They may be Internet bots (robots) to automate common tasks, or gadgets to extend or change user interaction features, e.g., posting blips on microblog feeds or providing RSVP recording mechanisms.
Internet bot Software applications that run automated tasks over the Internet.
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Some of the more common of these methods are custom protocols over the internet, IPC messages, and bots.
This approach allows detection of devices modified by the user, Windows Mobile devices, Legacy devices, Spiders and Bots, and is evidenced in at least one commercially available system.
One of the stranger ports is also one of the simplest: an instant messenger bot is wrapped around a version of Frotz with the bare minimum of IO functionality creating a bot with which one can play most Z-machine games using an instant messenger client.