Every Friday, at 9pm UK time (10pm Central European Time), we
are holding a QL chat on IRC. The channel is #ql and we are on
the Undernet group of servers. Leapers are welcome, and the chat
usually goes on for 3 or 4 hours. Currently we have Ziggy,
Gooshie, Tina and Thames so we need Donna, Sam, Al, Verbena,
Sammy Jo and maybe Alia, Zoey and Lothos. (so long as they're not
REALLY evil leapers/project members :)) Duplicates are okay, but
we'll have to work out alternative names.
If you need more info on how to get on IRC read on:
How you actually connect to IRC varies according to the Operating
System running on your computer.
Here is some basic info, for Windows and Unix users.
Also, here is a list of Undernet servers.
For Windows users, VIRC and MIRC are the best 2 programs
available (IMHO). VIRC is freeware, and appears to have more
features, but seems to be only available for Windows 95. MIRC is
shareware, but is compact and faster to run than MIRC. Further
info and the programs can be obtained from www.virc.com, and the mIRC homepage. And here is a
link to the ircintro
file at the mIRC website.
Once you have downloaded it, you set it up with the following:
You have to pick a server to connect to, you get a list - for the
QL chat we are using the Undernet group of servers, so pick one
that is nearest you (it isn't essential to pick the closest but
it should make the connection quicker), also, you will need to
put in your name, e-mail address, a nickname in - make sure you
choose a reasonably unique one because if someone else anywhere
in the world on IRC at that time has the same name then you have
to change it (although that's easy). There are some other, more
technical, values which the program try to fill in by itself so
these should be okay.
You should then be able to connect (once you are connected to the
internet) to the required server. There are a number of things
that can cause it not to work, eg server too busy, server not
letting in connections from certain domains, but generally it
should work fine.
From here on it should be easy, and there are some good FAQ's
available from the mIRC site that explain the commands, but
basically, just type your message in the channel window and it'll
be sent to the channel. You can send a message to one person by
typing /MSG TheirNickName Message...
The above is just a brief description of setting up, but it
should get you started on IRC. Most things are handled by mIRC,
for example you can click on an icon to get a list of the
channels open on the server, and from that double click on one of
them to go into it. You can be an several channels at once.
Thanks to Tina Santos for the following info:
In my e-mail account I just need to type "irc" at the
prompter and I get
in. Last Friday, it asked me for a server, and I typed the
following:
/SERVER sanjose.ca.us.undernet.org
If you can't get in this one, there are others:
davis.ca.us.undernet.org
austin.tx.us.undernet.org
washington.dc.us.undernet.org
eu.undernet.org
uk.undernet.org
The channel we're using is ql, so you type:
/join #ql
For you to change your nickname, you do:
/nick verbena (or whatever name you want)
Hope this helps!
Also, the FAQ's at the mIRC web site mentioned above in the
Windows section will be useful for learning general IRC commands.
A quick warning - just common sense really, it's best not to
type cryptic commands if you don't know what you're doing and
don't trust the person telling you to.
Here's a list of Undernet servers. As they're connected anyone
should be able to log onto any and participate in the chat - and
it's best (although not always essential) to choose one near you:
PLEASE NOTE:Past experience has shown us that it's best if
everyone uses an undernet server in the same general area - for
example the EU ones. If not then there are sometimes big delays
in getting messages through to people on other servers, which
usually does correct itself but takes a while to do so.
Please note this is seperate from the other IRC chat, on
ANOTHERnet, channel #QuantumLeap most evenings (US) which those
in the US may find a better time (US evenings).
eu.undernet.org
luxembourg.lu.eu.undernet.org
Amsterdam.NL.EU.undernet.org
diemen.nl.eu.undernet.org
lulea.se.eu.undernet.org
uk.undernet.org
london.uk.eu.undernet.org
Oxford.UK.EU.Undernet.org
ann-arbor.mi.us.undernet.org
atlanta.ga.us.undernet.org
auckland.nz.undernet.org
austin.tx.us.undernet.org
blacksburg.va.us.undernet.org
brisbane.qld.au.undernet.org
chicago.il.us.Undernet.org
dallas.tx.us.undernet.org
davis.ca.us.undernet.org
lowell.ma.us.undernet.org
manhattan.ks.us.undernet.org
phoenix.az.us.undernet.org
pittsburgh.pa.us.undernet.org
sandiego.ca.us.undernet.org
sanjose.ca.us.undernet.org
springfield.mo.us.undernet.org
stlouis.mo.us.undernet.org
washington.dc.us.undernet.org
washington-r.dc.us.undernet.org
Please e-mail me if you spot any mistakes. Thanks.
Go back to Gooshies Index.
Page © Gary J. Marsh, last updated 18th October, 1997.
e-mail me