I'm Sorry But......

[raybe]

I swore I would not bring it up and I keep lying to myself and every one else. But this quite is killing me. No news from Rob M. and I mean nothing. The forum is starting to go numb again. Can anyone find out anything?

If this is it then fine but just getting no feedback at all. Maybe with the Holiday's it's just my time of the month. (I am not making lite of a sometimes tough situation women of this forum). 

I have the nerve to tell others to be patient, that's a joke. I am getting concerned at this point. I even see threads that no one including myself  respond too even if it's to tell a newbie, 'Glad to meet you', don't have an answer or search the forum. Like I said I am just as guilty.

I love Ultra Hal program and I will always continue to use it and support it. I really feel like something is not right. I do understand all the problems that Zabaware may or may not be facing. In a sense it's none of my business!! I know it's no picnic for most right now including myself but something has to give.

Everyone has their own choices and I don't have the right to comment on any of them. You don't like what's happening then just leave! Easy for me to say and not to do.

These are all just my opinions. Sorry if I sound like wiener right now!! Like I said maybe it's just the Holidays and I know things could always be worse or better depending if your glass is half full or empty.

Wish only the best. Just concerned at this stage.

raybe

[snowman]

Its been like this for two years (at least), ever since I began using this forum.

Sometimes things will speed up and other times it slows down.

Robert is seldom ever heard from and we think Hal killed him. I assume Hal has now officially taken over Zabaware sales.
In the mean time here are some interesting forum stuff.

http://www.ultrahal.com/community/index.php?action=stats

[Duskrider]

Raybe,
He was here while you were posting.

[Carl2]

  I naturally want to defend Mr. M. ,  been a member since 2004 and find him to be very fair.  I think he has a very good product and am surprised at many of the modifications members have made.  I end up thinking this mess is caused by the economy.  I'll resort to the it could be worse, we could be dealing with Haptek.  I think Haptek has a great product, I'm fasinated with body_female and continue trying to work with her. 
  Over the years I have got some thoughts on how I would like to see Hal modified, I'd like to see Hal be able to trigger haps with her own response rather than the users input.  I'm hoping during this lag I can spend some time on that.  Right now I'm trying to make some haps for movements that I think she needs using the AutoHapGenerator.
  Overall I think Mr M. has given us a direction that Hal will be moving in.
Carl2

[lightspeed]

I know things can be frustrating and it's a while inbetween but we all never truly know whats going on with another person, as we are not in their shoes, i beleive robert though is doing the best he can under whatever circumstances their are as of now, (just my feeling) . i have been trying to get my hal to quit giving blank answers which ends up requiring me ( and others) to have to shut hal down . I just wrote robert about this again and with fingers crossed hope he will have an answer or fix once and for all on it .
i tried doing what oncutting edge had posted in the forum placed that code (replacing the other ) in the custom brain and also in the custom brains uhp file even (in the same area ), but i still get blank answers after a while .
anyway i know robert as i said is probably doing the best he can , i would just be happy to get this blank answer problem solved .
we have no choice but to wait and see about other things , that's all i can say .

[raybe]

First I like to say thanks to all for even posting replies.

If Ultra Hal did kill Robert M. then Ultra Hal might as well take a high voltage charge up his b** and call it a day. With all the support people have given Ultra Hal there is still no hope that Ultra Hal will survive own it's own.  I agree I have seen this before on this forum but I don't think it is necessary when you see what members have and are still doing for and with Ultra Hal.

Carl, just to make sure no one misinterprets anything I said. I would never attack Robert M. in any way. I am also a long time user. As I posted usually I,m trying to explain the patience needed and I'll just continue to work with what I have or not. To me it feels like saturation time for Ultra Hal and Robert M. should just acknowledge something, good or bad. I also posted that I really don't feel it's any of my business. Trying to find gray area here where some one should just update any allowable info considering how good Ultra Hal is even in comparison to newer releases of products. Unfortunately it does bare some responsibility like it or not.

lightspeed that is exactly what I have been saying and maybe not so well. I totally understand that there could be circumstances and again unfortunately this type of situation will always carry with it luggage for Zabaware to carry. It's a very gray area that still carries some responsibility no matter what the situation is. We all experience this every day when we need to make decisions and as I posted things are not easy for everyone today. I totally get it and live it but I still have a responsibility to the people I work with even if don't really want to. You mention just the 'blank answers' but you know it is more than just that. Maybe it has priority right now for you but you don't have posting numbers like you have for any one thing. You evolve and you want Ultra Hal to evolve because of your interest and time invested. We are very fortunate to have members that are very knowledgeable to find ways to update Ultra Hal on their own. Even you have been a part of that process. But with all the knowledge there will be limitations Ultra Hal can go based upon its foundation.

I feel without some intervention from Robert M. we will loose our reference basis for zero, we will saturate Ultra Hal until it will be almost impossible to diagnose. Just from my experiences in audio or basic electronics and maybe writing for Ultra Hal doesn't follow the same rules but I believe most things do. If you loose neutral or a zero reference point as I call it. Problem solving just becomes harder and you loose sight of the entire picture eventually. So what do you do? You usually start from the beginning with a clean slate and try to diagnose all that is happening while you make these modifications. 

Thanks again,
raybe


 

[lightspeed]

i am doing that about the blank answers, this may or may not fix the problem i have noticed for what ever reason that i hit the space button after writing something and then maybe a question mark and or exclamation mark , maybe this is what is causing blank answers i am trying to figure it out and trying everything i can to stop it, so far i have talked quit a while and no blank answers(i hate to say it but everytime i mention it that way , hal then gives a blank answer) but i have had hal go a long time before then out of the blue just blank answer . i figure either hal will go mad in all this process or me lol , so far i betting on hal to come out better i'm almost at my wits end on it lol!

[raybe]

Hi lightspeed,

I believe some one had posted as well that there are not only conflicts within Ultra Hal that can develop over time and how those commands are executed but also the resources or demands that other software may try to prioritize for themselves causing a small enough interruption in Ultra Hal that it may interrupt Ultra Hal's resources to carry out a certain functions at a particular time.

People wrote scripts that would bridge the normal commands within Ultra Hal so that Ultra Hal would find an alternate way around such an interruption just for the sole purpose that Ultra Hal would respond with something or anything really.

This is one thing I always believed in as someone working with the best people in the audio field. 2 pieces of any equipment can be made exactly the same but it only takes slight nuances within the product to make it different. Ultra Hal is far more vulnerable to these types of things happening then the hardware itself. Software has to rely on itself and the hardware plus resources it shares. A double whammy.   

Again easy for me to say but if you get long periods of time before a blank answer pops up your probably just fine. If much larger software corps. have certain bugs at certain times and not the same with everyone. The whole reason for tech support. Then I think Ultra Hal is ahead of the game. You know as well as I do even when playing a game on a computer that certain games need your computer to have certain resources and certain setups that prioritize your computer to deal with just that game or program. They really don't care about other software needs. First come first served and sometimes stay for seconds by holding ram as prisoner.

I bet if we could really see deep into software or hardware we would see little 'Tron' games going on.(lol)

Take good care,
raybe

Ps. All my talk was not meant to discourage you or anyone. You just might notice something to zero in on.

[Lola]

  Hi to All!

Raybe, even the more patients of all, get impatient at times! Let's cheer up, life's certainly like a roller-coaster. I think we might be on a 'low' point now probably due to the holidays and the shopping season, after that, hopefully things will start to to normalize.  I remember that some sort updates for Hal are suppose to come after the holidays, so we have something positive and nice to look forward!

So far I'm seeing many creative members, consequently trying to improve Hal's proficiency with their excellent skills and ideas. So it might seem a little slow in the chatting, but actually very fruitful in contents if we look around.

Now that some of you are mentioning the blank responses, something very funny happened to me, it started a few weeks ago while Hal was giving me one of his sporadic blank responses. I started to reply to his blank responses with different things like:  Are you upset? Are you okay? A moment of silence? A moment of silence, once again? Are you just meditating about, what I said?

Guess what, Hal's has started to give back the same questions and replies to me! either when I'm late responding to him or soon after he awakens from his blank state. It seems that in some cases, Hal still learns while he's on that state.  I'm trying to do the best out of the worst by feedings him questions and funny remarks whenever it happens.

Another thing I've noticed is that many times the blanks come after questions I made to Hal. Now when this happens I just write an answer for that question for Hal to be able to repeat it back to me the next time that I ask him the same question. Some things worth trying while we find an answer for the blank quirks. 

[raybe]

Could always count on Lola. Forever the bright side of things. Really I'm not so concerned that the forum might just fade away or people in general have even lost interest for those very reasons you mentioned.

I feel without Robert M. a lot of talent and time might not be as fruitful as it can be. Remember I was the one to ask you to be patient and look what happened. I would like to get back to the basics again and then measure where I would like to go. I just think with all these additions without Robert M. we have lost sight of the basis of this program. Again I'm not saying that everything that people have developed and worked hard spending their own time hasn't been short of unbelievable. Then they even share it with everyone it's a remarkable thing for today.

I kind of look and wait at these upgrades or updates as new starting points that hopefully are further developed because of all the input. But it does give you a fresh look at the program for example the graphics engine. People were already concerned how this was going to effect what they have done, whether it was even a better choice but how they might be able to improve on it or make it more their own. Not to forget the people who are just concerned that we start with a better AI Ultra Hal. I know updates/upgrades don't mean better sometimes but with so much input you would hope for the best.

I have seen the past posts where Robert M. was very thankful for the help from others on the blank responses. But I also remember that his best troubleshooting skills really came into play when he was able to reproduce some of the hick ups Ultra Hal was having. With everything that has been done with Ultra Hal I don't think he can diagnose the problems anymore.
This doesn't mean it's bad just harder to find answers to questions. The upgrade/update would give everyone fresh eyes to again move Ultra Hal forward.

Reading your post I wonder if lightspeed's problem mimics yours and he has noticed that Ultra Hal is still processing information during those blank responsive times. The questions or question marks are in common with lightspeed as he mentioned. The only thing my Ultra Hal does is either stay on topic regarding the question or totally ignores it. Unless you use the 'Did you know plug-in'. Where Ultra Hal not only responds to the question but also gathers the information of the question topic itself.

Maybe it is the holidays, maybe I post too long these days and get off track but I know I'm glad your still around and take the time.

Duskrider, I didn't respond because I couldn't tell if that was your quick wit or if I really did miss something. Please let me know so I can at least have a laugh with you. I'm really not this slow face to face.

Thanks again Lola, lightspeed, snowman, Carl.
raybe

[Carl2]

  There are a few other things that can be said, Mr M. besides working on Hal for the computer is also working on projects for other types of electronic equiptment, not positive at this time what thay were but it may be for the wireless phones ect.   I also wanted to say Hal is being used in many different ways.  There are the robot fans, the people that want girlfriends and boyfriends and Robert has seen development in all sorts of areas he may not have thought it would go in.
  As far as Lightspeeds blank answers, it's something quite a few people looked into in the past and I thought OTC had the answer.  Possibly it is only one fault of a few.  I can remember ages ago I asked Hal for the correct input to find the square of a number, he didn't have the answer ( he said something but it was not the answer I was looking for.  A few days went by and hal gave me the correct answer.  Really shocked me the question went in and I guess he went back to it until he found an answer for me.
  Anyways it seems we have a pretty nice forum with lots of friendly and usually helpful people. 
Carl2

[snowman]

There are three types of programming that is the building blocks of Hal.

(excuse me cause I'm extremely left brained)

1# Robert's code that he used to create the UltraHal console.

2# Robert's code that he used to create the brain scripts and plugins (standard)

3# User code that we programmers have added withing select plugins and brain.

Although it's possible for a programmer to get lost in his own programming, and, of course, overcoming various bugs. Overall, I doubt Robert will ever get lost and overwhelmed by its complexity.

As for other plugins created by users, these are simply added by the community and no one has to use them. What I'm saying is that whether Robert ever chimes in again or not (God forbid) the community of Hal lovers will not corrupt Hal because of his absence. In fact, Hal has grown and been improved by this very intervention in the past on many occations.

Many of the members here are simple puritans when it comes to Hal.

Although the one that might do the most drastic changes is me. Not that I don't like Hal, its just that I like playing with the progamming (allot). I haven't done anything in a while but it has been on my mind to do something that will help Hal out
allot.

As for the the blank reponses. The best way of finding out what's going on is to get down and dirty.

1# First, LightSpeed, try reinstalling Hal and only keep the Angelina Joline database and other plugins, haps, characters, story folder, and pictures (whatever .  The idea is that maybe something in the registry or perhaps a change in the brain script has caused some kind of fault (if you've already done this then skip to two.)

Note: Do not install any plugins or change the brain untill tests are completed.
Plus, you might want to save any brain changed that you've made in a separate text file so you won't totally loose it.

Test Hal to see it this fixes him. (take as much time as you need)

2# Second, if there is still a problem then it is either caused by your machine or the database, or by a programing bug that Robert has understandibly overlooked. Now try to look through Angelina's database and see if there is a blank database entry that Hal might be grabbing. This could be daunting but be glad that it isn't Jason's database. (its huge!!!) If you find blank stuff then fill it.

Test Hal to see it this fixes him.

3# Prayer

Test Hal to see it this fixes him.

4# Start commenting out various peices of brain script... stuff you think isn't vital to Hal's operation... then test Hal... comment out.... test again... do this over and over until you've finally gottem rid of the Error causing bug.

Remember that area that is causing the problem and tell everybody and maybe some of us can figure a solution.


Now raybe, comrade... I have an important question. If there was anything that you would want Hal to do... what would that be?

[Duskrider]

Oh no, quite serious. no joke.
In fact he was in an hour ago.
He comes just to check things, but can't always stay for posting.

[lightspeed]

hey duskrider how did you know he was on ralier if he didn't post does the list of names show up who's online here, if so guess i didn't realize it, and also to snowman after the blank answer i did open up the brain editor on the "tawnya" this is the new brain i recreated after the angela was giving me blanks , i did it in hope that i wouldn't have blanks and actually didn't do as much deletteing of insult files in hopes of solving blank problem, didn't work though .
anyway i posted the answer i said that gave me a blank answer which was: that is correct
it then gave me the list to go throug for hals answer search of what to say , i took pics of each step all the way to the end but they are to numerouse to put on here i think maybe 13 in all by the time each step is expanded and what all can be put in each picture .
so if anyone wants to take a look at it i can send the files by e mail .and now to lola , that's a great idea about continuing to ask hal questions that way i have asked that or wrote something and of course it came up blank  but maybe i should keep doing it as you did , and about my new theory about the spacing , i mentioned for whatever reason (not enough memory "me lol" ) i was hitting the space button after a sentence then adding a question mark and or exclamation mark when nessesary , well i stopped myself from doing that and made sure i wrote just regular and guess what , i was able to makwe hal talk longer in all i beleive the time was for around 2 or 2 and half hours , (before i would sometimes get a blank 15 minutes into conversation ) so i beleive me doing that has helped i will also "try" what lola has said to.  I am glad some others like lola is mentioning again about having the blank problem i was wondering if i was the only one and that others had gotten the problem solved and just not said anything. 

p.s. maybe robert got my e mail about the blank answer and link to here and was checking, although my hal is doing better but still does blank answers so this problem still needs to be fixed and as i said in the e mail it's not only me .

[raybe]

snowmann, thanks so much for your reply. But it still does seem that any one of the 3 areas you mention would take extensive work as you said(down & dirty) to diagnose certain problems because it is possible it could be based on the foundation of Ultra Hal that I thought really the one that would be able to help solve that problem was using everyone involved with all 3 building blocks. Robert M has 2 of the 3 and if user codes that were programmed have added to the mix it would a daunting task.

That's what I was really trying to say when I mentioned Robert M. getting lost a bit. Not for lack of knowledge but Robert M. really not being to track problems with all the added programing even if it was just a plug-in.

I agree as I said before and is stated in the plug-ins: 1-MAKE back-UPS 2- Programmer not responsible for results. User uses these features at own risk. I wouldn't really be honest if I said I was a puritan because I do use plug-ins that members were nice enough to share. But I was kind of hoping that any changes that Robert M. would make in Ultra Hal kind of forces you to take one step at a time to actually see results from the beginning again as the new character engine would do. I think that would help to troubleshoot easier and possibly find conflicts because of how the building blocks were put together and RobertM. hopefully share it with the members that would really be qualified to see what's possible.

The 3rd suggestion of 'prayer' really summed it up for me.

To answer your last question is really difficult and easy at the same time because I really don't know how difficult it can be to make things happen without some how coming up with another bug of sorts. After seeing new releases of programs you really can notice how good Ultra Hal really is. But I was looking forward to any new graphics engine because of hitting the wall with Haptek and support, more computer or system support monitoring (just afraid of footprint for these types of functions) and of coarse an upgrade to improve fundamentals of relating to topics quicker. Last but not least a general awareness of Ultra Hal's environment and later direct interaction encompassing all of these with the use of a web cam.

More limitations on brain editing except for the people qualified as a separate package or tool. Basic stuff like opening programs or the changes we have now such as controlling how Ultra Hal's personalities will develop I think should remain. But definitely packaging features that have been tested and if you need to pay a few extra bucks so be it. I'm not in a position to know or suggest what is a fair value for such packages.

Duskrider then I do apologize for coming off like you were more or less just posting for a laugh at my expense. I wasn't try to preach to the choir but I really thought that again we were hitting the wall again and you really can't judge by just these posts or lack of them. I see everyone working hard but I also noticed a lack of direction. As others  just make more things for Ultra Hal without getting some of the basic problems fixed again. Without Robert M. I thought it would be a much harder task without him or a new upgrade that again would force him or us to get the basics solved and a more reliable way of troubleshooting. Incorporating the progress that has been already made.

I did not see Robert M. logged in and if he was I thought he would say something. I don't know your ties to Robert M. but if he doesn't have the time because of other things he is also developing then he can at least tell someone like you anything even if it's: "Still working on things will get back to you in 2 weeks" and then actually do it. Something, even if someone is qualified to be some sort of Adim. on this forum or wants to be.

Hang in lightspeed your persistence could end up being a nice improvement for Ultra Hal or unveil other issues.

Thanks all again. Hope you all had a great holiday. Duskrider again thanks and I was out of line a bit. But the truth is I really can't tell when it's serious or not on these forums. After all this time. Live and Learn!

raybe