dyer@vaxuum.DEC (Example #22) (05/09/84)
Answer to 2010 Trivia Question_________________________________________________
That's easy. Rains was the voice of HAL 9000.
Here's a trivia question: why "HAL?"
<_Jym_>
: Jym Dyer : Nashua, NH : ...{allegra,decvax,ucbvax}!decwrl!rhea!vaxuum!dyer :rh@mit-eddie.UUCP (Randy Haskins) (05/10/84)
That's even easier. It's HAL, for Heuristic ALgorithmic computer. Now, the real question is WHAT THE HELL DOES IT MEAN TO TALK ABOUT HEURISTICS AND ALGORITHMS IN THE SAME BREATH? I mean, I used the phrase in my thesis, but that's just because it sounded good. -- Randwulf (Randy Haskins); Path= genrad!mit-eddie!rh
ericb@dartvax.UUCP (Eric J. Bivona) (05/10/84)
(an amazing bit of folklore, this line...)
It was HAL because --> H.I
A.B
L.M
It comes before IBM alphabetically.
Eric Bivona
"Once a gene sequence, always a gene sequence"
UUCP: {decvax, linus, cornell}!dartvax!ericb
CSNET: ericb@dartmouth
ARPA: ericb%dartmouth.cs-net
dwr@ccieng6.UUCP (05/10/84)
XXXXXXX > > Here's a trivia question: why "HAL?" > <_Jym_> >: Jym Dyer : Nashua, NH : ...{allegra,decvax,ucbvax}!decwrl!rhea!vaxuum!dyer : > The common answer to this is "IBM" rot 25, but this is pure coincidence. I heard that Arther C. Clarke was quite surprised when this was pointed out to him. D2
amigo@iwpba.UUCP (amigo) (05/10/84)
>> Answer to 2010 Trivia Question___________________________________ >> >> That's easy. Rains was the voice of HAL 9000. >> >> Here's a trivia question: why "HAL?" >> <_Jym_> >> : Jym Dyer : Nashua, NH : ...{allegra,decvax,ucbvax}!decwrl!rhea!vaxuum!dyer : That's just as easy: Hueristicly programmed ALgorythmic computer. Note: Clarke claims that he didn't realize that HAL is one letter removed from IBM. John Hobson AT&T Bell Labs--Naperville, IL ihnp4!iwpba!amigo (NOTE TEMPORARY MACHINE)
ables@ut-ngp.UUCP (05/10/84)
[]
Why HAL? That's easy, too. H, A, and L are the letters (respectively)
before I, B, and M.
----
-King
ARPA:ables@ut-ngp
UUCP:{ctvax,ihnp4,kpno,seismo}!ut-sally!ut-ngp!ableswetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (05/10/84)
{}
Take the letters HAL and revert them to the next letter in
the alphabet. Hence, you get IBM. Did big blue have a hand in
this? -:)
T. C. Wheelerwjhe@hlexa.UUCP (Bill Hery) (05/11/84)
In response to the followup question of "why HAL," Clarke denies the old favorite that the letters H A L are the letters immediately preceding the letters I B M in the alphabet. Hopefully, you have another solution. Bill Hery
ron@uokvax.UUCP (05/17/84)
#R:decwrl:-1800:uokvax:3900030:000:279 uokvax!ron May 16 20:46:00 1984 well, let's think. what big three letter company could they be making fun of? aBcdefghIjklMnopqrstuvwxyz gives us IBM ^ ^ ^ AbcdefgHijkLmnopqrstuvwxyz gives us HAL ^ ^ ^ the letters H, A, and L proceed I, B, and M (respectively) in the alphabet. neat! ron
jab@uokvax.UUCP (05/17/84)
#R:decwrl:-1800:uokvax:3900032:000:299 uokvax!jab May 17 00:07:00 1984 /***** uokvax:net.movies / ron / 8:46 pm May 16, 1984 */ well, let's think. what big three letter company could they be making fun of? /* ---------- */ DEC, ATT, Umm... Remember the Bell symbol when he dialed home from the spacecraft? Is that an anachronism, or what? Jeff Bowles Lisle, IL
crigney@uok.UUCP (05/18/84)
#R:decwrl:-1800:uok:5100013:000:342 uok!crigney May 18 02:11:00 1984 /***** uok:net.movies / uokvax!jab / 12:07 am May 17, 1984 */ Remember the Bell symbol when he dialed home from the spacecraft? Is that an anachronism, or what? /* ---------- */ But haven't you heard AT&T's new motto: "We'll be a monopoly again. Soon." with a :-), of course :-) Carl ..!ctvax!uokvax!uok!crigney ..!duke!uok!crigney
jmiller@ctvax.UUCP (05/18/84)
#R:decwrl:-1800:ctvax:38900012:000:315 ctvax!jmiller May 18 14:22:00 1984 Well, Clarke has claimed that there's nothing to the Transposition Hypothesis (HAL -> IBM) -- rather, HAL is an acronym for "Heuristic ALgorithmic", a description of the (supposedly) novel way that HAL was programmed. Maybe this is an example of synchronicity in action.... Jim Miller Computer * Thought, Dallas