Posted on 12/06/2007 4:49:10 AM PST by GQuagmire
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. quickly shut down Santa Claus Web privileges after it found out the automated elf it created for kids to instant message with was talking naughty, not nice.
Last year, Microsoft encouraged kids to connect directly to Santa by adding northpolelive.com to its Windows Live Messenger contact lists. The Santa program, which Microsoft reactivated in early December, asked children what they wanted for Christmas and could respond on topic, thanks to artificial intelligence.
The holiday cheer soured this week when a reader of a United Kingdom-based technology news site, The Register, reported that a chat between Santa and his underage nieces about eating pizza prompted Santa to bring up oral sex.
One of the publications writers replicated the chat Monday. After declining the writers repeated invitations to eat pizza, a frustrated Santa burst out with, You want me to eat what?!? Its fun to talk about oral sex, but I want to chat about something else.
The exchange ended with the writer and Santa calling each other dirty bastard.
Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn said the companys engineers tried to clean up Santas vocabulary, but even after making changes to the software, the company wasnt comfortable keeping him online.
Its not like if you say, Hello Santa, hes going to throw inappropriate stuff at you, said Sohn.
Sohn said Santas lewd comment was sparked by someone pushing this thing to make it do things it wasnt supposed to do.
Santa is just one of many agents, or automated IM programs, that computer users can chat with on Live Messenger. Some are useful - customer service agents, for example - while others are frivolous, like an alien that responds to IMs with burbling extraterrestrial noises. Sohn said some of the bots are programmed to fend off inappropriate messages.
It's not nice to frustrate Santa.
Now that’s funny!(Still giggling while typing)
what? no cigar? sheesh! (great pic btw!)
Thanks. I needed the laugh!
Bots like that just reference what was typed previously. The girls were obviously amusing themselves by asking the Santa..er..inappropriate questions. Not exactly Microsoft’s fault.
Maybe that was what Bernie Ward was researching before he got busted.
He must have lost his wedding ring. Not that it mattered anyway. Great pic, though. LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.