I assume most people have heard of the Zoom Kitten Filter Mishap:
I thought it was a great ad for the software maker, but apparently we can’t buy the filter…the best guess is it’s pre-installed webcam software that comes with Dell computers. In 2013 one poor fellow was applying for a job as Assistant Professor and was hijacked by the kitten: Mistakes from the Job Search: The Kitty Interview. He didn’t get the job and doesn’t know if the mishap had affected the outcome.
Another fellow in 2010 wrote:
It took us a while to figure out where this was hidden, so I thought I’d post it here…
A member of my family has for a long time been battling with a “Webcam Avatar”, a stupid white cat that replaced his video feed in Skype. Apart from not knowing how it had entered his computer in the first place, whatever he did to reset his webcam settings, it would keep reappearing once Skype was restarted.
It turns out that the “Webcam Avatar” is not Skype-specific, but rather something that gets pre-installed along with all the other crap Dell puts on a laptop (or perhaps as part of a system upgrade).
To remove it, you need to go the path of Control Panel-> Add/Remove programs -> Remove Live Cam Avatar. It might appear in more than one place
That’s not user friendly, Dell!
February 11, 2021
That seems like kind of a rotten trick to play on unsuspecting customers. With that being said, the cat is cute
I love the cat and I was trying to find where I could buy it. 🙂
I saw this story on the news and still don’t understand it. Just so weird!
The cat filter came up instead of the lawyer and he couldn’t get rid of it.
That is hilarious, but we agree with Ann – that is a dirty trick:)
I’m sure it was that Dell didn’t think about what they were doing.
This story sure gave me a laugh. A news-type show yesterday said somethig about being able to download it from Snapchat I believe. Not real sure though.
I read that about Snap Camera, but I went to their site and from what I could see their effects weren’t as good as the Dell kitten.
Stuff like this is just not right.
Yes, Dell should not have made it a default without warning people. Especially now that so many people are relying on virtual meetings.
agree, that’s not right!
now if I had changed the avatar then that would be my fault but to make it hard to address the issue is downright dishonest…
I agree, Dell made a big mistake.
With how everyone uses video calls, etc. …this isn’t fun or funny. Dell, what were they thinking?
I’m pretty sure they hadn’t thought it through.
I keep stumbling on new things in my new all-in-one computer and I’m things on my phone and then I find them and I use them and if I want to use them again I can’t find them and if I don’t want to use them again they come up and I don’t know how to get rid of them it’s not just Dale it’s on everything we buy. I did see this video on the news yesterday it was on CNN I think it was on everything because it was so funny. Computers are taking over our lives and I love it and hate it at the same time. I agree the cat is cute and I know why you would want to have it but I want mine to be a dog
Good point, I’m a sucker for dogs! I think if someone came up with filters that good there would be a market for them. But it would have to have an on-off switch that was easy to access. It would be fun for Zoom parties.
I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but fail to see the humor. Wondering, what’s their end game.
I think it would be fun to have a cute filter like that, just for laughs with friends. But certainly not for business meetings.