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Agri-Nerd Programs Classic 'Hello World' Code... in a Wheat Field

by Warren Riddle on November 6, 2009 at 09:26 AM

The intricate and wondrous designs of crop circles have mystified and enthralled generations of global spectators from all walks of life. A new, unique crop design, which is actually a square, has recently appeared and is specifically designed for geeks and nerds (particularly those who happen to be brilliant programmers).

Ben Hopfeng-Aertner, a German programmer, has mowed a huge grassy pattern in Semacode, which is a "machine readable," visual programming language. According to Ars Technica, once the agricultural code is translated by a machine, the 'Tetris'-looking pattern literally reads, "Hello, World!" Ben has also created an explanatory Web site that boasts numerous features, including a series of photos detailing the extensive work required to cut the crop code.

For some reason, here in the U.S., complex grass designs and artistic pattern mowing are relegated to golf courses and baseball fields. So, maybe Hopfeng-Aertner can come stateside next year, and encode some of those ubiquitous Yankee-hater messages in various outfields. With yet another World Series win for the Yanks, there will definitely be some highly interested teams.

[Ed. note: This story is actually from 2007, but it's new to us.] [From: YCombinator and Ars Technica and Hello.W0r1d.net]

Tags: ben hopfeng-aertner, BenHopfeng-aertner, crop circles, CropCircles, funny, programming, programminglanguage, semacode, top, weird

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