for (1 .. $maxthreads) {
   my $pid = fork();
   if (!defined($pid)) { 
     die "couldn't fork: $!"; 
   } else {
     #child
     bot( nick => "$nickbase$randnum" );
     print "new child: number $threadcount";
#     exit;
   }
   sleep 5;
   $threadcount++;
 }