IRC channel

From Compsci.ca Wiki

Revision as of 16:59, 24 March 2008

The #compsci.ca channel on IRC is where all the cool members are hanging out. Chances are, if you're not there, you're missing something exciting and important.

To join the CompSci.ca IRC community, you need an IRC Client. We recommend X-Chat. Join any of the servers and channels described below.

Networks

CompSci.ca community on AfterNET

Server: irc.afternet.org or irc.compsci.ca

Main Channel: #compsci.ca

Self-taught Programming Channel: #exile-cafe

History

Of The Main Channel

Much of #compsci.ca's early history is shrouded in mystery. Nobody is quite sure the exact time when it was created, but rumour has it that Coutsos was its founder, although he did not begin to regularly attend it until quite some time later. Its first regular inhabitants were wtd and a mysterious lurker named Ultrahex, who though a member of compsci does not seem to ever post on the forums. Things took off sometime in early 2005, when a wave of members, including Hikaru79, Coutsos, Cervantes, and Gandalf started regularly attending the channel. At present, #compsci.ca has a regular population of about ten, give or take, although it is subject to occasional flurries of activity, often when the moon is full.

As of April 15th, 2006, #compsci.ca is for CompSci.ca and programming related discussion. Excessive off topic discussion is to be held elsewhere.

Please note: The above rule of 'off topic discussion' rarely holds, and don't think you've gotta be a stickler. That doesn't mean you can be a jackass, though. And there often is a lot of programming talk, or otherwise geeky conversations, usually wtd dispensing out some parcel of wtd's infinite wisdom.

Of The Self-taught Programming Channel

This channel was thought of on the forums by wtd on December 14, 2005. The main interest of this new channel is Ruby and O'Caml. This channel is not for the people who are taught programming in high school but for the people who self-teach it. When wtd announced it, there was a great cheer for wtd since he created the channel for the rest of the users to use and ask questions about. Now that the #cs-self-taught channel has been merged into the #exile-cafe channel, all relevant discussion may proceed there.

Of The Compsci.ca Chat Channel

Founded in April 15th, 2006 during the Great IRC Crackdown of 2006, it was designed to reduce much of the spam going on in the #compsci.ca main room.

This new channel is a place for more relaxed chat, the old is for more CompSci.ca related discussion and computer science in general. Programming, operating systems, etc., it's all welcome in #compsci.ca. If you are going to spam, please join #compsci.ca-chat. If you spam too much, you will be devoiced and/or kicked.

As of July 2006 this channel's existance has dwindled, and it is no longer used. General discussion may take place in #compsci.ca in a moderated fashion. Spamming and the like are still not tolerated on the main channel.

Daily Life

Much of #compsci.ca's time is spent in utter silence (while its members spend time in deep personal reflection and thought), broken periodically by outbursts of conversation, instruction, and weirdness. Hilarity often ensues. Confusion can become rampant when the mature members take to stealing each other's nicknames (see Coutsos Identity Crisis). On a good day, wtd can be observed teaching some interesting, mind-blowing new programming concept.

Ocasionally if you are really lucky you'll witness something as bizzare as this wonderful event, or the short but horrifing vibrator incident.

IRC Names to CompSci.ca User Names

• wtd - wtd, Lotho (Status)
• Cornflake - God, md, minor_deity, cornflake, or Thinkpod (Status)
• Mazer - [niko|Stukkm] (Status)
• Cervantes - Cervantes, Minsc, and 100's of other variations that come up (Status)*
• Gandalf - Gandalf, [Gandalf] (Status)
• Hikaru79 - Hikaru79 (Status)*
• Hacker Dan - Hacker_Dan, Dan (Status)*
• timmytheturtle - timmy, timmytheturtle, timmythetortoise (Status)
• Amailer - Amailer (Status)*
• TheFerret - TheFerret, Furo (Status)
• Martin - mdkess (Status)*
• rdrake - rdrake (Status)
• rizzix - rizzix (Status)*
• Compwiz333 - A-Pomb (Status)*
• Bored - Bored, Confused (Status)*
• Aziz - Aziz (Status)*
• ZeroPaladn - ZeroPaladn, ZeroWeapon
• StealthArcher - StealthArcher
• Mackie - Mackie

*Please update your account= with the proper account name if necessary.

Statistics

Statistics based on a combination of logs from many different users is available at [1] They are updated daily.

The Future

The future for #compsci.ca is looking bright, as it receives more and more attention in the compsci.ca community, particularly through the siggies and evangelism of Cervantes, Coutsos, and Hikaru79. With any luck, it will soon be as integral a part of the compsci.ca experience as the forum has come to be.

Hacker Dan has integrated a Java-based IRC client that will send users to the channel directly from the forums. The feature is currently included in the alpha version of V3.