The Garden of Computational Delights

August 9, 2023 6:25 AM

"Beneath the utilitarian purpose of computation, computing is also a source of delight and wonder. Software is not just databases and mail merges or SaaS and spreadsheets; it’s creative coding and simulated cities, code poetry and bulletin board systems. It’s websites that dazzle and iPhone apps that make the heart sing. And it’s sometimes even spreadsheets, coerced to dance and do all manner of weirdness." Samuel Arbesman aggregates these quirky bits of old web joy in the Garden of Computational Delights.
posted by tofu_crouton (4 comments total)

Now I have to put on XTC's Oranges & Lemons.

(Thanks for the post.)
posted by tehjoel at 7:12 AM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

I was talking to my recent cs grad son about Microsoft Excel and what was possible in it and he said it’s basically Turing complete so there’s nothing you CAN’T do in it. Then he proved his point by programming Tetris in an xls spreadsheet. Somebody hire this guy, please!
posted by rikschell at 8:30 AM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

Wow, this looks amazing! I've just clicked into a few of the many many links and there's a delightful amount of creativity.

I love people using the web to share their joy and enthusiasm.

This is wonderful, and I'm looking forward to exploring the linked sites at length. Thank you so much for posting this, tofu_crouton!
posted by kristi at 9:43 AM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

It's so much better than that rikschell, Power Point is Turing complete!
posted by rickw at 7:42 AM on August 10, 2023