Word of caution regarding bots

[rady]

I tried distill bot without much success, though not due to the program. One thing I became aware of quickly, is how many gb's you can use up utilizing a bot. It is particularly gb hungry if you are monitoring a lot of items over short periods of time.........say 30 seconds.

Just a word to the wise that have not used one of these bots and are considering it. It spanked me pretty good............lesson learned as verizon/att are greedy s.o.b.'s in this part of the country.

Bots can also get you banned from purchases' on certain sites.

 

[davsco]

yes i maxed out my data plan several times! sucks not having cable or fios internet and having to use phone as hotspot.

the only site i found that shuts you down for using a bot is midsouth.

 

[rady]

yes i maxed out my data plan several times! sucks not having cable or fios internet and having to use phone as hotspot.

the only site i found that shuts you down for using a bot is midsouth.

Agreed. I am amazed, but not surprised by all the politicians that blathered about how important it was to get high speed internet to the rural areas. Sure a few towers were built with access for us pumkins, but when you look at the price you pay verses those in urban areas, it is apparent that lobbying pays. Various packages that you mentioned aren't available here, so you have to ask why.

Around these parts, ATT has oiled the pockets of the bureaucrats well.......Antiquated underground lines that they refuse to upgrade/replace, so you are forced to cell service at a huge premium. At one point, every time it would rain, the phone lines would go out. Utility regulatory appointee who lives on our road told me: " It's the squeaky wheel that gets greased"..............Wonder what the asshole meant by that?

 

[ShtrRdy]

Can someone help a dumb old guy out -- what's a bot?

 

[spife7980]

Can someone help a dumb old guy out -- what's a bot?

A program that sits there and refreshes the page every few seconds pinging their server to see when something changes right away.

 

[ZiaHunter]

Agreed. I am amazed, but not surprised by all the politicians that blathered about how important it was to get high speed internet to the rural areas. Sure a few towers were built with access for us pumkins, but when you look at the price you pay verses those in urban areas, it is apparent that lobbying pays. Various packages that you mentioned aren't available here, so you have to ask why.

Around these parts, ATT has oiled the pockets of the bureaucrats well.......Antiquated underground lines that they refuse to upgrade/replace, so you are forced to cell service at a huge premium. At one point, every time it would rain, the phone lines would go out. Utility regulatory appointee who lives on our road told me: " It's the squeaky wheel that gets greased"..............Wonder what the asshole meant by that?

Live in rural southern NM and service in our area is provided by Century (un) Link. Security system was on a land line and every time it rained we would loose service. Finally installed a cellular dialer. Internet service via Century Link? Not in my lifetime and their existing copper infrastructure is antiquated and in such poor condition so even if they could provide it wouldn't work half the time. What bugs me is all the taxes included in your phone bill for internet and other services but nothing gets improved. Pigs at the trough.

 

[rady]

Can someone help a dumb old guy out -- what's a bot?

Not to one up spife, but the bot that I was using (distill) will allow you to monitor a vendor's web page(s) for what you might be looking for, say primers for example. As long as you have your smart phone or internet connection on, it will either send you a message via phone, email, or computer when that item is available. You then make a mad dash to the vendor and hope that you are able to get the item before it is sold out.

I'm sure this is a rather simplistic example, but it is how I interpret this whole bot crap. I'll also tell you that I'm not in favor of it when an individual or group uses it to mass purchase, then go onto sites like GB to sell at significantly higher prices...............Others will disagree, I'm sure.

 

[rady]

Live in rural southern NM and service in our area is provided by Century (un) Link. Security system was on a land line and every time it rained we would loose service. Finally installed a cellular dialer. Internet service via Century Link? Not in my lifetime and their existing copper infrastructure is antiquated and in such poor condition so even if they could provide it wouldn't work half the time. What bugs me is all the taxes included in your phone bill for internet and other services but nothing gets improved. Pigs at the trough.

Exactly. Rural folk are the ones taking up the trunks when it comes to utilities, and the members of the various utility regulatory commissions get a kick back. Of course it is all above board and legal. It's called lobbying, HA!

I know a little about this since a worked for a public utility and attended a meeting with a public service commission lobbyist, not to mention the judge down the road. The lobbist flat out told us that if my company didn't spread the wealth, good luck with any future rate increases or various approvals . It really is sickening to see these pigs and the amount of damage that they do.