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Star Wars Asciimation Revisited

Treebeard the Ent writes "A few years ago, Slashdot did a story about a guy Who was creating a full motion Ascii version of Star Wars in Asciimation. This is a link to the source of the now infamous Star Wars ASCIIMATION project that has been evolving since 97. This guy has stated that he prefers to finish this project on his own (but you are welcomed to do any of the other Star Wars movies). In his FAQ's he has stated that he doesn't have time to support his Java applet nor the text files, so he would not be making them available for anyone. Fortunatally enough for those of us who are interested, he has left them wide open in a standard zip file on his server. So download and have fun... Just please don't make any ASCII pr0n movies..."

173 comments

  1. Damn... by Aliencow · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's hope that the trolls won't find a way to combine the BLINK tags and ascii art to make an animated goatse guy !

    1. Re:Damn... by rf0 · · Score: 1

      That is probably the most distubing thing I've read today. Good on ya :)

      Rus

    2. Re:Damn... by aiyo · · Score: 1, Funny

      Me: Hey check out this new ASCII image I made. Friend: Oh cool send it over. Me: O Friend: OMFG YOU NASTY SON OF A BITCH IM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!111 Me: Hahahahahahaha

    3. Re:Damn... by aiyo · · Score: 2, Funny

      Me: Hey check out this new ASCII image I made.
      Friend: Oh cool send it over.
      Me: O
      Friend: OMFG YOU NASTY SON OF A BITCH IM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!111
      Me: Hahahahahahaha

      *Had to repost, fixed formatting. From now on I vow to preview frist.

    4. Re:Damn... by Danga · · Score: 1

      "From now on I vow to preview frist."

      Well as long as it's from now one... :-)

      --
      Hey, there is only one Return and it's not of the King, it's of the Jedi.
    5. Re:Damn... by Danga · · Score: 1

      I vow to preview from now on too! lol

      --
      Hey, there is only one Return and it's not of the King, it's of the Jedi.
    6. Re:Damn... by snajdarn · · Score: 1

      http://www.asciipr0n.com/pr0n/morepr0n/pr0n65.txt

      just add the BLINK tags

      --

      The number of the beast, vi vi vi!
    7. Re:Damn... by Surak · · Score: 1

      Particularly when doing a frist psot, right? ;)

  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. No way... by strAtEdgE · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I would encourage someone to make an ascii porn! Just think... work safe porn!

    --
    ----- sXe
    1. Re:No way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My favorite ascii pr0n

    2. Re:No way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just use the ASCIIMoviePlayer from Apple and load one up. Make sure you've got a big terminal window, though.

    3. Re:No way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate you, I hate you, I hate you...

    4. Re:No way... by daw · · Score: 4, Informative
      Actually there is an ASCII version of the porn movie "Deep Throat." Seriously.

      Unlike the hand-drawn Star Wars one, it seems to have been made by some kind of automatic transformation of a ripped video stream.

    5. Re:No way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What no sound? Whatta rip off...

    6. Re:No way... by xaaronx · · Score: 1

      Yeah, if you say so. . .

      --
      It's amazing how much "mature wisdom" resembles being too tired. - Robert Anson Heinlein
    7. Re:No way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What no sound? Whatta rip off...

      Sucks especially because Deep Throat is full of classic comments such as "mind if I smoke while you're eating?" (said by a woman while a guy is performing oral sex on her).

    8. Re:No way... by ramzak2k · · Score: 1

      That was a big disappointment during these horny hours. All i could see was matrix like greenary.

      --

      Siggy Say, Siggy Do
    9. Re:No way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      look / focus ur eyes slightly beyond the monitor

    10. Re:No way... by miketang16 · · Score: 1

      Actually if you watch it for about 10 min, you get used to watching the moving ascii. I can actually view text movies fairly easily. Also, try backing up farther away from the screen.

      --
      -------
      "In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
      -- George Orwell
    11. Re:No way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually if you watch it for about 10 min

      I did. All I saw was a car driving and driving and driving. Woo, this porn is great! :\

    12. Re:No way... by Sheriff+Fatman · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah... but after a couple of minutes, you don't even see the code any more; all you see is blonde, brunette, redhead...

      --
      -- Open Source: It's mad, but you don't have to work here to help.
    13. Re:No way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      They probably used aalib with mplayer/mencoder.

      To play any movie that mplayer can handle in ASCII (assuming you have aalib and mplayer compiled with support for it)...

      mplayer -vo aalib /path/to/movie.mpeg

      To compile mplayer with aalib support on Gentoo...

      emerge aalib && USE="aalib" emerge mplayer

      enjoy

    14. Re:No way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      either your sense of time sucks, or your watch is broken. Those are the opening credits.

    15. Re:No way... by Feanturi · · Score: 1

      Heh cool, I didn't see your 'blonde, brunnette, redhead' post before I clicked on the link, but those words were briefly still in the middle of the screen as the java app intitialized, and that's the first thing I thought of, just before everything went green and matrixy.. Thought it was intentional at first till I came back here.. Things that make you go hmmm...

  4. Eye Damage? by Blaine+Hilton · · Score: 2, Funny
    This looks interest, but could watching this on your computer screen cause long-term vision damage? Perhaps I'll wait until the DVD with PC speaker sound comes out...

    Go calculate something

  5. Princess in Ascii by Kircle · · Score: 2, Funny

    I just saw a little of it. Did anyone think of "He-Man" when the princess first showed up?? I guess the translation from video to ascii isn't always pretty... :)

    --

    -- Kircle

  6. Mirror by NETHED · · Score: 5, Informative

    Save the guy some bandwidth. Click here for it.

    --
    --sig fault--
    1. Re:Mirror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      cofc??

      how come you are at the slashdot meetups for charleston?!

  7. Is It Just Me? by Snowspinner · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is it just me, or are the special effects and CGI on that more realistic than Episodes I and II?

  8. Why Did He Do It? by dupper · · Score: 3, Funny
    Simple. Refer to his other page, the jet powered beer cooler.

    If you were drinking so much you need jet power to cool at a rate equal to your consumption, you're perception may be so reduced, as well.

  9. PERL Asciimation by ndetroit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And here's an excellent implementation of it in PERL:

    http://okcomputer.antiflux.org/~grant/asciimation. html

    1. Re:PERL Asciimation by bn557 · · Score: 5, Informative

      http://ascii.dyne.org/

      will render any video4linux source as ascii. had a ton of fun with this, and a projector earlier this semester playing 'matrix'.

      Pat

      --
      Humans are slow, innaccurate, and brilliant; computers are fast, acurrate, and dumb; together they are unbeatable
    2. Re:PERL Asciimation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      you can also do this with aalib and mplayer

    3. Re:PERL Asciimation by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      I'm wondering if anyone can take Sailor Moon episode 108 (from DVD 3) ("Usagi no dansu wa warutsu ni notte") and make asciimation out of it.

      -uso.
      Minako: "Nice to meet you!" (perfect English)
      Rei: "Hello!" (slight accent)
      Ami: "I am gurad to see you!" (noticeable accent)
      Makoto: "Thank you!" (as Japanese "sankyuu")
      Rei: "Mako-chan, sore wa chotto chigauwa."
      Makoto: "Uh, yappari."

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    4. Re:PERL Asciimation by prnd_ndrd · · Score: 1

      Humans are slow, innaccurate, and brilliant; computers are fast, acurrate, and dumb; together they are unbeatable

      Clearly, a human wrote this .sig. ;-)

      * accurate, inaccurate

      --
      Want to talk? ashaver AT pdx DOT edu
  10. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Informative

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  11. ...I have one question, WHY?!?! by Kumkwat · · Score: 0

    I think maybe this takes the "just because I can", a little to far...

  12. ASCII Babes by notestein · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And let's not forget the ASCII Babes.

    1. Re:ASCII Babes by Monkeyman334 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Another good site for ascii pr0n is space bar cowboy

    2. Re:ASCII Babes by Jugalator · · Score: 3, Informative

      Or just asciipr0n.com

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    3. Re:ASCII Babes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only problem with that site is that there are too few babes, and FAR to many guys! Sheesh!

    4. Re:ASCII Babes by clarkc3 · · Score: 1
      they had no stepahnie swift ascii - i had to make my own

      I didnt really make it - asciigen did - but it looks almost as good as the ascii babes site when used with 5 point terminal font and large output resolution

    5. Re:ASCII Babes by darrkside · · Score: 1

      there's plenty for chicks at www.asciibabes.com. just that they were taken down due to too much traffic. not that there's anything wrong with that, just that going over the 2GIG per month quota costs the site money.

      --
      No Sig Required
  13. Is it just me... by Toasty16 · · Score: 0
    ...or did anyone else also read the headline as "ASSimation." I actually thought it was Star Wars porn.

    I need help.

  14. This is why I read /. by Malacca · · Score: 1

    I wonder if they ASCII'fied Episode I, would that make Jar-jar tolerable?

    1. Re:This is why I read /. by WegianWarrior · · Score: 2, Informative

      Judging by this page, Jar-Jar wouldn't make it thru Ep1. Hard to be sure thought, as it looks like the site is in the prossess of getting slashdottet.

      --
      Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
    2. Re:This is why I read /. by Gogl · · Score: 3, Funny

      I guess you haven't seen the "Die Jar-Jar!" skit, already implemented by the same guy responsible for all this asciimation in the first place. It's available here. Or for those who don't trust html links: http://asciimation.co.nz/diejarjar.html

  15. Re:omg by calyxa · · Score: 1

    wow, that's amazing! I've never been able to get one of those Magic Eye things to work 'til now!

    -calyxa

    --
    Decay! Decay! Decay! -Helium
  16. Request denied by Faust7 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Just please don't make any ASCII pr0n movies...

    Rather a tall order, with Portman as she is...

    ...nope, don't think I can refrain. Sorry!

  17. Watch it via telnet by therevolution · · Score: 5, Informative
    Use the console, Luke!

    telnet blinkenlights.nl

    1. Re:Watch it via telnet by CoolVibe · · Score: 1

      Available in ipv6 too! Hot damn :)

    2. Re:Watch it via telnet by Sabalon · · Score: 1

      You would think that being on /. you people would get it, but I guess you don't.

      Telnet is insecure...it is trivial to sniff data going over the wire during a telnet session. It is also very easy for a man-in-the-middle attack to hijack the session.

      Think about it - someone who hasn't paid could see how the movie ended, or a commercial could be forced right in the middle of the session.

      Please, use ssh instead. ;)

    3. Re:Watch it via telnet by ntobias · · Score: 1

      Watch it with Useless Telnet for a true cinematic experience!

  18. Re:Oops by Malacca · · Score: 5, Funny

    So long as it wasn't a Jar-Jar file ...

  19. Please sit down Mr. Lucas... by Chiggy_Von_Richtoffe · · Score: 5, Funny

    oh great! just what we need is for this guy to *actually* finish this and have George Lucas use ILM & Skywalker Studios include a "Special Delux Uber-Platinum Edition" with "THX-MIDI" and "Colour ASCII". *sigh* Knowing the madness of King George, he really will do this. Hopefully he'll have the good sense to show Jar-Jar being ripped to pixels by Chewy.

    --
    Dude: Why did you just blow off Jenny?
    Dude2: You Kidding! I'm waiting for Famke Jansen to call me back.

  20. Been done by georgelazenby · · Score: 0, Redundant

    The porn's already been done. Deep Throat, ASCII http://www1.zkm.de/~wvdc/ascii/java/

  21. Re:omg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    You genuinely suck.

  22. This is not cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sorry - even though this is a goofy project, this is THIS guys project, and if he doesn't want any one else working on it, it's NOT cool to take his code.

    1. Re:This is not cool by jonhuang · · Score: 1

      Bump.

    2. Re:This is not cool by 26199 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree... licences, anyone? Software isn't free by default...

    3. Re:This is not cool by alernon · · Score: 1, Flamebait
      Thank god, other people are thinking the same thing.


      In his FAQ's he has stated that he doesn't have time to support his Java applet nor the text files, so he would not be making them available for anyone. Fortunatally enough for those of us who are interested, he has left them wide open in a standard zip file on his server.


      WTF? He says he doesn't want them available for anyone, but since someone happened to find them you're going to ignore his request and just take them? At least someone set up a mirror in a post so you're not stealing his bandwidth as well. I can't believe this got posted, it's so wrong.


      So is this going to continue down this slope until all the posts are just ftp spots to steal the latest wares? After reading the comments on the Apple music service yesterday, it's obvious a large portion of slashdot readers feel its within their right to take anything they happen to find.

    4. Re:This is not cool by CharlieO · · Score: 1

      I don't keep my wallet in a digitally locked safe in my back pocket either - its still wrong for you come up and pull it out to get at my money.

      Its even more wrong for you to walk just behind me with a huge placard in bright orange with a huge arrow pointing at my pocket with the words "Look this guy's wallet is here, come grab his money"

      And I wonder why I hardly read slashdot these days...

    5. Re:This is not cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He said "not availible for support"... that means he has no problem with you taking and using it, just don't come cryng to him when it breaks or you can't figgure it out...

    6. Re:This is not cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Read the darn FAQ. It's clear that he plans to release in the future - you have no right to determine when that is.

      When will it be finished?
      Don't hold your breath waiting!

      Is the source code for the player and the text file available?
      I can't really make these available yet. I don't have as much time as I would like for support or questions on the applet or the text file. I do plan to make them available when they are complete.

      Can I offer to help to finish it?
      Well, I would really like to finish this myself. I know that may take a long time but I ask people to be patient. There are three other, sorry four other, Star Wars films though if people are interested in asciimating those!

  23. A Telnet Version by OverlordQ · · Score: 0, Redundant

    that has been based off of this can be found Here

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  24. Bread and butter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What does the guy do for a living anyway?

  25. Too Late... by heli0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just please don't make any ASCII pr0n movies...

    The Ascii Art Ensemble
    "the Ascii Art Ensemble has taken the 1972 porn movie 'Deep Throat' and converted it into moving ascii"

    --
    Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way...
    1. Re:Too Late... by heli0 · · Score: 1

      Here it is if you are into that sort of thing..

      http://www1.zkm.de/%7Ewvdc/ascii/java/

      --
      Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way...
  26. ASCII by Jason1729 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI.

    Jason
    ProfQuotes

    1. Re:ASCII by NanoGator · · Score: 1

      "ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI."

      The last time I made a bitter beer face like that, my gf was talking about her period.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  27. ascii porn by nsda's_deviant · · Score: 5, Funny

    its not that bad
    http://www.asciipr0n.com/pr0n/pinups.html

    http://www.subterrane.com/asciiporn.shtml

    a lot of the time your staring at the screen and you say out loud, "oh thats an interesting character to use for the nipple"

    maybe i shouldve posted anonymouslly

  28. Re:Oops by addaon · · Score: 3, Informative

    All jar files are zip files...

    --

    I've had this sig for three days.
  29. Re:I Can't by soapvox · · Score: 0

    U think this is actually on topic, if he is one of the people who did this, they are geniuses but probably have noooo lives

  30. 'Revisited' by TrollBridge · · Score: 0, Troll

    That's two of these 'revisited' stories today. Is that just a cover-up/excuse for dupes now?

    --
    There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
  31. If you like ASCII 'Art' by OverlordQ · · Score: 5, Informative

    You might like the AA Project. Their feats include:

    Ascii Art GFX Library

    Random dot Stereogram Generator

    SVGAlib wrapper for AA-lib

    Image Browser

    And a very nice demonstration

    For a list of cool ASCII-type programs that use AA-lib try their Homepage. ASCII quake anybody?

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    1. Re:If you like ASCII 'Art' by grahamdrew · · Score: 1

      The most impressive use of AAlib I've seen thusfar is the xine output plugin (included with the xine-ui tarball). It's one hell of an effect that you've got to see to belive. Any video source xine can play, including DVDs and nearly any file format you can get your hands on can be displayed entirely in ASCII.

      There's nothing like watching the Kung-Fu scene in the Matrix in pure text. Make sure you stand back a couple feet from the monitor for the full effect, though.

      --
      // Dumps core here
  32. Other stuff on the website by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    World's first Jet powered Beer Cooler

    This deserves a /. story all by itself:

    Current project: Jet Engine

    1. Re:Other stuff on the website by ecchi_0 · · Score: 2, Informative
      UPDATE: Sunday 29th July 2001 As this site has appeared on www.slashdot.org and is experiencing slightly increased traffic I would like to add a few extra comments...

      Actually, it HAS been a slashdot story :)

  33. ascii pr0n by megazoid81 · · Score: 1, Redundant
    Just please don't make any ASCII pr0n movies...

    Why make them when the all-time classic has already been made in ASCII? Okay, stop salivating. Presenting... 3... 2... 1...

    Deep Throat in ASCII

    1. Re:ascii pr0n by canning · · Score: 1

      Bah, too much like watching scrambled cable porn.

      --
      I love the smell of Karma in the morning
  34. ascii pr0n by pizza_milkshake · · Score: 0, Redundant
  35. The best way to try this out is to use the MoviX (http://movix.sourceforge.net/) bootable Linux CD.
    It has the AA modules to watch any movie in its ASCII form.

  36. that lightsabre by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Has anyone gotten to the part where Luke gets the light sabre? It looks like he's holding something other than a lightsabre.

  37. Deep Throat ASCII by AxB_teeth · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Sorry, this link was obligatory.

    --

    However,
  38. Woohooo by Humanclone · · Score: 1

    aah.. lovely

  39. But did he intentionally leave them wide open....? by bad_fx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've just gotta ask... Did he intentionally leave his code, etc there for download? If not then linking to it is... well... not cool.

  40. Re:omg by croddy · · Score: 1

    it's debian!

  41. If I watched Star Wars as much as this guy did by teamhasnoi · · Score: 1
    I'd be able to recite the the ascii on any given frame from memory.

    'Yup, Luke whining "But I wanted to go into town and get the ASCII power converteeeerrrrrssss!!! *simper*" would be
    30 '*'
    23 '_'
    12 #
    34 '.'
    19 '(' and ')'
    7 'v'
    4 ','
    2 'oo'.
    Tough one, that scene.'

    On a more serious note, if you have the mind of a 14 year old, you'll most likely snicker when Luke tries out the lightsaber for the first time.
    hehehe

  42. TTY Quake & UT by mlk · · Score: 3, Informative

    TTYQuake
    TTY UT
    and the TTY UT movies
    Movies!
    Which work in Cygwin, very cool watch.

    Plus the method used by TTY UT will work for ANY SDL-based Linux app, so matrix in ASCII
    xterm -fn micro -geometry 240x150 -e aaxine -driver slang -width 240 \
    -height 150 dvd://01.1 dvd://02.0 dvd://02.1 dvd://02.2 dvd://02.3 \
    dvd://02.4 dvd://02.5 dvd://02.6 dvd://03.0 dvd://03.1 dvd://03.2
    (so the pages says, never tried, must fix my linux install at some point :)

    --
    Wow, I should not post when knackered.
  43. Spoilers by CPD · · Score: 2, Funny

    warning - the asciimation contains spoilers for episode IV

  44. Jeez - nothing but perverts here by RealityMogul · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is anybody else surprised at the number of posters that had the link to an ASCII version of Deep Throat readily available?

    1. Re:Jeez - nothing but perverts here by The+Zody · · Score: 1

      nope, you come to expect it after awhile.

    2. Re:Jeez - nothing but perverts here by teamhasnoi · · Score: 4, Funny
      Hey, we're only products of our enviroment! Look at the last 3 story titles:

      AMD: No Grease For You!
      Silicon Valley Has Learned to Love the Bust
      Developers: Reading Lips In Software

      Frankly, I'm shocked and dismayed. Won't someone think of the children?

    3. Re:Jeez - nothing but perverts here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is anybody else surprised at the number of posters that had the link to an ASCII version of Deep Throat readily available?

      Why, of course not. You must be new around here?

    4. Re:Jeez - nothing but perverts here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is /. after all........if you think ASCII Pr0n is bad wait until you see Goatsex....

  45. Quicktime terminal movie player by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I ran across some demo code on apple's site that made is possible to watch any movie quicktime can play as a ascii movie in the terminal. Though it was cool for awhile, got to be a bit much though after a minute or two.

    1. Re:Quicktime terminal movie player by Danta · · Score: 1

      Here's the link for anyone interested in trying it out.

  46. Re:omg by xaaronx · · Score: 1

    I don't know whether to laugh or beat your ass.

    --
    It's amazing how much "mature wisdom" resembles being too tired. - Robert Anson Heinlein
  47. Telnet Version by Alan+Holman · · Score: 0

    I just watched the telnet version of it -- if you search for "ascii movie" on google, you'll find it. It seems to be the only full-length ascii movie out there. Gee, I wonder why ;) Next thing I wanna see is the ancient japanese art form known as ASCIIme!

  48. Nice stunt (warning: goatse.cx) by lommer · · Score: 1

    That's the most imaginative way I've seen it done in a while:

    1) Get what looks like a magic-eye image
    2) tell people to stare at it
    3) after about 30 secs switch it to the goatse.cx guy

    So ya, don't click the above link. And mods - get to work...

    1. Re:Nice stunt (warning: goatse.cx) by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Funny

      1. Trick people into looking at blinking goatcex
      2. They have mental trauma
      3. Have expensive therapist standing by
      4. Profit!

  49. Re:omg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is there even ONE legitimate site with a .cx??? I'd like to know if there is. Also I would like a list of all the illigitimate sites too. Thank you.

  50. Throwback? by DarwinDan · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's like a throwback to the 1960's...I can just smell the fresh punch cards...

    --
    $DEITY bless $NATION
  51. Re:omg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, there's this http://www.oralse.cx/

  52. Re:Oops by gunga · · Score: 1

    ...But not all zip files are jar files

  53. for you macheads by JiNG · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For all you macheads out there:

    Here's a link to a little Apple prog that will play*any* QT movie in the Terminal (as ascii).
    Very cool stuff.

    http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/Sample_Cod e/ QuickTime/Goodies/ASCIIMoviePlayerSample.htm

  54. Pron link for dirty men .... by AftanGustur · · Score: 0, Offtopic


    It's not ASCII, but as Pron I find it brilliant.. Pron pron ...

    --
    echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb572CCB9AE9DB03273snlbxq' |dc
  55. For those without a browser by Swoopy · · Score: 4, Informative

    From any computer hooked up to the internet, try this :

    telnet blinkenlights.nl

    I thought this wasn't really new, but hey ....

    1. Re:For those without a browser by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... how would they read your comment?

    2. Re:For those without a browser by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Uhm...

      For those without a browser

      Maybe I'm not too keen on internet technology, but AFAIK, you need a browser to see that in the first place :)

  56. java/telnet is overkill for an ASCII player! by nloop · · Score: 1

    wget http://www.asciimation.co.nz/SwPlay.jar
    unzip -j swplay.jar data/sw1.txt
    perl -pe 'if(/^(\d+)\s*$/){select undef,undef,undef,$1/15;$_="\e[H\e[J"}' sw1.txt

    Tada, three lines and it plays, I bet that java applet uses more than that.

    Does 4 years later consititute a dupe? ;)

    1. Re:java/telnet is overkill for an ASCII player! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Might as well supply the link to the page you got that line of perl from and stop acting like you're a perl geek.

    2. Re:java/telnet is overkill for an ASCII player! by nloop · · Score: 1

      Actually I still had it in a file from the last time this story was posted and there was the "let's post code for better players" war.

  57. AALIB by FuryG3 · · Score: 1

    with aalib under linux, you can turn your regular-old-porn into ascii art porn. mplayer -vo aa

    I fired up my 1600x1200 console and watched about 20 mins of the matrix before my eyes started to bleed. Quite fun.

  58. Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    no credits or identification... how the *hell* did you know it was DT?

  59. Just in case of slashdotting ... by trashyspaceman · · Score: 5, Funny

    I took the liberty to copy a few frames from the movie for all to see. Unfortunately I reduced the resolution just a little.

    ; ) Here's luke

    -- Here's the light sabre

    ( o ) ( o ) Here's pricess leah

    (: o Here's when luke realised
    leah's his sister

    -m

    1. Re:Just in case of slashdotting ... by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      Sorry, Luke didn't know about Leia being his sister until ep 6. This is ep 4.

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
  60. Other ASCII Art links... by radd0 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here are some additional ASCII art sites worth visiting, some of which host artwork dating back to the early 1970's...

    The Textfiles.com Computer Art Collection
    Features a wide range of computer-oriented text-based artwork beginning with teletype (RTTY) art which predates ASCII. An archive of archives.
    http://artscene.textfiles.com/

    The ACiD Artpacks Archive
    Indexed and sorted by year. Hosts a collection of over 13 years of ASCII, ANSI, RIPscrip and other digital artwork.
    ftp://artpacks.acid.org/pub/artpacks/

    The Christ ASCII Archives
    Indexed and sorted by artgroup. The authoritative archive of IBM-PC and Amiga ASCII art.
    ftp://ftp.mimic.ca/pub/ascii/

    Thuglife ASCII Art/News Portal
    http://www.thuglife.org

    Acheron Scene Art/News Portal
    http://www.acheron.org

    Joan Stark's ASCII gallery
    More mainstream but rich in content regarding the different facets ASCII artscenes. Unfortunately this site is constantly plagued by Geocities bandwidth caps.
    http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/7373/

    -r
  61. Re:omg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    sure. torrentse.cx is a great way to, uh, sample quality files containing various types of data.

  62. This sounds wrong by Gossy · · Score: 4, Informative

    From the FAQ:

    Is the source code for the player and the text file available?
    I can't really make these available yet. I don't have as much time as I would like for support or questions on the applet or the text file. I do plan to make them available when they are complete.


    The news post here even says that he doesn't want it to be available, but says that he has left the source 'wide-open'. Hmmm.

  63. Re:Oops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    actually i think all zip files are jar files. I am not trolling. Zip came first - remember that.

  64. Re:But did he intentionally leave them wide open.. by WickerChap · · Score: 1

    Im not a Java programmer but... isn't a JAR file just platform independent bytecode - eg, already compiled? You can decompile it, but you lose any code that is not used or comments etc?

    --
    "I love deadlines. I love the wooshing sound they make as they fly past" Douglas N Adams
  65. Re:Oops by SavingPrivateNawak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When they say "left wide open in a zip file on his server"...

    Is it "wide open" as "I did not rob this shop, the door was wide open, so it's not theft"?

    Did the guy agree that you take this file and use it?

    Just a question...

  66. Re:But did he intentionally leave them wide open.. by semaj · · Score: 3, Informative
    Yep, but the JAR container is actually just a ZIP file containing:
    • compiled Java classes,
    • the uncompiled source (must have been put there deliberately), and
    • a file "sw1.txt" containing all of the ASCII text used.
    So it's easy enough to get at it all.
    --
    Meep meep
  67. Hey they are back up! by Snaller · · Score: 1

    After they were slashdotted last month (and hated Slashdot in the process :)

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
    1. Re:Hey they are back up! by darrkside · · Score: 1

      you're not talking about asciibabes.com? that asciibabes hated being slashdotted? i think not. that wouldn't be the case.

      --
      No Sig Required
  68. Re:But did he intentionally leave them wide open.. by WickerChap · · Score: 1

    well spotted.

    --
    "I love deadlines. I love the wooshing sound they make as they fly past" Douglas N Adams
  69. Re:Oops by kaunio · · Score: 1

    Actually, even though it's not a technical limitation, a JAR file is REQUIRED (by the spec) to have a META-INF/MANIFEST.MF file. But you are quite right in that the .zip existed long before the .jars.

  70. Still shots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    O . "That's no moon!"

  71. perl player by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A couple years back, I created a player for these 'movies' in perl (which is in use on blinkenlights.nl. It's a bit more than the one-liner, but it does play them smoothly (no flickering). It also supports Asciimation movies of other sizes (like Simon's Death of Jar Jar).

    Player is available at
    http://mordor.rutgers.edu/~sauron/asciimation/as ci imation.pl.

    Try not to abuse this server too much, please.

  72. perl player revisited by PinkFreud · · Score: 3, Informative

    Sorry for the repost. Was logged out.

    A couple years back, I created a player for these 'movies' in perl (which is in use on blinkenlights.nl. It's a bit more than the one-liner, but it does play them smoothly (no flickering). It also supports Asciimation movies of other sizes (like Simon's Death of Jar Jar).

    Player is available at http://mordor.rutgers.edu/~sauron/asciimation/asci imation.pl.

    Try not to abuse this server too much, please.

  73. thats not bad... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But, I'm still waiting for the unicode version.

  74. Thank goodness it's not the SE version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hurray! Greedo does not shoot first! Spielborg

  75. This IS wrong.... by curtisk · · Score: 1
    yeah, what the hell is up? Rather than use the link provided by /., I went to the FAQ to read it there, especially since the quote /. used made it sound like he didn't want to give out the source.....

    shitty precedent gang!

    to quote from news post This guy has stated that he prefers to finish this project on his own (but you are welcomed to do any of the other Star Wars movies). In his FAQ's he has stated that he doesn't have time to support his Java applet nor the text files, so he would not be making them available for anyone.

    and from his FAQ
    Is the source code for the player and the text file available?
    I can't really make these available yet. I don't have as much time as I would like for support or questions on the applet or the text file. I do plan to make them available when they are complete.

    Can I offer to help to finish it?
    Well, I would really like to finish this myself. I know that may take a long time but I ask people to be patient. There are three other, sorry four other, Star Wars films though if people are interested in asciimating those!

    Besides the fact that the guy pretty much explains how he does it, can't any of you wizards code your own? And although he states that he'd like to release the code in the future, that doesn't mean a thing now.....oh, I see this was a "pre-emptive" code appropriation ...bah

    --

    Sehr geehrter Toilettenbenutzer!

    1. Re:This IS wrong.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck him! If you leave your source hanging out on the net and someone grabs it..... does anyone care? He should have just released it without support.

    2. Re:This IS wrong.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      READ it this time... He won't support the code (no documentation) and he doesn't want someone to finish the animation of Star Wars IV: A New Hope... but in his FAQ, even he says that the source is not availible but wide open. (which I read to mean that it is open source code, he's just not giving the link to it because he doesn't want 100 e-mails about "how do I make a p0rn in Asscii chars?").

  76. Re:omg by usotsuki · · Score: 1

    This, no?

    -uso.

    --
    Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
  77. Too late! by DuranDuran · · Score: 1
    > please don't make any ASCII pr0n movies...


    Too late! Behold the first frame of my new masterpiece:

    (.)(.)

    I call it "Tits From a Distance".

    --
    "You can justify anything by putting it in quotes, adding a famous name and making it a sig" - Albert Einstein
    1. Re:Too late! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah. You'd have had a "funny" if I'd have had mod points.

  78. Again with the "download = theft" argument... by kilroy_hau · · Score: 2, Insightful

    it's "wide open" as in "I did not rob this coke can, the damn thing was on a machine that gave it to me after I inserted a coin and pressed a button"

    If you put something on a web server, and somebody makes a "request" to download that file, it's yours for the taking.

    You can always take the file out your server, or instruct the server not to give it.

    --


    Kilroy was here!
    1. Re:Again with the "download = theft" argument... by SavingPrivateNawak · · Score: 1

      True. You can always secure more. What I was wondering is if it could be *considered* theft by the owner since it wasn't explicitly for download and he didn't expect it to be downloaded. But hacks are never expected by the hacked... what is trivial for you may not be trivial to him.

      Digression: Kind of the old trick of guessing a url of some company's product. (They let you download freely 'http://www.company.com/somepath/setup_demo.exe' but you have to pay for the full product... or try 'http://www.company.com/somepath/setup.exe'!)

      To get back on the subject, I do not think the author would bother if one person downloaded a 'non-linked' file by guessing or looking into the code, but here slashdot basically says to everybody "The author doesn't want you to have the file, but go ahead, just download the zip anyway"

      Other digression: I believe that comparing a subject with another is generally fallacious because it does not prove anything. Something you can do in one case does not automatically allow every cases. And it is also open to interpretation, see:
      You put a coin in a machine that has given you a coke. For you the coin is the HTTP request but I may interpret the coin as the license to use the file and only interpret the button you push as the HTTP request. (And therefore here you do not have the coin)

      We already know that a web server is no coke-machine but, if you could get a coke just by pushing the button without putting a coin, would it be theft? (Considering that there is a sticker requiring you to *buy* the coke by putting a coin in the machine)

      Obviously, such a machine would never exist but I think it would be theft and that it's not because something does not require you break something that it is legal.

      PS: This discussion remind me about those comments about port scanning, that generally goes like "The ports are open!", "If you left your front door open yada yada"... these always remind me that comparisons lead generally nowhere, since a network of computer is not like the 'real' world. What you think would be over the line for your house does not apply to your computer. You just have to judge by considering what has been done to your computer, not what would have been done if it had been your house... it's your computer not your house dammit!

  79. Source available != Free software by KMSelf · · Score: 1

    Glancing quickly through the links for the SW Ascimiation, I see no license for copying, modifying, or distributing code.

    While independent derivations of similar projects would not be an infringement of copyright, taking and modifying this work without explicit permission, or license, by the author, is.

    FSF Free Software and OSI Open Source are not labels applied to any code whose source happens to be available. They are terms which apply to specific works, for which specific reserved rights under copyright and other laws have been granted. Visit the Free Software Foundation's annotated list of licenses or OSI's approved licenses page for examples of Free Software and Open Source licenses. Links from these pages discuss terms and concepts underlying these licenses.

    IANAL, TINLA.

    --

    What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?

  80. mplayer -vo aa starwars.mpg by karlandtanya · · Score: 1

    what's the big deal?

    --
    "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
  81. C3PO by greenhide · · Score: 1

    Does anyone else thinks that the ASCII version of C3P0 looks just like Bender?

    --
    Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
  82. Re:Oops by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "Also, since this is an ASCII related post, must spam my program MosASCII [mosascii.com] (for windows, $8) :) "

    Sorry, we only like free software around here. Though your price is quite reasonable for the service you provide, we do not feel anybody should ever actually be compensated for their time. When you give it to us for free, we also want the source code too. Of course none of us will actually do anything to improve the software, we just want to make the point that we could fix it if we actually wanted to. Just being honest though, we only modify the software when we can use that to flip off M$.

    So yes, it's appreciated, but your reasonable price is too high. ;)

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  83. Offline Version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone know of a way to make an offline version of this?
    Does anyone have a like to the ascii text file?
    Can anyone help me out please?
    Please?
    Please?

    1. Re:Offline Version by 2logic · · Score: 1
      Here's a link to the ASCII file.

      Need slow-motion action or sometin?

      --
      // TODO
    2. Re:Offline Version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can someone post a zipped version of that link please?

    3. Re:Offline Version by 2logic · · Score: 1

      Here's your link: wget -O - http://www1.zkm.de/~wvdc/ascii/java/deep.throat | gzip > ascii.gz

      --
      // TODO
  84. Too much time... by rbruels · · Score: 1

    Never underestimate the creative powers of high-tech virgins!

    --

    "All your base are belong to this file I send in order to have your advice."
  85. Re:Oops by NanoGator · · Score: 1
    "Sorry, we only like free software around here. Though your price is quite reasonable for the service you provide, we do not feel anybody should ever actually be compensated for their time. When you give it to us for free, we also want the source code too. Of course none of us will actually do anything to improve the software, we just want to make the point that we could fix it if we actually wanted to. Just being honest though, we only modify the software when we can use that to flip off M$.
    So yes, it's appreciated, but your reasonable price is too high. ;) "


    Oh boy. My satire was modded as insightful. I detect a mod-bomb approaching at high velocity!
    --
    "Derp de derp."
  86. ASCII Natalie Portman Pic Here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  87. Re:omg by UserGoogol · · Score: 1
    Search Google for it, but if you fear clicking on that link for the obvious reasons...

    atheos.cx An OS of some sort.
    analog.cx A logfile analyzer

    --
    "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor
  88. Re:A Telnet Version - not redundant by grolschie · · Score: 1

    The parent thread is NOT redundant. The guy has posted a url so that people can simply click to view the movie, rather than telnetting from the console.

  89. Re:Oops by Alan+Holman · · Score: 0

    Hey! I like Jar-Jar! Hmm...if the japanese made this Star Wars ASCII animation, would we call it ASCIIme?