

Laocoön - johnr8201
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/23/laocoon/

======
startupfounder
I know that I am reading WAY to much into this but here are the rules:

"For a space that is 'populated': Each cell with one or no neighbors dies, as
if by loneliness. Each cell with four or more neighbors dies, as if by
overpopulation. Each cell with two or three neighbors survives.

For a space that is 'empty' or 'unpopulated' Each cell with three neighbors
becomes populated." [1]

The classic glider is the hacker icon:

    
    
       OXO
       OOX
       XXX
    

Apple's icon:

    
    
       OXOOX
       OOXOO
       XXXOO
    

or

"Hacker"

    
    
       OXO
       OOX
       XXX
    

plus

"Death"

    
    
       OX
       OO
       OO
    

But, if we look at the rules and this icon, it is saying, "Hacker + Death", as
if they are saying death to the hacker. They are using the first rule of fight
club, "Each cell with one or no neighbors dies, as if by loneliness" with the
added populated space. As if they are pushing out hackers if by loneliness and
through that loneliness they will die.

EDIT: Or they are trying to be like Gandalf and say, "You Shall Not Pass!"

To me this is sad, because the roots of apple were in the hacker culture when
Woz build the blue box. I would love to get Woz's take on this...

[1] <http://www.bitstorm.org/gameoflife/>

~~~
drostie
The point is not a concatenation of two symbols -- the point is that this one
little point will kill the glider beside it, where by "kill" I mean it becomes
the static sequence:

    
    
        . o o
        o . o
        . o .
    

So if they are saying "death to the hacker" they are saying it much more
dramatically than you can hope to get by your analysis. The point is, "there
is the symbol for a hacker, flying freely diagonally across the grid, but
we've added a point which will get her stuck in one form."

------
taylorfausak
This symbol is not ominous; the glider doesn't die. It moves through four
states, arriving at this steady state:

    
    
         XX
        X X
         X
    

I'm surprised that the author wrote such a lengthy article without making sure
that the premise is true. I think he misread the engraving and transposed the
stray dot to the left, like so:

    
    
         X X
          X
        XXX
    

That symbol does die.

~~~
GenericAlias
"Technically the glider becomes a known static shape. But for this active and
useful little craft with its wiggly diagonal propagation and useful character,
it is as good as death." Though it is fairly easy to miss, it is stated in the
article. The author is using "death" to mean that the shapes stop changing,
not that the dots disappear- which is not the same meaning you and I thought
of at first.

~~~
taylorfausak
Mea culpa. I was confused because Conway's game of life has two states: life
and death. Living things that don't move are still lifes [1].

[1]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_life_(cellular_automaton)...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_life_\(cellular_automaton\)#Tubs.2C_barges.2C_boats_and_ships)

------
pge
For those not familiar with Laocoon, he was a hero from greek and roman
stories, most famously written about in Virgil's Aeneid. He recognized the
Trojan Horse as a ruse (and is the source of the saying that has come down to
us as "Beware the Greeks bearing gifts") but was not believed and was further
punished by the gods who sent two serpents that dragged him and his twin sons
into the sea. A statue depicting the event is one of the most famous
sculptures of antiquity.

------
schwabacher
Most comments are interpreting this as a 'death to hackers' message, but it
seems more likely to me that it's a memorial to Steve Jobs.

I would think that apple employees designing something like this view
themselves as a part of hacker culture.

------
pidge
The picture in the article is cropped. In the original iFixit teardown you see
that the pattern is right next to a laser-engraved data matrix code [1].

The indentations probably encode some quality-control type metadata from the
CNC milling machine (like the version of the plan used to mill the part).
iFixit just happend to get a glider in theirs.

[1] <http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/GGjmUQwXwlrFJAUy.huge>

------
arkitaip
Next week Devin Coldewey discusses the numerology of Steve Jobs and traces
Apples' hidden roots to Aleister Crowley and Thelema.

------
othermaciej
It's hard to tell if the author's explanation is reasonable, because he
doesn't explain what part the code was found on, who found it, what other
markings might be on that or other parts, etc. I wonder why he doesn't tell us
any of these things? Seems like basic journalism.

~~~
saulrh
[http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Retina-
Di...](http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Retina-Display-
Teardown/9493/2)

It's on the Macbook Pro in the display assembly.

------
tricolon
Perhaps it's a "stop sign" for hackers—"go no further". The extra cell
effectively stops the glider, since it ends up in a steady state.

------
petercooper
Pareidolia. It could also be a binary code where the rows (or columns)
represent 1, 2 and 4, giving values of 15304 or 45601 depending on what way up
you read.

------
rsiqueira
I always use the Glider (Hacker's Emblem) as my wallpaper (from this
Deviantart artist), it makes a great minimalist dark background:
[http://mientefuego.deviantart.com/art/Carbon-
Glider-12926852...](http://mientefuego.deviantart.com/art/Carbon-
Glider-129268523)

Minimal representation (using 2 Braille Unicode characters) is: ⠠⠵

But Apple's version contains a single cell in the top right that will interact
with the Glider and will mutate and become a static structure 4 iterations
later. I tested in this html5 Conway's Game of Life online simulator:
<http://www.quesucede.com/public/gameoflife/game.html>

------
Kerrick
The glider is also the universal hacker emblem. <http://www.catb.org/hacker-
emblem/>

------
spullara
It seems to me that if it is anything it is a memorial to Steve Jobs. His
glider was stopped.

------
jinfiesto
In case anyone was wondering, Laocoon is pronounced Lay-Awk-Oh-Wan.

~~~
evincarofautumn
I’ve only ever seen it written, so I’ve always pronounced it like the Greek
Λαοκόων, that is, [laokoɔːn].

------
justincormack
After a couple of seconds in the iPad, in this case just after the annoying do
I want to download the app had popped up after i started reading, techcrunch
articles just go fuzzy and unreadable. The comments don't. I am guessing it is
a webfonts issue. Maybe it is to force you to use the app. I havent been able
to read a techcrunch article in months though.

~~~
egypturnash
I only get that when I zoom in any way. It is weird and obnoxious and makes me
hit the "reader" button so I can have the text at a decent size.

------
cpb
Maybe they're celebrating how successful they've become. The dot eventually
turns the glider into a boat, as if to cheer "I'm on a boat"

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Game_of_life_boat.svg>

