The December 19 episode of the SeaQuest/DSV TV series was about a colony of
computer hackers that operates the major undersea switching center of the
Earth's communications nets. They operate as electronic Robin Hoods,
breaking into systems to set things right.
Did anyone notice that when Lucas was cracking into his first system (to
install a virus that would alert them if anyone tried to use the system for
meanness), many of the displays were in Lisp? I think I briefly saw a
DEFUN form, but there were a zillion repetitions of (MAKE-INSTANCE '...).
--
Barry Margolin
System Manager, Thinking Machines Corp.
······@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar
In article <············@early-bird.think.com> ······@think.com (Barry Margolin) writes:
Did anyone notice that when Lucas was cracking into his first system []
many of the displays were in Lisp? I think I briefly saw a
DEFUN form, but there were a zillion repetitions of (MAKE-INSTANCE '...).
Yeah, I noticed that too, but forgot to post. Couldn't get a close
enough look, but the syntax looked CL-ish (or possibly xlisp?). Some
of the graphics folks around here (OARnet is colocated with the Ohio
Supercomputer Center) are really into Scheme so I thought that might
be it at first, but the DEFUN's gave that away. Sez something for the
future of Lisp if they're using it in 2019...
...arun
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arun Welch 1224 Kinnear Rd
Network Engineer Columbus, OH 43212
OARnet ·····@oar.net
>
> In article <············@early-bird.think.com> ······@think.com (Barry Margolin) writes:
>
> Did anyone notice that when Lucas was cracking into his first system []
> many of the displays were in Lisp? I think I briefly saw a
> DEFUN form, but there were a zillion repetitions of (MAKE-INSTANCE '...).
>
> Yeah, I noticed that too, but forgot to post. Couldn't get a close
> enough look, but the syntax looked CL-ish (or possibly xlisp?). Some
> of the graphics folks around here (OARnet is colocated with the Ohio
> Supercomputer Center) are really into Scheme so I thought that might
> be it at first, but the DEFUN's gave that away. Sez something for the
> future of Lisp if they're using it in 2019...
Maybe, but in the year 2020 C++++++++++++++++++++ was invented.
--
Bill Vrotney
BAH/Advanced Decision Systems
In article <············@early-bird.think.com> ······@think.com (Barry Margolin) writes:
>Did anyone notice that when Lucas was cracking into his first system [...]
>many of the displays were in Lisp?
I happened to have taped this episode for later viewing, so I paid close
attention to the Lisp stuff. Here's what I was able to get.
[... top of screen ...]
(APPEND ! (REVERSE !) !))
(DEFUN FAIL/ROME (!) ; this line is unclear
(REVERSE ! (REVERSE 2) 2)) ; this line is unclear
(DEFUN F-TO-C (F)
(- (/ (* (- F 40) 5) 9) 40)) ; sic!
(DEFUN C-TO-F (C)
(- (/ (* (+ C 40) 5) 9) 40)) ; sic!
[...end of screen...]
Now, I'm willing to give whoever did these screens the benefit of the
doubt and assume that the errors in F-TO-C and C-TO-F are the result of
my VCR rather than actual errors in the function. (Though I feel quite
confident that the "5" and"9" are definitely backwards in C-TO-F.)
I'm pretty sure that FAIL/ROME is wrongly transcribed, but it's the
best I can make out on my VCR. (Hey, I recorded it at low speed, okay?
I didn't expect there to be HIDDEN MESSAGES or anything.)
Later, as Lucas tries to sanitize the Brazilian elections, the info box
next to map of Brazil fills up with
(MAKE-INSTANCE 'ACCESS-LINE
the remainder of the line is cut off by the edge of the screen.
I find it an interesting stylistic point that ! is used as a variable name.
Is this common?
--
Raymond Chen (········@microsoft.com)
Money, but with a capital `M'. That's not a mortgage on your
house, or even Apple Computer buying Microsoft.
-- Martin Clemens, SeaQuest
Disclaimer: (don't blame me, the lawyers forced me to put this in)
The views expressed in this message are my own and in no way reflect
the views of Microsoft Corporation.