jcm's blog

Code: http://jonmasters.org/pub/util/awayping/awayping.txt

Do you constantly get harassed on IRC with “ping?” (insert no context whatsoever here), of course you do. And then you come back later with a bunch of “ping” and no idea what the person wanted.

For those who just bought a computer ten minutes ago (I know there are still a few people out there), here’s an example of fail:

<someone> jonmasters: ping

That is utterly useless. It results in a ping/pong/ping cycle that can go on at some length, and then probably an accompanying email cycle, and maybe worse. Multiply that by a half dozen-dozen different pings and you’ve wasted a fair chunk of time just to find out what someone wants – and have no ability to prioritize or even know if the issue is still even an issue when you read a ping even a few minutes later. Here’s an example of non-fail:

<someone> jonmasters: some useful contextual message here?

I know many of you gave up even listening to these contextless “ping” messages years ago (because we’ve spoken about it at some length), or you don’t bother to leave anything connected to IRC if you’re not in front of it, or you just don’t care (hoping that people will learn how to use a computer and try again). But in case you still do care, I would like to share a plugin I wrote for ZNC called “awayping”. Away ping texts (a single line), emails you (full IRC transcripts), and tweets you (by private message) when you are detached or after a configurable idle period. It’s better than simply “autoaway”.

Awayping is getting slightly more clever over time, and the new “antiping” feature enhances awayping by also politely educating those who “ping” you (by private message) that leaving a message is infinitely more helpful later than simply 5 “ping”s on the screen. It might also encourage a few people to consider that they could send you email instead.

Here’s an example “antiping” reply:

<jonmasters> *********************************************************
<jonmasters> *** This user is marked as busy. A text message just  ***
<jonmasters> *** got sent with your 'ping'. But 'ping' alone isn't ***
<jonmasters> *** useful in a text/log message. Can you let me know ***
<jonmasters> *** what your ping was about? Your reply will be sent ***
<jonmasters> *** along so I can respond appropriately upon return. ***
<jonmasters> *********************************************************

With “awayping”, you can get email or text alerts of pending “ping” messages, and encourage people to use the internet responsibly, so you don’t have to constantly check IRC and can do something more useful instead. Because, let’s face it, they’re just going to email you anyway.

Jon.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 2:37 am and is filed under Fedora, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.