On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 7:36 PM, John Gaughan <[email protected]> wrote:
> I have often wondered about viruses as well. Not because I want to ruin
> people's days, but because viruses solve interesting problems even if
> for malicious ends. Viruses are typically very small, making every byte
> count: they piggyback on other content (usually) without interfering
> with its normal operation. Although very small and simple examples, I
> think some viruses are interesting projects that touch on areas such as
> AI, embedded computing, and networking.
>
> Always look for the silver lining. Dissecting a modern computer virus
> has been on my todo list for a very long time, because I want to learn
> more about those topics. From an ethical perspective I would never use
> my computer expertise to cause harm to others: however, I can understand
> skepticism directed toward a newcomer to the group with questionable
> motives and poor language skills.
If you want to play around with some of the principles of viruses, as
well as virtual machines and artificial life, get the source code for
Core War. It's been around since the 60s, I think, and while
ostensibly a game, is very geeky and inspired some modern scientific
endeavors into artificial life and evolutionary simulation.
-- Brett
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"In the rhythm of music a secret is hidden;
If I were to divulge it, it would overturn the world."
-- Jelaleddin Rumi
