9 May
2020
9 May
'20
8:23 a.m.
From: Dwight Kelvey
There was a fellow that made a relay logic that could
play tic tac toe
What's with these new-fangled devices using _electricity_ anyway? :-)
In high school, my math teacher (I think it was) used a couple of matchboxes
and some beads to create a TTT device; he 'programmed' it by playing against
it, and when the device lost a game, he pulled out the bead that indicated
the device's previous move, so it could never make that losing move again.
Pretty impressive, I thought...
Noel
9 May
9 May
8:41 a.m.
On Sat, May 9, 2020 at 4:23 PM Noel Chiappa via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
I am pretty sure that was in one of Martin Gardner's columns
(Mathematical Games) in Scientific American, and is reprinted in one
of his books. Of course he might have got it from your teacher rather
than vice versa.
I am sure I have the appropriate book on my shelves, I can try to find
the reference if you want it.
-tony
From: Dwight Kelvey
There was a fellow that made a relay logic that
could play tic tac toe
What's with these new-fangled devices using _electricity_ anyway? :-)
In high school, my math teacher (I think it was) used a couple of matchboxes
and some beads to create a TTT device; he 'programmed' it by playing against
it, and when the device lost a game, he pulled out the bead that indicated
the device's previous move, so it could never make that losing move again.
Pretty impressive, I thought... 
8:51 a.m.
On May 9, 2020 at 10:41 AM Tony Duell via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
On Sat, May 9, 2020 at 4:23 PM Noel Chiappa via cctalk<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:>> > From: Dwight Kelvey> > There was a fellow that made a relay
logic that could play tic tac toe> What's with these new-fangled devices using
_electricity_ anyway? :-)> In high school, my math teacher (I think it was) used a
couple of matchboxesand some beads to create a TTT device; he 'programmed' it by
playing againstit, and when the device lost a game, he pulled out the bead that
indicatedthe device's previous move, so it could never make that losing move
again.Pretty impressive, I thought...I am pretty sure that was in one of Martin
Gardner's columns(Mathematical Games) in Scientific American, and is reprinted in
oneof his books. Of course he might have got it from your teacher ratherthan vice versa.
MENACE? 1960?
https://opendatascience.com/menace-donald-michie-tic-tac-toe-machine-learni…
Will
9:58 a.m.
On Saturday, May 9, 2020, 11:42:11 AM EDT, Tony Duell via cctalk <cctalk at
classiccmp.org> wrote:
If it's the one I'm thinking of, the game is called hexapawn,
though it's played on a 3x3 grid, like TTT. I've always
had a fond spot for that article. It was one of my inspirations
back when I did a lot of AI.
BLS
On Sat, May 9, 2020 at 4:23 PM Noel Chiappa via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> > From: Dwight Kelvey
>
> > There was a fellow that made a relay logic that could play tic tac toe
There's a guy who brings the stepper/relay TTT machine
he did in high school to VCFSE every year.
In high
school, my math teacher (I think it was) used a couple of matchboxes
and some beads to create a TTT device; he 'programmed' it by playing against
it, and when the device lost a game, he pulled out the bead that indicated
the device's previous move, so it could never make that losing move again.
Pretty impressive, I thought...
I am pretty sure that was in one of Martin Gardner's columns
(Mathematical Games) in Scientific American, and is reprinted in one
of his books. Of course he might have got it from your teacher rather
than vice versa.
9:48 p.m.
On Sat, May 9, 2020 at 5:59 PM Brian L. Stuart <blstuart at bellsouth.net> wrote:
If it's the one I'm thinking of, the game is
called hexapawn,
though it's played on a 3x3 grid, like TTT. I've always
had a fond spot for that article. It was one of my inspirations
back when I did a lot of AI.
I remember Martin Gardner writing on that too, I can't remember if
it's the same article or not. I will have to go along my
bookshelves...
To keep this on-topic, I also remember an program for the HP67/97 to
play Hexapawn, in the Games Pac 1 I think.
-tony
11:04 p.m.
The Martin Gardner column about teaching matchboxes to play tic-tac-toe
was March 1962 Scientific American, "Mathematical Games: How to build a
game-learning machine and then teach it to play and to win"
In the novel "The Adolescence of P-1", by Thomas Joseph Ryan (1977), a
college kid, fascinated by that article, implements an open-ended version
on an IBM 360/30 at Waterloo [remember WATFOR?], with a goal of cracking
additional machines through telecommunications links, and installing
itself.
It is, of course, unrealistic fiction to think that such a system could
be implemented on 1970s 360s. with less than 4GB. Besides, Windows
security is too good for it to install itself on modern systems.
oolcay itay
2004
days inactive
2005
days old
5 comments
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wrcooke＠wrcooke.net