Jason Howlin2d ago
Nanoraptor

Imagine a computer like a PDP-11 but with more than 3 billion SP4T switches. The switches are various combinations of 'magic' and 'more magic'

the authors of the code are dead, there are no comments except for old code, and sometimes the comments run anyway

and it's wet

this is biology.

Mar 24 at 12:56pmWeb
Show threadNini2d ago
@NanoRaptor Hm... can I at least admire the blinkenlights... the ones that are still working I mean.
Show threadJonathan Polley2d ago
@NanoRaptor Add to it that the authors were only producing a minimally viable product.
Show threadAlex von Kitchen2d ago
@NanoRaptor also it's the worst spaghetti code you've ever seen, the level of testing has been "eh fuck it, kinda works", and it's full of viruses
Show threadDigital Mark ฮป โ˜•๏ธ ๐Ÿ•น ๐Ÿ‘ฝ2d ago
@Dangerous_beans @NanoRaptor The viruses are essential parts of the working system now, probably half the engineering is code stolen and transferred by viruses.
Show threadConsensus Tullyality2d ago
@Dangerous_beans @NanoRaptor it's been full of viruses so long that viruses have become a normal part of the installation payload
Endogenous retrovirus - Wikipedia

Show threadEmily_S2d ago
@NanoRaptor And the qa process is entirely "it worked long enough to make another one"
Show threadR.L. Dane    ๐Ÿต 2d ago

@NanoRaptor

Wet esoteric computing? Thanks, I hate it.

"It's YOU."

Still hate it. ๐Ÿคฃ

Clarification: I do not actually hate myself (most of the time). But biology is still gross and slimy. XD

Show threadOsma A ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ2d ago
Yet the gross and slimy part is also the hot part.
@rl_dane @NanoRaptor
Show threadHelle, Queen of Dissociation 2d ago
@NanoRaptor And apparently we've been abusing the various systems in so many ways that the same API is used for a dozen independent things. ยญโ€” Vi who has at least a few of those misbehaving.
Show threadMorten2d ago
@helle @NanoRaptor That part at least is familiar to programmers whether they know biology or not.
Show threadFaraiwe2d ago
@NanoRaptor zero lies.
Show threadEvan2d ago
@NanoRaptor And the switches don't change binary machine states, they more nudge complex processes.
Show threadMorten2d ago
@NanoRaptor Every time you copy the code you get copy errors and that's a feature. Some parts of the code is really prone to duplication / failure to copy.
To run the code you have to run 35 trillion instances and the instances have to communicate.
Show threadTristan2d ago
@NanoRaptor and some of the bits of instructions randomly change on rare occasion, and if the program works slightly better all the copies keep the corrupted bits.
Show threadFaraiwe2d ago

@NanoRaptor FTR, I showed this to some folks, and had to explain the context for mostly non techie people.

It was fun.

Show threadOmnivore2d ago

@faraiwe @NanoRaptor

#alttext

TL;DR
We are just moist, ambulatory switching processors, activating oxygenated, ATP-to-ADP-break fueled servos, all held together by a cobbled-together structural system (aw, my lower back), interacting with the world via stimuli-response gooey CMOS circuits, and some twitchy appendages.
Oh, the poetry.

Show threadEllie2d ago
@NanoRaptor and every once in a while almost every PDP-11 sets another 3B toggles nearly identically to itself, just to see whether some variation will be a better fit for the server room.
Show threadcurrently writing a game2d ago
@NanoRaptor
You... didn't have to SAY it.
Show threadAnthony Sorace2d ago

@NanoRaptor It seems like it might be best to avoid trying to describe how the system works at the hardware level and just describe how it behaves, instead.

This is psychology.

Show threadFritz Adalis2d ago
@NanoRaptor
Why 4 throw specifically?
Show threadDavid JONES2d ago
@FritzAdalis @NanoRaptor I assume 4 DNA coding bases: ACGT
Show threadMehmet Atakan Gรผrkan2d ago
@NanoRaptor if I saw this in high school (and understood it) i would not have chosen physics as a career, or not as the only career.
Show threadPseudo Nym2d ago

@NanoRaptor

It all runs on about a 100 watt power supply, derived from just about what ever form of carbon-hydrogen-oxygen-nitrogen is handy.

If it crashes, it crashes hard, and there are no backups, but the disk defrag and other system maintenance tasks run daily and are surprisingly resilient.

Show threadQ.H. Stone2d ago
@pseudonym @NanoRaptor Unfortunately the archiving system uses lossy compression.
Show threadDr. G. Power2d ago
@NanoRaptor I had never thought about it that way!!!
Show threadLafncow 2d ago
@NanoRaptor it runs on my machine.
Show threadluca2d ago
@NanoRaptor The over simplification is there are no 4-levels synapses.
Show threadNathan Salwen2d ago
@NanoRaptor Haven't seen "PDP-11" in quite some time. I actually fixed one by replacing a 74LS02 (I think).
Show threadNazo2d ago

@NanoRaptor Isn't this just Hex from Discworld?

I'm pretty sure by the end there all anyone really knows to do is to keep the ants fed.

Show threadMattisCB2d ago
@NanoRaptor and a whole library of code snippets from completly different projects on standby that are never executed. Until they are.
Show threadThe Penguin of Evil2d ago
@NanoRaptor Sounds like biology was vibe coded
Show threadechopapa2d ago

@etchedpixels

hilarious ๐Ÿ˜€๐Ÿ‘

so perhaps we should throw away this Megawatts consuming silicon crap.

BTW: successfully created two working copies together with another PDP11.

@NanoRaptor

Show threadMichael Baudis2d ago
Waaaayyyy fewer switches. But most are not deterministic and switch on your long-time-no-cleaning shower head (or not).
https://xkcd.com/1605/
DNA

xkcd
Show threadSnuffy2d ago
@NanoRaptor no it is not, biology is nothing like computers
Show threadSandor Spruit ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ2d ago
@NanoRaptor @lisamelton But, is it running Unix or what?
Show threadThe Doctor1d ago
@sandorspruit @NanoRaptor @lisamelton PC-DOS.
Show threadKhleedril2d ago
@NanoRaptor For a moment there I thought that you were talking about Rust, especially the bit about the comments running.