My iambic pentameter generator has been one of the most popular posts of the blog. To be honest, I’m not sure if that’s still the case or not. Since I completely revamped the blog (actually even earlier), I removed Google and Jetpack analytics. In any case, today we’ll be looking at, essentially, the reverse scenario: We’re making a very simple iambic pentameter checker.
Just in case you need a reminder, an iambic pentameter line consists of ten syllables, of which every other is stressed. For instance, “And you, my sinews, grow not instant old” (from Hamlet).
So, how can we create a JavaScript iambic pentameter checker that tells us if a line is an iambic pentameter or not?
I couldn’t resist using AI to generate this image of Shakespeare using a laptop. Like all tools, AI tools can be fun and useful, if one understands their limitations…(more…)
You might remember a recent post on asking ChatGPT about the Gothic. I there mentioned how ChatGPT is a tool and, like every tool, its successful use depends on the user and scope. I also mentioned how, in my opinion, the most intriguing application of ChatGPT is as a programming helper. Well, that’s what I decided to try in this post: Let’s make a JavaScript app with ChatGPT!
Obviously, starting this mini project I had to establish certain methodological factors. That is, I had to decide on how to do certain things.
The main one was what the app would be about. For simplicity’s sake – both in terms of the confines of the post and the amount of effort I was willing to put in programmatically – I decided that the JavaScript app ChatGPT would make had to be a simple one. No need to create any full-fledged adventure game here.
I also had to decide whether I would only get help for this JavaScript app from ChatGPT, e.g. for certain functions, or I’d ask it to generate the code in its entirety. I quickly realized that, even if I’d have to do at least some of the mixing-and-matching, for the purposes of this experiment I should let ChatGPT to do most of the work.
As for what program to make, I thought the best idea would be to make something I’ve already made myself, for comparison. I opted for my Poem Shuffler. The results were very intriguing, to say the least!
The image superimposed on the stock programming image represents a ZX Spectrum +2 – my very first computer. Younger audiences may not understand this is a computer, because of the tape recorder – hang on; do younger audiences know what that is? – which was used to read/write data. We’ve come a long, long way since 48k games.(more…)
There are fiction authors who need to plan every, single, detail in advance – they’re called “plotters”. Then there are writers who write by their seat of their pants – hence they’re called “pantsers”. In reality, most authors fall somewhere in-between. The truth is, we all need some degree of planning for most works (except perhaps stream-of-consciousness or heavily experimental). And so, we could all benefit from a story planning program.
As with everything I make – programs, books, or blog posts – the intended audience of Conceptualizer, my free story planning program, was first and foremost myself. That is, I started to make a story planner because I felt I could benefit from one. I’m certainly not a plotter (though not a pantser either), but I like to keep some sort of notes regarding what will happen when.
And so, perhaps ironically, this sort of selfishness can be very useful to you, too! Let’s take a look at Conceptualizer, what it does and how it works, and at the end of this post I’ll include a link for you so that you can try it for free.
Here’s the Display Mode of this story planning program I made – showing the demo story it “ships” with, which is none other than The Perfect Gray. The idea is to have a structured flow that shows how one piece of the story leads to checkpoints that come together to form the bigger picture.(more…)
