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John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

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Re: John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

#101

Post by epr »

wmichelin wrote: post #20

Here is your daily reminder to read "Masters of Doom", a book about the early days at ID Software. It's an amazing look into a really cool time in gaming and software as a whole. It's a great book, mostly about John Carmack and the guys at ID! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Doom

I randomly selected this book off a shelf in my high school library when I had to pick a book to do a report on for a bullshit elective in high school. Procrastinated as usual, so on the Sunday before it was due I figured I had less than 24 hours, so I might as well look up the cliff notes and barf 1000 lines on paper. I decided to at least try reading the first chapter for whatever reason and couldn't stop reading. Went from planning to do the bare minimum to trying way too hard to do a good job and somehow convince everyone it was a good book. Now, working as a developer, I credit that book with getting myself into game development and programming in general. This book was life-changing for me.

Re: John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

#102

Post by Raidion »

headcanon wrote: post #94
Trasmatta wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't he also end up getting banned for life from that casino for counting cards?

Wouldn't surprise me - I've read some stuff on card counters and seen a few videos, seems like there's a whole other side of successful card counting beyond the technical skill where you have to read out the social situation, since any pit boss worth their salt will be able to spot a card counter a mile away. Which I'm guessing Carmack didn't really care to do since he was just on an intellectual kick.

Good card counters are always a team, you can't go far solo as it's pretty easy to tell when you're betting 20 dollars one hand, and 500 another.

You usually have a few smaller players just playing fixed bets who call over some higher roller that will do the big betting when the count is high, and then just leave when the count gets low.

Rumor has it that the security cameras now have software that will tally the count automatically, and flag people that play when the count is up. Coupled with player identification (facial recognition/player rewards cards) and correlating player times, casinos are starting to automate this. All rumor, of course, but sounds plausible if you're willing to throw a few million at the problem.

Re: John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

#103

Post by Raidion »

gowld wrote: post #99
headcanon wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't surprise me - I've read some stuff on card counters and seen a few videos, seems like there's a whole other side of successful card counting beyond the technical skill where you have to read out the social situation, since any pit boss worth their salt will be able to spot a card counter a mile away. Which I'm guessing Carmack didn't really care to do since he was just on an intellectual kick.

What social situation?

You need to leave before the pitt boss makes you leave.

Re: John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

#104

Post by self_awareness »

Trasmatta wrote: post #28
wmichelin wrote: post #20

Here is your daily reminder to read "Masters of Doom", a book about the early days at ID Software. It's an amazing look into a really cool time in gaming and software as a whole. It's a great book, mostly about John Carmack and the guys at ID! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Doom

I love that book so much. It makes me sad sometimes that I missed those days of programming in the 90's.

Well, you still can experience early days of conventional programming in 2020 until quantum programming takes over in 2040 ;)

Re: John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

#105

Post by rvz »

jquast wrote: post #67

My favorite developer contributing to my favorite operating system! This is like Christmas. I’ve been contributing $ to OpenBSD since 3.x release days, and reading John carmack’s “.plan” file since Doom 2, when they ran digital Unix! Did you know: you have John Carmack to thank for first porting X11 to OSX? Thank you John!!

> My favorite developer contributing to my favorite operating system! This is like Christmas.

What? Calm yourself man. No need to get too excited over the past.

Re: John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

#106

Post by pacificmint »

lemoncucumber wrote: post #63
sigzero wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So? Counting cards is not illegal if that is what you are trying to insinuate.

No, but casinos are private businesses with the right to refuse service to anyone, and they tend to exercise that right against people they believe to be counting cards. Card counters are not a protected class.

> the right to refuse service to anyone

If I remember correctly, then that is true in Nevada, but not in Atlantic City. There they have to let you play even if they suspect you of counting cards.

Of course that just means they will employ other means to prevent you from counting cards (larger shoes, continuous shuffling, etc).

Re: John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

#107

Post by cameronfraser »

jamesjyu wrote: post #25
cameronfraser wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people who actually work in AI know that AGI being possible is still an IF and IF it is possible, it is centuries or even further away (basically some indeterminate time frame because we don't even know if we're on the right path). The techniques we're using today are likely not going to be applicable to AGI. John Carmack is very smart, but I wouldn't place him on the same pedestal as any of our great historical…

That's an interesting perspective: why do you believe that it will be an individual who will make a breakthrough, as opposed to a web of Carmack-like folks?

I actually don't believe an individual will make a breakthrough, that was more of a if an individual did do it statement. IMO it's actually going to be the result of a lot of methodical work by an army of researchers over a really long period of time.

Re: John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

#108

Post by komali2 »

dEnigma wrote: post #81
elyseum wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Omg never knew he did Commander Keen too. CK2 probably was the first video game I played (as far as I can remember). Go go pogo sticks!

Commander Keen is also Doom Guy's father, at least according to Tom Hall (co-founder of id software) https://twitter.com/ThatTomHall/status/958352500431572992

Being now 1/4th of the way through Doom Eternal I wonder how Canon that is. It seems Doomguy is the direct descendent of human-but-not warrior race? So BJ Blascowitz being human (maybe?) doesn't quite fit. They're doing such an awesome job expanding the Doom mythology that it'd be tight to watch them go back and explore Keen more, silly a game though it may have been.

Re: John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

#109

Post by rvz »

rhacker wrote: post #40
mikorym wrote: post #23

Is there any more context to OP's post? I guess someone just noticed in the mailing list, but it's not clear whether maybe John Carmark does this with all code everywhere in the universe. And then probably still has some interesting coffee break conversations... On a different note. I am something of a Ubuntu fan and try to be more involved there. But then again the xBSDs where x = {Free, Open, Net, ...} are one of t…

To me this kind of stuff is fan junk news. I get that even hackers need celebrities, but front page of HN is a little extreme for a thing like this without context. If there was more context like, John C has re-written half of BSD, then we're talking - but this is very celebrity grocery list to me.

I'd bet everyone on this thread will be grabbing their cheerleading squad and their pom-poms everywhere if John Carmack visited them in person. They won't be able to contain themselves and start bursting into tears of joy.

'Extreme' maybe an understatement here but it seems like HNers here love seeing the second coming of King Midas when everything he touches turns into gold.

Re: John Carmack is reading and contributing to OpenBSD source code

#110

Post by dkarl »

rhacker wrote: post #40
mikorym wrote: post #23

Is there any more context to OP's post? I guess someone just noticed in the mailing list, but it's not clear whether maybe John Carmark does this with all code everywhere in the universe. And then probably still has some interesting coffee break conversations... On a different note. I am something of a Ubuntu fan and try to be more involved there. But then again the xBSDs where x = {Free, Open, Net, ...} are one of t…

To me this kind of stuff is fan junk news. I get that even hackers need celebrities, but front page of HN is a little extreme for a thing like this without context. If there was more context like, John C has re-written half of BSD, then we're talking - but this is very celebrity grocery list to me.

I get what you're saying, but I think it's great for people to see that an old-school hard core programmer puts effort into improving documentation and names. I've worked with a lot of people who think programmers can and should be too good to invest time and thought into changes like that.

Also to see that he would be so tactful about asking if the changes are welcome, even though he is who he is and knows it. I like to think there are people in their twenties or teens or even younger browsing HN and subconsciously absorbing the fact that this is how a programming god behaves.

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