On 12/18/2010 10:56 PM, [GDS|Entropy] wrote:
> There are some contracts which I outright refuse. I have had
> offers...very well paying ones...that were not more than malware
> authorship positions. I will have nothing to do with that, period. I
> will never take or keep a contract where I contribute in any way to
> something I consider immoral or unethical. Money is *not* my god.

Thank goodness software authors like you are taking that stance! Now if 
we could educate most end-users about discerning between malware and 
good apps. Even software claiming to be "good" will often insist on 
loading some toolbar or system tray quick launcher, but these things, 
when running in droves, can really bog things down... I try to tell 
people not to install these "helpers," but it's no use :( Outright 
malware is just an extension of the helper app., only it doesn't help 
the end user, but rather some spammer or hacker.

>>> I am getting OT here now, I know, but how did you start?
>>
>> My recounting was taking too long, so here is the summarized
>> progression: <1984 - today>: Art; <1995 - 2000>: QBasic; <1999 -
>> today>: POV-Ray; <2001 - 2003>: Euphoria (an interpretive language);
>> <2005 - today>: C/C++; <2008 - today>: GLSL. Today: POV-Ray, C/C++;
>> GLSL, Processing, HTML/CSS (rudimentary, but functional). Pretty much
>> anything I can use to make graphics :)
>
> Very cool! It seems we followed a similar motivational path. I paint in
> oils, acrylics and water colors as well...my wife found me in art
> appreciation class in college. :)

Art appreciation indeed ;)

> I did a mid-term project on Gilles Tran...he was very helpful too. Very
> nice guy, too bad he doesn't come around here anymore. :(

Yeah, I think he's pretty much moved on from POV-Ray. I guess I would 
too, but it seems there's always something new to try... POV-Ray is a 
great sandbox.

>> Recently I've been more interested in complex behavior arising from
>> basic conditions. Fractals, cellular automata, cognitive processes,
>> these are all very interesting to me (and very important).
>
> Ah..yes! These things I love! Have you seen Fractal Explorer? It has a
> very nice formula compiler. You can obtain the source for merely
> hundreds. I have been considering doing so.

I currently use ChaosPro (CP), since it's free :) I usually develop new 
ideas in either CP or POV-Ray, zoom into a set with CP and then make a 
final render in POV using the rectangular coordinates from CP. I find 
it's much easier to develop new coloring methods in POV. For instance, I 
was able to implement normalized smoothing for the M-Set in POV in just 
a few minutes and with a few tweaks.

> I have some c# programs I have written which implement CA in various
> forms. I am working on totalistic cellular automata now. If you would be
> willing to download microsoft visual c# express edition (free) I can
> send you a *lot* of source (I use Ultimate, but the solution/project
> files should work with both). I have been working with diffusion limited
> aggregation, CA, machine vision, GDI+ etc...I think you will like a lot
> of my projects, and I will be happy to send the code to you. Better yet,
> I will post it on my server. Just don't judge me by some of what I will
> post, because it is in many cases the product of less than a few hours
> of work, and is really rough and just recently fleshed out stuff. :p
>
> http://www.gds-entropy.com/CellularAutomata.rar

I really wish that I *could* download Visual C# or VC++... but my 
bandwidth will not allow it since Miscrosoft insists on using their 
proprietary download installer which isn't very accommodating as far 
broken/resumed downloads go. I'm on a 24kpbs dialup connection, which 
often dips down to 12-14kpbs during the rainy season. It's terrible, 
because right to the West and to the East, people can have DSL, but my 
neighborhood is stuck with half-speed dialup or expensive cable or 
satellite connections :(

I was lucky to find Processing, and even more fortunate that someone 
made an OpenGL library for it which supports GLSL shaders. Cellular 
automata, when designed in GLSL, is much faster than other methods 
(though still very slow when compared to HashLife), plus you can get 
32-bit precision if needed. Some of my last projects involved 
reaction-diffusion-esque systems in which areas were allowed to 
crystallize. It forms branching structures.

> This is based on "A new kind of science" (Wolfram) and (largely) some
> code by Paul Bourke as well as the interface provided by
> http://kidojo.com/cellauto/
> It took me maybe an hour and it isn't quite right yet. I haven't worked
> on it since 11/7/2010. Try selecting "Specify rule" and use rule 126 for
> a Sierpinski gasket sort of automaton.

That's one of the first ones I tried :)

>> Good work on the icicles/snow setup, not to mention presenting it
>> during the perfect time of year for it ;) I'm always thinking of weird
>> things... what if some stuff (not just air bubbles) got caught up in
>> the icicles? That's all I'm going to say about that :)
>
> Thank you. :) It was a project started last year during my annual winter
> poving. I hope to finish it (or release a usable alpha) this cycle.
> I think I get what you are saying with other objects being trapped. The
> way this macro is currently used, one can call it on the whole scene; it
> is not limited to only a single object at a time, and can be called
> recursively with different parameters (allowing a pass of just ice and
> then snow on top of that, with further icicling if it is so desired).
> So, for instance, if you have snow/ice coming from a roof, they will
> drip and blob onto a nearby tree, and its sticks/leaves will be
> evaluated, encapsulated by ice and iced/snowed as well. Perhaps this is
> close to what you mean?

Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of a spider colony or 
something, caught off guard by freezing rain. Sort of a beautiful tragedy...

>>> Or, if you have some things you might want some help on, I'd be happy to
>>> be a part of it.
>>
>> Well, there is the problem of getting the Menger Sponge to work with
>> KIFS... That's pretty much the only problem I have right now, other
>> than trying to come up with the next best Metroidvania...
>
> I do not know KIFS, but if you send me some code I should be able to
> wrap my head around it fairly quickly.

KIFS is just the shortened name for the original topic of this thread... 
I have already posted the code to p.t.scene-files, and the first link in 
the first KIFS thread takes you to the fractalforums topic which has an 
example of the Menger Sponge. But it's not very important, it's just one 
of those puzzles I wish to solve someday :)

Sam

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