"The Fool" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > From: Alberto Monteiro <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > > > * What is a _reversible_ Life game? I suppose this is no Life game > > at all, but some kind of zip/compress utility > >This is just Brin taking liberties with the narrative. To make Life >reversible would require enough changes to the system that it wouldn't be >recognizeable as Life anymore. The reason you can't use a Life grid as a >form of encryption is that you can't reverse the process. Brin takes >many liberties with Life in the book. Gliders do not bounce off of walls >or artificial boundaries (borders). etc. There are reversible cellular automata though - some of which contain "gliders", although not with the same appearance or properties as Conway's Life. See http://alife.co.uk/ca/. Joshua _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
