RIP @ginabot; meet F.R.I.D.A.Y BOT

Unlike you, I don't have a wife!

I said to a man who thought he might become my employer.

In my mid-20s, in the mid-1980s. Impudence, personified. Admittedly, the job interview had reached a point where I had come to the (happy) conclusion that I really did not want that particular job, let alone work for that organisation.

Let me explain: at the time, most businesses – from shops to hairdressers and everything in between – operated Monday to Friday (sometimes on Saturdays) and from the proverbial 9 to 5. During the course of the interview, the scales fell from my eyes: the organisation was not looking for a curriculum developer, they were looking for a curriculum developer-cum-dogsbodygirl Friday. The job advertisement did not even suggest their expectation that when the day’s curriculum development work was done, the incumbent would have to go on to field students’ questions and queries – beyond office hours – including on a Saturday. There was no mention of a half day (or any time) off in lieu of that time.

I was a single young woman who did not live with her parents: I not only lived alone, but my parents were not just another town, but in another province, thousands of kilometres away. That was the way I liked it.

The job was not a senior one that came “with” a secretary. Subsequently, and in more senior roles, I had both assistants and secretaries. One of them was a remarkable woman who literally cared for me, and mopped up my flooded apartment, when I had the worst dose of influenza of my then adult life. I shall always be grateful to her for her professional and personal support.

Back to my impudence and what I’d been thinking.

When will able to buy food and pay my bills? And what about the mandatory four-weekly visit to the hairdresser? With only half an hour for lunch?

Fast forward nearly forty years and not only would those work conditions be illegal, but most services are available, if not 24/7, seven days a week. The advent of online and automated services are, in many ways, a godsend. Not, I hasten to add, that I’m a fan of talking to bots. There are too many times I don’t make use of services or find out more from “talking” to a bot – because a bot does not (thankfully) think like a hooman.

I fell in love with a bot

Despite all this, I did. I really did. Fall in love with a bot.

I see a role for AI – within limits. That, though, is a story discussion for another time. Back to bots and my accepting that some do have their uses.

I subscribe to a service, and they don’t send invoices. Anymore. When I subscribed, they did. Because I insisted and wouldn’t pay until the invoice came. Then the South African mail service went wonky, and everything was done electronically. First email. Secondly email. Thirdly on WhatsApp (I hate how intrusive WhatsApp (or any of these message apps) is and stop it if I can) and finally, still via email.

Now, I make use of that fncking WhatsApp bot.

Because

The email from them, now, is seems like spam: special offers with the link to my account buried so deep in the unreadable, unwanted blurb, that I can’t be bothered to find it. It’s much easier to ask Bot what I owe. And pay. That makes me believe I’m in control. It definitely saves me time.

That’s why I lu-u-u-r-ved Gina.

I was introduced to Gina in 2018. Probably around mid-March, and which is when I joined Discord. Both events significantly enriched my activity on the blockchain and my enjoyment of crypto social. When I joined the original iteration of this blockchain, the front ends had limited functionalities: we didn’t even get a notification when somebody commented on a post.

I soon discovered that my following feed was not just a mess, but most of the folk I followed, and in whose content I was really interested, published new posts when I was asleep: inevitably I missed them. This, of course, is an issue because, doh!, curation and engagement are the lifeblood of cryto social.

Gina to the rescue

Gina solved that problem. After registering, one instructed her: who (the accounts) one wanted to follow; the #hastags, mentions, and lots more that (this) one wasn’t interested in, but others were. As I became more involved in things on the blockchain, especially the monthly #HivePUD initiative, Gina’s assistance became critical to my effective (ha!) and efficient (ha!) functioning on the blockchain.

There’s no point in the giving you the how-tos because her last message to me was on 2022-10-10, at 20:07:21. To be precise. More than a week ago.

For four- plus years, I relied on Gina's services to help me curate and engage with people on the blockchain. She told me when prodigal children who’d disappeared into the ether, returned to the fold. She’s helped me keep track of noobs that needed a helping hand. She’s helped me follow folk who inspire my cooking, gardening, writing and life in general, and introduced me to folk who’ve become my virtual and RL friends.

Real and virtual life: managing the balance

My work on Hive is important. Yes, I take the view that it is work because crypto social is one of my income streams and a long term investment (not financial advice, of course...). I cannot ignore it. However, it is just that: one of my income streams.

I have a day job and, unless you hadn’t noticed, side hustles, too.

Somewhere in all of that, I need to be a person. I appreciate help.

That was what Gina did – followed my instructions and gave me a heads-up about stuff on the blockchain that I need to know about: from posts, mentions and the ever important mentions and #tags. I don’t like to ignore people who’ve taken the time to read (even though many miss the small print…lol) my posts.

Gina’s death demise left a void that needed filling.

Meet F.R.I.D.A.Y

I wailed and gnashed my teeth last week, shouting for both @ginabot and @neander-squirrel, after having already done so more privately in the Discord.

The hush is deathly.

I had quite a few other responses to that cry, including one from @lanzjoseg

… I invite you to join this server and there you will be able to activate F.R.I.D.A.Y BOT
https://discord.gg/PfeNbPPq
I am sure you will find it very easy to activate it.

Activating was one thing, actually using the bot is an entirely other matter and I struggled. He’s working for me now, so I thought I’d give you a brief explainer by way of introduction to my bot F.R.I.D.A.Y.

Before I begin, I must say two things: I am finding this bot incredibly useful. It does have some shortcomings and I (and others) have mentioned them to @deathwing in the Discord and any criticisms at the end of this post are intended constructively and, I hope, are accepted in that spirit.

Register

Register on Discord using this link. It takes you here:

Then, and it was not clear to me (or to @traciyork for that matter - and neither of us is entirely techno-stoopid), that before one could begin, one had to leave that channel and begin a private DM with F.R.I.D.A.Y BOT.

Then, you have to register your own account by typing:

/register

to get this:

Then you type in your account handle.

What is also not clear at all, is that you have to begin by monitoring your own account.

Word to the wise:

At this point you can also register – in exactly the same way – all the accounts you’d like to monitor (we’ll get to those details).

However, be picky: at this point, F.R.I.D.A.Y BOT only lets you follow 15 accounts.

I repeat: you can only follow 15 accounts

As an aside: with Gina, I was following 35. For all the reasons I’ve already given. As things stand, 20 of my regulars are not getting the attention from me that they deserve. Also, for all of the reasons I’ve given.

Then, it’s time for settings.

Settings

In the DM with your new bot best friend - you do a lot in this DM - type

/settings

to get -

And then click the link which takes you to this page:

Now click the Hive tab and it takes you to another screen of clickable tabs that looks like this:

Here you chose which operations from the selected account you’d like to monitor: your own and others’.

Personally, I’m not interested being notified for more than just posts for other folks’ accounts, and how. For my own, I’d like to know about mentions and a couple of other things.

Tip: be selective otherwise you'll be bombarded with notifications.

What about #tags, words and other things?

Yes, I had these questions, too, and went and asked for help in the Discord channel. While I was waiting, I went back to my DM with my new best friend, F.R.I.D.A.Y BOT, and I typed in

/

And was called way by some RL distraction.

When I went back, I discovered this:

I scrolled down, to find a whole lot more, besides, including /words.

It was like the proverbial miracle. I thought I was in bot heaven.

So, if you're like me and you need help, I do recommend my man woman F.R.I.D.A.Y BOT.

A last word or two

Although I’m not (yet) as enamoured with F.R.I.D.A.Y BOT as I was with Gina, for the moment, he’s a more than passable substitute. I would, though, appreciate being able to follow my missing children - all 20 of them. At least.

Thank you to @deathwing and @rishi for a useful tool and also for your willingness to take on board suggestions and constructive criticisms as you continue developing this very useful Hive tool.

Until next time, be well
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa

Photo: Selma
Post script

If this post might seem familiar, it's because I'm doing two things:

• re-vamping old recipes. As I do this, I am adding them in a file format that you can download and print. If you download recipes, buy me a coffee. Or better yet, a glass of wine....?
• and "re-capturing" nearly two years' worth of posts.

I blog to the Hive blockchain using a number of decentralised appplications.

• From Wordpress, I use the Exxp Wordpress plugin. If this rocks your socks, click here or on on the image below to sign up.

• Join Hive using this link and then join us in the Silver Bloggers' community.

Original artwork: @artywink

• lastly, graphics are created using partly my own photographs, images available freely available on @hive.blog and Canva.