The game "Driver" might be a good choice. It's got realistic traffic, a damage model that's at least more realistic than most games out there, and a freeform mode that you could put to use for some dry runs before you actually take him out to play in real traffic. You can find it for the PC on most $9.99 racks, it will run on an older machine, and it's been ported to a number of video game platforms as well (YMMV). All this, and it's a fun game, too.
Also, if you don't like the getaway driver/true crime themes of the previous, you might also look for Midtown Madness, which is a racing-themed game with realistic traffic, a freeform mode, and a fairly detailed simulation of downtown Chicago. It might be a bit harder to find, though. Again, a fun game.
If you're interested in eventually ceding the work to the public domain, you should definitely examine the Founder's Copyright, which sounds a lot like what you're already trying to do. This might be better than simply writing it down on a "piece of paper", because this is a full legal contract and procedure.
Open source offerings in this area are slim to none, and I've tried everything I can get my hands on. The best I've found is KeyNote, a Windows-only tabbed notebook/hierarchical outliner. I recently converted all my text-file notes over to KeyNote, and found it to be a sweet little package. Highly recommended, although it doesn't really meet any of your other specifications (no hyperlinking, etc., outline-view only).
If you don't mind a web environment, Wikis provide easy editing and hyperlinking, but visualization is not their strong suit. If you like the idea of wikis, but don't want the web, and don't mind paying $12 for closed-source, WikidPad is an excellent, flexible, Windows-only option (and mildly extendable with an embedded Python interpreter). Combines a tree/outline view and Wiki-like syntax & automatic hyperlinking.
If you don't mind closed source, The Literary Machine provides a lot of power in a Windows environment. The basic version was free last I checked, though he's ceased development on it in favor of the Pro version ($20), which is being actively developed and integrates a number of new features (but I haven't tried it yet). It organizes everything based on a non-hierarchical keyword association system, and while it takes some getting used to (and can be downright messy sometimes), it does allow for the discovery of connections between notes that you might not have put together otherwise.
If you don't mind closed source, paying through the nose ($145), and OS X, then there is one app which fits all of your other qualifications: Eastgate's Tinderbox has powerful hyperlinking, programmable agents, RSS and web integration, powerful search, graphical visualization, and plenty more. To tell you the truth, my next computer will probably be a Mac because of this one, though a Windows version is on the horizon (was slated for an early 2004 release, but looks like it's slipped back to Real Soon Now). This has been the sleeper hit of the past couple years--everyone who uses it raves about it, but it's relatively unknown.
1) start off with some really pointless statement.
2) add another unrelated and even more pointless statement.
3) ???
4) Profit!!!
Actually, this is an established business model in modern literary circles (cf. John Barth, Don DeLillo, Dave Barry). Also see: Literary Hypertext Theory, Post-structuralist Criticism, and Humor/Opinion/Commentary Columns.
Sorry, all you patent hopefuls: publishing got there first.
Slashdot Mirror
The game "Driver" might be a good choice. It's got realistic traffic, a damage model that's at least more realistic than most games out there, and a freeform mode that you could put to use for some dry runs before you actually take him out to play in real traffic. You can find it for the PC on most $9.99 racks, it will run on an older machine, and it's been ported to a number of video game platforms as well (YMMV). All this, and it's a fun game, too.
Also, if you don't like the getaway driver/true crime themes of the previous, you might also look for Midtown Madness, which is a racing-themed game with realistic traffic, a freeform mode, and a fairly detailed simulation of downtown Chicago. It might be a bit harder to find, though. Again, a fun game.
Don't forget the Creative Commons, which also offers a directory of CC-licensed art.
If you're interested in eventually ceding the work to the public domain, you should definitely examine the Founder's Copyright, which sounds a lot like what you're already trying to do. This might be better than simply writing it down on a "piece of paper", because this is a full legal contract and procedure.
Whoops. Here's the link for KeyNote.
Open source offerings in this area are slim to none, and I've tried everything I can get my hands on. The best I've found is KeyNote, a Windows-only tabbed notebook/hierarchical outliner. I recently converted all my text-file notes over to KeyNote, and found it to be a sweet little package. Highly recommended, although it doesn't really meet any of your other specifications (no hyperlinking, etc., outline-view only).
If you don't mind a web environment, Wikis provide easy editing and hyperlinking, but visualization is not their strong suit. If you like the idea of wikis, but don't want the web, and don't mind paying $12 for closed-source, WikidPad is an excellent, flexible, Windows-only option (and mildly extendable with an embedded Python interpreter). Combines a tree/outline view and Wiki-like syntax & automatic hyperlinking.
If you don't mind closed source, The Literary Machine provides a lot of power in a Windows environment. The basic version was free last I checked, though he's ceased development on it in favor of the Pro version ($20), which is being actively developed and integrates a number of new features (but I haven't tried it yet). It organizes everything based on a non-hierarchical keyword association system, and while it takes some getting used to (and can be downright messy sometimes), it does allow for the discovery of connections between notes that you might not have put together otherwise.
If you don't mind closed source, paying through the nose ($145), and OS X, then there is one app which fits all of your other qualifications: Eastgate's Tinderbox has powerful hyperlinking, programmable agents, RSS and web integration, powerful search, graphical visualization, and plenty more. To tell you the truth, my next computer will probably be a Mac because of this one, though a Windows version is on the horizon (was slated for an early 2004 release, but looks like it's slipped back to Real Soon Now). This has been the sleeper hit of the past couple years--everyone who uses it raves about it, but it's relatively unknown.
Actually, this is an established business model in modern literary circles (cf. John Barth, Don DeLillo, Dave Barry). Also see: Literary Hypertext Theory, Post-structuralist Criticism, and Humor/Opinion/Commentary Columns.
Sorry, all you patent hopefuls: publishing got there first.