FIRST Chat!
 

There is a new and nicely established IRC channel for the discussion of all things FIRST. If you are familiar with IRC the channel can be found at:

irc.freenode.net - #firstrobotics

For those of you who don't have/want an IRC client you can use this handy java interface.

Now, some questions I anticipate I'll get:

What about TigerBolt/Webchat/All Those Others?

If you drop by these you'll notice they have been devoid of any notable activity for ages.

So how is this better than previous attempts?

We've got quite a few admins, a well written bot or two, and most importantly it's on a real IRC network (freenode).

Why was this created?

(As it has been explained to me) There had be many quasi-organized AIM-based chats and they were simply to hectic due to AIM's lack of moderation features and it's general inferiority to IRC.

What do you have to do with this?

Uh, I just want more people around to talk to. (We have about 10 steady users now) :D

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Yeah, phrontist's wrote a nice bot in perl, and I'm attempting to write one in PHP, so it should start to get fun when we get the bots talking to each other =P

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

I just try to get the bots to break. I guess that makes me a beta tester.

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Maybe I'll hack a quick C++ thing up just to make annoying comments. ;)

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Actually, I'm looking for suggestions for bot features, if anybody has any interesting ideas. So far it has...

1. A karma system (http://robby.phrontist.org) - If you say robots++ or robots-- it adds or subtracts karma-points for that concept. Simple, amusing.
2. Autokick on a few select troll keywords
3. Stupid commands like !party and !kirby
4. An interface to the bc calculator application, so you can say things like !calc 2^(pi*50) or !calc help

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

/me wonders if his old nick registration on Freenode is still valid.

-NickServ- Password accepted - you are now recognized

Apparently it is....

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

um... is there any reason we are using freenode compared to a more used IRC like quakenet!?! cause im on quakenet 24/7 for gaming on MIRC... so its hard for me to switch inbetween networks =/

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Two things:

1. Freenode is one of the more popular networks, beaten out by EFnet and DALnet. I'd be suprised if quakenet were more popular
2. If you have a good client, you can be on multiple networks at once. I do not know of any clients that do not support this. Get a better one if yours does not, there are plenty of them.

UPDATE: mIRC definately supports multiple networks! You can't even tell the channels are on different servers for crying out loud! :rolleyes:

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

If you're wondering how to do multiple networks on mIRC, the way I do it is by going to File --> Recent Servers --> New Server Window. This will give me a second server window, which I can connect to a separate network than my first server window.

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Ashley equals very upset and annoyed.

I mean, its awesome that you guys are trying to get everyone to chat and into because not everyone uses AIM.

But, I happen to be an active AIM chatter, but, I have tried IRC that you gave mulsiple times, and my computer just likes to be well, how can I put this, it just doesnt work. Internet explorer has issues on my computer and Firefox seems not to support many things.

So now I am very sad, and yes, I have tried many things to fix my computer, I am good with computers.

I DONT LIKE BEING LEFT OUT!

[I am gone for a week and no one does AIM anymore :( ]

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

yeah i am still having problems configuring a good IRC client. Though I use AIM all the time when I am not on vacation. Always looking for new buddies.

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Incidentally, if you use gaim for your AIM client, you can configure it to connect to IRC as well - it's under "Accounts".

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

If anyone needs help configuring mIRC, send me a PM and I can walk you through it

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Fine you guys, I gave into your little wants!

I hate you all :p

I am on IRC now. ::sigh::

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Anyone know what this means?

It's been a long while since I've tried to join one of these FIRST chats and I've never seen this problem. I've tried it with the web based chat, x-chat, and mirc.

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

On a related note, Xchat now officially sucks. I loved it back in the tigerbolt days, but now you have to pay $20 for it. I also hate the new interface. :(

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Uh, this xchat? Pay? It's OSS as near as I can tell. I don't mind the "new" interface, what specifically bothers you about it? You could always get the old version.

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Im getting the exact same error Clark is getting....

Is this a firewall related issue? Some insight would be great.

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

You may use X-Chat for Windows for free for 30 days. If, after this time, you would like to continue using the product, you are required to register. Registration is a one time fee of $20 USD (United States Dollars) which can be paid using the PayPal service below.
Q. Why isn't the Windows version free?
A. Building X-Chat for Windows is a difficult process, it requires quite some skill and expertise to accomplish. It takes time, and is by no means automated.

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Clark, DJ, Ive run into that error before...the time I had it either the server network was down, or I was behind a firewall with a particular port blocked. I dont know if this will help you or not though.

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

If you must use Windows and you want to use X-Chat, you could use http://x.cygwin.com/

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

You'd have to be quite serious about your preference to go to that length :yikes:

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

or if you use trillian...

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

If you like xchat, try this: http://www.silverex.org/news/

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Don't forget to register your nickname by using this command.
/msg nickserv register <your-password>

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Is the java chat (and the nonnebots site) broken? It says I'm forbidden.

Re: FIRST Chat!
 

Yes, the java applet is broken for now. Apparently the host for the Nonnebots site had an issue with the server the site is hosted on. They're working on getting everything straightened out. Not sure when it will be back up, but if it's not up by tomorrow, I'll set up the applet on another server.