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content/sundries/shit-code/index.md

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+title = "Shit-code and Other Performance Arts"
+slug = "shit-code-and-performance-art"
+date = "2023-02-08"
+[taxonomies]
+tags = ["software", "art", "sundry", "proclamation", "chaos"]
+[extra]
+toc = false
++++
+
+# A sundry collection of intellectual property, some less intellectual than other
+
+Something I firmly believe is that it's possible to make jokes in any medium. Here at Nebcorp Heavy
+Industries & Sundries, despite occasional dabbling with the
+[physical](@/sundries/a-thoroughly-digital-artifact/index.md), we work primarily with software, and
+so this medium is one of our primary corporate humor channels. Below is just some of our work there,
+from least to most useless.
+
+## *katabastird, a graphical countdown timer*
+
+[katabastird](https://crates.io/crates/katabastird) is, in its own words, "a simple countdown timer
+that is configured and launched from the commandline." It looks like this when it's running:
+
+![katabastird running normally][katabastird_normal]
+
+It was created for a couple reasons:
+ - I wanted to make a GUI program to learn how to use a [particular library called
+   "egui"](https://github.com/emilk/egui);
+ - I had signed up to give a five-minute talk to demonstrate the latest release of a [commandline
+   argument parsing library called "clap"](https://docs.rs/clap/4.0.0/clap/), which I had titled,
+   "Clap for Clap Four", and I needed a program to showcase it.
+
+Obviously the best way to showcase a commandline-parsing library is to incorporate it into a
+graphical program. Other commandline-mission-critical features included changing the color of the
+background to get more and more red as less time remained
+
+![katabastird almost done counting down][katabastird_ending]
+
+and using the font used by the alien in *Predator*
+
+![get to the choppah][katabastird_predator]
+
+But by far its greatest feature is an undocumented option, `-A`, that will play an [airhorn
+salvo](https://gitlab.com/nebkor/katabastird/-/blob/4ccc2e4738df3f9d3af520e2d3875200534f4f6f/resources/airhorn_alarm.mp3)
+when it's done. This option is visible in the program's help text, but it's not described.
+
+This is, honestly, not a great program. Once it's launched, it only understands two keyboard inputs,
+`ESC` and `q`, both of which simply cause it to exit. Using the mouse, you can pause, restart, and
+reset. And that's it, that's all the interaction you get.
+
+In spite of this, I find myself using it all the time. It's easy to launch with different times (the
+commandline parsing understands things like `-h` for hours, `-m` for minutes, etc.), and its last
+invocation is just an up-arrow in my terminal away. The airhorn cracks me up every time.
+
+At some point, I plan on changing it to something that uses the GPU to run a fire simulation on the
+numbers, and have the flame intensity get higher as the time remaining gets lower. I'll save that
+for when I want to get slightly more serious about graphics and shaders, though.
+
+## *randical, a commandline program for generating random values*
+
+
+
+ - randical
+ - freedom-dates
+ - bad_print
+
+# Other peformance arts
+
+## goldver
+
+## chaos license
+
+
+[katabastird_normal]: ./katabastird_normal.png "counting down with one hour, twenty-nine minutes, and forty-three seconds remaining"
+
+[katabastird_ending]: ./katabastird_almost_done.png "counting down with one second remaining"
+
+[katabastird_predator]: ./katabastird_predator.png "get to the choppah"