perl -E'say`$^Xdoc -qj`=~m`"(.*)"`'
[download]

                       #
                     ###
                    ##0##
                     ###
                      #
                   ;while(
                   #=30==#
                   <DATA>)
                   {chomp;
                   s{#}{}g
                   #==30=#
                   ;3;s{0}
                   {\n}g;;
                   #=30==#
                   ;s{\d}{
                   " "x $&
}xge;print}BEGIN{print$/,(" "x14),(join" - ",(
map{join" ",(split/\s/,scalar gmtime$_)[1,2,4]
}566784000,1513555200)),$/};END{seek DATA,0,0;
print" "x 4,$_ while<DATA>}30;30;__DATA__###30
9_2_2_7_2_7_2_2_2_108|_||_1|_|1|4_||1|2\1/|_1|
#_||_||_108|2|_1|1\1|_3_||_|3/1|_1|1||1\1_|10#
[download]

L*

You'll need to have perl/Tk installed to run it. Invoke it with perl <program> (or in Windows give it a .pl extension). I won't give away too much, except to say that the shape of the code hints at the ultimate outcome.

When first run, type the <space> key to start progress. You can then type <space> again to pause or restart. The number of "cycles" (or "generations") displays in the invoking window after each subsequent pause.

Two parameters may be given; both are optional.

The first is an integer that says how many "cycles" to run before changing colors. It defaults to a value which is more obvious when you run the code. Try for example a value of '350'.

The second is the delay in milliseconds between successive "cycles"; use a larger value to slow down execution. The default is '1' (fastest possible).

                  s""v
                 tf!Ul
                 <)%c-
                 %e-%y
                 -%z-

          %l-%    d*>)
         1-3-4   1-34-
         1-(g1   1(*<%
         p>tij   gu}}2
         1111    <%E>t

  ijgu            }}2<
 %N>Nb           joXjo
 epx.?           ofx)*
 <%N.?           ujumf
 )rr|            #Mbo

  hupo                    (t!B
 ou#~*                   <%w>%
 N.?Db                   owbt)
 .xj>?                   911-.
 if>?                    623*

  .?qb                    dl<n    bq|%    w.?d
 sfbuf                   Mjof)   9+%`-   1-9+%
 `-623                   *<%w.   ?dsfb   ufMjo
 f)1-9                   +%`-9   11-9+   %`*~)
 2//:                    :*<'    `''%    N.?c

          joe)                            #=tq    bdf?    #>?t
         vc|,,                           %c&3}   }qsjo   u#Dpv
         ou;%l                           ]o#~*   <tvc!   s|sbo
         e)27*                           ~tvc!   `|%w.   ?efmf
         uf)%                            t*<%    t>%w    .?ds

          fbuf    Sfdu    bohm                    f)d)
         (111(   **~tv   c!d|)                   9+%y.
         5-9+)   75.%z   *.5-9                   +%y,5
         -9+)7   5.%z*   ,5-.g                   j>?di
         s)46    */%`    [1^*                    ~%N.

                          ?sfq    fbu)    %E>?
                         tvc|j   g)%c&   3''%l
                         ,,=23   81:*|   %j>21
                         1+%z,   %y<%g   >%g[%
                         j^<%    f>%g    @.2;

  2<%w    .?ef                    mfuf
 )%g*<   %g[%j                   ^>%g@
 (1(;%   w.?ds                   fbuf
 Pwbm)   d)%d*                   *<%e&
 3boe    %z,>                    %e=3

          @.%f    ;%f<    %e&3
         ps%y,   >%e@.   %f;%f
         <%e>)   %e,%f   *&5<'
         `<%l&   %p!ps   %d>tq
         sjou    g(&y    &y&y

                  (-'s
                 -'s-'
                 s~~*<
                 %N.?N
                 bjoMp

pq";s,\s,,g;s;([^[]);chr(ord($1)-1);ge,eval
[download]

Not much obfuscation really. The idea was to try and see if it was possible with some unusual code to predecrement a constant or at least to pretend to do so.

*0=sub:
lvalue
{my$l},
print
 --0
->(!0)
[download]

60 byte solution, not counting hashbang, to take strings that look like '2d4' or '2d4+10' and give you the result:

-n
($d,$s,$=)=split/d|\+/;$=+=1+rand $s for 1..$d;print$=,$/
[download]

Anyone wants to try and beat my record?

                        {sub OrO{OrOOr
                (eval(chr(@_[0])))}}push @Or,++$_
        for(0..(++$_*++$_)*++$_);{sub OrOOr{print@_[0]}}
        OrO(Or(Or0()+1+Or0(),Or0()+1))&&OrO(Or(Or0()+Or0(),
        Or0()+Or0()/(Or0()-2)))&&OrO(Or(0,(Or0()*(Or0()-1)
        -1)))&&OrO(Or(Or0()*2+1,(Or0()*2+1)/(Or0()-1)));sub
                Or{$Or[@_[0]].$Or[@_[1]]}sub Or0{$_=
                    "\[\[\[\[";$_=((split//));}
[download]

Note: to change the speed give an optional delay argument in fractions of a second. The default is 0.1 (ie. 0.5 would be slower, 0.05 faster).

 die+eval(q{$|=pr      int"\e[        2J\n";$k='       |';s       ,,2
220;3500731;352273  5071;16007150   74;1622713,x;y;   0-4;8|    _/%;;s
;5;\e[103m;g;s,6, \e[102m,g;s;7;\e  [m;g;$/=$_;$_=q|  hb2Gbb    5hhDei
      4dh0Bh      lFbi20    1hoC4d  o0CdsB    bp201h  vDev5d    v0ChzG
      |;s;[1      -9];>$&;g;s;[A-I  ];^$&;g;y|A-I|1-  9|;{s;^(\w)(\w);
      ;x?($y      =-97+ord$1,$x=-9  7+ord$2):s,^0,,   ?$k='/':s,^([>^]
      )(\d),      ,?map{$c=$1,$X=1  +3*$x,$Y=$y*      2,$Z=4;$"=$/=~s;
      %;$k;r      ;map{p    rint"\  e[${\$Y           ++};${    X}H$_"
  ;$X--if++$      Z<7}sp    lit';'  ,$";$k=           '|';se    lect$J
 ,$a,$p,$ARG      V[0]||    .1;'^'  eq$c?$y           --:$x+    +}1..$
2:last;redo       }}=~y     %8 \n   % %dr),           "\e[".   "22H\n"
[download]

print $$ /0;        # a legit division by zero

^....super....^
^....black....^
^....magic....^

|(?{m}(?{"\[\[\)
\.\\\|\`\]\[\[\{
\[\.\@\/\(\^\.\[
\{\;\\\,\[\@\:\?
\+\^\)\("=~s\}[\
\s]\}\}rg^"\+\)\
\@\@\(\^\*\(\(\/
\[\:\@\/\[\@\;\\
\{\+\^\.\@\{\(\[
\\\@\;\[\"\""=~s
\}\s\}\}gr\})},s
\/\/$^R\/esex})|

^....hugs....^
^.....&&.....^
^...kisses...^

 //
//xo//xo//xo//xo//xo//xo//xo//
                           //
[download]

I'm contemplating about this very little piece of Perl code. I'm already more than a little bit proud of it, but I wondered if the venerated Monks had suggestions to make it even shorter:

print"@ARGV"=~s|.|$_=2+index'temaniowkugrdsXjyüqäxvöpcfzlbh',lc$&;$Q=
1.45*log;$_-=1<<$Q;for($O='';--$Q>0;$_/=2){$O.=chr$_%2+45}"$O "|ger
[download]

Try it with some text as command line arguments.

Especially I'm curious about:

• Is there any way to avoid initializing $O?
• I use $Q=1.45*log to approximate the number of bits in $_. Any shorter way?

2/15/2016: Corrected two typos!