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The Utah Teapot

78 points • by cobbal • yesterday at 7:45 PM • 18 comments • view on HN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-23LgrFcvs


Comments

EvanAnderson • today at 1:46 AM

I saw the Utah Teapot at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View when I visited in late 2004. I didn't know it was there. I immediately started calling friends, while standing there in the "Visible Storage" exhibit gawking at it, telling each of them, breathlessly: "I'm looking at _the_ Utah teapot."

I was told later by a docent that my reaction was not uncommon. >smile<

apitman • yesterday at 11:52 PM

I work at the University of Utah. They had an incredible graphics symposium a few years ago[0]. I got a render of the teapot signed by several of the speakers, which is a prized possession. There was another guy there with an actual replica teapot which he got signed. I was pretty jealous.

Sadly Alan Kay was unable to attend so I didn't get to meet him.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui3R1Dlmsk0

simtel20 • today at 1:45 AM

Here is an old IBM research video on breaking the Utah teapot in 1989[1]

1. https://youtu.be/3NQuHpUyZbI?is=sjkQcadU6_IHjgr0

dang • yesterday at 9:15 PM

Related. Others?

The original Utah teapot(1.4L) is in stock - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31178947 - April 2022 (7 comments)

Why a Computer History Museum Owns a Legendary Teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29259548 - Nov 2021 (1 comment)

Show HN: Teapong – A two-player game for fans of Pong and the Utah teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22137758 - Jan 2020 (12 comments)

Bézier Curves and Surfaces: The Utah Teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19690575 - April 2019 (7 comments)

The Utah Teapot: Most Important Object in Computer Graphics History - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11209690 - March 2016 (52 comments)

Utah Teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7280289 - Feb 2014 (17 comments)

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xattt • today at 12:44 AM

Tangential & graphics-related: there is a story where Jim Foley requested a pirated Eastern European copy of his text (… which heavily features the Utah teapot) as a souvenir.

He found it hilarious that every single equation in the pirated book were reverse images.

omoikane • yesterday at 10:48 PM

I first saw Utah Teapot in OpenGL:

https://www.opengl.org/resources/libraries/glut/spec3/node89...

Surprised to see the teapot got another update this year.

GeeDoubleyou • yesterday at 11:15 PM

Anyone else getting a 418 error trying to access this site?

rhcom2 • today at 1:54 AM

The Utah Teapot is filled with fry sauce.

jolt42 • yesterday at 10:00 PM

The pelican on the bike seems like the new teapot.

car • yesterday at 11:24 PM

The original pot is from Melitta [0]. The 3D model seems a bit squished down though.

[0] https://spectrum.ieee.org/behold-the-worlds-most-famous-teap...

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tniemi • yesterday at 10:06 PM

The "Wilhelm scream" of 3D.

jupitr • yesterday at 9:26 PM

I wonder the reasons for adding/removing the base rims over the years

darknavi • yesterday at 9:34 PM

I always knew about/used teapot in game engines and what not, but never knew the origin.

I guess they want to make their mark like Stanford dragon[0].

0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_dragon

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