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back to article Kik opens bot shop, promises world+dog access to teen market

Kik, the company behind the eponymous teen messaging platform, has kicked open its doors for bot developers. The Canadian company has launched its bot shop, which has three categories – entertainment, lifestyle, and games – and 16 bots currently available. Developers are encouraged to submit more bots for the messenger app, …

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      It wasn't even a well written padLeft. Why initialize to -1 and pre-increment, instead of 0 and post-increment.

      And it didn't handle multi-charecter pads correctly.

      1 0 Reply
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    These would be the craphounds who sicced a patent lawyer on a developer for accidentally using the word 'k*k' without paying them royalties & nearly broke the internet when the developer withdrew all their public domain code, wouldn't they.

    Figures they want to sell their userbase to advertisers.

    5 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      @AC - Sorry to bring this to you but

      Internet is already broken by those lazy/half-competent JS devs who are unable to write a few lines of code on their own.

      3 0 Reply
      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: @AC - Sorry to bring this to you but

        TOP KIK!

        1 0 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      "accidentally using the word 'k*k' without paying them royalties"

      No, these are the craphounds that have a pictorial trademark that includes "KiK" as part of the design (note spelling) and tried to claim this extended to all uses of the letters "kik".

      It really is a pity that the USPTO can't take action in such cases; misrepresentation of the scope of a trademark ought to be a criminal offence because the scope is laid down in the trademark grant.

      1 0 Reply
  4. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

    “Every bot on Kik should have the potential to improve people's lives,” the company announced. Current apps include an H&M “outfit inspiration” app, a “makeoverbot”, and a Celeb Quizzes gossip bot from a teen entertainment magazine

    I did think that with all of the technology we currently have at our fingertips, this is surely the most wonderful time to be alive...then something like this comes along to make me re-assess that thought

    20 0 Reply
  5. Ol'Peculier

    If it wasn't for the SNAFU last week, I doubt I'd have heard of Kik. Interesting side effect, although I'm not likely to ever visit their site. That, together with this article however will mean if anybody asks me what it is, I can reply with a rough idea of what it does. Ish.

    8 0 Reply
  6. TJ1

    "...improve people's lives"

    So make a 'bot that cuts off their 'net for 20 hours a day and gets them doing something *useful* in their family/community - instead of staring at the bloody screen waiting for the next tid-bit of self-image validation whilst ignoring those actually around them!

    7 1 Reply
  7. Alistair
    Windows

    Bots. To spew stuff at teens.

    On some messaging app.

    written by (the world)

    Popcorn please. This will go well I'm sure.

    2 1 Reply
  8. x 7

    Bot shop?

    Sounds like somewhere you go for cosmetic surgery on your buttocks.

    Kik Bot?

    Sounds like something you do to unruly teenagers

    1 0 Reply
  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Faddy

    These faddy messenger services only have a shelf life of a few years. How long has kik been popular.

    1 0 Reply
  10. Mage Silver badge

    Teen

    I thought for a moment they were a successful Teen massaging company.

    1 0 Reply
    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Teen

      As opposed to a Thai Messaging company?

      The Canadian company has launched its bot shop, which has three categories – entertainment, lifestyle, and games – and 16 bots currently available.

      These are "16+" bots, shurely?

      0 0 Reply
  11. Paul Woodhouse

    There really is no such thing as bad publicity is there?.. I'd never heard of 'em before the JavaScript SNAFU...

    0 0 Reply
  12. Crazy Operations Guy

    "chat bots that “have the potential to revolutionize the way we connect with people..."

    My calendar must be off, it says its 2016, but news like this makes me think its really 1980... I remember chat bots on IRC, ICQ, and Usenet. I wasted hours of my youth with a chat bot that was nothing but ELIZA on the back end (sure as hell was a better use of my time, and served the same purpose, than writing angst teen poetry like everyone else)

    0 0 Reply
  13. x 7

    Kik? Spelling?

    I'm sure their original press releases named them "Kak"

    crappy kind of error

    0 0 Reply

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