Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Patenting Celebrity-Shaped Bing'ing
theodp writes "GeekWire reports that Microsoft is seeking a patent on the concept of applying the persona of a celebrity to Internet searches, allowing people to see search results shaped by the personalities and preferences of Hollywood celebrities like Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Megan Fox, and Jessica Lange. A search for an evening dress using the persona of Jessica Lange, explains Microsoft, would return dresses that reflect the actress's 'style and/or fashion preferences,' including 'color, fit, designer, cut, etc.' Your move, Google."
..nothing?
People USE Bing?
If ya know what I mean.
Google's move? I'm pretty sure it'll be a bewildered gaze followed by a light chuckle.
I doubt that will stop them though.
404: sig not found.
Beats the hell out of copying Google's results.
I feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of celebrity stalkers are crying out in terror and suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible is happening.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Will I finally find out what celebrities wear wigs?
think of the possibilities!! now we will know exactly what type of porn Miley Cyrus watches!
Have gnu, will travel.
"It looks like you are going to a party. Would you like some help?
* Help me choose my underwear
* No, thanks, I'll continue to use the last week's one."
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
And you thought "Miserable Failure" Google-bombing was bad...
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
What if I search as RMS?
Don Draper: People want to be told what to do so badly that they'll listen to anyone.
Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once
Lets see...
Jessica Lange like evening dresses.
Nothing.
When I search I want search results that I care about - not what Miley Cyrus cares about. Nice try MS, but perhaps the silliest and most useless idea I have heard all week.
if instead of just patenting things, companies actually built them?
So I can do a web search to find out what my favorite actress or actor wears, and it will show me examples of all the types of clothes they wear, with links so I can buy the shit!
But I can already do a web search, and every picture of the actress or actor is (more than likely) going to have them wearing clothes that at some point they put on and it was considered their 'style', with links so I can buy the shit!
Am I missing the usefulness of this feature? Why are we so intent on making the same shit in a shiny new package over and over and over and over?
this is exactly the functionality that i've been waiting for since the ole vt220 mainframe days
Meanwhile google patents telepathic searching.
Apple patents voice based searching
Microsoft....
What are they gonna call this button?
CelebrastalkshoppBING!
I'm looking for a bow-tie and fez?
Maybe its just me, but I can't see any good reason to care what Miley Cyrus, or any other celebrity, thinks about when I'm searching the internet.
In my mind the variety the internet bring to everyone should be the freedom to find, learn about, and enjoy the things that make us who we are. Having a search engine model the result sets it gives me based on the preference of some one else just seems pathetic. Be yourself, not some wanna be celebrity impersonator.
Although the average slashdot reader probably has difficulty imagining anyone dumb enough to want to use this service, I guess every click from those who do must be like pure gold to the advertisers.
Monkeys- all results are "banana"
Kangaroo- all results are "jumping"
Dog- "Snausages!"
Australia & Drop Bear- "best deals on caskets"
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Turning this patent around a bit, it sounds like just profiling someone, and predicting purchases based on that profile. Isn't this pretty much what all the "you might also be interested in..." pop-ups do, to some extent or other?
This surprises me not at all, especially after coming from msn.com (default IE page on a new Windows installation) where one of the lead stories is an embarrassing video of an elderly entertainer who fell asleep on live TV. Vapidity, voyeurism, and vanity are what sell in our culture.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
I did a Bing search for "thumbs" using the Megan Fox shape, but all I got back was pictures of toes. Must be broken.
This shit is brought to you by the assholes on Wall Street, K street and Rodeo Drive. They live their lives trying to fuck us. Well, fuck them. They are the minority and we can bury them as soon as we wake the fuck up.
Seriously, who on /. cares about what a celebrity searches for?
Charlie Sheen: Medical suppliers
Steve Ballmer: Escort services
Hans Reiser: Where to hide a body
To quote Bill Gates "that's the stupidest fucking idea I ever heard".
stupid hurts, stop it.
Great idea, will anybody use it? does anybody use bing?
Ru Paul
The astute reader will note that search engines already taylor results to the preferences of the user. So any celebrity using Google will cause a violation of this patent since the goog will be returning results conforming to the personality of a celebrity. The only real difference here is getting results based on someone ELSEs profile, not necessarily a celebrity.
[] Do you feel lucky, punk?
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
who hire others to shop for them because they don't even have the basic sense to dress themselves?
win
I read the summary. I've read some of the discussion. Haven't bothered to read TFA. I'm just sitting here, wondering. Would I rather have my searches shaped by the preferences of someone like Paris Hilton, or would I rather be caught blaspheming against Allah in Iran? Tough question. FFS - if there were any "celebrities" that I gave a damn about, I still wouldn't want my searches to reflect their preferences!
Case in point - I happen to like Linus Torvalds. He's in my circle on G+. I've learned a few cool things about him. In fact, I've learned that we actually share some interests aside from his operating system. But, we're worlds apart. For starters, he's a young father. I'm an old grandfather. He has concerns, regarding his family, that I just don't give a rat's ass about anymore. Oh - I might sympathize with some of his day to day problems, momentarily. But, I solved all those problems, on a daily basis, a lifetime ago. I just don't give a rat's ass anymore. I don't WANT my searches to give me hits on childhood illnesses, discipline and motivation tips, etc ad nauseum.
The "celebrities" that are likely to show up on Bing are mostly mindless idiots. I'd just barf if my search results were keyed to any of them.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Every time I try to search for something, they pull a RMS and try to correct my language. They search for what they think you ought to have typed instead of what you actually typed. Google tries to control language. And when you can control language, you can control thought.
Google's move? I'm pretty sure it'll be a bewildered gaze followed by a light chuckle.
Followed by an hour of rolling around on the floor laughing!
Something from a mirror site I guess.
**TODO** Steal someone elses sig.
Astrology software product called WOW - World of Wonder, IIRC - lets you see how in sync you are with famous actors' horoscopes.
Am I the only one who find the ability to search with the "persona" of another person rather disturbing?
And, if you are sick enough in the head to use this service, how can you be sure that any "persona"is accurate? Wouldn't it be skewed by the celeb claiming to like XYZ and then trousering a nice pay-off for the promotion?
Also, I assume that this "persona" is based on what the celeb make publicly available or how they wish to appear in public. But that's not them, that's just a veneer. So will the search use the veneer or the real person?
Finally, how long before parents demand the ability to search using the "persona" of their child. They need to protect their child by finding out what they ware doing.
Dear god people, what is wrong with you? WILL NO ONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?
And how do MS disavow any unfortunate search results as not in any way defamatory to the celebrity whose "personality" is being impersonated?
-- What do you need?
-- Gnus. Lots of Gnus.
Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Megan Fox, and ...Jessica Lange?!?!
It's all i hear 15 year olds talking about nowadays, their favourite star, Jessica Lange. And I get sick of having to buy Cary Grant action figures, but I hear next year Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is coming into fashion.
(1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
see search results shaped by the personalities .. of Hollywood celebrities like Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Megan Fox, and Jessica Lange
Make your pick for your preferred amount of curves.
if he were here right now?
well now we know
So now instead of not finding what I want, I can not find what a celebrity wants. Awesome!
~Syberz
I can't wait until the Busey version of Bing comes out.
... for grasping at straws. Poor Microsoft, they just can't seem to catch a break.
mov ah, 4ch
int 21h
Therefore, I predict that it will tie in closely with Facebook, something I also think is dumb, and be a huge market success.
I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Less individuality and less development of personal preference
Twinstiq, game news