started modifying irc bot, stuck on recv issue

bot.py

@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+# Import some necessary libraries.
+import socket 
+import time
+
+# Some basic variables used to configure the bot        
+server = "irc.freenode.net" # Server
+channel = "#openscienceframework" # Channel
+botnick = "ShaunaBot" # Your bots nick
+
+# Connecting to the channel, defining basic functions
+
+def ping(): # Responds to server Pings.
+  ircsock.send("PONG :pingis\n")  
+
+def joinchan(chan): # This function is used to join channels.
+  ircsock.send("JOIN "+ chan +"\n")
+
+ircsock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+ircsock.connect((server, 6667)) # Here we connect to the server using the port 6667
+ircsock.send("USER "+ botnick +" "+ botnick +" "+ botnick +" :This bot is a result of a tutoral covered on http://shellium.org/wiki.\n") # user authentication
+ircsock.send("NICK "+ botnick +"\n") # here we actually assign the nick to the bot
+
+joinchan(channel) # Join the channel using the functions we previously defined
+
+class newcomer(object):  # Newcomer class created when someone joins the room
+
+    def __init__(self, nick):
+        self.nick = nick
+        self.born = time.time()
+        self.status = 0
+        print "newcomer object named " + self.nick + " created"
+
+    def changeStatus(self,status):
+        self.status = status
+        print "status of newcomer object changed to " + str(self.status)
+
+    def aroundFor(self):
+        print "timecheck: " + str(self.nick) + " has been around for " + str(time.time() - self.born)
+        return time.time() - self.born
+
+## bot-specific functions
+
+def hello(speaker): # This function responds to a user that inputs "Hello Mybot"
+  ircsock.send("PRIVMSG "+ channel +" :Hello! "+ speaker + "\n")
+
+def welcome(speaker):
+  ircsock.send("PRIVMSG "+ channel +" :Welcome "+ speaker + "!\n")
+
+newList = []
+
+while 1: 
+
+  ircmsg = ircsock.recv(2048) # receive data from the server   <-------- this needs to be fixed!  Threading?  Buffer file?
+  ircmsg = ircmsg.strip('\n\r') # removing any unnecessary linebreaks.
+  print(ircmsg) # Here we print what's coming from the server
+
+  speaker = ircmsg.split(":")[1].split("!")[0]
+
+  if ircmsg.find(":Hello "+ botnick) != -1: # Response to 'Hello botnick'
+    hello(speaker)
+
+  if ircmsg.find("PING :") != -1: # if the server pings us then we've got to respond!
+    ping()
+
+  if ircmsg.find("JOIN "+ channel) != -1:  # If someone joins #channel
+    newList.append(newcomer(speaker))		# Create a newcomer object and append to list.
+
+  print newList
+
+  for i in newList:
+     print i.aroundFor()
+     print i.status
+     if i.aroundFor() > 3 and i.status == 0:
+	print welcome(i.nick)
+        i.changeStatus(1)