Mon 13 Aug 2007
New AIM Bots - ProfGilzot, IMStreet and un-retired AOLYellowPages
Posted by Dave Kaufman under Blogs , Informational , Online Application , Reader Emails , Software
Most Techlife readers know I use Trillian for instant messaging because we have covered them before. I have also mentioned AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) bots when I wrote about FeedCrier. An AIM bot is a buddy you add to your buddy list but instead of a real person the bot is a computer that can answer questions, usually with a tight focus. AIM Bots are available wherever you can IM including the iPhone.
A great example of this is AOLYellowPages, a bot that lets you pull up nationwide (USA) listings with a few quick pecks to the keyboard. People love this bot, which was recently in retirement refinement and not-delivering any results. I am happy to report it is back.
We recently caught up with Bill Herred who is the guy-behind-the-guy of Prof Gilzot, a new AIM bot for SAT Prep, targeted towards high school students. He is also behind IM Street a stock focused AIM Bot.
Techlife meets Bill Herred
Bot Questions
Techlife: Where did you get the idea for these bots and why did you build them?
Bill Herred: Our flagship bot is Prof Gilzot. He’s a virtual mentor of sorts offering sample practice SAT questions targeted at those high school students preparing to take the exam so they can enter college. A premium service is in its finishing stages and will be rolled out shortly. The bot has recorded over 1 million users in its 55 days of existence.
The IM Street bot is of different sorts. It will eventually offer real-time quotes.
Techlife: How long have the bots been out?
BH: The Prof Gilzot bot launched June 13th. IM Street launched July 23rd.
Techlife: What features should people notice?
BH: The Prof Gilzot bot is self explanatory.
The IM Street bot will see features like links to news, charts, etc. Users will be polled about their personal sentiment of where a particualr stock they just looked at will go tomorrow….market sentiment of sorts. For example you look up GOOG, and the bot replys with “Do you think GOOG will be up, unchanged or down? Please rate from 1 (down hard) to 5 (up lots)” or something like that.
Techlife: Will it launch on other platforms?
BH: Right now we’re sticking with AIM. The developer platform is most evolved and AIM has the biggest audience.
Business Questions
Techlife: Why is the IM Street website just 1 page?
BH: It’s still in development.
Techlife: Is the IM Street revenue model advertising driven?
BH: Yes. Quotes are sponsored by companies of all sorts, from small micro cap trying to let the world know they exist to premium service providers offering their wares. Some of the data we collect may be sold to market research companies….like the market sentiment stuff.
Techlife: How big is your company?
BH:We’re very small and will stay that way as long as possible.
Techlife: How old is your company?
BH: We’ve only been around since June 2007, prior to that we were just a couple of guys agreeing to work together to see if we could make these bots fly…. from a business rev perspective.
Techlife: How did you forge the relationship with AIM/AOL?
BH: The relationship started as a email to the webmaster at aim.com. From there it took over a year to find the right person to speak with about doing a few bots I felt were beneficial to the majority of the demographic users on AIM.
Techlife: How did you end up building a bot that got into that rotation?
BH: Good sales pitch and a no-nonsense revenue model.
Personal Questions
Techlife: What is your history with technology?
BH: A fair amount. I worked in financial services, from an operational view and assisted in the development of a web based active trader solution starting back in 1994.
Techlife: Have you built other bots?
BH: Just these 2.
Techlife: What other bots do you use?
BH: None.
Techlife: How many buddies are in your buddy list?
BH: On a personal scale just about a dozen or so. From the bot view that number is in the millions.
Techlife:How long have you used IM technology?
BH: 10 yrs.
Thanks Bill for your great interview.
Got a bot you love? Let us know.
Listen to this post
August 16th, 2007 at 10:47 am
[...] Techlife interviewed Bill Herred who recently released two new instant messaging tools called IM Bots for AIM users. If you haven’t given an IM bot a try yet, you just might after reading the column. [...]
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:21 am
I have an email address called:
crunchtime-satalessthantwomonthsaway
with the email address:
profgilzot
My mailer is Outlook Express
I cannot delete this email entry from my adress book. It appears to delete but then reappears. Are you responsible for this? How do I get rid of this email address.
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:41 pm
@Rich - I just wrote an article for my syndicated column so, no it was not me but I would love to help you out.
You mention that you have an “email address with an email address”, by this do you mean that you have “an address entry with the email address”?
August 24th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Dave;
Thanks for the reply.
yes: In my Outlook express Address Book, I have the entry:
Name: crunchtime-satslessthantwomonthsaway!
E-Mail Adress: profgilzot
After searching out profgilzot in a search engine I found that it was the name of a BOT (whatever that is) and I then saw that profgilzot was an entry in the BOTS menu on my AIM window. I deleted it and all of the rest of the BOT entries from the AIM window but I am unsuccessful when I try to delete the above email entry. It appears to delete successfully, but then reappears. I realize that this item is apparently not a threat, but I find it annoying that someone would put this on my computer with no obvious way to get rid of it. If you could help me get rid of it I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Rich
August 27th, 2007 at 8:44 am
Rich -
First off, did you read my article above? It clearly explains what a bot is.
Second - does anyone else use your computer?
Third - AIM Bots (as far as I know) and AIM buddies, do not embed themselves in email programs. So my guess is that there is a piece of third party software at work here. Do you run a virus protection software? If so I would contact them/search their database.
Fourth - Try this: don’t delete the entry, change the name of it to “crunchtime - can’tdelete” and see if a second entry gets created. If so, then a malware or virus might be at work.
September 12th, 2007 at 11:09 am
FYI- Careful with supporting Bill Herred with any technology related developemant. He has been found guilty and disciplined numerous times for criminal activity surrounding these projects. These cases are found in public records. A definate scam artist. I will be surprised if Techlife is honest with their viewers and post this. If this is posted. Techlife is objective and allows the truth to be heard.
September 12th, 2007 at 11:15 am
@Forrest - Care to post any links to back this up?
And before you go slamming Techlife, maybe you should spend some time reading the site and the comments we allow. We are very impartial to our reader’s benefit. There are a select few comments that don’t get posted, and most are physical violence threats or the like. (towards other community members)
We encourage our community of readers to provide news, information and insight. I look forward to reading what you have found/know about Bill Herred and the criminal activity related to IM bots.
September 12th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Dave,
Here are some links to back up Forrest’s and my claims (I made some yesterday and they were censored by techlife). It’s best for your readers to see both sides of Bill Herred. Chances are Bill Herred is using techlife as a prop to raise money. His latest scam was Shoreline Messaging Systems, a text messaging service.
http://www.corp.ca.gov/enf/info/dr/06pdf/shoreline.pdf
http://finra.complinet.com/finra/display/viewall_display.html?rbid=1189&element_id=1159002313
Run a search on ‘Herred, William’ covering all of last year in Santa Barbara County Records:
http://www.sb-democracy.com/opis/
September 12th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
@Kenny - there were no comments or comments held in moderation made by your email address ever on Techlife. Comments with URLs are held for moderation as with most blogs.
As for how Bill is using this coverage I can’t comment. I can comment that as a technologist and a writer I reached out to Bill, whom I had never met before and had a phone conversation with him to conduct a pre-interview.
Your second link shows a March 1996 ruling:
Individuals Fined
William Norris Herred (Registered Representative, Santa Barbara, California) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent pursuant to which he was fined $5,000 and ordered to reimburse customers $22,427.14. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Herred consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he charged retail securities customers more than a fair markup, taking into consideration all relevant circumstances, including market conditions with respect to such security at the time of the transaction, the expense of executing the order, and the value of any service he may have rendered. Herred also failed to disclose to the customers that the markups were unfair.
I ran a search as you suggested on the third link: “Herred” but dating back to 1900 through today and did find 2 pages of records from 1997 - through 2006.
Though I am not a lawyer so it isn’t exactly clear what has been done illegally.
I would appreciate if you could elaborate and shed some more light on this situation.
I do want to make it clear that I do think the technology itself is very interesting. But knowing more about the situation would be great. Please post additional information.
September 12th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Bill Herred has embezzled seed money from numerous technology companies. There are documents showing him spending thousands of dollars at strip joints and pictures of him with nude male strippers. All taken from investors and used for his personal entertainment. I can provide you with a pictures to backup the truth. Bill Herred is a known con artist throughout the state of California. Would you like the pictures to post and back the truth of his shady business practices?
September 12th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Great idea to listen to the advice of Forrest and Kenny, as you can see there is plenty of evidence to show what a scam artist Herrid is. I along with others got scammed out of several thousand dollars on one of Herrids high tech ventures, he’s a master at deception. With all that being said maybe he will do well enough to refund the money that he scammed from the prior investors, the money that he could never come up with because the strip bars have a no refund policy. Sorry if I sound a little sore, I just want the general public to understand who they are dealing with.
September 13th, 2007 at 7:24 am
@Forrest - I have many young readers who read this column. I probably would not post anything of that nature. In addition, this is still a technology focused publication, not an airing of issues publication.
@Mike - I am not sure I still understand legally from the links given what Bill Herred did exactly.
Did he get you 3 to invest in a company? Did you personally take him to court? I understand that you are saying he used money illegally, but again hard to understand from the links provided.
I will continue to allow comments posted as is the open nature of this community. I will not be posting much more about this as it is not our current focus.
September 13th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Dave and Techlife readers,
I appreciate you leaving this forum open. I have looked around Techlife a little the past 2 days and it appears you have something really good going here. I understand this site is about technology and less about business. I have a great interest in new technologies myself. My interest is what lead me to invest with Bill Herred and his partner in crime, Scott Warren. I do want to answer the questions you have above.
My point for posting above is to warn others that Bill Herred is not an innovator … he is a scam artist. The links are public information to back my claim. Unfortunately, Bill Herred has spent all the money he has stolen, so we, the investors, have limited recourse.
The first link is a Desist and Refrain Order issued by the Department of California. Bill Herred and Scott Warren are not allowed to sell securities (stock) of any kind (of any company) in the State of California. When they raised money for Shoreline Messaging Systems, they did not disclose Bill Herred’s previous violation (link 2) concerning his troubles with the NASD.
An additional note about Shoreline Messaging Systems. Bill Herred and Scott Warren raised over $170000 for the company. They have issued only one financial statement to there investors where they have only accounted $57229. We have been waiting almost 3 years for that second financial statement that he has failed to provide. We do have evidence that Bill Herred used money from Shoreline business accounts on an Atlanta strib club, flying lessons and cell phones for his wife and children. Bill Herred owes it to us, his investors, the means by which he used the money we invested in Shoreline.
The third link and search illustrates that 6 individuals on February 23, 2007 won judgements over Bill Herred in a civil suit. I suggest anyone doing with Bill Herred, follow up with the Santa Barbara County on that matter.
Thanks again for leaving this forum open.
October 13th, 2007 at 12:16 am
I was also scamed by Bill Herred and Scott Warren out of almost $10000. Bill can come up with some great ideas and convince you that he’s motivated and experienced to turn them into something great, which actually could be done in the hands of a real business person, but not Bill Herred. He seems content in just gathering investors money until he gets busted and then moves on with no real punishment to his next victims. Do not deal with this man, do some background on him and you will see. I got a real great business lesson from Bill, trust no one. It only cost me $10k.
October 17th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Hi Dave,
Can you please put me in touch with Kenny, Forrest and Mike. My company has a relationship with Prof Gilzot and I would like to speak with them if they are available. We have worked very hard to build a good name for oursleves and we work very hard to provide an affordable product that does a lot of good for a lot of people. I want to make sure that 1. we are not in a position to get scammed out of anything and 2. that our association with the prof gilzot project does not jeopardize the work we have done.
I would be happy to give you more information about us but I just want to be careful about the way we would be associated with Bill. Please do not post this contact but feel free to contact me directly.
Thanks,
Bryan
October 27th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
this is retarted MAKE NEW AIM BOT’S MORE MORE MORE and MORE MORE MORE people will be happy MAKE MORE AIM BOTS JUST LIKE SMARTER CHILD…..
October 27th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
actually my name ISNT stacy my name IS chance and u most definitly shoud make more aimbots just like smarter child get it,got it, GOOD!!!!!
October 31st, 2007 at 12:11 am
Bill Herred is, by definition, a sociopath. He is completely incapable of telling the truth. This guy will lie through his teeth to get what he needs. Do not trust what he says. He is a conman, an online predator and a pervert.
I apologize that this has nothing to do with the technology at hand, however I am compelled to add my two cents. It would not be a surprise if he had stolen the Prof Gilzot idea and is pawning it off as his own.
It is unfortunate that this innocent environment had to be exposed to his affairs.
November 5th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Please allow Bryan to contact Kenny and/or I. It’s important to better inform the public and possible partners of William Norris Herred aka Bill Herred and Scott Lyman Warren aka Scott Warren. Bill Herred is aligning his ducks to add to his list of victims. Not sure what town Bill Herred is living in. Can anyone provide this information? However, Scott Warren is living in government assisted housing at 922 Castillo Street, #243, Santa Barbara, California, 93101. It would be interesting to verify if Scott Warren disclosed the amount of money he stole from good people to the City of Santa Barbara allowing him to live in the government assisted housing. He currently works at a little telemarketing company. Doubtfully, doing any good in our community.
Also, Bill Herred was taking checks written out to m411 Messaging as seed money and had opened numerous checking accounts at local banks under Willian Norris Herred dba m411 Messaging Services. He was then able to cash checks that were intended for the corporation. Scott Lyman Warren aka Scott Warren was his accomplice. The banks had closed the account due to questionable business practices.
Anyone is welcme to contact us for additional information regarding these cons.
Trust but, verify is what I have learned. Trust would not have existed with these two individuals.
December 13th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I too was scammed by Bill Herrod and Scott Warren, in amount of $10,000. Not much to add to other victims’ comments listed above, other than to note that in hindsight, both individuals were anticipatory in their plan, and knowingly created and pursued a scam to defraud others. There is no indication that they intended at any time to enter into a legitimate enterprise, as represented to their victims.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
January 6th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Idetrorce:
If you don’t agree with someone, you must give a reason if you expect your opinion to be honored. Firstly, state who it is you don’t agree with, and secondly, why you don’t agree. Pretty basic stuff if you expect your input to be considered.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Idetrorce is likely to be Bill Herred’s handle and response. Not much to say!
March 24th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
hi biches
March 24th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
u r all nerds lossers
April 7th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Bill Herred has defrauded the company that I work for as well and I believe is starting another scam; Molowag is the name of the new scam company. If anyone has information on Bill I would appreciate it. eli@trafficsupport.net
May 16th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Just an FYI: Bill Herred is no longer associated with ProfGilzot in any way and has not been for many months.