Mike’s Personal Blog

Instead of trying to produce a programme to simulate the adult mind, why not rather try to produce one which simulates the child’s? If this were then subjected to an appropriate course of education one would obtain the adult brain. - Alan Turing, 1950

This thought has been in my head ever since I got interested with Artificial Intelligence. The idea behind this is to build a simple ‘learning’ system and teach it so that it becomes ‘intelligent’. Guided by this, I started making some experiments of my own simply by talking to children. I was quite fascinated to see how children respond to certain questions.

A talk with my daughter

I asked Kei, my 6-year-old daughter, “How old are you?” and she replied. “Six.” Now, that’s simple. Nothing amazing. But my next question quickly answered one of the questions in my head. I asked Kei, “How you old are?” and still she replied, “Six.” I then asked her, “You where live do?” Without pausing for a moment, she replied, “Tungko.” Tungko is the place where we live.

So what do I make out of this?

Simple, we humans don’t process sentences structurally. When trying to understand sentences, we don’t really care about grammar nor are we concerned with the parts of speech. Apparently, we just look for certain keywords in a sentence and reply with the best correct answer.

So that’s my first lesson - we don’t process sentences structurally. Believe it or not, this saves me a lot of time since I will no longer have to parse a sentence for structure.

That’s all for now - maybe stupid for you. But knowledge for me in my journey through Artificial Intelligence

Instead of trying to produce a programme to simulate the adult mind, why not rather try to produce one which simulates the child’s? If this were then subjected to an appropriate course of education one would obtain the adult brain. - Alan Turing, 1950

This thought has been in my head ever since I got interested with Artificial Intelligence. The idea behind this is to build a simple ‘learning’ system and teach it so that it becomes ‘intelligent’. Guided by this, I started making some experiments of my own simply by talking to children. I was quite fascinated to see how children respond to certain questions.

A talk with my daughter

I asked Kei, my 6-year-old daughter, “How old are you?” and she replied. “Six.” Now, that’s simple. Nothing amazing. But my next question quickly answered one of the questions in my head. I asked Kei, “How you old are?” and still she replied, “Six.” I then asked her, “You where live do?” Without pausing for a moment, she replied, “Tungko.” Tungko is the place where we live.

So what do I make out of this?

Simple, we humans don’t process sentences structurally. When trying to understand sentences, we don’t really care about grammar nor are we concerned with the parts of speech. Apparently, we just look for certain keywords in a sentence and reply with the best correct answer.

So that’s my first lesson - we don’t process sentences structurally. Believe it or not, this saves me a lot of time since I will no longer have to parse a sentence for structure.

That’s all for now - maybe stupid for you. But knowledge for me in my journey through Artificial Intelligence

Two things fascinate me in life - Intelligence and Flying.  Though I wasn’t able to pursue my dream of becoming a pilot, no one can stop me from pursuing my fascination with intelligence.  How do we think?  How do we respond?  How do we understand?  How do we learn?  Also, how do other things in nature do the same thing?  Dogs, whales, dolphins, sharks, cats, and even mice.  Though one may argue that only we humans are truly intelligent and that animals are not, I still think that animals display a certain form of intelligence in one way or another.

In my pursuit of understanding intelligence, I decided to take the path of artificial intelligence.  I have no formal education about this nor do I plan to go to school just for this.  Rather, I will take this path out of my own understanding of things - as I always had done in the past.

So, how do I pursue this dream?  This goal?  For now, my best bet would be to create my own chatterbot (or chatbot).  In my search for ‘intelligent’ chatbots, I have found some interesting ones - Alan of www.a-i.com and Jabberwacky of www.jabberwacky.com.  Both appear to show attributes of learning.  The problem with these two chatbots is that they would soon either sound stupid or attempt to divert the conversation to something that it ‘knows’.  Thus far, I haven’t found a chatbot that really knows what it’s talking about.  My goal is to write a chatbot that ‘knows’ what it’s talking about.  Something that would make sense even if you talk to it for hours.  I know this is an ambitious project but so are many other projects out there.

Ok, great!  Now, you may ask, “How do you, Mr. Mike Lopez, plan to do this?”  For now, it’s still a bit vague in my head but here’s a rough ’sketch’ for my chatbot:

Phase 1 - Knowing and Understanding

This can be broken down into three things.

1. Know and understand how we humans process language
2. Know and understand how we humans respond to things that are said to us
3. Know and understand how we humans learn

Phase 2 - Mimicking

Once Phase 1 is completed, it’s time to write my chatbot based on the information gathered from Phase 1.

So far, it’s pretty simple.  Soon, I hope and I believe, this will be much more complex than I used to think.  Until then…

NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said.

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.

“It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a ‘mother’,” ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP.

“After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together,” the ecologist added. “The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,” Kahumbu added.

“The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,” he explained.

Below are four (4) questions and a bonus question. You have to answer them instantly. You have to answer all of them immediately. OK? Also, try not to spoil the game by cheating.

Let’s find out just how clever you really are….

Ready? GO!!! (scroll down)

First Question:

You are participating in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?

Answer: If you answered that you are first, then you are absolutely wrong! If you overtake the second person and you take his place, you are second!

Try not to screw up next time.

Now answer the second question, but don’t take as much time as you took for the first question, OK?

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Second Question:

If you overtake the last person, then you are…?

Answer: If you answered that you are second to last, then you are wrong again. Tell me, how can you overtake the LAST Person?

You’re not very good at this, are you?

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Third Question:

Very tricky arithmetic! Note: This must be done in your head only. Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator. Try it.

Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total?

Answer: Did you get 5000? The correct answer is actually 4100.

If you don’t believe it, check it with a calculator! Today is definitely not your day, is it? Maybe you’ll get the last question right……..Maybe.

Fourth Question:

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Mary’s father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?

Answer: Did you Answer Nunu? NO! Of course it isn’t. Her name is Mary. Read the question again!

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Okay, now the bonus round:

A mute person goes into a shop and wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing his teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.

Next, a blind man comes into the shop who wants to buy a pair of sunglasses; how does HE indicate what he wants?

Answer: He just has to open his mouth and ask… He’s blind not mute! It’s really very simple…. Like you!

So, how many correct answers did you get? Post them as a comment below. Don’t worry ’cause the first time I took this test, I only got one correct answer - the one about Math (I love Math!!!!). So tell me how many did you get????

This is funny and I hope Google doesn’t ban me for this. It’s mean to be a joke.

A guy is browsing in a pet shop and sees a parrot sitting on a little perch. It doesn’t have any feet or legs. The guy says aloud, “Jeesh, I wonder what happened to this parrot?” The parrot says, “I was born this way. I’m a defective parrot.”

“Holy crap,” the guy replies. “You actually understood and answered me!”

“I got every word,” says the parrot. “I happen to be a highly intelligent

“Oh yeah?” the guy asks, “Then answer this — how do you hang onto your perch without any feet?”

“Well,” the parrot says, “this is very embarrassing but since you asked, I wrap my weenie around this wooden bar like a little hook. You can’t see it because of my feathers.” “Wow,” says the guy. “You really can understand and speak English can’t you?”

“Actually, I speak both Spanish and English, and I can converse with reasonable competence on almost any topic: politics, religion, sports, physics, philosophy. I’m especially good at ornithology. You really ought to buy me. I’d be a great companion.”

The guy looks at the $200.00 price tag. “Sorry, but I just can’t afford that.”

“Pssssssst,” says the parrot, “I’m defective, so the truth is, nobody wants me cause I don’t have any feet. You can probably get me for $20; just make the guy an offer!”

The guy offers $20 and walks out with the parrot.

Weeks go by. The parrot is sensational. He has a great sense of humor, he’s interesting, he’s a great pal, he understands everything, he sympathizes, and he’s insightful. The guy is delighted.

One day the guy comes home from work and the parrot goes, “Psssssssssssst,” and motions him over with one wing. “I don’t know if I should tell you this or not, but it’s about your wife and the postman.”

“What are you talking about?” asks the guy.

The postman delivered the mail today, your wife greeted him at the door in a sheer black nightie.”

“WHAT???” the guy asks incredulously. “THEN what happened?”

“Well, then the postman came into the house and lifted up her nightie and began petting her all over,” reported the parrot.

“NO!” he exclaims. “And she let him?”

“Yes. Then he continued taking off the nightie!, got down on his knees and began to kiss her all over….”

Then the frantic guy demands, “THEN WHAT HAPPENED?”

“Damned if I know. I got an erection and fell off my perch!”

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City where a woman may go to choose a husband.

Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates.

1. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE!
2. There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights.
3. There is, however, a catch … You may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband…

On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord.

The second floor sign reads:

Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.

The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking.

“Wow,” she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads:

Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework.

“Oh, mercy me!” she exclaims, “I can hardly stand it!” Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads:

Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.

Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!

Related story:

• Wife 1.0 Tech Support

Today, March 18, 2006, is my 29th birthday and now that I am celebrating it - albeit simply - I thought of how I spent my 29 years. Did I spend it well? Or not?

Introduction:

I spent my first 4 years as a baby. I was born in Cebu City. My parents are Roque Lopez, Jr. and Carmen “Olive” Gonzalez. All I know is that we lived in Cebu City and eventually moved to Manila. Sad part is that my dad left us when I was still young.

So that’s about it for the introduction.

Schooling:

• 2 years in Pre-elementary in La Concordia College, Sta. Mesa Manila. Back then they still accepted males. My batch was the last before La Concordia became an all-girl school
• 6 years in elementary - Grade 1 in Kiddie School, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. Second Grade in Iloilo Central Elementary School. Grades 3 to 5 in SEC-SPED, Iloilo City and Grade 6 in Ilaya Barangka Elementary School in Mandaluyong. Before I continue, SEC-SPED stands for School for Exceptional Children-Special Education. I was in the FL section and FL stands for Fast Learners and in our class, the dumbest student would still be at least top 3 in regular schools. The funny side to this school is that it is a mix of Fast Learners (FL) and Mentally Retarded (MR) students. We were in fact schoolmates!
• First Year High School in Academe for Development Education, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
• I moved to San Felipe Neri Parochial School in Mandaluying for Second Year High School until family problems prevented me from continuing my studies. Pride and financial problems hindered me.
• I enrolled at the University of Iloilo to give Second Year Highschool a second try. Again, I discontinued. Why? Mainly because of shame - I told the entire class that my teacher was my girlfriend and guess what happened when the teacher found out??? Duh! I was only 15 years old then
• A few years passed before I continued my studies again. I enrolled at LSGH-ANHS for another try on Second year high school. LSGH-ANHS stands for La Salle Greenhills - Adult Night High School. At the age of 18, I was among the youngest in our class. I have schoolmates who are 50 years old already! Yeah, that’s what ‘Adult’ in ANHS stands for. This was my third try as a Sophomore. This time I finished Second Year! Hurray!
• 3rd Year High school and 4th Year High school were spent in LSGH-ANHS as well. I was able to finish both years but that doesn’t make me a high school graduate yet because Night School in La Salle requires 5 years!
• Still in LSGH-ANHS, I enrolled as 5th year high school. This time, I just got bored of studies so after a couple of months, I left schooling never to return again.

Employment:

Hmmm, let me try to recall this…

• My first work was being a gasoline boy in a Petron Station in Tuguegarao, Cagayan Valley. Work was hard and was not the type of work I wanted. If I remember correctly, I was only either 14 or 15 years old then. Not sure.
• Second work was as a dishwasher in Leng-Leng’s Chinese Restaurant (not sure if that’s the correct name but it’s definitely called Leng-Leng’s). This was also in Tuguegarao, Cagayan. I was employed here almost immediately after I left my work as a gasoline boy.
• Third work was a runner in Pasay Police Headquarters. Well, this ain’t an official work but it paid me enough money to survive for the few months I worked there.
• I then worked as a waiter in a certain not-so-popular restaurant in Boracay. It was a short stint. Short because my employer abruptly informed me that I have to leave my job without explaining why. The life in Boracay was good though!
• Then I became a good boy and worked as a volunteer for a Protestant church named ‘Jesus Life Center’ or JLC. Pay wasn’t high but my idealism at the time fits the work smoothly. This was in Cubao.
• Then, after a few more years, I worked as an encoder and desktop publisher at Jorel’s in Lagro, Quezon City. This was the turning point of my career. At this time, I knew that the Information Technology a.k.a. Computer Industry would take me farther than any possible career at the time. Though my original ambition was to be a pilot, that didn’t materialize. Why? Read my Schooling history again.
• I stopped for a moment to get married. Then I applied for work as a desktop publisher again at D’Plaza also in Lagro, Quezon City. Jorel’s and D’Plaza are owned by the same person - Mr. Rene Lamzon who is also my godfather.
• I then worked as an IT person at Simon Harrison Design Corporation. I worked there for months but didn’t reach a year if I remember correctly. It was here where I learned a lot of things about business and the IT industry. The business management side I learned from my employer - Mr. Simon Harrison. He is an Australian and his bravery in leaving Australia to start his business here in the Philippines just stuck in my mind. I thought, if he can do it, why can’t I? It was also during this time when I met Mr. Benj Arriola and Mr. Terence Teves - the original developers of the Simon Harrison website. It was them who gave me a good start in the IT industry. When I left Simon Harrison, Benj and Terence began handing over some web development jobs over to me. This ends my employment history.
• Year 2004, I got ESIL Philippines hired me as IT Department Head but I didn’t stay long. After a few months of being employed, I left the job simply because I didn’t like my boss.
• Lastly, I am currently working as Programmer and Head of the Philippine Programming Team for Distributed Website Corporation. The company is US based but almost all of its employees work at their own homes as programmers, customer reps, sysads, etc.

Note: I also remember having short stints as a salesman - selling peanut butter, toys, books, etc but I can’t remember where to insert them in the abovelisted chronology.

Lovelife:

• My first crush was Susan, can’t remember her lastname - and I was only 5 years old then. All my memories of her are kind of blurry. C’mon, I was still young then. We were living in Coronado Subdivision in Mandaluyong during this time.
• When I was in first grade (Bulacan), my eyes turned over to Edal Cruz
• From Grades three to four, I liked both Deborah Hope Ascaño and Julie Sangrador. None of the girls / ladies mentioned here became my girlfriend.
• In Grade 5, I found my first official girlfriend. May Dureza. She wasn’t my classmate but she leaves just across our street in Delgado Street, Iloilo City. Our relationship lasted only a few months until my mom came over to Iloilo to bring me back to Manila.
• Grade 6, I remember having a crush named “Vhay” who was my classmate. Can’t remember her real name. Vhay was just her nickname. Not even sure if the name was Vhay. She didn’t become my girlfriend as she was too ‘harsh’ for me.
• First year high school, I fell in love with Evelyn Nolasco. She was in 3rd year high school already and was my schoolmate. However, I looked to geeky and stupid back then that she didn’t fall in love with me…. yet!
• I then had a short relationship with Mary Grace ‘Joy’ Maniago while I was in San Felipe Neri Parochial School.
• My second “Second year high school”, in Iloiloi, a teacher who’s name I can’t really remember. I’m poor with names, I admit that!
• Still in Iloilo, I got back with May Dureza but the relationship was pretty short - just about 2 months or less. Then no more, it’s bye bye to my first official girlfriend.
• Another short relationship with another girl named Mayette.
• In LSGH-ANHS, I had a short relationship with Rachel Libid. It was short - really short.
• Then, I met Evelyn Nolasco again. This time, I was more attractive than ever! Still looks stupid though. But somehow she fell in love with me this time. A couple more years and we got married. I was 21 years old and the exact date of our marriage is September 26, 1998.

Ok, don’t ask me about my extra-marital lovelife. Only me and my wife know the exact details about it. Hehehe.

Family:

I married Evelyn del Rosario Nolasco last September 28, 1998 at the IRM Paradise Church. Reverend Catalino Bautista gave the usual Christian blessings. We had a whole bunch of godfathers and godmothers to witness our wedding as well.

Our first baby girl was born last August 2, 1999. We named her Kei. We had our second baby girl a couple of years after. On the 30th of May 2001, Vhi was born. It is also worth noting that my wife had a miscarriage before she got pregnant with Vhi. After Vhi, she also gave birth to Gie. Sad to say though, Gie was born 3 months early and thus, being a premature baby, passed away 18 hours after she was born. So in all, we now have two daughters - Kei and Vhi - and no sons yet.

We are currently residing here in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan in the same compound where my mother-in-law lives.

Business:

My fisrt business is still my business until now. I started accepting work as a freelance web developer. I had a few clients from here and there during my first days. The bulk of my work came from Action Online. I also had some international clients (Belgium and USA) as well as one project called “Make It Strong” who’s main goal was to promote Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as president. I have to admit, I’m no idealist myself. Just wanted the money. In fact, I didn’t even vote for Gloria Arroyo during the election period at the time. I also started accepting web hosting services and my web hosting business seems to start to pick up some momentum.

On Monday - March 21, 2006 - I will go to the Department of Trade and Industry office in Malolos, Bulacan to pick up my brand new business name. Watch out for this!

Here’s a quick list of my best clients! Listed in no particular order:

• Cuervo Far East, Inc. (Real Estate)
• Philippine CEFENET Foundation (Consulting)
• Lamzon and Associates (Consulting)
• Alay sa Bansa (Foundation)
• Global Harvesters Foundation
• Inteco Philippines (ISUZU Dealer)
• Meditrans Academy (Medical Transcription School)
• TransMed (Medical Transcription)
• AccuCode (Medical Transcription)
• InfoScript, Inc. (Medical Transcription)

I also developed a few web applications - the best of them being:

• Ring Service Call Management System
• Motion Pictures Association of America - MPAA Digital Technology Vendor Information System

As a Good Boy:

As a good boy, I washed the dishes, helped wash the clothes at times and did very well in school though I wasn’t able to finish. I was never the first honor but I’m pretty proud to say that the ‘first honors’ of our class ask me to help them out with our lessons. So I wasn’t an honor student but the honor students asked me to help them a lot. Irony? You tell me. I never became the first honor because despite my so-called intelligence, I am a pretty lazy student especially when it comes to copying notes from the blackboard. Who wants that anyway?

I also became a ‘good’ church member and served God and the church as youth president, bible study leader, music ministry head, worship leader, and eventually as mission head. This happened in different churches.

I also do my best to provide for the needs of my family in all aspects. I try to be a good father and husband though at times I fall behind the line. I also exert all effort possible to make my family happy.

As a Bad Boy:

I can’t really say that I grew up as a good son. I gave my good share of hurts and problems to my parents, aunts and grandparents. I left home at random times and experienced sleeping inside jeepnies, in waiting sheds and in friends’ houses. I spent a night in jail as well? Why? Because, I shoplifted at National Bookstore in Baclaran. Gladly though, National Bookstore back then didn’t have a policy to file criminal cases against shoplifters who were caught. When I was to be released, I begged the cops to ‘adopt’ me instead and so started my work as runner in the Pasay Police Headquarters.

I was also able to stay with a friend in the mountains and forests of Olongapo City and also spent a good amount of time with the native Aetas who were relocated there due to the Mount Pinatubo eruption. Then of course, Boracacy. My Lola Marit (deceased) gave me 2,000 pesos and asked me to pay the telephone bill. I didn’t pay the bill and went to Boracay instead - 2,000 pesos in hand. It was during this time that I worked as a waiter. I did enjoy my short stay in Boracay.

The Verdict:

Just in case you forgot, the whole reason why I’m telling you all this stuff is to find out whether or not I used all my 29 years well or not. I have to say that a large chunk of 29 years of life was spent in things that are not so good nor productive. However, it would also be wrong to say that all those years were wasted since it was during all those years that made me what I am today. Perhaps, I could be a better person if a better portion of the “wasted chunk” of my life was put into good use but then, there is nothing I can do with my past anymore except to make good use of it.

Now that I’ve honestly recalled my past and gave it a fair view, I think what I’ll do now is make sure that most of my years ahead would be put into good and more productive use.

You, my dear reader and friend, what do you say? I’m open to anything you want to tell me.

Lastly, Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: This post should not be considered as the official autobiography of Michael John G. Lopez nor should the chronology be considered accurate. All dates, names, and places herein mentioned are mostly based only on the author’s recollection of his past.

All ye fans of The Simpsons, here’s one cool video for all of us. It’s a real-life rendition of the ‘intro’ that we see before every Simpson episode starts. It’s complete and impressive, includes the blackboard scenario as well as the couch scenario.

Nice!