Hypnotic Self-Organizing Transportation Network Simulator
ChemicalBurn is a hypnotic screensaver for OS X, written by Michael Ash, that simulates a self-optimizing network. It randomly lays out nodes on the screen then has each attempt to route packages to the others. The more frequently routes are used by packages, the faster the connection becomes.
I lost several hours yesterday tweaking the various settings and seeing how they affected the network — if you want to procrastinate yourself into a trance, this is an excellent way to do it.
November 15th, 2007 at 6:33 am
[…] 3) Don’t abuse the system. Couples need time away from each other, and that’s fine, but it is not the point of the offline system. Offline means you are getting work done and can’t afford interruptions. If you use offline time to just read a novel, you will invite interruption and diminish the importance and uniqueness of the offline state as separate from other forms of downtime. Preserving the specialness of offline time will also motivate you to get work done. If I tell my wife I’m offline, I better be working and not just staring at my screensaver. […]