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Donald Knuth’s Christmas Lecture (2022) [video]

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Re: Donald Knuth’s Christmas Lecture (2022) [video]

#3
People get mad that George RR Martin can't get past his 5th book in a decade.

And here, Knuth has to spend like 40 years writing his 4th book (which has now expanded into 3 books unexpectedly: 4a, 4b and 4c).

/s

I joke of course. But TAOCP's future chapters are some of the most interesting computer challenges available. Every section Knuth writes is another treasure.

It's clear that the computer science field really did take off in the 70s and 80s, so it makes a lot of sense why Volume 4 has expanded so much and scope-creeped.

Re: Donald Knuth’s Christmas Lecture (2022) [video]

#5
The most nostalgic part of this is that he's doing the presentation with a camera pointing at paper/books setup. Back in the 90's when I was talking CS, professors routinely presented by writing on plastic sheets using an overhead projector.

Not sure what I was expecting from Knuth though - maybe I was imagining some amazing TeX-based live diagramming environment, but then again he doesn't really use email which should have tempered these expectations.

Re: Donald Knuth’s Christmas Lecture (2022) [video]

#6
post #5

The most nostalgic part of this is that he's doing the presentation with a camera pointing at paper/books setup. Back in the 90's when I was talking CS, professors routinely presented by writing on plastic sheets using an overhead projector. Not sure what I was expecting from Knuth though - maybe I was imagining some amazing TeX-based live diagramming environment, but then again he doesn't really use email which shou…

He’s using what’s called an opaque projector—a super useful instrument.

Re: Donald Knuth’s Christmas Lecture (2022) [video]

#7

People get mad that George RR Martin can't get past his 5th book in a decade. And here, Knuth has to spend like 40 years writing his 4th book (which has now expanded into 3 books unexpectedly: 4a, 4b and 4c). /s I joke of course. But TAOCP's future chapters are some of the most interesting computer challenges available. Every section Knuth writes is another treasure. It's clear that the computer science field really…

I wouldn't guess at or disparage Martin's motives, but with Knuth, one suspects that the motives are just what it says in the title: art, and computer science.

Like Orson Wells pitching the vinter, Knuth will "sell no wine before its time". https://youtu.be/PUunRgUkRjQ

Re: Donald Knuth’s Christmas Lecture (2022) [video]

#8
post #5

The most nostalgic part of this is that he's doing the presentation with a camera pointing at paper/books setup. Back in the 90's when I was talking CS, professors routinely presented by writing on plastic sheets using an overhead projector. Not sure what I was expecting from Knuth though - maybe I was imagining some amazing TeX-based live diagramming environment, but then again he doesn't really use email which shou…

[deleted]

Re: Donald Knuth’s Christmas Lecture (2022) [video]

#9
post #5

The most nostalgic part of this is that he's doing the presentation with a camera pointing at paper/books setup. Back in the 90's when I was talking CS, professors routinely presented by writing on plastic sheets using an overhead projector. Not sure what I was expecting from Knuth though - maybe I was imagining some amazing TeX-based live diagramming environment, but then again he doesn't really use email which shou…

He’s using what’s called an opaque projector—a super useful instrument.

It looks to me like he's using a product by WolfVision that markets itself as a Visualizer[1].

[1](https://wolfvision.com/en/products/vz-8uhd)

Re: Donald Knuth’s Christmas Lecture (2022) [video]

#10
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He’s using what’s called an opaque projector—a super useful instrument.

It looks to me like he's using a product by WolfVision that markets itself as a Visualizer[1]. [1]( https://wolfvision.com/en/products/vz-8uhd )

Ahh, I guess what I meant to say was that in olden days the optical version of this was called an opaque projector.
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