Strange Universe is a triangular cellular automaton. It is run in iterations
in which the state of every cell on the board (on or off) is determined by
the number of neighbors it has on or off in the previous iteration. The
rules can be adjusted to the user's liking but the most interesting rules
can be loaded with preserved zoos of interesting patterns that I discovered.
There has been some debate of whether or not triangular cellular automata
have enough diversity and complexity to yield interesting patterns. I had
even heard that no gliders exist in triangular cellular automata. Well, I
found a rule set that does have a glider (a shape that drifts across the
board without leaving a trail behind it). This glider has eight frames in it
and even "looks" like it is flapping wings or swishing a fish-like tail when
it is gliding. I think it is a very beautiful pattern. Here are the frames
of the glider:
I have also found a rule set with an interesting growth pattern. From small
seeds (called acorns in cellular automata), it grows into a near perfectly
circular shape with increasing complexity within the circle as the circle
gets larger. The picture to the right shows the pattern after a couple
iterations.
Last night, I had a really weird dream, which involved a few ESL (English as
a Second Language) kids I go to school with in real life (some from Africa,
one from, I'm guessing, India) I was walking down my street, when I spotted
the Indian kid drinking form a water fountain outside the local library, and
there was some girl holding him up so he wouldn't fall. Well, not only was
the water coming out from the top, but it was also flowing out the bottom of
the drinking fountain!! That made me wonder what was going on.
All of the sudden, he and one of the other guys put on dresses. The kid from
India was wearing a Wilma-Flintstone type dress, except with leopard print!!
To top that off, he was doing some weird run/fast walk down the sidewalk in
my direction.
I was wondering what on the face of this Earth they were all doing, so I
asked one of the other kids about it. He gave me an answer, but I forgot
what it was. (it had something to do with him being nervous about
something). What older
aspects about Disney would you like reinstated?
I think that it is far too big of a corporation to see hardly any changes by
just changing out one man.
Now if Disney was privately held, then that would be another thing. But as
far as I see it... Disney has become just another lifeless corporate media
giant grinding along.
As for Disney and its current moves... it seems like they are slowly going
downhill... esp. when they start to consider acquisitions and cant afford to
negotiate a more expensive contract with pixar.
