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Show HN: ANSI-Saver – A macOS Screensaver

79 points by lardissone ago | 24 comments
Hi, I've been working on something I've been thinking for long time but since I had no experience with macOS screen savers I always posponed. Now thanks to Claude I was able to create a screensaver that scroll ANSI files while your computer is idle.

It allow to use local ANS files or packs directly from 16colo.rs.

Repo: https://github.com/lardissone/ansi-saver

gwbas1c |next [-]

Anyone else having trouble getting this to work?

I tried building myself, and the build ended with a certificate error. (I get it, distributing software always hits unexpected snags.)

Then I installed from zip and when I use preview (in the screen saver options,) I just get a blank screen. There's a message at the top of the screen, but most of it is truncated from the notch from the camera.

stnvh |next |previous [-]

This is absolutely brilliant. I've been toying with the codebase and thought this would work really well similar to the 'Macintosh' style animated screensaver present in macOS's more recent updates.

https://youtu.be/gSss24I_y3M

Still a bit rough around the edges. I am currently adding per-character animation so the grid enters like a "wave"

primaryobjects |next |previous [-]

This would be great with an option to draw each ANSI line by line with pixels drawn left to right. The same way it was experienced over dialup.

The options could be baud rates: 56k, 14.4, 2400

lardissone |root |parent [-]

Sounds like a great idea.

ynac |next |previous [-]

You're inspiring me to attempt a rescue of my last BBS (MajorBBS system) from 1991-1993. It had some great ANSI room and section screens. It was run from a single 1GB(!!) drive that cost us $1000. We had email, a couple stores (one of the first online book stores) and store-n-forward mail systems, maybe finger and telnet(?). Unfortunately, a neighbor got stoned, had a cigarette in bed and burned up his house and ours. Nobody hurt, but the BBS wasn't backed up offsite.

lardissone |root |parent [-]

Beautiful! No backups at all of something? Sorry for your house burnt.

mike_d |root |parent |next [-]

In the BBS days persistent storage was expensive. Backups were at best saving something to two different floppy disks. If you got lucky you could rebuild most stuff from files you had shared with friends.

ynac |root |parent |previous [-]

It was a weird time frame. My partner was living in the house, and I was moving to Seattle. The backup was pretty much inches from the system itself. Not the last time I learned that lesson. But, the original SCSI drive did survive, even if the machines and desk and couches, etc. were all ruined. With HTML coming along we didn't rebuild. It's still seems like such a huge loss not having entities like BBSs on the internet. Just like the loss of IRC and other basic systems / plumbing of the capital I Internet. Yeah, they needed upgrades, but that's what IETF, RFC, and scrappy hackers are for. <sigh> Loving on the ANSI!

b800h |next |previous [-]

This is brilliant - thanks!

There are so many packs on that site to choose from, it would be great to get some pointers on which ones to install.

retlehs |next |previous [-]

This is really great work, I’m installing this immediately once I’m back on my machine

My terminal loads ANSI each time it opens, but requires downloading artpacks first: https://github.com/retlehs/ansimotd

I also like how your README suggests specific packs to grab

lardissone |next |previous [-]

Added a demo video and an explaining post on my own site: https://leandroardissone.com/posts/ansi-saver

pimlottc |root |parent [-]

Minor nit: I kept trying to tap the text to open the video before I realized I had to tap the image.

lardissone |root |parent [-]

ah, good catch.

binaryturtle |next |previous [-]

Those are some intense system requirements.

lardissone |root |parent |next [-]

Ah, yes, I’m not able to test in Intel Macs. Will try to make it available to lower macOS versions at least.

xp84 |root |parent [-]

You might find some volunteers here willing to make Intel builds :)

lardissone |root |parent [-]

it's open source, anyone can help with it, I'm happy to merge PRs

lardissone |root |parent |next |previous [-]

Just added support to macOS Sequoia.

adambb |root |parent |previous [-]

(unintentional) satire? almost a meditation on the seemingly inevitable bloat of software

user3939382 |next |previous [-]

As someone with a flying toasters tie, I can’t wait to try this.

jcynix |root |parent |next [-]

Ah, yes, After Dark, with the "Lunatic Fringe" module, which was fun (and was a time sink ;-0). And what I would like to see again is the "Stained Glass" module which produced phantastic visual effects when tuned a bit.

conception |root |parent |previous [-]

On an aside, I’ve gotten After Dark to work on Windows 10 with some effort. Haven’t tried 11 yet.

superultra |next |previous [-]

Tahoe only? Yikes!

lardissone |root |parent [-]

I just pushed a new version with support to macOS Sequoia.

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