#Maths

Why does Python tell you that 0.1 + 0.2 = 0.30000000000000004? The answer is IEEE 754 - the floating-point standard baked into every CPU on the planet.

I’m exploring a bunch of terrain generation algorithms, to see how they work and which ones look nice. So far I’ve tried out the Midpoint Displacement and Diamond Square algorithms…

I’ve been having a bit of a play around with my Agon Light, trying to come up with some ideas for a future video. I’ve discovered it has quite a nice 320×240 64 colour video mode that has just enough pixels to be interesting.

Today, we’re diving into the world of cellular automata. A digital playground of sorts where simple rules lead to astonishing complexity. where order can arise from chaos and collapse back into chaos just as quickly.

In preparation for my next video I’ve been tidying up some cellular automata code I wrote. There’s some good old Conway’s Life, some 1D CAs that make pretty patterns, and one I recently discovered called Wire World.

What happens when you set out to build a pocket calculator? Well in this case it turns out you also accidentally invent desktop computers, and spawn a bunch of CPUs that are still being used today.

Follow along as we go through the thoroughly bizarre story of how trying to do complex maths and fit it in our pockets lead directly to the machine you’re using right now to watch this video, which you should totally wach, now. Go on, click it.

Writing more optimised assembly to improve the speed of the Conway’s Life algorithm

Programming the popular cellular automaton using Z80 Assembler

Straight forward instructions on how to rearrange algebraic equations, all wrapped up in a nice free PDF to download. Don’t fear maths or algebra again!

Back in the mists of history, sometime around the 90s it was quite common for games and demos to display text on the screen. Since we’re talking about old computers with barely any usable RAM, the text was stored as images. A giant single image with every character placed within it. To display words programmers had to be a bit inventive. That’s the topic of today’s post.