Tattoo You: Immune System Cells Help Keep Ink in Its Place

Re:Tattoo You: Immune System Cells Help Keep Ink in Its Place by qubex on Friday March 09, 2018 @10:23AM (#16552311)

When I was in my late teens (in the latter half of the 1990s) I read a lot of Clifford Pickover’s scientific/mathematical books. There I came across my first mention of lambda calculus, exemplified by a very imposing diagram taken from To Dissect a Mockingbird by David Keenan. Years later I started to think seriously about having a tattoo of one. I thought about that for about seven years, and now I have a rendition of Turing's Theta Combinator (a fixed-point combinator much akin to the Y Combinator after which Hacker News’ mother organisation is named).

I've had it now for a few months. I’m just a bit embarrassed by owning up to having had myself tattooed to my very closest family members. My sister and my girlfriend both sport multiple tattoos, but somehow mentioning it to my father or anybody more senior unsettles me.

http://dkeenan.com/Lambda/Graphical_lambda26.gif

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Re:Tattoo You: Immune System Cells Help Keep Ink in Its Place by 2474 on Friday March 09, 2018 @10:56AM (#16552573)

Thanks for sharing, qubex.

While I can understand opening up to friends and family about getting a tattoo can be hard or embarrassing I am glad you are beginning to do so.

I am sure you don't need my advice but if it helps just remember that your tattoo is a part of you but not the whole you. It's just a physical manifestation of something of interest to you. It doesn't make you any more or less of a person than the person your friends and family love.

From the link your provided I'm sure your tattoo looks awesome.

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Re:Tattoo You: Immune System Cells Help Keep Ink in Its Place by qubex on Friday March 09, 2018 @01:01PM (#16553535)

Here’s a photograph of it...

Make no mistake, I love it. It reminds me of the beauty and underlying pattern of the universe.

https://imgur.com/gallery/a9KhF

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Re:Tattoo You: Immune System Cells Help Keep Ink in Its Place by miranda_rights on Friday March 09, 2018 @04:02PM (#16555010)

This is very, very cool - both the idea and the implementation. I've thought about a CS-themed tattoo for a while but haven't found one that I'm in love with - but yours is exactly like something I'd want!

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Re:Tattoo You: Immune System Cells Help Keep Ink in Its Place by 2474 on Friday March 09, 2018 @01:54PM (#16553942)

Nice clean lines. Dig it!

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