
16-year-old Makes Working Scientific Calculator in Minecraft - onemoreact
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Minecraft-Calculator-Graphing-MaxSGB-Scientific,15109.html
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bryanh
Could Minecraft be that little thing that teaches kids about logic? Maybe Jeb
and co. should consider adding even simpler logic based building blocks, more
akin to Lego's Mindstorm as an alternative to relays and switches.

I find it fascinating to think in 10-20 years many will be looking back fondly
on how they learned to hack with an unassuming little game: Minecraft.

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cookiecaper
There is an unbelievable amount of potential in Minecraft that is completely
untapped. It's really an amazing environment and I'm surprised it hasn't
spawned "sandbox games" as a completely separate and significant genre,
especially since a big reason Minecraft remains "untapped" is Notch's
reticence to open the platform up and push the game forward.

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elisee
Just thought I'd mention CraftStudio (<http://craftstud.io/>), the multiplayer
game-making platform I'm working on. You could say it's a Minecraft-style
engine but you get to make your own models, paint your own map blocks and
(soon) write your own game rules (so you'll be able to make any kind of games,
not just first person stuff).

Video of CraftStudio in action: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QbJO3y_O0>

Hacker News thread from yesterday:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3751455>

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arithma
I am really afraid that although this 16-year old (I don't like the
patronizing kid word) has made something of immense creativity and of
intrinsic value, he'll face such a drastic world that limits a lot of creative
potential by the idiosyncrasies of mature reality.

I really hope talented people like this guy be given full-throttle. They are
the real capital, not the tools.

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tmh88j
I think this would be one of the few cases to list video games on a
college/job application. I'll be honest that I didn't watch all 10 minutes,
but it seems like he's using some complex methods, especially for a 16 year
old. Props to him, one hell of a hacker!

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jacquesm
I watched the video all the way to the end, this is nothing short of amazing.
Now I get why they call it 'creative mode'.

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tibbon
If they pulled it off in survival mode, I would be absolutely floored. Well, I
still am anyway, but still- Damn creepers.

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BHSPitMonkey
> creepers

So THAT'S what was causing the memory corruption.

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LesZedCB
brings a whole new understanding to "debugging"

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Derbasti
But isn't that basically where the term came from? Actual insects frying on
circuits and shorting contacts?

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brazzy
Not really, it was always largely figurative. The famous Mark II logbook with
the moth taped to it had the note "First actual case of bug being found." - so
that clearly indicates that A) the term had been in use for a while (a very
long while, there is a record of Edison using it) and B) Real insects were
typically not involved.

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psycho
Well, the kid doesn't have to worry what to answer on a question about the
most impressive thing he did if he decides to apply to YC someday.

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arethuza
I'm hoping his next step is to create a full computer and port Linux to it...
:-)

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prophetjohn
It would be neat, but honestly the complexity of a modern CPU is not something
that any individual would be able to recreate in a life time if they were
building it piece-by-piece. I imagine that's true for any CPU capable of
running recent Ubuntu releases or even something light like, I dunno, Puppy.

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Zaak
Actually, the complexity of a modern CPU is mainly in making things run fast.
Building an in-order, no-cache, single-issue ARM capable of running uClinux
doesn't seem all that difficult. The cycle time would be horrible though. You
might not live long enough to watch it boot.

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prophetjohn
That's kind of what I was getting at with "capable of running."

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PhrosTT
Can a 'minecrafter' explain a little more please?

I know you get 1x1 blocks of wood/stone/etc. How do the pieces move? Are there
simple on/off switches? Gunpowder + fire for wires?

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pixelcort
In the game there is a resource known as redstone. It can be acquired
underground when mining in the game or made available in the game's creative
mode. With it you can build various kinds of circuits. The game also includes
various input and output blocks, such as buttons, switches, lights, and
pistons. Put together, the player can do anything from as simple as a button
opening a door to as complex as the article describes.

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lisper
So... did this kid assemble the whole thing manually brick-by-brick, or did he
use some kind of compiler? Does minecraft have macros? Stored procedures? Hard
to believe every individual brick was placed by hand.

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yew
No macros or compilers per se. There are map editors that allow you to make
copies of existing groups of blocks, like replicating seven-segment displays.

There are not really any repositories of existing designs, so the logic was
probably all done 'by hand'.

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simonbrown
See also: Working 8-bit CPU in Minecraft

<http://boingboing.net/2010/11/12/working-8-bit-cpu-in.html>

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exch
Having tried my hand at building computing systems in Minecraft myself, I must
say this is very impressive work.

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fruchtose
Somebody get this kid a job!

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10dpd
Has anyone verified that this is in fact real? It seems like it would be
rather easy to fake this.

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jebblue
Amazing kid, wonderful invention.

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Melyan
Why is it necessary to include the age in the title?

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DanBC
It's not necessary. But it does make a difference to the story. Some one who'd
had years of education and gone through a good college and has worked in the
industry could have made this, and everyone would have been impressed. The
fact that this young person created this without all that is impressive.

And, depending what media you have access to, there's not often good news
about young people.

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shantanubala
I honestly love seeing stuff like this -- it's really cool.

But part of me always wonders, "I wonder what this kid could've built if he
had a more meaningful project in mind?"

I understand that you need to have a certain amount of "fun" before you can do
"serious" things, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed that he
didn't "dream bigger."

It's not really a criticism. This kid is probably really smart, but I wish it
was easy to create environments for such people to really flourish to their
full potential.

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jacquesm
What do you mean by 'more meaningful'? I think it is fantastic that he managed
to be so creative that he managed to turn a game into a calculator, something
it clearly wasn't intended to be.

That shows a lot of skill and resourcefulness, it also shows quite a bit of
dedication and stamina. All of those are great traits and I'm sure the
experience improved on these.

This impresses me very much.

Can you give an example of what you would consider to be a more meaningful
project? Something that you would consider to be approaching full potential?

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shantanubala
I only now realized that my comment was a bit unnecessarily patronizing! I
meant it as a wish that programming could be as fun as Minecraft, but also
remain as efficient as something like Python.

Imagine what that kid could build if a tool existed that was as interesting as
Minecraft, but tailored toward making iPhone apps (or another very specific
type of application). In the same amount of time, he could've probably made
something even more impressive.

I was trying to express a slight disappointment that the _tools_ were a
limiting factor to the ability of people (like this kid) to build amazing
things.

Instead of building a calculator, would he be able to do _more_ in the same
amount of time?

In that case, could he build a game? An app? Really, it doesn't matter what
the end product (or the project) is. I was only trying to express a little
disappointment that there wasn't a more efficient way to channel his energy
into a final product that would allow him to accomplish an even more ambitious
goal.

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ugh
You are thinking about products and projects, the kid is thinking about having
fun in a game. Totally different perspective.

It’s totally fun to just have fun without necessarily learning any important
skills or developing a product that helps you make money.

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shantanubala
I understand that, but are there opportunities to improve upon the "fun" of
Minecraft that lead to an actually useful product? I'm sure the main
motivation for building a calculator was the complexity of the problem -- not
the usefulness of a Minecraft calculator. Imagine if the tools were tailored
to keep the same level of fun while also empowering him to create something he
could use!

That's what I meant by "think bigger" or "serious" -- the Minecraft calculator
was fun and challenging, but is there something equally fun, equally
challenging, but more useful? Can we make tools that empower kids to have more
fun solving complex problems that lead to a useful result?

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DanBC
I sort of agree.

Many softwares have confusing interfaces. They are aimed at professionals who
work with them all day and who will be trained to use them. Either they should
have a "New to this program? Click this and we'll hide everything but the
essential tools while you work through some tutorials" feature; and perhaps
that could be a free version of the software.

What ideas do you have for tools to empower people?

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HardyLeung
This is very very impressive, though I hope the kid's next project is some
creative and useful applications rather than another Minecraft undertaking.

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tibbon
This is today's version of building your own computer on wire wrap in your
garage. I don't think you'd go back in time and tell Woz/Jobs that the Home
Computing Club or the Apple 1 weren't useful. If a 16 year old understands in
detail how a graphing calculator works from a raw bit-logic level, then I
think it speaks that they'll have a much more interesting career in store for
them than 99.99% of 16 year olds.

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richardlblair
+1

I don't think HardyLeung understand that this kid had to handle every bit. Had
to build his own integrated memory. This young man obviously has an incredible
understanding of binary math. Beyond all this He had to deal with the weird
physics, and rules of circuits in Minecraft.

If I was this kids parents, I would let him play Minecraft all he wants. In
fact, don't stop playing Minecraft.

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HardyLeung
Since you call me out, I need to point out that you are wrong. I do understand
what it takes to do that, and that he needs to handle every bit and memory and
all. You're passing a judgment based on a shallow interpretation of what
others wrote.

And I said I am very very (doubly) impressed. When it comes to the freaking
_next_ project, branch off, do something else, don't constrain yourself in the
Minecraft world. Instead, this kid should use his immense
talent/patience/creativity that he/she has and applies to something more
substantial. That's what I said. I don't understand why I got downvoted for
saying that. You see it as a criticism; But what I gave was a constructive
criticism. If you don't see it, pay more attention to the words "very very
impressed" and especially the word "next".

