Thread for basic questions

[tommyaweosme]

Is there a 0-degree reflector such that no objects block it’s output lane?

those exist for every spaceship! theyre called not putting anything in the path of the spaceship! and it reflects 0 degrees, like you said!

[Haycat2009]

Is there a 0-degree reflector such that no objects block it’s output lane?

those exist for every spaceship! theyre called not putting anything in the path of the spaceship! and it reflects 0 degrees, like you said!

And on a different lane, parity or colour, thank you very much.

[confocaloid]

Is there a 0-degree reflector such that no objects block it’s output lane?

those exist for every spaceship! theyre called not putting anything in the path of the spaceship! and it reflects 0 degrees, like you said!

And on a different lane, parity or colour, thank you very much.

... which is why it is nice to have different terms for related-but-distinct concepts.

A reflector changes the direction of movement of a spaceship.
A shifter changes the lane on which a spaceship travels, without changing its direction of movement.
An advancer doesn't even change the lane, but makes the spaceship arrive to destination earlier than it would arrive by itself.
A delayer doesn't change the lane, and makes the spaceship arrive to destination later than it would arrive by itself.

For 180-degree reflectors, you might want to distinguish additionally between those where an output glider will collide with a later input glider (the lanes are too close to each other), versus those where you can safely send as many gliders as you want without any collisions.

[TYCF]

What is https://lazyslug.com/lifeview/plugin/?

[dvgrn]

What is https://lazyslug.com/lifeview/plugin/?

That's the root directory for Chris Rowett's LifeViewer test bed -- lots of sample patterns, which for the latest build of LifeViewer should all still do ... some appropriate thing related to what the test case is named.

It might be good to collect a screenshot or animated GIF for each of those pages, for regression testing purposes. Every now and then something goes wrong, and sometimes nobody notices for a while. That happened recently for the first "0E0P" one in the list, for example -- the ANGLE parameter stopped getting applied when it should have been.

[AlbertArmStain]

Is there a reason why people use the version on the left instead of the smaller population version on the right?

Code: Select all

x = 122, y = 36, rule = B3/S23
45bo70bo$39b2o3bobo63b2o3bobo$40bo3bo2bo63bo3bo2bo$40bob2obobo63bob2o
bobo$41bobobob2o63bobobob2o$44b2obo2bo64b2obo2bo$49b2o69b2o3$27b2o69b
2o$28bo70bo$28bobo68bobo$18bo10b2o16b2o40bo10b2o16b2o$16b3o28b2o38b3o
28b2o$15bo70bo$15b2o69b2o$2o69b2o$bo45b2o23bo45b2o$bob2o42b2o23bob2o42b
2o$2bo2bo67bo2bo$3b2o69b2o$18b2o69b2o$18b2o69b2o2$47bo70bo$46bobo68bo
bo$27bo3b2o14bo70bo$26bobo3bo64bo3b2o$25bobo3bo64bobo3bo$21b2obobo3bo
61b2obobo3bo$21b2obo2b4obo4b2o53b2obo4bo7b2o$25bobo3b2o3bobo57b5obo4b
obo$21b2ob2obobo6bo51b2obob2obo4bobo3bo$22bobo3bob3o2b2o51bob2obo2bob
2o2bo3b2o$10b2o10bobo4bo2bo48b2o12b2obob2o$10b2o11bo6b2o49b2o!

[TYCF]

Where is the OCA Discovery of the Year voting topic?

[dvgrn]

Where is the OCA Discovery of the Year voting topic?

There isn't a voting thread yet, I believe, just the nomination thread. Apparently there's some work left to be done still, on the LIfeWiki nomination lists.

[TYCF]

There isn't a voting thread yet, I believe, just the nomination thread. Apparently there's some work left to be done still, on the LIfeWiki nomination lists.

I mean the 2022 one (it is not on LifeWiki).

[confocaloid]

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6111 OCA DOTY 2022 Voting

[JP21]

Is there a reason why people use the version on the left instead of the smaller population version on the right?

Code: Select all

x = 122, y = 36, rule = B3/S23
45bo70bo$39b2o3bobo63b2o3bobo$40bo3bo2bo63bo3bo2bo$40bob2obobo63bob2o
bobo$41bobobob2o63bobobob2o$44b2obo2bo64b2obo2bo$49b2o69b2o3$27b2o69b
2o$28bo70bo$28bobo68bobo$18bo10b2o16b2o40bo10b2o16b2o$16b3o28b2o38b3o
28b2o$15bo70bo$15b2o69b2o$2o69b2o$bo45b2o23bo45b2o$bob2o42b2o23bob2o42b
2o$2bo2bo67bo2bo$3b2o69b2o$18b2o69b2o$18b2o69b2o2$47bo70bo$46bobo68bo
bo$27bo3b2o14bo70bo$26bobo3bo64bo3b2o$25bobo3bo64bobo3bo$21b2obobo3bo
61b2obobo3bo$21b2obo2b4obo4b2o53b2obo4bo7b2o$25bobo3b2o3bobo57b5obo4b
obo$21b2ob2obobo6bo51b2obob2obo4bobo3bo$22bobo3bob3o2b2o51bob2obo2bob
2o2bo3b2o$10b2o10bobo4bo2bo48b2o12b2obob2o$10b2o11bo6b2o49b2o!

I guess it's because the common source they got it from doesn't have reduced form.
(people do use that reduced form, people like me I mean)
But actually, there exists this population reduction:

Code: Select all

x = 51, y = 37, rule = B3/S23
45bo$39b2o3bobo$40bo3bo2bo$40bob2obobo$41bobobob2o$44b2obo2bo$49b2o3$
27b2o$28bo$14b2o12bobo$14bo14b2o16b2o$15bo31b2o$14b2o2$2o$bo45b2o$bob
2o42b2o$2bo2bo$3b2o$18b2o$18b2o2$47bo$46bobo$47bo$26bo3b2o$25bobo3bo$
21b2obobo3bo$21b2obo4bo7b2o$25b5obo4bobo$20bob2obo4bobo3bo$20b2o2bo3bo
3bo2b2o$10b2o11bo4b2o2b2o$10b2o8b3o$20bo!

[TYCF]

What patterns can be improved by new discoveries?

[confocaloid]

What patterns can be improved by new discoveries?

Anything engineered might be improved in some way if a new component / reaction is discovered.
Anything elementary might be improved in some sense (by providing a variant / alternative) if a variant is found that is faster/smaller/cheaper to construct/has a different geometry/etc.

I guess the real question is "what patterns and reactions cannot be improved by new discoveries". Is there a hope of "improving" the blinker? How about the honeyfarm sequence? I'm not sure if that would make any sense in Conway's Life, but on the other hand I don't see why exactly that would be impossible, and one could switch to a different ruleset where the same patterns evolve in a different way and say "look, I found an improved blinker".

Edit: if the intended question was what can be improved by recent discoveries, then one example is likely the glider gun collection. I think a number of glider guns with periods above 100 could be reduced now, using recently found pulse dividers and conduits.

[dvgrn]

Maybe the intended question is "What patterns can be improved by recent new discoveries?" I.e., what can we build better now, but we just haven't gotten around to it yet?

The example that always comes to mind for me these days is the "SQ" / "B2D" two-dimensional memory component in the Osqrtlogt pattern. Most of the rest of the modular pieces in APG's calculator technology have been rebuilt by now with syringes and Snarks and so on, but that B2D unit still hasn't gotten an upgrade. It could be a lot smaller and simpler now, starting probably with a big reduction in the read/write mechanism.

[hotdogPi]

Just for the meme:

How many gliders does it take to convert a cis-boat with tail to a trans-boat with tail?

[confocaloid]

If the new version has such-and-such wonderful new features, then it seems like the obvious thing for the Golly Gang to do will be to take the new-feature code (since the license says the source has to remain available) and put it into the free version immediately.

Not necessarily "the obvious thing".

Imagine a new version (done by someone else) that would be a substantial rewrite/redesign (or even "just" major refactoring, without changing functionality), immediately followed by adding two or three relatively minor "easy-looking" features. But the new features would rely on (require) the preceding refactoring/redesign.

Even though the source code would remain available, it may be virtually impossible to "take the new-feature code ... and put it into" Golly, without performing an equivalent redesign of the Golly code base (which by that time probably already diverges far enough from the "branching point").

[confocaloid]

Crossposting, due to (unfortunate) lack of productive discussion in PM. I don't believe there's anything personal/private in the quoted parts.

No matter how many times you restate your personal preferences, the most productive thing to do remains to wait until someone else, an uninvolved editor, decides to go and fix the actual problems with LifeWiki articles.

LifeWiki is imperfect. One reason is that it is written by people who are frequently being overenthusiastic about something they have just invented themselves.

If you want to make LifeWiki more helpful, then fix the terminology so that it becomes easy to understand texts without having to shuttle back and forth between definitions.

[...]
I'd really like to be able to link to a clear definition of the single most common current usage of "transition" on the LifeWiki. I think that the seventeen uses of "transition" in the Hensel-notation article are perfectly valid -- but that the meaning is not necessarily going to be clear to newcomers without a little bit of explanation.
[...]
I'd much prefer to aim for explaining existing usage as clearly as possible on the LifeWiki -- and leave the mathematically precise restricted definitions to the writers of mathematics textbooks.

In this particular case, it's counterproductive to "aim for explaining existing usage as clearly as possible on the LifeWiki".
The word "transition" has several different common meanings. There's no "single most common current usage".

Intuitively, transitions happen when conditions are met. This is why bracketed digits are conditions and not transitions.

EDIT by dvgrn: Why did this end up in "basic questions", though? Was it meant to be in topic 6235? Report the post and I'll move it over, if so.

But yes, do definitely feel free to quote in whole or in part any past private message of mine. Especially feel free to quote "in whole", since partial quotes might leave out things that one person thinks are really important.

EDIT by confocaloid no, it was meant to be put in General discussion. Thread for basic questions seemed the most appropriate place for it.
Inner quote trimmed because the other text is not relevant to my reply. The messages are basically repetitive, and the context is not hard to guess.

[HartmutHolzwart]

Anyone knows what the reference to CGOL actually means?

https://gilkalai.wordpress.com/

[confocaloid]

Anyone knows what the reference to CGOL actually means?

https://gilkalai.wordpress.com/

It seems those gliders are one-dimensional moving structures in a bitstring with "wraparound" across the boundary:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.03918

The authors interpret the 1s in a bitstring as "opening brackets" and the 0s as "closing brackets", and match the closest pairs of opening and closing brackets cyclically across the boundary. Then an (invertible) mapping is defined, by complementing all "matched" bits and leaving "unmatched" bits unchanged. For example, starting from the bitstring 100000101:

Code: Select all

100000101   the bitstring x
()))))()(   interpreted as a bracket sequence
())---()(   each '-' denotes an unmatched closing bracket
011000010   f(x) is the result of complementing "matched" bits

The authors describe the evolution of a bitstring under repeated applications of f, by a "kinetic system of multiple gliders that move at different speeds and that interact over time, reminiscent of the gliders ..."

Interactive animation of gliders (linked from the paper): http://www.tmuetze.de/gliders.html

[AlbertArmStain]

Okay, here's my current printer-builder script. For the moment, the character bitmaps loaded into the printer are hard-coded at the top of the script, in LifeHistory format, following the pattern shown here. Do you happen to have the original bitmap pattern for your digits, before they get exploded into blocks at 32fd spacing?

build-printer.py:

Code: Select all

RLE

Can you provide a printer that prints out any ASCII character? I need it for a hypothetical typewriter and the simple “Hello world” program.

[dvgrn]

Can you provide a printer that prints out any ASCII character? I need it for a hypothetical typewriter and the simple “Hello world” program.

That linked post has all the tools you need to build a printer like that. You supply the bitmaps of the characters that you want, at the resolution that you want, and the script builds you the printer.

If you have any trouble running the script, post something specific about what you're trying and what is going wrong.

[AlbertArmStain]

Can you provide a printer that prints out any ASCII character? I need it for a hypothetical typewriter and the simple “Hello world” program.

That linked post has all the tools you need to build a printer like that. You supply the bitmaps of the characters that you want, at the resolution that you want, and the script builds you the printer.

If you have any trouble running the script, post something specific about what you're trying and what is going wrong.

are these bitmaps built in or do you have to paste them in?

[Mathemagician314]

Could you have a program that, instead of running random soups in a set rule like apgsearch, runs random INT rules on a specific pattern (like the pi-heptomino), looking for spaceships, oscillators, and linear growth patterns? If so, how quickly would this hypothetical program run?

[confocaloid]

Could you have a program that, instead of running random soups in a set rule like apgsearch, runs random INT rules on a specific pattern (like the pi-heptomino), looking for spaceships, oscillators, and linear growth patterns? If so, how quickly would this hypothetical program run?

For spaceships and oscillators, there's EnumPattEvo2 / EnumPattEvo / epe / epe2 (forum search keywords).
I don't think it directly supports searching for arbitrary growing patterns, unless one has a specific idea of how the desired pattern should evolve (e.g. "such-and-such RLE should evolve into such-and-such RLE").

Logic Life Search also can search for "A evolves into B after n ticks" for very low fixed n.

[dvgrn]

are these bitmaps built in or do you have to paste them in?

There's no need to think of a Python script as a deep dark mystery -- just read it and see what it seems to be doing. You don't really have to know Python to do that.

The script currently has a sample pre-defined character map that looks like this

Code: Select all

x = 0, y = 0, rule = LifeHistory
14.D10.D14.D14.D14.D14.D14.D14.D14.D14.D6.D$3.5A10.2A9.5A10.5A7.3A5.
3A4.11A7.5A7.11A7.5A10.5A$2.7A8.3A8.7A8.7A6.3A5.3A4.11A6.7A6.11A6.7A
8.7A$.9A6.4A7.9A6.9A5.3A5.3A4.11A5.9A5.11A5.9A6.9A$.3A3.3A5.5A7.3A3.
3A6.3A3.3A5.3A5.3A4.3A13.3A3.3A12.3A6.3A3.3A6.3A3.3A$3A5.3A6.3A6.3A5.
3A4.3A5.3A4.3A5.3A4.3A12.3A5.3A10.4A5.3A5.3A4.3A5.3A$3A5.3A6.3A6.3A5.
3A4.3A5.3A4.3A5.3A4.3A12.3A5.3A10.3A6.3A5.3A4.3A5.3A$3A5.3A6.3A14.3A
11.4A4.3A5.3A4.3A12.3A17.4A6.3A5.3A4.3A5.3A$3A5.3A6.3A13.3A12.3A5.3A
5.3A4.3A12.3A17.3A8.3A3.3A6.3A4.3A$3A5.3A6.3A12.4A9.5A6.11A4.9A6.7A
12.4A8.9A6.10A$3A5.3A6.3A11.4A10.5A7.10A5.9A5.9A10.3A10.7A8.9A$3A5.3A
6.3A10.4A11.5A8.9A6.9A4.10A8.4A9.9A9.7A$3A5.3A6.3A9.4A15.3A13.3A12.3A
4.3A4.3A8.3A10.3A3.3A13.3A$3A5.3A6.3A8.4A16.4A12.3A12.3A4.3A5.3A6.4A
9.3A5.3A12.3A$3A5.3A6.3A7.4A10.3A5.3A12.3A4.3A5.3A4.3A5.3A6.3A10.3A5.
3A4.3A5.3A$3A5.3A6.3A6.4A11.3A5.3A12.3A4.3A5.3A4.3A5.3A5.4A10.3A5.3A
4.3A5.3A$.3A3.3A7.3A6.3A13.3A3.3A13.3A5.3A3.3A6.3A3.3A6.3A12.3A3.3A6.
3A3.3A$.9A5.7A4.11A5.9A13.3A5.9A6.9A5.4A12.9A6.9A5.3A$2.7A6.7A4.11A6.
7A14.3A6.7A8.7A6.3A14.7A8.7A6.3A$3.5A7.7A4.11A7.5A15.3A7.5A10.5A7.3A
15.5A10.5A7.3A!

... so if you want more characters than that, then find a bitmap spec somewhere out on the vasty Internet for however many ASCII characters you want to define, paste that bitmap into Golly, make it look like the above (with state-4 red cells in the top row marking the end of each character) -- and then copy it out and paste it into the definition of "bitmap" in the script.

(And ask more questions if you run into trouble.)