Comment by bmoe
This looks very much like a Connection Machine. A red LED would light up when its corresponding processor was active.
This looks very much like a Connection Machine. A red LED would light up when its corresponding processor was active.
The connection machine had several modes for the front lights. The one most familiar is "random and pleasing" and the code can be found here: https://trmm.net/CM-2/
Reference: https://thedailywtf.com/articles/Thinking-Machines#comment-1...
No, IIRC, on a Connection Machine, a light blinks when the corresponding CPU is active. A LED which is on or off means the CPU is idle.
I am personally quite convinced that they chose to do it this way because the way you describe it – the obvious way – did not look cool enough.