From b8eb44f130292d92238144aeb1e571f94595b49c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Frederick Yin <fkfd@fkfd.me>
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2022 10:32:24 +0800
Subject: New post: xkcdbot

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+# xkcdbot
+
+![A Mastodon post with comic number, title, title text, xkcd.com URL and
+explainxkcd URL; a reply below reads "Heads-up for my subscribers:" then
+a bunch of users](img/xkcdbot/post.png)
+
+## Birth
+
+Back in 2019, I signed up for a Mastodon account on mastodon.technology.
+Soon I began looking around for xkcd bots. There were several, but most of
+them were defunct. I would soon make up my mind to create my own.
+
+I have little memory, but per the
+[git log](https://github.com/fakefred/xkcdbot/commits/master) I finished
+it in 9 days. It ran on Node.js, which unfortunately was my favorite tech
+stack back then.
+
+I registered [@xkcdbot@botsin.space](https://botsin.space/@xkcdbot), then
+daemonized the bot on the same server I hosted my comics (which, for which
+I apologize, was also on a Node.js server). I wrote this bio:
+
+>I'm an xkcd bot who shows up at Randall's house at 3.3 millihertz and
+>asks "Hello, did you publish a new comic?" I occasionally dress like
+>a velociraptor just to freak him out.
+
+>If he admits he has drawn a new comic, I seize it and post it right here
+>before Randall shoots me down with a drone.
+
+## Rise
+
+The bot account was created on 2019-08-19.
+
+On 2022-10-28, xkcdbot gained 1k followers. It took 1166 days.
+
+On 2022-11-23, the number grew to 2k. It only took 26 more days.
+
+Of course, the surge owes to Elon Musk for pissing off so many people off
+Twitter, but I'm sure there are two more reasons as well:
+
+### Killer features
+
+- 5 minute polling interval
+- explainxkcd link
+- DM for "subscribers"
+- Comic thumbnail is focused on top left, so no spoilers
+
+![Only the left-hand side of the comic is shown in the preview](img/xkcdbot/thumbnail.png)
+
+### Administration
+
+The bot lives by a few simple rules. It:
+
+- does its damn job
+- has near-perfect uptime
+- never solicits followers
+- never interacts with people unless asked to
+- has no new features for three years
+
+## Accidents
+
+My code broke in production exactly once. There were other accidents, but
+they were all due to botsin.space downtime or Randall uploading the wrong
+comic.
+
+## Conclusion
+
+I believe this resolves all remaining questions on this topic. No further
+research is needed.
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