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Posted 2004/06/20

Wicket - dodgy Java IRC bot

Wicket was a bot which helped to protect some IRC channels on the blitzed.org network. It also exhibited some stupid cat-like behaviour as well as performing a few useful duties. Wicket retired some years back but still serves as a decent example of how to write a Java IRC bot.

Why and what?

Wicket: The original idea for the bot was to report the cricket scores and kick lamers (using Hugo's infamous cricket bat). After some debate the name Wicket was agreed on.
dodgy: The bot was only ever a hack, it's been tidied up a bit but it's for fun, it's not supposed to be a software engineering masterpiece.
Java: Yes it's written in Java.
IRC: irc.blitzed.org (#hants and #dorset)
Bot: Wicket: what are you? * Wicket is a big kittie

I can't remember why it ended up being a cat.

What kicked it off:

Apr 10 23:32:34 <Wyvern>    isn't there some kind of balcklist for IRC?
...
Apr 10 23:36:43 <editorgal> we could set a bot...
...
Apr 10 23:38:33 <MonkeyBoy> a "hi" bot
Apr 10 23:38:45 <Wyvern>    use an eliza bot
Apr 10 23:38:48 <hugo>      A cricket bot. :)
Apr 10 23:38:52 <editorgal> yes!
Apr 10 23:39:05 <MonkeyBoy> a bot that kick bans if you message it
...
Apr 11 02:46:39 <MonkeyBoy> Wicket is go
Apr 11 02:46:46 <-- Wicket has kicked dumbass from #hants
Apr 11 02:46:46 --- Wicket sets ban on *!*@*.zen.co.uk
Apr 11 02:46:55 <MonkeyBoy> w00t!

Get Wicket:

In the spirit of Open Source I have made the code available on this site. Some people expressed an interest in either writing plugins for us to use or running Wicket on another irc network. Wicket is copyright Mat Grove - licensed under the GPL and uses the cool Java IRC library written by Paul Mutton jibble.org

A copy of a slightly hacked version of the pircbot API is included in the release.
Code and binaries: wicket-0.0.3.tar.gz (85K)

Features

Allow banning across channels with one command.
Play Russian Roulette.
Do random cat-like things
Respond in kitty ways to things she hears people say.
Track and ban bouncing clients.
Bankick lamers who spam on join.

Changelog

Jun 20 2004: wicket-0.0.3
 -Multiple channel support

Apr 22 2004: wicket-0.0.2
 -Pluggable architecture 
 -Less embarrassing code
 -New plugins (like roulette)

Apr 11 2004: wicket-0.0.1
 -Initial release, just a hack based on some random ideas one night

Credits

Thanks to everyone who has helped make Wicket - it's been a laugh. Special thanks to Hugo, Neil, Heather, Rob and Popey.