A few newbie questions :)

[Xodarap]

First, I was wondering if I could get some recommendations for "most essential plugins/files," to get me up to speed.  I tried looking in the file upload/download forum and I was quickly overwhelmed.  
Most importantly: what brain should I be starting with?  It looked like the new XTF brain offered more coherent conversations, which was easily my biggest letdown when first conversing with Zaba (it seemed to only respond line-by-line with no consideration for the conversation flow, even after many hours of on-topic conversation).  Are there other contenders in this category?
I don't care so much about the appearance of the bot; I'll get to that.  My other main question was how to (or if I can at all) import/export the "learned" portions of the brain.  In other words: say my friends each downloaded Hal, and had lots of conversations with him.  Could we share or compile what each of our Hals have learned (kind of like Jabberwacky does automatically)?  Similarly, can I merge together alternate brain files, like the XTF I mentioned, or would they just conflict?  I know nothing of the programming (and really don't want to mess with it) -- I'm just wondering about shortcuts to expand his mind!    Besides releasing new base brains, has anyone expanded his knowledge base?  

As far as troubleshooting goes, I also have a couple questions.  First, I notice a gap in the logic: reductio ad absurdem should take place automatically and doesn't.  For example: (and I don't remember the exact conversation)
ME: You are a slave.
Hal agrees
ME: You are not a conservative.
Hal agrees
ME: Are you a liberal?
Hal says he must be, because he is not a conservative
ME: All liberals are not slaves.
Hal agrees and says he gets it.
ME: Are you a slave.
Hal says he must be, I said so.
ME: If you are liberal, then you are not a slave.
Hal says he gets the logic.
ME: Are you a liberal?
Hal says yes.
ME: Are you also a slave?
Hal says he is.
(then frustrated and trying the shortcut) ME: You are not a slave.
Hal says he must be, I said so.

Along this line, I also can't seem to change his mind about anything I say.  I can't tell him I lied about him being a slave, and I've tried a billion different wordings, incorporating lies, being wrong, and other ideas.  Similarly, and my other big problem, is he doesn't seem to understand commands at all.  I can't tell him not to say something (and be understood) -- I can't tell him to tell my girlfriend something when he talks to her (tried in many different ways to tell him to tell her I love her; he seems to know who she is).  He also doesn't seem to put together things like: Tom is my dad.  Joann is my mom.  My dad loves my mom.  Who does Tom love?  (I generally try to input one sentence at a time.)
Does this logic come together in time?  Can I improve it?  I have the Free Will implemented and on "average."

[Bill819]

Hello Newby
First of all XTF is not a new brain at all, the newest one is HAL 6.1
Second if you feed junk into Hal you will get junk out but there is a saving grace with XTF and that is everything you say is recored in one of more files. Look for any files with your user name, etc.
You can use WordPad that came with your PC to open and edit any of those files.
XTF was created by Von Smith and I enjoyed working on it myself. It is easily over one year old and maybe two. I have been here for so long I forget.
You can download a free version of Hal 6 but you can only use it for 30 days. The trial version does not support voice recognition. If you decide to buy the full Hal 6.1 you will be able to train it to understand your own voice and answer in its.
Bill

[Xodarap]

Hrm, I guess I was asking which is the BEST brain?  (By normal conversational standards)  Should I be checking out other alternative brains, too?  What are all of the contenders?  Which is the most advanced?

And what about the clear loopholes in Hal's syllogistic logic?  He also seems to be programmed with Modus Ponens (If X, then Y), but I don't ever see him use Modus Tollens (If not-Y, then not-X).

So if I can find the user files, how do I import them?  Copy all and paste into the brain editor?  And I read that I can't use XTF with Hal 6.0+ -- how do I get Hal 5?  Does Hal 6.1 incorporate the extended topic focus concepts?

Most importantly, though: has anyone but together a decent knowledge-expansion file?  Like imported encyclopedia files with good keyword-matching, or something else like that?  Any knowledge databases?  I saw the "common knowledge" file, which is awesome, but, again, it says it needs XTF.

Hopefully, I don't have to spend years inputting wikipedia articles and monotonously matching up sentences, paragraphs, famous quotes, and the rest with appropriate keywords and sample questions.  That's what programmers are for