larsbrinkhoff
Re:Brief History of PDP Computers
on Monday November 02, 2026 @12:40AM (#50333489)
Hi Don!
The AI PDP-6 and 10 shared a Type 340 between them. It was the only 340 in the lab. Lick's Dynamic Modeling group had an LDS-1 from Evans&Sutherland.
LLOGO could display vector graphics on the 340 or GT40, and raster on the Knight TV or LOGO color TV (16 colors!)
LOGO versions on ITS include BBN LOGO for TOPS-10, CLOGO for ITS, LLOGO, 11LOGO, and Apple II LOGO. Yes, 11LOGO is recovered. There's an early standalone version, and a later version that ran on the SITS timesharing system on an 11/45.
Yes, there are GREN files. I have been in touch occasionally with Ian. Someone else called KLE wrote a FORTH in Maclisp.
Re:Brief History of PDP Computers
on Saturday October 31, 2026 @02:25PM (#50318608)
True enough, but I'll observe there's a lot of rounding out that could be done in various directions if one were so inclined.
Re:Brief History of PDP Computers
on Saturday October 31, 2026 @02:21PM (#50318563)
The PDP-4 isn't binary compatible with the PDP-1. There is compatibility within the 4/7/9/15 line. So the PDP-1 stands out, and in that sense the lineage isn't direct.
Re:Brief History of PDP Computers
on Saturday October 31, 2026 @02:16PM (#50318528)
I laughed (with suitable derision) when I saw the line from PDP-10 to VAX.
Re:Brief History of PDP Computers
on Saturday October 31, 2026 @02:13PM (#50318491)
Also the dual-mode LINC-8 which was the immediate PDP-12 predecessor. It was as much a PDP in all but the name.
Re:Xorshift Generators
on Monday August 24, 2026 @01:04AM (#49415355)
This is xorshift. https://github.com/larsbrinkhoff/xoroshiro-36/blob/master/xo...
Re:Xorshift Generators
on Friday August 21, 2026 @04:48AM (#49385482)
It's both.
Re:Xorshift Generators
on Thursday August 20, 2026 @01:12AM (#49370608)
LLMs adopted phrases from humans. But now humans adopt phrases from LLMs.
Re:Xorshift Generators
on Thursday August 20, 2026 @12:59AM (#49370531)
Xorshift-36 for the PDP-10, with help from Sebastiano Vigna.
Re:Starring the Computer
on Monday July 06, 2026 @01:51AM (#48801090)
This says PDP-7. https://www.reddit.com/r/westworld/comments/56tkt8/what_prog...
Re:A brief tour of the PDP-11, the most influential minicomputer of al...
on Wednesday June 17, 2026 @01:55AM (#48566305)
Then maybe also give a nod to the LINC, showing DEC a small 12-bit computer could be made.
Re:A brief tour of the PDP-11, the most influential minicomputer of al...
on Wednesday June 17, 2026 @01:52AM (#48566277)
BASIC was developed on GE mainframes.
Re:Chaosnet (1981)
on Tuesday June 16, 2026 @01:27AM (#48550962)
Chaosnet was inspired by the experimental 3 Mbits/s Ethernet in use at Xerox PARC at the time. Experimental Ethernet has a 8-bit node address; Chaosnet has 16 bits, of which 8 is network and another 8 is the node. The Chaosnet data rate is 4 Mbits/s.
On top of the hardware protocol, Chaosnet also defined the higher-level transport and session layer protocol. Applications are addressed by a name string rather than a port number; e.g. "TELNET" instead of 23. This protocol was retained when the NIC hardware was replaced with stock Ethernet.
Re:Chaosnet (1981)
on Monday June 15, 2026 @04:01AM (#48538010)
Chaosnet in active use, mostly on emulators: https://chaosnet.net/
Lispm, PDP-10, PDP-11, VAX.
Re:Chaosnet (1981)
on Monday June 15, 2026 @02:43AM (#48537455)
Yes, and in Ethernet frames as EtherType 0x0804.
Re:Talking to 35 Strangers at the Gym
on Tuesday May 05, 2026 @03:34AM (#48019212)
"Her barbell is a special women's barbell."
FYI, it was probably just a regular women's weightlifting barbell. They are somewhat lighter, and have a thinner grip. Maybe she's serious about her weightlifting training.
Re:Hand Drawn QR Codes
on Tuesday May 05, 2026 @03:20AM (#48019130)
By the way, I also coded a QR symbol generator in PDP-10 assembly language.
Re:Hand Drawn QR Codes
on Tuesday May 05, 2026 @03:17AM (#48019112)
I hand drew this on a whiteboard. It was a lot more work than I anticipated.
Re:5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens
on Thursday April 23, 2026 @02:14AM (#47872717)
The LINC minicomputer operating system LAP6 came with a 4x5 font, but it didn't have lower case.
Re:Ubuntu 26.04 Ends 46 Years of Silent sudo Passwords
on Sunday March 22, 2026 @05:59AM (#47475949)
It's built into the Unix terminal driver. Control-U is the default, but it can be changed with e.g. "stty kill". Libraries like readline also support it.
Re:Ubuntu 26.04 Ends 46 Years of Silent sudo Passwords
on Saturday March 21, 2026 @01:29PM (#47469148)
Just type Control-U once.
Re:SBCL: A Sanely-Bootstrappable Common Lisp (2008) [pdf]
on Thursday March 12, 2026 @06:00AM (#47348528)
Re:SBCL: A Sanely-Bootstrappable Common Lisp (2008) [pdf]
on Thursday March 12, 2026 @05:19AM (#47348288)
Jonathan Blow: "It’s about a compiler written in Python FFS."
Re:Steel Bank Common Lisp
on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @07:07AM (#47150462)
Re:Steel Bank Common Lisp
on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @07:06AM (#47150454)
SBCL has been in the works since 1980.
Re:Show HN: R3forth, a ColorForth-inspired language with a tiny VM
on Saturday February 07, 2026 @04:29AM (#46922530)
Source: "The Invention of Forth", by Chuck Moore. https://colorforth.github.io/HOPL.html
Re:Show HN: Micropolis/SimCity Clone in Emacs Lisp
on Saturday February 07, 2026 @01:48AM (#46921862)
Emacs is needed because it provides Emacs Lisp.
Re:Show HN: R3forth, a ColorForth-inspired language with a tiny VM
on Saturday February 07, 2026 @01:35AM (#46921815)
Forth was invented before Moore worked at NRAO. Granted, it was gradually expanded from a very small interpreter, so it's hard to say exactly when it became "Forth" as we mean it today.
Re:Show HN: Micropolis/SimCity Clone in Emacs Lisp
on Friday February 06, 2026 @05:17AM (#46911099)
Sorry, I don't know anything about Emacs graphics. Some people confuse me with larsi, but I'm not that guy.
Re:Show HN: Micropolis/SimCity Clone in Emacs Lisp
on Friday February 06, 2026 @04:10AM (#46910656)
Lisp dialects have diverged quite a bit, and it would be a lot of work to bridge the differences to a degree approaching 100%. 90% is easy, but only works for small trivial programs.
I say this, having written a "95%" Common Lisp for Emacs (still a toy), and successfully ran an old Maclisp compiler and assembler in Common Lisp.