Just a quick note, this is not official - and maybe not practical, but...

since when I'm at home (or ~) I always have the computer on, I thought I'd hang in an IRC channel so that other Nerdkittiens (whats the collective noun for users/members of Nerdkits?) could converse if they should wish. I tend to work long hours (and I'm on UK time), so whilst I wont always be there, there is a chance you may catch me. If other choose to join (and sit there not saying much) then it could prove as backup assistance to this forum (although I appreciate that ideas shared would not benefit the whole community - but it's a spare of the moment thing).

So... if you want to say 'Hi' then all are welcome.

Connect your IRC client to irc.freenode.net and join #nerdkits

Ah, #nerdkits @ Freenode! Count me in.

Btw. I propose an unofficial naming hierarchy

• Nerdsperts (Mike & Humberto)
• Nerdiates (us)
• ...
• ... (profit?)

We need people in the IRC channel. People!

Channel hungry.

Seriously, guys, visit #NerdKits on irc.freenode.net. mcai8sh4 owns the channel. We've hoarded drinks and bowls of peanuts. Bring your NerdKits toys and let's party!

haha - it does seem to be either just me or just Wayward on most of the time (damn time zones), but our visits do overlap.

It would be nice to see others in there occasionally, even just to say 'hi'. It's more of a social thing, NerdKits themed, but any subject welcome.

Since there's only wayward and me frequenting (with guest appearances from our friendly hosts - Humberto and Mike), it's a nice friendly place.. so don't be shy, come and have a natter!

But you must be warned, the drinks are going fast!

ahh.. just went in the channel but seems like I was the only one there. :-/

Yeah, it's quite quiet, I'm in from about 5:30 - 11:30 (GMT) and randomly at weekends. Wayward is usually around.

If you check every once in a while, someone will be there. It'd be nice to see some more people there - great for developing ideas, and having pointless chats!

what would be a good client to use, I've never knowingly used an IRC before

If your on windows, mIRC is a good one (very common - don't know if it's free though), there are many others. I use irssi on linux (but it's a little confusing to configure initially), then there's xchat (pretty easy, free) or pidgin might be ok (never used it though).

If it's free, then I think mIRC would be the best bet. Hope to see you on there soon (unless I'm in bed!)

ooh, just looked at mIRC - it's free... for 30 days, maybe xchat would be better.

i looked up xchat, and the "official" windows build is free for 30 days after that its a one time fee of $20 (US).....

im starting to hate windows more and more...

oh - sorry about that (it's free on linux - so I assumed same for Win) Here's a list of free clients (although xchat is included, I can't figure that out) but see if you can find one that suits you and give it a whirl. Free IRC Clients

I like Pidgin's IRC support. It's fairly basic, although there are plugins that extend its functionality. I prefer having all of my instant messaging accounts neatly contained inside a single application.

Pidgin also works under Windows, and for OS X there's Adium, Pidgin's close relative.

Pidgin is what i ended up using, it seemed to work well, nice simple noob friendly interface

can you explain how to connect? i have instaled pidgin, how do i connect? thanks

on pidgin, after you make an IRC account in the add account section, you click join chat and type in #nerdkits to log into the room

When many IRC clients (like mIRC for example) are installed, they will allow you to use a URL to click on to join (no fuss).

irc://irc.freenode.net/NerdKits

irc://irc.freenode.net/AVR

Nerdful

This channel still alive?

Yep, the channel is still living - although it's been quite quiet for a while. I'm still there most evenings(GMT) and there's usually a few others loitering. If you get no response to your questions/chat, don't worry, with it being quiet it takes a while to notice something's been said :)

Hope to chat to you on there soon.

-steve

I'm usually sitting at my bench most evenings tinkering from around 9PM PST to usually midnight. I have a computer sitting right in front of me, so I don't see why I couldn't be hanging out in IRC. But I'm in California, and it sounds like you're in GB Steve, or another European country on GMT. :) So, with me be -8 from your time, I guess I need to start popping in while I'm at work :)

Hope to see you and anyone else who wants to join.

Ted

I took a look at the IRC and was completely lost and confused... What am I missing?

Silverex has a nice free xchat build for windows. http://www.silverex.org/news/

I have not used Windows much for many years but that build of xchat worked great last time I tried it. I normally run irssi and xchat on Linux.

For free irc client on Windows and linux there is a Mozilla Firefox add-on called Chatzilla.

Its pre-configured to let you get on freenode and several other irc nets.

Richard