IRC

IRC Thoughts | IRC Helpina | IRC Newbies | IRC Etc

IRC Thoughts

I discovered Internet Relay Chat (IRC) back in 1996 soon after I first got online. I tried the AOL chat at my friends' house and wondered if there was something similar for non-AOLers. I searched the web for information and found some pretty sorry HTML-refreshing web-chat crap, but then finally found out about IRC. I remember when I first logged on I was very surprised by it and wondered if it was free, as I still had the popular mistaken new Internet user notion that the Web = the Internet. I also remember being very happy about the freedom on IRC, unlike AOL where you would get kicked for something as simple as swearing. I'm quite happy that I got online back then. If I tried something similar these days I might be satisfied with some Java chat like Yahoo! Chat, eugh! I spent my first IRC times on Undernet. I don't know how I chose Undernet, I think it was the default server in the current version of mIRC. These days you can usually find me idling in #shinaz on OpenProjectsNet or #randomshit on Webnet.

IRC is my favorite part of the Internet. IRC is not just about chat. IRC has evolved to quite the file-swapping spot. Not only do you meet interesting / funny people on IRC, and have good discussion in real-time with others about similar interests, but you can also download a hell of a lot off of IRC! Music, Music Videos, Movies, anything you can imagine. There are so many channels (what a non-IRCer would call "rooms") that are filled with file servers and people offering and trading all sorts of stuff. IRC is interesting like that, it sort of reminds me of the Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars (am I getting too geek now!?) ...with all sorts of different weird and normal people with different interests seeking different agendas, plus there are bots! HAH! There are different "scenes" all over IRC, from gameboy ROM groups, to Music Video Encoders, and the MP3-Release Groups are the online versions of gangsters, always at war with each other, always talking shit. It's quite amusing. You never know who you're gonna run into on IRC. The rest of the Net can go down, but don't take my IRC!

IRC Helpina

For those of you who already know exactly what I'm talking about, and are addicted to IRC, you might want to check out some of these therapeutic IRC Helpina audio files:

IRC Newbies

Here are some good IRC Links and Information:

IRC Etc




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