Logotron dynamic interpretations

science/physique logotron

En résumé (grâce à un LLM libre auto-hébergé)

  • The Logotron is a program developed in JavaScript by Daniel Oddon, capable of generating neologisms and creatively interpreting words.
  • It allows users to contribute to a database of interpretations and insults, with potential applications in various fields such as automobiles or mobile phones.
  • Invented in 1977, the Logotron was presented on a television show and generated significant interest, particularly for its humorous and linguistic aspects.

The Logotron

The Logotron

Programmed in JavaScript by Daniel Oddon

Note: It would be possible to modify this program so that the semantic interpreter provides a syntactically more accurate comment.

For example:

ZOODIDACTE producing ENSEIGNE ANIMAL could yield instruction related to the animal world.

Another formula could be used. By calling I the starting word index and J the ending word index, one could create a file S$(I, J) containing a string. For given I and J, if the register is empty, the program would generate the interpretation. If the register is non-empty, the program would simply display the stored interpretation. This would allow gradually accumulating a large collection of amusing interpretations, enrichable by readers. The program would then display the author's name for each interpretation. On request, a file could list the members of the Logotron Academy, along with the number of interpretations adopted and integrated into the program. Once a certain number of interpretations had been collected, readers could be admitted into the Logotron Academy and, in turn, select the best discoveries. Over the years, one could amass a vast collection of hilarious interpretations. For information, a standard logotron has a potential of 90,000 neologisms (300 by 300).

Who would be willing to modify Daniel Oddon's program to give it such capabilities? I personally don't know JavaScript.

STATODYNAMIQUE: Study of the evolution of stationary states

EPISCODROME: Landing field for bishops

PANSCAPHE: Vehicle for going anywhere

PANGAME: A person who tends to marry everyone

HEMIGAME: Half-married

COSMOTOPE: The place where the universe is located

CHRONOGENE: Describes a situation where time is just waiting to appear

STEREODOXE: One with firmly held opinions

MESOGRAPHE: System for writing between the lines

BRADYCERQUE: Short-tailed

GERONTOMACHIE: Battle of old people

I remember designing (in one of my computer science books) a program called INSULTOGRAPHE, which automatically generated insults. I could easily retrieve the files. The character sequence is then:

Go on, eh ........

The insult would appear automatically. I had suggested integrating this device into automobiles, at the back, with an appropriate display. A desktop version with a sound synthesizer, for masochists. Another variant, integrated into mobile phones, with a control button.

Which gadget manufacturer will dare to produce (with a simple liquid crystal display bar) a desktop Logotron, to be integrated into anything? Consider solar-powered Logotrons for tombstones. Why not a giant Logotron, embedded in a sculpture? I suggest Logotrons in subway cars or in toilets, to entertain people.

Years ago, I had envisioned a LOGOTRON game, an extension of Scrabble. Instead of letters, players would have word beginnings and endings, and compose their own discoveries, which would then be scored by other players.

I invented the LOGOTRON in 1977, on a rainy Sunday. It led to a memorable appearance on the show "Temps X" with my two friends, Igor and Grichka, the famous Bogdanoff brothers. Wearing a pair of lizard-skin glasses, I presented the "Logotron" (in fact an Apple II, but at the time few people knew about microcomputers). The device randomly synthesized words with the sound of a typewriter. Then, from time to time, the device would stop on a word, and the display would start flashing.

  • And what happens then, Professor?
  • Well, the word has entered the semantic interpreter's field.
  • And then, what do we do?

I signaled to a "technician in a white lab coat" (in fact one of my literature students, whom I taught at the university).

  • Mr. Arondel, would you please activate the semantic module...

The "technician" typed a few keys. The screen then displayed all sorts of things—graphs, anything at all. Then appeared:

Neologism: PANPHOBE

Calculated meaning: One who hates everything. — Impressive. And if viewers are interested in your research, what should they do?

  • Well, they write to the Institute of Logotronics, Faculty of Letters, Aix-en-Provence, Robert Schuman Avenue, and it arrives.

In passing, the LOGOTRON itself discovers its name, thanks to the suffix "TRON."

A hoax that fooled eight million people. The university president at the time called me into his office.

  • Hey, grab your mailbag, there...

The phone wouldn't stop ringing. Linguists wanted to know how we had built our semantic interpreter. There was even a pharmaceutical lab that had developed a new molecule and was asking for a quote to create a name for this new product.

A side anecdote: A sedative typically ends with the suffix "NAL" (like Belladénal, extracted from belladonna). In a pharmaceutical lab, researchers were struggling to find a name for a new sedative. At the end of the day, the director said:

  • Just invent anything, but keep "NAL."

Thus was born GARDENAL

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Mots-clés

informatique néologisme programmation
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