Electric Sheep
This computer screen saver is incredibly beautiful, dynamic, amazingly hypnotic, free (!), and literally alive. You can get the full story here, but Electric Sheep is Scott Draves' open source, distributed computing project which creates and disseminates new user-generated and/or computer-generated fractals to everyone who's downloaded the screen saver. I've been running the Mac version for about four or five years and find myself involuntarily staring at it for long periods. Over time, you'll actually see it evolve, and get to know family trees. I sometimes recognize dynamic fractals patterns I've seen elsewhere in nature. I've seen fractals that resemble the inside of cells (my background is in biology). I'm also a scuba diver, and I've seen fractals that especially resemble lots of marine creatures, such as Nudibranchs and Barnacles and Sea Cucumbers and more. Plus, classic cloudscapes and NASA pics of galaxies forming as well as sliced/polished rock geological forms.
As I understand it, there are essentially three ways sheep come into existence. People can login to the website and use a GUI to create their own sheep to release into the 'flock.' Sheep have a finite lifetime, and users can vote on the sexiest/prettiest or least favorite sheep by pressing the up or down arrows when they appear on their screens. Sheep with favorable ratings get to 'breed' more. When they breed, sheep are genetically recombined to form diverse offspring, which resemble various aspects of each parent. There is also an automatic genetic algorithm that occasionally generates and lets loose new sheep with fresh DNA into the flock. Interestingly, just as in nature, when the algorithm is creating new sheep it analyzes them in various ways to make sure they aren't deformed or utterly pointless (i.e. just as embryos in the womb of mammals are eliminated if there are genetic or developmental problems).
You can get the screen saver for any platform. I've installed both Mac and PC versions a few dozen times on various friends' computers over the years and can assure you it's adware/virus free.
-- Mark Lenhart
I'd heard about Electric Sheep through the years. Was always curious, but for some reason never bothered to try it until recently. Not long after installing it, I cut my screen saver launch time down to three minutes. I now find myself pausing regularly to gaze at the sheep whenever I get antsy or hit a wall while working. One unexpected side-effect: my Sheep-gawking moments also serve as much-needed stretch breaks.
-- Steven Leckart
Here are some fractals:
Here's a mini "Sheepumentary" about the project:
Favorite (15)
Mike W.
Of course you don't need a screen *saver* on LCDs. And I would bet that doing the calculations for it prevent your CPU from sleeping very soundly, increasing energy usage. No big deal if you're there actually watching it, but if you're at lunch or sleeping, not so good.
DMAC
The first video is a little misleading in that the transitions from one "sheep" to another does not dissovle so seamlessly, together.
In fact, there is an abrupt jump cut from one sheep to the next.
It doesn't bother me that much but, depending on your perception that's not generally acknowledged by consensus reality, may interrupt the flow of your enjoyment.
Richard S.
Agreed, it is best to tturn the machine off when not in use, but this is better than a blank screen or microsoft ad while the computer is waiting for my attention.
Mark
VersionTracker describes ElectricSheep as "a distributed screen saver, using the processing power of sleeping computers to generate animated fractal flames. Due to the uploading/downloading of data, this screen saver is intended primarily for those with high bandwidth, always-on connections."
I'm not generally fond of this idea - having my Mac constantly sucking in data from unknown computers ..... No thanks.
Chris
Didn't work on Vista, on a new Dell Inspiron 530s with integrated graphics. I may try again once my video card arrives in the mail. Electric Sheep website shows various Vista issues -- too bad!
Tom
Are you guys serious? Sure I can see how it could suck up your bandwidth but this is a pretty innovative piece of freeware and it looks wicked. Proper dig the psychedelia.
Isabel Walcott Hilborn
I'm the artist's business manager and wanted to weigh in here for a moment.
First of all, each frame takes time to generate and the animations are collections of frames generated by the machines on the network. So if you only like to watch and you turn your computer off instead of letting it generate new designs for the project, then you're mooching off the system, which seems stingy.
Secondly, your computer isn't "sucking in data from unknown computers", it's calculating the results of mathematical formulas and using those results to color pixels and save the resulting image. The project has 60,000 daily users and has been running for 9 years; I have never heard of any viruses introduced.
The screensaver works best on Linux, and the sheep don't like Vista any more than anyone else does.
The artist also makes limited edition work if you're in a buying mood; and if you like the sheep you should definitely check out the iGoogle artist theme.
StriperGuy
I downloaded this about a month ago. Far and away the coolest screensaver I have ever seen. The fractals are amazing. There are times when I have a meeting in my office, the whole meeting stops to look at the screen (perhaps not a good thing)!
jsimps44
Works fine on windows 7
cool screensaver
Jack
Nothing works on Vista..........get used to it.........J
garry
I love it. I use it on both of my computers and always entertain my friends.