IrcChapter One

by Paul Fly

up|~|18:03 ) IrcChapter One
IrcChapter: command not found
up|~|18:03 ) date
Wed Feb 15 18:03:47 GMT 1995
up|~|18:03 ) irc jasper
*** Connecting to port 6667 of server bottom.enydyne.com
*** Welcome to the Internet Relay Network jasper
*** If you have not already done so, please read the new user information with /HELP NEWUSER
*** Your host is bottom.enydyne.com, running version 2.9.3
*** This server was created Wed Feb 8 1995 at 20:03 GMT
*** There are 5480 users and 3023 invisible on 548 servers
*** There are 279 operators online
*** 3012 channels have been formed
*** jasper (jirving@up.enydyne.com) has joined channel #xajmi
*** Topic for #xajmi: Say Happy Birthday Sky!
Channel Nickname S User@Host (Name)
#xajmi jasper H jirving@up.enydyne.com (Jasper Irving)
#xajmi Nicotine H pc@temple.main.il.us (Perry Chapman)
#xajmi glass H sxm@u.seattle.edu (Sky X Masterson)
#xajmi raven H raven@bicpr.ms.com (Rachel Aven)
#xajmi djj H djj@iop.ac.uk (Deuteronomy Jones!)
#xajmi Polly H jparsons@gw.uvancouver.ca (Jennifer Parsons)
#xajmi muvminji H@ wins@sync.com (Paul Mortsone)
#xajmi PwRsPk H wins@sync.com (Paul Mortsone)
(djj) Jasper! Hey!
(muvminji) Hi jasper, welcome to Xajmi!
(jasper) happy birthday sky!
(Nicotine) re jasper
(glass) you mean you trace lineages? what does that accomplish?
(glass) jasp =)
(jasper) muvminji?! You gotta be kidding pwr
(raven) Its more than just tracing lineages. Its also tracing who collaborted with whom, who was contemporary of who, etc.
(djj) no memetic contact for a few solar cycles jasp,
* muvminji smiles a metallic smile
(djj) what's cookin?
(glass) thanks! 20 long years old...
(PwRsPk) well, isn't that lojban for 'bot?
(raven) brb...
*** Signoff: raven (Leaving)
(jasper) I've been hard at work, whew, the sweat is just pouring off me, slaving over hot computers is tiring... :)
(jasper) ping Polly
(glass) dang! Why is it raven always leaves just when she starts explaining things?
(PwRsPk) "moving-machine"?
(Nicotine) what was it you were asking her, glass?
* glass pouts
(jasper) yeah, but moving machine? Duh, isn't that a automobile?
(djj) haw haw
(PwRsPk) picky picky!
(glass) I was asking her about what she does on a typical day.
(jasper) hmm, it'll be hard to say "'bot" is 3 letters or less in lojban...
(jasper) i think
(glass) she said she does a lot of "lineage tracing"
(djj) what kind of shit does she do?
*Nicotine* Polly is not responding to pings...
(glass) oh well, no biggie, just curious
(PwRsPk) got a better idea?!
(jasper) she works at the BICPR,
(jasper) "NBoston Institute for Cryptozoological and Paranormal Research"
*** Signoff: Polly (Bad link?)
(djj) jacked, sounds either,
(glass) hee hee, its true!
(Nicotine) Actually, she does amazingly interesting research. I would not mind having her job in the least...
-) *Nictone* damn, i wanna talk to her
*** Nictone: no such nick/channel
(djj) fuckin stratosphere or quackish
-) *Nicotine* damn
*** JustDave (dfletcher@down.enydyne.com) has joined channel #xajmi
(jasper) here's dave...
(Nicotine) She has begun to uncover some strange stuff recently too
(JustDave) happy bday sky
(PwRsPk) /away, looking for something edible
(djj) damn! both jasper and dave at once
(djj) slacking off today at any dine?
(glass) thanks dave
* glass eyes that topic sideways...
(JustDave) no, we just got done with a major step
(jasper) thats us, lousy bums!
(muvminji) Hi JustDave, welcome to Xajmi!
(Nicotine) what step?
* jasper thinks about hammers and bots...
*** jparsons (jparsons@gw.uvancouver.edu) has joined channel #xajmi
*** glass has changed the topic on channel #xajmi to don't say anything and we'll all be happier
*** jparsons is now known as Polly
(Polly) happy birthday Sky!!!
(muvminji) Hi jparsons, welcome to Xajmi!
(glass) sigh
(glass) double sigh
(JustDave) we got the next step of the natural language interface done
(jasper) Polly!
(Polly) re *
(Polly) no birthday? :(
(djj) really? shit
(Polly) hey jasp, wazzup, fella?
(JustDave) and we just passed 15 million frames, looking good
(djj) these IOP people bite!
(jasper) are you still coming to england polly?
(glass) so does it talk yet?
(JustDave) why do you think we left IOP?
*** CTCP PING from Nicotine to #xajmi: 742547015
(Polly) :/
(Nicotine) i wish i knew what you meant, dave
(djj) we've *still* only got 11.3 million frames
(Nicotine) fuck
(Polly) money problems, we'll have to see
(jasper) sigh
(glass) well? does it talk?
(Polly) yup pardner
(JustDave) no, it doesn't talk yet
*** raven (raven@bicpr.ms.com) has joined channel #xajmi
(Nicotine) re raven
(raven) i'm back
(muvminji) Hi raven, welcome to Xajmi!
(glass) raven
(jasper) where is paul, gotta kill that muvminji bot
(JustDave) I'm not surprised, they're a buncha idiots, I did most of the work over there. They don't know what to do with what they've got...
* muvminji smiles a metallic smile
(JustDave) excuse my rant.
*Polly* I'll write to you about it in email
(raven) am i really not supposed to say anything?
(djj) its resume stuffing if nothing else
-) *Nicotine* you okay?
(glass) we were talking about you while you were gone
(glass) no, talk all you wanrt
(jasper) it talks! dont lie dave!
* jasper reminds everyone that dave and jasper are sitting next to each other in RL
(glass) does it?
(Polly) yeah, but does it clone itself yet? :)
-) *Polly* okay, a little noisy here right now...
(JustDave) just yesterday, it mentioned how much mountains and air conditioning have a lot in common.
(Nicotine) back, burned myself a little
(djj) shit, gotta run, adieux dudes
(Polly) bye duet!
*** Signoff: djj (with a pop!)
(jasper) bye
(PwRsPk) back, you miss me?
(Nicotine) by dj
* PwRsPk found a potato in the fridge: amazing!
(glass) does it speak in english? whats the interface like?
(jasper) power, turn your bot off!
* PwRsPk winces
(PwRsPk) oh, wait, eh...
*** Signoff: PwRsPk (Bad link?)
*** Signoff: muvminji (Bad link?)
(jasper) well,
(Polly) ha!
(jasper) not exactly what i meant...
(JustDave) well this is fun and all, but i'm leaving too
(JustDave) going to get a newspaper
*** Signoff: JustDave (Leaving)
Channel Nickname S User@Host (Name)
#xajmi Polly H jparsons@gw.uvancouver.edu (Jennifer Parsons)
#xajmi raven H raven@bicpr.ms.com (Rachel Aven)
#xajmi jasper H jirving@up.enydyne.com (Jasper Irving)
#xajmi Nicotine H pc@temple.main.il.us (Perry Chapman)
#xajmi glass H sxm@u.seattle.edu (Sky X Masterson)
(Polly) bye dave!
(Polly) damn
(jasper) our ranks have shrunk
(glass) tell me about your ai jasp
(glass) just what is the current scope of things?
(jasper) well, its not really *my* ai
(Polly) oh pshaw!
(jasper) we jsut got the natural language interface working
(jasper) its buggy though
(glass) which is?
(jasper) it means, we talk to it now in english rather than in
(jasper) LISP programming language
(glass) really?
(jasper) its english is pretty awful though!
(glass) you guys just sit around talking to it?
(jasper) well, we type to it, and it types back, basically
(jasper) but its amazingly slow
(jasper) it does many many searches through gigs of memory for each little thing
(jasper) we only just got it working, we havent really been sitting around and talking much to it...
(jasper) i mean, its not much different than doing it in LISP
(jasper) there's no hurry.
(raven) i'd think its first english utterance would be something a little momentous
(jasper) well, yeah, i suppose...
(glass) what was its first english?
(Nicotine) which was?
(glass) heh...
(jasper) you'll be disappointed!
* glass braces himself
(jasper) the interface has a bunch of protocol standard things to say
(jasper) so we typed
(jasper) "activate Jasper Irving"
(jasper) and it replied, "ready, Jasper Irving"
(jasper) thats it
(glass) poop
(Nicotine) I like it
(raven) okay then, what was the next thing it said?
(Nicotine) ready, huh? It better be, ts in for a lot, i think!
(jasper) the next thing?
(jasper) "ethernet active"
(jasper) :)
(glass) haha
* raven smiles
(raven) okay then,
(Nicotine) right to business
(raven) what was the first *non-protocol* thing it said
(jasper) you're stretching raven
(jasper) lets see...
* jasper scrolls his screen...
*** Signoff: Polly (Bad link?)
(glass) bye polly.....?
(jasper) impossible to say.
(jasper) its english is so stilted and stiff,
(jasper) and everything we ask it is so routine,
(jasper) nothing is interesting, and
(jasper) the protocol and non-protocol blends together smoothly...
(raven) didn't you have the urge to say something like
(raven) "how do you feel?"
(jasper) hey, where'd jennifer go?
(Nicotine) heh
(jasper) naw, it wouldn't understand that
(Nicotine) btw, what is *its* name?
(jasper) now that it speaks in english it needs a name?
(Nicotine) well...
(jasper) we still just call it PsyK
(raven) is that an acronym?
(glass) psyk, haha
(jasper) yeah, but i'm not telling what for!
-) *Polly* ping?
*** Polly: no such nick/channel
(glass) so whats next? When will it know english better?
* raven pouts
(jasper) well, we've got a series of tests to run
(jasper) then,
(jasper) we plan to start having it digest simple text, and store it in its knowledge base.
(glass) hmmm
(jasper) real simple, dick and jane stuff, elementary textbooks
(jasper) and we'll go over the results with a fine toothed comb
(jasper) looking for and correctin mistakes
(glass) so its not as advanced as i thought
(jasper) well, we've got to iron out the interface. It does have 15 million frame. Thats a lot.
(raven) and its just you and dave?
(glass) hmmm
(jasper) well, we do the bulk of the work, but we got a bunch of volenteers helping.
(jasper) we can't really afford much paid help
(jasper) and we got a few other random people hanging around
(Nicotine) are you doing this at home? Or...?
(jasper) no. we've got a small office.
(raven) London, right?
(jasper) right.
(Nicotine) how liong before you think we'll start to see profit?
*** xiang (xiang@pixhb.svlacm.tw) has joined channel #xajmi
(glass) re xiang
(xiang) Hello/.
(xiang) who *
(jasper) damned if i know!
(xiang) oops
(jasper) hi xiang
(raven) april! how are you doing?
(xiang) rachel: good, how are you?
(Nicotine) how have you gotten money to pay for it so far?
(Nicotine) re xiang
(raven) tired
(jasper) dave has managed to retain some of his grants from IOP
(xiang) tired? Wjhy?
(jasper) and most of the equipment is his
(jasper) the rent for the office is cheap.
(raven) doing library research all day. makes me worn out
*** Toonie (grathe@cc.utexas.edu) has joined channel #xajmi
(Toonie) whats xajmi mean?
(xiang) no one does it as well as you though, Rachel
(glass) i wanted to ask you more about all that raven
(glass) your job and all
(glass) hi toonie, it means "fun"
(Toonie) where are you all from?
(raven) today was not so good
(jasper) what are you working on now rachel?
(glass) toon, do a /who * and you'll see
(Nicotine) are you still filming at that house in New Hampshire?
(raven) tracing family trees all day
(raven) then,
(raven) i was doing research on dreams
*** Toonie has left channel #xajmi
(raven) no, nic, we filmed at that house for weeks and didn't get anything
(glass) that was a haunted house?
(raven) supposedly
(xiang) why dreams?
(raven) we have a new "case" we're working on
(raven) a client who thinks he has premonitions in his dreams
(raven) i never did much dream research, so I spent the day in the library
(raven) getting no where
(Nicotine) interesting
(raven) and quick too
(jasper) he dreams things and they come true?
(raven) sometimes.
(raven) other times he doesn't remember his dreams until the actual event triggers a memory of a forgotten dream.
(glass) what does he want you to do?
(jasper) that seems a bit suspicious
(raven) its a suspicious business all around
(raven) its not so much what he wants us to do, more like
(raven) what we want to do with him.
(Nicotine) how so?
(raven) well,
(raven) my boss is very interested in this kind of thing, dreams and all
(glass) who is your boss?
(raven) Arthur Brisbane
(glass) is he on the net?
(raven) yeah, but he isn't interested in IRC.
(raven) we use the net as a database, a source of information
(raven) and a means of communicating with some of our more far flung associates.
(jasper) how large is BICPR?
(raven) not very, but Arthur knows a lot of people from all over the world
(raven) something interesting i was reading about today...
(raven) there was this guy who believed his dreams were as real as his life
(raven) and he wanted to write it down, an a sort of alien dairy
(raven) diary even
(glass) cows from Venus?
(raven) yeah
(raven) anyway,
(raven) he used to write as he fell asleep.
(raven) he trained himself to type somewhat randomly, as he dozed off
(raven) and he would end up typing his dreams, in a sense
(raven) paramormal researchers worked with him for a while
(raven) and he trained himself to type for hours, while asleep
(Nicotine) huh!
(glass) wow, thats neat. i wonder if i could do that
(jasper) where is he now?
(raven) uh...
(raven) his last dream, typed, had a recurring character in it, who was killed.
(raven) the dreamer fell into a coma, and has yet to recover.
(jasper) oh.
(jasper) raven, i know some people who you might want to get in touch with.
(jasper) about dreams, i mean
(Nicotine) he is still alive?
(raven) yeah, I told Mr. Brisbane about it,
(raven) he seemed interested enough to try and get additional medical attention to the guy...
(raven) jasp: yeah?
(xiang) how interesting.
(Nicotine) very sorry, but i must be going
(glass) by by nic
(jasper) but i gotta run, i'll write you email raven...
(Nicotine) good to talk to you about that raven, I find it very interesting
(jasper) see ya nic, next time
(raven) thanks, jasp
(raven) bye, yeah, ...
*** Signoff: Nicotine (Leaving)
(jasper) that's my cue, i have been here too long, in this chair i mean
(jasper) perhaps i'll be back tonight
(glass) cu l8ter, jasp
(raven) bye
up|~|18:24 )
up|~|18:24 ) log close