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IRC/Chat Information

Check out Vicnet Interactive for Chat, Forum, WebCam, Guestbook, Newsgroups & sites.

Chatting on the Web

Wan't to have a talk to someone on the Internet and meet some new people or make a new friend? Start at the Vicnet Interactive Chat page. This - lists Australian and International chat sites for children and adults alike.

If you want to learn another language check out these language chat sites (includes web, irc and telnet chats).

ICQ

ICQ is a user-friendly Internet tool that informs you who's on-line at any time and enables you to contact them at will. ICQ does the searching for you, alerting you in real time when they log on. The need to conduct a directory search each time you want to communicate with a specific person is eliminated. With ICQ, you can chat, send messages, files and URL's, play games, or just hang out with your fellow 'Netters' while still surfing the Net.

Free download of ICQ software

Internet Relay Chat

Internet Relay Chat is another form of chatting on the Internet which does not involve the World Wide Web. To take part in it you have to download the correct software for your PC, Apple Mactinosh or Unix machine.

Thanks to the kind folks at Alphalink we now have a Skills.net IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel #Skillsnet.

To access this channel point your IRC client at irc.alphalink.com.au port 6667 and join the channel #Skillsnet.

In order to make this work we aim to have led sessions in the channel. If you are interested in leading a discussion around a community networking issue please email skillsnet@vicnet.net.au.

Look forward to seeing you in the #Skillsnet IRC channel.

If you are new to Internet Relay Chat you should visit the IRC Help site.

There are two main IRC networks which are not linked to each other. The original EFNet and the newer Undernet. These are the main two but of course there are many other IRC Networks around the world.

Other servers can be found at:

• Undernet
• EFNet

You may have trouble connecting to some of the listed servers. If this happens just try another one. On the Undernet I have found Wollongong.nsw.au.undernet.org 6667 to be one I can connect to. Another server to try is ircserver.cltr.uq.oz.au 6667 which is a standalone one not connected to either EFNet or the Undernet. If all else fails try Netscape's own IRC server at iapp.netscape.com 6667. The usual port number for IRC is 6667 (though they can range from 6665 to 6668 and the Undernet is trying to standardise on 7777 for its servers).

If you have any problems post a message on the alt.irc newsgroup.

One of the most popular for Windows is mIRC. Download this and try it out.

An IRC extension is available for the popular Mozilla Firefox browser called Chatzilla.