Join an online conversation with me
and other "O'Donnell on Technology" listeners every
Saturday morning from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time via IRC (Internet
Relay Chat). The IRC channel for the "O'Donnell on Technology" live chat is
#everythingtechnology.
There are two ways to participate in the chat: the
traditional--but more complicated--way and the easy way. To take advantage of the easy
way, all you'll need is a Java-capable browser, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape
Navigator 4.0 or later. If you're running one of those now, just click on the link below
and follow the simple instructions to join in!
If you want to use a more full-featured chat program,
you'll need to download and install IRC client software. The most popular IRC software for
Windows is MIRC and for the Mac it's Ircle, although any IRC-compliant software will
work. Both of these programs are shareware, which means you can download, install and try
them for free, but if you decide to continue using them, you should send the nominal
shareware fee to the programs' creators.
How to Join In with IRC Software
Once you've downloaded, installed and started the IRC
software, you'll be asked to provide some basic identifying information, including an
onscreen nickname to identify yourself to other chat participants. You'll then need to
connect to an IRC server, which is essentially like connecting to a web site but with the
IRC chat software instead of your browser. My chat is being hosted by GalaxyNet, so you need to connect to a GalaxyNet
server-- the San Diego, CA and Atlanta, GA sites are probably the best choices, but any GalaxyNet
server will do.
To connect to the server you can either select one of the
GalaxyNet Servers from a drop-down list of available servers (later versions of IRC
software include GalaxyNet in their list of choices) or if GalaxyNet servers aren't there,
you can manually type in the address. Try irc.galaxynet.org.
If you're successful, you'll see messages scrolling across
your screen welcoming you to the server. Once you're connected to the server, you need to
choose a specific channel, just as you tune into a particular radio station. To do that,
you typically use the IRC software's Join command. As mentioned above, the IRC channel for
the "O'Donnell on Technology" live chat is #everythingtechnology. So, select the
Join Channel command in your IRC software and type in #everythingtechnology
(you need to
use the "#" sign) and you're ready to jump into the conversation.
