twitter_bot.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby

$: << File.expand_path('~/src/net-irc/lib')

require 'net/irc'

class Bot < Net::IRC::Client
  include Net::IRC::Constants

  def on_rpl_welcome(m)
    post JOIN, '#twitter@tig'
  end

  def on_connected
    @latest_tweeted = Time.now
  end

  def on_message(m)
    automated_tweet(m)
  end

  private

  def automated_tweet(received)
    (Time.now - @latest_tweeted) > 60 * (10 + rand(5)) && tweet(random_message)
  end

  def tweet(message)
    post PRIVMSG, '#twitter@tig', message
    @latest_tweeted = Time.now
  end

  def random_message
    @tweet_stack.__send__([].respond_to?(:sample) ? :sample : :choice)
  end

  def tweet_stack
    read_pattern.split(/\n+/)
  end

  def read_pattern
    path = (ENV['HOME'] || '~aereal') + '/tweet_stack'
    path = File.expand_path(path)
    File.read(path)
  end
end

Bot.new('localhost', '6667', {
  :user => 'aereal',
  :nick => 'aereal',
  :real => 'aereal',
}).start