Ask HN: What are the best computing-related videos you've watched recently?
Everyone talks about books and sites they read all the time, but I barely ever see videos talked about on HN, despite videos containing some of the most interesting (and, unlike text, unsearchable) bits of computing history, information and anecdotes.
18 comments
Two of the most interesting ones I've seen this year:
Brian Kernighan (of K&R fame, and much more) interviewing Ken Thompson (initial author of UNIX, though you probably already knew both of these): lots of interesting anecdotes, like getting a chess machine seized by the US government:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6q5dv_B-o
Drew DeVault, (sway/sr.ht/much more author) hacking on his Wayland VR desktop inside of his Wayland VR desktop (don't believe the people who say you can't do programming inside of VR yet!):
https://spacepub.space/videos/watch/f60bee0e-31d3-4aca-9e49-...
NB. the second video is on a PeerTube instance. PeerTube is a federated and decentralized YouTube alternative.
Brian Kernighan (of K&R fame, and much more) interviewing Ken Thompson (initial author of UNIX, though you probably already knew both of these): lots of interesting anecdotes, like getting a chess machine seized by the US government:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6q5dv_B-o
Drew DeVault, (sway/sr.ht/much more author) hacking on his Wayland VR desktop inside of his Wayland VR desktop (don't believe the people who say you can't do programming inside of VR yet!):
https://spacepub.space/videos/watch/f60bee0e-31d3-4aca-9e49-...
NB. the second video is on a PeerTube instance. PeerTube is a federated and decentralized YouTube alternative.
The second video is truly impressive. On the other hand I'm getting a bit scared for the expectations for the average office worker 10-20 years from now.
Anything by Bret Victor.
Inventing on Principle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QiPFmIMxFc
Future of Programming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pTEmbeENF4
Inventing on Principle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QiPFmIMxFc
Future of Programming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pTEmbeENF4
The following documentary is an important record of the early days of the BBS/comms world of computing. Particularly as in most cases it includes interviews with the individuals responsible for creating so many of the standards used.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBS:_The_Documentary
I watched the old https://archive.org/details/computerchronicles a while back. First reactions on Windows 3.0 or the Pentium, discussing different flavors of Unix, calling anything that fits onto a desk a micro computer. And any interview with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kildall may he rest in peace.
The BBS documentary site notes that they are completely sold out [0] but I found one in eBay [1].
[0] http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/
[1] https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eb...
[0] http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/
[1] https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eb...
Good explanations of low-level computing by Ben Eater https://m.youtube.com/user/eaterbc/playlists
Quantum supremacy using a programmable superconducting processor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FklMpRiTeTA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FklMpRiTeTA
Can't wait for the change Quantum computing will bring to humanity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8d77KV__gI Peristent Virtual Memory in the Great New Operating System In The Sky -- probably the only video on YouTube talking about KeyKOS besides Norm Hardy's ocap talk in 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEDCXTpx0R8 OCAP 2017 Keynote Norm Hardy -- Much oral history about KeyKOS and successor systems by Norm Hardy (sadly now deceased), who was one of the main originators of them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVm938gMWl0 RustConf 2017 -- Closing Keynote: Safe Systems Software and the Future of Computing by Joe Duffy -- Joe Duffy's retrospective talk on the Midori project at RustConf 2017.
There's a lot of stuff out there, but I thought I would drop these three in particular because they don't have particularly high viewership compared to their historical value as anecdotes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEDCXTpx0R8 OCAP 2017 Keynote Norm Hardy -- Much oral history about KeyKOS and successor systems by Norm Hardy (sadly now deceased), who was one of the main originators of them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVm938gMWl0 RustConf 2017 -- Closing Keynote: Safe Systems Software and the Future of Computing by Joe Duffy -- Joe Duffy's retrospective talk on the Midori project at RustConf 2017.
There's a lot of stuff out there, but I thought I would drop these three in particular because they don't have particularly high viewership compared to their historical value as anecdotes.
How to be agile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtkouFS-GSQ
Inventing on Principle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QiPFmIMxFc
REST/GraphQL alternative:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS3i3DTUnAI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtkouFS-GSQ
Inventing on Principle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QiPFmIMxFc
REST/GraphQL alternative:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS3i3DTUnAI
Not an instructional video, but I rewatch the Facemesh scene from "The Social Network" over and over:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSKoVsHs_Ko
IMO, everything about this scene is fantastic, starting with the fact that the bits of text are taken from actual court proceedings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSKoVsHs_Ko
IMO, everything about this scene is fantastic, starting with the fact that the bits of text are taken from actual court proceedings.
Infosec CTF walkthroughs e.g. https://youtu.be/ozqOlUVKL1s
An excellent conference video explaining the event loop in Javascript (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aGhZQkoFbQ)
Lean and Functional programming.
Especially the first part where he explains history of lean during and after WW2.
https://youtu.be/5s55LA2Renc
Especially the first part where he explains history of lean during and after WW2.
https://youtu.be/5s55LA2Renc
David Khourshid - The Visual Future Of Reactive Applications With Statecharts:
https://youtu.be/o84Xw8qiTCw
https://youtu.be/o84Xw8qiTCw
curiousmarc's videos on repairing an apollo guidance computer. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-_93BVApb59FWrLZfdli...