Topic “Markov Chains”
Cromulac lives on in Python form
7 May, 2010
A long time ago I wrote a PHP app called “Cromulac” (A perfectly cromulent generator of random words) that chewed up /usr/share/dict/words and spit out plausible but usually fake words using Markov chains.
Last night I wanted to apply the same technique to a list of New England town names, but on digging up my old PHP code found it ugly and somewhat hard-coded with the dictionary file in mind, so I wrote a new implementation in Python and released it on github:
http://github.com/usonian/cromulac
It’s a more or less procedural script that’s pretty ugly itself, but it gets the job done; here are some imaginary New England towns you might like to visit:
- Scrabansfield
- Easton Point
- Orlanton
- Tapline
- Tar Ridge
- Aubury
- Havens City
- Orwellin
- Coatuckett
- Craffolk
- Wesset
- Atkinsville
I may or may not reorganize it as more of a module, so it can be used by other Python scripts too.
Popular
Recently Perused
- Nothing says "this crappy joke that's been forwarded 27 times is not nearly as funny as the subject line says" like Comic Sans. #fb — 5 years 11 weeks ago
- Ah, southwestern New Hampshire, where it's hard to tell whether or not a guy's mullet is ironic. #fb — 5 years 12 weeks ago
- Pancake making hack: put the syrup in The oven at 200F along w/pancakes to keep everything nice and hot. #fb — 5 years 12 weeks ago
- Just finished cooking one of those meals that somehow completely destroys the kitchen. I'll be more organized next time. #fb — 5 years 12 weeks ago
- I wish the TSA would get on with it and just ban passengers from flights altogether. That will make us all safe. — 5 years 12 weeks ago