Chapter Nine: Communicating in Real Time

Table of Contents: Getting Started - Tips and Tricks Interlit Web Site Links to Textbook Chapter Resources Required Equipment, Software and Services Course Syllabus Course Assignments and Due Dates Part One: Understanding The Internet Chapter One: Definitions Chapter Two: How the Internet is Changing the World Part Two: Getting On The Internet Chapter Three: Getting Connected Chapter Four: Surfing the Net Part Three: Communicating Over The Internet Chapter Five: Internet Etiquette (Netiquette) Chapter Six: Electronic Mail Chapter Seven: Listserv Chapter Eight: Usenet Newsgroups Chapter Nine: Communicating in Real Time Chapter Ten: Telnet Part Four: Finding Things On The Internet Chapter Eleven: Searching for Information Chapter Twelve: Commonly Found Internet File Types Chapter Thirteen: Downloading From the Internet Chapter Fourteen: Bibliographic Style for Citing Internet Resources Part Five: Creating Web Pages Chapter Fifteen: Web Page Creation Strategies Chapter Sixteen: Web Page Design Chapter Seventeen: How HTML Works Chapter Eighteen: Creating Your Web Page Resume Chapter Nineteen: Putting Images on Web Pages Chapter Twenty: Using Tables for Advanced Web Page Layout Chapter Twenty-one: Making a Local Web and a Home Page Chapter Twenty-two: Publishing Files on the World Wide Web Part Six: Using Multimedia On The Internet Chapter Twenty-three: How Web Browsers Do Multimedia Chapter Twenty-four: Waveform Audio Recording Part Seven: Planning For The Future Of The Internet Chapter Twenty-five: Societal Issues Chapter Twenty-six: Emerging Technology Chapter Twenty-seven: How to Keep Up Send E-Mail: Pat Watson Jennifer Lagier John Ittelson Internet Literacy Home Page

After completing this chapter, you will be able to: Understand how Internet Relay Chat (IRC) organizes conversations into channels. Download an IRC chat-room client and install it on your computer. Enter chat rooms on the Internet and engage other users in meaningful real-time conversations over IRC channels. Download Microsoft's NetMeeting software and use it to share data and make entries on a whiteboard shared with conference members over the Internet. Learn how to equip your PC for videoconferencing for as little as $249. Look in on videoconferences hosted on CU-SeeMe sites on the Internet, whether or not you have videoconferencing hardware. Understand the purposed of and the distinctions between a MUD, a MOO, and a MUSH. Experience real-time audio/video streaming technology that will one day permit chat rooms to be multimedia encounters. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is an Internet-wide talk facility developed in 1988 by Jarkko Oikarinen in Finland. Since its inception, IRC has become one of the most popular Internet resources, used by people in many different countries. Here is how it works. You use a client program to act as your interface. Your client connects to an IRC server. You can then enter IRC commands to join a group of people or move from one group to another. Once you have joined a group, whatever you type is sent to all people in the group. Similarly, you can see the messages everyone else types. What makes IRC so powerful is that servers an connect with other servers to form an IRC network. Once you connect to a server, you can talk to anybody using any server in the network. To use IRC, you need an IRC client program to connect to a server. Once you are connected, your client acts as your interface into IRC. Channels IRC maintains separate conversation groups called channels. When you first connecct to IRC, you choose a channel to join. When you want to switch conversation groups, you can join another channel. You can join as many channels as you want at the same time. Some channels are used for discussing specific topics. Others are just for talking about whatever comes up. There are public channels, private channels, and secret "invisible" channels. Nicknames Every IRC participant has a nickname or nick. Each time you connect to an IRC server, you specifiy a nickname. You can change your nickname at any time. Nicknames can be made up of up to nine characters. At all times, your IRC client maintains a window, showing what everyone is saying. If you are using a graphical client, it will show each channel in its own window. IRC Commands Basic Commands: /quit This command will disconnect you from the IRC server. With the IRC client program, /quit will also stop the program itself. /set hold_mode on This command tells IRC to display large amounts of output one screenful at a time. /set The /set command allows you to control many different settings. With graphical IRC clients, you do not need a /set command because you can control all the settings by using pull-down menus. /list This command displays a list of all the channels once you have connected to an IRC server. /join This command allows you to join a channel. Follow the command with the name of the channel. Remember, channel names start with a # character. /leave This command allows you to leave a channel. Follow the command with the name of the channel. /me To display an action, use the /me command followed by your action. /desc If you want to display an action privately for one person, use /desc followed by the nickname. /help This command displays help information. For general information, use /help. If you use IRC and /help is available, you can display information about a specific command by typing /help followed by the name of the command. For new users, try using the command: /help newuser. /nick You can change your nickname by typing /nick followed by the new nickname. Using Direct Connections with DCC When you want to talk in complete and utter privacy or transfer a file to a particular person, you can use a system called Direct Client Connection or DCC. DCC connects two IRC clients directly without going through a central server. To use DCC, all you have to do is enter a DCC command. When you do, your client will automatically contact the other person's client and initiate the appropriate activity. To talk to someone directly, use the command /dcc chat followed by the nickname of the person to whom you wish to talk. To respond to such a command, the other user would need to enter the his or her own /dcc chat command. You need a special command to send messages over a DCC connection. This command is /dmsg. Type the command followed by the nickname of the person with whom you have already established a DCC connection. To send a file to someone using DCC, type the command /dcc send followed by the nickname of the person to whom you want to send the file and the name of the file. The person will then receive a request saying that you want to transfer a file. To respond to the request and accept the file, use the /dcc get command, typing in the command followed by the nickname of the person who is sending the file. To shut down a DCC connection, use the command /dcc close chat followed by the nickname of the person to whom you are talking. Online Resources: mIRC - An Internet Relay Chat program Pirch (Pirch98)/IRC Chat ! ( Links, Chat Program, IRC, Consulting ! ) MacIRC The Palace Visual Chat | Home Page Microsoft Chat Home CNET reviews - comparative reviews - chat clients Yahoo! Computers and Internet:Internet:Chat:By Subject:Beginners' Channels NetMeeting Home VideoPhone for Windows Intel ProShare(R) Technology Video Conferencing Solutions CU-SeeMe Product Information [rec.games.mud] Frequently Asked/Answered Questions What is a MUSH? The MUDdex RealNetworks - The Home of Streaming Media Welcome to clubVDO Xing Technology Corporation Whiteboards Go to: Chapter Eight Chapter Ten

Copyright 1999 by California State University, Monterey Bay, and Hartnell College Please report any missing or broken links to Jennifer Lagier