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Electric Sheep and BitTorrent, new windows client release

If you are on windows try the just-released v2.6.6 with BitTorrent built-in.

If you have a router/firewall then you must forward ports 6881 to 6889 for BitTorrent to work properly. Or you can configure the client to use a different port range. You can check if your setup is working with this page.

On Linux v2.6.8 supports using Azureus with its RSS Plugin to download sheep. Configure it to drop the torrents from the feed somewhere and move them into "~/.sheep" on completion. Or you can download individual torrents from the stats page. Most Linuxes come with their own firewall in addition to the one you (should) have protecting your local network, and this may also have to be configured.

On Mac you can use azureus like on linux, but the cache directory is "~/Library/Application Support/ElectricSheep".

Sheep on CNET News.Com Front Page

CNET has written a story about the Electric Sheep and put it on the front page of News.Com. They include a bunch of images and a video clip which looks fantastic. Hopefully the new server and bittorrent client will handle the load....

sheep linux client v2.6.8 released

The Electric Sheep client for Linux v2.6.8 has been released. Download the binary RPM or source code. The changelog:

Use new libpng api, handle libpng errors properly (from nix at esperi.org.uk). Name the window. Update documentation. Update use of AC_OUTPUT. Handle readonly parts of the cache. Avoid playing files partially downloaded by bittorrent. Add --show-errors option.

sheep cause complete demise of human existance?

a comment on another blog entry:

these patterns seem alive it is pretty spooky acctualy. this whole thing has the idea of harmless fun and artistically being one with each other on some level that everyone desires. but something about this seems very disturbing and that the whole idea is giving birth to a new entity this could be such a great thing or it could be the complete demise of human existance Posted by: charles u farley at July 8, 2006 11:21 PM

econcomic collapse due to lost productivity? :) thank you charles :)

Dreams at Siggraph

Dreams in High Fidelity will show in the Siggraph 2006 art gallery in Boston Sunday July 30th - Thursday August 3rd. The reception is Sunday July 30th 3-5:30pm. I'll give a talk on it in the session The Art of Simulation, Evolution, and Distributed Systems Sunday, 30 July 8:30 - 10:15 am Room 207. In the same session are Mark Stock and David Hart. I'm looking forward to grilling them on how they create such beautiful imagery. :)

NPAR06 Invited Paper

The Electric Sheep and their Dreams in High Fidelity: two pages of text plus figures, delivered as the keynote lecture last month at NPAR06, the 4th International Symposium on Non-Photorealistic Animation and Rendering. A few pix from the trip.

sheep windows client 2.6.6b14 released

download the latest torrentized windows client. v2.6.6b14 release notes:

cleanup dead torrents on disk, add option to cleanup download threads for users who have problems with lingering threads after exit.

Islamic star patterns in absolute geometry

Fascinating web page and papers designing arabesques with software. Full PDFs available here and via google.

Sheep in SigEvo Newsletter

The cover-story of the SigEvolution newsletter is about the Electric Sheep.

William Anderson Patterson 1911 - 2006

My Grandfather passed away in his sleep last Wednesday. I felt a special connection to my grandpa: i was named after him, he was a mathematician. I remember when as a child I asked him what he studied, and he answered "progressive progressions". "What's that?" I asked. "like one, two, three, four" with each word increasing the pitch of his voice. "or two four six eight" in a crescendo from quiet to loud, and also increasing in pitch. "or five ten fifteen twenty", with increasing pitch and volume, while walking up the stairs. As far as he could take it. He was always kidding. He was always honest and kind and thrifty. He was so modest that it wasn't until a few years ago that I learned that he played an instrumental role in the creation of Cleveland State University out of Fenn College. Just last year my aunt completed a family history based on his memoirs, interviews with many family members, and collected photographs. A few of these plus a few I scanned from an old album are here.

He is survived by his wife Mary and a host of family. He will be missed. He is the last of my four birth grandparents to pass away.

From The Plain Dealer, Cleveland's newspaper:

DR. WILLIAM ANDERSON PATTERSON, 94, of Willoughby, died June 28, 2006 at his home. Memorial services will be 3 p.m. Saturday, July 22, at the Lyons Chapel at the Nason Center of Breckenridge Village, 36859 Ridge Rd., (St. Rt. 84, 2 miles E. of St. Rt. 91), Willoughby. Born September 23, 1911 in Lorain, he was a lifelong resident of the Cleveland area, spending the last ten years at Breckenridge Village in Willoughby. He was formerly an active member of Willoughby United Methodist Church for 40 years, where he taught Sunday school and served in many administrative positions; he was also a former trustee of the Andrews School in Willoughby and a founding trustee of the Fine Arts Association in Willoughby. He loved to travel the world, and visited China, the former U.S.S.R., and many other countries. He also enjoyed ballroom dancing and playing bridge. Dr. Patterson received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wittenberg University and his Master of Arts and Ph.D. from Ohio State University. He was also presented with honorary degrees from the former Fenn College in Cleveland in 1965 and from Cleveland State University (CSU) in 1967. He is remembered as being "The Human Link" during the transition of the former Fenn College into the present-day CSU. He stayed in touch with many of his former students through the years, and CSU endowed a scholarship, in his name, when he retired. Dr. Patterson began his career as a professor of mathematics at the former Fenn College, and also served as registrar, director of admissions, dean of engineering, provost and budget director throughout his career. He retired in 1971 after 35 years of service. Survivors are his wife of 30 years, Mary E. (nee Prince) (Bayer) (Dobosy) Patterson; daughters, Phyllis Patterson Draves of Trafford, PA and Marilyn Patterson (Charles) Schroeder of Mission Viejo, CA, Carol Anne (James) Bartos of Charlotte, NC and Jacqueline Louise (James) Chaplin of Painesville; sister, Henrietta Patterson Chapman of Whiting, NJ; grandchildren, Richard Powell (Martha) Draves, Cheryl Draves (Vladimir) Ladyzhets, William Scott Draves, Curtis David (Patricia) Draves, Rebecca Lynn (Christopher) Edington, William Charles Schroeder, Jeffrey Andrew (Sushma) Bartos, Beth Bartos (Bob) Martin, Timothy (Cynthia) Bartos, Jeffrey James (Jennifer) Chaplin, Scott Paul (Rebekah) Chaplin, Laura Jean Chaplin; great grandchildren, Sarah and Katherine Draves, Betsy and Sophia Ladyzhets, Anya Draves, Jake, David and Bradley Edington, Mira and Nikhil Bartos, Samantha and Jack Martin and Emma and Micah Chaplin. His first wife, Mildred Keplinger Patterson died June 30, 1975 and his son, David James Patterson died Feb. 18, 1967. THERE WILL BE NO CALLING HOURS. A family member, the Rev. Kenneth H. Sauer will officiate at the service. The family suggests gifts, in his memory, to the William A. "Doc" Patterson Scholarship Fund at CSU or the Breckenridge Village Life Care Fund, 36855 Ridge Rd., Willoughby, 44094. Arrangements are being handled by DAVIS FUNERAL HOME, 4154 CLARK AVE., WILLOUGHBY

Independence Day on the Black Rock Desert

mmm playa!