This is a computer-generated book produced for NaNoGenMo 2017.
- Entry on the NaNoGenMo 2017 repo
- Downloadable bundle of 100 generated books
- Notes on the concept and approach
The book is generated using elementary cellular automata with two randomly selected units of text mapped to the binary states of each cell.
The starting automaton is seeded with a randomly selected list of states. This seed is used to generate a wall of text—a study of repetition and contrast which combines the universal pattern generated by the automaton with the particular visual density of the selected units of text.
The number of cells in each generation and the number of generations are dependent on the length of the selected units. For this to work, the selected units must be the exact same length and the output text must be set in a monospace font.
Use Bundler to install the required gems:
bundle
Or install them manually:
gem install rake calyx png prawn
Run the generate task using Rake to output a PDF. By default, it goes into the output directory.
mkdir output
rake generate
The MIT License (MIT)
Copyright © 2017 Mark Rickerby https://maetl.net
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.