Q&A

people ask me things for some reason. here are answers. if you want to ask, click here!

Note that brackets [like these] indicate parts added/edited for the question to be grammatically correct, or to provide more context.

Which one do you like better: debugging or writing fresh code?

Asked November 1st, 2024

legi can probably attest but writing new code is way more enjoyable than working through techdebt for me lol

Just checking—is [Rollplayer] like a real bot or one of those “fun projects” you ghost after 2 week

Asked November 1st, 2024

it's the project I occasionally work on when I'm bored but it is mostly the fun projects i ghost after 2 week

Whirling, can you share any book or movie recommendations? Need that inspo.

Asked November 1st, 2024

these are less inspirational but all the books by Randall Munroe are pretty good since they're basically xkcd in book form lol

Real question: why “Perihelion” and not like… I dunno, WhirlingBot3000?

Asked November 1st, 2024

originally it was called rollplayer, since it was based off legi's bot which... rolled dice. i added some more later but at some point it kinda ballooned.
i actually decided on naming it whirligig for some time, but legi and friends said it was a bad name [they are correct].
we tried finding a new name for it and came up with perihelion, which stuck. the testing bots' names are all variations of that too (cheirohelion, katahelion, apohelion)

Update (March 16th, 2025)

i reverted the name change. long live Rollplayer!

will this bot ever become like, one of those creepy tracking apps?

Asked November 1st, 2024

that wouldn't be possible since discord only sends me info when you run a command anyway

hi i’m dumb, what’s the “DMCA” thing and is it just for fancy?

Asked November 1st, 2024

i basically only have it because it's a legal requirement

Are you planning to make an app or stay in the bot zone?

Asked November 1st, 2024

making bots is more fun than making uis so probably the latter

Update (May 7th, 2026)

i made heredita, you should check it out!

Asking for a friend—is any of this actually legal? 😅

Asked November 1st, 2024

no. i commit 7,200 transgender surgeries on illegal aliens each second

what do you think about AI taking over? Just sayin’

Asked November 1st, 2024

An OpenAI job listing for Killswitch Engineer. It's describing that they need someone to disable the AI if they 'turn on us'.

i know where you live

Asked November 1st, 2024

ok and your ip is 127.0.0.1... smh

The privacy policy mentions data being stored in the United States. Given recent changes in international data protection laws, what measures are in place to ensure GDPR compliance for EU users[?]

Asked November 2nd, 2024

If you want your information deleted, contact @whirlingstars on Discord. from the privacy policy

why do you think your website should be "less good"? seems like an interesting philosophical stance on web design

Asked November 2nd, 2024

it's less good but also less of a pain to edit, net positive

Why did you choose Discord API over other platforms for bot development? The ecosystem seems quite saturated.

Asked November 2nd, 2024

it's saturated because it's really easy to make bots for it. the upside is that it's easy to make bots for it

PLEASE TELL ME U USE SPACES NOT TABS I STG

Asked November 2nd, 2024

4 spaces alliance fr

bro how do u balance adding new features vs fixing old bugs? asking for a friend 😳

Asked November 2nd, 2024

my code just doesnt have bugs. easy

have u considered making perihelion into an npm package? asking for scientific purposes 🧪

Asked November 2nd, 2024

python? in MY javascript? thats unpossible!

ok but like.... how many times have u accidentally pushed to prod? 🙈

Asked November 2nd, 2024

at least once

Regarding the anonymization process mentioned in your privacy policy - could you elaborate on the technical implementation?

Asked November 2nd, 2024

sure! as of now, I don't store your username or Discord ID or literally anything that could reverse it to you. unless you mean settings, which can't be anonymized, because... then your settings wouldn't save...

What's your stance on the current state of JavaScript frameworks? Been seeing some wild takes lately.

Asked November 2nd, 2024
The State of JavaScript 2023 libraries chart. Note that most of them are going to the left, to become more negatively recieved.

curious about ur dev setup... what's ur preferred IDE + extensions? 👀

Asked November 2nd, 2024

Visual Studio Code, with python and webdev extensions. it's just the easiest

What's your philosophy on code documentation? Your commit messages must be interesting.

Asked November 2nd, 2024
Commit [905b8c8] - infernostars committed on Oct 22 - 'peridata is a very good library'

deadass need to know if u code in light mode or dark mode, this is crucial information

Asked November 2nd, 2024

dark mode

What language(s) is [Rollplayer] written in?

Asked November 17th, 2024

Python 3.12.6

Update (May 7th, 2026)

Java 25.0.1