# BonziBuddy, get the FUCK off my screen!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 19, 2002, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813 "2002-06-19T05:35:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mnementh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mnementh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mnementh)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/21 "2002-06-22T04:30:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cuate \* > \*\*Comet Cursor looks cool to some 9 year olds (you can have sword shaped, sports logo, or flag cursors instead of the plain white arrow). But it insinuates itself into every corner of your hard drive. \*\* Hell, you can change your cursors without any program. I have a sword shaped one. It’s all in program files, somewhere… all you need is the .ico file. So basically, it’s not only annoying, it’s redundant. ---
**Author:** ![Mnementh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mnementh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mnementh)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/22 "2002-06-22T04:32:29Z")
Of course, I was testing you all to see whether you knew that I meant ‘control panel’ or not. You passed. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/23 "2002-06-22T04:54:15Z")
Okay, could someone tell me exactly what the heck Bonzi Buddy DOES?! ---
**Author:** ![Zaphod\_Beeblebrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/0ea827/32.png) [@Zaphod\_Beeblebrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zaphod_Beeblebrox)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/24 "2002-06-22T05:15:13Z")
It’s this little gorilla guy who hangs out on your desktop, and helps you do stuff. Really. Well, at least that’s what they’d have you believe. Really, it’s a rather nasty pop-up-generating evil marketing machine. It has much in common with a virus. Even if you manage to uninstall it, there’ll be little bits of it left all over your computer. It’s a pain in the ass. As you can see, I’m no expert, but I’m sure some techie could give you a better explanation. As far as I’ve noticed, it seems to “piggyback” itself onto other programs you download. OK, not I’ve got a little question about the OP: How can anything be “semi-felched”??? ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/25 "2002-06-22T20:26:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zaphod Beeblebrox \* > \*\* > > OK, not I’ve got a little question about the OP: How can anything be “semi-felched”??? \*\* Ever get walked in on? ---
**Author:** ![Com2Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Com2Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Com2Kid)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/26 "2002-06-23T01:16:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zaphod Beeblebrox \* > \*\*It’s this little gorilla guy who hangs out on your desktop, and helps you do stuff. Really. > > Well, at least that’s what they’d have you believe. Really, it’s a rather nasty pop-up-generating evil marketing machine. It has much in common with a virus. Even if you manage to uninstall it, there’ll be little bits of it left all over your computer. It’s a pain in the ass. As you can see, I’m no expert, but I’m sure some techie could give you a better explanation. > \*\* It used to actually TRY and do that first thing. There used to be this weird little Microsoft voice engine chatty thing (Had a Genie as its default ‘interface’) that Microsoft was threatening to include with all new versions of Windows after 98. Then Bonzai buddy came along and installed it by default, and people found out that it could not be UNINSTALLED (Think DirectX. . . . MS wanted the technology to catch on, so they made it latch on) even after Bonzai Buddy was uninstalled. (Yes, you used to actually be able to kill it, heh. Looong long time ago. This was back in the yee old days of '96 or '97 mind you). And people bitched. And thankfully the stupid ass engine is NOT a default part of all new Microsoft OSs, Amen. And Bonzai Buddy has served its purpose in the world (though I do believe it was originally created to make somebody money or something like that ::shrugs:: who knows), but it just does not want to leave gracefully (think dearly departed Pissed Off spirit type of a thing). And the ads for it are getting annoying. Really, bleeming, freeking, annoying. But yah, basicaly it reads text from browser windows to you (Windows can do this anywaaaays. . . . . ) and can squak (or make whatever sound an ape makes now that the parrot is dead) at you when a meeting comes up and other things. I think at one point in time or another voice recognition was also claimed. Does it really matter? No. Was it once a potentially interesting product? Maybe, if you where a new user who was interested by gadgety things like that, (Heck at one time voice synth through the PC speaker was a nifty thing. 🙂 Interestingly enough it didn’t sound too far off from what Bonzai Buddy does today. . . . ::sighs:: ) but all in all, it was a failed idea that has lived long past its time. A one trick pony who’s one trick was Belching to the tune of an old bad song that nobody ever liked in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/27 "2002-06-23T01:35:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mnementh \* > \*\* > > Hell, you can change your cursors without any program. I have a sword shaped one. It’s all in program files, somewhere… all you need is the .ico file. > > So basically, it’s not only annoying, it’s redundant. \*\* Well what it does is allow a webmaster (and I use the word ‘master’ in its loosest possible definition) to specify a particular cursor for a particular web page. If you have comet cursor installed, then you are at the mercy of every stupid web page you come across to have all sorts of useless and confusing cursors (all remotely served from the comet cursor website) show up while you are on that page. ---
**Author:** ![blandart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@blandart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blandart)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/28 "2002-06-23T03:52:10Z")
Um, I got in here a bit late. I must confess that I fell for the damn promises made for Bonz-Buddy and proceeded to download and install the stalking ape program. Took forever and now I know why! :mad: Got a local guru to uninstall, but the pot bellied ape ads were left all over hell and the hard disc and WON’T GO AWAY!! I will live with it. I am old now and put up with tiresome shit that once I would have taken a big hammer to. Se la vie! Older but apparently no wiser. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/29 "2002-06-23T18:14:58Z")
Did I ever mention that my ex-husband came over and installed Bonzi Buddy for me while I was at the store? Obviously without asking first. That was so irritating. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/30 "2002-06-23T19:44:31Z")
get this. i have bonzi buddy AND comet cursor…at WORK! andoh, the automated install just HAPPENED to come out after i was no longer tasked with installing software on people, and now i cant get rid of it! but you can bet your sweet patootie that when I was installing all the software on our network this never would have happened. I wasnt all that great(okay i was a lazy slob) but one thing i did is get rid of all the stupid sneakware on all these installs these days. oh, and they need 3 people to replace me, whilst still not getting rid of all the damn sneakware, maybe i wasnt so lazy after all. Well, programmings more fun at least than installs. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813/31 "2002-06-23T19:54:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lolagranola \* > \*\*Did I ever mention that my ex-husband came over and installed Bonzi Buddy for me while I was at the store? Obviously without asking first. > > That was so irritating. \*\* Is that’s why he’s an “ex” husband? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonzibuddy-get-the-fuck-off-my-screen/114813.md?page=1)