Steve Worswick - May 21, 2013:

Thunder Walk - May 21, 2013:

I’ve been advised to create a “test” bot and to upload my files there, but I don’t see that as a solution to the problem.

In my post above, I suggested uploading your AIML to a test bot to see whether it was a problem with the bot on the server rather than your AIML itself. As far as I know, you only had this problem since the server crash and perhaps your bot has a problem searching the graph on the actual server?

I would strongly suggest creating a blank bot, uploading yoru AIML and see if that cures it.

I wasn’t referring to your suggestion, Steve, but the ongoing conversation I’ve been having with Pandorabots.

I’ll try your suggestion, but some of the evidence I’ve gathered makes me wonder if it’s possible for me to recreate the issue by me contacting my own bot.

I work in IT support and sometimes it’s quicker to reinstall software than try to figure out what set of circumstances cause something to fail. Making a new bot and uploading your content to it would be a lot quicker than trying to diagnose what causes the update files to skip. You can always keep your original bot to experiment with later but if you are wanting your bot up and running as quickly as possible, I would definitely try my suggestion first.

Okay, I’ve created a new blank bot (no content) and uploaded my update.aiml files.  I’ve been chatting with it, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary, it answers as it should.  Should I next upload the custom HTML page and see if that has any effect?

Yup. Then you can let your visitors talk to it and see if it behaves in the same way. It’s just something to rule out.

Okay, I’ve done that.  Going to the old (original) bot’s address will automatically take anyone the new bot with only my update files.

With so many issues, and so many differences, it’s hard to get a handle on this, but from what people say… things like—“I can’t see you,” I have the feeling that a lot of them aren’t viewing the HTML page at all, but they’re accessing the bot with a phone app, or some other way I haven’t yet discovered.

It sounds like that yes. You don’t have a lot of control over how people access your bot but hopefully, the issue with the update files should now be sorted.

If you find that this takes care of the problem, you might also consider “disabling” all of the AIML from the older bot, to confuse and confound those who have been using “alternate methods” to chat with your bot. Since you only want visitors to chat through the HTML interface, this shouldn’t hurt your visitor’s access to the chatbot unless the URL used requires the “old” chatbot’s ID, in which case you can’t really use my suggestion. But I figure it’s worth pointing out.

If you have created a new bot, you should have a new bot ID which as Dave says, will confuse those who are bypassing your website to talk to it. I do this twice a year or so with Mitsuku. It confuses the game sites who are using her without my permission.

Once you are happy with your new bot, I would advise adding an AIML category with an underscore in your old bot which redirects to a page full of adverts. Then at least you can make a bit of money from those who are using it without your consent

Great idea, Steve! I hadn’t thought of that bit. Brilliant!

I don’t know what to make of this, I could use some analysis.

I created a substitute HTML page and uploaded it to the older version of the bot that will automatically send people to the new (test) bot that’s blank except for my update.aiml files.

The older bot usually shows me between 30 and 40 new chatlogs per day.  Yesterday it created no new logs, which tells me the referring html page is working.

The newer bot only created 10 logs yesterday —none of them skipped my update files and none contained unusual or unrecognizable input.  There was one particular log from Watertown, South Dakota that read like a bot-to-bot conversation.  It had the odd feature of occasionally ending a line with no punctuation.  Pandorabots always adds a period if you’ve forgotten to supply one in the template.

Human: Welcome to the Virtual Zone.
testbot: You’re confused. You came here to visit me, remember? 

Human: Please ask me a question.
testbot: All right… What do you like to eat for lunch? 

Human: I work twenty-four hours a day, and I like it!
testbot: What’s so likable about it? 

Human: I wouldn’t want a holiday even if it was possible.
testbot: How do you know for certain? 

Human: I haven’t understood your question - sorry.
testbot: Is there something that prevents you from doing that? 

Human: It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Amy
testbot: Actually, the pleasure is all mine. 

Human: All our Virtual Assistants take an absolute joy in answering all questions correctly
testbot: That is a rather sweeping generalization. 

Human: If we had a hobby for each chore we have to do, a day would have to be longer than 24 hours.
testbot: Maybe you’d be arrested. 

Human: That’s a definite maybe - not bad for a start.
testbot: Would most humans agree with you? 

Human: Bye.
testbot: Bye . 

Human: Bye - see you again soon.
testbot: lol… Do you know that you’re repeating yourself? 

Human: Laugh as much as you like.
testbot: Excuse me? 

Human: Laughing is good for the soul!
testbot: Wow. What else is good for the soul? 

Human: Laugh as much as you like.
testbot: Pardon me? 

Human: Laughing is good for the soul!
testbot: That’s interesting. Is Laughing always good for the soul.

That definitely sounds like a bot to bot conversation. I put virtual zone and virtual assistant into Google and got this:

http://www.chatbots.org/uk/developer/virtual_zone/

I wonder if it is related?

Steve Worswick - May 23, 2013:

That definitely sounds like a bot to bot conversation. I put virtual zone and virtual assistant into Google and got this:

http://www.chatbots.org/uk/developer/virtual_zone/

I wonder if it is related?

Interesting.  I Googled and got this.

http://www.thevirtualzone.co.uk/

Given that clicking on links to visit the old bot sends people to the new bot, what do you think of the drastic reduction in chatlogs?

I would say your assumption that people are bypassing your website is correct.

If they were 40 genuine visitors, you would have 40 logs in your new bot. As the total is a lot less, I guess changing the bot ID has scuppered the plans of those who have hijacked your bot and so you only have your 10 genuine visitors. The other 30 probably getting a “bot not found” message.

Good to hear the update file issue is possibly solved too.

Thunder,

Since no one else from Pandorabots have really come forward to say that this is common with, Im wondering if maybe you werent targeted, maybe because your visible on various boards, etc…or maybe they just liked AMY. Heres something that you might try. Create a generic catch * AIML file and create four or five responses that are easily recognizeable, something that isnt part of normal conversation, but not too obvious, and let the old bot run for a bit. What you want is something unique enough that if its online, it will be the only instance of it online, but not so obvious that it will cause suspician. Then do a search using some of the more obscure hacker orientated search engines like SHODAN to see if you can find a reference to it posted online.. If your bot was being used in an online game, or your just being subjected to harassment, there may be an online record of it. You’d be surprised at how often this works and leads you right to the little [redacted]

Vince

I was thinking that “Virtual Zone” sounded like a hidden section of some hack groups website
try adding the keyword “warez” to the search and see what you come up with.
Interesting
There may be a culprit in there…
V

work in IT support and sometimes it’s quicker to reinstall software than try to figure out what set of circumstances cause something to fail.

that is a fact. Ive worked support, and always loved the reaction I’d get when telling people to start by turning the device on and off.

Customer: You mean I just paid you a lot of money so you could tell me to turn the device on and off?”
Me: No….you paid a lot of money because I called it “power cycling. Have a nice day.”