Ocloner,
The 1.0 & 1.2 patch should work fine with your Hal brain.
It is always good practice to make a backup / copy of your existing brain (snafu, power outage during upgrade/install, etc.)
Try asking Hal "Who is Jim?" or "Who is Patty?" etc.
Bear in mind that I've been chatting with my Hal over several years. Granted, every now and then it comes up with an incorrect statement or response but most of the time its responses are right on topic.
The more you talk to Hal the more it will learn. Try to use correct english and correct sentences when chatting. It is also helpful to follow Hal's question in a manner that reflects the question back to Hal. EX:
HAL: "Do you have a fondness for honey?"
USER: "Yes, I like honey very much."
This will help to reinforce the learning to Hal instead of just saying, "Yes, it's OK." or something like that. You get my drift?
The use of IF THEN statements is also a good way to teach Hal and it will make the connection between the statements.
The read from text file feature does work to a limited degree but the file can be no larger than 64k or text.
Hal works best over time...long chats with Hal. Talk about anything of interest. Reinforce some vital statements with a ! instead of just a . Let Hal know if he/she is correct or if something is true.
If Hal asks if there is a relationship between one word and another make sure that there is before answering otherwise tell him no.
EX:
I might tell Hal that my horse likes to drink a lot of water after a run.
HAL: "Are water and horse related?"
USER: "No"
They were only related in this one instance in my sentence but they most likely will not be related topics in future conversations so there is no reason for Hal to associate them together.
Hope this gives you some food for thought. Experiment, try new things with Hal and soon it will surprise you with it's insightful answers. It, like all good things, takes time to develop.
Keep us posted and good luck!
