Methods Of Chat Essay, Research Paper

At one time, most chatting was done on porches or over a back yard fence. But

not any more! Now you can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world, anytime you

want, without paying a dime in long distance phone charges.

How can you do this? Let us count the ways:

1. IRC

2. Telnet

3. ASP Chat Rooms

4. Net Phone.

5. Instant Messaging

Internet Relay Chat

IRC is a network service, designed with the Internet in mind. It allows two or more

people to talk to one another live. These chats are carried on by typing instead of

talking. The network transmits a message from one typist to the other people in

the conversation. Any or all of them can then type in their responses.

IRC is simple to use if you know how, and we’re going to teach you how. First, you

need a computer that’s linked to a network with an IRC Server. (A server is a

computer on a network that stores files for and fulfills requests from other

computers on the network.) If you have an Internet connection you are already

on the largest network in the world, and you have access to many, many IRC

Servers.

Clients

IRC client software is the next thing you’ll need. That’s the software on your

computer that will let you chat over the Internet Here are a few examples of IRC

client software:

mIRC

mIRC is an excellent IRC client. You can download mIRC at:

Good Manners

TIP: Don’t just blurt out a message the moment you join a channel, although it

doesn’t hurt to say “Hello!” People in that channel might be carrying on a

conversation and you might interrupt them. Wait a few moments to see if there is

a conversation going on. Manners are just as important on IRC as they are

anyplace else. If you are polite about it, you’ll find the other people on IRC will

help you learn all the tricks of using IRC.

Your Own Channel

You can start your own channel by using a channel name that is not in use

already. When you start a channel, you get channel operator status which means

you can make your channel a public, private, or secret channel. You can setup

your channel so that only those people you invite can join the channel.

There are all sorts of neat things you can do once you learn how to use IRC. For

example you can send private messages — sort of like whispering — to other

people, even though you are in a public channel. You can also send files directly

to other people using IRC. To learn more about IRC, check out the above links.

Telnet

What is Telnet?

Telnet is a program designed to let you log in to another computer over the

Internet. In most cases you must have a valid, authorized username and password

for the remote machine, although there are a few public services which let anyone

log in.

How to use Telnet?

If you are using Microsoft Windows, Telnet is already built into your computer!

Please follow the instructions below on how to use Telnet.

1. First, you must open the Telnet program. You may have a downloaded version

of Telnet. If you have not downloaded Telnet software, do not panic. If you are

using Windows ‘95, Windows ‘98, or Windows NT4, click Start, Run. Then in the

run box, type Telnet. Your Telnet program will start. If you are using Windows

3.11 or Windows NT 3.51, click on file, run, then again type Telnet to open your

Telnet program.

2. Now that the program is open, simply click on Connect under the file menu. It

will ask you for your domain name. Enter your domain name without the http or

www part. Once you enter the domain name, and log onto your account, it will

ask you for a User ID and a password. Simply enter your information, and you are

logged into your account through Telnet.

3. Once you finish your work in Telnet, type: ‘logout’ to exit.

Connecting

Computer Names in Telnet

The names of machines are usually in the format machine.site.network, for

example rtfm.mit.edu, Note: some countries add a fourth, and sometimes even a fifth

element to the name, eg. juno.cs.soton.ac.uk. but you can also use

the numeric IP address (four numbers separated by dots, e.g.

18.70.0.209) if you know it.

To connect, type the command Telnet followed by the machine name or IP

address: Telnet wotcha.umb.edu or Telnet 18.70.0.209

The remote machine will respond with the login prompt (and sometimes a warning

message about remote usage). Login as you would locally (give your username,

press the Enter key, then type your password and press Enter again). From then

on, it is exactly as if you were logged in, sitting at their site.

Don’t forget to log out when you have finished!

Graphical Telnet.

Graphical Telnet Programs for Windows usually let you store frequently-used

addresses and retrieve them from a menu so you don’t have to retype them every

time. In these cases, it is probably not a good idea to store the passwords as

well, since anyone who can use your computer would also be able to log in to your

remote sites.

ASP Chat Rooms

ASP stands for Active Server Page, and it means that you can find nearly anything

conceivable built into World Wide Web pages. One quite common ASP application

is adding Chat Rooms to web sites. Since the operation and functionality of these

Chat Rooms depends directly on the ideas of the person who wrote the Web Page,

it’s difficult to find two exactly the same.

NetPhone

Wouldn’t it be great if you could call someone on the East Coast or even on the

other side of the world, and not have to pay a penny for the call? Well, you can, and it IS GREAT!

Internet Telephony

The technology is called Internet Telephony (pronounced ‘tell-a-funny’) and it’s

here today. Internet Telephony allows you to make long distance and overseas

calls over the Internet, rather than using a traditional long distance phone

company. That means you can talk to anyone as long as you want to, and all you

are paying for is the Internet connection.

How Internet Telephony works:

You make your Internet phone calls by using special software which turns your

voice into packets of data that are sent across the Internet. There are also

companies which will let you call from a PC to a regular telephone for a small fee,

or even between two telephones with the call going across the Internet.

There are even Internet Appliances which allow you to make calls without using a

PC. You just connect your telephone and it will automatically connect to the

Internet when you make a call.

Net Phone / More

Internet Telephony Hardware and Software

As I mentioned earlier, you will need special software and hardware to make

Internet Telephony work. For a very complete rundown on available software,

take a look at:

http://itel.mit.edu/itel/software.html

Hardware requirements usually include a microphone, sound card, voice modem,

reasonably fast computer and Internet connection, or some combination thereof.

Web-to-Phone Calling

This represents a major advance in IP telephony technology. It’s more than just

the ability to call from a PC to a regular telephone. PC-based calling requires a

client-side application running on the user’s computer.

This client application must first be purchased and installed on the user’s machine

in order to operate. This requires some advance planning and, therefore, limits the

practical uses for such a technology.

Web-based calling gives people the same benefits without having to first purchase

client software. The Web-to-phone interface works via a Web browser plug-in,

which can be downloaded from a Web site in minutes.

Once downloaded and installed, people can use the plug-in to place calls to other

PCs or to regular telephones. Once active, users are able to communicate in

real-time using their computer’s microphone and speakers.