4 ms·

Here's the alpha: (defparameter phrases '("Who needs it?" "Who uses it?" "Who really needs it?" "What problem does this s

Here's the alpha: (defparameter *phrases* '("Who needs it?" "Who uses it?" "Who *really* needs it?" "What problem does this solve?" "Does that problem *really* need to be solved?" "What is the worst problem in your life?" "In any given day, how many people use it? Do they return?" "What do you do for them once they get to your site?" "Why do they need you? What's special about you?" "Beat a chicken and egg problem with a tiny subset of the market that's small but *driven*." "No, who *needs* it?")) (defun random-elt (seq) (elt seq (random (length seq)))) (defun answer (prompt) (declare (ignorable prompt)) (random-elt *phrases*))

petervandijck 15y ago
AWESOME! But I want to see this running somewhere as an actual chatbot. (and could you add: "I worry... I worry...")
- hboon 15y ago
  The questions were easy (randomly pick 1 maybe, weighted). But what's the heuristics for "I worry... I worry..."?
  - petervandijck 15y ago
    Yea that's a tough one.
- Tiomaidh 15y ago
  Previous plans for the summer: 1. Work hard at job as Java dev (yes, it's not ideal, no, as a high school senior I'm not complaining). 2. Read PAIP; do all exercises. Current plans: 1. Drop everything and figure out how the heck non-static webpages work. 2. Create "real" pg chatbot. 3. Resume previous plans. Edit: Ah, brilliant, I just remembered PAIP actually talks about chatbots pretty extensively.
  - peter_l_downs 15y ago
    This may seem random, but I'm also in highschool - a junior, actually. Where (if you did) did you apply to college? I'm trying to figure out where I should look for / what I should be looking for, and it's confusing. I'm interested in programming/cs/engineering
    - tkahn6 15y ago
      Which state do you live in, how rich are you, and what are your SAT scores/grades?
    - whackedspinach 15y ago
      I just graduated, and am also going into Computer Science. I just pulled up a list of top CS schools and started researching from there. I ended up applying to MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Caltech, U of Illinois UC, U of Michigan, and a few others. I only got into U of Illinois UC, but I'm happy with that and am excited for next year. My advice: Apply to where you really want to go. The money is something that you can work out if you try hard enough. don't be afraid to reach for the top tier of schools, but don't leave yourself with no fallbacks.
      - JackDanger 15y ago
        I know you're not looking for advice here, but just so it's out there: consider a degree that's not C.S. You'll always be a hacker and you'll enjoy it a lot more (and be better at it, in some ways) if you craft a formal education around whatever classes seem most interesting. My favorite coders all have music or linguistics backgrounds. Just my $0.02. Congrats on graduating and good luck!
        X-Istence 15y ago
        I really suck at music, languages I am okay at, but programming is my passion, it is what I went to school for, and honestly I would suggest it to anyone that is interested in it. Sure I didn't get much out of school because I was so far ahead of everyone else, but I had teachers that challenged me and helped me figure out what I wanted to do and that is what I am doing. Don't blindly follow this guys advice, definitely mull it over, but for me personally it would not have been a good decision.
- mindcrime 15y ago
  It's not finished, but here's a (very) rough first cut: http://pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=d7e93f386e34109d http://pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=d7e93f386e34109d EDIT: And here's the AIML file on Github if anybody wants to play. Pandorabots.com is a nice place to host these things for playing around... https://github.com/mindcrime/pgbot https://github.com/mindcrime/pgbot -- And since we're talking chat-bots anyway, here's some stuff for people who might find this sort of thing interesting: http://pandorabots.com/botmaster/en/home http://pandorabots.com/botmaster/en/home http://www.alicebot.org/documentation/ http://www.alicebot.org/documentation/ http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/pics/wallaceaimltutorial.html http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/pics/wallaceaimltutorial.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIML http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIML http://alicebot.blogspot.com/ http://alicebot.blogspot.com/
  - mindcrime 15y ago
    A sample interaction: Human: hi pgbot: What are you building? Human: an online graph database pgbot: Who needs that? Human: Startups pgbot: I worry, I worry...
jroes 15y ago
(cons "Is it an underhanded penny auction rip-off site?" *phrases*)
alnayyir 15y ago
Incidentally, this gives one a good idea of how to prepare for a YC interview.

Here's the alpha: (defparameter *phrases* '("Who needs it?" "Who uses it?" "Who *really* needs it?" "What problem does this s

petervandijck 15y ago

AWESOME! But I want to see this running somewhere as an actual chatbot. (and could you add: "I worry... I worry...")

hboon 15y ago
The questions were easy (randomly pick 1 maybe, weighted). But what's the heuristics for "I worry... I worry..."?
- petervandijck 15y ago
  Yea that's a tough one.
Tiomaidh 15y ago
Previous plans for the summer: 1. Work hard at job as Java dev (yes, it's not ideal, no, as a high school senior I'm not complaining). 2. Read PAIP; do all exercises. Current plans: 1. Drop everything and figure out how the heck non-static webpages work. 2. Create "real" pg chatbot. 3. Resume previous plans. Edit: Ah, brilliant, I just remembered PAIP actually talks about chatbots pretty extensively.
- peter_l_downs 15y ago
  This may seem random, but I'm also in highschool - a junior, actually. Where (if you did) did you apply to college? I'm trying to figure out where I should look for / what I should be looking for, and it's confusing. I'm interested in programming/cs/engineering
  - tkahn6 15y ago
    Which state do you live in, how rich are you, and what are your SAT scores/grades?
  - whackedspinach 15y ago
    I just graduated, and am also going into Computer Science. I just pulled up a list of top CS schools and started researching from there. I ended up applying to MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Caltech, U of Illinois UC, U of Michigan, and a few others. I only got into U of Illinois UC, but I'm happy with that and am excited for next year. My advice: Apply to where you really want to go. The money is something that you can work out if you try hard enough. don't be afraid to reach for the top tier of schools, but don't leave yourself with no fallbacks.
    - JackDanger 15y ago
      I know you're not looking for advice here, but just so it's out there: consider a degree that's not C.S. You'll always be a hacker and you'll enjoy it a lot more (and be better at it, in some ways) if you craft a formal education around whatever classes seem most interesting. My favorite coders all have music or linguistics backgrounds. Just my $0.02. Congrats on graduating and good luck!
      - X-Istence 15y ago
        I really suck at music, languages I am okay at, but programming is my passion, it is what I went to school for, and honestly I would suggest it to anyone that is interested in it. Sure I didn't get much out of school because I was so far ahead of everyone else, but I had teachers that challenged me and helped me figure out what I wanted to do and that is what I am doing. Don't blindly follow this guys advice, definitely mull it over, but for me personally it would not have been a good decision.
mindcrime 15y ago
It's not finished, but here's a (very) rough first cut: http://pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=d7e93f386e34109d http://pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=d7e93f386e34109d EDIT: And here's the AIML file on Github if anybody wants to play. Pandorabots.com is a nice place to host these things for playing around... https://github.com/mindcrime/pgbot https://github.com/mindcrime/pgbot -- And since we're talking chat-bots anyway, here's some stuff for people who might find this sort of thing interesting: http://pandorabots.com/botmaster/en/home http://pandorabots.com/botmaster/en/home http://www.alicebot.org/documentation/ http://www.alicebot.org/documentation/ http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/pics/wallaceaimltutorial.html http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/pics/wallaceaimltutorial.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIML http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIML http://alicebot.blogspot.com/ http://alicebot.blogspot.com/
- mindcrime 15y ago
  A sample interaction: Human: hi pgbot: What are you building? Human: an online graph database pgbot: Who needs that? Human: Startups pgbot: I worry, I worry...

jroes 15y ago

(cons "Is it an underhanded penny auction rip-off site?" *phrases*)

alnayyir 15y ago

Incidentally, this gives one a good idea of how to prepare for a YC interview.