Pete,

Heh! I have exactly the same problem! I.E. When I first got Operation

Flashpoint, I played way to much and then I started to have dreams about it!

I think it must be one of the first signs of addiction!

Tristan

-----Original Message-----

From: profoxtech-bounces@leafe.com [mailto:profoxtech-bounces@leafe.com] On

Behalf Of Pete Theisen

Sent: 05 December 2003 10:15

To: profoxtech@leafe.com

Subject: RE: Holiday Gift from Paul McNett and Ed Leafe

Hi Tristan!

Imagine how disappointed I was to wake up. Have to get a life when you dream

about reading email.

Regards,

Pete

At 08:54 AM 12/5/2003 +0000, you wrote:

>Very good, you actually had me going then until I got to the end!

>

>That would be nice!

>

>Tristan

>

>-----Original Message-----

>From: profoxtech-bounces@leafe.com

>[mailto:profoxtech-bounces@leafe.com] On Behalf Of Pete Theisen

>Sent: 05 December 2003 06:41

>To: profoxtech@leafe.com

>Subject: Holiday Gift from Paul McNett and Ed Leafe

>

>Hi Everybody!

>

>Found myself reading email yesterday AM after work, well past my

>bedtime, when I saw this evocative post: "Holiday Gift from Paul McNett

>and Ed Leafe". I was thinking I have to break off and get some sleep to

>be at least

>*awake* for my afternoon appointment, but, oh, I have to read this one . .

.

>

>It was a URL. It loaded like the wind - no graphics, all text. It was a

>web app called "The Thing". A little text description was to the effect

>that Paul and Ed hoped we would like this holiday gift to the community

>- an online application checker/translator, along with the holiday wish

>that this would help people get work done, understand all the stuff we

>have to understand and maybe even make money. All thought of sleep

>suddenly vanished.

>

>There was an "input box" labeled "paste your code or text here", a

>dropdown "identify the best description of your input" the choices were

>FoxPro code, .net code, Python code, pseudocode, other code, text, [OT] and

Sheep.

>

>Then there was an "output" dropdown labeled "select your desired output"

>and those choices were correct FoxPro code, correct .net code, correct

>Python code, correct other code, good text, logical, intelligent [OT]

>and Sheep. Then there was an "output display window".

>

>Finally there were a series of controls, test, create .exe, create

>Windows setup file, create Linux package, create web application. I

>thought, I have to *try* this right now.

>

>So I did! First I plunked in my eight year's work of failed FoxPro

>code, chose correct Python code and out it came, in seconds! I pressed

>the test control and the program sprang upon the screen, just as I had

>always dreamed that it someday would. I played with it for a few

>minutes and found to my delight that it was just what I had always

>wanted, everything worked and worked ever so well.

>

>Then, I popped in one of the most overbearing ad-hominem [OT] posts I

>could find on my hard drive, chose logical, intelligent [OT] and out

>came a most reasoned, objective version. Remarkable considering that

>Paul avoids [OT] and Ed has a point of view that is usually to the D side,

but there it was.

>

>Then I popped in the Gettysburg address, and it came back unchanged. I

>got to thinking, this is not just software, this is *artificial

>intelligence* and they are just giving it to the world for a holiday

present!

>

>Well, before I did anything else I created a directory to receive my

>completed project, courtesy of Paul and Ed. Just as I was about to

>press "create web application" the power to the house went out long

>enough to crash the old clunker. I don't use my home computer very

>often and I haven't bothered with a UPS, bad me. When I rebooted and

>got back to Eudora, the post, the URL, all of it was gone, checked the

>archives - no sign. I started to post a message about "what was that

>URL . . . " Then I woke up in bed, I'd dreamed the whole thing.

>

>Regards,

>

>Pete

>

>

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