Talking Moose ? "I love my daddy, Dr. Steve of Saskatoon."

[Bull Winkus]

Remember me?

The Talking Moose is an animated talking utility for the Apple Macintosh. It was created in 1986 by Canadian programmer Steven Halls. It is the first animated talking agent on a personal computer and featured a moose that would appear at periodic intervals with some joke or witticism. The moose would also comment on system events and user actions and could speak what a user typed using the Moose Proof desk accessory. ? Wikipedia

Hey guys! I don't remember why I suddenly went looking for the Talking Moose. It might have been a fond memory I had of a time when I was renting a spare bedroom from my aunt back in 1992. I had been working in the South Pacific on Johnston Atoll for a couple of months and was going back to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, so I just needed a place to stay for about 3 weeks. Aunt Polly lived alone, worked as a cashier by day and listened to music and read books by night. She had no TV. She couldn't afford one, but she had also convinced herself that she didn't want one, either. I had recently bought one of the early Apple laptops and had the Talking Moose app. I had added a bunch of my own phrases, so I introduced Aunt Polly to the Moose.

I set the laptop on a table and booted up. The Moose was already set to launch at startup. We got a few laughs out of it and then moved on to other things to talk about.

The next day, while she was at work, I added a few more phrases calling her by name and personalizing the random interjections to the social situation. The Moose would show interest in what she was doing, trying to keep the illusion of conversation going. So, I created quite a few new comments. I had the frequency of speech down to seldom enough that it was not intrusive and always interesting when it happened.

So, that evening after we ate, she had settled into her chair with a beer and cigarette. I needed to bathe, so I excused myself and was off to the water closet for some time. When I returned, she was very agitated! "Herbert! That computer is alive! I know it is."

"Why Polly? What happened?"

"No sooner than you had left, Moose came on and said, 'Polly?' ? I knew it was just programmed, so I just kept reading. Then it again said, 'Polly?' I ignored it again, but then it said, 'POLLY!' Like it just wasn't going to give up. So, I put my book down and said, 'WHAT Moose?' ? It said, 'Are we having fun yet?' "

So, when I went looking for the Talking Moose, I found that a guy named Uli Kusterer, had gotten permission from Steven Halls to revive the Moose for OS X and guess what? It's free and works beautifully on El Capitan!

Enjoy!
 

[Blicj11]

Thanks for the update on the Talking Moose. I just downloaded it and had me some fun. It is currently 14? F outside and I needed some fun.

[xairbusdriver]

Thanks for the memories! Those things are getting fewer and fewer, it seems!

While we're talking "moose", my all-time favorite had a fly squirrel partner. An amazingly amount of some adult humor for a "children's" cartoon show! Of course, "Polly" would not have been able to watch that show!

[elagache]

Dear Herb, Blick, X-Air, and WeatherCat seekers of amusement,

Glad you guys were able to amuse yourself with a bit of lost Mac culture.

Right now though, I'm very busy with another kind of "amusement"

What? . . . . stay tuned!

Cheers, Edouard

[Bull Winkus]

Blick, 14? F outside! But ? but ? it's only November 7! Batten down the hatches!

X-Air, Rocky & Bullwinkle was one of my favorites, too!

"Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit outta ma hat. ? Nothing up ma sleeve. ? Presto! ?? No doubt about it. I gotta get another hat."

And Edouard. OK, drama king. What 'cha got up your sleeve? Impatient people want ta know?