Das Blinkenlights
34 comments
·January 12, 2025dvh
I like the KISS implementation of the ascii2dec function ;)
croes
Nitpicking
Blinkenlights isn’t a german word it’s pseudo german for Blinklicht originating from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinkenlights#:~:text=on%20the...
But the Chaos Computer Club built light installations called
danielbln
I would also use "die" instead of "das* for Blinkslights, since it's plural.
jansan
I wrote "I love you" on the CCC Blinkenlights in Berlin to my then girlfriend, who has been my wife now for 20 years. The most romantic thing I ever did :)
Over2Chars
@croes I was thinking the same thing (knowing no german, but having a hunch).
And the CCC project was a whole building.
For his example, I was expecting a whole cage with some tricked out lights, maybe some smoke effects (I can see new colo signs being updated "no cardboard,no smoke machines allowed"), a sub-woofer playing some chiptunes, etc.
not2b
I saw a version of that sign a very long time ago in a government lab at my high school summer intern job, attached to a PDP-11 that came with blinkenlights.
gonzo
First time I saw it was 1981 on the front of a DEC-10
null
Animats
> Now you need to remember this is not a metal panel it is a 1.6mm thick fibre-glass one, it does the job, but it wont take much abuse like a metal one will and flexes a little when handling it.
That's when you design in a PC board stiffener. These are just pieces of metal, U-channel, L-channel, or solid bar, to add some structural strength. Cheap and easy, but rarely seen in hobbyist work. Any board with buttons or knobs or connectors unsupported for more than a few inches should have some stiffening. You have to allow space for stiffening bars when designing the board, and you need to place screw holes.
LysPJ
This story reminded me of the "BeBox" [0] PowerPC computer from the 1990's, which had Blinkenlights on its front bezel.
(It ran the very cool "BeOS" operating system[1], which was eventually ported to Mac, then x86.)
benbristow
Hearing 'blinkenlights' reminds me of the still very much up 'towel.blinkenlights.nl' telnet server which plays an ASCII art rendition of Star Wars if you dial into it.
There's a joke if you have IPV6 connectivity where if you use IPV4 it says it has full colour support but if you do... well, it doesn't!
Insanity
Came to post the same..!
Someone wrote about it on Medium: https://medium.com/nerd-for-tech/telnetting-watching-star-wa...
Nice bit of nostalgia for me.
edoceo
Anyone using todbot blink(1)? Also a fun USB RGB.
zaxomi
I'm planning to do something similar, but using addressable RGB LEDs (like WS2811, also known as neopixel).
They are simple to work with. Each LED has 4 connections: GND, +5V, DATA IN and DATA OUT. Each LED grabs the first 24 bits of the data stream (8 bits for Red, Green and Blue) and sends the rest on DATA OUT for the next LED.
aryehof
Many, many years ago, I saw a copy of Das Blinkenlights delivered on a sheet of paper with the documentation of a brand new S/32 IBM system. Certainly a highlight of my IT career!
46Bit
The effect is really cool. I like the idea of visualizing data flowing through work systems like this. I think I'll go for 3D-printed or laser-cut panels instead though - would work out cheaper. Thanks :)
thekevan
I can't wait until gaming builds start adopting this trend. I want to see a high end gaming rig but it looks like a server from a 1990s sci-fi movie.
bmoe
This looks very much like a Connection Machine. A red LED would light up when its corresponding processor was active.
yjftsjthsd-h
> Working C Code below for those in the know.
It would be nice to explicitly attach a (FOSS) license to this. (Apologizes if there is one and I just missed it)
Got a boring server rack? Got a retro-computer project? Need some bling??
If you have a little electronics skill then you may want to make a few of these babies to let your server rack party like a 1970's mainframe.
Just a fun little project done over a couple of days at XMAS, and probably best not to install in the corporate server room!