v0.1 thesis redesign + halftone elevation

[CMLKevin]

Summary

A two-pass rebuild of the Token-Ignition selection site, delivered as a single PR. Pass 1 restructures the thesis; pass 2 elevates the visual language into a halftone-rendered whitepaper.

Live preview: https://token-ignition-topaz.vercel.app

What this does

I — Thesis & protocol

• Hero spark line rewritten around the horizon gap, with the correct METR cadence:
  "Model horizons double every four months. The scaffolds around them do not. That gap is the work."
• Manifesto expanded into a compact whitepaper (hiring problem → the lab's actual bet → why this filter has this shape).
• Section 02 · The Ladder — an OOM ladder from 10⁶ to 10¹² for token horizon per single coherent task. Positions the three gates as the admission ramp to the research frontier.
• Section 03 · Three Axes of Self-Evolution — behavior / knowledge / scaffold. Scaffold-level evolution is the rare axis and is explicitly weighted highest.
• R1 tightened to require a long-horizon task and a scaffold that extends horizon.
• R7 added — ablation is required: "A scaffold that cannot beat its own ablation is not evolving — it is merely present."
• Form: 5 → 7 fields. Adds evolution.axes (multi-select; axis 03 weighted) and ablation.baseline (URL + log).

II — Visual language: halftone whitepaper

• Typography overhaul. Fraunces (display) · Newsreader (body prose) · IBM Plex Mono (machine voice). 1965 Bell Labs for 2028 AI.
• Whitepaper chrome. Classification strip at top, italic incipit, typewriter abstract, folio marks (Arabic + Roman numerals), section epigraphs, corner registration crosses, live gate-status strip under the CTA, mid-page ticker, colophon footer.
• Visualizations, rebuilt.
  • Gap viz (manifesto): SVG with exponential model curve + flat scaffold line; the zone between them filled with a halftone dot pattern; the gap / (the lab) label set inside the zone.
  • Ladder viz: SVG vertical ladder. Gates get dense amber halftone; 10⁹+ lab rungs get sparser patterns; the 10¹² frontier dissolves into vapor stippling. Ignition line divides admission ramp from the lab. Amber "you are here" pulse dot on gate.1.
  • Axes cards: each has a dense mono viz showing the concept in motion — run.N trajectory table (behavior), memory-fill density bars (knowledge), stacked evolving scaffolds with new ops (scaffold, weighted).
  • Vault (gates): nested chambers, gate.1 sharp and amber-pulsing, gate.2 normal, gate.3 blurred into halftone fog.
  • R7 proof: halftone density bars with an amber Δ arrow cutting across.
• Ground layers. Bayer-dither canvas at ~2.4 fps · stardust halftone pattern slowly drifting · SVG fractal-noise grain overlay · cursor halftone trail · scroll progress bar.
• Scroll reveal uses a "develop" transition (blur + contrast → crisp), not a plain fade.
• Split columns symmetric (1fr / 1fr, centered) so the viz sits in balance with the prose rather than extending below it.

III — Incidentals

• Inherited v0 bugs fixed: canvas.clientWidth/Height no longer assigned (getter-only in strict mode); localStorage access wrapped in a safe store for sandboxed contexts.
• Respects prefers-reduced-motion end-to-end (dither, stardust, grain, trail, develop transitions all gated).
• Bilingual EN/ZH parity throughout — every new element (incipit, abstract, epigraphs, classification, ticker, colophon) is translated.

Commits (squashable)

• v0.1 thesis redesign: ladder, evolution axes, R7 ablation, hero rewrite
• v0.1 halftone elevation: whitepaper chrome, SVG vizzes, Bayer-dither ground
• chore: gitignore local vercel link + scratch files
• fix: center split columns, stop viz clipping

Test plan

• Both EN and ZH render cleanly end-to-end
• Form validation: required fields, axis-count, URL format for endpoint + baseline; shake on invalid; typewriter feedback on reject/accept; ledger updates with amber flash
• 7 protocol rules render (R1–R7 with R7 visually weighted), 5 submission requirements render, 3 axis cards render with scaffold marked as weighted, vault chambers render with gate.1 pulsing open
• SVG vizzes render without label overflow on desktop widths
• Column heights balance via align-items: center
• prefers-reduced-motion respected (dither, stardust, grain, trail all hide)
• Cross-browser spot check (Safari, Firefox)
• Mobile final polish pass
• Lab lead review

🤖 Generated with Claude Code