4 ms·
This problem is traditionally solved by attempting to teach the aliens how to decode the pattern inside the pattern itself. For example a rendering might look l
by crdrost 2y ago
This problem is traditionally solved by attempting to teach the aliens how to decode the pattern inside the pattern itself. For example a rendering might look like
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x
x _ _ x _ x _ x x x _ x _ x _ _ x _ x _ x x x _ x _ x _ _ x
x _ _ x _ x _ x _ _ _ x _ x _ _ x _ x _ x _ x _ x _ x _ _ x
x _ _ x x x _ x x _ _ x x x _ _ x x x _ x _ x _ x _ x _ _ x
x _ _ x _ x _ x _ _ _ _ x _ _ _ _ x _ _ x _ x _ x _ x _ _ x
x _ _ x _ x _ x x x _ _ x _ _ _ _ x _ _ x x x _ x x x _ _ x
x _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
The idea is that the aliens can figure out first that these opening and closing sections have periodicity 30, and because they are so repetitive they do not contain the actual data bits, but then there is a central section which does contain complexity.
So then they will hopefully alight upon the idea of looking at the code two-dimensionally, and adjust their browser width until the lines all line up, at which point they get the custom message.
- pavel_lishin 2y agoWouldn't it be slightly simpler to use a prime number of rows and columns?
- crdrost 2y agoSlightly, yes! The Arecibo message was 73×23 bits, with the hope that the aliens would break lines after 23 bits. But, i f . t h e s n e i l a . e s . l i k e . o r t s u o b p h e d o n . w . r e d r o e . a r e . k c s . a d n i r e w e d . o a . e h t . n r e c i b o . e g a s s e m . a n y w a y and that's to say nothing of spiraling orders etc.
- sillysaurusx 2y agoHow long did you spend crafting this comment? Be honest. I could imagine doing that with Vim, but I don’t think I could do it in less than ten minutes. And then I’d get sidetracked about whether to represent empty checkboxes with _ or - or a Unicode box.
- boomskats 2y agoThank you so much for this. I wonder, at a global level, how many potentially productive man-minutes will be wasted thanks to your comment.
- _0j9w 2y agoI thought the same thing
- anon533783 2y ago┌───────────────────────┐ │ https://asciiflow.com │ └───────────────────────┘
- djha-skin 2y agohttps://github.com/vim-scripts/DrawIt https://github.com/vim-scripts/DrawIt
- kangalioo 2y agoCan be pretty fast if you know your tools well :) Just tried in VSCode; 2:38min using its fabulous multiline editing. 1:34min on second try due to practice
- madcaptenor 2y agoIIRC these messages usually have their dimensions equal to primes, to help the aliens a little bit - for example the Arecibo message was 1679 = 73 * 23 bits. We're hoping the aliens have the sense to recognize a product of two primes.
- shaftway 2y agoIf you used a prime number instead of 30 (e.g. 29) then the aliens would spend less time checking the factors of 30 (15, 10, 6, 5, 3, 2).