Viznut
viznut.fi · Personal blog · on HN since 2019
Viznut is a Finnish computer artist and programmer who writes on permacomputing, retro computing, digital aesthetics, and the Unscii font.
What HN saysHN treats it as the origin of permacomputing, linking his original article and the Unscii font, which commenters like for terminal use.
31HN people shared it
15linked it in comments
24stories submitted
458story points
5 months agolast shared
2019people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Permacomputing7 people · 61 points · first shared 2020 · 23 comments on HN
- 2Unscii6 people · 325 points · first shared 2022 · 58 comments on HN
- 3Permacomputing Update 20215 people · 18 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 4Ibniz3 people · first shared 2021
- 5Digital esthetics, environmental change and the subcultures of computer art2 people · 17 points · first shared 2021 · 2 comments on HN
- 6The resource leak bug of our civilization (2014)2 people · 5 points · first shared 2019 · 1 comments on HN
- 7Inverted computer culture: A thought experiment2 people · 3 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
- 8En2 people · first shared 2021
- 9A non-fossil alternate history for civilization and computing1 people · 12 points · first shared 2022 · 4 comments on HN
- 10Machine learning is neither good or evil1 people · 10 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 11(Demoscene) The 16-byte frontier: Extreme results from small programs1 people · 3 points · first shared 2022 · discussion on HN
- 12Some of my GPT-2 experiments1 people · 2 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 13Maximalism and Virtualism1 people · 1 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 14Counteracting alienation with technological arts and crafts1 people · 1 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 15Homepage1 people · first shared 2020
What HN people wrote when they linked it
vanderZwan · 2024-03-28
I don't know what it is about Finnish culture that results in such a significant number of permacomputing hackers¹ that go to great lengths to preserve old-hardware, but I am grateful for it.
¹ When I say significant I mean "at least two, but one of them is viznut"². That is significant, right?
² http://viznut.fi/en/
marttt · 2022-01-17
> ... fairly Finnish thing to do ...
+1 for this lovely metaphor. I'm Estonian, but I absolutely love Finns for their peculiar between-the-lines humor, and their tendency to go really deep into fringe stuff.
A Finnish guy once demonstrated a retro bicycle he was restoring, stating that it's going to take him two years to finish it. "This needs to be done properly," he said with a barely noticeable smirk.
Re: Finns, demoscene, and frugal computing: see also Viznut and his insightful essays: http://viznut.fi/en/
slmjkdbtl · 2020-09-04
Since everyone is recommending other resources, here's some C developers whose code I enjoy very much (or just really like the software they created with C):
https://github.com/rxi/
https://github.com/floooh/
https://github.com/antirez/
https://github.com/qwx9/
https://github.com/koekeishiya/
https://github.com/martanne/
https://github.com/nothings/
https://github.com/sheredom/
https://git.suckless.org/
http://viznut.fi/
plz recommend if you have more! (mostly interested in the graphics/audio realm)
efskap · 2026-05-26
I like https://viznut.fi/unscii/ - meant for ascii art but still works well in a terminal, and still gets unicode updates
swannodette · 2026-05-07
The original article on permacomputing by viznut https://viznut.fi/texts-en/permacomputing.html
smokel · 2026-01-16
Ha, this made me think of Viznut's Micro$oft - Simulaattori [1].
[1] http://viznut.fi/demos/msdos/ (pick mssim.zip)
or on Pouet https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=21174
vok · 2024-05-06
With the right font (e.g. http://viznut.fi/unscii/) and line spacing, braille characters work fine with an even distribution of pixels and no gaps.
smcameron · 2023-06-11
I think this comes from viznut
http://viznut.fi/texts-en/bytebeat_deep_analysis.html
mro_name · 2022-05-17
I like the term and idea. Watch out for permacomputing[1]. I found it via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27199225
[1] http://viznut.fi/texts-en/permacomputing.html
offByJuan · 2022-05-07
In similar vein I have played with ibniz.
http://viznut.fi/ibniz/
jsilence · 2021-02-14
Another fun live coding environment is IBNIZ.
http://viznut.fi/texts-en/ibniz.html
jonnydubowsky · 2021-11-25
Here it is: http://viznut.fi/ibniz/
sargstuff · 2025-04-27
Very old school:
ASP[0] was old way to do character animations for unix finger command .plan.
Recall HN post using python to do the same (handled animation independent of serial terminal speed).
Related HN post "John Carmack's .plan file" [3]
hascii mation [1]; Use standard graphics techniques and run through [2] or .plan with unscii[4]
"sheltered code" via mindcraft : https://youtu.be/7sNge0Ywz-M
------
ascii animation tutorial : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5v-NS9o4yc
[0] :Ah, ASP link has been merged with /dev/null. :(
ASP and related things for animated .plan : https://superuser.com/questions/253308/scrolling-plan-file [1] : https://github.com/octobanana/asciimation
[2] : https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/converting-image-ascii-image-python/
[3] : "John Carmack's .plan file" : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3367230\
[4] : unscii : http://viznut.fi/unscii/
akeck · 2021-12-10
r/solarpunk
r/permaculture
https://100r.co/site/off_the_grid.html
https://solarpunks.net/
https://medium.com/solarpunks/solarpunk-a-reference-guide-8bcf18871965
http://viznut.fi/texts-en/permacomputing.html
http://viznut.fi/texts-en/permacomputing_update_2021.html
https://www.sevarg.net/2020/05/23/on-working-from-home-and-joys-of-she…
amatecha · 2023-12-22
In terms of reduction of usage of resources, using an already-existing computer is considered better than manufacturing new hardware. OECD suggests[0] embracing a circular economy to reduce production of waste and consumption of resources. Notably, in the province I reside, 98% of electricity is provided by renewable resources[1]. The electrical grid is already there, and the computer I already have is also already there. Generally speaking, no more resource extraction or pollution of the planet is necessary for me to continue on my computing activities with my existing hardware.
All I have time to write right now, but check out the concept of permacomputing and frugal computing... [2][3]
[0] https://www.oecd.org/environment/waste/OECD-G20-Towards-a-more-Resourc… (p.24)
[1] https://choose.bchydro.com/why-choose-bc/clean-energy
[2] http://viznut.fi/texts-en/permacomputing.html / https://permacomputing.net
[3] https://limited.systems/articles/frugal-computing/