Thanks to my good friend
Pablo Suárez
for the translation!
Back to the gallery
Frequently asked questions
What are all these scribbles?
The scribbles are artificial works of "art" (a fairly generous term,
perhaps...)
They are generated by a hybrid process that combines
Markov's chains
and L-Systems.
They are presented in this site through an interactive gallery of sorts.
Why am I being asked again and again to choose from some of them?
In order to generate scribbles that are worthy of human contemplation,
the gallery needs an indication of which scribbles are beautiful and
which ones are not.
Of course, the concepts of beauty and ugliness are too complex to be
understood by this simple piece of software.
The visitor is being asked to compare scribbles so that in the
process the gallery can "learn" beauty.
Why can't I just assign a score between zero and ten to each scribble?
Other sites similar to this one use such system, which we consider
inadequate.
We know that beauty and ugliness are relative concepts and that it is
hard for any person to assign such kind of 'beauty score'. Instead,
comparing some scribbles and deciding which one looks more attractive
is, psychologically speaking, easier.
This system is, of course, not perfect, and is most likely going to
evolve - like the scribbles themselves.
How does the voting system work?
The new scribbles are "born" with zero points.
When a visitor chooses a scribble, then the scribble earns points.
After a given number of choice instances (depending on the optimal
population chosen by the administrator), the scribble with leastscore
is deleted from the gallery and replaced by the "child" of two scribbles with
relatively good score.
But there are always scribbles that I dislike!
Keep in mind that you are not the only voter in the gallery. Other
visitors may have different tastes, and therefore they may influence
the generation of new scribbles that are not of your liking.
Additionally, sometimes the mutations result in "children scribbles"
that do not resemble their "parents" very much.
Be patient, and vote honestly for the ones you like best. It's the best
way to ensure that the gallery follows your taste.
And, above all, come back and vote a little while every day.
How are new scribbles generated?
The original scribbles are completely random.
The "child scribbles" are a blend of two existing scribbles
("parents"), with a light random mutation.
The blending is done through a simple cross-over between the parents' genomes.
Can I use the scribbles for my own purposes?
Of course. However, I'd be grateful if you cite the source when you use them.
A simple link to the page would be sufficient.
I suggest that you copy the scribbles instead of using links to the
images, given the ephemeral nature of the scribblean ecosystem.
Why is the design of this page so minimalist?
Well, first of all thanks for using that term instead of "cheap".
The main reason is that we don't want the potential beauty of the page
to eclipse the scribble's beauty.
Umm... okay, right. It's plain laziness.
I have a suggestion to improve the gallery. Who should I send it to?
To me.