Changing a Single Byte Saves Me Seconds Every Day! by Sven Dahlstrand Have you ever stumbled upon a piece of software that’s almost perfect? Loving everything about it except that teeny-tiny little detail. Sticking out, like a sore thumb. For me, that almost-perfect piece of software is Tetris, for the original Game Boy. My grudge? Every time the game boots up, you have to stare at an 8-second long copyright notice before being allowed to play. One summer, during an intense Tetris tournament against my BFF, I got super-duper-feed-up with that notice and asked myself: “Is it possible to hack Tetris and get rid of that screen forever?” This talk is about saving precious time. But it’s also about friendship, falling blocks, reverse-engineering and hacking games. I hope it will inspire you to look under the hood of software you love and make it even lovelier. Sven is a curious human being who loves acquiring new skills and shares what he has learned with other people. He knows enough to be dangerous around soldering irons, crochet hooks, pen plotters, and paddles. For a living, Sven builds accessible and performant websites.