Tux

...making Linux just a little more fun!

Heinlein's FAQ

Jimmy O'Regan [joregan at gmail.com]


Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:22:01 +0100

Knowing there are at least a couple of Heinlein readers here, some of you might be interested in this Slashdot story: http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/10/0216202&from=rss (pointing to this: http://kk.org/ct2/2008/09/heinleins-fan-mail-solution.php)

"In the days before the internet, Heinlein's solution was to create a list of frequently asked questions, answer them, and remove the questions. Then he, or rather his wife Ginny, checked off the appropriate answer(s) and mailed it back. Some of the entries in Heinlein's answer sheet are quite illuminating and amusing. Our personal favorite: 'You say that you have enjoyed my stories for years. Why did you wait until you disliked one story before writing to me?'"


Top    Back


Deividson Okopnik [deivid.okop at gmail.com]


Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:51:41 -0300

Prooves you can come up with inteligent solutions for problems - even without the use of technology.


Top    Back


René Pfeiffer [lynx at luchs.at]


Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:09:43 +0200

On Sep 10, 2008 at 1051 -0300, Deividson Okopnik appeared and said:

> Prooves you can come up with inteligent solutions for problems - even
> without the use of technology.

Speaking of technology, did you know that blogging is much older than the Internet?

http://orwelldiaries.wordpress.com/

:), René.


Top    Back


Jimmy O'Regan [joregan at gmail.com]


Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:16:10 +0100

2008/9/10 Deividson Okopnik <[email protected]>:

> Prooves you can come up with inteligent solutions for problems - even
> without the use of technology.
>

Well, on the subject of technology, I decided to try the jpg out with the two open source OCR engines. It was a good test image, because both open source engines currently lack layout management.

Tesseract:

apt-get install tesseract-ocr tesseract-ocr-eng
convert heinlein.jpg heinlein.tif
tesseract-ocr heinlein.tif heinlein

gives:

Robert A. Heinlein
Care of Mr. Lurton Blassingame
60 East 42nd Street, Suite 1131
New York, N.'{. 10017
Dear s1r/Madam/Ma./mea
An ever�increas1.ng flood of mail forced me to choose between writing letters
and writing fiction. But I read each letter sent to me and check its answer.
( ) Thanks for your kind words. You have made my day hrxghcer.
( ) You say that you have enjoyed my atariea for years. Why did you wan mtu
you disllked one story before writing to me'!
( ) Renshaw: Saturday Evming Post, You're Not As Smart As You Could Be, April
17**. 24**, and May 1st, 1948.
( ) Essay Mental Telegraphy, Mark Twain's Works, Harper & Brothers
( ) D0n't aehd books to be autographed; we many have failed me reaeh me.
Registering or insuring is no answer; the post office is s 3D�mile round trip.
( ) Story ideas come from everywhere and anything & writers are sel!-taught.
The book WRITER'S MARKET tells how to prepare manuscripts A: lists markets.
( ) My agent handles all business; your letter has been sent to him.
( ) I don't discuss my colleagues' works or my own. A novelist writes from
many viewpoints; opinions expressed even by a firstpperson character are not
necessarily those of the author. Fictlon is sold as entertainment, not as fact.
( ) Tne item you want is herewith/not available/: Ask your reference librarian.
( ) I don't sell books. All my books are Ln print & can be bought or ordered
at any bookstore or directly from publishers. Bookstores have
"in�print" lists. . .
( ) 1 get 4 dr 5 or more requests each week for help 1h class aaaighmehta, tem
papers, theses, or dissertations. I can't cope with so many J, have quit trying.
( ) It is not just for a student's grade to depend on the willlngness
or capacity
of a stranger to help him with his homework. I am ready to discuss this with
your teacher, principal, or school board.
( ) Science fiction: stories that would cease to exist if elements involving
science or technology were omitted. For hill discussion see my lecture in
THE SCIHVCE FICTION NOVEL, Adve*nt:Publishers, Chicago.
( ) VIho's Who Ln America; Encyclopaedia Britannica 1974; IN SEARCH OF WONDER,
chapter 7, Damon Knight, Advent:Publishers; SEEKERS OF TOMORROW, chapter 11,
Sam Moskowitz, World Publishing Company; Current Biography magazine; reference
books about authors. I don't discuss private life, politics, religion,
philosophy
( ) Your question: Yes/No/No comment/NY publishers announce new works/
( ) Please do not write to me again.
( > Thanks rm- the stamped a addressed e�ve1�pe�a rare courtesy eaday.
( ) Pressure ar work causes me to avoid interviews, queauahhaxrea, rama e
television appearances, public speaking.
( ) For legal reaaaha 1 dd hat read unpublished rahuaeupca.
( ) D0n't plan to call at our home; we work very long hours every day
of the year.
( ) Your letter was most welcome!�loaded with friendliness and with no requests
or demands, You suggested that no answer was expected but I must tell you how
much it pleased me. I wish you calm seas, following winds, and a happy voyage
"""�"�*' me Sincerel aura
Y Y � adhere A. uexrdeih, by

Cuneiform (which had to be compiled from source):

convert heinlein.jpg heinlein.bmp
cuneiform heinlein.bmp -o heinlein.txt

Gives:

Robert A. Heinl
0 of N . L~on Blassingame
60 E t 42 d St *et, Suite 1! 5!
H I k, H.Y. 10017
Dear Sir/Hearne/H ./N
An - * DH flo d of mail fo c d t *ho*as letw n ting letters
and t g f1*tie . B 1 I read each I tt t to e and ch k it ewer.
( ) Thmks for y kl d rd . You have made my day 0 ght r.
( ) You ssy that you have n0 yed y t i*s for yea s. Why did you walt t I
y disliked on st ry b f iti g to ey
( ) Rensha: S t M y E ing Post, You' re Hot A S rt As You CoMd B*, Ap il
17, 24m, d N y 1st, 1940.
( ) Don't send books to be autographed! t y ! f lied t h a*.
R glsterlng or in i~ ' o answer; the p t *ff ** 1 50-mll d t ip.
( ) St ry lde s com f ~ere end anything a t s are self-ta ght.
Th* book WRITER'S NARKET tell h t p p * omnuscripta A lists arkets.
( ) Ny agent handl Wl b sl ess! you 1*tt* I s b*e s t t hi
( ) I d 't disc ss y 11 g es' works or my . A novelist wr t s fro
many i~of ts! op M rp essed even by a 11 t-person charact e ot
essa ly th se of th th . Piction le s ld entertainment, t as fact.
()'fh t youwanti.sh th/ot llabl/!Aky* f lb I
( ) I don't ll b k . All my b k 1 prl t R can b bought or ord r d
at any b *! tore d tly fm publi h . B kstores hav "1 -prl t" list .
()Igt4or5ormo qestseach ekf h*lpi elec lg t,term
p pere, th, *r dissertatl n . ~ca~a' cope Mth y a hav q t t y ~.
( ) It 1 n t 0 t for a t d t' gr de to dep d the willingness o c pa ity
of t ~er t h lp hi 1th his h k. I a r ady t di ss this with
yo t cher, p cip I, * school b
( ) S I ce fiction: t les that would e e to exist if I t I volving
scl c technology * tted. For full discussion y 1**t r* I
THE SCIZSCE FIC1'ION NOVEL, Ad e t!Pullishers, 0! ago.
( ) Who's Wh 1 A erlce; Incy 1*p ~a B lt I 1974; IN SEARCH OF WONDER,
ch pt r 7, Daa K ight, Advent!P bli he s; SEEKERS OP TONORROW, ch pt 11,
Sa Noskcwtts, W Id P bllshing C ~ y; Current Bi g phy ~ sin; f
books about a th s. I don't d s privet I f, p*lltics, I gx , phil ophy
( ) Y question: Y /No/No comment/Hy publishers announ rks/
( ) Pl * do n t t t e again.
( ) Thanks for the a~ed A add essed envelop -- a a * Wesy today.
( ) p of ork 0 e to av id 1 t le s, questi n 1 , r dio a
televi 1 appearanc , p blic speak ml.
( ) For I g I reasons 0 t * d unpubl hed *ripe
( ) D 't plan t 11 t ur home; k ery long h e ery day of th y*
( ) Y letter m! t I o e! -- I* d d with f 1 ~1 ss and 1th q estd
or demand . You sugg t*d t! t no ens xpect d b t I st t 11 y !
much it pleased me. I h y* cela e a , folio ing d , nd ! Ppy voy g
th ugh life.
SincerelY y rs R be~ A. Hefmef , by

Cuneiform is at a much earlier stage of its open source life, and I think it would be more fair to try it with Russian, but tesseract looks pretty good.


Top    Back


Deividson Okopnik [deivid.okop at gmail.com]


Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:35:36 -0300

On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 12:16 PM, Jimmy O'Regan <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
> Cuneiform (which had to be compiled from source):
>
> ``
> convert heinlein.jpg heinlein.bmp
> cuneiform heinlein.bmp -o heinlein.txt
> ''
>
> Gives:
>
> ``
> Robert A. Heinl
> 0 of N . L~on Blassingame
> 60 E t 42 d St *et, Suite 1! 5!
> H I k, H.Y. 10017
> Dear Sir/Hearne/H ./N
> An - * DH flo d of mail fo c d t *ho*as letw n ting letters
> and t g f1*tie . B 1 I read each I tt t to e and ch k it ewer.
> ( ) Thmks for y kl d rd . You have made my day 0 ght r.
> ( ) You ssy that you have n0 yed y t i*s for yea s. Why did you walt t I
> y disliked on st ry b f iti g to ey
> ( ) Rensha: S t M y E ing Post, You' re Hot A S rt As You CoMd B*, Ap il
> 17, 24m, d N y 1st, 1940.
> ( ) Don't send books to be autographed! t y ! f lied t h a*.
> R glsterlng or in i~ ' o answer; the p t *ff ** 1 50-mll d t ip.
> ( ) St ry lde s com f ~ere end anything a t s are self-ta ght.
> Th* book WRITER'S NARKET tell h t p p * omnuscripta A lists arkets.
> ( ) Ny agent handl Wl b sl ess! you 1*tt* I s b*e s t t hi
> ( ) I d 't disc ss y 11 g es' works or my . A novelist wr t s fro
> many i~of ts! op M rp essed even by a 11 t-person charact e ot
> essa ly th se of th th . Piction le s ld entertainment, t as fact.
> ()'fh t youwanti.sh th/ot llabl/!Aky* f lb I
> ...
> or demand . You sugg t*d t! t no ens xpect d b t I st t 11 y !
> much it pleased me. I h y* cela e a , folio ing d , nd ! Ppy voy g
> th ugh life.
> SincerelY y rs R be~ A. Hefmef , by
> ''
>
> Cuneiform is at a much earlier stage of its open source life, and I
> think it would be more fair to try it with Russian, but tesseract
> looks pretty good.
>

Cuneiform's result looks like cuneiform (http://bigeye.us/scribe/LANGUAGES/akkadian-cuneiform.gif) writting to me :P


Top    Back


Jimmy O'Regan [joregan at gmail.com]


Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:41:41 +0100

2008/9/11 Deividson Okopnik <[email protected]>:

> On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 12:16 PM, Jimmy O'Regan <[email protected]> wrote:
>> or demand . You sugg t*d t! t no ens xpect d b t I st t 11 y !
>> much it pleased me. I h y* cela e a , folio ing d , nd ! Ppy voy g
>> th ugh life.
>> SincerelY y rs R be~ A. Hefmef , by
>> ''
>>
>> Cuneiform is at a much earlier stage of its open source life, and I
>> think it would be more fair to try it with Russian, but tesseract
>> looks pretty good.
>>
>
> Cuneiform's result looks like cuneiform
> (http://bigeye.us/scribe/LANGUAGES/akkadian-cuneiform.gif) writting to
> me :P

Nah... it's majorly sophisticated - automatic encryption :)


Top    Back


Deividson Okopnik [deivid.okop at gmail.com]


Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:43:50 -0300

On Thu, Sep 11, 2008 at 11:41 AM, Jimmy O'Regan <[email protected]> wrote:

> 2008/9/11 Deividson Okopnik <[email protected]>:
>> On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 12:16 PM, Jimmy O'Regan <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> Cuneiform's result looks like cuneiform
>> (http://bigeye.us/scribe/LANGUAGES/akkadian-cuneiform.gif) writting to
>> me :P
>
> Nah... it's majorly sophisticated - automatic encryption :)
>

Good one :P We just need a way to turn that back to the image (de-crypt) :P


Top    Back


Ben Okopnik [ben at linuxgazette.net]


Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:40:21 -0400

On Thu, Sep 11, 2008 at 01:43:50PM -0300, Deividson Okopnik wrote:

> On Thu, Sep 11, 2008 at 11:41 AM, Jimmy O'Regan <[email protected]> wrote:
> > 2008/9/11 Deividson Okopnik <[email protected]>:
> >> On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 12:16 PM, Jimmy O'Regan <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>
> >> Cuneiform's result looks like cuneiform
> >> (http://bigeye.us/scribe/LANGUAGES/akkadian-cuneiform.gif) writting to
> >> me :P
> >
> > Nah... it's majorly sophisticated - automatic encryption :)
> >
> 
> Good one :P We just need a way to turn that back to the image (de-crypt) :P

It's a really secure type of encryption: a pure one-way algorithm.

-- 
* Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *


Top    Back


Chris Bannister [mockingbird at earthlight.co.nz]


Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:43:57 +1200

On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 10:51:41AM -0300, Deividson Okopnik wrote:

> Prooves you can come up with inteligent solutions for problems - even without
> the use of technology.

Luddites unite!

P.S. Please don't post in HTML.

-- 
Chris.
======
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god
than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other
possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
                                           -- Sir Stephen Henry Roberts


Top    Back


Deividson Okopnik [deivid.okop at gmail.com]


Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:49:15 -0300

On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 8:43 AM, Chris Bannister <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Luddites unite!
>
> P.S. Please don't post in HTML.
>

Dont think that was in HTML :X If it is, Gmail is cheating on me :P (Plus it doesnt look like html to me too)

[[[ It was in html, at least before I edited for publication in this issue. -- Kat ]]]


Top    Back


Ben Okopnik [ben at linuxgazette.net]


Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:03:04 -0400

On Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 11:49:15AM -0300, Deividson Okopnik wrote:

> On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 8:43 AM, Chris Bannister
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > Luddites unite!
> >
> > P.S. Please don't post in HTML.
> >
> 
> Dont think that was in HTML :X If it is, Gmail is cheating on me :P
> (Plus it doesnt look like html to me too)

It was HTML. You might want to tell Gmail to straighten out its act. :)

-- 
* Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *


Top    Back