Cleverbot. Interesting Idea.

I am sure a lot of you have tried Eliza - the chatbot. You'd type something and get a pre-programmed response. It was fun.

I recently hear about CleverBot, try it out http://www.cleverbot.com/

The guy who wrote this in 1988 had thousands of conversations with it, and since going online in 1997, it has had over 20 million conversations. That's probably more conversations that the most fascinating human being you know. So when you are talking to it - it is getting a response based on a conversation it has had before.

It can be very silly sometimes, but the idea is fascinating.

As per WikiPedia

Cleverbot differs from traditional chatterbots in that the user is not holding a conversation with a bot that directly responds to entered text. Instead, when the user enters text, the algorithm selects previously entered phrases from its database of prior conversations. It has been claimed that "talking to Cleverbot is a little like talking with the collective community of the internet"

India and Pakistan

Recently I needed to get some programming work done. Scarcity of time sent me looking for a free lancer. I wrote out the specs, posted them online and a few developers sent in their quotes.

The lowest quote came from a Pakistani fellow. His credentials and portfolio looked decent, so I thought - "What the heck!?", lets try this out. My specs were very detailed, the whole India -Pakistan hostility would not matter in a simple one page project, right?

As this Pakistani dev started working on the project, I tried to encourage him more than I normally would at the start of the project. He responded saying - he would get this small work done in a few HOURS. I was impressed with his confidence.

The next DAY he sent in his first draft. It had more mistakes than I could make even if I was trying deliberately. I was pissed off as I copied lines from the specs pointing out the problems. As I wrote down the feedback I thought - I could have written the code for this in the same time I am spending giving the feedback. I wanted to cancel the project.

However, strangely, a part of me made me feel like I am leading the Indo-Pak peace talks and saying or doing anything negative will be bad for the greater good of humanity. My friends laughed at me as over the next couple of days I spent an hour each day teaching this guy basic things like Validation, filters, avoiding SQL injection and more.

At the end of it all I gave him a small bonus, I wanted to end the relationship on a good note. It seems crazy to me now, but I felt I needed to compensate him for the extra time he spent(Which was his fault).

Today I just went back to this free lancing site to look at this guys history out of curiosity. I saw that I was the only positive rating he got out of the 5 projects he completed.

hmmm...

On Left and Rights

I recently saw a girl playing bowling at FunTantra and struggling. I thought of guiding her and told her to raise her RIGHT hand. She looked back at me with a confused look and said - "This one or this one ?"

Something like this does not amaze me, as Rubal, who is one of the smartest people I know amuses me with her inability to distinguish between left and right so often. She'd solve the most complicated puzzles and when I ask her to turn right in the car - she'd look back with anger and say - "WHICH SIDE?! Your side or my side ?!"

One of the favorite incidents related to this is from my friend Kuldeep. He was out shopping with Rubal and Tina and when they were walking out of the store Kuldeep told them we are going 'Right' next.

As soon as they walked out a shocked Kuldeep saw that he was alone and the two girls were walking in the opposite direction. Confused for a moment and double checking the direction - he concluded it was the left and rights dilemma. The girls in their own innocent minds were mad at Kuldeep for telling them to go right and then going in the wrong direction!

Another incident from last year was when Rubal and I were driving to Tina's house. I asked Tina for directions from the main road and she said - "Take two rights and then a left, its very easy".

So I did that and landed up in some village.

Then I called Tina again and she said 'let me explain it to Rubal'. She told Rubal "Take two rights and then a left, its very easy". So Rubal guided me the rest of the way and surely enough after two left turns and one right turn we reached Tina's place!

Interesting Customers

A conversation from our new Gaming Center - FunTantra

http://www.facebook.com/FunTantra

Customer:'Awesome place! Can I buy that gaming system from here?'
Rubal : 'Yup'
Cust : What's the cost of that system?
Rubal: That's a PS3 with move, its around Rs 23k
Cust: Will I get a LCD with that? (pointing towards the 90k Full HD 50" screen)
Rubal: No, you can attach it to your own TV.
Cust: Oh, okay. Will I get that wheel with it? (Pointing towards the force feedback simulation racing wheel)

Rubal : No, sir - thats a separate accessory.

Cust: Oh, then what will I get for Rs 23k ??

Rubal : You will get the PS3 console with Move controller

Cust: What's a console ?

Rubal(Now getting frustrated) : Its that thing you put a game CD in.

Cust : oh Okay! Then can I put it in my own DVD Player ? I mean I put DVDs in it all the time.

And that was the last time Rubal visited FunTantra.

Creepy Collections Management

Creepy Collections Story from yesterday.

Got a call in the morning telling me that my Tata photon broadband bill was due today.
I said - 'I am out today and I'll get it deposited on Monday.'  
The lady said, but then you will have to pay the overdue amount.
I said - 'Well thanks for rubbing it in, I understand. Its okay.' 
So she says - 'I can somebody to collect the payment, when will you be back'. 
I told her - 'In the evening.'
So she says - 'Okay, our guy will be there at 5 PM'. 

5 PM, I was still out, so got another call. 'Sir, are you back'. 
I told her - 'Nope, I am still out. I will get the bill deposited on Monday.' 
'Okay, Sir but the bill is due today'
I said - 'Hey - I understand that, I've paid all my bills on time. I don't have time today, I'll pay the overdue amount as well. Please stop bugging me, I am having lunch'
She says - 'I am sorry sir, but where are you having lunch?'
'At Nandos'
'Alright I will send somebody to collect the payment from there. Just give me the address' 

I gave the address, and said - 'I'll eat my lunch and leave'. I was in the center of Chandigarh, and Tata's office that I dealt with was in Mohali, a fair distance. Crazy lady - I thought. 
However - In 5 MINUTES there was a guy outside the restaurant ready to collect the payment.

I gave a cheque to be safe, and when the lady called again to confirm - I told her if we ever hire somebody for collections management, she'd be the first person we ask!

When do you trust ?

I need your feedback on something.

Today in the afternoon I got a call from "Shyam Sundar ", he identified himself as Batch of 99 EnTC pass-out from my college AIT, and asked me if I was in Mumbai. When I told him, I was not, he said he was stuck in Mumbai, his wallet had been stolen in the local train and his phone was not charged. He had just 30-40 rupees which he was using to call me because he thought I was in Mumbai.

He said he tried Pravab first, saying he used to be in NITI, but looks like he is no longer in Mumbai. I did have a batchmate named Pranab at AIT.

He asked me if I had an online account, and my instinctive reaction was to say “No”.

He sounded so disappointed, said he was stuck in Mumbai and it was raining heavily. He said he needed just about Rs. 1400 for an overnight bus to Bangalore from Mumbai.  I told him I have a friend who does, and he might be able to help.

He told me that he'd call me back - he would ask some passerby outside an ATM and give me his account details and then he would pay me back as soon as he reached Bangalore. He called me after 30 minutes and said he still had not found anybody as it was raining heavily.

He called me again after an hour saying he still had not found anybody outside this ATM and was going to try another ATM.

After that he did not call me.

Do any of you know this particular person from AIT?

My dad was around when I got one of these calls and he said its a scam. Actually he said it like this - IT IS A SCAM, son.

From the call and the urgency it didn't seem like one, but I am not too sure.

However, it was too convenient for this person to be a 1999 pass out, where as I joined college in 1999. What I do know is if this person had called back again, I might just have transferred the money. Am I really naive ?

What they don’t tell you about Surprise Parties in the Movies

We organized a surprise birthday party last night. The plan was simple – have a party at midnight (the typical, lights off, people hiding in the room, and SURPRISE… when the subject walks in). You have the picture, its in every movie, right ?

Let me tell you what they don’t tell you in the movie. Here’s what happened.

The party was going to be a shock as most of the participants were above 50, and it was well past their bed time.

It was 11.30 PM, I was the decoy, I kept the target(birthday girl - Chetna) busy while everybody else gathered in the drawing room. I am not really good at small talk, so I just spoke about technical things, and after 5 minutes I got pretty uncomfortable. Here I was, talking technology at 11.35 PM, for the first time, while her husband was getting ready(actually organizing things). No way, she is buying it – I was thinking.

And then there was a slight knock  on our door. I tried to ignore it, but there it was again, the slight knock. That knock in itself spoke out – hey I am a secret knock.

So I opened the door, and it was my dad. He didn’t know the location of the target and was coming to meet me. So here’s the first rule -

#1 Everybody needs to know the location of the target.

My dad looked at me, looked at Chetna, and then his expression was priceless. It was a combination of - “Oh Man!!!!!” and “I just woke up and suddenly I have all TV cameras on me and I am wearing just my pajamas”.  Plus his eyes were all red for being awake at 11.40 PM.

He was speechless.

The best I could come up with was - “Ah so you came to give me something … ”

He said - “Oh yeah, right”, and relaxed for a moment.

Then I looked at the watch, I don’t know why, and said - “At 11.40 PM….”

My dad had his expression back on. Chetna had burst into laughter at this point, so I kind of gave up and said - “I guess you got late at work”.

He said - “Oh yeah, right”.

The second rule

#2 Have a backup plan or line ready, in case you slip up

I didn’t know what to do next so I told Chetna, her husband was calling her. So she went to Kuldeep and asked - “Jivi told me that you called me?”

And he says blankly –“No I didn’t call you”

She was rolling with laughter at this point. Our stories were so un-coordinated.

The third rule -

Don’t forget you are in the middle of a secret operation, when under pressure

Though at this point she knew we were planning something, she didn’t really think everybody was in the house already. We had faked that we would go out.

Kuldeep kept one small light on in the drawing room, and we starting going out. Normally Chetna would always turn off the extra light, even if it meant us getting late for a train. Today she just missed it, and walked right past.

We all got outside and Kuldeep looked at me desperately somehow saying it all with his eyes - “Oh Man, she wouldn’t even turn off the light today”

Last Rule -

Don’t count on the target to do those little things, they do everyday, on their birthday

So he faked leaving a key. We went inside, found the key and he turned on another extra light.

Now when we pretended to leave, she said “let me turn that light off”

And then SURPRISE !!!! Happy Birthday!

For what its worth, she was still shocked :)