Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Netiquette IQ Technical Term of The Day - Bots And Their Variations


 

Bots - from techterms.com
 
A bot (short for "robot") is an automated program that runs over the Internet. Some bots run automatically, while others only execute commands when they receive specific input. There are many different types of bots, but some common examples include web crawlers, chat room bots, and malicious bots.

Web crawlers are used by search engines to scan websites on a regular basis. These bots "crawl" websites by following the links on each page. The crawler saves the contents of each page in the search index. By using complex algorithms, search engines can display the most relevant pages discovered by web crawlers for specific search queries.

Chat bots were one of the first types of automated programs to be called "bots" and became popular in the 1990s, with the rise of online chatrooms. These bots are scripts that look for certain text patterns submitted by chat room participants and respond with automated actions. For example, a chat bot might warn a user if his or language is inappropriate. If the user does not heed the warning, the bot might kick the user from the channel and may even block the user from returning. A more advanced type of chat bot, called a "chatterbot" can respond to messages in plain English, appearing to be an actual person. Both types of chat bots are used for chatroom moderation, which eliminates the need for an individual to monitor individual chatrooms.

While most bots are used for productive purposes, some are considered malware, since they perform undesirable functions. For example, spambots capture email addresses from website contact forms, address books, and email programs, then add them to a spam mailing list. Site scrapers download entire websites, enabling unauthorized duplication of a website's contents. DoS bots send automated requests to websites, making them unresponsive. Botnets, which consist of many bots working together, may be used to gain unauthorized access to computer systems and infect computers with viruses.

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In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  Additionally, I provide content for an online newsletter via paper.li. I have also established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. Further, I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and have been a contributor to numerous blogs and publications. 

Lastly, I am the founder and president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a company that provides “best of breed” products for network, security and system management and services. Tabula Rosa has a new blog and Twitter site which offers great IT product information for virtually anyone.
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