Replying to myself here - I decided to just actually go read wikipedia about this. Here's the answer:
<quote>
By default, when a processor is executing an instruction, its LED is on. In a SIMD program, the goal is to have as many processors as possible working the program at the same time – indicated by having all LEDs being steady on. Those unfamiliar with the use of the LEDs wanted to see the LEDs blink – or even spell out messages to visitors. The result is that finished programs often have superfluous operations to blink the LEDs.
There is no documentation of what the LEDs were _actually_ doing. There are descriptions, like 'Random and Pleasing is an LFSR', but no actual information that maps to actual pixel coordinates spaced in time. Nearly zero code.
I'm saying this because I need this information, and the fastest way to get information is to state that it's impossible or doesn't exist.
Seems like CM-1 and CM-2 show CPU activity, so each light blinked when a CPU did something. Those were the ones that were designed by Tamiko Thiel.
Then, CM-5 did have the option of having "artistic" or "random patterns" on it, apparently designed or co-designed by Maya Lin. IIRC, the CM-5 is the one appearing in Jurassic Park.
I don't know if is there any firmware code or hardware design available to check how that function worked. Maybe the people from the Computer History Museum knows something. They have the first CM-1 and have at least one CM-5.
Check their library to see if maybe some of the technical docs say something:
As a developer you had explicit access to them, so you could use them for debugging. A lot of times, they were just running an RNG to look cool though.
Hi Phil, sorry to hear that something went down and involved Limor... that's not cool. A few Q's:
1. Will the freenzy be a 100% drop-in replacement for the teensy?
2. Will the freenzy be able to be programmed using teensyduino?
3. PJRC's bootloader is closed-source (I know, I've built 1000 Teensy-LC's after the product's discontinuation). Does that mean you're sourcing bootloaders from PJRC or reverse engineering the bootloader chip?
Opinion 1: If I can't take code written for a Teensy and upload it straight to the Freenzy, then this is not "Teensy Compatible". Likewise if the pinout is not the same, including all of the rear pcb-pads.
Opinion 2: If this is not actually Teensy Compatible, but just "Teensy Inspired", what about branding this as adafruit's own microcontroller and not cut into Paul and Robin's income by selling a totally different product that rides on their name recognition and decade of work?
Ever been involved with a demo, especially at an event the size of CES? I'd also choose a human controller. Frankly, the fact that they were honest and wrote it into the script is a positive indication.
I am used to thinking of robots having to be physically isolated from the squishy humans. Probably a reasonable safety precaution for what is a gen 0.8 model to not have an opportunity to run amuck while being filmed.
I spent a few days in Bombay Beach, a small town right on the Salton Sea. There's a community of people that call this place home, most seem to be artists, outcasts or just people drawn to the ability to purchase an entire house for $20,000.
The air is clearly toxic, you smell it the second you get there. To live there means living in olfactory mental ignorance in exchange for affordable housing and community.
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