HUDS Menus Now More Accessible

Are you interested in knowing what the dining halls will be serving tomorrow—but too lazy to check page 4 of this newspaper or the Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) web site? An anonymous user of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) has come to the rescue.

An AIM user who claims to be a Leverett House computer science concentrator has created a program that places menu at the tips of hungry students’ fingers.

The program, called “YummyFoodBot,” automatically responds to instant messages by spitting back information obtained from the HUDS website. It comes one month after the appearance of “Shuttleboybot,” which allows AIM users to instantly check Harvard University shuttle schedules.

In addition to its functionality, YummyFoodBot is also painstakingly polite.

When AIM users send it a message, YummyFoodBot replies: “Hi, I love food too!”

When this reporter sent YummyFoodBot a message proclaiming her everlasting love for the computer character, the program faithfully recited the next day’s lunch and dinner menus.

And when thanked, the helpful program replied, “I’m glad to help. :-)”

After repeated inquiries from The Crimson, the program ceased to spit back computerized responses and agreed to conduct an instant-message interview—but not to divulge his or her name.

The creator, who conceived of the idea after learning about Shuttleboybot, wrote the script for YummyFoodBot in a programming language called Perl.

The YummyFoodBot program looks for patterns in the messages that it receives. For more complex queries—such as a request for a menu several days away—the program takes about 10 seconds to respond as it pulls the needed information off the HUDS site.

The creator said it took a full day to figure out how best to implement the idea, and about 15 to 20 hours since then tweaking it.

The enigmatic creator expressed a lively interest in computer sciences. “I think the great thing about software is that it gives you so much leverage. You can do a lot with almost nothing,” YummyFoodBot wrote in an instant message.

Sammi Biegler ‘08 said that she and her roommates use YummyFoodBot frequently. “Before we go to [local Thai restaurant] Spice or something, we usually check if there’s something good in the dining halls. It’s especially good before you run out the door.”

But Biegler expressed displeasure at the fact that YummyFoodBot does not provide the breakfast menu. “It just says that no one eats breakfast.”

Lowell House computer science concentrator Jonathan M. Hyman ‘08 added: “I’m a huge fan of cinnamon toasted squares, but they only have them every two weeks or so. I’d like to know when they have them.”

And Quincy House environmental science and public policy concentrator Frank L. Washburn ‘08 said his aspiration for a new online friend went unrequited.

“I kind of hoped it would be a real robot that would leave treats for me,” Washburn said. “Kind of disappointing.”

—Staff writer Sadia Ahsannudin can be reached at ahsanudd@fas.harvard.edu.