Talks to Watch

fr-08: .the .product by farbrausch | 64k intro (2000) (720p HQ demoscene demo)

198K views · Jun 26, 2011 · 11:02 · 2 HN recommenders · 5 mentions · discussed 2016–2020

A recording of .the .product by Farbrausch, the first-place 64k intro at The Party 2000. It fits an 11-minute 3D demo with music into 64 kilobytes.

Why Hacker News points people here: HN commenters use it as the standard example of how much a tiny program can do, in contrast to bloated modern software.

“not very many 64Ks have reached the amazingness”HN comment, 2017

What Hacker News said 5

Strongly recommendspkreftaJun 2016

“64k fr-08 by farbrausch told me that I know nothing about programming ;)”

A 64k intro that humbled a young programmer.

Full comment

In year 2000 when I was 16 years old 64k fr-08 by farbrausch told me that I know nothing about programming ;) [1] this video

in “Source code for 4kb demoscene production “Elevated” released” · view on HN
Strongly recommendsuserbinatorNov 2017

“IMHO not very many 64Ks have reached the amazingness of this 11 minute one from 2000”

An 11 minute 64k demo considered among the most amazing.

Full comment

IMHO not very many 64Ks have reached the amazingness of this 11 minute one from 2000: this video ...and for 4K, this one from 2009: link

in “Terrain rendering in fewer than 20 lines of code” · view on HN
RecommendsuserbinatorAug 2017

“This one is probably the most memorable”

Memorable demo from the Farbrausch group.

Full comment

I discovered #4 through him and I agree both with his summary and the paper itself --- canonical Huffman is astoundingly simple if you look at it in the right way, yet almost everyone doesn't. ryg is also a member of the Farbrausch demogroup, which has released some amazing demos. This one is probably the most memorable: this video

RecommendsuserbinatorAug 2020

“award-winning 4k or 64k demos should be required watching for every software developer.”

Among personal favourite demos showing what computers can do efficiently.

Full comment

One only has to look at the demoscene to realise that limitations inspire creativity and efficiency. It's just a form of art, but gives a glimpse at what computers are capable of, if only we would try to use them more efficiently. I think award-winning 4k or 64k demos should be required watching for every software developer. Here are some personal favourites which have also appeared on HN: link link this video

in “Niklaus Wirth was right and that is a problem” · view on HN
Cites itxtrapolateFeb 2018

“Here's what they've pulled off in 2000”

Example of what 64k can achieve, contrasted with bloated web frameworks.

Full comment

When I'm thinking about bloated web frameworks and inefficient libraries, I often come back to memories of 64k demos released by groups such as Farbrausch. Here's what they've pulled off in 2000: this video - as somewhat of a "contrast", jQuery alone (3.0.0-alpha1, minified) weighs 84522 bytes. Use (what you deem as) the right tool for the job. As to how we've got to where we are today, there are lots of reasons - but personally, I feel it's pointless to constantly talk about it. Whether things are more complex than they used to be is up for debate, it's entirely subjective. It's natural for things to evolve given the rising popularity and increased demands - but they evolve organically. People flock to frameworks because there's abstraction, and the "dirty work" has been offloaded to a third-party. This saves people time and effort. It's a bet - frameworks come and go, maintainers disappear; that's just the nature of it.

in “In web design, everything easy is hard again” · view on HN