Seven and fifty pacific years: Joy to mortals, the aqueduct renewed, Health, abundance of fruits, joy and mellifluous times. It's obvious here that Nostradamus is referring to Larry Wall in the first line above. Curiously, it predicts -- via from brick to marble seven and fifty pacific years -- that developing Perl 7 will take fifty years, but when finished will deliver health, joy, harmony, and an abundance of fruit!	[reply]


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