15:04:49 <camm> #startmeeting
15:04:49 <zodbot> Meeting started Thu Jul 11 15:04:49 2013 UTC.  The chair is camm. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot.
15:04:49 <zodbot> Useful Commands: #action #agreed #halp #info #idea #link #topic.
15:05:07 <rebelsky> #topic ChatBots
15:05:19 <rebelsky> We've been discussing pnutzh4x0r's chatbot, bobbit.
15:05:24 <rebelsky> (Yeah, I know it's off topic.)
15:05:43 <rebelsky> #link https://bitbucket.org/pbui/bobbit Source code for bobbit
15:05:55 <pnutzh4x0r> it's poorly documented...
15:06:06 <rebelsky> At the meeting, pnutzh4x0r talked about giving students assignments to extend the bot.
15:06:19 <pnutzh4x0r> for something a little more industrial, you can look at supybot
15:06:25 <rebelsky> ("The meeting" == "The 2013 POSSE In-Person Meeting at Drexel")
15:06:55 <camm> to be clear, it's an IRC client?
15:07:03 <pnutzh4x0r> yes, bots are just clients
15:07:23 <kwurst> I've wanted to install my own instance of supybot on the channel for my class. I got most of the way there, but had issues with Python versions.
15:08:08 <camm> pnutzh4x0r: so is it a bot that lurks in the channel and does something nifty when given certain commands?
15:08:22 <rebelsky> !give rebelsky !supybot
15:08:36 <rebelsky> Nope, that didn't work.  Does it only pay attention to pnutzh4x0r ?
15:08:41 <pnutzh4x0r> camm: yes
15:08:44 <camm> !about
15:08:46 <pnutzh4x0r> rebelsky: no, u forgot the !g
15:08:55 <pnutzh4x0r> !give rebelsky !g supybot
15:08:56 <bobbit> rebelsky: Supybot | Free Communications software downloads at ... - Sep 7, 2012 ... Nested commands, easy configuration, and an incredibly flexible and easy-to- use plugin system distinguish Supybot from other IRC bots. @ http://sourceforge.net/projects/supybot/ || http://is.gd/Ts5h4P
15:09:00 <kwurst> To be fair, the issue was not with supybot, but with my server having a very out-of-date version of Python, and not being able to update it because it's an ancient version of RHEL and can't upgrade without a new license. I'm planning to install a new server with CentOS.
15:09:40 <rebelsky> Are folks okay switching to Ushahidi stuff?
15:09:45 <kwurst> yes
15:10:10 <rebelsky> #topic Ushahidi Status Reports
15:10:32 <rebelsky> I haven't gotten much done in the past two weeks.  (One week at summer camp with kids, one week catching up with my research students.)
15:11:14 <rebelsky> One of my students was working on providing a Java interface to the Ushahidi Web API.
15:11:21 <kwurst> I haven't gotten anything done. Finishing my summer class, and now I'm off at the lake for a week.
15:11:32 <rebelsky> (A simpler interface than the one Ushahidi provides.)
15:11:59 <camm> rebelsky: simpler than which Ushahidi interface?
15:12:01 <rebelsky> My student got stuck dealing with https requests.  After a week of thrashing, we discovered that upgrading to Java 7 seemed to do the trick.
15:12:20 <rebelsky> camm: Ushahidi provides a simple Java API for the Web API.
15:12:36 <camm> ok a simple API
15:12:38 <camm> nice
15:13:06 <rebelsky> The Ushahidi version mimics the Web API almost exactly.
15:13:22 <rebelsky> For my class, I want something simpler ... E.g., an incident iterator.
15:13:34 <camm> nice idea
15:14:02 <rebelsky> Okay, they call it the "Ushahidi Java SDK".
15:14:29 <camm> I was trying to think of how to come up with a non-programming Ushahidi assignment
15:14:37 <camm> perhaps using their designs docs for v3
15:14:38 <camm> https://wiki.ushahidi.com/display/WIKI/Ushahidi%2C+v3.X
15:14:41 <rebelsky> Another student is building a simplified Android app that we can use for assignments.  Right now, she's working on a simple "filter events" assignment.
15:14:42 <camm> #link https://wiki.ushahidi.com/display/WIKI/Ushahidi%2C+v3.X
15:14:49 <rebelsky> I'll take a look at those.
15:14:59 <rebelsky> kwurst: Have fun at the lake!
15:15:08 <camm> it may also fit with what monisha is interested in
15:15:14 <rebelsky> Well ... I've got to go to the dentist.
15:15:17 <rebelsky> Have a good week everyone!
15:15:22 <camm> you too
15:15:36 <camm> kwurst: is there anything in particular I can help you with?
15:15:50 <kwurst> I'm going to see if I can make time when I come back to install a new VM on our server and install Ushahidi on it.
15:16:15 <camm> cool
15:16:33 <kwurst> Then maybe I can get a student playing with it too.
15:16:45 <camm> do you have summer students, or do you mean in the Fall?
15:17:02 <kwurst> My class that will use this is not until Spring, so it's not as high priority.
15:17:35 <camm> My class for Ushahidi starts in January, so I understand
15:17:47 <kwurst> The student I am thinking of is not in a class, but would probably be interested in playing with it. He's the one who has been working with our OpenBlock server.
15:18:35 <kwurst> I think that Ushahidi and OpenBlock might work well together in our project. They overlap in functionality some, but...
15:19:51 <kwurst> Or, we might drop OpenBlock in favor of Ushahidi. Ushahidi has the advantage of an active community. OpenBlock seems somewhat dead.
15:19:56 * camm looks at openblock
15:20:41 <camm> it appears openblock doesn't allow public submissions, am I right?
15:20:47 <kwurst> Our current OpenBlock test server is at: openblock.worcester.edu
15:21:32 <kwurst> Not sure. At the moment it's mostly being used to scrape and aggregate local information from lots of different sources.
15:22:48 <kwurst> The server I posted is not a production site. It's just for us to play with it and see what it can do. I think we'll do the same with Ushahidi.
15:23:36 <camm> of course, with a few students it's possible to run one server rather than each needing to run their own.
15:24:39 <kwurst> So, that's my goal for next meeting. We'll see how much I can get done.
15:24:49 <camm> sounds good
15:25:24 <kwurst> And, it looks like I'm free at that time next week for a change.
15:25:57 <camm> I thought you were at the lake next week
15:26:31 <kwurst> No, I'm at the lake right now. But it's pouring rain, so I'm not out sailing (or working in the yard…)
15:26:56 <camm> ah ok, may I ask where the lake is?
15:27:23 <kwurst> Wareham, MA. Almost, but not quite on Cape Cod.
15:29:53 <camm> sounds lovely
15:29:58 <camm> the place, not the rain
15:31:36 <kwurst> https://maps.google.com/maps?q=white+island+pond+wareham,+ma&hl=en&ll=41.809196,-70.619516&spn=0.016154,0.038581&sll=41.875963,-71.016432&sspn=1.032751,2.469177&hnear=White+Island+Pond&t=h&z=15
15:32:16 <kwurst> We should probably end the meeting, rather than discuss this in the minutes.
15:32:25 <camm> ha, good point
15:32:28 <camm> #endmeeting