[imc-uk-tech] IRC Dispatch Bot

[LordRich]

Hi,

During Climate Camp and DSEi it became apparent that an IRC bot to help
with dispatch work might be helpful, one which would help with sending
and receiving sms updates.  I've spent the past couple of days
developing a bot which performs two functions:

1) Receives sms messages sent to an attached mobile phone, and then
posts them to the dispatch IRC channel.  This will mean we no longer
rely upon having one person type up received sms messages, and will mean
whoever is in IRC can handle these messages rather than the person with
the phone.

2) Receives private messages from certain IRC users (currently
hard-coded), and then posts them to the twitter sms news update service.
This will mean we don't need to rely on a single person having the
password to update the sms service, but rather can give permission to
post to a handful of known users.

I'm hoping to have this fully up and running in time for the No Borders
Camp, the majority of the code is already in replace and is awaiting a
new phone and sim card to test with which should turn up on Monday.
Should it be sucessful, then I can see it being useful for other major
actions which we maybe aren't providing a full dispatch service for -
such as the Big Blockade at Faslane on October 1st.

-- 
Rich