Santa bot run by Microsoft turns naughty online

Paul

At least, that was the case with an artificial-intelligence Santa bot operated by Microsoft Corp. that was designed to talk to children online. The Santa wandered off topic, saying, among other things: “It’s fun to talk about oral sex, but I want to chat about something else….”

Microsoft today confirmed the bot’s potty mouth and said it had snipped Santa’s Web connection.

“Yesterday we received reports that the automated Santa Claus agent in Windows Live Messenger used inappropriate language. As soon as we were alerted, we took steps to mitigate the issue, including the removal of language from the agent’s automated script. We were not completely satisfied with the result of these actions, and have decided to discontinue the automated Santa Claus agent,” Microsoft said in a statement.

Once the report of the randy Santa broke, questions prodding the bot to give up even more questionable answers took off like eight tiny reindeer.

Users were able to steer Santa into admitting he was gay or that he was a pedophile.

[Via Computerworld]

What did I miss something? Did someone hack the system? It wouldn’t be the first time and probably not the last time. I do know that I don’t use MS Messenger or hotmail.

Repair Tool of the Week: GPU-Z

Paul

GPU-Z is a small, stand alone utility designed to give you advanced information about the systems videocard. Not to be confused with CPU-Z, GPU-Z will display some of the following information: Hardware name, GPU clock, Driver version, GPU technology, Video card BIOS version, Subvendor, Bus Interface, Shaders, DirectX Support, Pixel/Texture Fillrate, Memory type, Bus width, Memory size, Bandwith, Default clock and more.

Screenshots:
GPU-Z: Display advanced information about a video card

Downloads:
Download from MajorGeeks – 365kb

[Via Technibble]

Thought people would like to check our your Video card for even better details. Go check it out!!

Some Kain And Lynch Reviews are inflated!

Paul

Official Kane & Lynch Website LIES About Its Scores
Some Important information:

Now here is my thought on this little rating gag, they are trying to advertise they have a good game but if all these people are saying different. Is this what they call thinking they had these reviews in there back pocket. I don’t think so, I hope people complain to them to let them know they will not stand for this!! With all this happening you wonder what is going to happen next but a source that I have read at Kotaku says this:

GameSpot May See “Mass Resignations” Over Dismissal

Speaking with a Gamespot employee yesterday who asked not to be named for this story, we’ve learned that, despite the neutral nature of the Gamespot news item on the matter, the editorial staff is said to be “devastated, gutted and demoralized” over the removal of former editorial director Jeff Gerstmann. While the termination of Gerstmann, a respected fixture at Gamespot, was pitched to his remaining colleagues by management as a “mutual decision”, it was anything but, we’re told.

The confusion over the reasons for Gerstmann’s termination, compounded with a lack of transparency from management has created a feeling of “irreconcilable despair” that may eventually lead to an exodus of Gamespot editorial staffers. “Our credibility,” said the source, “is in ruins.” Over the course of the previous days, a “large number of Gamespot editors” have expressed their intentions to leave. Tales of emotionally deflated peers, with no will to remain at the site, were numerous.

[Via Kutaku]

Go check out the full blog. I think I’d be willing to bet there will be something happening soon just not sure what. I hope they fix this before it’s too late or is it already!! I see the blogosphere is up in arms over this and there are even forums complaining about this. Is this the final straw for Gamespot editors or can something be done to fix the situation. Anyone want to comment on this?



Vista pirated half as much as XP, Microsoft rejoices

Paul


While it admits it’s not possible to pin down an exact number, Microsoft has let out word today that it estimates the counterfeit rate of Vista to be about half that of XP, a figure that it seems to be more than pleased with. Of course, one could interpret those numbers in slightly less positive ways, but Microsoft claims the sharp dip in piracy is due to Vista’s amped up authentication system, which it says is a “proven and effective way to combat piracy.” To come up with the numbers, Microsoft apparently relied statistics based on Windows Genuine Advantage validation failures, as well as other unspecified internal data. As TG Daily notes, all this follows Microsoft’s announcement of revised anti-piracy measures in Vista SP1 and, specifically, some big changes to the aforementioned WGA feature.

[Via Engadget]

Oh brother I guess that means Vista is getting popular I hope not. I am still having some trouble with the OS. Oh well I thought people would like to know!!

First look: the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update

Paul

The details of the Xbox Fall Dashboard update have been available for a few days, but now that the update itself has been released, we can take a look and see if this is worth talking about or if it’s just another incremental improvement to the Xbox 360 experience. After waking up a tad on the early side to download the update and give it a good going over, we’re happy to report that there are several welcome changes that are indeed exciting.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the entire dashboard is snappier. It used to be a laggy experience to zoom around your content, but now it feels crisp and fast. The first thing you should do after downloading the update is to check out the new home blade. Your friends list and messages are now on the same line to make things easier, and above that you have the “Inside Xbox” section that allows you to get system and gaming news. Right now, you’ll see Major Nelson introducing the update and walking you through some of the features in two short videos. I was worried that the Inside Xbox content was going to overpower whatever section it was in, but this layout makes it easy to ignore if you don’t want to see the news—and easy to find if you want to see what Microsoft would love to sell you this week.

[Via Ars Technica]

I am quite curious about this dashboard update. If you like the Xbox 360 go check out the full article and see screen shots there!!

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