Is the talker over at gatchfanfic.com still active? Does anyone still use it? Or is there another one in use nowadays? I have fond memories of going over story ideas and dialogue and generally messing around on line in the days when text-based talkers were cutting edge technology!

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Many years ago we had a live chat going with Gatchamanic's. It was good for a while. It had to be at least 7yrs ago.

On Saturdays some of us still go to the Gatchfanfic chat server in the Writing room. Interesting, Jason. I haven't used IRC in ages!

Originally posted by ChrisW On Saturdays some of us still go to the Gatchfanfic chat server in the Writing room. Interesting, Jason. I haven't used IRC in ages!

Oh, cool. What time roughly? I know I'm thirteen hours ahead of Washington DC and I can work it out from there.

It's 5:21 pm on 4 March right now. I'm at the gatchfanfic chat as I type this.

me too, come and join us!

Great to catch up with everyone on Saturday night (Sunday morning at this Longitude.) It was nice to revisit the Talker, and even nicer that in these days of faster internet speeds, there wasn't any lag! (One of the not-so-good things about the good old days were 14.4 kbps dial-up modems.)

I'd love to be able to get involved with such a chat, but I still can't register in Gatchfanfic which excludes me from that Jason, the IRC thing sounds a little complicated to me - but then I have next to no experience with chat rooms at all, and I'm not a computer person as such so I kind of get lost in the terminology at times.

Originally posted by Katblu42 Jason, the IRC thing sounds a little complicated to me - but then I have next to no experience with chat rooms at all, and I'm not a computer person as such so I kind of get lost in the terminology at times.

Are you running a PC with Windows?

Okay, I just tested out the AdIRC app and TheOtherJason was there in the room - good chat! Then I logged out and went to the web page. This is super easy. All you do is go to https://www.rizon.net/chat where you'll get a login window. Just type in the username you want (no spaces) and in the channel field, type, #gcon, then click on "connect" and you're away. No password, no downloads, just chat. You don't have to do any of the downloading app stuff unless you want to. Maybe we should schedule something for next weekend so that more folks can check it out together. Thanks, Jason!

Ah, got it, cool! Yes, I'm up for scheduling something. As I said, I'm a chat novice and I think maybe I'd feel better lurking around a larger group of chatters?

Hola! I would love to join but here in Malaysia I'm 3 hrs behind Austrailia and 16 hrs ahead from USA (California). I could join the chat room on Saturday late night or Sunday very early morning. Hope we could do it! Would be great to meet you all there!

I've never joined the chat room on Gatchfanfic, but now I'm tempted! Let's see how the time difference will work out -- and whether Gatchfanfic will actually work. Last time I tried to go to the site to read fics, it didn't. Do you also have problems with Gatchfanfic occasionally?

Gatchfanfic still has a problem with DNS hijackers, so sometimes if you try to go there you can't reach the site. I'm not sure how long it lasts. Sometimes I can get there an hour later and sometimes not.

Originally posted by ChrisW Gatchfanfic still has a problem with DNS hijackers, so sometimes if you try to go there you can't reach the site. I'm not sure how long it lasts. Sometimes I can get there an hour later and sometimes not.

Is that what it is? The whole blue-screen-of-ads thing is a bit of a pain, and since you can't get into the Gatchfanfic talker anyway if you don't have a login, and registrations are closed at the moment, it does exclude folk like Katblu42. Jason's new talker doesn't require any IRC software unless you prefer using an IRC client over the webpage, so why not give that a try? Adrianag, I'm in Western Australia, at GMT+8, which is pretty close to if not the same as your time zone, and I find people are still up and chatting early Sunday morning my time. I managed to catch up with a bunch of Gatchamaniacs last weekend.

Originally posted by GrumpyGhostOwl Adrianag, I'm in Western Australia, at GMT+8, which is pretty close to if not the same as your time zone, and I find people are still up and chatting early Sunday morning my time. I managed to catch up with a bunch of Gatchamaniacs last weekend.

Hola! Yes! Actually, after you logged off yesterday, I came in. We missed each other for just a couple of minutes. Glad to know that both of us have the same time zone. In my comment, I took in count Sydney time zone. Let's see if on sAturday around 11:30-12 am (Sunday), someone will come up in Jason's chat room. I will be there, so I hope to meet you then.

Hi Katblu42,

Originally posted by Katblu42 I'd love to be able to get involved with such a chat, but I still can't register in Gatchfanfic which excludes me from that Jason, the IRC thing sounds a little complicated to me - but then I have next to no experience with chat rooms at all, and I'm not a computer person as such so I kind of get lost in the terminology at times.

Glad you were able to make it on (and GrumpyGhostOwl), it was good to talk with you for a few minutes. I'm also glad the option to connect via the web worked. I'll hope to see and talk with many more of you soon! The Other Jason www.battloftheplanets.info

I consider myself internet-savvy... but now I know better: what's an IRC???

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. It was how people used to 'chat' in real life using text-based client software (applications) before the average modem got fast enough to support VoIP and video calling. There are also web-based chat rooms that you can use to access IRC such as the one Jason has set up over at rizon.net.

Originally posted by adrianag

Originally posted by GrumpyGhostOwl Adrianag, I'm in Western Australia, at GMT+8, which is pretty close to if not the same as your time zone, and I find people are still up and chatting early Sunday morning my time. I managed to catch up with a bunch of Gatchamaniacs last weekend.

Hola! Yes! Actually, after you logged off yesterday, I came in. We missed each other for just a couple of minutes. Glad to know that both of us have the same time zone. In my comment, I took in count Sydney time zone. Let's see if on sAturday around 11:30-12 am (Sunday), someone will come up in Jason's chat room. I will be there, so I hope to meet you then.

11:30pm Saturday WA/Malaysia time? That would make it around 2:30am Sunday in Sydney and pretty much count me out. (I may just be home from work in time for 11:30 - midnight Sydney time on Saturday though). Ugh! Time zones!!

Originally posted by Katblu42 11:30pm Saturday WA/Malaysia time? That would make it around 2:30am Sunday in Sydney and pretty much count me out. (I may just be home from work in time for 11:30 - midnight Sydney time on Saturday though). Ugh! Time zones!!

That's AM - mid-morning, not oh-shit-o'clock. Actually, I need to be logged off by 11 AM WA time for another appointment but I can be on line earlier on Sunday morning. Add 3 hours for NSW/VIC/ACT/Tas, 2 hrs Qld, 2.5 hrs SA, 1.5 hrs NT time. Subtract 13 hours for the east coast of the US, not sure how many hours for the rest of the US and Canada, though. Here's a handy link: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

Ohhh! That makes way more sense! Any time from about 8 or 9am Sunday WA time is easy for me. (That would be about 4 or 5pm Saturday US West Coast?) I can probably set a loud alarm for earlier!

9 am WA time would work for me. That would be midday in Sydney, 5pm in LA and Vancouver, 7 pm in Chicago and 8 pm in Washington DC.

I'm in!

Originally posted by Daniella T I've never joined the chat room on Gatchfanfic, but now I'm tempted! Let's see how the time difference will work out -- and whether Gatchfanfic will actually work. Last time I tried to go to the site to read fics, it didn't. Do you also have problems with Gatchfanfic occasionally?

I haven't in a long time been in a chat! Getting the times right is the hard part. With young kids I value sleep. I see a lot of out fandom folk on Facebook though. I hope Katblu42 can get a registration there.

Hola! Sunday morning it's impossible for me as I'm working on Sunday afternoon (2-6:30pm). Please go ahead and enjoy it!

I've been having trouble with the software, as my Mac refuses to use Colloquy (don't know why)... so I'll give it a skip this time, until I figure out how to do it. ETA: Jason, I tried to register with rizon before downloading Colloquy, and rizon was asking me for an "IRC nick" -- would that be the nickname I will give to Colloquy, or have I missed something? I couldn't find on the rizon FAQ what an "IRC nick" is (it seems a big chunk of internet activity has passed me by -- I'm learning so many new things with the talker!!!).

An IRC Nick is basically the name you're going to use in the Chat. It can be anything you like as long as it isn't already in use in the same active room and hasn't got spaces in it, so you'd probably just use Daniella_T. You don't need to download an IRC client to use this chat. You can simply navigate to the http://www.rizon.net/chat page and type "Daniella_T" in the Nickname field, then "#gcon" in the channel field, leave authorisation as "none" then click on "connect" and you'll be in. No passwords required. IRC or Internet Relay Chat is old-school stuff. Back in the day it tended to be used by the more geeky internet user. It's not so much a case of IRC passing you by, as you passing IRC by.

Originally posted by GrumpyGhostOwl You don't need to download an IRC client to use this chat. You can simply navigate to the http://www.rizon.net/chat page and type "Daniella_T" in the Nickname field, then "#gcon" in the channel field, leave authorisation as "none" then click on "connect" and you'll be in. No passwords required.

Thanks GGO! Will try again for next week.

I probably won't be online for chat this weekend as I have to go to Margaret River to pick up bird food. I'll check the forums when I get back though.

Hi Daniella,

Originally posted by Daniella T

Originally posted by GrumpyGhostOwl You don't need to download an IRC client to use this chat. You can simply navigate to the http://www.rizon.net/chat page and type "Daniella_T" in the Nickname field, then "#gcon" in the channel field, leave authorisation as "none" then click on "connect" and you'll be in. No passwords required.

Thanks GGO! Will try again for next week.

I'm glad you got your question answered about the browser-based method to connect. It really is a lot easier that way. Don't forget, the chat room is open 24/7. If you drop in and don't see anyone, keep checking. I'm frequently in there late nights US Pacific time (like now), and another fan friend also shows up nearly every day. Hope to see you! The Other Jason www.battleoftheplanets.info

Hi all, Just a quick reminder that the chat room is open! I'll try to check in on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, US Pacific time. Otherwise, various friends and I check in daily at different times. Please see the instructions on how to connect on the first page. Hope to see you! The Other Jason www.battleoftheplanets.info

Hi all, A quick bump to remind you all the chat room is always open. I usually check in later in the evenings, but others drop in and out at all times of the day. If anyone wants to try to organize a regular meeting time at any point, it will be there! Instructions on how to connect are at the beginning of this thread. Hope to see some of you soon! The Other Jason www.battleoftheplanets.info

Sorry, have just been very busy getting my art business launched!

Art business? Wow, CW, I had no idea!

Yeah, I finished my certificate in fine art techniques and am now giving it a go. Doing a mix of traditional art and digital.

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