* * * Obfuscated PostScript Contest 1993 ---- Results! * * *
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT:
This document lists the winners of the 1993 Obfuscated PostScript Contest.
The goal of this contest was to write inscrutable, devious code impossible
to decipher, yet beautiful, compact, and functional. 9 winners have
succeeded. 7 have earned honorable mentions.
You can ftp this from wilma.cs.brown.edu:pub/postscript/obfuscated1.shar, and
obfuscated2.shar and obfuscated3.shar. These three file contains all the files
you can find individually in wilma.cs.brown.edu:pub/postscript/obfsucated.
These results have been posted to comp.lang.postscript, fj.lang.postscript,
and alt.sources. The names of the winners alone were posted to comp.text.tex,
comp.fonts, comp.graphics, alt.hackers, misc.misc, comp.sources.d,
and comp.misc.
To obtain a free copy of this on Macintosh or IBM PC compatible disk, send
us a disk with a self-addressed stamped envelope large enough for the disk.
Please do not do this if you can get the information from email or USENET.
WINNERS:
The following entrants have won the contest. Their code was the among
the "worst" PostScript coding we have ever seen. Congratulations! :)
To make their entries small and inscrutable, entrants used little-known
tricks to fool the judges. I hope you take the time to study these
programs; you will learn a lot (as we have). If you particularly
like a program or have questions, write the authors, and let them know
you admire their code hairballs.
OBFUSCATED POSTSCRIPT WINNER
-- The most coveted prize. The most maliciously tangled functional code.
1st prize labyrinth.ps David Bau bau@cs.cornell.edu
2nd prize square-dance.ps Ned Batchelder batcheldern@hannah.enet.dec.com
BEST OBFUSCATED ARTWORK
-- The 2nd most coveted prize. These combine obfuscation with great artwork.
1st prize Tiny_RayTracing.ps Takashi Hayakawa h-takasi@isea.is.titech.ac.jp
2nd prize sird.ps Stephen Peters speters@us.oracle.com
3rd prize literary.ps David Dubin dsdst3@lis.pitt.edu
Michael Spring spring+@pitt.edu
MOST COMPACT
-- The best program compaction, using secret PostScript tricks for shrinking.
1st prize din_varg.ps Peter da Silva peter@ficc.ferranti.com
BEST INTERACTIVE
-- The best program intended to run interactively through a previewer.
1st prize mm.ps Allen Braunsdorf ab@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
MOST USEFUL
-- The most useful, yet complex and twisted, program.
1st prize encode.ps Allen Braunsdorf ab@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
2nd prize alan.ps Steve Hawley hawley@mv.us.adobe.com
The judges decided not to award "Best Non-Graphics" and "Best Level 1
PostScript" prizes. Most programs had graphics, and all were Level 1.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
To choose winners, we had to search among the "worst" programs we have
ever seen. Some exceptional programs did not win awards, but we felt
by sheer chutzpah should be included in the contest results.
The following PostScript entries have won an honorable mention for
excellence in weird coding.
merz.ps Thomas Merz c/o R. Oldenbourg Verlag
Postfach 80 13 60
8000 Munchen 80, GERMANY
PSILoveYou.ps Tim Poston tim@iss.nus.sg
KoreanSidewalk.ps Tim Poston tim@iss.nus.sg
sig.ps Allen Braunsdorf ab@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
aak1.ps Andy Kinsman kinsman@ssd.Kodak.Com
pun.ps David Dubin dsdst3@lis.pitt.edu
Michael Spring spring+@pitt.edu
Serrated_Serifs.ps Fritz Lott c/o W. R. Beamish Co.
220 Sunnyridge Lane
Golden Valley, MN 55422-5300
OTHER PROGRAMS:
Many amazing programs would have won prizes if this competition
stressed mathematics as highly as coding. The judges decided reluctantly
to leave many good programs out.