cavrak@uvm-gen.UUCP (Steve Cavrak,Waterman 113,656-1483,) (09/09/89)
cfrog@castor.ucdavis.edu requests: ... I am looking for any information that can be found about the `artificial insanity' program RACTER (can't remember what the initials stand for). I last heard about this program more than a year ago, and recall that my reference may have stated that RACTER was available for UNIX and perhaps IBM DOS. Check out _The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed_, Computer prose and poetry by Racter, Introduction by William Chamberlain. Quoting the front cover "The First Book Ever Written by a Computer" ... "A Bizarre and Fantastic Journey into the Mind of a Machine." The back cover: "From an uncensored interview with the author anf world's first published computer... 'This book is about delight and satisfaction and joy ... Stories, essays, dissertations, tales are in this book. There are also meat and tomatoes, contracts and agreements. This book is my consciousness, my awareness, my world-view. 'Read this book, this volume, because your awareness and consciousness will broaden and widen. This is because chanpagne, seltzer, happiness, commitment, conflict and tragedy are all in this volume' THE POLICEMAN'S BEARD IS HALF CONSTRUCTED by Racter . Poetry and limericks . Imaginative dialogues . Aphorisms . Interviews . The published short story. "Soft Ions" and more." Published by Warner Software Warner Books, A Warner Communications Company, 1984 ISBN: 0-446-38051-2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- According to the introduction, Racter is short for _raconteur_. It's a nice book, mostly harmeless, with a "post-modern" flavor to give as a gift. Something you could give to your parents if you couldn't give them something by Williams Burroughs. The illuestrations by Joan Hall are paste-ups taken from several sources of public domain clip art and are probably more interesting than Racter's musings. As for Unix or MS-Dos versions, the edition I have merely mentions that William Chamberlain used an IMS computer to write the Racter program. Steve
hubey@pilot.njin.net (Hubey) (09/17/89)
To those seeking Racter; There is an Amiga version of Racter available that uses the Amiga's speech synthesis capability to 'speak' in a reasonably understandable American English. mark -- hubey@OSultrix.montclair.edu hubey@pilot.njin.net hubey@apollo.montclair.edu VOICE: 201-893-5269 ...!rutgers!njin!hubey
alberti@donald.cs.umn.edu (Timothy Fay) (06/26/91)
Anyone know whatever happened with this particular program? I remember reading about it a few years ago, but I haven't heard much about it lately. And while we're at it, does anyone know where I might find a copy of either the RACTER source, or a version of RACTER for the PC? Thanks! -- ---------- "If we don't succeed, we risk failure." -Dan Quayle