Flips in the Net: irc://irc.undernet.org/filipino [ Rating :| ]

Welcome back to Flips in the Net where we review places in the
internet where filipinos hangout!
As mentioned in the maiden issue ... (no, we're not talking about
maidens as in girls here...or at
least not yet... we will get there)..., as mentioned in the first
issue, we are currently focusing our
attention on IRC or internet relay chat. IRC, as used by filipinos,
has become the ham or CB radio
of decades ago. Of course, they don't use the 10- or Q- codes, but the
dynamics are essentially
the same. Do you copy?

Before we begin this second issue, let us talk about a few IRC basics
and how to connect to it.
IRC refers to the chat enabling technology and you may think of it as
the mother-of-all internet
conferencing systems out there. IRC does not refer to a single
instance of an internet service.
There are numerous providers that offer instances of IRC services (to
the geeks out there: excuse
some inaccuracy in the technical terms - I'm sacrificing accuracy for
clarity) and these providers
are loosely called "networks." This term describes the architecture of
servers providing the
IRC service.

There are a number of these IRC networks that you can connect to. The
three big ones are efnet (the
original irc network), dalnet (irc.da.net) and undernet
(irc.undernet.org). In each of these are channels
(chatrooms if you wish) and these channels are often indicated by
using the prefix #. Hence, one would
say for example #manila in dalnet to refer to irc://irc.dal.net/manila,
which is its universal resource
locator (URL). We will use URLs from henceforth, so get used to it.

How does one connect to IRC? I think the most intuitive way connect to
IRC, and I recommend this to newbies,
is to use an integrated browser like SeaMonkey, which one can download
(~ 13Mb) from mozilla.org. (If you've
ever wondered where Netscape Navigator went, I believe it was
streamlined and shucked into this package.)
Anyway, from the Seamonkey browser one can type the IRC URL and launch
a chat session.

The last time I was in IRC was in 1997, so it's taking me a while to
get used to it again. The idiomatic
expressions they use have changed a bit and some phrases I perceive
are borrowed from text messaging.
Also, NoT MaNy PeOpLe DoN'T wRiTe tHiS waY aNyMore, which is a good
thing cause I really hate that
- everytime I see something like that I want to throttle an AOLers
neck. "KASALANAN NIYO TO MGA
BUWISIT KAYO!"

So your argonaut, myself, enters these IRC channels newbie-green and
see how the people are like.
Will they be friendly to a newbie? Are they cliquish? Can they carry a
normal conversation? Will
they be able to handle ordinary questions like "how's the best way to
cook lapu-lapu?" or will they
clam up when asked "where are you now?" How will they react if I feign
fumbling with the keyboard.
Sometimes we hit a gold mine, most of the time we hit a pile of sh...
Hey, it's all for fun!

In the last issue we talked about irc://irc.dal.net/manila. I gave it
a bad review primarily because of the dearth of intelligent life in
that chatroom. "Helloooo..... anybody home?" Nada. Maybe the
intelligent life forms were not present when I was there. Too bad.
IRC beware, when SCF pays you a visit, you better be home!!

This issue of Flips in the Net brings us to irc://irc.undernet.org/filipino

How do I begin with this channel? My initiation into this group was a
positive experience. I came in,
somebody was there to immediately greet me. Got to talk about how's
the best way to cook trout. People were
oh so nice. That was morning in eastern standard time (EST). I was
ready to give this channel a positive
rating of :) .

On a succeeding occasion, I went in on an early afternoon EST. I
stumbled on three women
talking about some problem one had with her ex-bf. I joined in, of
course, and they let me in their conversation.
Oh okay, they didn't kick my *** out. Friendster connections were
made, YMs added in. Cool, I really like
this place!

Then it was downhill from then on. (By the way guys, one doesn't have
to be a shrink to know that you should
stay away from a girl on a rebound. Her emotions will be way out of
whack.)

Early weekday afternoons in this channel, it seems, happen to be the
sosyal-girls-parading-their-plumes time
slot! These are the hours where girls talk to each other for the
purpose of being oggled and noticed and have fun
rebuffing ASL advances. It's like a sport to them. I've gone into this
channel on several occasions in this time
to watch stupid guys get blown to smithereens. Morons, just leave the
Plastics alone and keep away from
the queen bee. Seen Terminator III? You get the picture.

Of course, I do not want to generalize. There are some genuinely
friendly people at this particular time,
women even. But beware of who you talk to. Some of the girls here only
flirt to fish for compliments and then rip you apart the way a utah
raptor disembowels its prey. They are not there to "make friends."

Then there's the pa-sosyal guys (I think they were called c*n* kids
back during the days) with their distinct
taglish. Geesh, if you want to act preppy, get enrolled in an ivy
leage school first, you know. Then you
could wear your cardigans and have wine and cheese during tea... LOL.
Don't get me started.

If you go visit this channel, mornings EST would probably be the best
bet for friendly normal people. Or late
nighttime EST when Europe is asleep. ;) Probably doesn't matter what
time, just be careful who you engage in conversation with.


Rating :| Beware of the Plastics. They're not "fetch."


Next time, we'll go back to dal.net.

Bye pplz!! ROTFL


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If you'd like to read the past article of Flips in the Net, it's in

http://flips-in-the-net.blogspot.com/

.