hackertube.io

A Mind Is Born (256 bytes)

lftkryo · demo · Watch on YouTube

Demoscene & retrocomputing

What it is

A Commodore 64 demo by Linus Akesson that fits video and music into 256 bytes, winning the Oldskool 4K Intro compo at Revision 2017. A technical write-up accompanies it.

Why Hacker News recommends it

It is HN's favorite example of extreme code compression, a compelling song and visuals from a program smaller than a tweet.

  • 8 people recommended it
  • 9 different months
  • 5 strong recommendations
  • first 2017, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “not only because it is 256 bytes, but because it is a compelling song too.”

    Compelling song in only 256 bytes

    kwoff, 2018-04 · Strong recommendation · in “A dive into the making of a 64K Intro”

  2. “There's an amazing demo called 'A Mind Is Born'”

    Whole demo is only 256 bytes

    twic, 2020-03 · Strong recommendation · in “A Mysterious Song on the Internet (2019)”

  3. “my favourite 256 byte demo is for the C64”

    Astonishing music in a 256 byte C64 demo

    wgx, 2020-04 · Strong recommendation · in “Memories – 256 bytes demo winner of Revision 2020”

  4. “The craziest ever, to me, is the following in 256... bytes.”

    256 bytes including music

    TacticalCoder, 2021-05 · Strong recommendation · in “Before the iPhone, I worked on a few games for what were called "feature phones"”

  5. “Here's a winning demoscene production, 256 bytes, on a Commodore 64.”

    Winning 256-byte C64 demo

    bane, 2017-10 · Recommendation · in “Procedurally generated electronic music”

  6. “I really like 'A Mind is Born'”

    256-byte demo built on LFSRs

    anitil, 2022-01 · Recommendation · in “Sonic 3D: Director's Cut (2019)”

  7. “You might enjoy watching the emergent behavior in the execution of this 256 byte program”

    Emergent behavior from a 256 byte program

    voiceblue, 2024-03 · Recommendation · in “Game of Life, simulating itself, infinitely zoomable”

  8. “It's only 256 bytes, but can generate over 2 minutes of complex music and video.”

    Demonstrates Kolmogorov complexity with 256 bytes of code

    yetihehe, 2025-11 · Recommendation · in “Human brains are preconfigured with instructions for understanding the world”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: demoscene, commodore 64, 256 bytes, chiptune, linus akesson

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