On a nearly daily basis many of us gather here at JU to post articles about whatever is currently on our minds, to argue over current events and politics, or to just post the latest joke etc.. Some of us have made a few friends (and maybe a few enemies) and email or instant message back and forth outside of JU. But as of yet there isn't really a spot for everyone to gather and chat in real time with one another...

Until now!

This article is to announce that JU has an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel on Stardock's IRC server! If you want to join up and chat with us, you'll need to have an IRC client. Here are three programs that you might use to connect:

1. mIRC (Windows) - http://www.mirc.com/
   This is one of the standard IRC clients for Windows. It's shareware and after 30 days or so it will nag you to pay, but it will never lose functionality.
2. IRCLE (Mac OS) - http://www.ircle.com/
   IMO, the best IRC Client for the Mac. You have to register this after 30 days or else the program shuts down after 30min of use. If you're a Mac user though and use IRC much at all, it's worth the price.
3. Stardock Central (Windows) -https://www.stardock.com/products/sdcentral/
   Did you know that Stardock's software distribution tool, Stardock Central (SDC) has a built-in IRC client? While it's not as full-featured as mIRC or IRCLE, it does the job if you're just looking to dabble with the world of online chat.

In addition to those three there are other programs like Trillian, XChat and so on that do the job just as well. You'll need to read the documentation on each program to learn how to set your user information (Nickname etc) and how to connect to a server. If you have questions regarding the three applications listed above, post them as a comment and I'll try and answer them as quickly as I can.

Now, once you have your IRC client downloaded, installed and configured, it's time to join the fun! Here's what you'll do:

1. From the Console/Status screen you'll type the following command and then hit enter:
   /server irc.stardock.com
2. Once connected to the server (when all the text stops scrolling), you join the JoeUser chat room by typing this:
   /join #joeuser

You're in! The list of people in the room should be displayed somewhere on the right of your screen, now you can chat your heart out!

Rules...

Ok, now this is the un-fun part of the post; The Rules. I know how we all get here on JU at times, how tempers flare and discussion gets a bit too "spirited." Because of this, we need to take the standard JU Terms of Service/Use and extend them a bit. Here are the rules for #JoeUser:

1. All rules stated in the JoeUser Terms of Service apply fully to the chat room
2. You can not directly attack or insult another user in chat, period.
   If you have a serious disagreement, take it to private messages. We want to make the chat room as friendly and inviting as possible. This means you need to keep your emotions in check and play it cool. Remember what Thumper's mom said in Bambi: If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. It's a good rule to live by
3. Do NOT carry arguments from the chat room into Blogs
   If you get into a fiery argument with someone on IRC, please do not attempt to make an end-run around #2 by moving it to a flamebait article post. Note that this doesn't mean you can't carry discussions into blogs, that's fine and encouraged, it's fights we don't want to see.
4. Do not spam or be a general pest
   This one is pretty subjective and up to the channel operators currently present. Just don't be annoying or flood the channel and you'll be fine

It's pretty basic really... just act as you would if you were standing face-to-face with the people you're chatting with. Keep it civil and nice and we'll all have a lot more fun in chat.

Now, what are rules without corrective actions to enforce them?

1. First violation - Warning.
   You'll get a simple warning letting you know you crossed a line.
2. Second violation - Kick
   On your second violation, you'll be kicked temporarily from the chat room. This is a stronger warning to let you know that you're going too far. You can rejoin the channel immediately after a simple kick.
3. Third violation and on...- Temporary Ban
   If you persist in breaking the rules you will receive a temporary ban from the channel. A ban will kick you from the channel and prevent you from returning for a certain amount of time. The first ban will be for 5 minutes. Each violation beyond this will increase the ban time by an additional 10 minutes. If you really keep at it, you will eventually receive a permanent ban. This is a last-resort action that we don't want to take, but if you are determined to be a problem, you won't be allowed back in.

Channel Operators...

In an attempt to keep the peace in the channel, there will be a few chat users with "Operator" status. These people have the ability to enforce the rules through kicks and bans. You can recognize a channel operator by either a red color to their name in the user list, or an @ symbol preceding their name. Other special users may have a period (.) in front of their name or have a purple-ish coloring to their names. In the case of myself (Zoomba) the dot indicates channel owner. In other cases it indicates Stardock employees with Super-Op powers (it is their IRC server after all). Any Operators or Stardock Employees have final authority in the chat room.

If no operators are present or if they're idle and not paying attention to chat and a violation occurs, please record the violation and send a private message to myself (Zoomba) if I'm online, or to Danny Bassette if he's online. We'll look it over and take care of it as soon as we can.

Final Notes...

This channel isn't an "Official" portion of JoeUser, it's not run directly by Stardock and they're not responsible for what takes place. They are simply allowing us to host it on their IRC server. Please do not email Brad or Karma or any other Stardock Employee with complaints/comments/issues regarding the chat room.

Thanks to Danny Bassette for starting things up with the chat room and getting a few of us in there now and then to chat.

We look forward to chatting with you! We're open 24/7 so come by whenever the urge strikes you