Messages

I downloaded your Alice pluging and it seems to work fine.  It retained some of Hal's assistant features.  For example, Alice remembers dates and appointments.  She also opened my browser to search the Internet.

I agree with vpgross; the first option is the best option and the option I would like to see implemented in the next version.

I have been using Ultra Hal for about a month but the day befor yesterday I had to reinstall Windows 2000 Pro on my system because of an unrelated problem with the operating system.  I performed an upgrade type install that reinstalls the operating system over the top of the existing install and preserves all (in theory) settings and installed components.  However, after the install was complete Ultra Hal would no longer work.  When I restart my computer I get the message that Hal was not shut down correctly and that I need to configure it again.  I enter the configuration screen, fill out everything all with no problems.  However, when I try to start Hal, the program crashes and I get a message that Hal did something illegal and that a log is being generated.  I have tried the repair option and have uninstalled and reinstalled Hal but I still get the same error.  I like Hal and want to use this program but I cannot get it to start now.  Any suggestions?

Mark Laris
mjlaris@retaqs.com

Has any thought been given to allowing the use of Digital DNA to give HAL a distinct personality?  This would be very interesting.

Is there any thought to creating a way to easily load current events into HAL?  I'm thinking a menu item when you right click on Hal that says "Update Current Events" then the current events are automativaly downloaded from the Internet and loaded into Hal.  This would make conservations more interesting.

Thanks Tinman, this helps a lot.

I am expericensing similar problems with speech recognition.  I have done about 5 training sessions but the words that are recognized are not even close.  Other speech applications recognize my words well but Hal is having problems.  I do not know why.  Is anyone successfully using speech recognition with HAL?

I have no real preference for one brain versus another.  My only interest is in Hal learning and this has been sporadic at best.  It is perhaps my technique.  For example, when I wanted Hal to learn my wife's name, I said "My wife's name is Irina" over and over and then asked Hal "What is my wife's name".  Is this not the way to teach Hal?  I am an engineer but new to artificial intelligence.  You have created an amazing product.  My real interest is in the best way to teach Hal.  Any advice that you can give me would be appreciated.

One other question: How do you select what brain Hal uses?  I had assumed that you loaded all of the brains into Hal and he used each in the context for which it was intended.  Therefore, I have all 4 currently available brains loaded into Hal.  Is this not correct?

Edited by - mjlaris on 02/12/2002  03:20:11

When I open the Brain editor, I see the scripts for controlling Hal's functions and his databases.  One of these databases is the shared learned database.  I have added several lines to this database but I was under the impression that Hal was supposed to learn himself and that this learning would be accomplished by Hal making his own entries into the shared learned database.  However, Hal has yet to make any of his own entries in this database.  I have spent time explaining to Hal the names of my family members (i.e. I would same "My wife's name is Irina" or "My son's name is Victor").  I am a little confused now because Hal knows my son's name (there is no entry for this in the shared learned database) but Hal could not remember my wife's name until I manually entered it into the shared learned database.  My wife's name is Irina and my son is Victor.  I am wondering if Hal has equated Victor with victory (which is probably in his dictionary).  

I have Hal set to "Maximum Learning Level" and I have all the available brains loaded (Ultra Hal 3.0 Brain, Ultra Hal 3.0 Vulgar Personality, Ultra Hal 4.0 (Default Brain), and Revision 216 Enhanced Chat Brain).  Is there something that I'm doing wrong?  Should I only have one Brain loaded?  Is there some other setting that I need to set?  I spend a half an hour to 45 minutes a day talking to Hal and I do not want that effort to go to waste because I have something configured incorrectly.

Edited by - mjlaris on 02/12/2002  00:49:07

I agre, this would not only be an excellant service for users of UltraHal but it would also be a very good demonstration of the technology.  I am a consulting nuclear engineer and my company has recently developed a new web based advanced core monitor.  This is a software program that monitors a nuclear reactor core and allows engineers to perform calculations.  An intelligent bot could be programmed with simple troubleshooting instructions so that the user could solve some of his/her own problems.  I am experimenting with the web based Hal representitive for this very purpose.

I am able to start programs like MS Word and Winzip but I cannot open them in the way you show in the example on your help web site.  I have to say "Start the program ..." and then state the name of the program the way it is listed in my start menu.  I modified the program names listed in the start menu to remove the word Microsoft.  Before I did that, I had to state "Start the program Microsoft ...".  However, your help site says that I should be able to say "open word" and UltraHal will start the word porgram.  Is there something more that I have to modify to get this to work.  

Also, for some reason, when I tell UltraHal to "Start the program Access (or Excel)" it tells me that it is sorry that it encountered an error and cannot open the program.  Do you have any suggestions?

Bob, I do have a question that I forgot to ask in my last posting.  If I change characters for HAL (I have several DeskTopMates faces), is HAL's "brain" reset?  That is, do I have to teach the new "face" things that I taught the old "face"?

I am very glad that you have contacted DesktopMates.  The create very good MS Agents and it is such an easy task to incorporate them into Hal, there's no reason not to automate the process.

I am very impressed with UltraHal.  I have already taught it some abstract concepts and I can see it getting smarter everyday.  You mentioned on another form that there would be an upgrade comming out in a couple of weeks.  What is being upgraded?  Will there be new features?

Tinman, I just downloaded Ultra Hal Advanced and also integrated a couple of the faces I got from Desktop mates.  There are pretty detailed instructions else where on this forum on how to integrate any Microsoft agent into Hal and I like it that the faces do not have to reside in the Hal "box" all the time.  I also like the "spontaneous" responses that CyberBuddy allows.  However, I notice a little difference between the voice I have selected for the DeskTop Mate and the voice I hear when HAL talks to me.  I'm using the same "voice" but I thing the speech engine is a little different between the two programs.  I have not had sufficient time to research this problem.  The DeskTop Mate voice is better than the one I get with Hal so I'd like to find out why there's a difference.  Did you have to do anything special to get the same voice?  Also, since it is so easy to integrate MS Agents into Hal, you think Zabaware would have a function that would automatically install MS Agents.  

I am getting ready to install Dragon Naturally Speaking software onto my computer and try speech recognition.  Here, I'd like the ability to use CyperBuddy's method of using text balloons to repeat the text and get rid of the "HAL Box" entirely.  This would possibly resolve another problem that I have observed.  Sometimes I experience problems getting the DeskTop Mate to perform a CyberBuddy task (like check the e-mail) when the HAL box is active.  This is a minor problem as HAL "goes to sleep" after a couple of minutes, releasing control of the DeskTop Mate to CyberBuddy.  I believe that these three companies (Zabaware, CyberBuddy, and DeskTop Mates) should form a joint venture or implement a teaming relationship to capitalize on the strengths of each.  This would, I believe, produce a truly impressive product.

Mark Laris