4 ms·
I remember downloading stuff from usenet 20 years ago and the par files going with them. Basically, files were split into chunks and you’d merge the chunks. In
by eknkc 1y ago
I remember downloading stuff from usenet 20 years ago and the par files going with them. Basically, files were split into chunks and you’d merge the chunks. In case there was a missing or corrupt chunk, the par files would allow recovering the missing part. You did not need to download entire par chunks either. You lost 1mb? Download 1mb of par and recover it (or something like that, cant remember now).
That blew my mind and I went into a rabbit hole of error correction. I did not know about the reed-solomon or any other methods. Just took days to understand it. Implementing my own par like shitty thing in the process.
This brings that back as I’m more curious about the error correction than the actual bit encoding.
- shinycode 1y agoI remember doing this for years as well and it seemed like magic and this algorithm blew my mind that any piece of a movie could be rebuild from a small part of par files. ChatGPT is quite good at explaining it
- PostOnce 1y agoThe concept of being able to (for a physical example) rip ANY page out of a book and being able to replace it using only the information on your single "magic page" is incredible. With two magic pages you can replace any two torn out pages, and the magic pages are interchangeable. The math we have mastered is incredible. If only they could impart this wonder to children instead of rote worksheets enforced by drill sergeant math teachers. While I'm ranting, I checked out a book from the library yesterday called "Math with Bad Drawings", it's very fun, and approachable for anyone with no math background, kids and adults enjoy it. We need more STEM for fun, and not just STEM for money. That's how we get good at STEM.