Introduction

Hi there beloved friends and visitors! I must confess that I'm putting this together at the last second, so it isn't nearly as "polished" as the last installment. Nonetheless, here we are, so let's make the most of it shall we?

When I was first approached to do some work for OH, it was originally going to be a regular column on IRC and the #osho channel...giving technical advice, as well as tips for making the most of this communications medium. But I'm feeling to go a bit beyond the boundaries of IRC and stretch into other territory--something having to do with contact--making a "connection."

The way I'm seeing this CyberChat column now is to encourage the "connection" aspect of things. So, this issue I'll be going outside of IRC and will be sharing something that many of you will be interested in, so don't go anywhere.

What's been happening with #osho?

I've heard from several of you who have gotten onto IRC and #osho since the first issue of OH (thanks to my incredibly detailed instructions - he he he heh! ). Along with this torrent of new #osho friends...there has been the observation that #osho seems almost dead most of the time.

There is some truth there...and it's partially due to ICQ. And I must plead guilty as well.

ICQ (I seek you) is an internet online notification system that is easy to install and setup, well designed, and has a great deal of functionality. Basically, it can alert you when your friends are online, it has its own chat and messaging system, and allows you to send files and URLs in an extremely efficient, convenient, and organized fashion. It's pretty cool! What's more, it gives the user a great deal of control over how the program behaves, including the management of one's privacy.

I'm not going to get into a huge sales job on ICQ. You're better off just going to the Mirabilis website and looking at it for yourself.

There you will find complete details on its many wonderful features, a description of how it works and a really good review that originally appeared on CNET that includes some screen shots to give you an idea of what it looks like. It is currently only available to Win95, NT, and 3.1. A Mac version) is in development, and there is a notification list for you Mac users who would like to try this program.

And ICQ is also FREE.

So...I really encourage you to check it out. It's super easy to install and set up. (Check out How to use ICQ in 26 seconds?)

When you get ICQ you register with their database and you are assigned a UIN (Universal Internet Number). Through search the ICQ database for a person's UIN, their name, or their e-mail address, you can add them to your User List. This is true unless the person requires authorization to be added, an ICQ feature that gives you control over who gets to know you are online. Once a person is on your contact list, their online/offline status is readily available to you.

You also have complete control over your own privacy on ICQ (which is a real concern for some people).

ICQ also has ways for non-ICQ users to send messages to you via ICQ...messages that will pop up onto their desktop if they are online at the time they are delivered. These are the web-pager, and ICQ E-Mail Express.

Each ICQ user has their own Web Pager - a url they can link to on their website, or place on the back of their business card. This feature allows those who are not on an ICQ equipped computer to contact you via ICQ.

Who's On?

The following delights and their UIN's (Universal Internet Number, assigned to you by ICQ) are but a small sample of the many lovers and friends on ICQ, and may each be reached via their own personal web pager page, so give it a try:

• Ma Prem Agarva - 893046
• Sw. Dhyan Sammoda - 871780
• Sw. Vipal Prem - 869244
• Sw. Samvado - 1018330
• Ma Alima - 1429359
• Ma Anand Suvida - 872415
• Sw. JYO - 1675694

OK then...that's enough of a pitch for ICQ. Back to IRC...

What about #osho and IRC then???

Lately I've been trying to encourage my ICQ chat-buddies to take the conversations to #osho in order to allow more opportunities for others to join in the fun. I will continue to do so, although the convenience of ICQ for setting up chats quickly is very seductive, and it will take a little discipline to keep getting people to chat on #osho.

However, IRC has many advantages if you are just talking about chatting on the Internet:

• It is available to EVERY computer around--pretty much any computer that is on the net has at least one IRC client written for it. ICQ is currently restricted to Windows 95/NT/3.1 users...and will soon be available for the Mac OS.
• IRC clients such as mIRC, Pirch, Ircle, etc. allow one to easily edit, cut, paste, and copy text before it gets sent to the channel or other party one is chatting with. ICQ does not--if you screw up the beginning of a phrase, you cannot simply "cursor-back" to that point and fix it...you must redo the entire line from the correction onward. So ICQ chats tend to be more full of misspellings and garbled typing.
• Many IRC clients allow one to incorporate multi-media into the chat--like movies, sounds, MIDI files, etc. ICQ chat doesn't even allow "actions," just what gets type--precisely.
• IRC also allows the use of scripts and other customizable tools that allow one to quickly send URL's to people with a mouse click, files, etc. ICQ can do some of this stuff in its various sections, but one has to jump out of the chat window to do so, unlike many IRC clients.
• IRC chats on #osho are "public." Anyone who can connect to the server can join in the chat. ICQ requires that people be explicitly invited, and for 3+ person chats, the original "inviter," the one who initiated the chat in the first place, needs to do any additional inviting. This can be difficult if they have left the chat while others remained.

So...there are several pragmatic reasons to use IRC for chatting rather than ICQ, beyond the issue of being more inclusive and making #osho a more robust and exciting chat environment. So while I would encourage everyone who can to get ICQ, I want to also suggest that we all try to use it as a connecting tool for chatting, and still use IRC when possible.

In Conclusion

Well...that's it for this episode of CyberChat or whatever it ends up being called. Next time I want to get back into the nitty gritty of IRC and #osho a bit more--hopefully in the mean time you will have the chance to check out ICQ and let me know what you think. And if you need to get more info on IRC, see the previous issue of Osho's Heartbeats for my exhaustive article on how to get setup on IRC.

His Blessings!    [ | top | next ]