Sync Comm

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Text Chats

Introduction

Text based chatting has been existence for many years. It originated with the implementation of the UNIX talk command. Text chatting allows remote users to type concurrently sending the entered text to the connected talk participant(s).

One-to-One

UNIX talk based chatting allows for one-to-one synchronous communication. It is usually characterized by an interface that provides a text entry area and a display area to view the text of the conversation.
Non-unix shareware/freeware talk clients are available for most platforms:

Connections to Unix and non-Unix users are possible without the requirement of connecting to a central server. Either the network IP number or the domain name of the machine of the desired connection must be known for direct communication.

Internet Relay Chat

IRC Overview

IRC is an abbreviation for the Internet Relay Chat system.
IRC was developed in Finland around 1988 by Jarkko Oikarinen.
Provides synchronous (real time) 1-1, 1-many, many-1 & many-many text communication for Internet users.
IRC is organized around the metaphor of channels. Tha analogy is akin to CB (Citzen Band) Radio. Channels can be viewed as virtual chat/discussion rooms. Commonly channels are named for and devoted primarily to discussions about specific topics. Anyone in the room can talk with everyone or anyone else at the same time.
IRC discussions, (chats) run the gamut from social commentary to technical discussions.

IRC Connections

IRC can be accessed through client software available for various platforms:

System	Homepage	Download
MS Windows	mIRC client
Macintosh	IRCle client

In the CS lab, locate mIRC on the menu and execute it.
If you are not in the CS lab, download the appropriate client for your system, decompress it, install it and execute it.
Enter your personal identification information in the mIRC setup and choose a nickname, (aka alias), that you will be known by on IRC.
To connect to an IRC server using mIRC, select Setup from the File menu, click on the IRC Servers tab and select DALnet: US, FL, Jacksonville, (centurion.dal.net), from the IRC server pull down menu. Click on the Connect to IRC server! button or click OK and select Connect from the File menu to get connected.
After connecting to an IRC server, hundreds/thousands of channels, (chat discussions), may be available.
mIRC will display a join channel dialog on startup. Enter "vatech" to join the Va Tech channel. (Note - this is not a common channel, if you are the first to connect the channel will be created and you will need to wait for others to join you.) You may also access the channels folder by clicking on the Channels folder button:
Check the IRC server status or message window. If the nickname you have selected is in use the server will warn you and you must choose a new nickname immediately or you will be automatically disconnected. To choose a new nickname from mIRC, select Change nickname from the Commands menu and enter a new nickname.
In order to determine what other channel (discussion) to join type the IRC command /list -min 25 at the command prompt. The min -25 option will filter out inactive channels and channels with < 25 people.
In mIRC you can also click on the List channels button: . You can Add channels discovered with the List channels command to your Channels folder list.
Alternatively, to join any channel chat (discussion), type /join # . Note that not all channels are preceded by a pound # sign. In mIRC you may also select Join channel from the Commands menu and enter a new channel name.
To exit a channel, type /leave # or in mIRC select Part channel from the Commands menu and enter the channel name to leave.
To exit IRC, type /quit or alternatively select Disconnect from the File menu and then select Exit

IRC Chatting

After joining a channel, text entered will be transmitted to all people on that channel.
To find out who is connected to a channel, type /names to list the current channel members, some IRC clients, (like mIRC), displays the list of connected user nicknames to the right of the channel window.
In order to maintain a degree of anonimity on the IRC, (to keep discussions lively), nicknames are used instead of real names. A nickname is entered when starting an IRC session, but can be changed by the command /nick or in mIRC select Change nickname from the Commands menu and enter a new nickname.
Private messages can be transmitted to specific people in a channel with the command /msg , mIRC allows one to double click on a nickname to open a window for private messages.
Enter messages, global and private, to test the text communication provided by IRC.

IRC Features/Commands

/LIST Gives a listing of the current irc channels, on the IRC server.
/JOIN Joins the channel. All non-command text typed
is transmitted to everyone on the channel
/MSG Sends a private message to the specified person.
/NICK Changes your nickname
/NAMES Displays nicknames of all users on the channel
/WHOIS Shows the real name of the person
/WHO Displays who is on a given channel, including nickname, user name and host, and realname.
/HELP Provides help for IRC commands
/QUIT Exits irc.

Prairie Home Companion IRC Example

The following text dialog was captured during a nationwide IRC chat. The chat was participated in by Garrison Kellior, the host of the Public Radio show, "Prarie Home Companion". The author participated in the chat which was a competition to determine which of the anonymous chatters was the host. The session capture below took place after the competition.

Goof: God I love IRC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! coach: GK - Do you realize these chats are ruining your show here in Pacific time? Good thing our station repeats the show Sunday or I wouldn't be able to hear it. Cassandra: What is the significance of the name Rev72? gk: Yes. Baltimore around Thanksgiving. --> How does REV72, FOX, and CARBO relate to Pimpernel, Washington, Shakespeare & Lincoln? Grey: Oh. That's what gk stands for. Damn. tvzed: and Carbo? gk: He was a 72 year old Lutheran minister. shaking: gk: thanksgiving of 97? gk: Carbo is a large girl. MPR: ^Uhttp://www.mnonline.org/wobegon/online/chat0217/slide1.htm Madison: AndCarbo? Grey: coach We got it earlier this afternoon in Portland. Goof: Carbo=carbohydrate BWCASteve: Fox had me way puzzled :) MPR: You can check out tonight's slideshow at that url Dan: Carbo was also one I was going to try, but the boyfriend bit threw me off - really off! gk: T'giving 96, with orchestra, at the Meyer???? theater. shaking is trying to figure out what year this is. Gerald: Showdown at the Entymological corral! Dan: Myerhoff in downtown B'more! gk: Lots of votes for Liz Dole. Good job, Liz. Madison: <--------was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off in his guess! MPR: Liz Dole are you still here? Grey: Gerald etymologoicla? Goof: Hey gk, when are you coming back to Orlando??? Aught: gk, you are coming to anchorage alaska very soon arent you? MPR: Liz, you got plenty of votes gk: Liz? we need you for our show? tvzed: Contrary to the first song tonight gk, I think you are more into computers than you let on..... *** Madison is now known as SF-Jim gk: Anchorage March 2. HasBeen: Will you ever make it to Hallstead, PA? We have a legion hall here. Val is disappointed. The network was frozen for him for the last 15 minutes!!! Gerald: I goofed! *** Maurice is now known as ArtNouvea moderator: Here's my quick appraisal (subject to review of log!) SmartArt: I shall be very surprised if there were ANY correct guesses gk: Sorry Val. It's frozen in Minnesota for more than 15 min. Dan: Baltimore in November - DC in September !!! wow a real political area boom! Scop: it was a perplexing session MPR: IS LIZ DOLE STILL HERE? Goof: Gerald... I am Goof calvin: maurice certainly fooled me Aught: Im only an hour out of anchorage, but unfortunatly im going to be out of town during then moderator: Coach, tiff3, maruice, calvin, and sam each got one right, and are our winners tonight gk: Maurice was good tonight. Sam: aught and snowshoe - Anchorage mar 2 coach: I liked Sugar myself. margaux: thanks, Garrison (formely known as LizDole) Dan: Congrats to the winners!!! Grey: Garrison - I've only started listening to PHC lately, I'm blown away and in morning I haven't been listening longer gk: Margaux, you're brilliant at dissembling and misdirection. traveler: Was anyone else at the show tonight? The bars afterwards were a nice touch. *** margaux is now known as lizdole SF-Jim: CURSES! Foiled again Grey: I got one right! Val: everything from about 9:40-9:45 to about 5 minutes ago...glacier city moderator: We'll also send prizes to the three folks who faked it the best SmartArt: Why did it take you 8 years to get back on in Miami? Gerald: I was too busy reading to solve the puzzle. Everyone was funny! lizdole: We'll be happy to come on right before the Minnesota primary.. --> I think GK owes it to the Net to let the first song of the show tonight go gold. moderator: Like I said, we'll look at the log and recheck everything. moderator: The excitement was so high my scrollbar was twitching Grey: I thought we were going to have time to analyze the scrollback. gk: Good. Your husband can compete with tim russell for best Bob Dole impression. BillB: Will someone eventually post a description of how it ought to have been entertaining to do this exercise? Dan: Scrollback - that's hard to do unless you server is sloooow gk: BillB, you aren't having fun yet? BWCASteve: lol Bill - I loved it Grey: I particularly enjoyed beating Garrison to the punch at greeting a new speaker thougyh. coach: Congrats to the technical crew. Well organized internet stuff. lizdole: can tim russell do bob in some of the upcoming debates? Goof: <------------- I had a great time.................... SF-Jim: gk. would you ever do a real audio rebroadcast over the Net? shaking: gk: are your "News from Lake Wobegon" copy-righted? Cassandra: So what game do we play next week? *** Mode change "+mt" on #phclive by MPR gk: Do him in debate, do him in personal life. What do you need, Liz? MPR: We're moderated here for a moment gk: Next week we tell the truth. MPR: while we say goodnight *** Signoff: Sam (Leaving) gk: Goodnight all. *** Dusty has left channel #phclive *** coach has left channel #phclive *** rayray has left channel #phclive moderator: Tonight's credits: MPR:Douglas Fisher; Moderator: John Pearson; several fake people:Jackie Fisher. *** elusive is now known as SkyWalker moderator: Thanks to the people of Netscape Communications. *** Signoff: msliz (User Disconnect) moderator: Keep an eye on the Website for announcements of upcoming Internet events. MPR: www.mnonline.org/wobegon/ moderator: We'll go unmoderated again for a short while once we do a bit of cleanup here! *** Mode change "-t" on #phclive by MPR *** Dubbs has left channel #phclive *** grissom has left channel #phclive *** MrBerge has left channel #phclive *** Mode change "-mt" on #phclive by MPR HasBeen: Gadzooks! Not the truth?! --> unmoderatesounds like a new form of conservative. shaking: re MPR: Unmoderated lizdole: we're back.. Grey: Huzzah. Dan: Thanks MPR and crew - had fun! Cassandra: THanks MPR, Moderator, GK & Jackie! MPR: We'll take suggestions SF-Jim: Thanks lizdole: thank you. *** Val is now known as Ernie MPR: Garrison thought we might make some changes next time ArtNouvea: Reemember thee Croix Rouge , Leez BWCASteve: This was a gas. Thanks. Grey: I wonder if anyone thought AEnigma was gk? --> Mucho kudos for the crew *********** Cassandra: What changes? Dan: Suggestions ! So far, it has been great, what kindof suggestions?? MPR: We're logging your suggestions *** Fan has left channel #phclive Andi: Thank You! BGates: the truth about what ??? HasBeen: Much thanknesses! calvin: Good night all, had a fun time tonight *** DDD has left channel #phclive SF-Jim: Bring on Richard Thompson for a show. he'd be great *** calvin has left channel #phclive ArtNouvea: Au revoir, mes enfants Grey: I like actually having a chance to talk. --> Calvin I miss hobbes :( shaking: bonnuit, mes amis.. tvzed: Ricjard Thompson - YES! Goof: MPR, it HAS been fun............ Grey: Twice, even. *** Stevekeel (user001@ts0116.gamewood.net) has joined channel #phclive Cassandra: G'night Art & Calving BWCASteve: Richard Thompson gets my vote too *calvin* me too Aught: au revoir Zarkov: How about ranking (a frequency) of guesses, so we can see who was as fooled as we were Scop: what sorts of changes did you have in mind? substanative or technical? Goof: is Nikki still here??? *** shaking has left channel #phclive *** Scop is now known as Nikki Nikki: hi, goof *** HasBeen has left channel #phclive *** ArtNouvea has left channel #phclive Dan: The moderator seems to be doing a good job at getting people on - better than the first chat back in January '96 Grey: How about credit for people who actually got one right? BGates: i think gk has gone to eat a late night dinner --> Please post how the online hints pointed to GK's identities? Gerald: Who cares! Sparrow: Obviously it he is hungry, he does *** Cassandra is now known as MsDos MsDos: Probably something with high carbo's :) --> Just curious, Gerald. *** MsDos is now known as Cassandra BGates: i think he is a creature of the night Grey: I can empathize. I'm starving. *** ddon has left channel #phclive Sparrow: You too. Take care. I am feeling much better *** MrBerge (dmcqueen@ccnet3.ccnet.com) has joined channel #phclive Cassandra: Anyone want some more popcorn? Still have some left. Zarkov: GK - vampire, what next... lizdole: I'd love some popcorn, thank you! snowshoe: Sparrow, could Hannibal have won the Punic Wars with duct tape? Cassandra: Hehe Sparrow - what was that about you and a woman at a drive-in?? BWCASteve: LOL - GK used to be an early morning guy - Remember Jack's Auto Repair? SF-Jim: <---------------has a pizza coming BGates: a stuffed cheese pizza! Gerald: BEEEEEEEEEEEER! lizdole: Jack's Auto Repair, the hotel transom.. "help me rhonda".. --> covered hoooooottttt dish!!!!!!! SF-Jim: Zachary's Chicago Style Deep Dish from Berkeley, CA Cassandra: Passes popcorn to Liz Aught: gk kinda reminds me of tom bodet Sparrow: A gentleman never tells, or leaves his duct tape at home Grey: Oooooh... Pizzzzaa BWCASteve: <---Could use Jack's Warm Car Service lizdole: I think it's the other way around, Aught. BGates: when you do radio, you dont get up early Pericles: Beware of Geeks bearing gifts tvzed: The only good Chicago Pizza comes from right here in Chicago --> pass it this way when you & Bob have finished Liz. *** rchandra (rchandra@hal9000.buf.servtech.com) has joined channel #phclive *** Rod (rsharp@ppp-1008.dca.net) has joined channel #phclive SF-Jim: au contraire mon cher Aught: maybe you are right liz BWCASteve: Can I smoke in here? =========~~~~~~ Gerald: You were great Lizdole ____ got my vote___fooled me good! Goof breaks out the Red Killian.... hands one to Gerald SF-Jim: me too liz *** traveler has left channel #phclive Cassandra: Pericles - that's my line! lizdole: thank you thank you, gerald, jim. tvzed: I guessed Liz Dole too.... *** Andi has left channel #phclive Grey: I guessed Fox. SF-Jim passes out pizza to everyone BGates: i guessed lizdole Gerald: AHHHH! lizdole: I terribly miss Green Mill pizza.. BWCASteve: Thanks Jim Sparrow: Davanni's is good too BGates: was the Mill green or the Pizza ????? MPR: Who are you Liz? lizdole: both were green, bill? MPR: I mean really SF-Jim: Gotta get to work though....gota program to finish. Was fun. Thanks all BGates: no way! lizdole: I am peggy, a former Minnesotan living in New Hampshire *** SF-Jim has left channel #phclive Gerald: The Trojan Pizza. tvzed: Bye SF. BTW I like SF, but no the pizza MPR: We will post the winners on the web site MPR: www.mnonline.org/wobegon/ Cassandra: Well, if they now serve Chicago pizza in SF it can't be bad. *** John has left channel #phclive BWCASteve: liz - is it true that NH is going to seceed from the union because of the poor slate of candidates? ;) lizdole: Steve: the Dems have an excellent candidate, thank you. *** Stevekeel has left channel #phclive BGates: What does green pizza taste like ? moderator: Five more minutes before we pull the plug lizdole: (she's really a democrat, you know). Sparrow: I hear that if it snows on Tuesday only 4 people are going to vote BWCASteve: liz - touche Gerald: Green shoes tvzed: and Bob's a Communist lizdole: nope the buchanan people will be out in droves. --> liz - I didn't know Kemp was running? Aught: Its been fun, goodbye, au revoir *** lizdole is now known as peggy Grey: When will the winners be on the website? Sparrow: six people then *** Aught has left channel #phclive peggy: (back into my nh persona) Zarkov: Pull the plug, a Kavorkian joke? MPR: We'll try to have them up Wednesday MPR: Definitely by Friday peggy: It snows here every other day, so its no big deal. Grey: Ack. I can't seem to change my name back. *** Cassandra is now known as Kavorkian Kavorkian: No - MPR is serious. I trained him myself. *** Kavorkian is now known as Cassandra tvzed: This was fun. Thanks, MPR. Bye Gerald: Night all, this is GOOD chat! --> It's been a blast folks! Gerald: See you next time moderator: So MPR, are you volunteering to go through all the guesses??? *** tvzed has left channel #phclive *** Signoff: rchandra (Leaving) Cassandra: G'night Gerald. *** Signoff: SmartArt (User Disconnect) Cassandra: If anyone is in Cleveland - The Whiskey at Midnight!! peggy: good night all. Goof: later peggy *** BWCASteve has left channel #phclive *** Rod has left channel #phclive MrBear: Good night, John-boy. Goof: MPR well, I have to rest.... more roofing tomorrow......... *** Signoff: Ernie (Leaving) Cassandra: I'm outta here too. Goof - I'll bring the beer next time. *** Gerald has left channel #phclive --> MTV's chat could pick up some pointers here. Goof: and I don't want to "goof" it up.... Goof: Thanks Cassandra... Nikki: I must be off...Beowulf to translate...Thanks for the study break! moderator: I'm grateful I have a few months of winter when I don't have to do outdoor stuff. Grey: Entertaining, though. I love puzzle. Grey: Plural Goof: and I'll bring the popcorn... Sparrow: MPR and Mod, you folks shooting people or is it natural drop off BGates: bye bye Pericles: I must be off, Persians to pursue... moderator: One more minute, and I get to kick. YAY Grey: I'm about to faint from hunger, but other than that... *** Signoff: Nikki (Leaving) BGates: gotta go work on my new house Grey: Bill Gates *works*? *** Cassandra has left channel #phclive --> Gotta go, I'm taking the force with me (They don't need it in N.H.;) Grey: *Still*? BGates: (help others work) it's like work to me snowshoe: Bye folks. Looking forward to PHC in Anchorage. peggy: anyone notice you never see Bill Gates and Steve Forbes in the same place? Grey: BGates - administrate, eh? Zarkov: Later, Remember: One life for Billions, it's a logical exchange BGates: could you tell them apart ? Grey: Dr. Gates and Mr. Forbes peggy: I couldnt. *** Zarkov has left channel #phclive moderator: Good bye, starting from the top. *** BGates has been kicked of channel #phclive by moderator (comment) Grey: Cool sound moderator: Funny how Bill Gates was first! *** snowshoe has left channel #phclive *** BillB has been kicked of channel #phclive by moderator (comment) Goof: HAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *** blazer has been kicked of channel #phclive by moderator (comment) *** Bubba has been kicked of channel #phclive by moderator (comment) --> I'll bend over to make it easy. *** Dan has been kicked of channel #phclive by moderator (comment) Grey: I got a grunting sound when someone gets kicked off. *** Sparrow has been kicked of channel #phclive by MPR (comment) *** cdrom (Bob@server.soe.purdue.edu) has joined channel #phclive *** You have been kicked from channel #phclive by MPR (comment) SkyWalker: unhhhh!!!! *** Unknown CTCP from MPR: USERPROFILE *** /CTCP USERPROFILE from MPR replied *** Unknown CTCP from MPR: USERPROFILE *** /CTCP USERPROFILE from MPR replied

(Optional) IRC Tutorials
Windows95 mIRC Tutorials
IRCle Tutorials (Macintosh)

Suggested Optional Activities

Download or use a UNIX Talk client and connect to another machine in the lab to hold a conversation.
Use an IRC client to connect to the IRC server at irc-2.mit.edu port:6667 and join an active channel.

Further Study / Resources

IRC Resources
ICQ (An alternative to IRC)
- What is ICQ?
- Download ICQ
Yahoo! Messenger
- Online documentation
MSN Messenger Service
- Online documentation