Saturday 31 January 2004 — This is almost 21 years old. Be careful.
If you’re looking for time-wasting eye candy based on disrupting gigantic cellular automata simulations of theoretical computer science concepts (and who isn’t?), this is just what you’re after:
- Download Johan Bontes’ awesome Life32, an implementation of Conway’s Game of Life for Windows.
- Download Paul Rendell’s astounding pattern: Turing Machine implemented in Conway’s Game of Life.
- Run it for a while, and marvel at the complexity of the parts interacting.
- Stop the pattern running, and go into draw mode (Options - Draw mode). Make a little squiggle somewhere off at the edge of the pattern.
- Run the pattern again. Chances are good your squiggle will generate a glider headed into some part of the Turing Machine. It will gradually cause complete chaos.
- Repeat as desired. Try different types of squiggles, in different places. For extra fun, imagine the rogue glider is Luke Skywalker, and the Turing Machine is the Death Star!
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