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Sixth - system for data storage, computation, exploration and interaction


1 Vision / goal - A tool to amplify human ability

In short, this is what I want:

  • Perfect data storage and computation engine
  • Feeds lots of complex data into your brain in intuitive to explore, understand and manipulate form by extensively relying on realtime 3D graphics and fast feedback loop. (including virtual reality support)

    “Virtual reality holds the key to the evolution of the human mind” Dr. Lawrence Angelo, The Lawnmower Man (1992)

  • Why such name ?
    • In short: it's just a number.
    • Many years ago inspired by the ideas of Forth (programming language) I decided to create my own implementation Fifth (computing/programming environment).
    • Then I realized I miss type safe object oriented capabilities. So I updated the name to Sixth and switched to Java.

1.1 Perfect data storage and computation engine

I hate to choose between good things. Figuring out a way to combine below properties in one system would be beyond awesome.

(That`s the high level overview, details are slowly being worked out…)

1.1.1 Computation

  • Lisp (programming language):
  • Smalltalk (programming language / runtime):
    • Everything is object.
    • On the fly modifiable / reprogrammable.
    • Anything can be suspended/resumed from persistent storage on the fly.
  • Hadoop (computation system):
    • Many individual connected computers behave as one big computer. System is horizontally linearly scalable.
    • Programming abstraction and execution model that naturally divides problems te be solved in parallel and result easily combined.
    • Data is spread across nodes, automatic failover, built in resiliency.
    • Small pieces of code are automatically transferred to the node that contains relatively big data that needs processing (network efficiency).

1.1.2 Data storage

See: Sixth data subproject

2 Current status