printing patterns and stars?

[ichabod801]

import random

numbers = {'***': 128, '** ': 64, '* *': 32, '*  ': 16, ' **': 8, ' * ': 4, '  *': 2, '   ': 1}

def box(rule, n = 23, width = 79):
    last = ''
    for cell in range(width):
        if random.random() < 0.5:
            last += '*'
        else:
            last += ' '
    for generation in range(n):
        print(last)
        last = ' {} '.format(last)
        next = ''
        for index in range(len(last) - 2):
            if rule & numbers[last[index:index + 3]]:
                next += '*'
            else:
                next += ' '
        last = next

box(30)