Windows Users: Installing and Setting Up mIRC
For those of you using Windows, I recommend using mIRC as your IRC
client software. Download the installer from their site and install it.
The installation process should take less than a minute.
Once you’ve installed mIRC, you should launch it so that you can set
the name you’ll use in the chat. When you launch mIRC, you should be
greeted with this “About” window:
You can use mIRC for free for 30 days, so you don’t have to register and pay for it immediately. Click the Continue button.
The “About” window will disappear and the “mIRC Options” window will appear:
Enter your full name and email address into the Full Name and Email Address text fields.
On IRC, a nickname is the name that appears beside anything you “say”.
It’s like the name that appears beside whatever you “say” on other chat
systems such as AIM, MSN Chat, Yahoo! Chat or ICQ. Think up a nickname
and enter it into the Nickname text field.
In case your nickname has already been taken, enter an alternate nickname into the Alternative text field.
Once you’ve done this, click the OK button, then exit mIRC. mIRC has now been set up.
Mac Users: Installing and Setting Up Colloquy
For those of you using Mac OS X, I recommend using Colloquy as your IRC
client software. Download the .zip from their site and unzip it. Unzipping it will create a folder that will contain the Colloquy program; drag it to your Applications folder.
That’s all the setup you’ll need to do.
Joining the “Ask Tucows” Chat
Windows Users
The easiest way to join the “Ask Tucows” chat is to either:
- Click this link
- Point your browser at this URL: irc://irc.freenode.net/asktucows
This will automatically launch mIRC and connect it to the “Ask Tucows” channel.
Mac Users
The easiest way to join the “Ask Tucows” chat is to either:
- Click this link
- Point your browser at this URL: irc://irc.freenode.net/asktucows
This will automatically launch Colloquy, which will pop up a “New Connection” window:
On IRC, a nickname is the name that appears beside anything you “say”.
It’s like the name that appears beside whatever you “say” on other chat
systems such as AIM, MSN Chat, Yahoo! Chat or ICQ. Think up a nickname
and enter it into the Nickname text field.
Enter irc.freenode.net into the Chat Server text field.
Click the Connect button. You will now be in the “Ask Tucows” channel.
Chatting
Chatting in IRC is similar to other “chat room” programs such as AIM, MSN Chat, Yahoo! Chat or ICQ. Type what you want to “say” and hit the “Enter” button to “say” it.
For the Windows users, here’s what a chat session looks like:
What people say is preceded by their nicknames. The right column displays who else is participating in the chat. Any nickname in the right column that is preceded by an “@” sign is a channel operator and is in charge of the channel.
For the Mac users, here’s what a chat session looks like:
What people say is preceded by their nicknames. The drawer on the right displays who else is participating in the chat. Any nickname in the
right column that is preceded by a silhouette with a red background is a channel operator and
is in charge of the channel.
In anticipation of the number of podcasts I’m supposed to produce this year (such as 
