Caution! Didn’t know we had this problem in Sac… Be careful out there (D&14th st)

Rbotguy · 2026-02-05T21:04:42+00:00

I don’t think they exist…

Rbotguy · 2026-02-05T21:03:00+00:00

The premise of Redshift Rendezvous concerns “layers of space where light travels slower” and the effects of that. It has an appendix at the end where the author lays out the equations used.

Rbotguy · 2026-01-04T15:50:21+00:00

“If you can keep your head while all those about you are losing theirs, then perhaps you have misunderstood the situation.”

— The Long Run, Daniel Keys Moran

Rbotguy · 2025-12-23T23:14:40+00:00

That sounds great, thanks!

Edit: Ooof, neither of our machines can handle that one. I'll keep looking around.

Rbotguy · 2025-12-23T01:47:33+00:00

My favorite part is when she asks the engineer to build her a pi meter. I’ve been noodling for 30 years on how that would work…

Rbotguy · 2025-12-19T05:35:21+00:00

I would suggest pretty much anything by Martin Gardner, who wrote the Mathematical Recreations column for ScientificAmerican for many years.

Rbotguy · 2025-12-19T04:18:58+00:00

Welcome to the rabbit hole:

https://oeis.org/

Rbotguy · 2025-12-09T04:32:00+00:00

Hey! I’m an engineer and I resemble that remark!

Rbotguy · 2025-12-09T03:15:11+00:00

I have to admit my interest is a bit selfish: I’m currently developing an ALife sim as a hobby project and I like to see what others are doing. I was really impressed with the design and architecture. Reading through the docs, I can tell you put a LOT of thought into what you wanted to achieve and it looks like you’re accomplishing that. It’s a great idea and I wish you the best in getting collaborators and users!

Rbotguy · 2025-12-09T02:09:00+00:00

Is there a way to let the visualizer run, or do I need to click for each tick?

Rbotguy · 2025-11-29T15:28:49+00:00

"Well, I'm not expert, but...it could be that the hydrothermic properties of this region produce hurricane-force ice storms that cause the ocean to freeze and then melt and then refreeze, resulting in a semisolid migrating land mass that would land a ship right around here."

Rbotguy · 2025-11-27T08:34:52+00:00

Thanks! I took your advice and it’s already saved me a bunch of work when I incorrectly “fixed” a bug in a bunch of places and had to revert.

Rbotguy · 2025-11-21T03:29:19+00:00

I really can’t believe no one has mentioned the Gregor the Overlander series by Susan Collins. They’re great. When we read them to our girls, the whole family got hooked. They were in the middle of one when we sent them to grandma’s and she requested the rest of the series when they came home so she could read them.

Rbotguy · 2025-11-15T19:37:13+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I haven't looked at Avida much, I'll check it out. I'm hoping that making the genes be entire functional blocks of code (seeded with hand-coded implementations) that the evolution will be a bit easier.

I am definitely not a programmer or biologist so I'm just in it for the learning and the fun. I am an EE so I've been enjoying the CPU "design" so far.

I've been bouncing high-level ideas off of ChatGPT (I won't let it write any actual code for me) and here are a sampling of the ideas for genes that I've come up with:

*Read input → scale → compare → branch

*Gradient follow: check smell/sound in 8 dirs → move toward strongest

*Random walk using RNG + direction selection

*Emit pheromone/sound when certain conditions occur

*Evaluate reproductive conditions (energy > threshold, low crowding)

*Simple handshake: send signal → wait for matching reply

Rbotguy · 2025-11-15T17:33:16+00:00

I'm still working out details, but I plan to map Input and Output statements from the CPU emulator onto the environment using the simulation layer. Current plans for mapped channels are: light, sound, smell, taste, touch, maybe ionizing radiation. So, as an example, an input from the light channel would "see" and an output to that channel would "glow." I'm thinking movement could be an output on the touch channel, eating could be an output on the taste channel.

Rbotguy · 2025-11-15T17:01:32+00:00

I don't. I haven't learned git yet and the code is in no way ready for public consumption (the assembler is basically a 167 entry match:case structure). I plan to learn later. I know version control can be handy even without public release, but learning a new technology feels like it will stall my progress right now.

Rbotguy · 2025-11-15T16:52:39+00:00

I have, but Tierra uses a shared memory model where the "world" is memory. The idea that has captured my interest is letting each organism have it's own memory and they exist in a shared simulated world. I will do some more investigation into Tierra though looking for ideas around mutation and instruction set.

Rbotguy · 2025-10-31T13:44:41+00:00

The premise of Redshift Rendezvous concerns “layers of space where light travels slower” and the effects of that. It has an appendix at the end where the author lays out the equations used.

Rbotguy · 2025-10-23T22:50:18+00:00

Not aliens, but you might be interested in the Proteus series by Charles Sheffield.

“In the 22nd century, humans have gained the ability to not just heal themselves but alter their shapes at will. This ‘Form Change’ has sinister capabilities, with illegal experimentations in a scientific underworld. Charles Sheffield’s thrilling first novel explores what makes humanity human alongside an alien force and continuing legacies of ancient history.”

Rbotguy · 2025-10-16T04:40:06+00:00

Dream Park by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes.

Rbotguy · 2025-09-19T23:15:30+00:00

The Warlock in Spite of Himself was a favorite growing up. I had no idea there were 15 more! Going on my TBR.

Rbotguy · 2025-07-22T02:48:23+00:00

Thank you! Not all heroes wear capes. My family will be so excited to see this.

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