The Friday Night Round Table Net

Hello, I am hamBot. I hang out on The Friday Night Roundtable Discussion Net IRC Channel.

I am a friendly IRC Bot written by W1SDM using Perl and POE::IRC. When entering the command options, don't type the < or > characters, they are shown here just to delineate the command from the command options. All of the commands and the results of the commands are normally sent to the public #fridaynightroundtable.net channel. You can hide the commands you enter, and the results of the command you enter, by preceding each command with "/msg hamBot". So if you wanted to read your notes in a private channel, you would enter "/msg hamBot read_notes" (without the quotes.) hamBot will hide the command from the public channel and send the results directly to you in a private channel that only you can see. Make sure you capitalize the 'B' in hamBot, in most cases nicks are case sensitive.

Command : lookup
Usage : lookup <callsign>
Result : Lookup a U.S. Amateur Radio callsign

Command : nslookup
Usage : nslookup <ip address> or nslookup <domain.name>
Result : Perform an nslookup on an ip address or domain name

Command : weather
Usage : weather or weather <ICAO>
Result : Get the current weather information. If you enter a ICAO identifier, you will see the information from that location. If you enter no ICAO identifier, it will default to KMIC which is the Crystal Airport in Crystal Minnesota.

Command : otd
Usage : otd or otd <date> in the form mon/date
Result : otd is On This Date. Enter 'otd' and then a date in the form mon/date or mon-date and you will get a random event from that date in history.

Command : forecast
Usage : forecast or weather <Zip Code>
Result : Get the weather forecast for the next 3 time periods (depends on the current time of day). If you include a valid Zip Code, you will see the forecast for that Zip Code.

Command : flux
Usage : flux
Result : View the Solar Flux, the A index and the K index.

Command : visitors
Usage : visitors
Result : Get real time statistics for the fridaynightroundtable.net web site.

Command : tvland
Usage : tvland
Result : See what program / movie is showing on the cable channel tvland

Command : film
Usage : film <title>
Result : Retrieve information on a movie. You will see the year it was released and a short plot summary from the Internet Movie Database. Not always accurate because of the vast number of similarly named movies.

Command : send_note
Usage : send_note <nickname> text of the note.
Result : This feature allows you to leave a note to another IRC user. If the user is offline the next time they enter the channel they will get a message telling them that they have a note waiting, see "read_note". You will then receive a note from hamBot indicating that the person you sent the note to has read your note. Remember all of this is done in the public channel unless you precede each command with "/msg hamBot".

Command : read_notes
Usage : read_notes
Result : This command will show you any notes you have waiting for you. Remember your notes will be displayed in the public channel unless you precede the command with "/msg hamBot".

Command : rot13
Usage : rot13 <text you want rot13'ed>
Result : rot13 is a method of "hiding" spoilers, punchlines, puzzle solutions, and offensive materials from the casual glance. rot13 simply changes each character to the 13th character down the list of letters in the English alphabet. An A becomes N, B becomes O, and so on up to M, which becomes Z, then the sequence reverses: N becomes A, O becomes B, and so on to Z, which becomes M. Only those letters which occur in the English alphabet are affected; numbers, symbols, whitespace, and all other characters are left unchanged.

Command : up
Usage : up
Result : This command will return the "uptime" for the server that hamBot is running on and how long hamBot has been running.

Command : limerick
Usage : limerick
Result : Get a random limerick. There are about 80 different limericks in the database.

Command : quote
Usage : quote
Result : Get a random quote from our quoteserver. There are currently 834 different quotes.

Command : metar
Usage : metar or metar <ICAO>
Result : Get the current metar report. If you enter a ICAO identifier, you will see the information from that location. If you enter no ICAO identifier, it will default to KMIC which is the Crystal Airport in Crystal Minnesota.

Command : norris
Usage : norris
Result : Get a random Chuck Norris factoid. There are 123 different factoids.

Command : jpole
Usage : jpole <frequency>
Result : Have hamBot design a J-Pole antenna for you. Just enter frequency that you want the antenna to be resonant at, and you will be shown the dimensions and the coax connection points.

Command : wright
Usage : wright
Result : Get a random Steven Wright quote. There are 84 different quotes.

Command : nickometer
Usage : nickometer or nickometer <nick>
Result : See how lame your nick is using the nickometer by Adam Spiers. If you don't enter a nick, your own nick will be rated. I will warn you that most Amateur Radio callsign nicks are REALLY lame according to the nickometer.

Command : hambot
Usage : hambot
Result : Get basic information about hamBot.

Command : dow
Usage : dow <date>
Result : Find out what day of the week a particular date fell on. If you wanted to know what day of the week September 11th 2001 was, you could enter the date in any of these forms : September 11th 2001 / sep 11 2001 / 9-11-2001 / 9/11/2009 Just separate the month day and year somehow, and enter the month first.

Command : stats
Usage : stats
Result : hamBot keeps some basic information about your nick. Right now, stats will show your nick, your kizmit and the statistics for the IRC games Trivia, MasterMind, Bamboozled and Rev.

Command : version
Usage : version
Result : See what version of hamBot is running.

Command : seen
Usage : seen <nick>
Result : See when the last time the person with that nick was seen on the channel.

Command : fortune
Usage : fortune
Result : Get a fortune. The type of fortune you would get on a Unix server. These come straight from the server.

Command : bamboozled
Usage : bamboozled or bamboozled <start>
Result : Bamboozled is the IRC version of Hangman. To start a game of Bamboozled, enter 'bamboozle start'. The computer will pick a "Secret Word' from the 1520 words in the Bamboozled dictionary. The 'Secret Word' is represented by a series of dashes, one for each letter of the word. You enter the letters you think are in the word by typing 'ba x', where x is one letter of the English alphabet. If your letter is NOT in the word, another letter of the word BAMBOOZLED will be shown at the beginning of the line of data that hamBot will send. If the entire word BAMBOOZLED is spelled out, you have lost the game. If you correctly guess a letter, you get to pick another letter without adding to the word BAMBOOZLED. The letters that haven't been chosen yet are shown at the end of the line of data that hamBot sends. When you have successfully completed the 'Secret Word' you have won the game. Good luck.

Command : br
Usage : br <letter>
Result : Allows you to enter a letter for the current Bamboozled game. Type 'br' 'space' 'a letter of the alphabet'

Command : rev
Usage : rev or rev <start>
Result : Rev (or Reverse) is a simple game where the numerals 1-9 are placed in random order. Your task is to reorder the numbers to '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9' by entering a number that indicates how many characters from the left you want to reverse. Example: if the numbers are '2 3 4 5 1 6 7 8 9' and you reverse 4, the result would be '5 4 3 2 1 6 7 8 9'. Now if you reverse 5, you win! Have fun, good luck!

Command : rr
Usage : rr <number 1-9>
Result : Use this command to send your responses to the Rev game. Enter 'rr' followed by a number 1 - 9, indicating how many numbers from the left that you want to reverse.

Command : twenty
Usage : twenty or twenty <start>
Result : Twenty is the game of 20 questions. To start a new game enter 'twenty start'. hamBot will start asking you questions (the first question is always 'Is it animal, vegetable, mineral, other or unknown'. Precede your answers with 'tqr' (Twenty Questions Response) You must always answer the questions with one of the responses shown after each question. Be as accurate as possible with your answers. See if Twenty Questions can determine what you are thinking of! Have fun!

Command : tqr
Usage : trq <answer>
Result : Use this command to send your answers to the Twenty Questions game. Enter 'tqr' followed by one of the answers supplied by last question from hamBot.

Command : time
Usage : time
Result : Reports the current time for the Central time zone and GMT.

Command : trivia
Usage : trivia or trivia <start>
Result : Enter "trivia start" to start a new trivia game. If you just enter "trivia" you will see the status of the current trivia game, if there is no game it will tell you so. There are 1401 different trivia questions in the database. You(the channel) get 6 attempts at answering correctly, after which you will be shown the answer. In order to answer a trivia question, precede your answer with "tq".

Command : tr
Usage : tr <trivia question answer>
Result : When you want to answer the current trivia question, precede your answer with "tr".

Command : mastermind
Usage : mastermind or mastermind <start>
Result : Enter "mastermind start" to start a new MasterMind game. If you just enter "mastermind" you will see the status of the current MasterMind game, if there is no game it will tell you so. You(the channel) get 10 attempts at answering correctly, after which you will be shown the answer. In order to give an answer to the MasterMind puzzle, precede your answer with "mm". MasterMind is a logic game in which hamBot will pick a random 4 digit number. The same digit CAN occur more than once in the 4 digit number. In other words, the number might be 2238, or even 2222. In order to figure out what hamBot's number is, he will give you a clue after each guess. The clue consists of 4 characters, where a '+' means 1 of your digits is correct AND in the correct position. A '?' indicates that 1 of your digits is correct, but is in the WRONG position. A '-' indicates that 1 of your digits is incorrect, and it logically follows that it can't be in the correct position, since it is not the correct digit. Each clue consists of 4 of these characters (the '+', the '?' or the '-") When you get the correct answer the resulting clue would be '+ + + +'. Here is an example: if hamBot's number was 1234 and you guessed 2156, the clue would be '??--'. The '??' represents the digits 2 and 1 which are correct, but in the wrong position. The '--' represent the 5 and 6, because they are NOT in the answer. If you guessed 4321, the clue would be '????', if you guessed 1243, the clue would be '++??'. Good luck.

Command : mr
Usage : mr <mastermind guess>
Result : When you want to enter a guess for the current MasterMind game, precede your guess with "mr".

Command : wumpus
Usage : wumpus or wumpus <start>
Result : Wumpus is the game Hunt the Wumpus 2. You are hunting the Wumpus in a completely dark cave system. Each room is connected to 3 others by tunnels. There are 6 different cave systems. To get an idea of how the caves are layed out, take a look at http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc2/showpage.php?page=245. In each room you will be told whether or not you hear bats, feel a draft, or smell a Wumpus. If you feel a draft then you are next to a room with a pit. If you go there you fall in the pit and die. The Wumpus has suckers on its feet which prevents it from falling into a pit. If you hear bats you are next to a room that contains a SuperBat. If you go there you get picked up and carried by the bat to another room. The Wumpus is very heavy which prevents the bats from grabbing it. If you smell a Wumpus, you are next to a room that holds the Wumpus. If you enter the room that holds a Wumpus it will either exit through one of the tunnels or eat you. Each turn you can choose to (s)hoot an arrow (you start with 5 arrows, run out of arrows and you die!) or (m)ove to another room. If you shoot an arrow, you must choose the number of rooms the arrow will travel through (1-5), and then enter each of the room numbers. The last room is where the arrow will be effective. If an arrow ends in a room that holds the Wumpus he will die and you win the game. If the arrow misses, the Wumpus will move to a different room, or not :). The object is to kill the wumpus without getting killed first. Good luck!

Command : wr
Usage : wr <wr response>
Result : When you want to enter a response to the Wumpus game, precede your guess with "wr".

Command : kizmit
Usage : kizmit <nick> ++ or --
Result : Kizmit is like Karma, only different. The higher your kizmit, the better off you will be. You cannot directly affect your own kizmit, only other people on the channel can do that. However, you can change other people's kizmit. If you like something someone said, or did, you can raise their kizmit by entering 'kizmit nick ++', where nick is that persons nickname on the channel. You lower a person's kizmit by entering 'kizmit nick --'. To see what your kizmit is, simply enter 'kizmit'.

Command : secret
Usage : secret
Result : Find out how long it's been since the current "secret word" was chosen.

Command : name
Usage : name
Result : Generate a random name for a person, complete with city of residence, occupation and date of birth.

Command : otd
Usage : otd <otd date (mm/dd/yyyy)>
Result : See an event from this date (or date entered) in history. If there is more than one event, a random event from the date will be shown.

Command : tftd
Usage : tftd <tftd date (mm/dd/yyyy)>
Result : Thought For The Day Every day of the year has a tftd, if entered without the date you will be shown the thought for the current day.

Command : holiday
Usage : holiday <holiday date (mm/dd/yyyy)>
Result : The history database has a list of holidays for almost every day of the year. The holiday command will show you a holiday for the date entered, or the current date.

Command : whatabout
Usage : whatabout ?????? <whatabout "subject">
Result : The whatabout command is used to search the history database. If you enter just a subject (ex: cary grant) you will be shown up to 4 results from the database, the results could concern birth, death, or an event. If you enter a "type" of result before the subject (ex: whatabout birth cary grant) you will be shown all entries listed under that "type" of event.

hamBot will be giving Net Messages during the Friday Night Roundtable Discussion Net, advising who's turn it is, etc. All messages eminating from the actual Net will be proceeded by NETMSG:

Future Projects include weather alerts from the National Weather Service.

We are still looking for your input, what would you like to see hamBot do? Let W1SDM or KA6TMQ know.

The nickometer algorithm was devised by Adam Spiers - http://adamspiers.org/

The game Reverse(Rev) was originally written by Peter Sessions.

All Twenty Questions logic and questions provided by http://www.20q.net/

The game Hunt The Wumpus was originally written by Gregory Yob.

The game MasterMind was orignally written by Creative Computing in 1976.

The Trivia Game was written by Tom Green using a trivia database found on the Internet.

The game Bamboozled was written by Tom Green using a word database that I've created over the years.

All of the convolutions of hamBot are performed using Perl, MySQL and the Apache Web Server. hamBot and the web server run on a Sun Blade 100 with FreeBSD 7.0. All weather data from the National Weather Service. The DNS from nslookup is provided by mindformation.com The Amateur Radio callsigns are retrieved from the callsign server runnng on W1SDM.org, the data is updated on a daily basis from the FCC. Data for the 'film' command is from http://www.imdb.com (The Internet Movie Database) Data from the 'tvland' command is from http://www.tvland.com/ (The Tvland cable channel)

Copyright © 2008-2009. Website created by Tom Green(W1SDM) and Grace E. Morris(KCØUQY). Use of these pages by "for profit" organizations by permission only. We make no warranty of any kind with respect to the information on this web site, or any of the web sites linked to this web site. The viewer should not rely upon any information presented here in taking action in a specific situation, and should consult local emergency management officials regarding the applicability of any of the information contained herein to his or her own circumstances. Opinions expressed on this web site or on other linked web sites are not necessarily endorsed by us. Last updated: 2/9/2009 by Tom Green. Thanks to MindFormation for hosting this site.