Pingfs: Stores your data in ICMP ping packets (2020)

[HenrikB]

It's humbling to know that the RAM of computers like ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 would fit in a single IP packet. It took minutes to load that "paket" from cassette tape.

[zamadatix]

With IPv6 there is even an extension to go to 4 GB packets (extremely rare to actually be implemented though), which you can send in less than 100 ms with an 800G NIC!

[cakemedia]

A software version of a mercury delay line! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay-line_memory

[EvanAnderson]

Yep. ICMP delay line memory.

[_jholland]

Obligatory Tom7 reference: [Harder Drive: Hard drives we didn't want or need](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcJSW7Rprio)

He stores data in ICMP ping packets, but also Tetris board states, among others. If you are not familiar with Tom7, let this be an introduction to a heavyweight whimsical internet nerd

[leoc]

38:37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZLpbhsE72I&t=2317s in Jay Forrester's "The Design Environment and Innovations of Project Whirlwind" talk ( https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/10270308... ):

> There was a desperate search for better memory. We seriously considered. at one stage. renting a television microwave link from Boston to Buffalo and back so that one could store something like 3,000 bits in the 3 milliseconds of round-trip transit time.

Though I'm not sure why they wouldn't have just used a delay line for that task: that form of memory was already in use in computers, as discussed by Forrester himself from 11:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZLpbhsE72I&t=675s .

[EvanAnderson]

Tom7 is a gem. Anything by Tom7 is worth your time. Always.

[ozozozd]

Came to comments only to mention/upvote this and add engagement so everyone knows about the GOAT that Tom7 is.

[cbm-vic-20]

"Tetris is an inventory-management survival-horror game."

[xvilka]

The concept is widely covered in the amazing book Silence on the Wire[1] by Michal Zalewski. I wish he or someone else would write modern equivalent (or at least a new, updated edition) of the book.

[1] https://nostarch.com/silence.htm

[cinntaile]

He's on HN, maybe he reads your post.

[lysace]

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9844725 (2015, great comments)

[dim13]

Reminded me of GNU Terry Pratchett[1].

[1]: http://www.gnuterrypratchett.com/

[some_furry]

Every time someone does something like this, I recall this post from Xe:

https://xeiaso.net/blog/anything-message-queue/

[jupitr]

makes me wonder if a sufficiently large number of connected nodes can represent bits via their online/offline status, and their network graph representing "memory"

[diydsp]

Router designers hate him...

Srsly... the ram inside a core router is some of the most precious resources around... this is an ooold idea.. people were doing at least as far back as the 2000s.. i showed them how our router (Avici TSR) worked and said "please don't use the super fancy fabric temporary store for this."

This kills the router designer.