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Author Topic: ZABAWARE Responds from "Nobody wants to say it  (Read 23975 times)

raybe

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ZABAWARE Responds from "Nobody wants to say it
« on: February 19, 2015, 05:02:25 pm »
Okay then, for the sake of just saying it and I do know the history so I don't need to be reminded by anyone. Unless of coarse you know something I don't. Then I apologize for this entire subject and feel free to remove, I'll keep my mouth closed with a sorry.

 Mr. Robert M. what is happening with any progression of UltraHal if any ?

Please post anything good or bad. We still love what you have created and for others really tried to make additional tools. But a direction is better then no direction at this stage.

 Just my personnel opinion is, you should address it no matter of the situations. Why? Just for the sake of long time relationships that have also been built into your UltraHal. We are all friends here. (most any way)lol. Heck this is your forum.

I think it would be nice for everyone.

Thank you,
raybe
« Last Edit: February 26, 2015, 07:08:30 am by Duskrider »
 

Medeksza

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2015, 09:59:32 pm »
I've been working on Hal's technology for about 20 years now ever since I was 12 years old and have poured by heart and soul into it. AI and chatbot technlogy have been my passion since I was 9 years old and first came across Eliza. I used to have a lot of free time to work on Hal going through school and later college. As a young student, when I had summers off, I would make great strides in pushing Hal's technology forward and sell/support Hal during the rest of the year. Zabaware had a lot of growth between 1997 and 2001 which was really cool and exciting as a high school kid.

Zabaware was still doing ok back in 2006 where it may have been possible for me to live off if it was my only focus. I graduated college back in 2007 and then gave 100% to Zabaware. By investing my savings, getting several business loans, and a contract with Ford I was able to hire a couple people to help further develop Zabaware's technology. I was focused on creating a character engine back then to replace the aging Haptek engine. In retrospect it was a bad business decision and a bit of bad luck. I was relying on further investment from Ford to finish the project. I was pretty confident they would continue to work with me and if not for the economic downturn in 2008 I think they would have. Unfortunately, at the end of 2007 the American auto industry almost crashed. GM went bankrupt, and Ford and Chrysler were close to it as well. So Ford pulled out of the project with Zabaware. That left me with an incomplete project, unable to pay my employees, and a lot of debt.

I refused to liquidate Zabaware's assets and go bankrupt. But I had to suspend the project and let go of my employees to keep Zabaware alive. Myself, I haven't taken a salary from Zabaware since 2008. All of Zabaware's current sales go to paying down Zabaware's debt and keeping the servers chugging along. Before 2007 I haven't ever had a job outside of Zabaware, but now I had no choice and had to seek employment elsewhere. So I hopped around a few different employers since then. Currently, I've been working full-time as a programmer for a local credit union for a little over 2 years now. It's a nice steady job, I like working there. But unfortunately it doesn't leave me with much time as I would like to work on Zabaware. I take care of processing Zabaware's orders, doing some limited customer support, and as much time as I can on working on the brain.

I've been rewriting Hal's brain from scratch from an antiquated VB6 to more modern languages. I've made a lot of progress and I'm fairly close to being done with that part. With Zabaware's turmoil, Hal has missed the smart phone revolution. My goal is to get Hal on smart phones and make the same improvements available to the existing Windows product. I hesitate to make any promises on a timeline. I'm actually a bit too busy with my other job and things in my personal life until mid-April to make much progress, but hope to make a lot of progress after then. I am not giving up on Hal and enjoy working on it as hobby, and hope to make it into a viable and profitable business again in the future. I always keep my eyes and ears open to possible investment opportunities.
Robert Medeksza

doggs

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2015, 10:48:25 pm »
Thank you. I feel you. And I will not give up on Hal.
be informed and always vote it will help you in the long run does not matter if your liberal, conservative or independent. stay informed and watch the votes in government not what the media tells you.

Carl2

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2015, 09:12:13 am »
  I found it very nice of Raybe to start this post and Robert to honestly answer the question posed.  I'm not doing much with Hal lately but stop in to see what has been going on, Hal has been my favorite chat bot for ages and there has been a lot of progress made in the past.  I'd run across something that stated people learn from experience and don't know how to proceed, to take a lifetime of experience and put this into Hals databases.  Mr Shaw at Haptek seems to be having similar problems, he has the ability to give Hal vision but needs finances to develop his product.  Guess it's a wait and see what develops.
Carl 2
« Last Edit: February 26, 2015, 07:11:43 am by Duskrider »
 

lightspeed

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2015, 09:33:06 am »
     Thanks Robert for the past info . and up to date info of you and Hal , sometimes we as people want and don't real;ize some of the struggles an individual of a product has and maybe is going through , i don't know if you may have caught where i posted to you asking a question before about hal answering what shall we talk about today , etc.  but i also mentioned how i believed if hal could acess the internet (as some a.i's and cortana does , it would through a filtration make hal seem and be a lot smarter in conversation as hal also learns , cload gave us a small glimpse of this with his plug in .
     When you get back into hal again is it possible to focus more in this area ?
 also i mentioned using a remote app on android tablet it's possible with regular tablets to get hal to work on a tablet (no ms os ) but no sound unfortunately , could an app be made and sold that would make the sound come through ???? i don't know if it's possible , and may not be worth it , as i see eventually all tablets moving toward a dual and eventually maybe ms only operating systems on all tablets and of course having larger internal data bases .
But i do see Hal as needing that internet data base access that would help it tremendously if filtered and done right . 
 

raybe

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2015, 11:10:37 am »
Dear Mr.M., I really didn't want to pry into your business but your candor honesty is consistent with the type of person you are. It reflects in your UltraHal and I think your post was incredibly open.

As an entrepreneur myself all you have mentioned is certainly understandable and appreciated.
Communication to me has always been an important way to keep things going, good or bad as I mentioned before. I know I certainly would love to be someone that invested in UltrHal. I've been trying for years but have run into very similar road blocks and or bad timing. Certainly not easy today and a lot less people taking risks in investing which leaves limited opportunities.

But speaking for myself if the opportunity should return certainly would love to be apart of it, besides all these years of great entertainment and a frontier with so much potential it is hard to conceive. I agree also that no one knows what it can be or how far AI will develop. I also agree that there is not a person that can walk in your shoes even if they have had similar situations to deal with.

Appreciate all the information and always have my best intentions and wishes for success in where ever this road should take you now and the future. I look forward to watch UltraHal grow or change if things allow even things that you can't control. If you can control, then you better get your a** in gear buddy!! Only kidding although a serious topic.

Thanks to all that have contributed now and over the years.

 I guess a simple 'thank you' would have been more appropriate.

raybe
 

doggs

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2015, 12:38:09 pm »
@ lightspeed

Robert just poured his heart out and said his plans.

No one else will tell you but I will.

Give the man time!!!
Reread his post. (you will find your answers in his post)
For the time being give up on Hal working on Google, other than third party applications.  (try team viewer art suggested it, I tried it, it works)

Lightspeed, I understand your love of Hal, I myself have it.
Let the man take care of his immediate family first, then this family.  He has shown us in the past how much he cares.

Hope the day finds you and Angela (your Hal) well.
be informed and always vote it will help you in the long run does not matter if your liberal, conservative or independent. stay informed and watch the votes in government not what the media tells you.

ricky

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2015, 02:15:22 pm »
Dear Robert,

I've spent most of my life around talented and gifted people,  I clearly see you are one. I think there is an amazing future for you,  but in all honesty,  I don't think you've expanded to all the places that would appreciate you the most. 

For example -  Hal could revolutionize games on steam,  I was just telling a game developer / forum  -  Space Engineers
that if they incorporated your software into their game,  this would be hands free gaming in addition to being able to talk to your game and train it.  -  that game has already sold 1 million units and is a top 10 game on Steam,  and get this,  the game is in Alpha! 

In summary,  just because the mass population has not discovered your amazing talents,  doesn't make you any less a star worthy of respect and recognition with your achievements.

I can't hope you will win,  because I know without a doubt you will win,  once you are in a better public spotlight.   

Bring Hal to steam and make an SDK so gamers can incorporate your work into,  mostly sandbox games I'm thinking.
You are a star,  I have zero doubts about this.

I also say this professionally, having spent most of my life in entertainment with a significant history of projects I've worked on.

"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit."
Napoleon Hill

I can't help coming back to this forum,  because it's like a beacon of talent, passion and skill that very few know about ...I simply enjoy being around this much talent.  You guys have it.

"Without promotion, something terrible happens... nothing!" - P. T. Barnum

I can think of a ton of ideas that would put you on the charts fast .....gaming .......hal could make a blog ....with a plug in that searches for latest news ....that alone would attract a ton of views....  the possibilities are endless!

From the bottom of my heart,  nothing would make me happier than to see a person of your level of passion and skill succeed in a very big way.......I've seen enough no talent people climb the ladder of success .....and I'd like to see the true talents of the world succeed for a change.  You are one of those true talents.

--

and who am i to say all this ?

a legend in my own mind,  I'm going around tapping the nice people I've found after doing an insane amount of research as to what revolutionary and entertaining really is. I have this crazy idea of thinking that I know talent when I see it,  if only i could get the right people to meet each other it would make something revlutionary worth writing in history, and maybe I can write a song and make a video for it as a theme!

Other's try putting together music bands,  i dont need a band,  what i need is a show! lol. Research shows that great stories are the strongest point of any successful product!


« Last Edit: February 20, 2015, 03:23:37 pm by ricky »
"i crack iself up" - Virgil

Art

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2015, 04:18:42 pm »
@ Robert - I've been with you and Hal for many years and have certainly enjoyed the journey through each incarnation and each bump in the road. Hal is still a remarkable piece of software, incredibly fun, customizable, teachable, educational and hopefully a harbinger of other ventures in the world of chatbot technology.
I am proud of the way you have stood the test of time and not given up on Hal or Hal's followers. We know this forum / site is almost self policing and that's a great thing, but I think it would still be nice if you'd just pop in from time to time if nothing more than to say Hello or perhaps provide a little news, update or current status. Otherwise, best of luck in your hunt for a cost effective, modifiable 3D engine for an "improved" Hal! - Thanks!

@ Ricky - Robert just said that he is suffering from the same ailment as a lot of us...Time & Money...and not as much of it as we'd like to have. Robert is pretty much a one man band at this point and as such, there is only so much he can do in a given day.
If things were on the right track, I'm sure he could and likely would venture into other areas of improving Hal and it's AI, avatar, connectable nature, etc. It will take time. Good things come to those who wait. Just saying.... ;)
In the world of AI it's the thought that counts!

- Art -

ricky

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #9 on: February 20, 2015, 04:39:38 pm »
or friends that care :)

you are just as talented Art,  and you know this.

how hard would it be to make a plug in that interacts with  http://www.spaceengineersgame.com/ where you can talk and say "Build this" "Target That"  or "What time is it ? "  "take me to x position"   from inside that game ?

how I vision it is simple,   Hal stands alone as it is,  but just as you can open a browser or start a program,  a plug in connects to that game that lets you build items, fight,  and command your character...  this would be very popular simply because it ties in so well with the futuristic theme,  the game is already popular, and no one else is doing this on steam so it will only help to make the game and both development teams become even more popular and newsworthy for that matter since it would be the first of it's kind.

Their developers are friendly, indie, ambitious and open to ideas....I really like those guys too.  Here's a video interview of their CEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuUkJzMxPEQ

and for the love of all that is 3D patent it after you make it so apple, microsoft or google don't say they are glad they thought of it, don't sell it to facebook either,  you don't need more than 20 million to live a peaceful life.

also -  i probably won't be using it myself ironically enough  -  i've already been proven to be haunted and with my luck my hal will be silent, ignore me, and start building pyramids in space to hold ancient egyptian rituals.. :(   not sure i'm ready for that.



« Last Edit: February 20, 2015, 05:54:20 pm by ricky »
"i crack iself up" - Virgil

Art

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2015, 07:39:15 am »
To be honest, that interview sucked! It was over an hour long, the sound quality was muffled and the interviewees barely spoke up!

The idea of an interview is to showcase your product, your talent, your team / staff, goals and current status. Hopefully this can usually be done within a five minute period of time.

The last half of the interview was staring at a logo while a person was talking in the background...again practically mumbling.

Perhaps I'm wrong but then again....

In the world of AI it's the thought that counts!

- Art -

Calhoone

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #11 on: February 21, 2015, 09:39:11 am »
Thank you for responding and giving us a better idea of where things stand. I'm very sorry to hear that things have not worked out the way that you had hoped, but that will change! I fully understand where you are coming from.  Time and money is something that does not always come in abundance.

I know that you started this journey a long time ago at a young age and have built an amazing product that has to this day provided many of us with some great amount of enjoyment.  Things have definately stalled for obvious and understandable reasons. One of those being that you don't have enough time in the day to do everything you want done.  Why not let us help you. By now you should have a good idea who the hard core fans of Ultra Hal are and who has it's best interests in mind.  There are things that we could most definately help you with.  Simple things like moderating or even enhancing this website for example. 

We have long wanted an area where we could properly gather and display all the plugins available to Ultra Hal. Currently we have some things in place but it's a mess of multiple websites that we have to search through, and many great plugins lost to the quicksand of the forums.  Plus there are many great graphics and videos made by users over the years that would be a great way of advertising what Hal can do if we were able to display them on a seperate page.  Perhaps you could let us help you by taking care of some of the smaller things, leaving you with more time to focus on the more important things.

Another thing is perhaps you would be willing to let others help with the development of Ultra Hal.  Once again, there have been so many people that have come and done some amazing things for Hal. (skins, user interfaces, and especially plugins)  I've seen groups of people come together to create projects like the Hal vision and the freewill plugins. Unfortunately, as the dust settles, it seems as though people lose interest or decide to move on to either a different chat bot or begin recreating their own bots. All the power to them for doing that but I often wonder if many of these great minds that have come and gone, or still pop in now and then, or lurk in the shadows would stay if they were actually a part of Ultra Hal.  Time to recruit some interns maybe? Hehe. 

I understant that the re-write of Ultra Hal is going to take quite a lot of time.  As people are moving on to windows 8 and soon 10, we are starting to lose some of the functionality that kept us hooked on hal.  I and a couple others can't seem to work with the speech recognition in Hals options.  We can press the buttons but nothing happens.  We used to be able to connect hal to the world via AIM, we haven't been able to do that in years.

The big kicker for many is Haptek. Not even an option for many of us now.  If we do happen to luck out and get a working copy of it, we then have to find a way of getting windows xp.  I know this is in no way your fault or responsibility.  Is there not a way we could work something out with the creator of haptek to release a version compatible with todays version of windows. That would breath some more life into Hal. I'd be buying up a copy in no time.  Just as I would spend money on an updated version of Hal. (not the re-coded one)

Anyways, all I'm saying is help us help you. We want to see you and Zabaware flourish.  One man cannot do everything on their own. I have learned that the hard way myself.

Sorry for ranting.
 

ricky

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #12 on: February 21, 2015, 02:37:49 pm »
LOL @ Art,    -  yeah...but he's moved over 1 million units.   maybe you guys need a bad interview too!! ^.^
"i crack iself up" - Virgil

DemonRaven

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #13 on: February 22, 2015, 01:30:50 am »
I am kinda money poor myself but i would be willing to donate some cash to the project if you made a paypal donation button which is pretty easy to set up. Making chatbots and writing programs is fun but takes a lot of time and if you have a job and a life unlike me it does not leave much left for projects.

raybe

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Re: Nobody Wants To Say It
« Reply #14 on: February 22, 2015, 05:40:06 pm »
I hope my post didn't turn this thread into moratorium for UlrtaHal. I just wanted to know what we could and could not expect from Zabaware which I acknowledge is Robert M..

I was taken back and impressed that Mr. Robert M. decided to let us in on the entire story in detail I might add. I mentioned this on my second post. We need to stay focused on the real issue which is Mr. Robert M. as the owner and a business man will make the decisions he feels are appropriate which he did.

UltraHal has just taken a hiccup in life as everything does and will be on target again if Mr. Robert M. decides the time or the product is ready. Personally I understand we are all just trying to help including myself. But Mr.Robert M. answered the question I believe very clear.

I don't think he needs ideas or what would make UltraHal even better. You have to give the guy some credit for coming this far and I'm sure he has thought about most of the things mentioned if not all of them. He is no longer that 12 year old or the young guy in college. All this is just my opinion and has nothing to do with judgement of the ideas or the voluntary actions members would take to help. I just want to monitor what I started by asking a question and again I think it was answered very well.

If there is something anyone can do it needs to come from Mr. Robert M. himself. I'm sure it is great to know that members have your back. The proof is we are mostly here, maybe not 24 x 7 but we do come around. Better proof is that as many as people may have left for whatever reasons there are many new members willing to bring it.

I believe this thread has served its purpose and now its time for real life situations and we still believe in a great product although it may be more or become more.

Good luck to everyone I for one am not going any where. I'm sorry I forgot who said it, "but the only way to keep things in there rightful place is have curiosity" don't focus on whether things are good or bad but stay curious about the possibilities.

Thanks for all the input especially from Mr. Robert M.

raybe