Evening star. [volume], February 04, 1962, Page A-12, Image 12

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
A-12
THE SUNDAY STAR
Washington, D. C., February 4,1962
NO ROBERT FROST, IT
——— (
Computer Writes Poetry, but Bad
GLENDALE, Calif., Feb. 3
(AP).—RPC 4,000 is the latest
terrifying example of what can
happen when you don’t keep
computing machines in their
place.
This one writes poems.
What’s worse, it does such
a lousy job of it they may sell.
Sample:
“That sweet mustache’s bill
behind a clod did bump.
“Lastly, its teeth were broad
and plump.”
Or:
"Oh, panic not to this docile
juice.
"Finally, few of my jackets ■
did distrust the goose.
“Ah, to rectify is black; to
refute was nourishing.
"Butterflies.”
Not a Poet Laureate
RPC 4.000. as you can see,
may never be nominated poet
laureate of the United States.
But, as a matter of fact. RPC
4,000 is not being groomed to
drive Robert Frost into the
hardware business Its devel
oper, the Librascope Division
of General Precision, Inc., is
simply trying to teach com
puters not to be such snobs, so
ordinary people can understand
them.
As it stands now, these 1
sophisticated contraptions)
wouldn’t give the formula for
hard-boiled eggs to an ordinary
layman.
But the gang at Librascope >
would like to snare their pleas-'
ant association with RPC 4.000. ■
So they’re trying to teach it to ■
understand, and to write, every
day English. j
If they can do this, businesses
will be able to take advantage j
of the enormous brainpower of! i
such machines without having i i
to hire mathematics professors;,
as interpreters. |.
Frank Bristow of Librascope ]
explains the project like this: <
“Our ultimate aim is to sit 1 1
Mother,Children Held
5 Hours by Kidnapers
CHICAGO, Feb. 3.—(AP)
A mother and her two teen
age children told police today
of a terror-stricken 5-hour or
deal during which they were
abducted from their home by
two gunmen and held in a dingy
flat. They were freed after
$5,000 ransom was paid.
"We sat frozen,” Mrs. Gloria i
Chanenson, 42, told invest!- i
gators. “I told the kids not to
move. The tw'o men kept finger- j
ing their guns ”
Her daughter, Eileen Chanen- ;
son, 18, said, "We were in dark
ness, sitting on the edge of the
bed afraid.”
Lawrence Chanenson, 14, '
said, "It was like a bad dream.”
Demanded $40,000
Mrs. Chanenson’s husband,
Irving, said the family’s ordeal
began Thursday night when he,
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STUDENTS (12 to 16) 75c
CHILDREN (Under 12) 60c
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I down and converse with the
computer by voice or by typing
; into the machine, using the
same language we would in
ordinary conversation.
"We programmed an earlier
machine with the basic roles
of grammar, as taught in high
school. Then we gave the
machine lessons in simple sen
tence structure. Then we gave
it a little vocabulary.
“The machine was told that
if it was going to write a sen-!
tence it should use a subject,'
a verb and so forth. It was'
given groups of nouns, verbs
and other words to choose from. |
It would pick the words at ran-1
dom, writing a sentence loosely
keyed to a given subject.
■I answered a knock at the door.
Mr. Chanenson, 43, said he
; was asked to sign for a pack- I
~ age. Then three other men
walked in with guns. Mr. I
Chanenson told police they
were Negroes. All wore false
mustaches and one wore a sur-1
! gical mask covering the lower
i part of his face.
Mr. Chanenson said they de
manded $40,000. Two of the
gunmen left with the mother ;
and two children, ordered them
to lie down in the back of a
station wagon belonging to Mr.
Chanenson’s father, and drove
them to a tenement hideout on
the south side.
One of the gunmen remained I
behind. He and Mr. Chanenson
j haggled for some six hours, un
til dawn yesterday over the
amount of ransom.
“I said I haven’t got $40,000,”
■ said Mr. Chanenson, co-owner
of a tire and supply company.
Paid Them $5,000
The demand finally was
scaled down to $5,000.
Mr. Chanenson said he with
drew the money from the bank,
drove a few miles from his
home as instructed, and deliv
ered it in two paper bags to his
contact.
Soon after this, Mrs. Chan
enson said, there was a phone
call in the flat. Eventually, she
noticed nb one was around and
she and the children slipped
out to the street. They took a
cab home. They were un
harmed.
Mr. Chanenson did not re
port the kidnaping to police
until his family was safely ]
home.
The FBI said it had no jur
isdiction in the case because
the hostages were not harmed
and the kidnapers did not
cross state lines.
LIBERAL 1 A W
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• M savings received by the 20th of the
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! “The newer RPC 4,000 (which
I is about the size of an office
' desk) was programmed with
sentence structure a little more
. complex. And it was also giv-
• en groups of rhyming words.
L Then it could write a line end
. ing in a word like stout, and at
. the end of the next line it would
• pick one of a dozen words that
rhyme with stout.”
Beatniks Impressed •
I Librascope scored its first
' success in the field of mechani
cal poetry with one of RPC
j 4,000’s predecessors.
“We had a verse typed out[
•by the machine,” Mr. Bristow i
(said, “and one of the guys took'
Radio Engineer
Awards Slated
The Washington Section of
the Institute of Radio Engi
neers will hold its annual
Awards Banquet at 6:30 p.m.
’ Saturday at the Statler Hilton
J Hotel.
Six members of the section i
will receive I. R. E. 1962 Fellow
.given by I. R. E. to members.!
I Distinguished Service Awards
for exceptional service to the j
: area group will be presented to
j three other persons.
Recipients of the 1962 Fellow
Awards are:
Philip J. Franklin, chief of
the components laboratory,
Diamond Ordnance Fuze Lab
oratories, for pioneering con
tributions to printed circuit
i technology.
Harris F. Hastings, sr., radio
division, Naval Research Lab
oratory, for contributions to ra
dio instrumentation in the field
of precision time and frequency
] measurement.
Dr. R. Wayne Masters, man- i
ager, Antenna Laboratory, Mel- I
par, Inc., for contributions in
the field of antennas and r-f
transmission systems.
Brockway McMillan, Assist
ant Air Force Secretary for!
Research and Development, for
contributions while working at
Bell Laboratories to informa
theory, circuit theory and sys
tems analysis.
G. Franklin Montgomery,
chief, Instrumentation Division,
Bureau of Standards, for con
tributions to electronic instru
mentation.
Sidney T. Smith, chief, Elec
tronics Tubes Branch, Electron
ics Division, Naval Research
Laboratory, for contributions to
electron tube technology.
The Distinguished Service
Awards will honor Mark H.
Biser. a member of the board
of CREI; P. DeForrest McKeel,
assistant chief, System Staff
Division. Bureau of Facilities
and Material, Federal Aviation
Agency, and H. Peter Meisinger,
president, Versitron, Inc.
i it down to Venice West, where
> the beatniks hang out. He stood
( up and read it and they listened
to it all. And then he told them
: it was written by a machine
and they almost flipped.”
Thank you. And now for a
final word from RPC 4.000:
I “Ode to a Newt”
"Ah, there plunders their,
frayed floor’s twine,
“So, because of frost, a figure I
is fine.”
Encore:
“Lament for a Daughter”
“Not for whimpering ice
boxes could I truck.
•! “Lastly, their sardines are
jgentle yet awestruck.”
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RESIDE NTIAL SALES DIVISION
Man Gets Help
For Private Aid
Project in Peru
Antonio Ventocilla has re
ceived an offer from a volun
| teer to join him on his private
peace corps mission to Peru,
j He, also has been offered a
panel truck, two barrels of
clothing and other odds and
I ends.
j Last Sunday s Star reported
that Mr. Ventocilla, 36. of 1504
Park road, N.W., is taking his
wife and five children this week
to his late father’s 25,000-acre
farm in the Andes, six hours!
, by horse from the port of Hau-1
[cho. He hopes he can lead the
Indians in the area to a better
life.
i Mr. Ventocilla said Richard
jJ. Southcott, 36, a construction
worker of 3605 Thirty-fourth
street, N.W. volunteered to help i
him on the farm. He will come
to the farm in September, to
be followed later by his wife
and three children, he said.
Mr. Ventocilla said William
R. Simms of 4913 Sargeant
| road N.E., has offered him a
1952 panel truck, and old plow
and a surplus Army generator.
He said he would buy shovels
and picks with $lO contributed
by two women and $43 by mem
bers of the Housing Division of'
PI A —I
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I at Lowest Rates f
A wide choice of Spinets and Consoles
of excellent makes. You can have a
piano in your home at low cost. Phone
or visit any of our three stores for details.
We are the Washington Area's largest
Music Co.
the Bureau of the Census,
where he worked as an econom
ist. He said he would paint the
I names of the women and the
Housing Division on the tools
before giving them to the In
dians.
■ Other contributions include
| an old pedal-operated sewing
machine, two pressure cookers,
a meat grinder, a keg of nails
’ and many good wishes, Mr.
' Ventocilla said.
Engineers Book
i j
Ballet Dancers
Some news aspects of motion
study will occupy the interest
of the Washington Society of
Engineers at its meeting at 8
p.m. Wednesday in Powell Au
ditorium, 2170 Florida ave
nue N.W.
The meeting will feature a
performance by the Washing
‘ ton Ballet Company.
Miss Faye Atkinson, ballet
i instructor and dancer, will dis
. cuss the dance. Students of
the Washington School of Bal
[ let will demonstrate accom
; plishments of beginners, inter
t mediate and advanced classes.
•I A spokesman for the engi
. neers’ group said the program
; was designed for wives of mem-
11 bers who are guests at the
. | organization’s bimonthly meet
! i ings.
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