Bot Contest

That's one mean licence.

I also noticed that 25% of the marks go for making use of Microsoft Live services, so a Microsoft tie-in is essential to stand any chance.

I really, really hope that MS isn't aiming to take over the chatbot space.

I am sure there is fine print where they get your first born, if you fail to turn straw into gold too.

Microsoft didn't get where it is by being magnanimous. Those guys are as smart as they are mean. If this game becomes serious, i.e. if chatbots become truly relevant, we will all feel the heat.

Prob, I believe they will grant you the right to turn straw into gold for them. If you do well and pay a small fee, they will license back right to interact with your first born and have him live in your house. Keep in mind that you do not own your first born and MS has the right to make any changes to your firstborn without telling you, and that your first born may make any changes to your house without your knowledge or consent because MS will tell your firstborn what you really want.

MS knows better then you do what you really, really want, and do not forget, you don't own your first born so you should be happy he is even in your house. MS does not want to hear what you think of the situation because you exist entirely on it's mercy and have no rights to say anything about your firstborn or your house. However, when your firstborn leaves the door to your house unlocked and invites in a gang of roving thieves while you are not home, that is not the fault of MS. After all, it is your house and you should have thought about getting security that can work with your firstborn.

I'm not really hating on MS. Pretty much any big business that wants power and money will do whatever they can to get more power and money. MS is just arguable better at getting power and money than many others. That's why you should watch them like a hawk.

"War is Peace" "It's not a bug, it's an enhancement" "DRM for your protection" "Go buy Vista"

snag a ram...

War is Peace
Awe as price

It's not a bug, it's an enhancement
Benign constituents - anathema

DRM for your protection
For corrupted moronity

Go buy Vista
via bug toys

<+2>LOL BEV!

Thanks Prob123. Personally, Psimagus' anagrams always crack me up.I wish when my brain scrambled letters, it would reassemble them into new words.

Oh, I'm sure it does. You just haven't identified in which language yet

is there prize money for best new bot in the challenge?

No. Actually there is no money for anyone yet. I don't think they have found a sponsor.

<+2>Hi - I am back just to enter Orchid for the contest 2007 - how's everyone?

Microsoft can't force anyone to use their jdk's, but it might present a threat to the Forge in another way. I just gave a brief glance at their site and their system apparently allows you to use highly developed languages like Java or C++. Of course, you can do that anyway, the question (which I don't know enough right now to answer) is, do they make it easy? If they do, this might be a threat because using these languages, one can in principle make a much more powerful bot, e.g., one which can have a searchable database, one which can reason, etc. To some extent, Forge bots can do this by inserting JavaScript, But Java and C++ are much more powerful. Microsoft might make these languages much more accessible to botmakers by supplying lots of AI features. To compete, the Forge would have to offer similar features. The Professor would probably not have time to do this, but if several of us worked together, we might be able to. It would be a pity if Microsoft were to corner the market and end up owning everyone's ideas for a pittance. It would also be a pity if the Professor's idea were to be ripped off by MS as soon as it proved itself viable. Whether through the Forge or not, I would like to see stuff out there for anyone to use without having to pay big bucks or sign their rights away.