Hitchhiker's Guide via XML-RPC

Hi,

I'm very new to Second Life, so I apologize if this a subject that's been discussed endlessly. The forum search function doesn't seem to work and I didn't see any posts with this particular idea.

Anway, I am particularly interested in exploring ways of bringing in external content into Second Life. Specifically, my idea would be to create a book object along the lines of a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". This prop would essentially be mechanism to relay messages back and forth to an external chatterbot (I'm thinking about the AliceBot/AIML type bots are easily programmed and customized). Really, though, it could be hooked to any XML-RPC chat client...perhaps one could create markets for specialized books--say, "A Rough Guide to Second Life".

I've been reading on the LSL Wiki about the restrictions against initiating an XML-RPC call, which makes the whole idea a little messier, so I've been trying to think through a workaround that would make something like this work. The only thing I can come up with is:

Attach a "book" to avatar. The book is set to send email when it becomes attached to an avatar. Email address is set up at a remote host to auto-forward to a remote script (forward to a piped file versus an email address). The script at the remote host in turn makes a XML-RPC call to the book in Second Life. The book switches into relay mode when it receives this "Ready" XML-RPC call from the remote host.

As this point, book would monitor the chat window and relay the text as the response to the original XML-RPC call (llRemoteDataReply). This would simply continue back and forth until some sort of agreed upon "end trans" command is sent, or the book object is removed by the avatar.

Does this workaround make sense? I realize you'd have to wait 20 seconds for the email to send to wake up the remote host, but at that point the remote host can receive a response for everything that it is sent. Does this break any of the terms of service for the game? Would I be better off to wait until Linden decides to allow scripts to initiate XML-RPC calls? And finally, am I trying to reinvent the wheel here?

Your thoughts and suggestions are appreciated!

You're probably going to need to wait until llCreateNotcard exists, or do this with XyText and a gigantic book.

It works. I've done it. Many believe that the structure is not practical, but it is the only way to get info in SL out of SL; I built a basic web-based ladder for one of my games using this approach, and dink around with some other ideas now and then too.

At least we have two options to get info back in though. I've heard people's horror stories about sending mail back into SL, but aside from the period where there was a problem with the server I have never seen this issue, in hundreds of email send tests.