Compiling C to printable x86, to make an executable research paper on HackerTube: recommended by 8 Hacker News commenters across 7 separate months, 2018–2023.
talk · advanced · evergreen
Tom7 explains how he built a SIGBOVIK 2017 paper made only of printable ASCII bytes that is also a valid DOS executable. He writes a C compiler targeting printable x86 without self-modifying code and solves the puzzles the constraint creates.
HN fans call it a favorite engineering video and a showcase of Tom7's masterpiece-level, playful hacking.
“His video about the printable x86[1] is my favorite engineering video of all time.”
11 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
Love Tom7, his video "Compiling C to printable x86, to make an executable research paper" [0] is my favorite but most of his stuff is super interesting. [0] ▶ this video
in “The GlEnd() of Zelda: Automatic 3Dification of NES Games (2016)” · View on HN
The author is an absolute legend. Absolutely every video on his Youtube channel is a masterpiece [link] And this includes the video that explains this code (Compiling C to printable x86, to make an executable research paper) ▶ this video
in “C89 compiler produces printable executables from C code [pdf]” · View on HN
Every one of this guy's SIGBOVIK papers/videos are pure gold. His video about the printable x86[1] is my favorite engineering video of all time. ^1: ▶ this video
in “NaN Gates and Flip FLOPS” · View on HN
He's a mad genius! I like his compiler that generates executables made up only of printable characters: ▶ this video / [link] He's super playful and awesomely smart!
in “Survival in chessland [pdf]” · View on HN
Mine are "Harder Drives"[1], "ELO World"[2], and "Printable x86"[3] [1] [link] [2] [link] [3] ▶ this video
in “GradIEEEnt half decent: The hidden power of imprecise lines [video]” · View on HN
A mix of various things. Google to get to the channel: pbs spacetime stuff made here ben eater's 8 bit computer mike boyd nerdforge sabine hossenfelder gotham chess uthermal 3blue1brown veritasium Numberphile Suckerpinch (all time favourite: ▶ this video ) Stevey's tech talk leonard susskind's stanford lectures
in “Ask HN: What are some of the most interesting YouTube channels to follow?” · View on HN
That last one (Tom 7's executable x86 paper) is incomplete without the video where he demonstrates running the paper (or running the paper yourself). ▶ this video
in “Undocumented x86 instructions to control the CPU at the microarchitecture level [pdf]” · View on HN
tom7 made a while video explaining how to create an executable only with printable characters [0]. He even write a compiler called 'ABC' for it. [0] ▶ this video
in “Lipogram” · View on HN
Tom Murphy VII (tom7) did such a thing. It's a partial C89 compiler that outputs only printable characters. In meta fashion, the compiler is compiled by itself to also contain only printable characters. The TXT and EXE files below are exactly the same. Video: ▶ this video Paper (PDF): [link] Paper (TXT): [link] Compiler (EXE): [link]
in “Undocumented 8086 instructions, explained by the microcode” · View on HN
In the accompanying video[0] at 7:36 mark, he goes to great lengths to express (A or B) as (A and B) + (A xor B). Can anybody explain why it can't simply be expressed as (A and B) xor (A xor B)? What am I missing here? 0. ▶ this video
in “ABC: A C compiler for printable x86” · View on HN
On The Turing Completeness of PowerPoint [link] Compiling C to printable x86, to make an executable research paper ▶ this video HDR Photography in Microsoft Excel?! [link] Zebras All the Way Down [link] Solving Layout Problems with CSS Grid and Friends [link] Console Security - Switch [link] Let's move SMM out of firmware and into the kernel [link] Bringing Linux back to server boot ROMs with NERF and Heads [link] Sharing the Chisel [link] (looks like the actual conference video wasn't released)
in “Ask HN: What’s your favorite talk from 2017?” · View on HN