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Toy Threatens To Kill Fla. Boy After Battery Change, Say Parents (Sesame Street's Elmo; VIDEO )
Local 6 (Florida) ^
| February 21, 2008
Posted on 02/22/2008 11:55:27 AM PST by Stoat
Toy Threatens To Kill Fla. Boy After Battery Change, Say Parents
Mom: Toy Now Says 'Kill James'
POSTED: 12:07 pm EST February 22, 2008
UPDATED: 1:22 pm EST February 22, 2008
LITHIA, Fla. -- A child's Sesame Street Elmo doll programmed to learn phrases from owners' computers started making "kill James" death threats to its 2-year-old owner after its batteries were changed, according to the boy's parents.
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Melissa Bowman of Lithia said she replaced the batteries on the Elmo Knows Your Name doll for her son James. Soon after, the toy began to say, "Kill James," Bowman said.
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Kill James" can be heard when the doll's belly is squeezed, the woman said. "I noticed exactly what it was saying and my son was repeating exactly what it was saying," Bowman said. "It is not something you would think would ever come out of a toy but once I heard it, I was kind of distraught." The doll is programmed to learn the child's name and phrases after being hooked to a computer. Bowman called Fisher Price, the toy's maker, and told them about the phrase she continually hears from the doll. "My son repeating it has really upset me and they didn't even sound concerned about it really when I spoke with them," Bowman said. Bowman said she took the doll away from her son but he is continuing to seek it out because it is his favorite toy. The company said there have been no other complaints about the toy. Fisher Price is offering the family a free replacement doll, Local 6 reported. Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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TOPICS: Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: elmo; florida; technology; ticklemeelmo; whentoysattack
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To: Stoat
To: PBRSTREETGANG; All
To-Kill-Me Elmo?At least the family didn't buy the 'tickle' me Bert doll....that could have had far-reaching consequences....
22
posted on
02/22/2008 12:52:11 PM PST
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: gondramB; Yo-Yo
I wonder how it learns the name.Thanks to the excellent research by Yo-Yo in finding the toy's web page (post 14), you can see how it's done by going to the name-download page. The names are saved as .rbf files, which I'm unfamiliar with in the context of a conventional sound file.
File Extension .RBF Details
Perhaps this is a proprietary format, and is so in order to prevent tampering?
I'm also noticing that "James" is no longer listed as being an available name for download....
(fade in sinister music)
23
posted on
02/22/2008 1:08:59 PM PST
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
Here how to fix it. Just put the original batteries back in it. Problem solved. The doll won’t talk at all.
24
posted on
02/22/2008 1:17:44 PM PST
by
w1andsodidwe
(Jimmy Carter allowed radical Islam to get a foothold in Iran.)
To: Stoat
If you look at that link on post 14, there is a box near the bottom of the page titled "Hear how Elmo will say your child's name!" James is on that list, and when you click "Play" there is no "Kill" in front of it.
It seems that "James" is one of the stock names that comes with the Know My Name Elmo's CD-ROM. The Download New Names box are for names not on the original CD, I presume.
25
posted on
02/22/2008 1:26:30 PM PST
by
Yo-Yo
(USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
To: Yo-Yo
I appreciate that clarification, thank you. I had been thinking that perhaps somebody had discovered how to modify the downloadable .rbf name files, hacked the Fisher-Price website and altered one or more of the names. If James is included on the CD-ROM, then the plot thickens even further......
Considering how popular the name ‘James’ is as well as how popular this toy presumably is, one would think that a problem like this would be widespread if there had been an alteration of the CD-ROM.
Perhaps this is nothing more than an isolated software glitch, but if so it’s amazing that it’s manifested itself in this particular way, and that it’s grammatically-correct as well.
I haven’t known very many random software errors to follow the rules of English grammar :-)
26
posted on
02/22/2008 1:40:07 PM PST
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
Deep down, it’s a computer. Changing batteries, power glitch, corrupted file. I can see it.
The Elmo says hundreds of phrases, adding in the child’s name like those insidious form letters we get proclaiming “Yo-Yo! You’ve just won...”
So if it originally said “Hello James” when you squeezed its hand, I can see how it got corrupted and said “ell James” which in Elmo’s voice could sound like “Kill James.”
Or something like that. As I said, there’s probably a little recessed master reset button in the battery compartment, the kind you need a straightened paperclip to hit, then just reload the software and be done with it.
Oh yeah, that’s not as financially rewarding as suing Fisher-Price can be.
27
posted on
02/22/2008 1:46:52 PM PST
by
Yo-Yo
(USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
To: Stoat; Yo-Yo
Thank you - that was the clue I needed.
I think...
James is not on the Download site because James is already included on the CD. The download site appears to generate custom names. I'm betting the parents went to the site and entered KillJames as a custom name and the site generated the sounds for it. Fisher-Price probably removed KillJames to keep others from getting the same idea.
For example...
You can even make Elmo say sensible political things.
28
posted on
02/22/2008 2:01:58 PM PST
by
gondramB
(Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.)
To: Stoat
The title of this thread is incorrect...a toy can’t threaten anyone. Someone has been watching too many horror flicks.
29
posted on
02/22/2008 2:02:12 PM PST
by
oneamericanvoice
(Support freedom! Support the troops! Surrender is not an option!)
To: Turret Gunner A20
I know. How silly. Take the replacement doll and be done. They probably think, as I do, that someone must’ve said it for the doll to repeat it.
30
posted on
02/22/2008 2:49:38 PM PST
by
DeLaine
To: Stoat
Reminds me a little of a twilight episode about a bad doll.
To: AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; george76; ...
“My name is Talking Tina, and you’d better be nice to me.”
32
posted on
02/23/2008 4:50:55 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/___________________Profile updated Tuesday, February 19, 2008)
To: Yo-Yo
It’s because the Elmo toys are made in China. Bloody ChiComs.
33
posted on
02/14/2009 2:20:18 AM PST
by
myknowledge
(Nothing beats Australia's F-22EMA Raptor)
To: gondramB
Like “Kill Muzzies”. That’ll be Islamophobic.
34
posted on
02/14/2009 2:23:13 AM PST
by
myknowledge
(Nothing beats Australia's F-22EMA Raptor)
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