decafbot update & FAQs
So, decafbot has been an interesting experiment so far, especially for a 20 minute hack I didn't think would actually work. So, I think I might try to keep this bot running and tinker some more.
First thing, it looks like the original Infobot is abandoned, but there's a (slightly) more active fork named Flooterbuck. I used to be a more active participant in #perl, so I used to be more up on these things, but oh well. Eventually, I could explore another bot built from POE parts, or leave Perl altogether for a Python-based bot. For now, though, decafbot has been upgraded with Flooterbuck.
And, you should know when you talk to decafbot that your conversation may be monitored for training and quality assurance purposes. I noticed a few people using more AIM-speakish language than the bot's probably used to seeing in the more peer-enforced literacy zone of #perl, so I might work in a few snarky factoids toward that end.
That, and many people seemed to have trouble understanding what to say to the bot. It occurs to me that most people learned how to interact with the #perl infobots by example--since most queries occurred in public, the more astute newbies in the channel would eventually pick up on what the bot did by watching regulars. However, this instance of the bot is pretty much all-private all-the-time, so it's a bit different.
Flooterbuck seems to have a bit more documentation around it, so maybe people dropping in to chat will have a little more success. In any case, more tinkering to be done...
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