HAPPY NEW YEAR!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING OUR LOVELY CHANNEL...

Hi kids,

It seems that our native DALnet has been effectively shut down by some asshole hackers. It has become harder and harder to sign on to the DAL over the last couple of months, and currently it's almost impossible during most hours of the day.

So, I have done some research on other networks, which I have done from time to time when use of the DAL gets frustrating, or when I have no job and nothing better to do, like now.

The DAL is (or perhaps was) the largest chat network, with a peak of 106,000 users. Most other large networks lack the nice services of the DAL that repels jerks: ChanServ, NickServ, MemoServ.

IRCnet (also about 106,000 peak users) is #2. It has no services.

Undernet (87,000 peak users) is #3. Its channel registration process alone is a nightmare, and they use bots to administer the channels, and working the bots is so complex that they have weekly scheduled training sessions online (!) instead of a manual.

EFnet (78,000 peak users) is #4. They have some pale imitation of ChanServ and that's about all, services-wise.

Number 5 is WebNet, also known as WebChat. It has 35,000 peak users and services that are almost identical to the DAL's. Because it is so similar, I have chosen it as our alternative network. I assume many other DALnet channels will migrate over to this network as the DAL's problems continue, thanks to the similarities between the networks.

I have already registered #Amish_Rake_Fight on WebChat. This will be our second home, or perhaps our first home if the DALnet remains unusable.

Most of the commands you use on the DAL will work on WebChat. The only major exception is this: You must register your nickname over the Web, and I can only add people to the AOP list by registered nickname.

The online form to register your nickname asks for a nick, password, and e-mail address, same as the DAL. Use a temporary email address if you want, you'll only need it once to receive a special command which you will send on WebChat, which will complete the nick registration process. I have already registered two nicks myself, I don't know what the limit is.

I have already migrated the akick list over from the DAL channel, but since the aop list has to be built from scratch, here is how we will handle it:

Go here and register your nick on WebChat.

Then sign on to WebChat using your IRC client and the list of WebChat servers.

Join #Amish_Rake_Fight. I will be there, probably as Doc_Away. If your nick is different than before, tell me who you are before you leave!

I will add you to the AOP list after the next time I check into the channel.

I know this is all a pain in the ass, but there is quite an upside: This network is easy to get onto, unlike the DAL, and has WAY less splits and lag.

See you there!

Doc

Not a bad response. The following nicks now have Ops in the "new" channel:
SliOne
AliceinW
luna2
discoqueen
popeye-x
me_mongo
mongolloyd

Here are the instructions again for Ops, summarized:

1. Go here and register your nickname. Use a real e-mail address, you can change/hide it later.
2. Check your e-mail for a message from WebChat Registration Services. It will have a "special command" line about 3/4 of the way down that looks something like "/NICKSERV VERIFY AAAAAZgEgAwj5FDP+qwMAA-830332".
3. Sign onto WebChat at irc.webchat.org, port 6667 with your IRC client.
4. Copy that "special command" line out of your e-mail and paste it into your IRC client, and hit Enter. You will (hopefully) receive a response that your registration was successful.
5. Type "/join #Amish_Rake_Fight".
6. I will add you to the AOP list shortly.

Don't forget to check out the Services Guides, this network has some cool stuff the DAL lacked.

Doc