I saw John Conway, the mathematician, perhaps most famous for the “Game of Life” in which a matrix of pixels “live and die” based on rules, died from Covid 19 in April this year. Here’s a video interview with him:

Quite a dude Conway, there was a really good article in the Guardian not long after his death:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/23/john-horton-conway-the-most-charismatic-mathematician-in-the-world#comment-56228202

I’m pretty sure his wife said he was only ever interested in two things, mathematics and sex – who can’t relate to that?! ; )

(Unfortunately I cannot find the actual quotation).

Oh shit. I did not know that, thanks for posting.

The Game of Life is a hackish mainstay. I first came across it on the ZX Spectrum “Horizons” starter cassette back in 1982.

That reminds me of my optional micro processing course in Uni.

We were all given a basic processor and an oscilloscope and had to code the game of life in assembly.

Whoever’s game finishes quickest win. That was fun, and was a great learning exercise for writing efficient codes.

On the other hand, it was kind of reflection of real life. Bunch of to be Mechanical Engineers competing. Whoever’s the best will make the world extinct quickest.

That’s not how I remember the Game of Life