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Back when they were just starting out, Tellme Networks, Inc, the company responsible for a large portion of the speech recognition-enabled phone systems in use today, started a service where you could call 1-800-555-TELL and get news, weather, stock quotes, and other stuff by just speaking.
One night, I was calling 800-555-TELL to try out my new VoIP connection from Vitelity.net, and it made a significant recognition mistake.
I had spoken "blackjack", hoping to play their voice-enabled blackjack game. Instead, the system thought I said "Festivus", and sent me to a category that none of the menus listed, and that I never knew existed. It played the following quote from Seinfeld:
Frank: ...I haven't celebrated Festivus in years! What is your interest?
Kramer: Well, just tell me everything, huh?
Frank: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reach for the last one they had--but so did another man. As I rained blows opon him, I realized there had to be another way!
Kramer: What happened to the doll?
Frank: It was destroyed. But out of that, a new holiday was born. "A Festivus for the rest of us!"
I was delighted to find this easter egg, and ecstatic when Google told me I was probably the first one to discover it. You can try it yourself: just call 1-800-555-8355, wait for the "Main Menu" prompt (you can interrupt the listing of categories) and say "Festivus".
ttuttle.net is an Amazon Affiliate. Shop at Amazon through this link and help pay for my hosting!
Questions? Comments? Flames? Email me!