The MAKEbot has arrived! This is “beta”, so we’ll see how it goes. The MAKEbot is a AIM/iChat buddy you add to your list. When you type latest, he will give you the latest headlines from Makezine.com. You can type subscribe 1 and he’ll deliver the latest news each hour, lastly – if you type keywords like psp, welding, ipod or whatever he’ll search the Makezine.com site and pages from MAKE and give you a link from our search engine to help you find what you’re looking for…You can also type help to get a list of commands. Here are some screenshots and a little more information…Here’s a screenshot of the MAKEbot in action.

When you search for a keyword, he’ll return a link to click, here’s iPod.

A couple weeks ago AOL added bots to everyone’s buddy list without permission, I didn’t really care, but a lot of people did and immediately removed them for good reason. That said, if folks offer up bots -you- choose to add yourseld, Instant messaging is a wonderful to browse sites, search and have conversations with a brand you like or care about (like MAKE!). I’ve been using the MAKEbot for a few days on my phones and various devices, and of course the desktop, it’s a lot fun – and quicker/more useful than opening up a browser for quick things.

When you use MAKEbot type comment and write any suggestions you might have and/or what you think. We’re not sure what we’re going to do with the bot, but for now, it’s beta, and fun to tinker with.

The MAKEbot was made with Perl by MAKE pal – Sergio Zlobin / theartofennui AT sbcglobal D0T net.