The whole of the js1k contest has been fascinating to watch. Some truly amazing demos. Some of my favorites so far:<p>3d terrain: <a href="http://js1k.com/demo/448" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/448</a><p>pulsing beams: <a href="http://js1k.com/demo/171" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/171</a><p>heatmap: <a href="http://js1k.com/demo/156" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/156</a><p>DOM3d: <a href="http://js1k.com/demo/326" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/326</a><p>What I really like are the tweet-sized entries though. So much so in fact that I'm donating a copy of JS:TGP as a prize for the best <=140 byte entry :)<p>Here are my entries to date: <a href="http://www.puremango.co.uk/2010/08/some-tweetable-js1k-demos/" rel="nofollow">http://www.puremango.co.uk/2010/08/some-tweetable-js1k-demos...</a>
The real life US missile defense systems was pretty awesome - particularly the Sprint missile (0 to Mach 10 in 5 seconds!):<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_%28missile%29" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_%28missile%29</a><p>Video of a Sprint intercepting a RV:<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZZV464z9g8" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZZV464z9g8</a>
It was recently updated (colors and anti-missile-spam feature):<p><a href="http://js1k.com/demo/670" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/670</a><p>Also cool to see other HNers participating (I made two 1K demos and one tweet).<p>Some of my favorites (not mentioned yet):<p>Wobbling tunnel: <a href="http://js1k.com/demo/15" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/15</a><p>Quaternion Julia raymarcher: <a href="http://js1k.com/demo/49" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/49</a><p>Twister: <a href="http://js1k.com/demo/213" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/213</a><p>3d snowman: <a href="http://js1k.com/demo/224" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/224</a><p>Hypnotic patterns: <a href="http://js1k.com/demo/266" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/266</a><p>Cute cartoonish platformer: <a href="http://js1k.com/demo/635" rel="nofollow">http://js1k.com/demo/635</a>
Some pretty impressive demos there and I like the HTML5 buzz too, but, as much as I dislike Flash, its still a bazillion times faster on most browsers at the moment. It'll get there in time though.
Not Quite Missile Command :)<p>I know it pretty well as I'm friends with Bill Carlton - the guy that's tried to beat the Missile Command high score a few times. The game isn't as straight forward as you might think, there's a game crashing bug for instance which has burned Bill twice now at 40 hours+<p><a href="http://www.highscoremovie.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.highscoremovie.com/</a><p>Watching Missile Command is pretty fascinating. I watched Bill's last attempt live as it streamed it on Justin.tv