Zabaware Support Forums
Zabaware Forums => Ultra Hal 7.0 => Topic started by: raybe on February 19, 2015, 05:02:25 pm
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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
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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.
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Thank you. I feel you. And I will not give up on Hal.
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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
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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 .
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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
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@ 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.
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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.
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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!
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@ 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.... ;)
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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.
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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....
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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.
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LOL @ Art, - yeah...but he's moved over 1 million units. maybe you guys need a bad interview too!! ^.^
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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.
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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
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Sorry I forgot to add and if you want to contribute I guess contribute anyway you feel is appropriate (none of my business). Purchase a dozen UltraHal licenses and tell everyone about UltraHal on all your social media formats. It's for you to decide if you truly enjoy it. But I figure most of you have already spread the word maybe told a friend or two.
Heck I had everyone at my house one night. Shocked many people even tried to give me credit. Of coarse I explained and they still thought I was the man behind the curtain pulling UltraHal's strings. Funny how people that really have not been exposed to any AI,(movies don't count) because they still don't get it is beginning to develop.
If I really own a smart phone than UltraHal is a genius!!!!!!
Look nothing up my sleeves!!
raybe
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Thanks for the kind words everyone. Really means a lot to me that you guys have sticked around for so long. You guys are full of excellent ideas and I'd like to implement them all, but right now my priority is to finish the projects I have started and just get them out there. I don't want to delay things even more by adding more features.
On a side note, I found this open source project a while ago that seems it would be a good character animation system: http://smartbody.ict.usc.edu/ It's further along in development than my character engine and may make sense to just go with their project instead. But again, I'm not focused on that aspect at the moment and just want to get the new brain and mobile versions out first.
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Okay who is this Medeksza guy and why does he keep interrupting us? (Thought that was funny when I posted it,oh well).
Thanks again Mr. R.M. appreciate the extra chime in there.
There you go guys & women something for us to check into and see what the possibilities might be. Let's get curious.
Thanks Mr. Rob M. and good luck,
raybe
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Nice. Some of the videos looked promising from a whole character point, but again, I'm after the brain portion rather than the shell.
Thanks for chiming in Robert, I think it speaks volumes to offer a state of Zabaware talk once in a while! ;)
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lol i have spammed my friends about hal so much they started blocking me lol. I am kidding but yes i have told people about hal.
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Well, I like the short and long range plan, that open source behavioral markup language body looks interesting, and I'm as patient as death. Nuff said.
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I had just looked at the Smartbody website, it looks interesting but after years of learning and working with Haptek it seems that we have to start over again. Also Mr Shaw seems to feel that he will be able to give the Haptek character vision which is surly something worth while and has been discussed at this forum. Unfortunately we take a large step back and have a baby rather than the fullbody character we can now use. At this time it seems that the fullbody character lacks collision detection, it has defects in limb movements, the number of poly counts should be increased and other problems to be removed. It's unfortunate that both companies are having economic problems at this time since so much could be gained if they were able to continue to work together. My thoughts on this at this time
Carl2
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I only wish I could help....now that I'm into animation, I keep finding new technologies and trends ......especially with the whole gaming boom....
IMO - Robert should be touring giving paid lectures at Ivy League colleges, with enough money to take bill gates out to lunch.
anyway, i'll be around if there's any way I can help. You know how to reach me :)
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My opinion that we should start a new thread from this one due to topic and topic heading. Just start a continuing thread based on information and Mr. R.M. comments. Certainly seems that everyone is satisfied and willing to contribute as they can.
We have an update from Mr. R.M. that gives us insight into the future which is a positive.
I'm just afraid that any contributing ideas won't be seen by others that may not read this thread.
Thanks,
raybe
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Thank you for the merge of the threads. It certainly makes more sense now.
I'm not sure who did it but I thank you.
raybe
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Ready for a Thread based metaphor?
After a while, Internet Threads, much like real ones, get woven into the fabric of time. ;)
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let's turn hal into a bitcoin loanshark!! ^.^
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Hi Robert and forum,
Zabaware is for sure a great product, Thanks for that. I watched the cortana vid and thought Hal is better. Cortana can you change your name "do de do ,,,,NO".
Cortana are you self aware? "do de do,,,,,,,,no that would be dangerous" ,,even hal can learn about itself.
and Cortana says do de do before everything nooooooooooooooooo who thought that was a good idea.
Anyway enough about that, hololens are new glasses with computers which look really amazing, of course i'll suggest this is a must for hal. Holo hal.
I have a few rich friends as many people probably know a few, they usually won't invest because why? i offered them a way to make some money, they said no i asked what was wrong with my pitch they said, your offering me something i already have, money. "man eating a pie, you ask do you want a pie when he already has one, and has unlimited pies."
Just thought i'd through that in as i've come across it many times.
I do like the suggestions by forum members of recruting help from forum, consider farming out the work on some kind of deal, maybe paid at the end if your lucky.
The plug ins page suggestion for a page of them i suggested more than ten years ago, i'm not sure my wording then but a monitized page of them here.
Sell them on site. "i have one plug in". it would be a way to have people make money and Zaba gets a cut, could inspire more plug ins.
Hay consider a cut for all hal owners,,who knows.
I also have been distracted by trying to make enough money, i won't say the thousands i lost trying forex trading last week, oh dear."i had to try it".
Side note, the homeless in our country has doubled in the last year, so i don't know what to say.
Hopefully there's some money somewhere.
Of course kickstarter is a interesting site to try to raise money for a project, worth considering.
Site that sells files and computer graphics CGTrader, here is a thing i have on there, click the red square with the triangle to watch the promotion vid.
http://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/gadgets/other/zat-my-beer
I threw that in incase it helps someone, good luck to you's. I have 3d printing files but people buy and sell graphics.
I reckon we can all agree that Zabaware is a great product without doubt.
And has stood the test of time over the years against many AI, and even against the deep pockets of big companies. Its easy to see there is plenty of scope for some really massive sales in bulk.
Speaking of vids i just made one, here's the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfP4mCuGTOs
Oh side not, my windows 8.1 it works fine, hap also.
Bye for now and be well from Will and Mr Data :) :] "since 2005".
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Hey will and mr.data , i just figured out why cortana says do de do , it's an old reference of mountain dew soda , "DO THE DEW !" LOL ! :) ;)
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Will and Mr Data, have to disagree a little with you. People that have the money will continue to have money just for the opposite reasons. They are usually pie eaters that never get tired of pie or have enough. Unlike years ago when opportunities looked plentiful, today not as many in this environment. (Very picky pie eaters) I am not saying that there aren't great opportunities out there, but when the weather changes and it gets a bit cold people tend to add layers of clothing so they are a bit more protected for the cold to penetrate, when it's pleasant you tend to shed some layers but you still keep protected from burns and eyes from glaring sun and maybe just a little rain.
Just my opinion, always glad to hear from you,
raybe
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Ray,
Funny but you made a reference to Pie and oddly enough tomorrow is...<drum roll please...>
National Pi Day!!!
Yes, 22/7 or 3.141592653589793238....etc...etc...until you get sick of it going on and on.....
There really is and it's March 14th! Check it out here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_Day)
Warm homemade blueberry pie with vanilla bean ice cream melting over the top...perhaps a dollop of whipped cream and a dust of cinnamon to top it off!
Enjoy! Go ahead...eat 3.141592...pieces!!! ;)
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Hay i'm in time to say Happy pie day.
Yip don't let me put you off trying to sell a pie to someone who has lots of pies.
Today is different from yesterday, as we observe evident of ageing.
There are many variations of a sale, onsell, advertising of a pie, recipe's, books about pies, moving pies, cooking, pie assistant, taster, ,,,,,,i could be here all day.
MMM pies, i sure like pie.
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Just keep in mind that Pi R2 (Pie are square), is not true!!
Pie are Round...Cornbread are square!! ;D
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I'll never look at Pie the same.
raybe
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I've had square pie. And pizza lol
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And let's not forget to eat Three Square Meals a day! Hope they don't go down too hard!!
Wonder why Marie Antoinette never said, "Let em eat pie?" (instead of cake or bread - depending on interpretation).
I've tasted pigeon and chicken pot pie and mashed potato pie (see below).
I've also had many a delicious Shepard's Pie (although I never found and remnants of a Shepard - thank the gods!).
So it seems that this Pie thing is transmutable and likely tasty regardless what's contained therein. It's all a matter of taste,
But remember, if you wish to calculate the Area of a circle use: A=πr2
;)
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Old joke.
Security man:- You are a spy!
Old man:- No I am a shepherd
Security man:- Then you are a shepherd spy!
Think about it.
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I had to go to page 1 to be sure I was at the right place, but I do remember the homemade blueberry pie with homemade ice cream mother made. I just learned that Cortana will be in Win 10.
Carl2
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Yes she will and like Windows 10 upgrade, she will be Free (for the first year), then all bets are off.
Odds are that Microsoft will go the route of a Subscription based service
OR
After your first Year, you'll be charged a fee, then Windows will remain free of charge (the License, NOT the software).
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I tried to find a download for Cortana for a pc and came across this http://www.brainasoft.com/braina/cortana-for-pc.html, not much time right now but I'll probably download it latter in the day and give it a try.
Carl2
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I think its time to shut down thread unless we resume topic header or Robert M. has any update. I agree with Carl. I wouldn't even know that I started this thread to begin with. My opinion and thanks to everyone's input especially Robert M.
raybe