Comment by croes

4 days ago

Nitpicking

Blinkenlights isn’t a german word it’s pseudo german for Blinklicht originating from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinkenlights#:~:text=on%20the...

But the Chaos Computer Club built light installations called

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blinkenlights

>The Jargon File also mentions that German hackers had in turn developed their own versions of the blinkenlights poster, in broken English:[1]

    ATTENTION
    This room is fullfilled mit special electronische equippment.
    Fingergrabbing and pressing the cnoeppkes from the computers is allowed for die experts only!
    So all the "lefthanders" stay away and do not disturben the brainstorming von here working intelligencies.
    Otherwise you will be out thrown and kicked anderswhere!
    Also: please keep still and only watchen astaunished the blinkenlights.

I wrote "I love you" on the CCC Blinkenlights in Berlin to my then girlfriend, who has been my wife now for 20 years. The most romantic thing I ever did :)

  • In 1985 I made a similar panel which had 16 lights and mechanical switches and installed it in a rack in an operations center in GCHQ just to make it a bit more colorful. One day I came back from leave and the boss was really mad at me as they had been showing around some VIP, who stopped at the panel and asked the area director what it did. As all the technicians had been evacuated for the tour, nobody had a clue.

@croes I was thinking the same thing (knowing no german, but having a hunch).

And the CCC project was a whole building.

For his example, I was expecting a whole cage with some tricked out lights, maybe some smoke effects (I can see new colo signs being updated "no cardboard,no smoke machines allowed"), a sub-woofer playing some chiptunes, etc.