Getting Started

How do I connect to the chat?

There are 2 ways:

1) Use the Java chat client: Click the "Live Chat" link that appears on each page of this site. A new web page will launch. Click the connect button and make up a nickname. A chat windows should appear inside the chat webpage. Then chat away! Additional help for the java chat can be found here.

2) Use an IRC chat client: Instead of using the java chat, you can download a program designed specifically to connect to the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network. Download and install instructions are below.

What is IRC?

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. It's a chat network that has been around since the 80s - making it older than the web. There are many different IRC servers out there, each of which can host thousands of individual chatrooms or "channels." Our chat channel is #sg1archive and it is located on the irc.wikkedwire.com IRC server. For more info about IRC in general, check out irchelp.org and irc.org. For more info about the wikkedwire server, check out their website.

What's the difference between the java chat client and the IRC chat client?

If you use the Java client, you can chat from within your web browser from any computer you want without having to install any additonal software. (You may, however, need to upgrade your version of java - more on that later.) Java's not perfect though - sometimes it can crash your browser or make it run slowly. Some people have also had problems remaining connected to the IRC server using the Java client.

If you use an IRC client, you can register your nickname so that nobody else can use it, join other chat channels, send files to each other, chat privately with individual members, and a bunch of other stuff. And because it's a dedicated chat program, it won't affect the performace of your web browser. However, you need to download and install the program on each computer on which you want to use the client.

In addition, you can use both. For example, use the IRC client on your main computer and the java client when you're on a different computer...

How do I download and install an IRC client?

Windows users: Download and installation instructions for the IRC client mIRC program can be found at www.mirc.com.

Mac users: Download and installation instructions for the IRC client ircle are at www.ircle.com.

To access our chatroom, you will need the following info:

server: irc.wikkedwire.com (port 6667)
channel: #sg1archive
(to enter the chatroom, type /join #sg1archive )

Additional info about IRC:
Check out irchelp.org and irc.org.

I can't get the Java chat to work. The Java chat is acting funny...

You may need to download or upgrade your version of Java. The most recent version of Java (for all operating systems) can be downloaded from Sun Microsystems. And if you want to test if Java is working at all, go to this page. If you can see the crossword puzzle, then you've got java.

If you want to install/upgrade Sun Java on your Windows XP machine, you should remove Microsoft's Java first. Here are instructions. Then download and install Sun's Java Virtual Machine. Get it here.

If you've done all of this, and you still can't load a java application in your web browser, then perhaps for some reason your browser has java turned off. Instructions on how to enable it are here.

Sun Java, Microsoft Java, why should I care?

Java is a progamming language that lets you write standalone applications that will work on all platforms. For example, limewire is a program written in java. As long as you have the Java Virtual Machine installed on your computer, you should be able to run it on any operating system. You can also embed a java applet in a web page. An applet is a little java program that will automatically be downloaded to your computer and run when the web page loads. So when you use the java chat function, your computer is doing all of the work, not Arcady's server. Which is good for webmasters.

Microsoft doesn't really like things like java, which could theoretically make a user's choice of operating system irrelevant. So the origianal version of Windows XP has no Java, and if you wanted it, you had to download the Java Virtual Machine (written by Java inventor Sun Microsystems). When they released Service Pack 1 for Windows XP, they replaced the Sun Java Virtual Machine with their own version called Microsoft Virtual Machine. They changed the Sun version, claiming that their "enhancements" would make Java run better on Windows machines. What it did was make some java applications run differently on Windows vs. non-Windows systems. This defeates the purpose of Java, which is to allow one application to run the same way on all systems, regardless of operating system. (Basically, they broke java on purpose.) Sun sued Microsoft, claiming anticompetive behavior, and a judge ordered that they remove Microsoft VM and put the Sun Java VM back in. So your version of Java may differ depending on your Windows XP installation. The courts recently allowed Sun to license their Java VM directly to computer manufacturers (bypassing Microsoft), so for example Dell can ship computers with Sun Java regardless of what Microsoft wants.

There's nobody in the chat room. This chatroom sucks!

Well, if everybody connects to the chat and then leaves 2 seconds later, it's pretty easy for people for miss each other. When you come here to read the forums, connect to the chat, and keep it open the entire time you're here. At any given time, the main page shows that there are usually several people around. If you stay logged into the chat while you're doing other stuff on the forums, then you increase the chances that more people will be available to chat at the same time.

In addition, there are people who meet regularly. For example, there are usually a bunch of people on around 3PM Eastern Daylight Time, which corresponds to early evening in Europe (19:00 GMT). Here's a neat little Time Zone Converter website.

I have more questions, more info for the FAQ...

Post them here, and they will be incoroporated into the FAQ. Please don't start new topics with technical questions about the chat.