Re: Legend's lessons for IF


4 Apr 95 03:20:39 GMT

jholder@nmsu.edu (John Holder) writes:

>Thus spake Carl Muckenhoupt (baf@max.tiac.net):
>] Whatever the case, the solution to the mouse problem is still pretty lame.
>] "Okay, hole, listen up..." If the mouse isn't affected by words simply
>] spoken aloud and not addressed specifically to it (>say "e"), it certainly
>] shouldn't be affected by words addressed to a specific other inanimate
>] object. So the mouse is in the hole - if Aunt Jemimah were holding the
>] mouse, would it respond to commands addressed to her?

>I disagree. The mouse is out of range, it can't hear you just standing
>in the room saying things like "go east", much like a person in the
>apartment next door can't hear you speaking in a normal tone of voice.
>But speaking into the hole amplifies your voice - like speaking into a
>cardboard tube. Have someone speak into a tube with the tube at your ear
>and then normally, not through the tube. The same voice sounds much
>louder through the tube. Or, the neighbor's voice sounds much more
>intelligible when you put your ear up to a glass and listen through
>the glass. (not to say I do this... ;^)

My objection is to the conceptual content of the syntax, not the idea of
speaking into the hole. Since when does "thing, command" mean "say 'command'
through thing"? Have we seen any cases where, for example, "telephone,
hello" works? No, the syntax has hitherto always mean a command addressed
to thing. As far as I'm concerned, the result of typing "hole, east" should
be an attempt to convince the hole to move. I'd have been happy with
>say "go east" into hole
or some similar syntax which accurately describes what you're trying to
do. But Curses doesn't accept that. As I said, it's a guess-the-syntax
puzzle, and that's bad.

>Anyway, I think the puzzle makes quite good sense, especially since our
>friend the demon specifically tells us what to do by thelling us what not
>to do.

Oh, like that's an excuse. Since when do hints make nonsensical things
any less nonsensical?

-- 
Carl Muckenhoupt | Is it true that Kibo habitually autogreps all of Usenet
baf@tiac.net     | for his name?  If so:  Hi, Kibo.  Like the sig?