feature request: IM Clemency
I accidentally blocked achearing on AIM and didn't realize it for several months! This is because she stopped using AIM for a while (long story) and we continued to chat on Yahoo, so I figured she had dropped it altogether. It turned out that I had accidentally clicked the "block" button without realizing it. Part of my work at the office involves writing specs for new software features, so I figured I would share a feature request in that style on here.
I propose a system called Clemency. It shall work in the following way: After an initial period of time, your instant messenger (messager?) would prompt you, do you still want to keep this person blocked? If you click yes, then the duration between prompts would double. The initial duration would be variable and default to 1 week. (Teenagers may prefer an initial duration of 1 day, because they are so fickle -- and their brains run at a higher clockspeed so time passes more slowly for them.) With this system in place, I would have caught the error within a week -- and for intentionally blocked people, it would wait 1 week, then 2 weeks, then 4 weeks, and so on.
I also considered calling this system Parole, but I think the word Clemency has a more poetic sound to it.
Technical details: The system should record three dates for each blocked user; the date of block and the previous two prompt dates. The system would then compute the prompt duration from the two prompt dates (since the default could change) and would include the block date in the message: "You blocked so-and-so on March 17, 2007 -- do you want to keep so-and-so on the blocked list?" The system could use cron or some other system scheduler to schedule alerts.
I propose a system called Clemency. It shall work in the following way: After an initial period of time, your instant messenger (messager?) would prompt you, do you still want to keep this person blocked? If you click yes, then the duration between prompts would double. The initial duration would be variable and default to 1 week. (Teenagers may prefer an initial duration of 1 day, because they are so fickle -- and their brains run at a higher clockspeed so time passes more slowly for them.) With this system in place, I would have caught the error within a week -- and for intentionally blocked people, it would wait 1 week, then 2 weeks, then 4 weeks, and so on.
I also considered calling this system Parole, but I think the word Clemency has a more poetic sound to it.
Technical details: The system should record three dates for each blocked user; the date of block and the previous two prompt dates. The system would then compute the prompt duration from the two prompt dates (since the default could change) and would include the block date in the message: "You blocked so-and-so on March 17, 2007 -- do you want to keep so-and-so on the blocked list?" The system could use cron or some other system scheduler to schedule alerts.