If you have time to waste (and I mean
really waste
), Emacs has things to keep you occupied. There are lots of interesting special effects, like "disassociated text." My favorite is a command called
"psychoanalyze-pinhead." It's based on "doctor," which is a variation of the classic artificial intelligence demonstration called "Eliza": the computer plays psychotherapist, asks you questions, you reply, and your answers are the basis for new questions. Nothing new, really; I remember it from my high school days, in the early '70s. If you think you might be in need of a psychotherapist, save your money and try
ESC x doctor RETURN
.
If you want to see something really interesting, try
ESC x psychoanalyze-pinhead
. This takes the built-in "doctor" program and feeds it with quotations from the cult comic strip
Zippy the Pinhead
. The result is indeed bizarre. Here's some typical output:
I am the psychotherapist. Please, describe your problems. Each time you are finished talking, type RET twice. YOU PICKED KARL MALDEN'S NOSE!! Why do you say I picked karl malden's nose? Am I SHOPLIFTING? Is it because of your plans that you say are you shoplifting? Are you selling NYLON OIL WELLS?? If so, we can use TWO DOZEN!!
Press CTRL-c when you've had enough.
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