Source Database: 
ELMCIP
Source Entry URL: 
Source Entry OAI-PMH Identifier: 
oai:elmcip.net:7839
Author(s) of the Source Entry: 
Luciana Gattass
Source Entry Language(s): 
English
Description(s): 

With these probabilities, we randomly selected series of numbers, using a pseudo-random number routine, that were used to select the triads for cv and vc sets. The most common sets in Portuguese, such as CA, BO, AL, ES, etc., appeared more often than the rare sets such as ZU, UX, etc. Thus, some possible words include, for example, CACETE, BOLADA, ACABAC, etc. (all swear words, for which there was no censure!). The generated words clearly sounded similar to real words in Portuguese. A fraction of the “words” actually exist. Next, a number was assigned to indicate if the word was formed by sets of high or low probability of existing in Portuguese. If the number was high (high probability), it was in fact more likely that the “word” actually existed. Lists of words were created and, during the 1986 exposition at the MAC/USP, a computer was programmed to reproduce “BEABÁ”, and visitors could take their own printouts with words generated by the computer, which were always unique.(Source: Author. English Translation: Luciana Gattass)In Brazil, the first artistic experience with computer that we know was "Abecê" (Abecedary), idealized by Waldemar Cordeiro with Giorgio Muscati's collaboration, professor of Physics in the University of Sao Paulo, in 1968. It was a generating program of words composed of six letters, which worked in a computer IBM, type 360/44, with entrance for perforated cards, memory of 32 Kbytes and an exit for lines printer.(Source: Jorge Luiz Antonio, "Trajectory of Electronic Poetry in Brazil: A Short History", 2007: 5)