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Kansas City kiosk update leaves desktop open for solitaire game

May 11, 2016

An interactive kiosk in Kansas City, Missouri, got overly interactive when a group was able to bypass the kiosk software and start playing solitaire. The group was able to swipe away streetcar information on the screen and access a regular Ubuntu desktop. From there they selected a game of solitaire, according to a report by The Kansas City Star.

The kiosk software is managed by Smart City Media LLC. According to Kansas City communications director Chris Hernandez, Smart City Media took a few kiosks offline to deal with some connectivity issues. When the kiosks went offline, the kiosk screen switched to the desktop.

"They just happened to be there when it defaulted to a desktop version when they were making adjustments," Hernandez said.

However, one eyewitness Timothy Barmann, saw that the group was able to bring up a command prompt, which would have allowed them to access the operating system. No one was able to bring up a keyboard to be able to type in any information, though.