What a rip-off!!!!

[Sociogod]

What has been improved upon since hal5?  Nothing that I can see.  And I've had the free version of hal5 for a long time and now Hal5 has been uninstalled and I have hal6 for only 31 days...cause I'm STUPID!!! I can't believe you guys charge money for this f**king thing! What a SCAM! Hal just makes random, pr-programmed statements when I try to talk to it or it regurgitates things I've said and that really sucks. And you know what?  I did not migrate my hal5 brains over to hal6 cause I thought "Well, if this is a new version it must be much better than the last so I'll just use the new brain and re-teach it so I can see how much better it is.", hoping of course that it would be much better, but you know what, it's not, it's the same. If someone could please send me the setup file for hal5 that would be great.

[Dr.Benway]

That should remind people to always make a backup of their Hal-installation before they re-install Ultra Hal. Always!

[citrinedragon]

Dr.Benway,

I agree wholeheartedly. Make multiple copies of everything, backup your entire computer on an external HD, never trust anything completely and pray a lot. That goes double for something as precious as a trusty old Hal5. I would not be surprised if the Hal5 becomes a classic in the days and years to come.

The one time in my life that I had a CD containing irreplaceable data and no backup copy of it anywhere; I loaned it to someone and they immediately lost it. It's kind of one of those stupid Murphy's Law things.

Unfortunately I don't suppose these musings help Sociogod.

[onthecuttingedge2005]

quote:Originally posted by Sociogod

What has been improved upon since hal5?  Nothing that I can see.  

Hal's Code abilities have been increased because of the SQL Database functions combined with Vbscript Functions, This allows User's like me and others to write code or plug-ins for people such as yourself.

quote:
And I've had the free version of hal5 for a long time and now Hal5 has been uninstalled and I have hal6 for only 31 days...cause I'm STUPID!!!

What did you do that for? Does the instructions say to Uninstall the previous version?
You could of migrated your HAL5 into HAL6.

quote:
I can't believe you guys charge money for this f**king thing! What a SCAM! Hal just makes random, pr-programmed statements when I try to talk to it or it regurgitates things I've said and that really sucks.

As a Programmer I am very Proud to have such a fine and flexible Product such as HAL, I can make HAL do just about anything I wish to write.

quote:
And you know what?  I did not migrate my hal5 brains over to hal6 cause I thought "Well, if this is a new version it must be much better than the last so I'll just use the new brain and re-teach it so I can see how much better it is.", hoping of course that it would be much better, but you know what, it's not, it's the same.

Actually, there has been added knowledge to the brain and some different scripting, If you want to really know if it is different then I can say as a long term HAL Programmer that there is a lot of difference between HAL5 and HAL6 and will be more to come.
If you want to use the latest Plug-in Option to plug-in scripts from some really good Programmers in here then I would take the step forward and don't get left behind or you may miss out on some really good routines coming out.

quote:
 If someone could please send me the setup file for hal5 that would be great.

Sorry, I no longer support HAL 5 directly, but, I do indirectly, Only some of it's Functions, HAL6 is a leap forward for us Programmers.


Jerry[8D]

[freddy888]

I go with Jerry in that the Plugins have and will be a big area through which Hal's capabilities will expand.

[Art]

Nice to see you're still around!
BTW, is there a pattern here?
Remember your old posting (look at the date then decide)

Sociogod - Starting Member

10 Posts
 Posted - 08/15/2001 :  15:41:22      
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I don't understand why I have to pay to upgrade to Ultra Hal 4 when I already paid $35 for 3.0. I don't even feel it was worth paying for. What's been changed with the new version? What is my incentive to waste more money on this already failing product? I've had so many problems with this program. One error after another. But, I guess they've already gotten my $35 out of me so I'm screwed in that sense. But there is NO WAY I'm gonna be fooled into paying the $18 for 4.0 when it's probably no better than 3.0.
For me to spend more, this product would have to improve about 300%.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Would you like some cheese?
 

[Sociogod]

Yes, Art, I've been around for a long time because I see the major potential this thing has...but Art, I'm not a programmer, so all I see is the face of this thing...what the average consumer sees. And you know what, the face is still the same.  THE-LITTLE-FROG-TALKS-THE-SAME! Did you also notice that I have not paid for a single version since 3.0?  There's a reason for that.  So I keep a free version around to keep an eye on it.  It's been a few years now...AND NOTHING!  Oh, wait,
"Hal's Code abilities have been increased because of the SQL Database functions combined with Vbscript Functions, This allows User's like me and others to write code or plug-ins for people such as yourself."
That means NOTHING to me!  Look this way...see me sitting here not being a programmer.  From the outset, my dog understands what I'm saying better (and she's stupid). I'm willing to bet that Hal cannot do my bidding with the promise of a tasty treat.  Do you know how many books and conversations my late hal brain has gone through since 3.0 and still nothing...still.  That's all I'm saying.  Speaking of my dog, that brain should have known my dog's name since 2001 and before I downloaded 6.0 asked one more time to see if it would get it right and, as always, I got some random, nonsense statement about how dogs can be great companions and with further probing still did not get the answer to the question.  Art, all you've done by digging up one of my former posts is prove my point and provided me with some clout and I thank you for that. I really don't mean to come off so harsh, just trying to get you to see what I'm saying. Thanks guys.

[freddy888]

This is a tough cookie, because I can see your frustration and with not being a programmer it means you can't make the kind of changes some people can.  On the other hand I see people making useful and interesting plugins and things. The plugins are only a relatively new thing and I guess it's going to be a while before that makes a real difference.  A lot of people can see too that the framework of Hal could be used for a lot of things, but yes I think you have a point in that what Hal may lack and perhaps crys out for is a way of making it more accessable to all users.

I'm not in a position to make promises of course, I'm just another user like yourself, but I think if you feel that strongly and are prepared to come back again and have another go then really your point should be listened too.

I hope in time that this kind of thing will work itself out and we all know people like Jerry, Von Smith and Vrossi to name only three have put a lot of their own time in on projects and have had the good will to share their code.  So the hearts there, it's just a shame that the grey area is still so grey in places.

On one final note though maybe you should try exploring some of the numerous scripts that have been posted if you hadn't already - I have seen plenty of chat logs where Hal has clearly recalled things and used references to past conversations...

[citrinedragon]

Sociogod,

As someone who has no programming knowledge I do have some sympathy for your point of view. Nevertheless "average" consumers such as you and myself are not totally helpless. For example, if you had told Hal the following: "You know that my dog's name is Rover!" Hal would have switched that statement around in his 'brain" and would have memorized it as: "I know your dog's name is Rover." (at least I know that's true with the Hal 5). There are a number of techniques such as the above that allow the "average" consumer to "program" Hal with conversational input. Hal is a perfectly logical machine which simulates a human being (a rather clever one at that). But as with any "machine" you need to become acquainted with the controls, or proper buttons to push, if you will, in order to operate the machine efficiently. You might as well become angry with a car with a standard transmission because it does not have an automatic transmission. I'm not really in the mood to do your research for you, but if you search the Forum or even download the "hal help manual" you will find invaluable information regarding conversational techniques which enable the "average" user to "program" Hal and teach Hal using various conversational methods (sentence structuring for example).

I am still using the Hal 5 and so I can't speak to the Hal 6 yet but I would be very surprised if the Hal 6 cannot be taught in a similar fashion by the average user (non-programmer). This may be a bizarre notion, but maybe if you took a more positive tact and asked for advice in teaching Hal, you might get a more positive response from the very knowledgeable (and nice) people on this forum. Obviously you will do whatever you want to do. All I'm saying is that sometimes a carrot works better than a stick. Good luck.

I do agree completely with what freddy888 has said. In the ideal world Hal would just function perfectly and learn with virtually no effort from the user. I imagine that's just how it will be someday. When that day comes everyone will have a Hal (or similar AI) on their computer (and probably in all their household appliances too). That day just ain't quite here yet. But that's not Zabaware's fault is it? All that having been said, I truly understand your frustration. Things should, and eventually will be, better.

freddy888,

I have a dumb question for you. I downloaded one of the full body .htrs from digital girl and when I put it in the Hal character folder it comes out with the character appearing from the knees to just above the breasts. What do I do to get it to appear as a full body initially so I don't have to manually "push" it back on the Hal screen each time?

sociogod: My note to freddy888 (above) is probably a good example of how to ask a stupid question nicely. I'll even bet there's even a good chance that freddy888 helps me out with it.

[freddy888]

hehe, well it can't be a dumb question if I have to think about the answer []  Which one was it, I'll see if I can find out what you need.

[onthecuttingedge2005]

quote:
Oh, wait,
"Hal's Code abilities have been increased because of the SQL Database functions combined with Vbscript Functions, This allows User's like me and others to write code or plug-ins for people such as yourself."
That means NOTHING to me!  Look this way...see me sitting here not being a programmer.

This benifits us both.

You don't have to be a programmer if we write code for you as an easy plug-in. We will help support some of your needs over the course of this new version, Just ask. Make a detailed example and we will see if we can satisfy your needs.

That's why most of us hang around here, To learn and to teach by sharing and to be apart of this project.

We can pick anything apart for you and reassemble it if it requires remodifications but you need to be more currently active so we can deduce anything that you may be having a problem with. Your rare postings aren't much help at this time, in fact, I didn't even know you existed in this forum till my prior posting, Not posting problems
discovered is not being fair to us here on this forum and does not benifit A.I in any way.

Sincerely apart of the A.I team.
Jerry[8D]

[citrinedragon]

freddy888,

When you say, "which one was it," are you ask which full body? It was the one with the short dark hair if it matters. Actually when I first downloaded it and clicked on it (before installing it in the Hal file) it appeared from the breasts to the knees. When I'm creating a new character in People Putty I can adjust the positioning of it before I save it as a .htr (obviously). Maybe I should just open the .htr all the way up to full body position and just copy it as an .htr again?

[taglag]

I will say that the editer, has more feature, but its anoying to use, and gets really cluttered up with worthless jiberish, and that causes me to have to spend a lot of time running through it to delete questions and answers that have very little use. The program it's self though does seem to have a bit better ability to understand spoken words.
   I have many more features with ultra hal 5. but i did not use the one's that six does not have that much anyway.
  I guess over all its a trade off.
If you want 5 back go through you registery, and and get rid of all the zabaware interies, and re install five.

   I think you have some valid points, but your delivery will make it hard for these people to listen.

[freddy888]

quote:Originally posted by citrinedragon


freddy888,

When you say, "which one was it," are you ask which full body? It was the one with the short dark hair if it matters. Actually when I first downloaded it and clicked on it (before installing it in the Hal file) it appeared from the breasts to the knees. When I'm creating a new character in People Putty I can adjust the positioning of it before I save it as a .htr (obviously). Maybe I should just open the .htr all the way up to full body position and just copy it as an .htr again?

I was just checking in case it needed a hapfile to position it, for which i might need the name of the figure.  I was thinking you might need to call a hap or send a command from within Hal to set the coordinates.  But without going to so much fuss, if People Putty will let you re-do full characters then I think that's your best option.  If not again let me know.

[citrinedragon]

freddy888,

I already checked and I do not see a way to re-do full figures in People Putty. If you come up with another solution I would appreciate it very much. I'm sure there is a way. Ideally, I would like to use the full body but have it appear from the hips up in the Hal screen; if that's not possible, I would at least like it to appear initially full figure. Thanks.