From bob@RATTLESNAKE.COM Thu Mar 14 04:19:05 2002 Return-Path: X-Sender: bob@rattlesnake.com X-Apparently-To: lojban@yahoogroups.com Received: (EGP: unknown); 14 Mar 2002 12:19:04 -0000 Received: (qmail 44795 invoked from network); 14 Mar 2002 12:19:04 -0000 Received: from unknown (216.115.97.171) by m3.grp.snv.yahoo.com with QMQP; 14 Mar 2002 12:19:04 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO localhost) (140.186.114.245) by mta3.grp.snv.yahoo.com with SMTP; 14 Mar 2002 12:19:03 -0000 Received: by rattlesnake.com via sendmail from stdin id (Debian Smail3.2.0.114) Thu, 14 Mar 2002 12:19:44 +0000 (UTC) Message-Id: Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2002 12:19:44 +0000 (UTC) To: rob@twcny.rr.com Cc: lojban@yahoogroups.com In-reply-to: <20020314061311.GC2700@twcny.rr.com> (message from Rob Speer on Thu, 14 Mar 2002 01:13:11 -0500) Subject: Re: [lojban] lojban application in wearable computing References: <20020313180412.GJ29405@digitalkingdom.org> <20020314061311.GC2700@twcny.rr.com> From: "Robert J. Chassell" Reply-To: bob@rattlesnake.com X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=810561 .... few Lisp functions have a "subject", while basically all Lojban bridi do, so what do you do with the x1 places? This statement confuses me. I just glanced at the 153 Emacs Lisp functions in the Emacs simple.el. library: it looks to me that all of them have a subject. However, that subject is not stated overtly. The subject is the computer and the mode is imperative. Thus, we have commands such as: computer, move point backwards one word or you, help me compose email in the other window or you, return the value of 2 plus 2 where `you' refers to the computer. Questions with true or false answers are the same. Thus, the definition for the function `byte-compiling-files-p' is (defun byte-compiling-files-p () "Return t if currently byte-compiling files." (and (boundp 'byte-compile-current-file) and that means You, computer! Tell me whether you are currently converting source code that a domain-educated human can read to code that is less humanly readable, but more efficient for you to run. What might, on the surface, look like statements of context, such as if it is sunny, you are on the daylight side of the planet and there are no clouds or Bob is the son of Joseph are, from the computer's point of view, imperatives: Computer, record in your data base the following conditional: if it is sunny, ..... or You, set the son-of relationship such that Bob is the son of Joseph. The advantage of Lojban is that it is more than an imperative language in disguise. -- Robert J. Chassell bob@rattlesnake.com Rattlesnake Enterprises http://www.rattlesnake.com