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Microsoft's "Source Fource" Action Figures
RCanine writes "Microsoft is attempting to curry mind share with the 3-12 age bracket with their new event, the Source Fource, a series of developer-based action figures. Windows Vista Sensei, SQL Server Gal and some lame gender stereotypes presumably seek to rid the world of bearded, katana-wielding evil-doers. From the article: 'Between March 15th and April 15th 2007, the new super dudette will be offered and will be sent to developers who get their act together and attend at least two live MSDN Webcasts or two MSDN Virtual Labs, or one of each.'" I just can't figure out what to make of this, except that I hope someone can tell me if it blends. Or melts. Or burns.
This is a sure sign of the apocalypse...
SQL Server Gal is hot! Is she single?!
They MUST start making some "evil villian" models too. One that looks like RMS. I'll buy a dozen!
But Where is Bob? Or Super-Sweaty Ballmer?
Toil is Stupid. Don't be Stupid.
Let me guess.
Are the nemeses of these characters 'Evil Dr Torvalds' and 'The Jobs Bandit', who are intent on overtaking the world with their clone armies of penguins, platypuses and scary Finder icons?
Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
I work at Microsoft. How come I knew this first from /.?</irony>
Let the "you must be new here" comments begin.
Onda Technology Institute
Maybe it's because I'm in my fifties but this seems incomprehensible - but then so does my teenage son's taste in music so maybe I'm just old.
init 11 - for when you need that edge.
Microsoft is the living proof that Marketing > Quality (as if anybody doubted that). They know that their marketing dept is their most important asset, and they can afford to pour cash at them. Hence their marketing people can afford to try out any wacky ideas and see what sticks.
That's the only explanation I can come up for this initiative. Anything else makes me want to obliterate humanity.
Misleading titles? Inflammatory blurbs? Keep in mind that Slashdot is a tabloid.
The best part is when you click "Watch Them in Action!" and it takes you to a page.
.tv sites really. Does Microsoft utilize any of those freely available options? Oh no, of course not! YouTube is Google! Even if we don't have a competing solution we must not use theirs!
.asx file all you non-Windows users.
... must be his hair. Well, we'll see about that! Put the action figures I've hand crafted here immediately into production! Release plush dolls of clippy! Find me puppies to carry around with me at press conferences and when their cute factor falls below 40%, have them killed and replaced!
Now, a lot of sites have this crazy idea of embedded video that streams from a site or source that's dedicated to streaming video. You know like YouTube, Blip.tv or any of the
So what happens when you click "view"? Well, it creates a popup window that opens up Windows Media Player! Good luck viewing a
The least Microsoft could do is create their own streaming video server but, alas, we must revert to our archaic mentality, reject all that is sensible and invade my privacy and comfort zone by automatically opening a program that is tied to the kernel (and at least historically had admin rights when I didn't) sitting in kernel land on my computer.
Assistant: Mr. Ballmer! Research indicates that Richard Stallman is 50% more cuddly than you!
Ballmer: Damnit
My work here is dung.
This has been done and done well. Why the cheap knockoff?
I get that they're toys, and toys are traditionally for kids, and that it's fun to make fun of/hate on Microsoft, and that Microsoft is obviously trying to get people hooked early (did I cover all the bases?).. but these action figures are more collectibles than toys to be played with. This stuff isn't really for kids, it's for your OCD-afflicted nerd that has (hopefully) outgrown Pokemon.
Is Microsoft's answer to Tux and the Bitten Apple. M$ has never really had a Mascot, and I will bet dollars to donuts that some M$ marketing person had an epiphany that the reason everyone hates M$ was because they didn't have a cute, cuddly mascot or cultural icon.
So, their answer, of course, is to create not one, but LOTS, of cute, cuddly mascots. After all, if one is good, 10 must be better. Right?
This is the coolest thing Microsoft has ever done and I'm not having anyone say otherwise!
They're like, ninja developer legomen superheroes!
From the website:
He is highly thought of as one of the most powerful warriors alive. Although he is still young, Windows Vista Sensei is said to possess different strengths and confidence not known to anyone. He is already beginning to gain such world fame at his young age that folks are writing stories about him.
That's quite some selective perception, I can't even believe this is real!!
It looks like Microsoft has been on a marketing rampage of trying to confuse various community project names with its own garbage.
Office Open XML (similar to OpenOffice.org?)
Source Force (SourceForge, anyone?)
Seriously, it's like they're trying to give all these great projects a bad name in the eyes of the ignorant masses who will make the subliminal association in their heads. When all they have is marketing left trying to revive the sinking ship, every problem can be made to look like a marketing one.
that I regret there's no photoshop contests on Slashdot.
Anyone else notice that it's almost March of 2008 now, while the article mentions March of 2007?
This article is from 2007, and these figures were originally released in 2006.
But go ahead and watch the video, if you can. See if they'll at least throw in a time-share condo.
Apocalypse Ponies, my Little Ponies....
(little girl voice): I'm war pony (flames couch)
(little girl voice): A I am (evil deep voice) DEATH PONY!
google: robot chicken apocalypse pony
They Live, We Sleep
Visual Studio Guy is the Green Lantern, MSDN Webcast Guy is Superman, Virtual Labs Guy is The Flash. I don't see credit on there anywhere, and this is definitely a marketing thing (not a parody).
I think MSDN Webcast Guy's tagline says it best, "His parents weren't very creative."
The Right Reverend K. Reid Wightman,
I don't think it's coincidence that it sounds a lot like SourceForge.
I don't know why, but if I wanted to muddle a name, that's something I'd do: Create something that sounds much like it, is a bit childish and ridiculous, and try to make it popular.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
1. I am a geeky dad of a 8yo boy.
2. I use Linux exclusively.
3. My son -- which could be a Microsoft convert if this thing worked -- cannot watch the videos.
4. Therefore, he is safe from the brainwashing.
5. Profit!!!
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
Thank you Microsoft, for setting your people back 1000 years.
My thoughts exactly. It can't be a coincidence that these figures are supposed to debut between march 15 and april 15...
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway. -- Andrew S. Tanenbaum
I didn't have enough sleep, or something, to deal with this article. Is it mushroom season in the Pacific Northwest, or what?
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. indymedia
From the story line -
"ISV Super Gal, as persistent as ever, studied and was eventually able to find a way to turn matter into energy
and then back again via an Ultra-Mobile PC running Windows Vista. Shortly there after she left and headed back to main society to continue her studies.
When her friends found out about the device she had created they were amazed as could be."
Yeap - I'm sure many of us would be amazed that she was able to produce anything! (The bold emphasising is mine.)
Still, my kids are NOT going to even know about this - and we love LEGO.
My blog
I think I speak for everyone here when I say: Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. Over.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
...because you know Source Fource is out to beat the Penguin.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Source Fource? Sounds suspiciously similar to Source Forge... Could MS be poking fun at the OSS community , could the lame-ness is sarcastic and intentional ?
Essentia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
Xerox recently announced a "viral" marketing campaign involving superhero characters that extoll the virtues of solid ink printing. I shit you not.
IncredibleInc
Kineska: Cinema, soapbox, music & musings
Can Source Forge perhaps sue Microsoft for infringing on the trademark Sourceforge? (it's at least a closer approximation than Mike Row Soft)
80 CC D8 AF AE D3 AB 54 B7 2E CE 67 C7
You're about to use a katana ...
Cancel or Allow?
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Wow. My knick-nack shelf just bluescreened.
The only thing left standing is my stuffed Tux.
Huh?
And in the rules... (again, emphasis mine).
Either this is really really really old news (not unusual - it IS
...because it looks like the riddler is the "architect" behind the MS Source Force!
"'Between March 15th and April 15th 2007"
Er, either the year is wrong, or this is old news.
I have a collection of Super Villains called "Bug Force" that just happens to have the EXACT same characters as "Source Force"!
This is just their feeler into the children's toy industry. Microsoft is poised to release a whole line of toy's called Megos that will revolutionize the toy industry. They will be stronger, more precise, more modular and cheaper than their competitors, while leveraging your existing toy inventory. Furthermore, by retaining resale value, Megos will have a better ROI after your children are grown! Available in 2010.
If these were handed out in March 2007, why should we care?