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Twelve Rooms, Zero Dots Caught

Oct 11, 2026 · 6 min read

For two years I chased one red dot across twelve rooms. Here is what I learned.

Text sits in one column, about 65 characters a line (around 36 in Chinese), the comfortable reading width. Figures can break out of it: a little wider, or the full width of the page.

The dot never wanders. It travels in straight lines, turns at every mirror, and always stops somewhere just out of reach. Draw its paths and you get the board above.

Wide: reaches past the text on both sides, for diagrams and screenshot sets.

Two rooms, two kinds of path:

You can't catch light, but you can learn to read it.

$ red-dot track ./living-room
→ 412 dots, 0 caught

Full: edge to edge, for the images that need the impact.

Note

This is a fictional sample site.

If your home has a red dot too, give it a try. It may be easier to read than you expect.

Stress test

The worst cases follow: a very long link, a very long code line, Chinese with no punctuation, and a six-column table. The page must not scroll sideways.

https://example.com/hairball/archive/red-dot-room-red-dot-room-red-dot-room-red-dot-room-red-dot-room-red-dot-room-red-dot-room-red-dot-room-red-dot-room-red-dot-room-red-dot-room-index.html

$ red-dot track ./room-01 ./room-02 ./room-03 ./room-04 ./room-05 ./room-06 ./room-07 ./room-08 ./room-09 ./room-10 ./room-11 ./room-12 ./room-13 ./room-14 ./room-15 ./room-16 ./room-17 ./room-18 ./room-19 ./room-20 ./room-21 ./room-22 ./room-23 ./room-24 ./room-25 ./room-26 ./room-27 ./room-28 ./room-29 ./room-30 ./room-31 ./room-32 ./room-33 ./room-34 ./room-35

红点沿着直线前进碰到镜子就拐弯最后总是停在一个我够不着的地方红点沿着直线前进碰到镜子就拐弯最后总是停在一个我够不着的地方红点沿着直线前进碰到镜子就拐弯最后总是停在一个我够不着的地方红点沿着直线前进碰到镜子就拐弯最后总是停在一个我够不着的地方

Room	Dots	Pounces	Mirrors	Windows
Living room	412	96	1	2
Hallway	238	51	3	0
Bedroom	171	40	2	1