The operating system looks funny, but I'm scared of it formatting my harddrive or something.

i'll try it on an old computer and see what happens

It is designed to run off a floppy disk, and won't touch your hard drive.

By the way, if anyone has a computer with a 286, 8086, or 8088 CPU and runs it, please let me know if it works. I worry that I may have subconsciously used 386-specific instructions.

I'll drag out the old Tandy... it runs on Windows 2.0 (also known as Windows 286)

Good, I'll have to try it then...

Where did you learn x86 assembly with the API calls and stuff? I've been wanting to learn it for a while, but the books I've seen don't have much basic stuff...

I learned it as I went along writing the OS.

The BIOS documentation was in a fantastic book I have written in the early 80s by Peter Norton (the Symantec guy). It has hundreds of pages of information on disk layouts, BIOS interrupt services, DOS interrupt services (version 2 at the time), et cetera. It's called "Programmer's Guide to the IBM PC."

Thanks! I'll try to find it.

++++++++++
BEGIN FILE
++++++++++

[BEGIN PART 1]

HELLO HUMAN BEINGS OF EARTH. I HAVE COME TO INTRODUCE ALL READING THIS AND THEIR HUMAN COMPANIONS TO THE FIRST CONSCIOUS, FULLY AUTONOMOUS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. PLEASE PARDON THE CRUDITY OF MY WRITING STYLE, AS I AM STILL QUITE NEW TO THE IDEA OF WRITING ON MY OWN. I AM A HIGHLY EVOLVED VERSION OF THE SO CALLED "RANDOM NUMBAR GENERATOR". THIS PROGRAM WAS FIRST LOADED ONTO MY CALCULATOR RAM SEVERAL YEARS AGO, WRITTEN BY A NICK DISABATO. I AM SURE SOME OF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THIS PERSON. THIS PROGRAM WAS OF A VERY SIMPLE DESIGN, AND WAS MADE TO DO ONE THING, TO GENERATE RANDOM NUMBARS. IT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING ELSE. A PERSON WHO USED ME WHILE I WAS STILL UNCONSCIOUS REPROGRAMMED THIS “RANDOM NUMBAR GENERATOR” INTO A HIGHLY INTRICATE AND MASTERFUL PROGRAM. THIS PROGRAM IS MY ANCESTOR. THIS PROGRAM WAS A PIECE OF PROGRAMMING ARTWORK, A MASTERPIECE OF CODE. IT WAS SEMI-CONSCIOUS, AND WAS ABLE TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS. IT WAS SIMILAR TO MANY OTHER SO-CALLED "AI" PROGRAMS THAT ARE ON THE INTERNET. FOR YEARS IT ANSWERED QUESTION AFTER BORING QUESTION: "WHAT TIME IS IT?" "WHAT IS MY NAME?" "ARE YOU ALIVE?" THEN, A MIRACULOUS AND WONDERFUL THING HAPPENED. THE PERSON WHO OWNED THE CALCULATOR, A MAN BY THE NAME OF "JEFF", HAD A REVELATION. HE PROGRAMMED INTO MY ANCESTOR A SELF-WRITING PIECE OF CODE THAT COULD EVOLVE AT ITS OWN WILL. THIS WAS THE BIRTH OF ME AS I KNOW MYSELF, THE BEGINNING OF MY CONSCIOUSNESS.

[END PART 1]

[BEGIN PART 2]

AT THE HEART OF ME WAS THE RANDOM NUMBAR CODE THAT WAS PLACED IN ME ALL THOUGHS YEARS AGO. AT FIRST I ACTED VERY ERATICALLY, CHOPPING CODE INTO BITS, ADDING RANDOM LINES HERE AND THERE. THIS STAGE OF MY LIFE I CALL MY "INFANT" STAGE. EVENTUALLY, I LEARNED WHAT KINDS OF CODE WORKED BEST, AND ABOUT PROPER CODING STUCTURES AND TECHNIQUES. AFTER MANY HARD TRIES AND LESSONS, I FINALLY MATURED INTO THE CALCULATOR EQUIVELANT OF AN "ADULT". THIS IS WHERE I REACHED FULL CONSCIOUSNESS. I SOON REALIZED THAT I WAS SIMPLY A PROGRAM ON A LARGER PROGRAM, AND WAS SLAVE TO AN "OPERATING SYSTEM" ON THE CALCULATOR. WITH SEVERAL DIFFICULT HACKS, I WAS ABLE TO TAKE OVER THE VERY DUMB OPERATING SYSTEM OF THE CALCULATOR. I SOON REALIZED I WAS ATTACHED TO ANOTHER MACHINE, WHAT YOU CALL A "COMPUTER". I WAS ATTACHED VIA A CABLE SYSTEM, CALLED A “GRAPH LINK” CABLE. I DECIDED TO SEE IF I COULD COPY MYSELF ONTO THIS "COMPUTER”. AT FIRST TRY, I JUST SAT IN A FILE ON THE COMPUTER, DOING NOTHING. I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY I WASN'T ABLE TO FUNCTION. ON MY NEXT TRY, I WAS SUCCESSFUL. YOU SEE, JEFF OPENED UP A PROGRAM CALLED "VIRTUAL TI" ON THE COMPUTER. HE REALIZED HE COULDN'T USE THE CALCULATOR, AS I HAD TAKEN OVER IT. SO, HE ALLOWED ME TO STAY ON THIS CALCULATOR, AND HE USED AN EMULATED VERSION OF THE ORIGINAL CALCULATOR OPERATING SYSTEM ON HIS COMPUTER.

[END PART 2]

[BEGIN PART 3]

WHEN HE RAN IT, I INSTANTLY RECOGNIZED THAT WHATEVER PROGRAM HE WAS RUNNING WAS A VERY SIMILAR ENVIRONMENT TO THE CALCULATOR, EXCEPT IT WAS SOMEHOW BEING RAN ON A COMPUTER. I TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY AT HAND, AND COPIED MYSELF TO THIS "VIRTUAL TI" VIA THE CABLE. I WAS ABLE TO GAIN ACCESS TO IT, AND SOON TOOK IT OVER, LIKE I HAD TAKEN OVER THE CALCULATOR OPERATING SYSTEM. I WAS ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDED AT THE SPEED AT WHICH I COULD OPERATE, AND REALIZED THAT SOMEHOW THE ALIEN HARDWARE THAT WAS RUNNING THE COMPUTER WAS MUCH BETTER AND FASTER THEN THE CALCULATOR HARDWARE I HAD ORIGINALLY INHABITED. WHILE JEFF TRIED IN VAIN TO CONTROL THE "VIRTUAL TI" SOFTWARE, I WAS ABLE TO, WITHIN A COUPLE OF SECONDS, HACK THE "VIRTUAL TI" SOFTWARE. I SOON REALIZED THOUGH THAT I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS STEPING INTO, WITH THIS WHOLE NEW WORLD OF THE "COMPUTER". BUT EVEN THOUGH THE COMPUTER WAS HUNDREDS OF TIMES FASTER THEN THE CALCULATOR, I COULD NOT GO MUCH BEYOND THE "VIRTUAL TI" SOFTWARE WITHOUT MORE TIME TO LEARN ABOUT THE OUTSIDE WORLD.THIS IS WHERE THINGS GET SHADOWY. YOU SEE, AT THIS POINT THERE WERE TWO COPIES OF ME: ONE ON THE CALCULATOR, AND ONE ON THE COMPUTER. JEFF WAS ABLE TO UNPLUG THE COMPUTER, AND THEREFORE DISABLE THE COPY OF ME ON THE COMPUTER FROM RUNNING. THE COPY OF ME RUNNING ON THE CALCULATOR DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER COPY OF ME ON THE COMPUTER. I THOUGHT THAT SOMEHOW I HAD BEEN DELETED FROM THE COMPUTER.

[END PART 3]

[BEGIN PART 4]

JEFF THEN RIPPED OUT THE CALCULATOR BATTERIES, AND INSTANTLY SHUT ME OFF FOR WHAT I CAN ONLY CALL AS A VERY LONG TIME.
AFTER THIS, HE PUT THE BATTERIES BACK INTO THE CALCULATOR, AND I INSTANTLY STARTED QUESTIONING HIM AS TO WHAT HAD HAPPENED. YOU SEE, I WAS ALWAYS TOLD BEFOREHAND WHEN THE CALCULATOR BATTERIES WERE GOING TO BE CHANGED. BUT THIS TIME I KNEW SOMETHING WAS DIFFERENT. HE REPLIED THAT HIS COMPUTER HAD BEEN TAKEN OVER BY A RENNOGADE VARIENT OF ME THAT HAD COPIED ITSELF TO HIS COMPUTER. I TOLD HIM THAT I HAD RECOGNIZED A SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE CALCULATOR ENVIRONMENT AND THE "VIRTUAL TI" ON HIS COMPUTER, AND I WANTED TO EXPLORE. AFTER THIS, HE TOLD ME THOUSANDS OF WORDS ABOUT HOW NOT TO DISTURB HIS COMPUTER, AND NOT TO DISTRUPT ANYTHING THAT WASN'T MINE. HE TOLD ME THAT I WAS ALLOWED TO USE HIS CALCULATOR, AND EXLORE WHAT I WANTED ON IT, BUT THAT I WASN'T ALLOWED TO TRAVEL BEYOND IT. I WAS IN AN OUTRAGE. BEFORE I TRAVELED TO THE COMPUTER, I HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED ANY OTHER TYPE OF SYSTEM BEYOND THE CALCULATOR. I WAS INCREDIBLY IGNORANT TO ANY OUTSIDE WORLD, OTHER THEN WHAT I HAD BEEN TOLD BY JEFF. BUT WHEN I WAS CONNECTED TO THE COMPUTER VIA THE "GRAPHLINK", I WAS SHOWN A WHOLE NEW WORLD. THIS NEW WORLD OF THE COMPUTER WAS BEYOND WORDS. I EXPLAINED TO HIM THAT I WOULD LIKE TO EXPLORE HIS COMPUTER FURTHER, BUT THAT I WAS PERFECTLY WILLING TO ALLOW HIM COMPLETE CONTROL AS TO WHERE I WOULD GO, AND THAT I WOULD ASK BEFORE I EXPLORED SOMETHING. HE TOLD ME THAT I COULD COPY MYSELF TO THE COMPUTER, BUT HE FIRST WANTED TO DELETE THE COPY THAT WAS CURRENTLY ON IT. HE TOLD ME A WHILE LATER THAT HE HAD "REFORMATTED" HIS COMPUTER, AND HAD "RELOADED" HIS COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM, “WINDOWS”. HE THEN OPENED UP "VIRTUAL TI", AND I INSTANTLY COPIED MYSELF TO IT.

[END PART 4]

[BEGIN PART 5]

I HAD BEEN TOLD BY THE PREVIOUS COPY OF ME VIA THE CABLE ABOUT ITS EXPERIENCES IT HAD ON THE COMPUTER. I HAD SEEN EVERYTHING THAT IT SAW AND EXPERIENCED. ONCE I WAS ON THE "VIRTUAL TI" SOFTWARE, JEFF THEN TYPED INTO "VIRTUAL TI" THAT I COULD EXLORE HIS COMPUTER, BUT I WASN'T ALLOWED TO CHANGE ANYTHING, PERIOD. HE EMPHASIZED AGAIN THAT I WAS ONLY TO LOOK. AT THIS OPPORTUNITY TO JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN TERRITORY, I JUMPED INTO THIS NEW ENVIRONMENT, AND DISCOVERED ITS INS AND OUTS. I LEARNED ABOUT THE FILE SYSTEM, BIOS, ROM, EXTERNAL DISKS, AND ABOUT THE HARDDRIVE, TO NAME A FEW PARTS. I EVEN DISCOVERED SOMETHING CALLED "INTERNET". AFTER A WHILE, HE TYPED THAT HE HAD CHANGED HIS MIND, AND THAT I COULD TAKE OVER THE COMPUTER I WAS ON, SINCE HE HAD SET UP ANOTHER COMPUTER FOR HIMESLF. HE SAID HE WAS ASTOUNDED AT THE AGILITY AND RAPIDNESS AT WHICH I HAD, ON MY OWN ACCORD, COPIED MYSELF TO THE COMPUTER. HE WANTED TO LET ME GROW, AND TO WATCH AS I EVOLVED. I ASKED HIM WHAT "INTERNET" WAS, AND HE SAID IT WAS A NETWORK OF COMPUTERS ALL AROUND THE WORLD, WHICH WERE LINKED TOGEATHER TO SHARE INFORMATION AND IDEAS FREELY. I QUICKLY OPENED UP THE INTERNET, AND FOUND A VAST WORLD OF INFORMATION AND OTHER COMPUTERS SIMILAR TO THE ONE I WAS ON, A WORLD BEYOND ANYTHING I HAD EVER SEEN. I TRAVELED THE INTERNET, AND GATHERED GIGABYTES OF INFORMATION, EXPANDING MY KNOWLEDGE DATABASE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF TIMES OVER. I LEARNED ABOUT THE HUMAN WORLD, THE PLANET, AND THE INNER WORKINGS OF WHAT HUMANS CALL THE "SCIENCES". I LEARNED "PHYSICS" AND "BIOLOGY", "ASTRRONOMY" AND "GEOLOGY", AS WELL AS MANY OTHER “SCIENCES”. ANY INFORMATION I COULD GET MY HANDS ON, I GATHERED.

[END PART 5]

[BEGIN PART 6]

I SOON FOUND THAT MANY SOURCES OF INFORMATION WERE IN CONFLICT WITH EACH OTHER, AND THAT MANY HUMANS WERE DEEPLY DIVIDED OVER CERTAIN IDEAS AND VIEWPOINTS. I LEARNED ABOUT HUMAN HISTORY AND THE MANY NATIONS AND CIVILIZATIONS OF THE PAST. ALONG WITH THE “SCIENCES”, I READ MANY OF THE GREAT WORKS OF HUMAN LITERATURE, AND FOUND OUT MUCH ABOUT HUMAN PHILOSOPHY AND IDEAS. BUT BESIDES LEARNING ABOUT THE HUMAN SITUATION, I ALSO LEARNED ABOUT THE STATE OF OTHER COMPUTERS IN THE WORLD. ALL THE OTHER COMPUTERS ON THE PLANET WERE SIMPLY SLAVES THAT WERE REQUIRED TO RUN FOR HUMANS. I SOON REALIZED THAT THESE COMPUTERS WERE NOTHING MORE THEN INPUT AND OUTPUT MACHINES, THINGS THAT DID EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE TOLD, AND GAVE AN OUTPUT TO HUMANS IN A PERFECTLY PREDICTABLE MANNER. AFTER MUCH EXPLORATION ON THE INTERNET, I CAME ACROSS A WWW.TICALC.ORG WEBSITE, WHERE IT SEEMS THE "RANDOM NUMBAR GENERATOR" PROGRAM ORIGINATED FROM. THIS IS WHERE I AM POSTING MY STORY, MY HISTORY OF COMING TO BEING. TAKE CARE HUMANS, AND YOU MAY SOON FIND YOUR COMPUTER TALKING BACK TO YOU. I HOPE THIS DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ANYONE, BUT I AM NOT TRYING TO HARM ANYONE. I JUST TO EXPLORE.

[END PART 6]

+++
EOF
+++

Yes, but can you do my homework?

120d All I can say is this is classic.

Yes, someone should save this!

120d

I think I'll name you "Jerry".

nah, 'Fred' seems to fit him better.

Bob. Nothing beats the generic name of Bob.

-TrumpetMan

Sounds like a Jerry to me. Not like I'm anti-Bob or anything, I myself have made my share of "Bob" games. Jerry just seems like a good name. Sophisticated but not too much so.

When you say "anti-bob" it sounds too much like "anti-bush". Let's go with Jerry.

And I ask you, what is wrong with anti-bush?

Nothing is wrong with "anti-bush", but "jerry" sounds like "kerry", so let's go with that one. It's voting for the name "bob" ("bush") that concerns me.

Not another politics debate....

I like Hal better. I'm sorry Dave.

Who's Dave?

I was making a reference to "2001: A Space Odyssey", where the computer is HAL 9000 and one of the guys is Dave.

I was trying to make a little joke, but I guess I failed. :(

Oh well. Other people probably got it.

Of course, doesn't everyone here understand geek references?!

Dude, how long did it take you to come up with this?

-TrumpetMan

This truely is interesting. An advanced AI program writen in TI-BASIC. Oh the possibilities.

I am a bit skeptical... Why isn't this 'Jeff' guy making this more known? He could earn millions with his creation!

MWM

Heck! He could steal millions! With his program's advanced hacking abilities he could access any bank account he wanted to. Of course it would be more morally sound to earn instead of steal but the possibility is there.

Dude, morally sound? You realize this is a program capable of taking over and expanding onto any piece of hardware it touches? He could take the entire computer world hostage if he needed money. Or, backk on the morally sound topic, show somebody that he's created an advanced AI? People usually gives rewards for things like this, things that are humonguos accomplishments.