I’ve been busy working on a bunch of projects, but I haven’t posted in a while, so here’s an update on what I’ve been up to!
I made several new bots:
- @botalertnews, a scaremongering local news/tabloid news headline generator; this is a work in progress and is only funny like 20% of the time at this point
- @infinite_bees and @infinite_scream, in case you need a bunch of buzzing or screaming on your Twitter timeline; @infinite_scream interacts particularly well with Twitter advertisements
- @orcwanker, a Twitter port of my swear-generator
- Three new health reminder/mental health bots: @hydratebot, @DOTHINGSBOT and @check-o-tron
I’ve also been adding a lot to @thinkpiecebot, which is getting HUGE– the code has over a thousand variables in it now– that means there are over a thousand different things that it forms into different phrases, all of which I put in there by hand. (There are a couple that are repeated to tweak the frequency so it doesn’t use “Whippersnapper” more than it uses “Millennial”, but still.) It’s also been getting a lot of attention: The Daily Dot used a bunch of its tweets for writing prompts, I talked to Slate and Recode for short features did a longer interview with PopMatters; it also got a writeup in Bustle.
I’ve also been having more success with Patreon and PayPal tips, which has allowed me to spend a lot more time making this art stuff: thanks to those of you who’ve helped me out with that! It’s nowhere near enough for me to do this as a full-time job in the long run, but it’s enough for me to think that might someday be possible.