Not sure if "Tell HN" really fits here; blinkenlights.nl has hosted this since at least 2001:

http://web.archive.org/web/20011123045625/http://www.blinken...

and it has been widely covered:

http://google.com/search?q=towel.blinkenlights.nl

This should probably be tagged [1997]; also here's a link to the original author: http://www.asciimation.co.nz/asciimation/ascii_faq.html

That's cool, for those interested, here's the link to the original ascii Star Wars at Simon's website: http://asciimation.co.nz