Perhaps you don't ask yourself such questions, but I find myself pondering the nature of esoteric programming languages. I wonder what makes a programming language esoteric. I wonder whether there is a benchmark by which we can know such a thing. Does a mention on Lambda-The-Ultimate secure the status of esoteric? How many users can an esoteric programming language have before it is no longer esoteric? How many books can be written about it before it takes on the veneer of being mainstream? I don't think anyone knows. I certainly don't know. I need to arrive at a definition of esoteric programming languages.

How does one begin deriving a definition for such things? Perhaps I could start by saying that esoteric programming languages are those which are not mainstream? That sounds nice, but then, at the top end, how do I define mainstream and at the bottom end, how do I differentiate between experimental programming languages and esoteric programming languages? A tricky conundrum.

At the bottom end of the scale, how many users does an experimental programming language need to graduate to esoteric? On the other hand, does it get any more esoteric than a programming language with exactly one user and that being the language designer and implementor? I suspect not.

Faith is interesting. It is many layered, with great depth to it if you care to spend enough time thinking about it. Some mix it up with grace or belief and consider them all of a similar thing. And while that may be close enough for teaching Sunday School children, it has its own distinct nature that rewards further investigation.

A definition would be useful at this point. If we are to speak of something, then knowing whereof we speak is always appropriate. Definitions of faith abound. Webster's Dictionary is always a good place to start, so let's see what they say:

Faith: allegiance to duty or a person; loyalty ... belief and trust in and loyalty to God ... something that is believed especially with a strong conviction.

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Matthew 16:19

There are eight references to the word "key" or "keys" in the scripture. Three of these refer to literal keys and the other five refer to power and authority. The keys that Jesus spoke of to Peter were those of authority. Very few doors had locks on them in bible times, so Jesus was not handing Peter a literal bunch of jangling keys. Jesus was giving Peter the authority to unlock the entrance of heaven.

The keys to the kingdom of heaven were granted to Peter because of his recognition of Jesus as the Messiah. The Lord had asked his disciples who men thought he was and got a variety of answers, but none were right. So, Jesus then asked them who they thought he was. With no hesitation, Peter spoke up and declared the Jesus was the Christ. That he was the Messiah that they had all been waiting for.

In the 1999 Science Fiction movie, The Matrix, the plot revolves around the fact that almost all of the human race are living in an artificial reality, not realizing that their bodies are being used as a heat source for energy generation for the machines who took over the world many hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of years before. A few humans have broken out of the false reality that is known as the matrix. They are seeking for the one that will lead all humans in a revolt against the machines. The best candidate for this is Neo and he is still trapped in the Matrix. Their mission is to find him and explain that he is trapped, even if he cannot see the bars of the cage that he is within, and help him take the steps to leave the Matrix.

In a classic scene from the movie Morpheus, a leader among the free humans, meets with Neo to make him an offer. Neo already suspects the existence of the Matrix, so Morpheus offers him the choice of two pills. If he takes the blue pill he will wake up in his bed with no recollection of their meeting and never know the full truth of the world around him. If he takes the red pill, he will be shown the truth. Naturally, Neo selects the red pill and for the rest of the movie we have the nature and scope of the Matrix revealed to us.

Growing up as a child in a military family, I was quite used to hearing time expressed in twenty four hour or military time. Some of the times even gained nicknames. Midnight was "Oh Oh Cocoa". Likely named for the tendency of those pulling night watch to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate at midnight. Six thirty in the morning was "Oh Dark Thirty". Again, this makes sense because six o'clock in the morning is often dark. These nicknames for times are fairly well known. When I moved from England to the United States I found these terms in use on both sides of the pond.

What I have never found anywhere else, even after much Internet searching, is our family nickname for 22:22, or twenty two minutes after ten in the evening. In my parent's house this time was always referred to as "Four Little Ducks". The reason for this has it's root in the electric clock that my parents owned. It was, naturally for the era, a delightful Olive Green and had flip down numbers because LED and LCD displays were still far too expensive for most consumer electronic products. The clock displayed the time in 24 hour format and the numerals were nicely printed with graceful curves instead of just straight lines. My parents fancied to compare the digit two's to graceful ducks, so at 22:22, it looked like four little ducks gently gliding to the left.

The reason that the phrase four little ducks not only sticks in my memory, but is my favorite one of all the childhood phrases that I remember, is that for a time as a teenager, that was my bedtime. Even now, with my teenage years far behind me, I still try really hard to be tucked up and lights out by four little ducks.