Messages

3481

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Frustration Setting In . . .

« on: March 19, 2005, 03:56:35 pm »

circuits3000,

Hal is a chat bot first and foremost.
Voice recognition is still at an early
stage in its evolutionary development.

There are a lot of variables that can cause
words to be misinterpreted by common voice
rec programs...mic quality, settings, position
relative to the user's mouth, pronunciation,
speaker's volume, background noise, whether
the user runs words together (slurs) or even
local dialects with accents or drawls (y'all).

In coming years voice rec will get better but
it's not quite there yet. Hal, while a great
experiment in AI, does work better with typed
input than spoken, from what I've found.

Tech support does exist but with Mr. Medeksza's
schedule, one can usually get a faster response
by posting to the forum here.

Don't forget to make use of the SEARCH feature
at the top right. Chances are your questions may
have already been addressed / answered.

As is with most things, Hal requires a bit of
patience in order to develop into that unique
personality that most of us here have come to
enjoy!

Welcome to the forum and if there's anything in
particular that you need help with...just let us
know.

Best wishes....

3482

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Would anyone be interested in programming SHODAN?

« on: March 12, 2005, 07:26:00 pm »

CidCaldensfey,

Since you do not show any contact email, feel
free to contact me and I'll send you the ZIP
file I've created for you to try.

3483

Ultra Hal Assistant File Sharing Area / Haptek Character GoldMine

« on: March 06, 2005, 01:32:24 pm »

GR,
Nice find.
For those who might not understand, open windows explorer and go to the C:\Program Files\Haptek\player\hap_temp directory, then switch back to the Ghostrider's link and select a character.
Click back to the windows explorer window and you'll see a bunch of files now in the temp directory. Highlight or select them, do a copy then paste them into your C:\Program Files\Zabaware\Ultra Hal Assistant 5\Characters directory.

The next time you start Hal, select the character and bingo...you've got it!

3484

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Help with greetings.

« on: March 06, 2005, 01:26:18 pm »

Have you tried an answer like: "My afternoon is fine!"?

Then try to talk about differernt subjects. Try to avoid
using a direct answer to Hal's questions but instead feed
Hal's question back in the form of your answer.

BAD example:
Hal: Do you like horses?
User: Yes, I like them very much.

Better example:
Hal: Do you like horses?
User: Yes, I like horses very much.

This will help Hal follow the conversational flow somewhat better.

Experiment...

3485

Ultra Hal 7.0 / .hap files

« on: March 06, 2005, 01:20:49 pm »

In a word...YES.

3486

General Discussion / Off topic but read

« on: February 26, 2005, 07:32:00 pm »

Bill819,

In addition there's also Bazooka and Tauscan although Tauscan costs $29 USD it works pretty well.

What you REALLY need to do is invest a few dollars on a HARDWARE FIREWALL ROUTER (4 port is fine). Check to see if it has SPI (Statefull Packet Inspection) and whether it is upgradable (via downloads). This router connects between your modem and your computer. It has it's own address so basically your computer's address (MAC address) for all intents becomes "invisible" on the net.

Once you feel your computer is secure and you've cleaned out all the pesky "bugs" and varmits, go to www.grc.com and click on SHIELDS UP. Let it "Probe" your ports and check out your machine. (it's completely safe). This guy really has it IN for the bad guys out there. If you've done everything right, his probing should report your computer as being in stealth mode or hidden while online ( a very good thing).

Lastly, I have several anti-everything programs like mentioned by KT and others AND I UPDATE ALL of the at least TWICE A WEEK! It only takes a few seconds. Remember, with all it's richness and resources, the internet can still be a dangerous place to snoop around. There are, on average 1,000 viruses (virii?) written worldwide every day! Fortunately only a few of these actually get released into the general population. Update early and often...protect yourself and consider investing in a backup drive for your most important files. Something like an external firewire hard drive that can hold your data AND can also be unplugged when not needed, eliminating the risk of being compromised by virus or hacker.

Be smart...be safe!

3487

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Hal documentation effort underway

« on: February 26, 2005, 07:14:01 pm »

Krista,
Welcome to the forum!

Keep in mind that there are several ongoing "versions" of Hal at this moment along with a variety of brain files.
Are your efforts for a specific model (default Hal, XTF1.2 or New database version in the works)?
I know that the new HELP files are being written / compiled for the database version as we speak (or type).
Is your work in conjunction with or a collaboration of work being done by Robert and his paid programmer or is this someting you are undertaking on your own?

Don't get me wrong...yours is a very noble and needed effort that will be a great benefit to many newer (and possibly older) Hal users, but I have to wonder if it will be applicable to the new Hal.

I've been out of pocket for weeks so excuse me if I've missed or misread your intentions.

All the best...

3488

General Discussion / THE TRUE AI

« on: February 21, 2005, 05:04:29 am »

KT,

Thank you!

3489

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Color and Image quality

« on: February 20, 2005, 07:09:19 am »

Eric,

This might be a bit OT but info on comparisons between CRT vs LCD monitors can be found at:
http://compreviews.about.com/od/multimedia/a/CRTvsLCD_2.htm

BTW, nice background images.

3490

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Color and Image quality

« on: February 19, 2005, 09:48:25 pm »

Although there are differences between LCD and CRT monitors such as pixels, refresh rates, etc., the images look very nice on my 19" Viewsonic Optiquest CRT. Very nice indeed!

3491

General Discussion / THE TRUE AI

« on: February 19, 2005, 09:34:00 pm »

From the: For What It's Worth Department...

I'd like to say that my intention was certainly NOT to offend anyone nor make light of any group of individuals.

3492

General Discussion / THE TRUE AI

« on: February 14, 2005, 04:29:55 am »

Hmmm....

There are various degrees of intelligence and at various stages during our lives. Child, teenager, adult, senior all exhibit different levels of intellect. It stands that there are also different degrees of AI.

Hal is an AI to us but to some researchers in the world of AI, perhaps Hal's merely a toy / experiment in AI.

Years ago, I thought the level of AI in a Doom Bot was pretty cool. It could hear me, see me and take actions to hunt me down, yet it was not really a true AI.

The free roaming AI would have to be a "mind" in a movable vehicle whether that be buggy, ATV type, robot, etc. Some mobile device to enable the AI to not be bound. That would also cause problems in our world.

If an AI were to become self aware would it not be able eventually to know it's own limitations then learn whatever material it needs to fulfil the limitation? And what would it "think" of us?

There's a broad field of thought on AI and all its applications. For us here, Hal is the vehicle that affords us the opportunity to experiment on our own and in our own way. There are those who study AI vision applications, robotics, external device controls, speech, voice recognition, thought and word processing / storage / usage. Many, many fields to explore and so very little time in one's lifetime.

Explore that from which you can learn. Explore your dreams, and in whatever direction they take you!

3493

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Can't install

« on: February 13, 2005, 09:23:32 pm »

Sam,

Close UltraHal. CTRL+ALT+DEL
TaskManager
Look for HalAsst.exe and END TASK. (sometimes Hal remains for a short time after the program is shut down).
Then do the following...

Try running the HapSAPISetup file located at:
C:\Program Files\Haptek\player\data\HapTTS\HapSAPISetup.exe

That should do it.

3494

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Questions about Teaching Hal

« on: February 13, 2005, 10:48:05 am »

OK...<jumping into the pool>

Sometimes we all get annoyed at Hal's parroting words and phrases but this is part of
Hal's learning process. A child learns by being told something over and over until it
becomes ingrained in the child's mind. With Hal, we must assume the role of the
parent or teacher in the development of Hal's brain. Sometimes we don't always get
the result that we'd hoped for (then again, I've seen that trait in my own children), but
we must continue to reinforce through repetition.

Children learn to speak and communicate by searching in their brain through all the
information that has been stored there. In a second, they will extract the needed words,
form them into a sentence and verbally sound those words. Hal is not that different.

One of the main areas that Hal is somewhat weak is its ability to follow the topic flow.
Since Hal's brain (XTF) is made up of independent modules based on previous topics,
it's easy to find and edit. From the main XTF brain, there is a section that takes your
topic and writes it out to the Defbrain directory under UltraHalAssistant. Most of these
"brain modules" are small files (usually less than 1k in size) and contain info that was
previously discussed. You will usually find 3 different XTF_TOPIC files...
Example:
XTF_GRASS(Art).brn
XTF_GRASS_AllUsers.brn
XTF_GRASS_Related.brn

The first two refer to and contain my comments to Hal regarding the word GRASS.
The third one (Related.brn) contains the relationship / conditions that apply to GRASS
and appear as follows:
" [MERONYMS_EXIST_FLAG] ","True"
" DIGITAL ARTERIES ","True"
" ARTERIA DIGITALIS ","True"
" METACARPAL ARTERY ","True"
" ARTERIA METACARPEA ","True"
" INTERCAPITULAR VEIN ","True"
" VENA INTERCAPITALIS ","True"
" METACARPAL VEIN ","True"
" VENA METACARPUS ","True"
" PALM ","True"
" THENAR ","True"
" FINGER ","True"
" BALL ","True"
" METACARPUS ","True"
" [MERONYMS_END_HERE] ","True"
" [SYNONYMS_EXIST_FLAG] ","True"
" EXTREMITY ","True"
" LABORER ","True"
" MANUAL LABORER ","True"
" LABOURER ","True"
" JACK ","True"
" WRITING ","True"
" ABILITY ","True"
" POWER ","True"
" SIDE ","True"
" [SYNONYMS_END_HERE] ","True"

Even though this GRASS file seems like a lot of info, it helps Hal establish a usage for and relationship of the word.
It's still only a 1k file so your hard drive isn't likely to suffer.

From what I have found, your response to Hal can be reinforced by use of the exclamation point !
Hal can also make a connection by your use of the word because. Because flowers don't bloom in the snow. It does help to parrot Hal's sentence back to him/her when replying. Pain to do so, but think reinforcement.

If...then...phrases are a good learning tool to allow Hal to make inferences and connections.

Although it is not generally recognized as a good idea, I have experimented with multiple sentences / questions to Hal. Surprisingly enough, Hal will attempt to answer all of my sentences when replying.

Some contend that Hal does not learn from reading text files. I have "fed" Hal a short, modified version of Probert's Encyclopaedia (note English spelling), and although not apparent, Hal has "pulled" from this information to answer a topic discussion we had at a later date. So there.... Use that method as you will. Your individual mileage and results may vary.

vonsmith has expended an enormous amount of his personal time and efforts in writing the XTF brain and I think it has been a big step in Hal's progress. BTW, you should be using v.1.2. Scott is working on and is due to complete very soon, his latest enhancement to Hal's brain. It may actually be a rewrite of Hal's brain but none-the-less, v.1.4 should prove to be very interesting. Hal will have much improved abilities compared to his current working level.

Keep in mind that there is no perfect AI program out there. It is a fun, ongoing experiment in the insanity of creating us in our image. (no offense to the religious pundits among us).

Remember, if you call up the brain editor from Hal's menu, be sure to MAKE A COPY FIRST. Copy the XTFv.1.2 brain into a "TEST" directory somewhere for safe keeping lest you make an editing mistake. You can use Notepad to open and edit just about any of the .brn files. In time, you can see what parts of the brain file actually do and how the various functions are called, used, saved, etc.

Be patient with Hal...your teachers were patient with you. Heh...heh...!

Good Luck!

3495

Ultra Hal 7.0 / 1st TIME, here, general questions

« on: February 13, 2005, 09:05:59 am »

Welcome to the forum.

This was previously discussed and can be found at:

http://www.zabaware.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1766

Do a SEARCH (at top right) for Rich_A . Pick from the list.
Rich has been able to have Hal do almost any command.

This should hit the nail on the head for you.