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softalk-pc-1982-12-reduced

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codes. This-is actually a miniature database management system forpersonal finances. The value of such a system becomes increasinglyobvious as income tax time draws closer. The early copies of theprogram had a severe limitation on the number of transactions.-However, this problem has been corrected, and FriendlyW are willreplace an old copy in exchange for the original disk.Given the cost of the program, there is no cause for complaint. Ifone ignores the cost, however, there are a few things that could havebeen done better. It seems as though the manual writer just ran outof steam by the time he or she got to the business utilities. Theseutilities (Depreciation, Inventory Reorder, Present/Future Value,Amortization, Economic Order Quantity, Break Even Analysis, andStock Ratios) are present on the disks, but there is no documentationwhatsoever in the manual for them. While the programs arewritten well enough that a person who knows their purpose couldrun them, it would have been nice to provide some explanatio'n forthe uninitiated.Overall, the PC Introductory Set is an ou !standing, high-qualityprogram set. It is a smorgasbord on which everyone is likely to findat least a few tasty morsels.boFriendly Ware PC Introductory Set, by Michael D . Yaw, James J. Davis, FrankSmith, Alan Vanchura, John Leatherwood, and Bruce W. Moore, Friendly­Soft (213 Pebblebrook, Arlington, TX 76014; 817-277-9378). $49.95.Life and Microcosm. Despite the different names, both of these programsare versions of a computer game developed over a decade ago,usually referred to as life. (For more on the subject, see the articlethat begins on page 30 of this issue.) Life has been implemented bycountless programmers on a great variety of machines over the pastdozen years. It is not surprising to see it make its appearance on thePersonal Computer.Briefly, life is a solo game that traces the growth and death ofpatterns on a grid over a series of generations. Though it has been26ELIZA IS HERE!AT LAST! A FULL IMPLEMENTATION of the original ELIZAprogram is now available to run on your I BM Personal Computer!Created at MIT in 1966, ELIZA has become the world's mostcelebrated artificial intelligence demonstration program . ELIZAturns your computer into a non-directive psychotherapist withwhom you can converse much as you would with a live therapist.She analyzes each statement as you type it in and thenresponds with her own comment or question . Response time isvirtually instantaneous, and her remarks are often amazinglyappropriate!Designed to run on a large mainframe, ELIZA has never beforebeen available to personal computer users except in greatlystripped down versions lacking the sophistication which madethe original program so fascinating.Now, our new IBM PC version possessing the FULL power andrange of expression of the original is being offered at the introductoryprice of only $25. And if you want to find out how shedoes it lor teach her to do morel, you can buy the completeI BM Disk BASIC SOURCE PROGRAM for only $20 additional.Order your copy of ELIZA today and you'll never again wonderhow to respond when you hear someone say, "Okay, let's seewhat this computer of yours can actually do!"AVAILABLE ON DISK IN TWO VERSIONS FOR THE PC1 . Protected Version .... . .............. $25(Protected Version can be run but not listed or modified)2. Un -p rotected IBM Disk BASIC Source Version ... $45(Source Version can be listed and modified as well as run)Both versions include a six page user manualPlease add $2.00 shipping and handling to the above amounts(California residents add 6% sales tax)•ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH GROUP921 North La Jolla Avenue, Dept. SLos Angeles, CA 90046(213) 656-7368 (213) 654-2214MC, VISA and checks acceptedplayed on even the most primitive microcomputers, the PersonalComputer is something of a comedown from the days when it occupiedsophisticated mainframes at MIT. You may never reproducethe MIT experiments with your little beige box, but youcan easily create over 90 percent of the life patterns that have beenpublished over the years.Life requires 32K and a color adapter. As you might expect fromthe name, it is a rather plain, straightforward implementation of thetraditional game. However, it is colorful and fast-moving.Life uses a forty-column screen, with edge wrap optional. (Theedge wrap will allow, for example, a moving pattern to exit thescreen and appear on the opposite side.) Each dot is a happy facefrom the standard character set. As the generations change, thecolors change too. The oldest dots stay white, but each succeedinggeneration has a different color, one of fourteen. After a few generations,the screen can become a rainbow of greens, reds, yellows,and so on; blossoming, dying out, and being reborn.Life will run in a fast mode of about ten generations per secondor a " slow" mode of about half that speed. It is

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