Bot Can Cook

<BODY BACKGROUND="gif/pnbbg.gif" BGCOLOR="#F0F0F0" text="#000000" LINK="#4040A0" VLINK="#800000" ALINK="#00FF00"> <TABLE BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=5> <TR> <TD VALIGN=top WIDTH=144><img src="gif/bots.gif" width=128 height=142></TD> <TD> <h1><strong>Consciousness Explained</strong></h1> <h3><em>or,</em> A Few Notes on Palace Scripting</h3> <blockquote> <blockquote> <em>What is <A HREF="http://www.palacetools.com/">The Palace?</A></em><br> <em>What about <A HREF="ppix.html">Props?</A></em><p> </blockquote> </blockquote> </TD></TR></TABLE> <P> Okay, I stole that title from <a href="http://www.lucifer.com/virus/alt.memetics/">Daniel Dennett.</a> So sue me already. In our current context, we mean your Cyborg conciousness, the hidden software wrapped around your wetware as you enter the Palace. Your bot. Your Script. Oryae iptscrae. Your finger.<p> <ul> <li><a href="ipt.html#stink">Stinky Fingers</a> <li><a href="iptstruc.html">The Framework</a> <li><a href="iptglob.html">Global Warning</a> <li><a href="iptfunc.html">Funcadelic</a> <li><a href="iptanim.html">Toons</a> <li><a href="iptglide.html">Jumping Beings</a> <li><a href="iptlog.html">Script Clerk</a> <li><a href="iptzombie.html">Sit. Lie Down. Speak.</a> <li><a href="iptpos.html">The Nose Knows</a> <li><a href="iptout.html">Lost in Minutiae</a> <li><a href="iptin.html">Free At Last</a> <li><a href="ibot.html" target="_top">The BotBot!</a> </ul> <em> If you can see this, you are using a web browser without frames. Get real! And good luck! </em><p> <a name="stink"><h2>Stinky Fingers</h2></a> If this is your first foray into the wide world of bots, look at your finger. Open your <strong>cyborg.ipt</strong> file with your favorite text editor (BBEdit, <a href="iptvim.html"><b>vim (my favorite),</b></a> Alpha, Microsoft Word...), and look for the word "finger."<p> The language of Palace scripts is called <em>iptscrae.</em> Rather than throw a dictionary at you, I suggest peering occasionally at <a href="http://www.palacetools.com/documentation.html">the official docs</a> as we go along.<p> Okay, search for "finger" in your Cyborg.ipt file. If you find code that looks like this: <table width=100% bgcolor="#cfcfcf" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=12 border=0> <tr><td> <pre> { ; this is your FINGER information - replace the stuff in quotes with ; information about yourself. "^<insert name>\x0d" "<insert e-mail>\x0d" + WHOCHAT PRIVATEMSG } CHATSTR "finger" == CHATSTR ";finger" == OR WHOCHAT WHOME == NOT AND IF }</pre> </td></tr> </table><p> then your finger <em>stinks!</em> Your first task should be to change this stuff, because having it in there makes you look like a weenie.<p> <em>What is this finger stuff anyway?</em> It's provided as a way for other users to identify you, and for you to identify them. It's in your INCHAT handler <IMG align=absmiddle width=13 height=1 SRC="gif/dot_black.gif"> that is, it runs when <em>someone else</em> says something. In particular, when they say "finger" or ";finger" to you, either as regular text or a whisper. You will automatically whisper back to them (<code>WHOCHAT PRIVATEMSG</code> translates into English as "Send the preceding text as a whisper to whoever is chatting at me").<p> You can have just about any kind of code in your "finger" response, from simply your name and e-address, to any kind of complicated animation you can dream up. In terms of looking like a dork, I'd actually suggest <em>completely removing your finger code</em> over leaving it with that <code>"<insert e-mail>"</code> hanging there!<p> <a name="finger">Here's a simplified version of the Doc's own finger code.</a> <p> <table width=100% bgcolor="#cfcfcf" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=12 border=0> <tr><td> <pre> { ";finger" WHOCHAT PRIVATEMSG "@10,10 ^" USERNAME & ": Conqueror of Scotland\x0d" & "http://www.rahul.net/natpix/" & WHOCHAT PRIVATEMSG } lowchat "finger" == lowchat ";finger" == OR WHOCHAT WHOME == AND IF</pre> </td></tr> </table><p> What's the difference? <ol> <li>First, we immediately ";finger" the curious user right back! <li>Next, we start our finger reply with "@" before the "^" to jam it off into a corner, rather than obscure ourselves with a text box. <li>We use the <code>USERNAME</code> command to get our name from the Preferences dialog, rather than "hard-wiring" it. So if you change your name from "Fat Albert" to "Prince Albert," you needn't change the code (Then again, maybe you'd rather use your name IRL, in which case self-tuning name code isn't needed). <li>Web address, e-mail address... toss in what you like. Chaos is good for your brain. The <code>"\x0d"</code> parts of the string indicate forced carriage returns in the text. <li>We've also changed the "+" signs to "&" signs, just to make it a tiny bit clearer that we're concatenating strings here, not adding numbers. </ol> Not much work at all, but we've already gone a long way toward making our personal bot skills the pride of the palace <IMG align=absmiddle width=13 height=1 SRC="gif/dot_black.gif"> by starting on the stuff that shows.<p> <p> <!--BEGIN Palace Ring> <table width="100%" bgcolor="#000033" border=0 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0> <tr><td align="center" valaign="center"><font color="#f0cf00"><b>The Palace Ring</b></font> <a href="http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/5049/palacering.html" target="_top" onMouseOver="window.status='The Palace WebRing Homepage' ; return true"> <img src="gif/PRing.gif" align="abscenter" alt="The Palace Ring" width=45 height=36></a> <a href="http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=twp&id=62&prev" target="_top" onMouseOver="window.status='Jump to the Previous Ring Site' ; return true"> <img src="gif/PPrev.gif" align="abscenter" alt="Previous Ring Site" width=36 height=36></a> <a href="http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=twp&id=62&random" target="_top" onMouseOver="window.status='Jump to a Random Ring Site' ; return true"> <img src="gif/PRand.gif" align="abscenter" alt="Random Ring Site" width=33 height=36></a> <a href="http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=twp&id=62&next" target="_top" onMouseOver="window.status='Jump to the Next Ring Site' ; return true"> <img src="gif/PNext.gif" align="abscenter" alt="Next Ring Site" width=36 height=36></a> <a href="http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=twp&id=62&skip" target="_top" onMouseOver="window.status='Skip the Next Ring Site' ; return true"> <img src="gif/PSkip.gif" align="abscenter" alt="Skip Next Ring Site" width=43 height=36></a> <a href="http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=twp&id=62&next5" target="_top" onMouseOver="window.status='See the Next Five Ring Sites' ; return true"> <img src="gif/P5.gif" align="abscenter" alt="See Next 5 Sites" width=32 height=36></a> </td></tr> </table> <!END Palace Ring!> <p> <a href="house2.html"><img src="gif/LeftButton.gif" alt="House" HSPACE=8></a> <a href="iptstruc.html"><img src="gif/RightButton.gif" alt="Next" HSPACE=8></a> <h6>Last Update: 7 April 1997</h6>