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The Secret Origins of Microsoft Office's Clippy
Harry writes "Most folks think that Microsoft Office's Clippy, Microsoft Bob, and Windows XP's Search Assistant dog were perverse jokes — but a dozen years' worth of patent filings shows that Microsoft took the concept of animated software 'helpers' really, really seriously, even long after everyone else realized it was a bad idea. And the drawings those patents contain are weirdly fascinating." The article, a slide show really, spreads over 15 pages.
...The Aristocrats... Ba-dum-dum...
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Who cares where Clippy is from. I just want it to die.
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
Whatever happened to just yelling "first post?"
It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
Made it to Slide 9 before the site got Slashdotted... My favorite was the slide with the two pissed-off teddy bears. They'd make great Office Assistants: "How the f*ck can we help you today?"
"Modulating the Behavior of an Animated Character to Reflect Beliefs Inferred About a Userâ(TM)s Desire for Automated Services"
I think if they'd put this into practice I might have finally gotten to see Clippy take a lot of something high calibre to the face.
A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
Me too. It's like uh.. a medal. Of retardation. Still a medal, though.
I just realized what that post is supposed to be -- it's like a "mental DNS" attack to fark up the rest of the discussion.
Probably a rogue Microsoft patent attorney!
It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
And 'Bob' is 'boB' backwards. Eerie!
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
It looks like you're trying to create a slideshow about me. Would you like to...
Slashdot - News for Herds. Stuff that Splatters.
It is now appearant that Microsoft and Dell are teaming up, not only to outsource tech support to India, but to hire Indian tech support that cant even read!
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
"Hi, I noticed you're writing a ransom letter. Would you like a few pointers? If you use more threatening language, you can probably get a lot more money. Also, make sure you use gloves when you print the letter so the police can't track your finger prints"
Clippy was Melinda Gates' idea. Hence the emphasis on making it work.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Allegedly, Clippy annoyed people into looking in the help files to figure out how to turn him off. That led them to discover that the help file actually was helpful. This reduced the give-away service calls by some measured percent.
Probably not Clippy's intended purpose, but there you go. :)
-- Cerebus
I'm surprised we didn't see this important product listed.
There is no way that George Lucas has had a horde of interns and patent attorneys working for the past two decades on Jar Jar Binks.
...an employee bonus program based on the number of patent filings.
I'm sure that Melinda French (later to become Melinda Gates) being the project manager for the Microsoft Bob project had nothing to do with the fact Microsoft ran with it for so long.
I always thought bob backwards was dod.
upside down: pop
backwards and upside down: qoq
transpose:
b
o
b
My 5 year old son is scared at night because Clippy is under the bed.
True story, he told me.