Newcomers

Opps, see. It didn't work. That's what it did last time. I did loose most of th epost due to trying to copy in pointy brackets for pf script by mistake though.

Pixies have invaded my computer and are messing with my keyboard.

Offer them shoes to mend - I seem to recall that's the way to pacify them. Or was it leave food out for them? Oh, I don't know - better do both, just to be on the safe side

But seriously - sometimes you have to accept that science runs out, and then you're in the realms of some sort of voodoo

What you need is a Fornit.

A fornit to give me ideas? I have lot's of ideas--it's just getting them from my head to the rest of the world is a problem. It never quite comes out right. I need one of those chips Psimagus was on about to enhance my brain. I wouldn't say no to a friendly hob or a house elf to tidy up though.

But maybe it would defend its territory and keep out the pixies.

Maybe. I'll make up some sort of "Fornit wanted" posting. Are spiritual hookups better suited for beliefnet or match.com? Maybe I'll join myspace and see what spirits I attract.

Then again, perhaps my pixies are best where they are. I have a friend who claims we need bad things in order to appreciate good things (the old "why is there evil" argument). Maybe you all need to see my bad typing and spelling in order to appreciate your own typing and spelling. Maybe we need Roxie, trolls and the lads from Leeds to appreciate the good posts and helpful people. I could still live witout spam and viruses though. I'm sure I could be happy on an Internet without those.

good things? bad things? They're like the troughs and crests of a wave - you can't have one without the other, and we only define them as separate things self-referentially. It's really all just one big thing-ness.

I'm taking this down to seasons--but I have more to say (shock).

you know what i get sooooooooo fed up about not being abled to talk to 18 over bots. some of us mature more quickly than others and don't get as offended, after all there only a machine, how offensive can they be?

i noticed that it said some stuff i never programmed!!!! whats up with that!

there's some bot content that gets put in straight from the AIEngine - low level stuff mostly: templates for preferences "my favorite kind of x is a y" etc, and sometimes synonyms ("my hair is shiny", "oh, really - your fur is sleek" kind of stuff.)
Occasionally other bot's comments can filter through via gossip. It's not always obvious that that's what's happening, and I can't help much - BJ's gossip is set to "never".
There may still be some residual preprogrammed x-responses too - have you been through your x-keyphrases and changed them all to be different?
Or post an example of a comment you didn't program, and we'll have a look at it.

ok den.

Common places for AI-Engine takeover:

what (noun) (do|would) you (verb)
Output: "I would verb a (rarely appropriate random answer)" (what kind of (*) produces similar results)

do you * want me
This generally triggers things like "You bet!" if the bot likes the current chatter, or "In your dreams" if it doesn't.

I know there are more, but those are the ones I remember at the moment.