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Presents:

IRC Chat Info

Next Chat on Filknet's #AphelionWebzine Scheduled:

Now Open All theTime!
Channel open right now! -- Still planning to be open 'til midnight, or later! --
Operators are standing by...

The schedule as it has evolved as of 7/31/2003:

That's easy, there isn't one. No one has used the chatroom for a long time. I'd like to have a readers and writers chat once a week or so, but getting everyone co-ordinated is a daunting task. Because Aphelion's readers and writers come from all over the world, there isn't any one time that will best suit everyone. Most of the Aphelion staff are on US Eastern Standard Time, and most of the staff work days, so evenings EST seem to be the best bet. I, personally, attend a weekly Tuesday night chat already, but other nights of the week are open. Please use the Lettercol or e-mail me with your opinions. I'd really like to get a weekly chat going.

Dan


The schedule as it has evolved as of 2/16/2001:

Thanks to our new bartender-bot, Max, the channel is now open 24-7-365, for anyone to meet at any time. You no longer have to wait for an Editorial Mafia member or one of the Un-Usual Suspects to show up to use the channel. Max can hold the channel open, serve drinks, reply to questions, spout trivia, and so forth.
As to non-digital netizens;
Rob is usually in the channel during office hours, 9 AM to 5 PM on weekdays and from home most nights. Cary, who is an old hand at IRC, pops in most weeknights anytime between 8 PM and 11 PM-- But he also makes visits during the daytime. Jeff is new to IRC, but he jumped right in and has begun visiting in the evenings any time between 8 PM and 11 PM.
My own schedule depends on my swing shift job. I work 4 days, off 4 days, work 4 nights, off 4 days, lather , rinse, repeat. When I'm working dayshift I usually make it to the channel anytime after 8 PM and stay there up 'til mindight. If I'm too tired, I quit earlier. When I'm working nightshift I usually log on about 7:30 AM and quit to go to bed no later than 10 AM. If I don't sleep late, I often check into the channel between 3 PM and 5:45 PM. On my days off, anything goes. I may be online for 18 hours, I may not turn the computer on that day. Usually, I'll log on in the early morning, keep the chatroom running in the background while I do other things, break for lunch, come back and stay in the channel until I break for dinner, come back and stay until after midnight, then log out. My body's clock adjusts itself gradually to change from dayshift to nightshift and back again, so my hours in the channel either get later each day as I prepare for nightshift, or earlier as I prepare for dayshift.
General estimated times for any given day are:
Morning: 4:00/5:00 until 11:00 AM
Afternoon: 2:00 until 6:00 PM
Evening: 8:00/9:00 PM until 2:00/3:00 AM
and/or
Late Night: 1:00 AM - Until...
As needed.

All times are US EST

For a quick look at the Java chat client for your web browser and the #AphelionWebzine channel on Filknet,
Click here for Aphelion Instant Java Chat.
This will also tell you if there's anyone else already in the new chatroom.

And all times are subject to circumstance... Murphy seldom misses a chance to make a point. Cary, Rob, and I can cover lots of differing times as we work out a schedure. The above schedule is based on several variables; [1] Rob having access to the channel during working hours as well as from home after work, [2] Cary having time in the late afternoons to late evenings during weekdays and whatever time on weekends permits, [3] my own days off from my odd swing-shift working schedule, (And even then, sometimes I do nod off in front of the keyboard. Or sleep late. Or chuck it all and take Cindy to dinner. Or have to actually go to work to get paid that week), [4] whatever schedule Jeff and any others of the Aphelion staff choose to adopt, and [5] if/when a crowd of "the usual suspects" (IE readers and writers) develops their own schedule. We've already had some writers drop by and hope to see more of them, and you. We'll work something out. Right now, Rob, Cary, Jeff, and I all have been in the chatroom, and will attempt to schedule regular times to visit again as Channel Operators. You can test the waters without leaving your web browser through a link below, or you can download one of the IRC programs also linked to below.

Dan

Basic Info

An official Aphelion IRC channel for real-time discussion, brainstorming, and general hanging out, do we need one? Maybe not, but right now we've got two! One, already on DALnet, called #AphelionWebzine and another on Filknet with the same name. They are both open and registered. All you need to do is download an IRC Client program, install it, set it up, and you're off! The DALnet channel is going to be phased out starting now, as we can provide a fair browser-based JAVA chat client for the Filknet #AphelionWebzine channel. Robert Wynne has pointed out that there is a JAVA applet that we could obtain that is a passible-- but not great --IRC chat client. I tested it on 2-7-01 and decided to add it to the features at Aphelion. The DALnet channel will be extinct by mid March of 2001.

Again, for a quick look at the Java chat client for your web browser and the #AphelionWebzine channel on Filknet,
Click here for Aphelion Instant Java Chat.
This will tell you if there's anyone else already in the new chatroom, also.

It may help to think of IRC as a *very* fast Lettercol. One that's monitored whenever an Aphelion staff member is present. You can have an ongoing log of the channel for use later if you've brainstormed up a good story idea. I used to spend several evenings (Eastern Standard Time in the USA) a week on IRC, chatting with friends and meeting new people from all over the world. I have had less time than I'd of liked to spend there lately, but that may change in the near future.

For DALnet: For discussion of this and other ideas related to Aphelion I have found it helpful to talk to writers and artists in real-time on the DALnet IRC (Internet Relay Chat) network. If this sounds interesting to you, then download one of the Chat Client programs (such as mIRC, Pirch, or any of several others... Sadly, I cannot recommend Netscape Chat as I had a lot of trouble with that one), connect to a DALnet server, add the nickname VilaResthal to the Notify List, and join a channel called #AphelionWebzine when the Notify List tells you that I am online. Remember, this info will be invalid by mid-March 2001 as we are going to abandon the DALnet channel.

Alternately, (since we're going to do away with the DALnet channel soon then this is the paragraph that you want to read carefully) to go to the newest Aphelion chat channel you will have to add a server to the IRC program's server list, then add a channel to the channels list of the program. The server to add is irc.us.filknet.org and the port is 6667, the channel is of course #AphelionWebzine and the process of adding these to your selected chat program will differ. I've already found the Filknet channel to be more stable and less prone to trolls and channel hackers. That, with the fact that Aphelion can provide a browser-based chat window from the Zine has convinced me of the utility of changing server networks for the channel. I'm Dan Hollifield and my nick on Filknet is Vila, that of Rob Wynne is Doc, and that of Cary Semar is Astrogator. This channel on Filknet will become the sole Aphelion chatroom available.

The Homepages of some popular brands of chat software are:

And these are the Help Pages for those programs:


mIRC is the program that I use, so all the advice below works better for that program than the others. But on the other hand, its generally true for all of them.

After installing the program you will have to set up the Options and connect to a server. There are hundreds of different servers for the major and minor chat networks. Because it was the most useful for Aphelion, I've set up #AphelionWebzine on Filknet. The server to add is irc.us.filknet.org and the port is 6667, the channel is of course #AphelionWebzine. Once you get connected, then you'll have to pick a channel to join.

After you've connected to the Filknet server (irc.us.filknet.org and the port is 6667), there should be a shortlist of channels that will let you add #AphelionWebzine to the others. Then you can hit the "Join" button, or type /join #AphelionWebzine in the "Status" window. That should take you to the channel. If there is someone else there, you can start talking. One good thing about Chat, it helps speed up your typing.

Times that someone might be expected to be online in the channel can be posted in the Lettercol for now, or e-mailed privately. The schedule quoted at the top of the page will be updated as it evolves.

One last chance to
Test out Aphelion Instant JAVA Chat on Filknet.


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