Screensaver programs that link idle desktops to distributed computing networks are nothing new, but Scott Draves' Electric Sheep is the first to use its clients as a render farm. Draves' "sheep" are fractal animations, modeled in a 26- to 65-dimensional space and executed by the collective power of connected Unix machines. As your unattended computer runs the screensaver, it crunches frames for the next new animation in the background. A central server distributes the rendering assignments and assembles the results about once every 15 minutes. Draves, a computer science PhD who develops streaming media servers for Inktomi, says the biological nature of fractals lured him into creating this life-form on the Net. "The project is a vortex," he says. "As more users join, the available computing cycles increase, so the resolution and quality of the sheep increase." There's no Windows version, but you can download a Linux binary or the source code at www.electricsheep.org.
ELECTRIC WORD
Throwaway Line
A Flock Of Fractals
Pushing The Envelope
Ride With The Devil
Pick And Roll
Ping Dynasty
