Many moons ago, a large and mysterious woman, whose name I have forgotten,
infected me with a Celtic doodling virus. In 10 minutes, she taught
me how to draw arbitrarily complicated knots by following a relatively
simple algorithm. It was relaxing, meditative, and extremely addictive.
I'd sit through my high-school classes with pages of graph paper, sketching
sheet after sheet of mazes and ropes.
I soon realized it wouldn't be too hard to write a
piece of software that could draw the knots for me. Unfortunately, I only had a Radio Shack TRS-80 at the time, and it wasn't quite up to the job.
Time passed (although, because of the doodling, I had a hard time doing the same), and I eventually overcame my addiction through a 12-step Doodler's Anonymous program. But the knots continued to lurk somewhere in the deep and sick recesses of my mind. The dream of writing a computer program to do my work for me lived on.
And now, through the magic of Java, my dream has been realized! Praise be
the Java team, for with their help I have released myself from the need to draw these
fascinating weaves. Others who share my obsession can be similarly free - especially those who have run into one of the itinerant band of Celtic gypsies who travel the earth spreading this dangerous disease to any who will listen.
If you too find yourself obsessed with the need to doodle Celtic style, click on!
You'll need this
Software: A Java-capable browser such as Netscape Navigator 2.0+ for Windows or Unix, Navigator 3.0 for Mac, or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 for Windows or Mac. Make sure you have Java enabled (check under the Network or Security Preferences).
Hardware: If you're behind a corporate firewall, it must be configured properly to allow Java applets.
Got the tools? Get the demo.
Get a screenshot.
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