Hex (Discworld)
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Hex is an elaborate, Heath Robinson/Rube Goldberg-esque, magic-powered computer housed at the Unseen University in the Discworld series by author Terry Pratchett.
Hex is a computer unlike any other the Disc has ever seen (which is not particularly hard since all other 'computers' on the Disc consist of druidic stone circles). Hex runs and evolves under the watchful eyes of apprentice wizard Ponder Stibbons, who becomes the IT manager at the Unseen University in the city of Ankh-Morpork because he's the only one who understands what he's talking about.
Anthill_inside.png
Anthill inside
Hex is activated by initializing the GBL, which Stibbons reluctantly admits means "pulling the Great Big Lever". This releases millions of ants into a network of glass tubes that make up the bulk of Hex, hence the sticker on Hex that reads Anthill inside, a pun on Intel’s ad slogan Intel Inside. Hex "thinks" by controlling which tubes the ants can crawl through, thus allowing it to perform increasingly complex computations if enough ants are provided (i.e. if there are enough bugs in the system). Hex can be given input through a huge wooden keyboard, in analogue writing by means of a complicated mechanical eye designed by Hex itself, or vocally through an old hearing trumpet, and gives output by means of a quill on a hinged lever. It is all powered by a waterwheel covered in sheep skulls. That is, male sheep, in other words; ram.
There is also a mouse that has built its nest in the middle of Hex. It doesn't seem to do anything, but Hex stops working if it is removed. Hex also stops working (with the error message "Mine! Waah!") if the FTB (Fluffy Teddy Bear, a gift from the Hogfather) is removed. Stibbons is concerned by these signs that Hex might be alive, but insists that it only thinks it is.
Hex's long-term memory storage is a massive beehive contained in the next room.
When it is particularly busy, an hourglass comes down on a spring - another sideways reference to Windows.
Oddly, The Science of Discworld puts the name Hex in small capital letters that are the same type as when Death speaks. In The Science of Discworld 2: The Globe, Hex is written as it is here.
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Inspiration
The inspiration for Hex, which evolves through seemingly unexplainable upgrades like extra cheese, a CWL (Clothes Wringer from the Laundry, for crunching numbers and other things) and "small religious pictures" (icons), came from Pratchett`s own early experiments with unfathomable upgrades on his ZX-81.
The name is a play on the multiple meanings of the word "hex"; a hex can be a "magical spell" and also an abbreviation of "hexadecimal".
In 2001, a new SGI Origin 2800 supercomputer was installed as part of the University of Leicester's Centre for Mathematical Modelling. With Terry Pratchett's blessing, the new machine was named HEX after the computer in the Discworld novels.
Quotes / Error messages
- ++?????++ Out of Cheese Error. Redo From Start.
- Mr. Jelly! Mr. Jelly! Error at Address Number 6, Treacle Mine Road.
- Melon melon melon
- +++ Divide By Cucumber Error. Please Reinstall Universe And Reboot +++
N.B. Please do not actually try to reboot the universe. Hex's strange way of talking has at one point served to make the Bursar temporarily sane, since Hex behaved even stranger than him.
Appearances
Hex was mentioned in the following books:
- Interesting Times (ISBN 0061056901)
- Soul Music (ISBN 0061054895)
- Hogfather (ISBN 0061059056)
- The Last Continent (ISBN 0061059072)
- Going Postal (ISBN 0060013133) - Hex controls the worlds largest Omniscope
- The Science of Discworld (ISBN 0091886570)
- The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (ISBN 0091888050)
External link
- Interview with Terry about Hex and the ZX-81 (http://www.gadget.co.za/pebble.asp?relid=168)Template:Discworld