Link et al.

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gauthiier 2023-01-15 19:01:45 +01:00
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So now that we have a better understanding of how arrays, indices, randomness, and functions work, let's write love letters! So now that we have a better understanding of how arrays, indices, randomness, and functions work, let's write love letters!
One of the first non-scientific computer programme that was ever written is Christopher Strachey's Love Letters programme for the Manchester Mark I (so called [Baby](https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1369/1920_themanchestermk1computerbuiltbyextendingthebaby.jpg?10000)). In fact, this computer programme (making use of randomness) is arguably the first art-inspired programme! Christopher Strachey was a computer programming pioneer who worked along Alan Turing in the very early days of computing at the University of Manchester. Strachey's story is amazing and there is a great article about [him and the love letters in Rhizome's Queer History of Computing](https://rhizome.org/editorial/2013/apr/9/queer-history-computing-part-three/) written by Jacob Gaboury. One of the first non-scientific computer program that was ever written is Christopher Strachey's Love Letters program for the Manchester Mark I (so called [Baby](https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1369/1920_themanchestermk1computerbuiltbyextendingthebaby.jpg?10000)). In fact, this computer program (written in 1952 and making use of randomness) is arguably the first art-inspired program! Christopher Strachey was a computer programming pioneer who worked along Alan Turing in the very early days of computing at the University of Manchester. Strachey's story is fascinating and there is a great article about [him and the love letters on Rhizome's Queer History of Computing written by Jacob Gaboury](https://rhizome.org/editorial/2013/apr/9/queer-history-computing-part-three/). For those who are interested in researching Strachey's work, please have a look at his [papers and correspondences at the Bodleain library's archive](https://archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources/2561).
Strachey's Love Letters have been studied before. [David Link](http://www.alpha60.de) did a colossal reconstitution of the Love Letter program on a simulator of the Manchester Mark computer. [The works was exhibited circa 2010](http://www.alpha60.de/art/love_letters/). The program doesn't look at all like the code we are writing at the moment! The picture on the right side above (☝️) is from Link's simulator. Early computers did not have the compilers and interpreters we have now (remember compilers and interpreters) and thus the code was written in a rather cryptic way (believe me, way more cryptic than what we are writing).
The program we are about to write in a "modern" computing language (i.e. javascript/p5js) is a modified version of [Nick Montfort](https://nickm.com)'s letter.py source code written in python. Montfort's letter.py was based on Noah Wardrip-Fruin's article ["Digital Media Archaeology."](https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520948518-016/html)
### Love Letters' structure
First, let's have a look at love letters to see what they look like. David Link has generated an [archive of simulated letters](http://www.alpha60.de/art/love_letters/archive/muc/).
Here are four examples:
```
HONEY MOPPET
YOU ARE MY AMOROUS RAPTURE.: MY KEEN LOVE. MY COVETOUS
INFATUATION THIRSTS FOR YOUR FERVENT LIKING. YOU ARE MY
CRAVING LIKING. MY CURIOUS RAPTURE FONDLY THIRSTS FOR YOUR
ANXIOUS ENCHANTMENT.
YOURS COVETOUSLY
MUC
```
```
DEAR DARLING
MY ADORABLE FELLOW FEELING WANTS YOUR SWEET INFATUATION
. MY ADORABLE ARDOUR LOVINGLY WISHES YOUR FERVOUR. MY
UNSATISFIED FELLOW FEELING EAGERLY HUNGERS FOR YOUR IMPATIENT
DESIRE. YOU ARE MY LOVING FERVOUR. MY WINNING WISH YEARNS FOR YOUR
KEEN HEART.
YOURS FERVENTLY
MUC
```
```
HONEY HONEY
MY BURNING FANCY EAGERLY TEMPTS YOUR INFATUATION.
YOU ARE MY FERVENT YEARNING. MY LIKING BEAUTIFULLY YEARNS FOR YOUR
LOVE. MY APPETITE TENDERLY CHERISHES YOUR BEAUTIFUL WISH.
YOU ARE MY EROTIC ADORATION.
YOURS SEDUCTIVELY
MUC
```
```
DARLING LOVE
YOU ARE MY AMOROUS ENCHANTMENT.: MY KEEN EAGERNESS.
YOU ARE MY DEVOTED ENCHANTMENT. MY YEARNING FERVENTLY LIKES
YOUR AMOROUS PASSION. MY EAGERNESS TENDERLY YEARNS FOR YOUR
PASSION.
YOURS SEDUCTIVELY
MUC
```
Can you decipher certain writing patterns in the above letter formulations? If so, what are they?