On the PCMech LIVE show I do every week Wednesdays from 8pm-10pm EST I periodically get asked if there is an alternative way to participate in chat. This is because for some the text chat using the browser method is just too small, and/or the chat text scrolls by too fast for some to read, and so on.

Yes, there is an alternative way. You can connect by using a traditional IRC chat client.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Get a Ustream account.

This is free. Go to www.ustream.tv and sign up an account. You do this so you have a name of your own in chat rather than ustream-12345 random number assignment as a chat name.

2. Know the necessary server information and channel name.

Ustream has to the best of my knowledge four chat servers, that being:

• chat01.ustream.tv
• chat02.ustream.tv
• chat03.ustream.tv
• chat04.ustream.tv

The channel name for the PCMech LIVE show is:

#David-Risley-Show

All IRC channels start with the # symbol, so it must be included.

The reason to know all the servers is just in case one is acting slow. Should that occur, you have other servers you can connect to which may be much faster.

3. Pick an IRC client that you’d like to use.

There are several available, but here are some more popular choices:

mIRC

Not free, but the best there is for Windows.

Pidgin

Known primary as an instant messenger client but has very good IRC support.

Chatzilla

An add-on for the Firefox browser. Easy to use and easy on the eyes.

XChat

Free for Linux, pay-software for Windows. Arguably one of the best IRC clients for Linux.

Colloquy

IRC client for Mac OS X. Arguably the best there is for the Mac.

There are many others, but the point is that you’ve got some good choices.

4. How to connect the manual way

(All IRC clients have ways of automating logins to servers and joining channels, which I’ll get to in a moment.)

First you set your "nick," that being your nickname:

/nick your-ustream-username

Next you connect to a chat server.

/server chat01.ustream.tv

When connected you may be prompted (but not always) to enter your Ustream account password, this is done by issuing in the command:

/PASS your-ustream-password

After that, you join a channel. For the PCMech LIVE show, this is the command:

/join #David-Risley-Show

5. Automating things in IRC

Each client automates the way it does things differently, so you will have to refer to the client documentation to figure out how to get things done automatically.

I can give you a few tips however.

• Usually when you set your "nick" for the first time, it will keep that name for any time you want to connect in the future. This allows you to skip the /nick command entirely.
• Nearly all IRC clients have a way of storing server addresses (ex: chat01.ustream.tv.) Using this feature will allow you to skip the /server command entirely.
• Nearly all IRC clients have a "Favorites" feature where you can specify favorite channels. Using this feature you can setup up #David-Risley-Show as a favorite that you can simply double-click to join once connected and authenticated. This allows you to skip the /join command entirely.

The only thing on Ustream IRC you can’t skip is the /PASS command. This is something unique to Ustream as it does not use what’s called a nickname server (known simply as the command /nickserv on many popular IRC services.)

Features of using a traditional IRC client over the browser way

Customized interface

You can use a white background with black text, black background with white text or whatever other color combination you like. You can also use any font you want using any size.

Much better buffer control

The chat area for Ustream in the browser is too small for many and text whips by too fast. Using the IRC client you have a much larger window and can scroll up and down thru it easily compared to the browser.

/ignore command

Is there a chatter bothering you that you don’t want to see? Use "/ignore username" and ta-da, you don’t see their text anymore for the remainder of the chat session.

Easier direct messaging

Although this is generally frowned upon unless you specifically ask the user first, you can easily double-click any chatters name and it will pop up a secondary window for direct chat, similar to an instant message. This is sometimes known as "PM’ing" a user, with PM meaning personal message or private message. The browser method allows this as well, but it’s a bit tough to manage because the chat window is so small.

See you Wednesdays from 8pm-10pm EST!

Now that you’ve got the know-how, chatting on PCMech LIVE will be a much easier experience if the browser method proved to be inconvenient for you.

Also bear in mind the instructions above will work for any Ustream chat, even for shows other than ours. All you have to know is the channel name (as in the name with the # in front of it.) Any show host should know this information and will readily give it to you so you can connect via IRC client instead of the browser.

Text mode conferencing is one of the oldest forms of communications on the internet. You commonly know this as participating in a "chat room."

This form of communication has lasted as long has for three very good reasons:

1. It requires the least possible bandwidth necessary in order to do it. You don’t get any smaller in bandwidth usage than plain text.
2. Even if you have the slowest/crappiest internet connection, you can still participate in text chat. Heck, it even works on dialup.
3. It’s the easiest to use compared to any other mode of conferencing on the internet.

Why would you want to use text mode conferencing?

Other than just for the fun of it, if you find that with instant messaging the one-to-one isn’t enough, and you need to involve more people in the conversation, conferencing fits the bill nicely. Bear in mind that many businesses use this, so it’s not just personal use territory only. In particular, many customer service/help desk environments do employ the use of an in-house chat room so that the support team and techs can interact with each other easily without the need to chase around with phone calls and/or emails.

Ways you can do text chat conferencing

1. IRC

Requirements: Web browser or IRC chat client

If you want to create your own IRC channel, you must register it with a chat service like DALnet or GameSurge, then periodically login to it so it doesn’t get deleted.

To participate in an IRC channel, you can either use an IRC client like mIRC, or use a free web service to connect like Mibbit. Mibbit is definitely the easier of the two.

Participants do not need to register accounts in order to chat.

2. Meebo

Requirements: Web browser

Meebo allows any user to create a custom chat room at whim. You can then use it exclusively in Meebo or embed the chat into a web page if you have your own web site.

Like IRC, participants do not need to register an accounts in order to chat (but is recommended.)

3. Tinychat

Requirements: Web browser

This one is easiest of the bunch. Go to Tinychat, type in a name for your chat room, create it, invite others. It’s that simple. Rooms on Tinychat are designed to be disposable, so you don’t have to register anything in order to use it.

Similar services to Tinychat: Chatmaker, Chatroll

4. Yahoo! Messenger Chat Rooms

Requirements: Yahoo Messenger

In Y! Messenger you click Messenger then Yahoo! Chat then Join a Room…

At that point you see this window appear:

Simply pick where you want to go and go there. Other participants also have to have Y! Messenger and connect to the same room you’re in.

At present, Y! does not allow the creation of custom chat rooms or the ability to connect via the browser, both of which were previously available.

5. AIM Chat Rooms

Requirements: AIM client or browser

For many of us, AOL was the first place where we ever experienced a chat room. They are still out there and still available. In addition, you can create custom chat rooms at whim and invite your friends to join it easily. This to the best of my knowledge has always been part of the software.

In the latest edition of AIM, that being version 7, this feature is now called "Group Chat." To access it, click Menu then New Group Chat, or simply open your Buddy List and press ALT+C. At that point a chat invitation window will open. Type in the names you want to send the invites to, then click Send. The chat room then opens up.

Don’t feel like installing anything and would rather use the browser? No problem. Use AIM Express. After you login, click the small icon for a drop-down menu and create a group chat, like this:

What "saved" text mode conferencing?

In reality, text conferencing was never in any real danger of going away. It’s one of those methods of communications on the internet that goes up and down with popularity based on whatever people are using at the time to communicate with.

The first modern communications method that resurrected text conferencing (oddly enough) is video, as in live streaming video. I do this every week on Wednesday 8pm-10pm EST with PCMech LIVE. And it turns out that on most live streams, including ours, the way the audience interacts with the host is thru text conferencing.

The second method is smartphones. Being that text is universally compatible no matter what computer you use, smartphones definitely do count. On the live show I host there are participants who routinely connect using a phone to text-chat with. The technology is good enough, so people can and do use it.

Do you use text mode conferencing, a.k.a. chat rooms?

If so, do you host and/or participate? Do you find it easy or difficult to work with?

IRC is one of those things that either you get or you don’t. You probably know IRC as chat rooms. But if you said that to a diehard IRC user, he or she would give you a dirty look or two because "chat room" is a term originally popularized by AOL. And to be technically correct, IRC has no chat rooms. They’re called channels. Maybe that’s a nerdy nit-picky thing, but it wouldn’t be the internet without nerds getting ticked off over minutia like that.

The best app for IRC depends on what OS you’re using. IRC is best used with a true client rather than the web-based way (like Mibbit, which seems to get increasingly banned on many IRC servers these days, hence the reason I don’t use nor recommend it).

On Windows, the best IRC client is mIRC. It’s been around seemingly forever (even as far back as the Windows 3.1 days) and has proven time and time again to be a solid, stable chat app.

On Mac OS X, the IRC app used most is Colloquy. Were I using OS X I would use that and nothing else for IRC purposes. It is the best for the Mac, no question. And you can even go mobile with it.

On Linux, XChat is the best. I have tried several different IRC apps over the years with Linux, but time and time again I keep going back to XChat whenever I’m using a Linux distro.

Platform independent IRC applications (works in any OS):

• Chatzilla – A Firefox add-on.
• Pidgin – Primarily an instant messaging client but also does IRC. Note for Mac users: Adium uses the same backend Pidgin does and also does IRC the same way.

Do you use IRC?

If you do, what’s your OS and preferred IRC app of choice? Let us know in the comments.

For those that join us live every week on Wednesdays from 8pm to 10pm EST, you may find it easier to use chat if you alternatively connect using an IRC client like Chatzilla instead of the in-browser way. This video shows you how to do that.