| Chatting
On The Internet
|
| NOTE:
CalWeb Internet Services does not provide support for IRC and other
Internet "chat" or messaging programs. Use of these
programs is at the user's own risk. Abusive behavior, such as
"flooding", "nukes", running a Trojan program,
and excessive pinging, is considered a violation of CalWeb's
Acceptable use policy. |
| What
is instant messaging? |
Instant messaging is a
program that allows for a one-on-one text chat with another person
on the Internet in real time. Usually, both you and the other must
be running the same message client in order to communicate, and both
of you must be on-line at the same time. Many people have found
Instant Messaging, along with e-mail, as a cost-effective way to
communicate with family members who live far away. |
| Can
I chat with friends who have America OnLine's™ online service? |
| Yes. You will need to
download and install the AOL
Instant Messenger program, commonly called AIM. (Note: AIM is
included as part of recent versions of the Netscape browser
software.) You do not have to be a subscriber to America Online to
use this program. |
| What
other instant messaging programs are available? |
| Some of the commonly used
programs include:
|
|
| What
does the :), :(, and ;) mean? |
| If you turn your head
sideways, you would see a smile, a frown, and a wink. For some of
the instant messaging programs, the :) and such turns into a
graphical smiley. |
| What
are some of the common acronyms used? |
| In order to save time
chatting, some common phrases are abbreviated to a few simple
keystrokes. Some of these include:
brb=be right back, bbl=be
back later, np=no problem, lol=laughing out loud, rofl=rolling on
(the) floor laughing, imho=in my humble opinion, iirc=if I recall
correctly, j/k=just kidding, wb=welcome back, rtfm=read the fine
manual. |
| What
is IRC, and how does it work? |
| IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
provides a way of communicating in real time with people from all
over the world. It consists of various separate networks (or
"nets") of IRC servers, machines that allow users to
connect to IRC. Generally, the user (such as you) runs a program
(called a "client") to connect to a server on one of the
IRC nets. The server relays information to and from other servers on
the same net. Recommended clients include:
Be sure to read the
documentation for your client!
Once connected to an IRC
server on an IRC network, you will usually join one or more
"channels" and converse with others there. (On EFnet,
there often are more than 12,000 channels, each devoted to a
different topic.) Conversations may be public (where everyone in a
channel can see what you type) or private (messages between only two
people, who may or may not be on the same channel). |
| What
are the rules on IRC chat? |
The best advice is:
- Be polite! Remember,
people do judge you by what you say and how you say it.
- IRC is not a
"game". Treat the other chatters on-line like you
would in real life.
- Typing in ALL CAPITALS
is considered "shouting", and should be avoided.
- If someone starts
harassing or flooding you, leave the channel or use the /ignore
command.
- Keep on the topic of
the room chat, and head the channel operators advice. If you
antagonize them, you may be "kicked" off the channel
forcibly and possibly "banned" from returning.
- Don't disclose any
personal information in a chat room (such as street address,
phone numbers, etc.) Not everyone on chat is who he or she
claims to be.
Harassment, abusive
behavior, and such is not only a violation of CalWeb's acceptable
use policy, it can result in CalWeb customers being denied access to
a particular chat server or entire IRC chat network. |
| What
is "flooding"? |
| Flooding is intentionally
repeating the same text over and over in a short period of time, or
put out a lot of meaningless text. People who are flooding a channel
are either "kicked" or "banned" from a chat
channel. |
| What
are some of the popular chat networks? |
| Some of the popular IRC
chat networks include:
|
|
| Does
CalWeb have any local chat servers? |
| CalWeb does not host any
chat servers on it's network at this time. |
| What
is CalWeb's policy on "bots"? |
| Our policy is strictly no
bots on CalWeb-hosted services, as this is a violation of CalWeb's
acceptable use policy. |
| What
does the @ sign next to the user's nickname mean in a chat channel? |
| An @ sign next to a user
name in a IRC chat room means that the person is a channel operator.
You are advised to listen to what they have to say, as they have the
authority to either kick you from a channel, or even ban you from
entering a channel. |
| For
more information... |
| For more information about
chatting on the Internet, see the following resources:
Comments about this FAQ? E-mail
us!
Note: Links to external web sites are provided for informational
purposes, and are neither endorsed nor supported by CalWeb Internet
Services. |
Serving California Since 1993.
