Page "Mark V Shaney" Paragraph 1
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Wikipedia
Bruce Ellis did the code and Rob Pike did the design.
Don P. Mitchell wrote the Markov chain code, demonstrating it to Rob and Bruce on the Tao Te Ching at first.
They immediately decided to apply it to the net. singles netnews group.
The program was discussed in the " Computer Recreations " column of Scientific American.
A classic example, from 1984, originally sent as a mail message, later posted to net. singles is reproduced here ( see also Google's archive ):
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2.397 seconds.