There’s a slightly pathetic anticlimax when a cellular automata bound for infinity runs into the edge of a computer screen and halts. This unfortunate behavior can be diverted by the most trivial of interface elements: the scroll bar.
So, I created an HTML / JavaScript implementation of a Wolfram’s one-dimensional binary cellular automata: CAd nauseam.
The name is intended to reflect the sense of conceptual exhaustion around this particular set of 256 rules, which has been researched, poked, and prodded within an inch of its life.
As the CA is rendered, the page simply grows to accommodate as much output as you have patience for. It’s easy to pause, scroll back up, and reminisce about past lines. (If you’re into that sort of thing…)
In addition to the browser’s native scrollability, I added a few knobs and dials that let you manipulate the rules in real time.
In this context, ASCII doesn’t offer many endearing qualities beyond a certain nostalgic cheekiness, but I suppose one could argue that the output is easy to cut / paste and it allows the simulation to run relatively quickly in the browser. (At least compared to rendering the pixels with a table or using the canvas object.)
The code is based heavily on Dan Shiffman’s Processing example of the same CA. Just view the source to get a sense of how it works — although most of my contributions to the code are just interface-related cruft.
There are two ways to set the active rule. You can click each four-square icon to toggle that particular rule on or off. (The top three squares represent the seed condition, the single bottom square indicates whether that condition will turn the next pixel on or off.) Alternately, you can type the rule number you’d like to see directly into the text box at the top of the palette. Hit enter, or click outside the box to activate the rule.
As you change the rules, the URL will change to represent a direct-link to the current rule set. For example, you can visit /cad-nauseam/#30 to see the output of rule 30.
The rest of the interface should be self-explanatory. “Reseed” will clear the latest line and replace it with a new line with single X in the center. “Go / Stop” freezes the simulation so you can scroll through the history more easily. “Rule Info” takes you to the Wolfram|Alpha page describing the current rule.
Runs best in Safari, the experience is much slower and stickier in Firefox, IE, and Chrome.