From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 07:19:41 -0500 Lines: 42 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Message-ID: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> X-Trace: news.iglou.com 1007036383 204.250.0.238 (29 Nov 2001 07:19:43 -0500) X-Authenticated-User: dougq X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newsfeed.nextra.ch!news.nextra.ch!nextra.at!newsfeed4.cidera.com!newsfeed1.cidera.com!Cidera!netnews.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news-out.visi.com!hermes.visi.com!uunet!ash.uu.net!news.iglou.com Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95387 Ok, Here's one I hadn't thought of in a long time. Circa 1991, I was a Compu$erve user for the second go-around (this time employer- paid). We were supposed to use it only for research for the articles we wrote, but of course, there it is, why not use it? I found myself drifting into various forums, many of which carried threads that went way off-topic into some controversial issue such as abortion. In at least one forum, there was a poster who repeatedly was able to reply to everyone with such frequency and detail, and in a manner that seemed remotely mechanical, that the other (presumably) human participants began to speculate that this wasn't a person, but a bot. Perhaps written along the lines of ELIZA, albeit more sophisticated, I remained divided on the issue that entire spring. On occaision, a message from the same user would appear that seemed to break the pattern; it read more like a human-composed post, so this only added to the speculation. Of course, I can't recall the poster's name/ID, nor could I be certain as to the forum. Possibly, I may have printed out some of these sessions, ( did print and keep some, just can't recall if they were od the suspected bot, or not. So, has this come up before, perhaps w/r/t USENET instead of private commercial forums? With the DEC-10 command line lurking underneath Compu$erve's GO interface, perhaps a user could have written such a program, but it seems it would have required unusual knowledge of the forum's operation. Also, while I could still access the programming tools back in 1985, I could not find them in 1991 when I slipped down to the command level. Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? Regards, -doug quebbeman ###### From: "Walter Rottenkolber" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 07:24:14 -0800 Lines: 49 X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.2106.4 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.155.25.14 X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.155.25.14 Message-ID: <3c0670d8@news.sierratel.com> X-Trace: news.sierratel.com 1007055064 209.155.25.14 (29 Nov 2001 09:31:04 -0800) Organization: news.sierratel.com Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newsfeed.nextra.ch!news.nextra.ch!nextra.at!newsfeed4.cidera.com!newsfeed1.cidera.com!Cidera!news.sierratel.com Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95405 Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote in message <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com>... >Ok, > >Here's one I hadn't thought of in a long time. Circa 1991, I was >a Compu$erve user for the second go-around (this time employer- >paid). We were supposed to use it only for research for the articles >we wrote, but of course, there it is, why not use it? > >I found myself drifting into various forums, many of which carried >threads that went way off-topic into some controversial issue such >as abortion. > >In at least one forum, there was a poster who repeatedly was able >to reply to everyone with such frequency and detail, and in a manner >that seemed remotely mechanical, that the other (presumably) human >participants began to speculate that this wasn't a person, but a bot. >Perhaps written along the lines of ELIZA, albeit more sophisticated, >I remained divided on the issue that entire spring. On occaision, a >message from the same user would appear that seemed to break >the pattern; it read more like a human-composed post, so this only >added to the speculation. > >Of course, I can't recall the poster's name/ID, nor could I be certain >as to the forum. Possibly, I may have printed out some of these >sessions, ( did print and keep some, just can't recall if they were >od the suspected bot, or not. > >So, has this come up before, perhaps w/r/t USENET instead of >private commercial forums? With the DEC-10 command line >lurking underneath Compu$erve's GO interface, perhaps a user >could have written such a program, but it seems it would have >required unusual knowledge of the forum's operation. Also, while >I could still access the programming tools back in 1985, I could >not find them in 1991 when I slipped down to the command level. > >Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless >pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? > >Regards, >-doug quebbeman > They probably do but in the form of human beings, victims of alien abduction and controlled by implants. Walter Rottenkolber ###### From: "Donald Tees" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Lines: 15 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2479.0006 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2479.0006 Message-ID: <%RsN7.15875$Ju6.2657608@news20.bellglobal.com> Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 10:55:54 -0500 NNTP-Posting-Host: 65.93.110.235 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1007049211 65.93.110.235 (Thu, 29 Nov 2001 10:53:31 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 10:53:31 EST Organization: Bell Sympatico Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!news1.tor.metronet.ca!webster!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95456 "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote in message > Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless > pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? > > Regards, > -doug quebbeman The switch side of that is "Can every human that uses the internet pass the turing test?". Donald ###### From: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: 29 Nov 2001 16:07:48 GMT Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Lines: 16 Message-ID: <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> Reply-To: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) NNTP-Posting-Host: freenet10 X-Trace: freenet9.carleton.ca 1007050068 25780 134.117.136.30 (29 Nov 2001 16:07:48 GMT) X-Complaints-To: complaints@ncf.ca NNTP-Posting-Date: 29 Nov 2001 16:07:48 GMT X-Given-Sender: ab528@freenet10.carleton.ca (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!nntp.flash.net!nntp1.roc.gblx.net!nntp.gblx.net!nntp.gblx.net!xcski.com!freenet-news!FreeNet.Carleton.CA!ab528 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95439 "Douglas H. Quebbeman" (dougq@ixnayamspayiglou.com) writes: > ... > Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless > pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? Go over to rec.humor (no 'u') and count the follow-up frequency, especially 'Greg Evans' and the former 'justkiddin' who has switched to Liz Mueller. Heck, even this newsgroup has a poster suffering from follow-up-itis, dishing out more than everything you ever wanted to know about TOPS10. B-) So, yes and no. The bots aren't capable of _starting_ threads yet. This is good news, because by now we'd be seeing a return of The Longest Thread Ever or some MMF variant. ###### From: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: 29 Nov 2001 16:16:55 GMT Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Lines: 13 Message-ID: <9u5n1n$pqt$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <%RsN7.15875$Ju6.2657608@news20.bellglobal.com> Reply-To: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) NNTP-Posting-Host: freenet10 X-Trace: freenet9.carleton.ca 1007050615 26461 134.117.136.30 (29 Nov 2001 16:16:55 GMT) X-Complaints-To: complaints@ncf.ca NNTP-Posting-Date: 29 Nov 2001 16:16:55 GMT X-Given-Sender: ab528@freenet10.carleton.ca (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news.kjsl.com!xcski.com!freenet-news!FreeNet.Carleton.CA!ab528 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95440 "Donald Tees" (donald_tees@sympatico.ca) writes: > "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote in message > >> Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless >> pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? >> >> Regards, >> -doug quebbeman > > The switch side of that is "Can every human that uses the internet pass the > turing test?". Just try passing the Turing tape. (Worm, that is.) ###### From: Paul Brinkley Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Message-ID: <0luc0uk1vb2ljrlihb0kb1vpsvsa5n0k7d@4ax.com> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.8/32.548 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 10 X-Trace: MTAgTm9BdXRodXNlciBURUxPQ0lUWS2bRUFERVKaIDY1LjE4Ny45OC40NSAgVGh1LCAy8CBOpnYg!MjAwMSD4MDoxMzo0NiBQU1Q= X-Abuse-Info: Please forward ALL headers when reporting abuse. X-Complaints-To: abuse@bb.directv.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 10:13:46 PST Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 13:13:35 -0500 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!194.25.134.126.MISMATCH!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!213.204.128.162!news000.worldonline.se!news-out.nuthinbutnews.com!propagator2-austin!propagator!feed2.newsfeeds.com!newsfeeds.com!news-in-austin.nuthinbutnews.com!telocity-west!TELOCITY!newsrump.sjc.telocity.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95480 On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 07:19:41 -0500, "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: >Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless >pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? Somewhat related: Back in 1989, on rec.humor, a number of us were wondering if Henry Cates III was a 'bot. (Turns out he wasn't, IIRC.) ###### From: Ernst-Udo Wallenborn Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: 29 Nov 2001 21:24:28 +0100 Lines: 20 Sender: wallenborn@dilbert.pointyhairedbosses.de Message-ID: References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: b1c4f.pppool.de (213.7.28.79) X-Trace: fu-berlin.de 1007065487 6884379 213.7.28.79 (16 [45424]) X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.7/Emacs 20.6 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!b1c4f.pppool.DE!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95399 "Douglas H. Quebbeman" writes: > Of course, I can't recall the poster's name/ID, nor could I be certain > as to the forum. Possibly, I may have printed out some of these > sessions, ( did print and keep some, just can't recall if they were > od the suspected bot, or not. > So, has this come up before, perhaps w/r/t USENET instead of > private commercial forums? Yes. Serdar Argic. http://www.jaedworks.com/shoebox/zumabot.html and many others. -- Ernst-Udo Wallenborn ###### From: Chris Baird Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Organization: The Australian Public Access Network Association Lines: 6 Message-ID: References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.1 NNTP-Posting-Host: uunewc283040.uudial.com.au X-Trace: ozemail.com.au 1007086218 203.102.130.100 (Fri, 30 Nov 2001 13:10:18 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 13:10:18 EST Distribution: world Date: 30 Nov 2001 07:07:49 +1100 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!out.nntp.be!propagator-SanJose!in.nntp.be!newspeer.cwnet.com!sjc1.nntp.concentric.net!newsfeed.concentric.net!newsfeed.ozemail.com.au!ozemail.com.au!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95545 > Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting > countless pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of > discussion? I believe one of the first on Usenet was net.personals' "Mark V. Shaney" in 1985... ###### From: Steve O'Hara-Smith Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 21:13:33 +0100 Organization: Wanadoo NL Lines: 21 Message-ID: <20011129211333.576567f2.steveo@eircom.net> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <%RsN7.15875$Ju6.2657608@news20.bellglobal.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: p1069.vcu.wanadoo.nl Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: scavenger.euro.net 1007067572 39623 194.134.203.50 (29 Nov 2001 20:59:32 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@wanadoo.nl NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 20:59:32 +0000 (UTC) X-Newsreader: Sylpheed version 0.6.5 (GTK+ 1.2.10; i386--freebsd4.4) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!193.190.198.17.MISMATCH!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!news2.euro.net!news.euronet.nl!ams-gw.sohara.org!nobody Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95528 On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 10:55:54 -0500 "Donald Tees" wrote: DT> "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote in message DT> DT> > Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless DT> > pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? Look for the postings of the Reverend Don Kool and see what you think. DT> The switch side of that is "Can every human that uses the internet pass the DT> turing test?". Definitely not! -- C:>WIN | Directable Mirrors The computer obeys and wins. |A Better Way To Focus The Sun You lose and Bill collects. | licenses available - see: | http://www.sohara.org/ ###### From: idr@hep.ucl.ac.uk (Dr Ivan D. Reid) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: 29 Nov 2001 20:56:29 GMT Organization: University College London Lines: 13 Message-ID: References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> Reply-To: idr@hep.ucl.ac.uk NNTP-Posting-Host: ax9.hep.ucl.ac.uk X-Trace: uns-a.ucl.ac.uk 1007067389 21200 128.40.4.79 (29 Nov 2001 20:56:29 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ucl.ac.uk NNTP-Posting-Date: 29 Nov 2001 20:56:29 GMT User-Agent: slrn/0.9.6.3 (OSF1) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!fr.clara.net!heighliner.fr.clara.net!teaser.fr!proxad.net!news-hub.cableinet.net!blueyonder!newspeer.clara.net!news.clara.net!server3.netnews.ja.net!ucl.ac.uk!idr Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95530 On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 07:19:41 -0500, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote in <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com>: >Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless >pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? Have you ever tried to follow uk.rec.motorcycles? -- Ivan Reid, Physics & Astronomy, University College London. idr@hep.ucl.ac.uk GSX600F, RG250WD. "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO# 003, 005 WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon) KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty". ###### From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 16:38:26 -0500 Lines: 19 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Message-ID: <3c06aad4_3@news.iglou.com> X-Trace: news.iglou.com 1007069908 204.250.0.238 (29 Nov 2001 16:38:28 -0500) X-Authenticated-User: dougq X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!wn4feed!worldnet.att.net!198.6.0.7!uunet!ash.uu.net!news.iglou.com Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95491 "Dr Ivan D. Reid" wrote in message news:slrna0d83j.1po.idr@ax9.hep.ucl.ac.uk... > On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 07:19:41 -0500, Douglas H. Quebbeman > wrote in <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com>: > > >Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless > >pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? > > Have you ever tried to follow uk.rec.motorcycles? No, and most of the motorcyclists I know don't even use a computer, I'm not sure they can even read... -dq p.s. those I know represent only one particular culture of cyclists... ###### From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 16:39:50 -0500 Lines: 24 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Message-ID: <3c06ab27$1_3@news.iglou.com> X-Trace: news.iglou.com 1007069991 204.250.0.238 (29 Nov 2001 16:39:51 -0500) X-Authenticated-User: dougq X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!194.25.134.126.MISMATCH!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!feed2.onemain.com!feed1.onemain.com!uunet!dca.uu.net!ash.uu.net!news.iglou.com Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95493 "Ernst-Udo Wallenborn" wrote in message news:s5loflll403.fsf@dilbert.pointyhairedbosses.de... > > "Douglas H. Quebbeman" writes: > > Of course, I can't recall the poster's name/ID, nor could I be certain > > as to the forum. Possibly, I may have printed out some of these > > sessions, ( did print and keep some, just can't recall if they were > > od the suspected bot, or not. > > So, has this come up before, perhaps w/r/t USENET instead of > > private commercial forums? > > Yes. Serdar Argic. > > http://www.jaedworks.com/shoebox/zumabot.html Ok, that bled over into the soc.genealogy.* groups I was hanging in at the time... I just thought those guys didn't have anything better to do... -dq ###### From: cbh@ieya.co.REMOVE_THIS.uk (Chris Hedley) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 21:46:00 +0000 Organization: Honest Chris' Sysadmin Emporium Message-ID: References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <%RsN7.15875$Ju6.2657608@news20.bellglobal.com> <20011129211333.576567f2.steveo@eircom.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: teabag.demon.co.uk X-NNTP-Posting-Host: teabag.demon.co.uk:193.237.4.110 X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 1007071201 nnrp-14:19858 NO-IDENT teabag.demon.co.uk:193.237.4.110 X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test76 (Apr 2, 2001) Originator: cbh@ieya.co.REMOVE_THIS.uk (Chris Hedley) Lines: 7 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!194.74.65.73.MISMATCH!btnet-peer0!btnet!dispose.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!teabag.demon.co.uk!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95501 According to Steve O'Hara-Smith : > Look for the postings of the Reverend D** K*** and see what > you think. Careful what you say, I'd rather he/it wasn't summoned. Chris. ###### From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 16:47:42 -0500 Lines: 24 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Message-ID: <3c06acff$1_3@news.iglou.com> X-Trace: news.iglou.com 1007070463 204.250.0.238 (29 Nov 2001 16:47:43 -0500) X-Authenticated-User: dougq X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!wn4feed!worldnet.att.net!198.6.0.7!uunet!ash.uu.net!news.iglou.com Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95498 "Ernst-Udo Wallenborn" wrote in message news:s5loflll403.fsf@dilbert.pointyhairedbosses.de... > > "Douglas H. Quebbeman" writes: > > Of course, I can't recall the poster's name/ID, nor could I be certain > > as to the forum. Possibly, I may have printed out some of these > > sessions, ( did print and keep some, just can't recall if they were > > od the suspected bot, or not. > > So, has this come up before, perhaps w/r/t USENET instead of > > private commercial forums? > > Yes. Serdar Argic. > > http://www.jaedworks.com/shoebox/zumabot.html > > and many others. And now that I think about it, much of the traffic in the alt.religion.bahai reminds me a lot of the Zumabot... -dq ###### From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 16:48:45 -0500 Lines: 22 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Message-ID: <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> X-Trace: news.iglou.com 1007070526 204.250.0.238 (29 Nov 2001 16:48:46 -0500) X-Authenticated-User: dougq X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!193.190.198.17.MISMATCH!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!news2.euro.net!uunet!ash.uu.net!news.iglou.com Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95496 "Heinz W. Wiggeshoff" wrote in message news:9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca... > "Douglas H. Quebbeman" (dougq@ixnayamspayiglou.com) writes: > > > ... > > Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless > > pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? > > Go over to rec.humor (no 'u') and count the follow-up frequency, > especially 'Greg Evans' and the former 'justkiddin' who has switched > to Liz Mueller. Heck, even this newsgroup has a poster suffering > from follow-up-itis, dishing out more than everything you ever wanted > to know about TOPS10. B-) Hey, Barb- Are you just gonna sit still and let that one pass? -doug q ###### From: Paul Brinkley Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Message-ID: References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <%RsN7.15875$Ju6.2657608@news20.bellglobal.com> <20011129211333.576567f2.steveo@eircom.net> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.8/32.548 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 13 X-Trace: MR0gTm9BdXSXVXNlciBURUxPQ0lUWS1SRUFEa1JTIBg1LjE4Ny45OC7LNSAguXJpLCAzMCBgb3Yg!MjAwMSAwNzoaOTowNSBQrFQ= X-Abuse-Info: Please forward ALL headers when reporting abuse. X-Complaints-To: abuse@bb.directv.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 07:49:05 PST Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 10:48:52 -0500 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!194.25.134.126.MISMATCH!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!171.64.14.106!newsfeed.stanford.edu!sn-xit-01!sn-xit-04!supernews.com!telocity-west!TELOCITY!newsrump.sjc.telocity.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95548 On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 21:46:00 +0000, cbh@ieya.co.REMOVE_THIS.uk (Chris Hedley) wrote: >According to Steve O'Hara-Smith : >> Look for the postings of the Reverend D** K*** and see what >> you think. > >Careful what you say, I'd rather he/it wasn't summoned. > >Chris. Kibo! Kibo! Kibo! ###### From: hawk@fac13.ds.psu.edu (Prof. Richard E. Hawkins) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: 30 Nov 2001 22:49:34 GMT Organization: Penn State University, Center for Academic Computing Lines: 22 Message-ID: <9u92du$1t50@r02n01.cac.psu.edu> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <0luc0uk1vb2ljrlihb0kb1vpsvsa5n0k7d@4ax.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: fac13.ds.psu.edu X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test76 (Apr 2, 2001) Originator: hawk@fac13.ds.psu.edu (Prof. Richard E. Hawkins) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.cis.ohio-state.edu!news.ems.psu.edu!news3.cac.psu.edu!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95585 In article <0luc0uk1vb2ljrlihb0kb1vpsvsa5n0k7d@4ax.com>, Paul Brinkley wrote: >On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 07:19:41 -0500, "Douglas H. Quebbeman" > wrote: >>Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless >>pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? >Somewhat related: Back in 1989, on rec.humor, a number of us were >wondering if Henry Cates III was a 'bot. (Turns out he wasn't, IIRC.) In 1984, in most of the groups. there was speculation that rlr@att[mumble] was an AI program, designed to drive up phone charges . . . hawk -- What part of "non-negotiable" didn't you understand? /"\ ASCII ribbon campaign dochawk@psu.edu Smeal 178 (814) 375-4700 \ / against HTML mail These opinions will not be those of X and postings. Penn State until it pays my retainer. / \ ###### From: hawk@fac13.ds.psu.edu (Prof. Richard E. Hawkins) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: 30 Nov 2001 22:51:30 GMT Organization: Penn State University, Center for Academic Computing Lines: 25 Message-ID: <9u92hi$1t50@r02n01.cac.psu.edu> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <3c06ab27$1_3@news.iglou.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: fac13.ds.psu.edu X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test76 (Apr 2, 2001) Originator: hawk@fac13.ds.psu.edu (Prof. Richard E. Hawkins) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.cis.ohio-state.edu!news.ems.psu.edu!news3.cac.psu.edu!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95584 In article <3c06ab27$1_3@news.iglou.com>, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote: >"Ernst-Udo Wallenborn" wrote in message >news:s5loflll403.fsf@dilbert.pointyhairedbosses.de... >> Yes. Serdar Argic. >> http://www.jaedworks.com/shoebox/zumabot.html >Ok, that bled over into the soc.genealogy.* groups I >was hanging in at the time... >I just thought those guys didn't have anything better to do... See, not only were you right, but you barely scratched the tip of the iceberg. Not only nothing *better* to do, but nothing else they possibly *could* do . . . hawk -- What part of "non-negotiable" didn't you understand? /"\ ASCII ribbon campaign dochawk@psu.edu Smeal 178 (814) 375-4700 \ / against HTML mail These opinions will not be those of X and postings. Penn State until it pays my retainer. / \ ###### From: Dennis Ritchie Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2001 09:00:45 +0000 Organization: Bell Labs / Lucent Technologies Lines: 44 Message-ID: <3C089C3D.79F111BA@bell-labs.com> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 135.104.65.78 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.61 [en] (WinNT; U) X-Accept-Language: en Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newsfeed.nextra.ch!news.nextra.ch!nextra.at!newsfeed4.cidera.com!newsfeed1.cidera.com!Cidera!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!wn1feed!wn4feed!worldnet.att.net!207.24.196.41!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!news Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95580 Chris Baird wrote: > > > Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting > > countless pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of > > discussion? > > I believe one of the first on Usenet was net.personals' "Mark V. > Shaney" in 1985... 1984, in fact, and it was net.singles. Rob Pike gave a talk on the phenomenon at Usenix a few years ago. The game was to take the group's outpouring for a day or so, and generate a posting using a Markov-type word-sequence generator (cf. The Practice of Programming, Kernighan and Pike). Among its better efforts: From alice!mvs Sep 1984 I'm saying that Christians recognize sex within marriage as the only proper sphere of sex, and the backs of their appearance. Why? Because first impressions are important. Because appearance has subtle effects on mood. Because it is part of the September 84 edition! 800 pages, mostly advertising. I deal with it by simply not letting it bother me. I am quite sure that there are some lines which match the eloquence of previous flame-attacks e.g. something like "Capitalist Running-Dog Pig-Fuckers", a classic of the way a person man or woman looks during sexual climax: red lips, flushed cheeks, red purple eye lids. The greater part of the talk was actually about human-run bots, for example Peter Honeyman's boring-people mailing list. Peter collected a list of the most frequent posters in those innocent days, and sent them all mail congratulating them that they were now on the list. All replies were sent to the whole list. The first try fizzled, but the second exploded as hoped. This work was visionary and imaginative, and goes to show that visionary and imaginative work need not end up well. Dennis ###### From: genew@mail.ocis.net (Gene Wirchenko) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2001 06:13:37 GMT Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: <3c09a046.42102190@news.ocis.net> Reply-To: genew@mail.ocis.net References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.1/32.230 X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 30 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newsfeed.nextra.ch!news.nextra.ch!nextra.at!newsfeed4.cidera.com!newsfeed1.cidera.com!Cidera!newsfeed.cwix.com!sjc-peer.news.verio.net!news.verio.net!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95631 "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: >"Heinz W. Wiggeshoff" wrote in message >news:9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca... >> "Douglas H. Quebbeman" (dougq@ixnayamspayiglou.com) writes: >> > >> ... >> > Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless >> > pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? >> >> Go over to rec.humor (no 'u') and count the follow-up frequency, >> especially 'Greg Evans' and the former 'justkiddin' who has switched >> to Liz Mueller. Heck, even this newsgroup has a poster suffering >> from follow-up-itis, dishing out more than everything you ever wanted >> to know about TOPS10. B-) > >Hey, Barb- > >Are you just gonna sit still and let that one pass? ^^^^^^^^ ObAFC? Sincerely, Gene Wirchenko Computerese Irregular Verb Conjugation: I have preferences. You have biases. He/She has prejudices. ###### From: bhk@dsl.co.uk (Brian {Hamilton Kelly}) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 18:49:52 GMT Organization: Dragonhill Systems Ltd Message-ID: <1007146192snz@dsl.co.uk> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> X-Trace: mail2news.demon.co.uk 1007308521 mail2news:27306 mail2news mail2news.demon.co.uk X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net X-Mail2News-Path: news.demon.net!dsl.demon.co.uk X-Newsreader: Demon Internet Simple News v1.31 Lines: 24 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!194.74.65.73.MISMATCH!btnet-peer0!btnet!dispose.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!mail2news.demon.co.uk!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95685 In article <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> dougq@ixnayamspayiglou.com "Douglas H. Quebbeman" writes: > Of course, I can't recall the poster's name/ID, nor could I be certain > as to the forum. Possibly, I may have printed out some of these > sessions, ( did print and keep some, just can't recall if they were > od the suspected bot, or not. Well, over the years seems to have been blessed with posters that have been /accused/ of being Bots. Two that spring to mind are "The Jerk-Off Bot" (Jan Kiefer-Olsen) and "The Grandiflora Bot" (whose surname was something like Grandiflora, and whose postings were exceedingly prolix). I'm sure DejaGoogle will have sufficient examples archived. Neil Barker used sometimes to post under the Organization: Bots'R'Us to apologize if one of his "experimental" Bots went wild. -- Brian {Hamilton Kelly} bhk@dsl.co.uk "We have gone from a world of concentrated knowledge and wisdom to one of distributed ignorance. And we know and understand less while being incr- easingly capable." Prof. Peter Cochrane, formerly of BT Labs ###### From: jmfbahciv@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Mon, 03 Dec 01 11:56:34 GMT Organization: UltraNet Communications, Inc. Lines: 27 Message-ID: <9ug0ei$6tc$6@bob.news.rcn.net> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> X-Trace: UmFuZG9tSVbBrne0ksf0Xo3mNx4ENCTv6JibPexbrbQ+YwbJH/g12VfqjrOimiVk X-Complaints-To: abuse@rcn.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 3 Dec 2001 13:58:42 GMT X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!64.245.249.19.MISMATCH!dfw3-feed1.news.digex.net!jfk3-feed1.news.digex.net!dca6-feed2.news.digex.net!intermedia!feed2.news.rcn.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!207-172-245-177 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95711 In article <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com>, "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: >"Heinz W. Wiggeshoff" wrote in message >news:9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca... >> "Douglas H. Quebbeman" (dougq@ixnayamspayiglou.com) writes: >> > >> ... >> > Do discussion bots exist? Are they with us today, starting countless >> > pointless threads that spawn countless other threads of discussion? >> >> Go over to rec.humor (no 'u') and count the follow-up frequency, >> especially 'Greg Evans' and the former 'justkiddin' who has switched >> to Liz Mueller. Heck, even this newsgroup has a poster suffering >> from follow-up-itis, dishing out more than everything you ever wanted >> to know about TOPS10. B-) > >Hey, Barb- > >Are you just gonna sit still and let that one pass? It's not the first time he's complained and I doubt it'll be the last time. What is really curious is that I was off-line when he bitched. /BAH Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail. ###### From: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: 3 Dec 2001 18:37:21 GMT Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Lines: 16 Message-ID: <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> <9ug0ei$6tc$6@bob.news.rcn.net> Reply-To: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) NNTP-Posting-Host: freenet10 X-Trace: freenet9.carleton.ca 1007404641 5846 134.117.136.30 (3 Dec 2001 18:37:21 GMT) X-Complaints-To: complaints@ncf.ca NNTP-Posting-Date: 3 Dec 2001 18:37:21 GMT X-Given-Sender: ab528@freenet10.carleton.ca (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news-fra1.dfn.de!news-lei1.dfn.de!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!diablo.theplanet.net!tank.news.pipex.net!pipex!news-peer-east1.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!nntp1.roc.gblx.net!nntp.gblx.net!nntp.gblx.net!xcski.com!freenet-news!FreeNet.Carleton.CA!ab528 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95722 (jmfbahciv@aol.com) writes: > In article <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com>, > "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: >>"Heinz W. Wiggeshoff" wrote in message B-) ^^^ >> >>Hey, Barb- >> >>Are you just gonna sit still and let that one pass? > > It's not the first time he's complained and I doubt it'll be > the last time. What is really curious is that I was off-line > when he bitched. So you missed the smiley, did you? Tsk tsk. ###### From: jmfbahciv@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Tue, 04 Dec 01 11:07:33 GMT Organization: UltraNet Communications, Inc. Lines: 27 Message-ID: <9uihuv$ble$3@bob.news.rcn.net> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> <9ug0ei$6tc$6@bob.news.rcn.net> <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> X-Trace: UmFuZG9tSVYW1uxmOhI0WEN3USU0DLM6J2fyYj8pJ32Jl0rZXYBCCv/HLDxp0c8g X-Complaints-To: abuse@rcn.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 4 Dec 2001 13:09:51 GMT X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newsfeed.nextra.ch!news.nextra.ch!newsfeed1.ulv.nextra.no!nextra.com!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!128.230.129.106!news.maxwell.syr.edu!feed2.news.rcn.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!207-172-216-77 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95778 In article <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca>, ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) wrote: > (jmfbahciv@aol.com) writes: >> In article <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com>, >> "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: >>>"Heinz W. Wiggeshoff" wrote in message > B-) > ^^^ >>> >>>Hey, Barb- >>> >>>Are you just gonna sit still and let that one pass? >> >> It's not the first time he's complained and I doubt it'll be >> the last time. What is really curious is that I was off-line >> when he bitched. > > So you missed the smiley, did you? Tsk tsk. I can usually tell when someone is faking it....and then you do have a history of complaints. However, I could be wrong. /BAH Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail. ###### From: jmfbahciv@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Wed, 05 Dec 01 11:24:29 GMT Organization: UltraNet Communications, Inc. Lines: 38 Message-ID: <9ul7b1$n0h$8@bob.news.rcn.net> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> <9ug0ei$6tc$6@bob.news.rcn.net> <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <9uihuv$ble$3@bob.news.rcn.net> <3C0DBEA0.BF3DE9CD@ev1.net> X-Trace: UmFuZG9tSVYeWklDkZ30/enS4wdGHLDunEOG+QnouhIfRqbDpw2pdeWS8rTmFTUM X-Complaints-To: abuse@rcn.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 5 Dec 2001 13:26:57 GMT X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!feed2.news.rcn.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!207-172-245-51 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95851 In article <3C0DBEA0.BF3DE9CD@ev1.net>, Charles Richmond wrote: >jmfbahciv@aol.com wrote: >> >> In article <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca>, >> ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) wrote: >> > (jmfbahciv@aol.com) writes: >> >> In article <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com>, >> >> "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: >> >>>"Heinz W. Wiggeshoff" wrote in message >> > B-) >> > ^^^ >> >>> >> >>>Hey, Barb- >> >>> >> >>>Are you just gonna sit still and let that one pass? >> >> >> >> It's not the first time he's complained and I doubt it'll be >> >> the last time. What is really curious is that I was off-line >> >> when he bitched. >> > >> > So you missed the smiley, did you? Tsk tsk. >> >> I can usually tell when someone is faking it....and then >> you do have a history of complaints. >> >> However, I could be wrong. >> >I always figured that the curmudgeon level on is >about 40 to 50 percent. IMHO Mr. Wiggeshoff certainly >qualifies to be included in this group, as I myself do. > However, there are curmudgeons who don't like me. That's OK; I've irritated a lot of people in my lifetime :-). /BAH Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail. ###### Message-ID: <3C0DBEA0.BF3DE9CD@ev1.net> From: Charles Richmond Reply-To: richmond@ev1.net Organization: Cannine Computer Center X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7C-CCK-MCD {C-UDP; EBM-APPLE} (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> <9ug0ei$6tc$6@bob.news.rcn.net> <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <9uihuv$ble$3@bob.news.rcn.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 34 Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 04:32:24 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.127.202.211 X-Complaints-To: abuse@attbi.com X-Trace: rwcrnsc53 1007526744 204.127.202.211 (Wed, 05 Dec 2001 04:32:24 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 04:32:24 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!wn1feed!wn4feed!worldnet.att.net!204.127.198.203!attbi_feed3!attbi.com!rwcrnsc53.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95918 jmfbahciv@aol.com wrote: > > In article <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca>, > ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) wrote: > > (jmfbahciv@aol.com) writes: > >> In article <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com>, > >> "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: > >>>"Heinz W. Wiggeshoff" wrote in message > > B-) > > ^^^ > >>> > >>>Hey, Barb- > >>> > >>>Are you just gonna sit still and let that one pass? > >> > >> It's not the first time he's complained and I doubt it'll be > >> the last time. What is really curious is that I was off-line > >> when he bitched. > > > > So you missed the smiley, did you? Tsk tsk. > > I can usually tell when someone is faking it....and then > you do have a history of complaints. > > However, I could be wrong. > I always figured that the curmudgeon level on is about 40 to 50 percent. IMHO Mr. Wiggeshoff certainly qualifies to be included in this group, as I myself do. -- +-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond | +-------------------------------------------------------------+ ###### Message-ID: <3C0E53D8.71062407@yahoo.com> From: CBFalconer Reply-To: cbfalconer@worldnet.att.net Organization: Ched Research X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> <9ug0ei$6tc$6@bob.news.rcn.net> <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <9uihuv$ble$3@bob.news.rcn.net> <3C0DBEA0.BF3DE9CD@ev1.net> <9ul7b1$n0h$8@bob.news.rcn.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 22 Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 17:31:07 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 12.90.167.52 X-Complaints-To: abuse@worldnet.att.net X-Trace: bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net 1007573467 12.90.167.52 (Wed, 05 Dec 2001 17:31:07 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 17:31:07 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newsfeed.nextra.ch!news.nextra.ch!nextra.at!newsfeed4.cidera.com!newsfeed1.cidera.com!Cidera!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!wn1feed!worldnet.att.net!135.173.83.71!wnfilter1!worldnet-localpost!bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95925 jmfbahciv@aol.com wrote: > Charles Richmond wrote: > >> ... snip ... > >> > >I always figured that the curmudgeon level on is > >about 40 to 50 percent. IMHO Mr. Wiggeshoff certainly > >qualifies to be included in this group, as I myself do. > > > However, there are curmudgeons who don't like me. That's OK; > I've irritated a lot of people in my lifetime :-). I can hardly believe it, judging from the sweetness and light you radiate here :-) -- Chuck F (cbfalconer@yahoo.com) (cbfalconer@XXXXworldnet.att.net) Available for consulting/temporary embedded and systems. (Remove "XXXX" from reply address. yahoo works unmodified) mailto:uce@ftc.gov (for spambots to harvest) ###### Message-ID: <3C0EA57C.6962EE1C@ev1.net> From: Charles Richmond Reply-To: richmond@ev1.net Organization: Cannine Computer Center X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7C-CCK-MCD {C-UDP; EBM-APPLE} (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> <9ug0ei$6tc$6@bob.news.rcn.net> <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <9uihuv$ble$3@bob.news.rcn.net> <3C0DBEA0.BF3DE9CD@ev1.net> <9ul7b1$n0h$8@bob.news.rcn.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 18 Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 20:57:25 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.127.202.216 X-Complaints-To: abuse@attbi.com X-Trace: rwcrnsc53 1007585845 204.127.202.216 (Wed, 05 Dec 2001 20:57:25 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 20:57:25 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newsfeed.nextra.ch!news.nextra.ch!nextra.at!newsfeed4.cidera.com!newsfeed1.cidera.com!Cidera!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!wn1feed!wn4feed!worldnet.att.net!204.127.198.204!attbi_feed4!attbi.com!rwcrnsc53.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95940 jmfbahciv@aol.com wrote: > > [snip...] [snip...] [snip...] > > However, there are curmudgeons who don't like me. That's OK; > I've irritated a lot of people in my lifetime :-). > Well, I can *not* say that I *always* agree with you...but I usually am quite sympathetic to your point of view. IMHO most people who knock heads with you are the young whippersnappers who think that new is always better and think that they have everything figured out. I have *plonked* most of them, because the noise to signal level got way too high... -- +-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond | +-------------------------------------------------------------+ ###### From: jmfbahciv@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Thu, 06 Dec 01 11:35:22 GMT Organization: UltraNet Communications, Inc. Lines: 29 Message-ID: <9unsbn$c62$8@bob.news.rcn.net> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> <9ug0ei$6tc$6@bob.news.rcn.net> <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <9uihuv$ble$3@bob.news.rcn.net> <3C0DBEA0.BF3DE9CD@ev1.net> <9ul7b1$n0h$8@bob.news.rcn.net> <3C0EA57C.6962EE1C@ev1.net> X-Trace: UmFuZG9tSVZuuFvk3FUOKnBLS9n6AzERIleKeg/V3O5J+TzIcGPW74pFVa9+bwac X-Complaints-To: abuse@rcn.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 6 Dec 2001 13:37:59 GMT X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!194.74.65.73.MISMATCH!btnet-peer0!btnet!dispose.news.demon.net!demon!feed2.news.rcn.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!207-172-102-36 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95970 In article <3C0EA57C.6962EE1C@ev1.net>, Charles Richmond wrote: >jmfbahciv@aol.com wrote: >> >> [snip...] [snip...] [snip...] >> >> However, there are curmudgeons who don't like me. That's OK; >> I've irritated a lot of people in my lifetime :-). >> >Well, I can *not* say that I *always* agree with you... Good. It would be so boring if you did always agree. :-) > ...but I >usually am quite sympathetic to your point of view. IMHO most >people who knock heads with you are the young whippersnappers >who think that new is always better and think that they have >everything figured out. I have *plonked* most of them, because >the noise to signal level got way too high... I think some of them are old fuddyduddies who never grew out of the whippersnapper age. ;-) Well, it's an ingrained habit. If I didn't do the retraining, one of the guys would have to (and they were much better at coding and debugging so I picked up this piece of a mess). /BAH Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail. ###### From: jmfbahciv@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Discussion Bots: Myth or Reality? Date: Thu, 06 Dec 01 12:01:09 GMT Organization: UltraNet Communications, Inc. Lines: 26 Message-ID: <9unts2$raq$3@bob.news.rcn.net> References: <3c0627df_2@news.iglou.com> <9u5mgk$p5k$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <3c06ad3e$1_3@news.iglou.com> <9ug0ei$6tc$6@bob.news.rcn.net> <9uggp1$5mm$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <9uihuv$ble$3@bob.news.rcn.net> <3C0DBEA0.BF3DE9CD@ev1.net> <9ul7b1$n0h$8@bob.news.rcn.net> <3C0E53D8.71062407@yahoo.com> X-Trace: UmFuZG9tSVaFIFavwH/idk0DV0dq4TVT5JJG5u/wU3ep/qBVMLbmdPBIBTCNqn48 X-Complaints-To: abuse@rcn.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 6 Dec 2001 14:03:46 GMT X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!feed2.news.rcn.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!207-172-102-36 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:95975 In article <3C0E53D8.71062407@yahoo.com>, CBFalconer wrote: >jmfbahciv@aol.com wrote: >> Charles Richmond wrote: >> >> >.... snip ... >> >> >> >I always figured that the curmudgeon level on is >> >about 40 to 50 percent. IMHO Mr. Wiggeshoff certainly >> >qualifies to be included in this group, as I myself do. >> > >> However, there are curmudgeons who don't like me. That's OK; >> I've irritated a lot of people in my lifetime :-). > >I can hardly believe it, judging from the sweetness Good grief! I'd better double my sour pill dosage. > .. and light you radiate here :-) > Well, I know that I cause radiation when I post. But I do try to keep the flames set to low. /BAH Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.