August 24, 2004
You Got Your IRC in My Newspaper
Bash.org is a fascinating record of IRC, occasionally containing amusing real quotes from conversations that aren’t staged especially for the sake of Bash.org.
For extra credit, develop a computational literary project that takes as input the URL of a specific Bash.org conversation, such as this one, and produces as output a 20th-century-style newspaper item relating the conversation, using some random journalistic variations, such as this one:
In a development that has disturbed many in the community, online communication occurred late yesterday. Using the IRC channel #leetchat, a user identified only as Zybl0re said “get up.” “get on up,” he continued, adding, “get up,” and then “get on up.” “and DANCE,” said an individual using the name phxl|paper.
At this point, a user going by the name nmp3bot emoted “dances :D-< ," "dances :D|-<," and "dances :D/-<." Finally, an individual calling him or herself [SA]HatfulOfHollow replied "i'm going to become rich and famous after i invent a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet." Zybl0re did not return calls from a reporter before press time.
October 3rd, 2005 at 7:40 am
Strangely I was responsible for that comment – I stopped playing CS and logging into IRC ages ago, then a friend pointed out to me today that it had become somewhat widely known on the internet.
What I find more amusing is people claiming my username. I actually made it when my ex of 3 years left me for another dude. I find it funny people claiming to be me when I don’t even want to be me :>
Peace out!
*hatfulofhollow*