GeekShed IRC Network
Network Wide Bot System
Dec 10th
Those of you with better memory may remember this. Development of this was started before those of us who run GeekShed left WyldRyde. For obvious reasons, development was postponed and has, fairly recently, resumed.
For those of you who don’t remember, here is an overview…
GeekShed is releasing a network wide bot system named ShedServ. This is a modular system, written in Java. It links directly to the GeekShed network and provides services to channel owners. Because the system is so extensible, there is little that it cannot do and we are more than happy to take suggestions for features which you, the channel owners, would like.
At present, the core of the system is written. We also have 2 modules – one for enabling your channel in the system and the other for creating and assigning bots to your channel. The first feature creating module that shall be written is a responder module. This will allow channel owners to add triggers to the bot which will trigger a response, when used in the channel. For example, you will be able to add a !site trigger which says “Our website is http://www.somesite.com/ – Visit us today!”.
Other features for the future are RSS feed parsing, ability to register nicknames from the GeekShed website and many others that I cannot remember right now.
ETA of this system is currently unknown but we hope to have it complete within the next 2 weeks. Once it is released, we are looking for testers. The requirements to become a tester are…
- First a foremost, you MUST understand that this is an experimental system and that you are TESTING it. You must also accept that you may find bugs and exploits in it and that it really isn’t clever to cause havoc, using these. These bugs and exploits should be reported to #help to get them fixed for the stable release.
- Your channel must have a user average of 5+ users.
- You must also tweet or blog about GeekShed, your favourite channels and this blog post.
- You must finally comment on this post to say that you would like to try the system, stating your nickname, your channel and the link to your tweet or blog post.
We look forward to hearing from you and thank you for using GeekShed.
New Server and Staff Member
Dec 5th
Today, GeekShed has welcomed another server to its array and another staff member to its ranks. We are pleased to announce the linking of a new server, based in Kent, England, named Andromus. This server has been donated by Kyle, who, after many years of service to GeekShed has been asked to join our staff team. This is never a decision taken lightly (see can I be an oper on GeekShed for info) and we wholly believe that he will be a great asset to the team. Kyle is based in Australia and has much experience running IRC networks. Feel free to come chat to him in #help on irc.geekshed.net.
How do I Add a BotServ Bot to my Channel?
Nov 22nd
Assigning a botserv bot to your channel is very easy to do. All that’s required is to do the following.
- Pick a name from the list of available bots below.
- /bs assign #yourChannel botNick
(where botNick is the nick of the desired available bot)
At this point, the bot should have joined your channel, and be assigned channel mode +a (its nick will have an & prefixed to it in the nicklist).
Please keep the following in mind:
- All of the bots perform the same functions; the only difference is their identifiable information – nick, ident, host, and real name.
- If you feel you have a creative nick, ident, host, and real name for a new bot, please read Can I Make my own BotServ Bot? for information regarding that.
Available Bots
To get a list of available bots, use the command: /msg BotServ BOTLISTHelp! It didn’t work…
If you try to assign a bot and nothing happens, please check your status/server window for any error messages, as these often contain explanations as to why something didn’t work. For example, if you see “[04:10:51] -BotServ- Bot Socretes does not exist.”, you should check the spelling (the real bot is Socrates).
If you do no see an error message, or require further help, stop by #help and network staff will be happy to help you.
Does GeekShed have IPv6 Support?
Nov 18th
As of 17 November, 2009 – We do! This is currently a purely experimental feature but we would greatly appreciate your testing and feedback on it. You can connect to GeekShed’s IPv6 Round Robin at ipv6.geekshed.net.
If you require any help with anything IPv6, come see us in #help.
New Server
Nov 16th
Corey and CoreyRants.com have donated a new server to the GeekShed family. This server goes by the name Equinox and is located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This should provide lower latency connections for our Northern, Central and Western Canadian users. The server is still undergoing testing and will be added to the round robin sometime next week. For now, you can connect to it at equinox.geekshed.net.
Why should I register my nickname and how do I do it?
Nov 9th
Registering your nickname on GeekShed provides a number of benefits. The most notable of these is that registering your nickname prevents other people from using it. Once a user starts using the nickname, they will be asked to ‘identify’ to it with a password. If they fail to do so, their nickname will be changed. This helps to stop people posing as you.
Once you register your nickname, you can be added to the auto voice and op lists in other people’s channels. This enables you to be a permanent staff member in channels. You are also entitled to a vhost once you have been registered for 90 days.
Registration provides you with many benefits and is completely free.
To register your nickname on GeekShed, you must first be using it. If you are not currently using it, change to it with the command:
/nick <nickname>
For example:
/nick CrazyUser
Once you are using the nickname, you may register it in one of two ways. If you’re using GeekShed’s Flash client, register your nick from the “Options” menu at the top of the window. In most other clients, use the following command:
/ns register <password> <e-mail>
Note that some older clients do not recognize the abbreviated /ns syntax. Instead you must type out the full command:
/msg nickserv register <password> <e-mail>
For example:
/ns register supersecretpassword crazyuser@hotmail.com
Following this, you will be sent an e-mail giving you the details required to finish off the registration. Follow the instructions in the e-mail.
Each time you connect and start using the registered, you will be told that “This nick is owned by someone else”. You must ‘identify’ to it using the following command:
/ns identify <password>
For example:
/ns identify supersecretpassword
If you use mIRC, you can load the following script into the Remotes section of your script editor (press alt+R to access this) to identify you automatically. Just replace ‘YOURPASSWORDHERE’ with your actual password:
on 1:NOTICE:*This nickname is registered and protected*:?: {
if ($nick == NickServ) {
ns identify YOURPASSWORDHERE
}
}on 1:NOTICE:*This nick is owned by someone else*:?: {
if ($nick == NickServ) {
ns identify YOURPASSWORDHERE
}
}
If you require help, come and see us in #help on irc.geekshed.net
How did GeekShed Start?
Nov 8th
GeekShed was formed on 23rd October, 2009. It was originally comprised of all of the servers – and most of the staff – from the WyldRyde IRC network. Many of WyldRyde’s users chose to move their channels to GeekShed. Full information can be found in the original migration notice.
Channel Flood Protection Tutorial
Nov 8th
The +f channel mode provides comprehensive flood protection for a channel. This mode allows you to prevent join, nick change, CTCP, text, and knock floods. The syntax for this mode’s parameter is as follows:
/mode #channel +f [
The amount specifies the number of times the specified flood must occur before action is taken. Below are the available types:
| Type | Name | Default Actions | Other Actions |
| c | CTCP | +C (no channel CTCPs allowed) | m (only voiced users can speak), M (only registered users can speak) |
| j | Join | +i (invite only) | R (only registered users can join) |
| k | Knock | +K (no knocks allowed) | |
| m | Messages | +m (only voiced users can speak) | +M (only registered users can speak) |
| n | Nickname Change | +N (no nickname changes allowed) | |
| t | Text | User is kicked from the channel | +b (user is banned from the channel) |
The difference between type m and t is that m is tallied for the entire channel whereas t is tallied per user.
If you choose to specify an action for a mode, you may also specify a time (in minutes) after which the specific action will be reversed.
An example of the use of this command is:
/mode #chills +f [2c#C5,6j#R3,3k#K10,15m#m5,5n#N3,5t#b60]:5
This means…
- If there are 2 channel CTCP messages (2c) in 5 seconds(:5) set mode +C for 5 mins (#C5)
- If there are 6 joins (6j) in 5 seconds (:5) set mode +R for 3 mins (#R3)
- If there are 3 /KNOCK commands on the channel (3k) in 5 seconds (:5) set mode +K for 10 mins (#K10)
- If there are 15 messages in total from all users (15m) in 5 seconds (:5) set mode +m for 5 mins (#m5)
- If there are 5 nickname changes (n5) in 5 seconds (:5) set mode +N for 3 mins (#N3)
- If there are 5 messages from any single user (5t) in 5 seconds (:5) ban the user for 60 mins (#b60)
It has been observed lately that bot nets are joining channels and rapidly joining and parting. In order to prevent this, you can use channel mode j. This mode will allow only x joins to your channel in y seconds for each client. The recommended setting for this is 1 join in 1 second as this will entirely eradicate join/part flooding from botnets. An example of the use of this is:
/mode #chills +j 1:1
If you need any help, come and see us in #help on irc.geekshed.net
Can I be an Oper on GeekShed?
Nov 7th
In short, no. You cannot apply to join the GeekShed staff team. When a vacancy for a staff position comes up, current staff will nominate and vote on how best to fill that position. These nominations will be based on…
- Time spent on the network – Every current staff member has been on the network for at least 3 years – some more than 10 years
- Activity on the network – People who chat in different channels regularly will have a better appreciation of how the network runs
- Work ethos – Managing an IRC network is not an easy job. It takes much time and much patience to do effectively. It is certainly not about power as, with power comes great responsibility. As a representative of Geek Shed Ltd. your actions are accountable to the company. Staff must be able to work hard and always present GeekShed in the best possible light.
- Helpfulness – Nobody will be considered for a staff position if they do not regularly help out in #help
- Communication skills – It is very important that staff can effectively communicate with users and other staff. If you cannot spell or lack the ability to use punctuation, you will not be considered for a staff position
- Technical knowledge – A strong technical knowledge of programming, networking protocols, *nix server administration and IRC server administration is a definite bonus for staff to have
- Problem solving and decision making – Staff must be able to logically solve problems and make calm and collected decisions. Without this ability, you cannot effectively moderate an IRC network
- Adaptability – You must be able to adapt to changing situations. Every situation you must deal with is different and there is no place for “canned” responses.
Please do not ask to join the staff team as you will only be referred back to this page. Take on board the points above and, one day, you might be asked to join us.
GeekShed comment avatars
Dec 10th
Posted by Phil in Tutorial
GeekShed links its comments with gravatar.com to provide user avatars next to their comments. The comments on the GeekShed site are linked, via your e-mail address, with your account at gravatar.com.
If you would like an avatar on the GeekShed site, register for a gravatar.com account and link your e-mail address and avatars to it. Once you have done this, your avatar will show up for all your GeekShed comments, old and new.
Note: It sometimes takes up to an hour for the systems to update and GeekShed to start showing your avatar. Ensure you have linked the e-mail address you used for your GeekShed comments to gravatar and all should work great.
Any questions, ask in #help on irc.geekshed.net