CA:Am6JeaVr1nKfNDfYZGFKp5zjmoSwvnJFoEhjXAfdpump
Before the internet had cats,
computers had Kitty.
The first digital cat was running on a Soviet mainframe in 1968.
$KITTY
SUBJECT: KITTYYEAR: 1968SYSTEM: BESM-4STATUS: STILL RUNNINGOG PIXEL PAWS DETECTED
DECLASSIFIED — CAT DIVISION
COMPUTER CAT DETECTED•FIRST GENERATION INTERNET ANIMAL•DO NOT TURN OFF MAINFRAME
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ORIGINAL FOOTAGE — 1968
■ BESM-4 VIDEO OUTPUT● REC
PLAYBACK FROM THE CAT ARCHIVES
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You thought Nyan Cat was early?
Kitty existed 43 years earlier.
In 1968, Soviet mathematician Nikolai Konstantinov and his team created a mathematical model of a walking cat.
The program ran on a BESM-4 mainframe computer.
Instead of drawing each frame normally, the computer calculated how different parts of the cat should move.
The frames were then printed using characters on paper and turned into a film.
They used a mainframe
to make a cat walk.
Humanity barely had computer graphics and we were already using them for cats.
VERIFIED — 1968
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THE CAT TIMELINE
1968
KITTY
A Soviet mainframe calculates a walking cat.
↓
1980s–1990s
Computers enter homes.
↓
2000s
Internet cat culture explodes.
↓
2011
NYAN CAT
Nyan Cat takes over the internet.
↓
2020s
Cats dominate memes, timelines and crypto.
↓
THE CAT WAS ALWAYS
IN THE MACHINE.
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HOW DO YOU ANIMATE A CAT IN 1968?
TECHNICAL DOCUMENT — CLASSIFIED
f(x) = Σ paw(t) × motion(θ)
∂cat/∂t = meow(x,y)
∫₀ᵗ walk(τ)dτ
REAL CAT
↓
MATHEMATICS
↓
BESM-4
↓
PRINTER
↓
HUNDREDS OF FRAMES
↓
KITTY
No Photoshop.No Blender.No GPU.
Just math and an enormous Soviet computer.
The animation used mathematical equations to model the movement of the animal rather than conventional hand-drawn animation.
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000101011010 KITTY 110100101 BESM4 001011
KITTYKITTYKITTY 01101 MEOW 10010 CAT.EXE
1968 010101 DIGITAL 101010 PAWS 010101 1968
BESM4 KITTY MEOW 01010101 CAT PROCESS ACTIVE
110100 KITTY 001101 MAINFRAME 100110 MEOW
CAT.EXE 010101 UPTIME:58YRS 101010 BESM4
000101011010 KITTY 110100101 BESM4 001011
KITTYKITTYKITTY 01101 MEOW 10010 CAT.EXE
1968 010101 DIGITAL 101010 PAWS 010101 1968
BESM4 KITTY MEOW 01010101 CAT PROCESS ACTIVE
110100 KITTY 001101 MAINFRAME 100110 MEOW
CAT.EXE 010101 UPTIME:58YRS 101010 BESM4
000101011010 KITTY 110100101 BESM4 001011
KITTYKITTYKITTY 01101 MEOW 10010 CAT.EXE
1968 010101 DIGITAL 101010 PAWS 010101 1968
BESM4 KITTY MEOW 01010101 CAT PROCESS ACTIVE
110100 KITTY 001101 MAINFRAME 100110 MEOW
CAT.EXE 010101 UPTIME:58YRS 101010 BESM4
000101011010 KITTY 110100101 BESM4 001011
KITTYKITTYKITTY 01101 MEOW 10010 CAT.EXE
1968 010101 DIGITAL 101010 PAWS 010101 1968
BESM4 KITTY MEOW 01010101 CAT PROCESS ACTIVE
110100 KITTY 001101 MAINFRAME 100110 MEOW
CAT.EXE 010101 UPTIME:58YRS 101010 BESM4
OG PIXEL PAWS.
CAT PROCESS STILL ACTIVEUPTIME: 58 YEARSDO NOT TERMINATE KITTY.EXE
PRINTING PAWS... ● MEOW ● CAT.EXE ● 1968 ● BESM-4
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EVERY CAT ONLINE DESCENDS FROM SOMETHING
DIGITAL CAT
INTERNET CAT
MEME CAT
CRYPTO CAT
╲ ╲ ╱ ╱
╲ ╲╱ ╱
╲ ▼ ╱
KITTY — 1968
Before cats conquered the internet, one had to conquer the mainframe.
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TERMINAL ACCESS GRANTED
BESM-4 TERMINAL — CLASSIFIED█ ■ ×
BESM-4 TERMINAL
MOSCOW, 1968
>
BESM-4 SESSION ACTIVE — DO NOT DISCONNECT
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