Inside Windows Live Messenger:: Bots

Movie Scout

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 18:22:48 GMT

Posted by Daniel

Who doesn't like movies? Anyone ...? I thought so...

I love movies that make you laugh , movies packed with action , movies that showcase new tech stuff , but I'm not really into moves that make you sad .

I used to watch almost all new releases but lately my priorities have changed and now I mostly watch videos with my son . For the rest of you who still go to every new movie Windows Live Messenger has a pretty cool bot that helps you find shows, theatres and show times near you.

The bot's address is MovieScout@botmetro.net, just add it to your buddy list and start a conversation with it. As soon as you start the dialog it ask your zip code and then it will show a menu where you can find show times and movies.

For full instructions and more info go to the MovieScout's site http://moviescout.msn.com/.

[Update: the bot only understands US zip codes]

Here is a a sample conversation I had with the bot this morning:

moviescout@botmetro.net said:
Hi, I'm Movie Scout. To read my privacy policy, click http://www.colloquis.com/legal/privacy.html.

I can help you find movies near you. Please enter your zip code and we'll get started. If you want to see a list of options, type "menu."
Daniel said:
98052
moviescout@botmetro.net said:
Type the name of the movie or tell me the type of movie you would like to see.

1 Action
2 Comedy
3 Crime & Espionage
4 Documentary
5 Family
6 Drama

Type a number to select a movie genre or type "more" for more genres.
Daniel said:
2
moviescout@botmetro.net said:
Comedy movies playing in or near Redmond, WA (98052) on Monday, February 19th:

1 Because I Said So [PG13]
2 Borat [R]
3 Epic Movie [PG13]
4 Music and Lyrics [PG13]
5 Night at the Museum [PG]
6 Norbit [PG13]

For theaters and showtimes, select a movie by typing a number. Type "more" for the next set of results.

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If you have a comment/question/concern/discussion topic/rant/rave/other - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.

Robot Invaders Maddness

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 17:03:39 GMT

posted by Nicole

The Robot Invaders (build the best bot and win prizes) contest is still going on - check it out if you haven't yet!

There was also a weekend maddness mini contest.

The weekend maddness winners are:

Congrats!

If you want to check out more Bots for Messenger take a look at Windows Live Gallery.

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If you have a comment/question/concern/discussion topic/rant/rave/other - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup. Trackbacks are greatly appreciated :)

$40,000 Is a Lot of Dollars

Tue, 16 May 2006 20:30:31 GMT

posted by Leah

What do these ”people” all have in common?

If you said they’re all movie stars, you’d be right (except Rosie the Robot, she never really broke out of television, poor thing). But the answer i'm looking for is "Robots. They're all robots."

And while we're talking about robots, check this out: Microsoft is challenging developers worldwide to create conversational robots, or BOTs, for MSN® Messenger and Windows Live™ Messenger. The most original, useful robots collect $40,000 in total prizes.

While The Terminator is one bad *ss robot, he isn’t exactly the kind of BOT we’re talking about. A better example is the Encarta Instant Answers bot. You can see other examples by signing into messenger, and clicking on the Bot Tab (there’s a little picture of a robot).

If you're not a developer- this is still cool news because you either a) now have incentive to learn, and b) can use the robots all those hot developers are building.

If you are a developer, then GO! Compete! Win some portion of the $40,000 and a kiss on the cheek from the cutest guy/girl (you pick) in school! Ok, I can’t guarantee that last part, but how can membership into the Microsoft Invasion of the BOTs winner’s circle not earn you unparalleled popularity?

I mean, seriously?

Go for Gold! (or an Xbox 360)

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 17:59:40 GMT

posted by Nicole

If you are like me Olympic coverage is getting a lot of action on your TiVo.

I the Olympics.

There are so many awe inspiring stories at the Olympics. On the top of my list this year is when Zhang Dan of China took a horrible fall at the start of her pairs skating long program. She recovered quickly. Then went on to skate beautifully with her partner. They still managed to capture the silver medal… brilliant! You can read more about it here.

Personally, I have no hope of achieving an Olympic Gold Medal but there are other ways for us common folk to achieve glory, such as collecting Achievements or Badges in Zuma or playing Q6 through Messenger.

Let’s get some bad news out of the way first: Q6 is currently only available in the US. Other markets are working on it so please stay tuned…

Q6, what is that?

Q6 is a trivia game within Messenger that you can play with up to 5 of your friends to win prizes. You may have already noticed it in your tab list.

How do you play?

Step 0: Install MSN Messenger v7.5 or Windows Live Messenger v8.0

Step 1: Visit the Q6 site to get all the details

Step 2: Add the Q6 Bot to your contact list

Step 3: Chat with the Q6 Bot

Step 4: Start the Q6 activity with the Bot (Under Activities, Q6 Trivia)

Step 5: Register yourself for the game

Step 6: Add yourself to a team or find some friends to join your team

Step 7: Play the game every Thursday 9pm EST (starting next week)

Step 8: Win!

Step 9: Do a victory lap around your room, don’t worry I won’t tell any one ;)

What team are the Messenger Bloggers on?

The Messenger Bloggers unfortunately are not eligible to play since we work all at Microsoft but please tell us about your teams – we will cheer you on

IM, Robot

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 17:22:32 GMT

posted by Nicole

When I was driving the v7.0 Beta release over a year ago now (it seems like 5 years ago) I wanted a to provide an easy way to allow team members to get up-to-date information on status. I thought about writing a bot, so for example if you wanted to get the most up-to-date schedule info you could ask the bot “schedule?”. Although we did have some bot capabilities back then it was beyond my grasp and was apparently not a cheap endeavor. So instead I just sent the team my IM address to ask me questions any time I was online – definitely not a great solution.

I am very excited to say that now anyone can write their own Messenger bot with the help of the Conversagent BuddyScript SDK. Chatting with bots is amusing. I think it is even cooler to interact with them which is possible with the SDK. A couple examples I would love to see:

Tank Wars Bot: Imagine you want to play a tank wars and no one is online, no problem you can play with a bot. Sweet!

Go Hawks Bot: No matter what you say it replies with "Go Hawks Go". Especially fun to send to the poor Steelers fans. My prediction for Sunday: Seattle Wins - 37-28.

Need more ideas? Check out this post.

Rocking! Want to keep up with all the news about Bots & Activites in Messenger?

You don’t have sweet bot building skills?

Not a problem check out the bots below that you can chat with now. Just add them to your contact list and you can chat and interact!

note: quick links below will only work with MSN Messenger v7.5 and Windows Live Messenger and you will need to add them to your contact list before you can start chatting.

Encarta encarta@botmetro.net

Spleak spleak@hotmail.com

SmarterChild smarterchild@hotmail.com

ESP Billy espbilly@msn.com - this bot is soo popular it even has a film featuring it and a space.

Crystal Ball Buddy crystalballbuddy@hotmail.com - this is a very smart bot:

Nicole says (9:18 AM):

Will the Seahawks win the Super Bowl?

Magic Crystal Ball says (9:18 AM):

My prognosis looks positive. I think the Seahawks will win the Super Bowl.

Amazon chat@insidemessenger.com

Canada:

YellowPages yellowpagesqa@hotmail.com

Netherlands:

DJ Bot ruud@radio538.nl

Chatman blabla@chatman.nl

Eccky visit www.eccky.nl to sign up

Korea:

TongYang Securities msn013@myasset.com