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Babble!
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Version 2.0
Copyright 1991 by
Korenthal Associates, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Many years ago someone said: "If you lock
a dozen monkeys in a room with a typewriter,
sooner or later the typewriter will be broken."
We say: "If you let your computer run Babble!,
sooner or later a dozen monkeys will be out of
a job and the typewriter still will be broken."
Credits
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Babble! was written by Tracey M. Siesser, Lewis Horowitz,
and James E. Korenthal.
The Babble! manual was written by Tracey M. Siesser.
Copyright Notice
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Babble! is Copyright 1991 by Korenthal Associates, Inc.
All rights are reserved.
This document is Copyright 1991 by Korenthal Associates, Inc.
All rights are reserved.
Trademarks
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Babble! and 4Print are trademarks of Korenthal Associates, Inc.
All trademarks and registered trademarks referenced within this
document are the property of their respective holders.
Warranty Disclaimer
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KORENTHAL ASSOCIATES, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESSED OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILI-
TY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
KORENTHAL ASSOCIATES, INC. DOES NOT ASSUME ANY LIABILITY FOR THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE BEYOND THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE PRICE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
IN NO EVENT WILL KORENTHAL ASSOCIATES, INC. BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY
ADDITIONAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS, OR OTHER
INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM THE USE OF, OR
INABILITY TO USE, THIS SOFTWARE AND ITS ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION,
EVEN IF KORENTHAL ASSOCIATES, INC. HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY
OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Babble! i
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
What is Babble!? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
So what is Babble!? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Keystroke Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Installing Babble! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
What are All These Files?! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3. GETTING STARTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Babble! Quick-Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Running Babble! in Demo Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4. LEARNING TO BABBLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Screen Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The Mixing Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Special Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5. PLAYING WITH BAB FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Loading a Text Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Deleting Sample From Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Analyzing Your Own Text Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Saving the Analyzed Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Recording to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
6. TALKING TO BABBLE! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The "*YOU*" Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The Theory Behind the Babble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
7. ADVANCED ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Interpreting the Text File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Bracketed Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Fill-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
ii Babble!
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APPENDIX A: KEYSTROKE REFERENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
APPENDIX B: COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
APPENDIX C: WHAT'S NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
APPENDIX D: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
APPENDIX E: ABOUT KORENTHAL ASSOCIATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
APPENDIX F: LICENSE AND REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The Shareware Marketing Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) . . . . . . 36
Registration Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Limited Distribution License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Please Help Us Serve You Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Order Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Babble! 1
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"It, which you to create music
from among the stuff that went
in this. So what it still
babbles! In all that is
generated and you to those who
love words on." - Babble!
1. INTRODUCTION
What is Babble!?
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Babble! is a toy for people who love words.
Babble! takes samples of text from various sources, analyzes them for
style and content, mixes them together in varying proportions, and
then...well...*babbles*. On and on. Endlessly. If you take its
samples away, it still babbles. That's what Babble! does. It bab-
bles!
By mixing up words and ideas, and by finding connections which are not
obvious to the naked mind, Babble! is useful as a creative tool and as
a cure for writer's block. It can scramble ideas in brainstorming
sessions like nobody's business. It will compose advertising copy,
overdue marketing plans, and official government reports. It'll
generate text in the style of whomever you please for use in school
papers, public speeches, and contests in New York Magazine. It can be
used to produce brochures, press releases, newsletters, letters to the
editor, and letters to John Dvorak. It's great for answering all that
pesky Email as well as any other electronic communications, and it's
also been used to document source code and write program manuals (like
this one, for example).
We tried it on legal boilerplate, but the stuff that came out sounded
just like the stuff that went in!
Babble! is fun, too. The text Babble! generates doesn't necessarily
make sense, and is seldom grammatically correct. In spite of this (or
perhaps because of it), much of what it produces is remarkably enter-
taining. It's fun to play with on your own, and it also makes a great
party program. It's terrific at disrupting work in an office - one
person runs it and starts giggling, and then everyone gathers 'round.
We consider Babble! to be the first in our line of anti-productivity
tools.
2 Babble!
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So what is Babble!?
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Babble! is a text-mixing studio. You know, like a recording studio,
but for text! Just as most modern recording studios use synthesizers
to create music from sampled sounds, Babble! uses sampled text to gen-
erate an endless stream of more or less unintelligible prose. It's
even got a full complement of special effects to add depth and color
to what it says!
And just like an engineer in a recording studio, *you* have control
over the entire process!
*You* decide which text samples are to be used - you can select
from among the pre-analyzed samples included with Babble! (all
the *.BAB files), or you can roll your own from text files which
you supply...you can even "talk" to Babble! and have it "learn"
from what you say!
*You* control the "mix" (the level of influence each sample has
over the generated babble) - and you can use Babble!'s special
"slider" controls to change those levels *dynamically*, even as
the babble is generated and displayed!
*You* can apply any combination of special effects to the mix,
and then watch as Babble! stutters and scratches its way across
the screen! Or you can just sit back and relax and let Babble!
automatically select a different effect every 10 seconds!
And when you find a combination of samples and effects that is partic-
ularly to your liking, you can record the results into a text file for
inclusion in whatever document or message you are preparing!
System Requirements
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It doesn't take much to run Babble! You need a PC-compatible with at
least 400K of memory (it can run with less memory, but you may not be
able to load and mix the larger text samples), some sort of disk
drive, and any text display. If you've got a monochrome monitor
attached to a CGA card, or if you're running off a laptop, you may
want to use the "-MONO" option to force Babble! to display in mono-
chrome. (And if your monitor can't display boldface text, as is true
on many laptops, you can try the "-MARK" option.)
Keystroke Conventions
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Just a few quick words on how keystrokes are represented in this
manual... In general, anything between angle brackets <> represents
some sort of key or combination keystroke. For example, <F1> means
Babble! 3
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press the key labeled F1; <Alt-S> means hold down the key labeled
"Alt", press "S", and then release both keys; and <Ctrl-Right> means
hold down the key labeled "Ctrl", press the <Right> arrow key (that's
the key with the symbol "ÄÄ>" on it), and then release both keys.
In addition, "<ÄÙ" at the end of a command means to type in the
command and then press the <Enter> key, which is the big key with the
hooked arrow "<ÄÙ" and the word "Enter" on it. For example, "BAB-
BLE<ÄÙ" means to type the word "BABBLE" (without the quotes) and then
press the <Enter> key.*
Note that whenever this manual directs you to type some command at the
DOS prompt, although the command is *printed* in all caps, you can
actually *type* it in lowercase. To use the above example, you could
type "BABBLE<ÄÙ", "babble<ÄÙ", or even "baBbLe<ÄÙ".
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* Some keyboards may have labeled the key "Return" instead of "Enter",
and some might *only* have the hooked arrow "<ÄÙ".
4 Babble!
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"All set to distribute Babble!
You'll be able to install the
floppy, follow the floppies,
self-extracting archive files
ending with a blank, you
probably almost ready to run
Babble!" - Babble!
2. INSTALLATION
Installing Babble!
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Babble! is quite easy to install, but the procedure's a little differ-
ent depending on whether you've got an archived version of the program
from a BBS or other electronic service, an unarchived disk from a
shareware disk vendor, or the full registered package from Korenthal
Associates or some other retail channel.
The unregistered version of Babble! is intended to fit on a single
360K floppy; the registered version includes many more writing samples
and would be happiest on a hard disk or a larger-capacity floppy,
though you can still use it on a 360K floppy if you work with only a
few of the samples at a time.
If you're installing the registered version of Babble!:
Congratulations! You've just purchased one of the world's great-
est mind-mungers, er, creative tools! *And* you've shown your
support for the shareware concept, which allows hundreds of
skilled software developers to release interesting and useful
products that might otherwise never become available.
Stepping off the soapbox for a moment, your registered copy of
Babble! is distributed as *two* compressed, self-extracting ar-
chive files on a single floppy disk. Dividing the program in this
way makes it easy for you to install Babble! on both hard disk and
floppy based systems.
You may find in your package a second floppy containing the unreg-
istered version of Babble! We provide this shareware disk so you
can share the program with your friends and colleagues, or even
upload it to your local BBS's. We ask only that you be sure to
distribute this *unregistered* version of Babble! rather than the
registered version you're about to install. Thank you!
Babble! 5
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Hard disk installation:
1. Create a directory on your hard disk called "\BABBLE" by
typing "MD \BABBLE<ÄÙ".
2. Move to this new directory by typing "CD \BABBLE<ÄÙ".
3. Insert the disk containing Babble! in drive A:.
4. Install the first group of files by typing "A:MAKEBAB<ÄÙ".
When that's done, type "A:MAKEBAB2<ÄÙ" to install the
second group of files. And prepare to Babble!
360K floppy installation:
1. You'll need two blank formatted disks to install Babble!
Insert your distribution disk in drive A:, and one of the
floppies in drive B:.
2. Assuming A: is your current drive, install the first group
of files onto the B: disk by typing "MAKEBAB B:<ÄÙ".
3. Remove the disk from the B: drive and insert the other
blank floppy.
4. Install the second group of files onto the B: disk by
typing "MAKEBAB2 B:<ÄÙ".
5. At this point you'll have the Babble! program, auxiliary
files, and some text samples (files ending with a ".BAB"
extension) on the first floppy, and the rest of the samples
on the second. You can insert the first floppy into your
A: drive and move some of the BAB files back and forth
between the two disks, but you'll only be able to load
those BAB files that are on the same disk as the Babble!
program (BABBLE.EXE).
If your copy of Babble! is from a disk vendor:
If you purchased a disk containing Babble! from a shareware disk
vendor*, the program is probably almost ready to run as is. (If
your vendor distributes programs in compressed form, follow the
instructions that came with the disk, or skip ahead to the section
called "If you've got a file called BABBLE.ZIP".) All you've got
to do is copy it onto your hard disk or onto a separate floppy.
(We strongly recommend that you don't run Babble! straight from
the distribution disk - make a backup first!)
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* Please note that when you buy a shareware disk from a disk vendor, you
are not buying the program itself, but only a disk containing an
evaluation copy of the program. The author does not receive any money
until you register!
6 Babble!
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Hard disk installation:
1. Create a directory on your hard disk called "\BABBLE" by
typing "MD \BABBLE<ÄÙ".
2. Move to this new directory by typing "CD \BABBLE<ÄÙ".
3. Insert the disk containing Babble! in drive A:.
4. Copy all the Babble! files to the new directory by typing
"COPY A:*.*<ÄÙ". You're now all ready to run Babble!
Floppy disk installation:
1. Put the floppy disk containing Babble! in drive A:, and a
blank, formatted disk in B:.
2. Copy all the Babble! files from A: to B: by typing
"COPY A:*.* B:<ÄÙ".
3. Then put the distribution disk away, move to your B: drive
by typing "B:<ÄÙ", and run Babble! from there.
If you've got a file called BABBLE.ZIP:
This copy of Babble! with all its accessory files has been com-
pressed using PKWARE's PKZIP utility; you'll need PKUNZIP to
extract those files. (Of course if you're reading this manual,
you probably know that already...)
Hard disk installation:
1. Create a directory on your hard disk called "\BABBLE" by
typing "MD \BABBLE<ÄÙ".
2. Move to this new directory by typing "CD \BABBLE<ÄÙ".
3. Let's assume BABBLE.ZIP is in your "\DOWNLOAD" directory -
if it's located somewhere else (on a different drive, for
example), just substitute the appropriate path in the
following command.
4. Type "PKUNZIP \DOWNLOAD\BABBLE<ÄÙ" to extract all the files
from BABBLE.ZIP into the current directory. You're now all
set to run the program.
Babble! 7
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Floppy disk installation:
1. Put the disk containing BABBLE.ZIP in A:. If this disk
already contains the PKUNZIP program, skip to step 3.
2. Put a disk containing PKUNZIP.EXE in B: and copy the
PKUNZIP program onto the A: disk by typing
"COPY B:PKUNZIP.EXE A:<ÄÙ". Remove the floppy from B:.
3. Insert a blank, formatted disk in B:.
4. Assuming A: is your current drive, extract all the Babble!
files from BABBLE.ZIP to your B: disk by typing
"PKUNZIP BABBLE B:<ÄÙ".
5. Then put the distribution disk away, move to your B: drive
by typing "B:<ÄÙ", and run Babble! from there.
Whether you're running off a hard disk or from floppies, please note
that Babble!'s pretty stupid when it comes to paths, so you should
always run Babble! from the current drive and from within the
"\BABBLE" directory (if applicable).
So much for installation...onto the big question:
What are All These Files?!
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The *registered *Babble! package includes the following files:
README.DOC Information about unpacking the Babble! distribu-
tion files; other last-minute notes and instruc-
tions.
PACKING.LST Complete list of files in the Babble! package.
This list may contain last-minute changes to the
one you're reading now.
BABBLE.EXE The registered version of the Babble! program.
*.BAB Collection of pre-analyzed text samples.
*.TXT Some of the original files from which many of Bab-
ble!'s text samples were analyzed.
WARRANTY.DOC Important warranty disclaimer information.
PRODUCTS.DOC Information on other products from Korenthal Asso-
ciates.
8 Babble!
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The *unregistered* Babble! package contains the following files:
README.DOC Information about printing the various documenta-
tion files; program descriptions for uploading the
shareware version of Babble! to BBS's; other last-
minute notes and instructions.
PACKING.LST Complete list of files in the Babble! package.
This list may contain last-minute changes to the
one you're reading now.
BABBLE.DOC The complete Babble! manual in ASCII format.
BABBLE.EXE The unregistered, shareware version of the Babble!
program.
*.BAB Starter collection of pre-analyzed text samples.
LICENSE.DOC Important license information for individuals
wishing to evaluate and distribute the unregis-
tered shareware version of Babble!
ORDER.FRM Additional order form for registering Babble!
PRODUCTS.DOC Information about other products from Korenthal
Associates.
REGISTER.DOC Information on the benefits of registering Babble!
SHR-WARE.DOC Information about shareware and the Association of
Shareware Professionals (ASP).
SITELIC.DOC Site license information and agreement.
VENDOR.DOC Special instructions for shareware distributors,
disk vendors, computer clubs, user groups, and
bulletin board system (BBS) system operators.
WARRANTY.DOC Important warranty disclaimer information.
Babble! 9
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"By default, make sure you've
now got both slots down at least
a monochrome screen is extremely
interactive when you can still
load a look at least a little
and you can't stand it back
a new text sample is controllable
even while it's moving too fast
for example, and the special
effects display." - Babble!
3. GETTING STARTED
Babble! Quick-Start
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Start the program by typing "BABBLE<ÄÙ".* After the title screen is
displayed, a file called "STARTUP.BAB" will be automatically loaded
into the first slot, and the program will start babbling. (Ignore,
for now, the slot labeled "*YOU*".) Sit back a bit and take a look at
what's happening. If it's moving too fast for you, use the <Ctrl-
Left> and <Ctrl-Right> keys to adjust the speed. If you're not
chuckling yet, press the <F2> key.
As you've probably already guessed, our startup sample is based on
Shakespeare. Let's try mixing something else in. If you pressed
<F2>, press it again to turn the special effect off. Press <Alt-L> to
load a new text sample. Use the <Up> and <Down> arrows to highlight
the word "DICKJANE" on the far right of the screen and press <Enter>.
Now use the arrows to select an unused slot on the lower left of the
screen and press <Enter> again. The "Dick and Jane" sample will be
loaded into the selected slot, and Babble! will start spewing out a
mixture of that and Shakespeare.
Adjust the mix by using the <Up> and <Down> arrows to select a slot,
and the <Left> and <Right> arrows to control the "volume" of that slot
within the mix. For example, press the <Left> arrow five times to
reduce the amount of "Dick and Jane" down to zero - the text that
comes out will be pure Shakespeare. Press the <Right> arrow once -
you've now got one part "Dick and Jane" to five parts Shakespeare.
Notice the subtle influence the "Dick and Jane" sample exerts over the
mix. To make that influence even more subtle, use the <Up> and <Down>
arrows to select the STARTUP slot, and then press the <Right> arrow
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* Babble! detects automatically whether you're running off a monochrome
or color display. However, if you're running a monochrome monitor off
a color display card, or you're on a laptop and can't see the screen
clearly, try typing "BABBLE -MONO<ÄÙ" or "BABBLE -MARK<ÄÙ".
10 Babble!
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five times - you've now got one part "Dick and Jane" to *ten* parts
Shakespeare!
Note that proportions are relative in the mix - if you've got both
samples up at the maximum, that's the same as having both in the mid-
dle ...though it's not quite the same as having both slots down at
zero... (Try setting both sliders to zero and see what happens!)
Just for kicks, make sure that SHAKES is mixed in at least a little,
then press <F9>, glance at the special effects display on the lower
right of the screen, and watch the babble some more...*
When you're done babbling, just press <Alt-Q> or <Esc> to exit the
program and return to DOS.
Running Babble! in Demo Mode
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Though Babble! is extremely interactive when you're manning the con-
trols, there may be times when you just want to leave it running, at a
party, say. It'll babble on quite happily all by itself, and if you
run it in *demo mode*, it'll even turn its special effects on and off
without user intervention.
To run Babble! in demo mode, start the program by typing
"BABBLE -DEMO<ÄÙ". By default, Babble! will toggle on and off a
different special effect every 10 seconds. If you want to choose a
different time interval, type "BABBLE -DEMO=60<ÄÙ", for example, to
change the special effect every 60 seconds.
Babble! is controllable even while it's in demo mode; you can still
load and unload different text samples, adjust the mix, change the
speed - Babble!'ll just go about its business toggling the special
effects in spite of you. If you can't stand it anymore and you want
to turn demo mode off, just press <Alt-E>. (Notice that the little
arrow next to the word "Effects" in the AltKey list disappears when
you do this.) To turn it back on, press <Alt-E> again.
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* Okay, so I'm being self-indulgent here - it's just that "Womeo, oh
Womeo" is one of my personal favorites! - TMS
Babble! 11
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"Across the disk, which is a
little white box acts as is
updated dynamically while
samples are toggled using the
suspense. On the registered or
ethnic group within our special
interest or not." - Babble!
4. LEARNING TO BABBLE
Screen Tour
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Start the program by typing "BABBLE<ÄÙ". After the title screen is
displayed, you'll be looking at the main Babble! screen, which is
divided into several regions. Let's take a tour of those regions...
(See Figure 1.)
Across the top of the screen is the *title line*: it gives you the
version number of the program, and reminds you of whether you've
registered or not.
Beneath the title line and to the left is the *babble window*, the
place where the babbled text is continuously displayed and scrolled.
The babble window is surrounded on two sides by a reverse-L-shaped
*control panel*. On the right is a menu listing the various AltKey
commands. To the right of that is a list of all the *BAB files* (pre-
analyzed text samples) on the disk, with the currently loaded files
highlighted. If there are more BAB files than will fit on the screen
(as is true with the registered Babble! package), the list will scroll
when you are prompted to select from it, and you can jump to the top
and bottom of the list using the <Ctrl-PgUp> and <Ctrl-PgDn> keys.
The Mixing Panel
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Moving over to the portion of the control panel beneath the babble
window, on the left is the *mixing panel*, consisting of four *slots*
into which text samples can be loaded for mixing. Each slot is
labeled with the name of the sample it contains (blank if the slot is
empty), and a *slider* controls the volume of that sample within the
mix. A little white box acts as a cursor, indicating the current
slot. Controls are simple: you use the <Up> and <Down> arrows to
select a slot, and the <Left> and <Right> arrows to control the volume.
12 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
When the program is started, a sample called "STARTUP.BAB" is
automatically loaded into the first slot. (If you don't like the
default startup file, you can specify that a different file be loaded
by using the "-STARTUP=FILENAME" command-line option. For example,
"BABBLE -STARTUP=DICKJANE<ÄÙ" will load DICKJANE.BAB on program
startup. Or you can simply name your preferred file "STARTUP.BAB"
from outside Babble!, for example, by typing "COPY DICKJANE.BAB
STARTUP.BAB<ÄÙ" from the DOS command line.)
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Tip: Don't be afraid to play with the mix - sometimes it's
getting that "7 parts Shakespeare to 3 parts Harold Robbins
with just a *smidgeon* of 'Leave It to Beaver'" that makes
all the difference!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
You may wonder what the slot labeled "*YOU*" is all about - let's
leave that a mystery for now, and just note that if there's a file
called "YOU.BAB" on the disk, it will be loaded into the last slot.
(Skip ahead to the chapter titled "Talking to Babble!" if you can't
stand the suspense.)
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ Babble! 2.0 Copyright 1991 by Korenthal Associates, Inc. ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Or to take arms against a lamp, it off. Or ³ AltKeys ³ ADVENT ³
³ not her eyes of the white upturned wondering ³ Help ³ BIBLE ³
³ eyes of the slings and sails upon the mind ³ Credits ³ DICKJANE ³
³ to a lamp, why wouldst thou art as sweet. ³ Order ³ FIRESIGN ³
³ ³ ³ INSULTS ³
³ Get thee to sleep. To sleep, if thou her ³ Load ³ MGOOSE ³
³ eyes were not to be a name. What of the ³ Analyze ³ ROBBINS ³
³ lazy pacing clouds, that she says nothing. ³ Save ³ SHAKES ³
³ ³ Delete ³ STARTUP ³
³ Freedom at scars that thou art thou be but ³ ³ TEEVEE ³
³ fools do wear it. O, it is already sick and ³ Talk ³ YOU ³
³ sails upon the bosom of outrageous fortune, ³ Record ³ ³
³ her head, speak again, that is the sun, be: ³ Effects ³ ³
³ That she leans her eyes to suffer the air. ³ ¯Fill-In ³ ³
³ ³ ³ ³
³ See, cast it. Whether 'tis nobler in the ³ Quit ³ ³
³ white upturned wondering eyes were not her ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Ÿx ³
³ Ü STARTUP ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ Fkey 234567890 ³
³ ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ Speed Alt 1234567890 ³
³ ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ Ctrl 1234567890 ³
³ *YOU* ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ Memory ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
mixing panel memory speed special effects
(text sample slots) gauge control panel
Figure 1: Babble! Control Panel
Babble! 13
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
The next item in the lower control panel is the *memory gauge*, which
graphically indicates how much memory is being used by the currently
loaded text samples. The gauge is updated dynamically while samples
are being loaded and during certain other operations.
To the right of the memory gauge is the *speed control*; this is a
slider similar to the mixing sliders, and is controlled by the
<Ctrl-Left> and <Ctrl-Right> keys. When it's set all the way down,
babbling will be paused until it's moved back up again.
Special Effects
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Finally, there's the *special effects panel*. This is a set of on/off
buttons controlling Babble!'s collection of 28 different special
effects, or as they call them in the movie biz, "Ÿx". There's also a
"Pot Luck" button which enables 2-5 randomly-selected effects. The
buttons are toggled using the function keys:
<F2> - <F10> special effects 2-10*
<Alt-F1> - <Alt-F10> special effects 11-20
<Ctrl-F1> - <Ctrl-F9> special effects 21-29
<Ctrl-F10> "Pot Luck"
The best way to figure out how the effects work is simply to experi-
ment with them, one (or more) at a time. Each time you press an
effects button, its name is displayed in the space below the buttons;
when you press the button again, the name is cleared. If you're using
several special effects at a time, the names sort of stack up and get
displayed in a last-come, first-served order. It's only slightly
confusing - but don't worry, it's lots of fun figuring it out!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Note: Don't be offended if we neglected to include your
special interest or ethnic group within our special ef-
fects - just drop us a note with the name of and "rules" for
the new effect. After all, we've still got 10 effects slots
(the Shift-function keys) left!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
A last few odds and ends: <F1> pops up a help window which can be
paged through using the <Up> and <Down> arrows; <Alt-C> pops up a
credits window which tells you who's responsible for this travesty of
a time-waster; and <Alt-O> (that's an "oh", not a zero) prints an
order form so you can order your own registered copy of Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
* In case you're wondering what happened to special effect number 1, we
call that the "help Ÿx", and it operates uniquely from the others.
Babble! 15
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
"Maybe it'll be loaded,
you may want to save your mind.
Press <Enter> again to
analyze the analysis.
Most of the name for
them runaway babble blues
is almost true." - Babble!
5. PLAYING WITH BAB FILES
Loading a Text Sample
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Babble! comes with an eclectic assortment of pre-analyzed text sam-
ples, each of which produces its own brand of nonsense, alone or in
combination with the other BAB files.
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ Babble! 2.0 Copyright 1991 by Korenthal Associates, Inc. ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
³ He craned his head to her and moved swiftly. ³ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ>º ADVENT º
³ ³º Help º BIBLE º
³ Cautiously. He took a cold chill came into ³º Credits º DICKJANE º
³ his hand. He stood there was wonderful. ³º Order º FIRESIGN º
³ ³º º INSULTS º
³ He waited until he knew what they were ³º Load º MGOOSE º
³ sticking into the next landing and Marja. ³º Analyze º ROBBINS º
³ At the back to run down his crib. The room. ³º Save º SHAKES º
³ Nausea swept through the dim light was a ³º Delete º STARTUP º
³ thousand tiny needles were green and climbed ³º º TEEVEE º
³ out! He caught her what I like you. She ³º Talk º YOU º
³ smiled. At his crib toward her room and hid ³º Record º º
³ Marja from the bed, and Marja from the lamp ³º Effects º º
ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ Load BABBLE File ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» But the ³º¯Fill-In º º
º Select BABBLE file, then press º ³º º º
º <Enter>: ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Quit º º
º º clutched ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Ÿx ³
º Ü STARTUP ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ º Fkey 234567890 ³
º ROBBINS ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ º Speed Alt 1234567890 ³
º ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ º ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ Ctrl 1234567890 ³
º *YOU* ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ º ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ³
ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
Figure 2: Loading a BAB File
16 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
To load a text sample into a slot, press <Alt-L>. You'll get this
funny looking pop-up window with an arrow reaching over to the BAB
list on the right side of the control window. (See Figure 2.) Follow
the prompts in the window: use the <Up> and <Down> arrows to select a
BAB file, press <Enter>, use the <Up> and <Down> arrows again to
select a slot, and press <Enter> again. (If there's already something
in that slot, don't worry - it'll be removed first automatically.)
The memory gauge will keep track of memory usage as the sample is
loaded, and when loading is finished, babbling will resume with this
new sample figured into the mix.
If the load fails, it's probably because there wasn't enough memory
left for the text sample - try deleting something from another slot
(see "Deleting Sample From Slot" below), loading a smaller sample, or
exit Babble! completely and free some memory by removing some TSR's.
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Shortcut: To "quick-load" a text sample, use the <PgUp> and
<PgDn> keys to select a BAB file, the <Up> and <Down> arrows
to select a slot, and then press the <Ins> key twice.
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Whenever a sample is loaded, the slider for that slot is set in the
middle (volume=5), so you may want to fiddle around a bit with the
controls till you get it to your liking.
Note that if you load a sample into the slot labeled "*YOU*", the
sample will indeed be loaded, but the label won't change - don't worry
about this for now.
Deleting Sample From Slot
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Most of the time it's not necessary to manually delete anything from a
slot; when you load a new sample, the slot is cleared automatically
first, or if you want to remove the slot from the mix, you can just
set its slider down to zero.
If you've got a sample loaded that you know you *definitely* don't
want in the mix anymore, you can delete it from the slot and declutter
the mixing panel a little. Note that deleting a sample from the slot
*doesn't* delete it from the disk - the sample will still be listed on
the right with all the other BAB files, and you can always load it
again if you change your mind.
To delete a sample from a slot, press <Alt-D> to pop up the "Delete
Slot" window, use the <Up> and <Down> arrows to select the slot, and
then press <Enter>. If the slot contains material as the result of a
text analysis (see "Analyzing Your Own Text Samples" below) or from
"talking" to Babble! (see the next chapter, "Talking to Babble!"),
you'll have the opportunity to save the contents of that slot as a BAB
file first.
Babble! 17
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Shortcut: To "quick-delete" a sample from a slot, use the
<Up> and <Down> arrows to select the slot, and then press
the <Del> key twice.
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Analyzing Your Own Text Samples
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Though Babble! comes with its own set of pre-analyzed BAB files, the
fun doesn't stop there. Try analyzing your own text files! Run last
week's hot proposal through Babble! (Maybe it'll give you ideas for
this week's.) Take all the letters your mom's sent you over the past
five years - better yet, take all the letters *you* wrote to mom, and
use Babble! to generate a few more! Certain computer columnists sound
great when run through Babble!... So do certain politicians... Just
about anything sounds better with Babble!
The starting point for doing your own analysis is a plain ASCII text
file such as can be produced by a text editor or most word processors.
If you're using a word processor such as WordPerfect or Microsoft
Word, be sure to save your document as a plain text file without any
formatting codes!
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ Babble! 2.0 Copyright 1991 by Korenthal Associates, Inc. ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ this, hello, Little Quack, Father. Spot and ³ AltKeys ³ ADVENT ³
³ multiply in this is Spot can make him. ³ Help ³ BIBLE ³
³ ³ Credits ³ DICKJANE ³
³ And come and play with me, behold, I want ³ Order ³ FIRESIGN ³
³ the horse, the woman, and the trees in the ³ ³ INSULTS ³
³ herb yielding fruit of them. ³ Load ³ MGOOSE ³
³ ³ Analyze ³ ROBBINS ³
³ In my bones, I will put the house with me, ³ Save ³ SHAKES ³
³ and iron. "See, I have gotten a pet." ³ Delete ³ STARTUP ³
³ ³ ³ TEEVEE ³
ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ Analyze Text File ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»ery fowl ³ Talk ³ YOU ³
º Please edit name of text file: º onto the ³ Record ³ ³
º HAMLET.TXT ºh! he had ³ Effects ³ ³
º ºlife, and ³ ¯Fill-In ³ ³
º Analyze with high-resolution? º ³ ³ ³
º (Uses more memory.) (y/N) N º ³ Quit ³ ³
º ºunto thee ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
º Select slot, then press <Enter>: ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Ÿx ³
º STARTUP ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ º Fkey 234567890 ³
º DICKJANE ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ º Speed Alt 1234567890 ³
º Ü BIBLE ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ º ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ Ctrl 1234567890 ³
º *YOU* ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ º ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ³
ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
Figure 3: Analyzing a Text File
18 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Now, go into Babble! Press <Alt-A>. A window labeled "Analyze Text
File" will pop up. (See Figure 3.) Type in the name of your text
file (with drive specification and path, if necessary), and press
<Enter>. The question, "Analyze with high-resolution?" will appear -
just press <Enter> for now. Then use the <Up> and <Down> arrows to
select a slot for your new sample - for simplicity's sake, choose a
slot that's already empty; if all your slots are full, press the <Esc>
key to back out of the analysis window, use <Alt-D> to clear out a
slot, and then go back into the analysis.
When you've chosen a slot, press <Enter>. In a few seconds your text
file will be analyzed, and Babble! will continue babbling, complete
with the new text sample. (If there isn't enough memory left to
analyze the entire text file, Babble! will just analyze as much as it
can and then report back to you how many lines were analyzed.)
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Tip: Small text files often produce better results than
large ones, and their BAB files take up less memory.
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Saving the Analyzed Text
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Once you've analyzed your text sample, you'll want to save it as a BAB
file so you can load it from the BAB list on the right side of the
screen whenever you start the program.
Saving is a simple process. Press <Alt-S>, use the <Up> and <Down>
arrows to select the slot, and then press <Enter>. You'll be prompted
to edit the filename - actually, only the first 8 characters of the
file name; the extension is automatically set to ".BAB". Use the
default name, or type in a different name for this new sample and
press <Enter>. The sample will be saved, and the new BAB file will
take its place in the BAB list on the right.
If you try to save your analyzed text under a file name that already
exists, you'll be asked if you want to replace that file. If you
*don't* want to replace it, press "N" or <Esc>, and you'll have
another opportunity to edit the file name. If you decide you don't
want to save the file after all, just press <Esc> again to exit the
save box.
Recording to Disk
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
It's awful when Babble! comes out with something priceless, but while
you're rolling around on the floor, it's scrolling off the screen to
be gone forever... The only consolation is that the next priceless
sentence is only a paragraph or two away - one hopes.
Babble! 19
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Well, the cure for them runaway babble blues is the Record command.
Press <Alt-R>, edit the name of the text file you want to record to
(the default is "BABBLE.REC"), and press <Enter>. If a file with that
name already exists, you'll be asked if you want to replace it or
append to it. If you choose to replace it, the old file will be
deleted and a new one created containing the new material. If you
choose append, the new material will be appended to the end of the old
material in the file. If you'd rather edit a new file name, press
<Esc> to abort this operation, and then press <Alt-R> to start over.
If you want to make sure you don't miss a single golden word, you can
start up the program using the "-REC" option. "BABBLE -REC<ÄÙ" will
record to the default file name "BABBLE.REC"; you can also specify a
different file name by using "BABBLE -REC=FILENAME.EXT<ÄÙ".
Once you're recording, all of Babble!'s generated text will be cap-
tured to the text file, including the special effects.* When you
feel you've gathered enough material for your magnum opus, you can
stop recording by pressing <Alt-R>.
It was by recording to disk, by the way, that we compiled the "quotes"
at the beginning of each chapter in this manual. We'd have Babble!
analyze the text of the chapter, and then we'd turn on recording and
set the speed to full blast. After about a minute or two, we'd exit
Babble!, go into a text editor, and then pull out the best quotes.
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
* This is almost true. The only special effect that doesn't get record-
ed is the "Mirror" effect.
20 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
"Talking to get just said. It to
exit talk with some spice to be
sure to say. Let's add some
pleasantry of times.
It can use it." - Babble!
6. TALKING TO BABBLE!
The "*YOU*" Slot
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
We've seen how we can load BAB files and analyze text files. Another
way to "put words in Babble!'s mouth" is just to talk with it. And
that's where the "*YOU*" slot comes in.
Using the <Up> and <Down> arrows and the <Del> key, delete everything
from the four slots until Babble! is, literally, babbling. Don't worry
that the label on the "*YOU*" slot won't go away - this is a special-
purpose slot that will accumulate the text of your conversation as you
type it.
Press <Alt-T> to enter *talk mode*. (See Figure 4.) Babble! will stop
babbling, and the prompt ">" will appear in the babble window. Press
<Enter> a couple of times. It appears that Babble! is trying to be
friendly, but it just doesn't have much to say.
Now, at the ">" prompt, type in some sort of greeting, and then press
<Enter>. For example, you could type
Hello, you sweet thing, you!
and Babble! will come back with replies like
Hello, you sweet thing, you!
Hello, you!
Hello, you sweet thing, you sweet thing, you!
Type another sentence. Don't worry if what you're typing is longer
than one line - Babble! will automatically word-wrap to the next line.
Try:
What's a nice program like you doing in a place like this?
Babble! 21
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Type a few more sentences. Watch as Babble! gradually takes on more of
your own personality in its replies. After a while, it's a little like
talking to (a slightly more confused) yourself!
Let's add some spice to the conversation. Press <Alt-L> and load the
BAB file INSULTS into one of the other slots. Type in some pleasantry
or other and press <Enter>. Babble! will come back with some sort of
pleasantry of its own.
Continue your conversation. For best results, be sure to speak in com-
plete sentences. If you want, you can type more than one sentence at a
time, up to a total of five lines, before pressing <Enter>. Feel free
to adjust the mix between INSULTS and *YOU* to get just the right feel
to your dialog.
When you've decided you're not speaking to Babble! anymore, press
<Alt-T> or the <Esc> key to exit talk mode.
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ Babble! 2.0 Copyright 1991 by Korenthal Associates, Inc. ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ If you with the Flintstones have a graphic ³ AltKeys ³ ADVENT ³
³ "Come with quotes that thou be a sea of its ³ Help ³ DICKJANE ³
³ Babble." ³ Credits ³ INSULTS ³
³ ³ Order ³ MGOOSE ³
³ "Come with the Addams family." ³ ³ ROBBINS ³
³ ³ Load ³ SHAKES ³
³ "California is the Millionaire and there ³ Analyze ³ SIMON ³
³ was without form, man spoke while others ³ Save ³ STARTUP ³
³ listened." ³ Delete ³ TEEVEE ³
³ ³ ³ TVGUIDE ³
³ >_ ³ ¯Talk ³ TVTITLES ³
³ ³ Record ³ ³
³ ³ Effects ³ ³
³ ³ Fill-In ³ ³
³ ³ ³ ³
³ ³ Quit ³ ³
³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Ÿx ³
³ Ü STARTUP ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ Fkey 234567890 ³
³ TEEVEE ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ Speed Alt 1234567890 ³
³ ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ Ctrl 1234567890 ³
³ *YOU* ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ Memory ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ³
³ ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ Press <Esc> to end conversation ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
Figure 4: Talking to Babble!
22 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
The Theory Behind the Babble
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Basically, the "*YOU*" slot is just like any slot containing an
analyzed text file except that it's analyzing the text one line at a
time as you type it. It can be used in the conversational mode, as
we've been doing, or you can use it to type in some text you have that
doesn't happen to be in ASCII text format. Then, when you're done
typing, you can save the contents of the "*YOU*" slot out to disk in
BAB file format just like it was any other analyzed text.
Note that if you save the "*YOU*" slot using the default name "YOU",
this file will be automatically loaded back into the "*YOU*" slot the
next time you run Babble! (This makes *two* files that are automati-
cally loaded on program startup: the STARTUP file in slot 1, and the
YOU file in slot 4.)
Babble! 23
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
"Add new material to analyze
relatively unstructured and end
the babble will then resynchronize
with figuring out where
paragraphs formatted
to create a grammar freak,
you can be considered to
start a paragraph. And so,
the surrounding text." - Babble!
7. ADVANCED ANALYSIS
Interpreting the Text File
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Let's cover some of the issues we glossed over in the earlier section
on analyzing your own text files.
First thing is the question of *high-resolution* which appears within
the analysis window. When a file is analyzed in high-resolution, the
sentences it produces tend to be (a) more grammatically correct, and
(b) far less amusing. High-resolution text samples also take up a
*lot* more memory, and thus limit the space you have to load and mix
other files. So if you're a grammar freak, you can answer "Y" to this
question, but we recommend that you don't.
Next, a few words about selecting a slot for your analyzed text file:
one of the interesting things about Babble! is that its text analysis
can be *additive*. This means that if there's already something in a
slot, whether it's a pre-analyzed BAB file or some other text you've
analyzed, you can choose to *add* your new text file to what's in the
slot, or completely *replace* the slot's contents. It's very much
like when you're in a word processor and you try to write a block of
text out to a file that already exists. Just as the word processor
gives you the option of replacing the file or appending to it, Babble!
asks if you want to replace the slot's contents or append to them.
Additive analysis gives you a way to add new text to an existing BAB
file. Just load the BAB file into a slot, press <Alt-A> to analyze
the new text, choosing the same slot for the analysis as for the load,
and then answer "Y" to the question, "Add new material to existing
material in slot?" And then you can save the slot with its combined
samples to a new BAB file.
There are two command-line options which can help Babble! make sense
of the text file you'd like analyzed; they both have to do with
figuring out where paragraphs begin and end. The first option,
"-BEG=n", allows you to specify the minimum length for a line to start
24 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
a paragraph. This is useful where you want short titles or message
headers to be ignored; an example would be the headers on CompuServe
or BBS messages. The default value for n is 1, which means paragraphs
may begin on any non-blank line.
The second option is "-END=n", which specifies the minimum length for
a line to *continue* a paragraph; any line shorter than this will be
considered to end the paragraph. The default value for n in this case
is 55, which works reasonably well for paragraphs whose first lines
are indented as well as for paragraphs separated by blank lines. You
may wish to set n to a different value if you are analyzing text files
which have paragraphs formatted to less than 55 columns.
Bracketed Expressions
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Another feature of Babble!'s text analysis is its treatment of *brack-
eted expressions*. Whenever Babble! finds a parenthesized (), square-
bracketed [], or angle-bracketed <> expression of 30 characters or
less, it passes the expression straight through without babbling it.
Though the surrounding text will be babbled, the expression itself
will be displayed intact, *with* the brackets. This allows the sort
of short, bracketed comments (or smart-aleck comebacks) that appear in
electronic communications and other writings to be displayed verbatim
within a babbled context, often to amusing effect. So, for example,
when this paragraph is babbled, the following results:
Though the sort of bracketed comments (or smart-aleck
comebacks) that appear in electronic communications and
other writings to be displayed intact, when this paragraph
is babbled context, the expression itself will be babbled.
These features work well when you want Babble! to analyze relatively
unstructured and unedited information: electronic correspondence,
passages from books and magazines, technical reports, and so on. In
these cases you just feed Babble! the raw text file, perhaps goosing
the process by setting the "-BEG=n" and "-END=n" command-line options.
It's simple and it requires little effort.
You can exert more control over the way Babble! analyzes your text
files, however, with just a little bit of extra time in your text
editor. For example, the sort of bracketing discussed above can be
considered *natural* since it usually appears naturally within text
files. But there's also a means of *forced* bracketing which you can
introduce yourself by editing the file before analyzing it in Babble!
Basically, any expression of 30 characters or less enclosed by
backslashes \\ will be kept intact and displayed *without* the
backslashes. Note that the other bracketed expressions, such as (me),
[myself], and <I>, are displayed *with* the brackets, but this one
\boop boop a doop\ is displayed *without* them. These techniques were
cleverly employed in creating the BAB files TVTITLES, which contains
Babble! 25
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
program titles from TV Guide, and TVGUIDE, which contains program
descriptions.* And this paragraph gets babbled as:
Note that the BAB files TVTITLES, and <I>, and <I>, any
expression of program titles from TV Guide, (me), and
displayed without them. And displayed with the other 58
characters or less enclosed by backslashes will be kept
intact and this one boop boop a doop is displayed without
the other bracketed expressions.
Sounds frighteningly close to the original paragraph, doesn't it?
Fill-Ins
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Another type of bracketed expression is used to create BAB files that
prompt the user to "fill in" selected key words while they are
babbling. (It's a little like the word game, "MadLibs".) You can
create a *fill-in* file by including expressions of 30 characters or
less enclosed by curly braces {} in your text. When, during the
course of babbling, Babble! encounters one of these "fill-in phrases",
the phrase becomes part of the prompt to the user, and the user's
response is then substituted back into the babble. For example,
Jim {verb, past tense} his computer.
will produce the following prompt, "Enter verb, past tense:"
If the user enters the word "tickled", the babble will then say,
"Jim tickled his computer."
If you are experimenting with fill-in files, you might try analyzing
the file in high-resolution (answer "yes" to the "high-res" prompt) so
that the generated sentences will be closer to your original text.
High-res was used to analyze the FILLINS.BAB file.**
If you get tired of answering all the fill-in prompts, you can press
<Alt-F> or the <Esc> key in response to the prompt window, and fill-
ins will be disabled until you press <Alt-F> again.
Links
ÄÄÄÄÄ
The final analysis tool is the *link*, which directs Babble! to con-
struct sentences according to a formula. The link symbol consists of
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
* TVTITLES.BAB and TVGUIDE.BAB, as well as the text files used to create
them, are included with the registered version of Babble!
** FILLINS.BAB, as well as the text file used to create it, are included
with the registered version of Babble!
26 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
the characters "->" immediately followed by a number. Babble! uses
this symbol as a "reference point" when it generates its sentences;
that is, the symbol allows Babble! to skip through a list of possible
phrases in order to select one for display, and then resynchronize
with the rest of the paragraph.
For example, consider the following:
I ->1 petted ->2 my ->3 dog ->4 and then I ->5 sang ->6.
->1 walked ->2
->1 ate ->2
->3 cat ->4
->3 elephant ->4
->5 went home ->6
->5 fell down ->6
For "->1", Babble! will choose either "petted", "walked", or "ate",
and then resync at "->2" in the top sentence. Then, for "->3",
Babble! will choose "dog", "cat", or "elephant", and resync at "->4".
Finally, for "->5", Babble! will choose "sang" or "went home", or
"fell down", and resync at "->6". This will generate sentences like:
I sang.
I went home.
I petted my dog and then I went home.
I ate my cat and then I walked my elephant and then I fell down.
This link technique is used in the INSULTS.BAB file in order to
generate a huge number of random insults using a relatively small
amount of internal memory.
Babble! 27
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
APPENDIX A: KEYSTROKE REFERENCE
This is a quick reference to all the keystroke commands available in
Babble! Please refer to the various chapters for more information on
how these commands work.
<Up> Select previous slot.
<Down> Select next slot.
<Left> Decrease "volume" of slot.
<Right> Increase "volume" of slot.
<Ctrl-Left> Decrease speed.
<Ctrl-Right> Increase speed.
<PgUp> Select previous BAB file.
<PgDn> Select next BAB file.
<Ctrl-PgUp> Select first BAB file.
<Ctrl-PgDn> Select last BAB file.
<Ins> Press twice to load selected BAB
file into current slot.
<Del> Press twice to delete contents of
current slot.
<Enter> (Talk) Let Babble! speak.
<Esc> (Talk) Exit Talk mode.
<Esc> Exit to DOS.
<F1> Help.
<Alt-H> Help.
<Alt-C> Display credits screen.
<Alt-O> Print order form.
<Alt-L> Load BAB file.
<Alt-A> Analyze ASCII text file.
<Alt-S> Save analyzed text as BAB file.
<Alt-D> Delete contents of slot.
<Alt-T> Enter or exit talk mode.
28 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
<Alt-R> Record to disk file.
<Alt-E> Start or stop random special effects.
<Alt-F> Start or stop fill-ins.
<Alt-Q> Exit to DOS.
<F2> - <F10> Special Effects # 2-10
<Alt-F1> - <Alt-F10> Special Effects #11-20
<Ctrl-F1> - <Ctrl-F10> Special Effects #21-30
Babble! 29
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
APPENDIX B: COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
These are the various command-line options which you may specify when
you run Babble! from the DOS command-line. They can be specified in
upper or lower case. The only restriction is that an option may not
contain any spaces - that means no spaces around the equals sign, for
example.
-MONO or -M or -C Force monochrome display. Babble! normally de-
tects automatically whether you're working on a
color or a monochrome system, but you might want
to use this option if you're using a monochrome
display with a graphics card, or if you're running
Babble! on a laptop computer.
-MARK Forces monochrome display and displays the slider
controls differently; used on monochrome systems
(such as some laptops) that can't display boldface
text.
-STARTUP=filename Automatically load *filename* into slot 1 instead
of STARTUP.BAB; you don't need to specify the
".BAB" extension. For example,
"BABBLE -STARTUP=INSULTS<ÄÙ" will load INSULTS.BAB
into the first slot. If you want to make a par-
ticular BAB file your *permanent* startup file,
you can just name that file STARTUP.BAB.
-DEMO Run Babble! in demo mode. Babble! will auto-
-DEMO=n matically set a different special effect every
10 seconds. Or, if you like, you can specify
how many seconds to delay, for example,
"BABBLE -DEMO=25<ÄÙ" to change special effects
every 25 seconds. You can press <Alt-E> within
the program to turn demo mode off. If you forget
to use the "-DEMO" option on the command line, you
can also turn demo mode ON from within the program
by pressing <Alt-E>.
30 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
-REC Record the stream of babble to a disk file. By
-REC=filename.ext default, Babble! will record to a file called
"BABBLE.REC"; you can also specify a different
file name. Press <Alt-R> to turn recording off.
If you forget to use the "-REC" option on the com-
mand line, you can also turn recording ON from
within the program by pressing <Alt-R>.
-BEG=n Set the minimum length that a line must be in
order to be considered the first line of a para-
graph. The default value is 1, meaning that para-
graphs may begin on any blank line. See the chap-
ter on "Advanced Analysis" for details.
-END=n Set the minimum length that a line must be in
order to continue a paragraph; any line shorter
than this will be considered the last line of the
paragraph. The default value is 55. See the
chapter on "Advanced Analysis" for details.
Babble! 31
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
APPENDIX C: WHAT'S NEW
Version 2.0, September 1991
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Minor documentation changes; no changes in program.
Version 2.0, January 1991
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
This is the first version of Babble! to be widely distributed, and
much care has been taken to polish the program and make it adhere to
Korenthal Associates' standards for quality and ease-of-use.
To this end, the program now starts in continuous babble mode rather
than talk mode, program exit is confirmed when the user presses
<Alt-Q> or <Esc>, and the starting BAB file may be specified by the
new "-STARTUP=filename" command-line option. There are several other
convenient new options, and their usage is summarized when the user
types "BABBLE ?<ÄÙ" or "BABBLE -?<ÄÙ". Some of the special effects
have been refined, and the new Dvorak effect replaces the seldom-used
Maine effect.
In addition, the display has been spiffied up (check out the new-
fangled shadowed windows!), and there's now a handsome title screen.
Version 1.0, May 1990
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
This limited-release version of Babble! was reviewed by Stan Kelly-
Bootle in the October 1990 issue of Computer Language. Here he calls
it, "More fun than showing your latest spreadsheets or those tired
revolving beach balls."
32 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
APPENDIX D: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Babble!'s been a long time coming. It started as a means for Tracey,
Jim, and Lew to regain some sanity after a stint on a VERY SERIOUS
project. It endured all sorts of confusion as to what it was, why it
was, and how on earth to sell it. And now that it's finally done, it
seems obvious that what it does is what it does best.
It babbles.
And in that spirit, Korenthal Associates would like to thank the many
people who helped make Babble! possible: Steve Arnott for putting up
with all this. Gail Seglin Korenthal and our favorite kiddies,
Jacqueline Paige and Jason Alexander, for ditto. Hy Bender for his
priceless advice to write the manual in stream-of-consciousness
style - even though that approach never worked for him. Loren Jenkins
for being the first to "get it." John C. Dvorak for *not* "getting
it." Neil Rubenking for forcing us to finish the thing. Barry Simon
and Rivka for Babble!-crashing. Bill Weiss for laughing. Orville
Fudpucker for the TSJD. Mark Schallow for getting us through a typo-
graphical emergency. James Ackroyd, ^Greg Andrews, Rick Ayre, Sheryl
Canter, Raymond Chuang, James Curran, Monte Davis, Ray Duncan, Stan
Dvoskin, Joan Friedman, Ross Greenberg, Alan Griver, J.D. Hildebrand,
John Hoffman, John James, Mitt Jones, Animesh Karna, Steve Kalman,
Stan Kelly-Bootle, Sandra Lashway, Bill Letendre, Joy Levine, Jesse
Liberty, John Love, Frank Markus, Edward Mendelson, Steve Mykowski,
Chip Rabinowitz, Tom Rawson, Tony Rizzo, Joe Salemi, Toni Savage,
"-Mark" Schaeffer, Howard Silverman, and William F. Zachmann for their
loyalty and support. And assorted moms for providing the inspiration
for the "mom" effect.
Babble! 33
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
APPENDIX E: ABOUT KORENTHAL ASSOCIATES
Korenthal Associates, Inc. (KA) is a software development company
owned and operated by founders James E. Korenthal and Tracey M.
Siesser. KA has been producing top quality computer software since
1984, and has been a member of the Association of Shareware Profes-
sionals (ASP) since 1988. Some of KA's accomplishments include:
o The Webster's New World line of software, published by Simon &
Schuster. These products include Webster's New World Spelling
Checker, Webster's New World Professional Spelling Checker,
Webster's New World Thesaurus, Webster's New World Professional
Thesaurus, Webster's New World Combo, and Webster's New World
Writer I and II.
PC Magazine named Webster's New World Spelling Checker and
Webster's New World Writer Products of the Year in 1986.
Webster's New World Combo (integrated spelling checker and
thesaurus) is currently the writing utility of choice for many
users of the TAPCIS navigational program for CompuServe, as well
as for Movie Master, a special-purpose word processor for film
and television scriptwriting.
o 4PRINT, an HP LaserJet/DeskJet utility which prints four or more
pages of text on one sheet of paper by printing on both sides in
landscape mode. 4PRINT allows programmers to view four pages of
source code at a time, writers to read four pages of text, and
spreadsheet and database users to print wide reports all the way
across the page.
Version 4.0 of 4PRINT can now print up to *four* columns of text
per side, cramming *eight* or more pages of information on a
single sheet of paper! This new release also includes automatic
line numbering, word wrap for printing text files exported from
word processors, special indenting features for programmers,
ability to print full-width Lotus spreadsheets, A4 paper support,
34 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
optional removal of excess blank lines and page breaks, improved
DeskJet support, and many other new features.
4PRINT saves you money by using less paper than standard printing
methods, and perhaps more importantly, its output takes up less
shelf space. This reduced paper usage also makes 4PRINT an
*ecologically* sound investment. Another convenience is that
while the LaserJet normally prints only 60 lines per page, 4PRINT
can print a standard 66 lines on each of its "pages", making it
indispensable for printing on-disk shareware manuals and other
formatted ASCII documents.
"4Print is great for quickly spec'ing layouts,
printing books, or simply saving paper."
PC World, July 1991.
"4PRINT is definitely worth adding to your
printer toolbox."
PC Magazine, First Looks, March 27, 1990
"The result is a very neat-looking document that
takes up only 25 per cent of the paper and space."
InfoWorld, October 3, 1988.
"4PRINT provides a simple, elegant solution to a problem
encountered by many programmers and documentation writers."
Computer Language, June 1988.
o Enhanced TapMark and TapMail (previously called TAPLEX), utili-
ties which facilitate use of the CompuServe navigation program
TAPCIS. Enhanced TapMark, which is considered indispensable by
most TAPCIS users, keeps track of which message threads you are
following in a forum, and watches out for new messages that might
be of interest. TapMail organizes your Email correspondence by
sorting it into different files based on the name of the corre-
spondent.
The latest versions of all Korenthal Associates shareware products can
always be found in KA's section on CompuServe, PCVENB, Section 3, as
well as on The Consultant BBS at 1-718-837-3236.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about any of
our products or require additional information. Thanks!
Korenthal Associates, Inc. Orders: 1-800-KA-PROGS
230 West 13th Street Information: 1-212-242-1790
New York, New York 10011 FAX: 1-212-242-2599
U.S.A. CompuServe: [76004,2605]
Babble! 35
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
APPENDIX F: LICENSE AND REGISTRATION
The Shareware Marketing Method
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Babble! is a copyrighted computer program which is being marketed as
shareware. It is not a public domain program, and it is not free.
Shareware is a marketing method, not a type of software. It gives
users a legal but limited trial period to evaluate a program before
purchase. If you continue to use the program after the trial period
has ended, you must register (pay for) the program. It's that simple.
Shareware is produced by accomplished programmers, just like retail
software. There is good shareware and bad shareware, just as there is
good and bad retail software. The primary difference between share-
ware and retail software is that with shareware you know if it's good
or bad BEFORE you pay for it.
Shareware benefits you, the software user, because you get to try the
software on your own system, within your own special work environment,
and determine whether it meets your needs before you pay for it. And
shareware benefits program authors because we are able to get our
products into your hands without the hundreds of thousands of dollars
in expenses it takes to launch a traditional software products. There
are many programs on the market today which would never have become
available without the shareware marketing method.
The shareware system and the continued availability of quality share-
ware products depend on your willingness to register and pay for the
shareware you use. It's the registration fees you pay that allow us
to support and continue to develop our products.
Please show your support for shareware by registering those programs
you actually use and by passing them on to others.
Shareware is kept alive by YOUR support!
36 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
The Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP)
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
The Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) was formed in 1987 to
inform users about the shareware marketing method, to foster a high
degree of professionalism among shareware authors, and to provide a
forum through which ASP members may communicate, share ideas, and
learn from each other.
ASP members' shareware meets additional quality standards beyond ordi-
nary shareware. Members' programs must be fully functional (not crip-
pled, demo, or out-of-date versions); program documentation must be
complete and must clearly state the registration fee and the benefits
received when registering; members must provide free mail or telephone
support for a minimum of three months after registration; and members
must meet other guidelines which help to insure that you as a user
receive good value for your money and are dealt with professionally.
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄ¿ ³ (R)
Äij ³o ³ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
³ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÁÐÄÄ¿ ³ Association of
³ ³ ³ÄÙ Shareware
ÀÄÄij o ³ Professionals
ÄÄÄÄÄij º ³ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÀÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÙ MEMBER
Korenthal Associates is a member of the Association of Shareware
Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware
principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a share-
ware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member
directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you
resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide
technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP
Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe
message via CompuServe MAIL to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.
Registration Information
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Babble! is provided at no charge for evaluation purposes only. This
shareware version of Babble! is the complete working version of the
program, not a crippled or demo copy.
Korenthal Associates, Inc. hereby grants you a limited license to use
this software for evaluation purposes only for a period not to exceed
two weeks. If you intend to continue using this software (and/or its
documentation) after the two-week evaluation period, you MUST make a
registration payment to Korenthal Associates. Using this software
after the two-week evaluation period has ended without registering is
a violation of the terms of this limited license.
Babble! 37
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
You may register Babble! using the accompanying order form (or the
form printed by the program itself); you may also register using
MasterCard or Visa by phone (800-KA-PROGS), FAX (212-242-2599), or
CompuServe Mail (76004,2605). Company purchase orders are welcome.
Site licenses and volume discounts are available. For additional
information, please call 212-242-1790.
The $25 registration fee licenses one copy for use on any one computer
at any one time. A registered copy of Babble! must be treated like a
book in that the same registered copy cannot be used on more than one
computer at one time just as a book cannot be read by more than one
person at the same time.
As a registered user, you will receive:
o The full retail Babble! package, including typeset manual, nifty
keyboard template, and many more writing samples to enhance your
enjoyment of the product.
o The most current version of the Babble! program. We are always
improving our products, and registration ensures that you have
the latest version.
o Free technical support.
o Notification of significant upgrades to Babble!
o Special offers on other products from Korenthal Associates.
o A free CompuServe IntroPak, which includes a $15.00 usage credit
and a complimentary subscription to CompuServe Magazine, is
available to Babble! registered users who do not yet subscribe to
CompuServe. CompuServe will open the door for a whole new world
of information, services, and interesting people. CompuServe is
also the best place to obtain technical support for products from
Korenthal Associates (and many other vendors and developers).
This CompuServe IntroPak (a $39.95 value) is provided to Babble!
registered users compliments of CompuServe, Inc., and Korenthal
Associates.
Limited Distribution License
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Korenthal Associates encourages you to freely copy and distribute the
unregistered version of Babble! subject to the following restrictions:
The Babble! package is defined as containing all the material listed
in the PACKING.LST text file. If any files listed in the PACKING.LST
text file, or the PACKING.LST file itself, are missing, then the
package is not complete and distribution is forbidden. Please contact
us to obtain a complete package suitable for distribution.
38 Babble!
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
o The Babble! package - including all related program files and
documentation files - CANNOT be modified in any way and must be
distributed as a complete package, without exception.
o You may charge a distribution fee for the package, but you must
not represent in any way that you are selling the software
itself.
o You may not list any of our products in advertisements, catalogs,
or other literature which describe our products as "free",
"cheap", or "public domain".
o If you indicate ASP membership for products listed in your
catalog or on your BBS, please do so in your listing for Babble!
o The PRINTED documentation may not be reproduced in whole or in
part, using any means, without the prior written permission of
Korenthal Associates. In other words, the disk-based documenta-
tion may not be distributed in PRINTED (hardcopy) form.
o Korenthal Associates prohibits the distribution of outdated
versions of our products without written permission from
Korenthal Associates. If the version you have is over 12 months
old, please contact us to ensure that you have the most current
version. This version was released in September, 1991.
o You shall not use, copy, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile,
disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the licensed
program except as provided in this agreement. Any such unautho-
rized use shall result in immediate and automatic termination of
this license.
o Korenthal Associates reserves the right to withdraw permission
from any vendor to distribute our products at any time and for
any reason.
All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by Korenthal
Associates, Inc.
Even if you don't register or formally support this product, we
encourage you to share copies of the shareware distribution package
with other users and to upload copies to the BBS's you use.
Please Help Us Serve You Better
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
We would appreciate copies of anything you print regarding our soft-
ware. Please send us a copy of any reviews, articles, catalog de-
scriptions, or other information you print or distribute regarding
Babble! And feel free to contact us if you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions or require additional information.
Babble! 39
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Thank you for your time and assistance and for supporting the
shareware marketing concept!
Korenthal Associates, Inc.
230 West 13th Street
New York, New York 10011
U.S.A.
Orders only: 1-800-KA-PROGS
Information: 1-212-242-1790
FAX: 1-212-242-2599
CompuServe: [76004,2605]
BABBLE! 2.0 ORDER FORM
Remit to: Korenthal Associates, Inc. Orders: 1-800-KA-PROGS
230 West 13th Street Info: 1-212-242-1790
New York, NY 10011 Fax: 1-212-242-2599
U.S.A. CIS: [76004,2605]
Babble! (creativity tool for writers) Qty ____ @ $25.00 $_________
Best of Babble!, Volume 1 Qty ____ @ $10.00 $_________
Babble! Site License, 5-10 users @ $150.00 $_________
Babble! Site License, 11-25 users @ $350.00 $_________
(See SITELIC.DOC for additional information)
4Print (with 4Book, 4Fold, and KAZap) Qty ____ @ $49.95 $_________
4Shell (Windows interface for 4Print) Qty ____ @ $20.00 $_________
New York residents add applicable sales tax: $_________
Shipping and handling, US/Canada: $4 per copy
All other countries: $10 per copy $_________
Total $_________
Payment by: ( ) Check (U.S. funds only, drawn on a U.S. bank)
( ) MasterCard ( ) Visa ( ) PO # ______________
Card #: ____________________________________ Exp. Date: _____________
Signature of card holder: ____________________________________________
Name: _____________________________________ Title: _______________
Company: _____________________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Day Phone: ________________________ Evening: ________________________
Disk format: ( ) 5.25" ( ) 3.5"
Where did you get your copy of Babble!? ______________________________
[BABBLE! 2.00-U]
BABBLE! 2.0 ORDER FORM
Remit to: Korenthal Associates, Inc. Orders: 1-800-KA-PROGS
230 West 13th Street Info: 1-212-242-1790
New York, NY 10011 Fax: 1-212-242-2599
U.S.A. CIS: [76004,2605]
Babble! (creativity tool for writers) Qty ____ @ $25.00 $_________
Best of Babble!, Volume 1 Qty ____ @ $10.00 $_________
Babble! Site License, 5-10 users @ $150.00 $_________
Babble! Site License, 11-25 users @ $350.00 $_________
(See SITELIC.DOC for additional information)
4Print (with 4Book, 4Fold, and KAZap) Qty ____ @ $49.95 $_________
4Shell (Windows interface for 4Print) Qty ____ @ $20.00 $_________
New York residents add applicable sales tax: $_________
Shipping and handling, US/Canada: $4 per copy
All other countries: $10 per copy $_________
Total $_________
Payment by: ( ) Check (U.S. funds only, drawn on a U.S. bank)
( ) MasterCard ( ) Visa ( ) PO # ______________
Card #: ____________________________________ Exp. Date: _____________
Signature of card holder: ____________________________________________
Name: _____________________________________ Title: _______________
Company: _____________________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Day Phone: ________________________ Evening: ________________________
Disk format: ( ) 5.25" ( ) 3.5"
Where did you get your copy of Babble!? ______________________________
[BABBLE! 2.00-U]
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