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Text Editor Created In Minecraft

jones_supa writes: The redstone mechanics in Minecraft can be pushed surprisingly far to create rather advanced digital circuits. Thanks to a user nicknamed Koala_Steamed, there now exists a text editor inside the game (YouTube demonstration). It comes with a 5 x 10 character matrix in which each character uses a starburst (16-segment) display. There are 7.357 x 10^92 different combinations the screen can show, all of which can be controlled from a single line. The scale of the workings used to make this piece of logic, using only redstone, is dauntingly huge.

7 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Most important question of all by NotInHere · · Score: 5, Funny

    does it support vi or emacs commands?

    1. Re:Most important question of all by ComputerGeek01 · · Score: 5, Funny

      On behalf of Systems Administrators everywhere; I will personally bitch slap the first user that tries to tell me that their preferred emacs interpreter is Minecraft.

    2. Re:Most important question of all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I personally use Emacs as my preferred Minecraft interpreter.

  2. Re:This isn't pure minecraft by MadCow42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He serializes the data and sends it over a single redstone line... just like you would do in a real computer.

    --
    I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
  3. Re:This isn't pure minecraft by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He serializes the data and sends it over a single redstone line... just like you would do in a real computer.

    It's actually rather interesting. I think firstly the keyboard generates serial pulses directly, with the pulses encoded with redstone repeaters. This is a very nice solution to keyboard decoding. Secondly, minecraft is a lot slower than the real world so high speed problems crop up early. Routing 8 parallel wires would be a real pain and you'd start to get clock skew problems if you weren't really careful about keeping the path lengths the same.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  4. Re:Cool, but why? by Psychotria · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Obviously a talented individual, think of that useful software could have been written with the same amount of time and effort.

    I've been asked this question all my life.

    When I decided I'd like to fly to the moon everyone asked why. "You could have spent your time and effort making a ship to fly to Australia," they said.

    The time that I decided I'd like to write a series of novels that spanned generations of characters and several hundred years they said asked why as well. "Your time is better spent writing non-fiction and and historic account of something that really happened."

    I remember one time when I decided to ride my bike to the other side of town. My grandfather said "Why? The bus is faster and you'll be less tired."

    Sometimes I take a break from work. My co-workers ask me why when work is so rewarding anyway.

    The other day I spent a crazy amount of money buying ingredients to make a very tasty meal (well, I thought it was). I was asked why. It provided my body the same energy as something I could have made using much cheaper ingredients.

    Related to the above item, many of my friends ask me why I cook my own meals at all. If you look hard enough you can get someone else to cook something kind of similar for about the same cost.

    I once decided to make my own analogue clock. I made all the gears and built it from scratch. Took ages. Cost a lot more than an analogue clock I could have purchased (and certainly a lot more than a digital clock).

    Sometimes I do crosswords or solve other puzzles.

    Even more occasionally I listen to music.

    I go bushwalking (I am not sure of the American term -- walking in National Parks along trails?) and camping.

    I could go on forever and for ever.

    I don't need to do any of these things. I enjoy doing these things. I want to do these things. Most of them serve no practical purpose at all, apart from making me happy. That's not entirely true, though. If I set myself a goal that has no practical or useful purpose and achieve it I do get a reward. I even get a reward if I fail.

    There is no purpose to life apart from being happy (IMO). And if doing something meaningless makes you happy then... then, well it's not meaningless is it?

  5. Re:Cool, but why? by Psychotria · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I meant to add...

    When I am laying on my death bed and someone says "you did all these useless things -- you could have directed your talent towards really useful stuff and made lots of money", I will honestly be able to say "They were not useless; they made me happy. And that is what gave my life meaning."