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FFS Poetron 6000

FFS Poetron 6000

The breathtaking work of the Poetron 6000 automated lyric generator has garnered international praise from futurists and technophobes alike. With stylistic output determined by an archaic set of logarithms, the Poetron 6000 represents a happy anomalie of the technical 1980s. Early Frozen Food Section engineers harnessed the processing power and diverse idiosyncratic characteristics of the Apple Macintosh, the Mattel Electronics Intellivision and the Commodore 64 hardwares, married them to outdated analog printing equipment, and tightly structured them inside the gutted frame of an industrial icemaker. The result was a graphicless CPU which output Gutenberg pressings of automated poetry into the ice bin. While controls were strictly manual, without the benefit of a visual interface, the unit featured a vocalizing component which spoke its output as it printed.

This 6th-generation PTRN (Pascal-oriented Transcription Normalizer), or Poetron, technology was initially a Pascal-based software which documented patterns within randomized data. The logarithmic sequence was tweaked to be applicable to any binary file, and it was found that the Poetron could produce randomized strings of words which approximated sentences. Soon, the PTRN technology "learned" to randomize comprehensive, even literary, batches of auto-composed prose and poetry by analyzing entire catalogs of documented creations.

Only two finished PTRN 6G units were produced by late 1986, of which the prototype malfunctioned during an audience with President Ronald Reagan and was subsequently gunned down by Secret Service. Its twin was secreted away into the Frozen Food technology vaults, where it has developed legendary status producing automated sonnets and reflections on the onward march of applied science. The Frozen Food Section will soon release the collected works of the Poetron 6000, including original lyric prints, rare audio recordings of open mic performances and images of celebrity appearances. Pending security clearances, collaborative concepts with Emcee EngLebuRt may result in a new release, heralding the cultural return of the Poetron 6000 to a generation of listeners who have only heard told of the legend.


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