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Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

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Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#21

Post by [deleted] »

bsuvc wrote: post #11
Obscurity4340 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> irc addiction How quaint

Touched a nerve I guess. Care to elaborate? I also knew people who had MUD addictions. These were very similar to how in later years people became addicted to Second Life or EverQuest and essentially dropped out of society. I don't know if there is a modern-day equivalent, to be honest.

[deleted]

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#23

Post by brandon272 »

blondie9x wrote: post #20

This made me really nostalgic about mIRC. I miss Dalnet. The colors of IRC. How fast and reliable it was. The rankings of members and trying to build credibility with the community to move up in the channel. Fun times.

I had the same feeling and I had the same experience on DALnet.

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#25

Post by boca_honey »

lacunary wrote: post #5

can't ride a netsplit to takeover and +m a huge channel IRL

This made me feel so nostalgic. I haven’t heard the term "netsplit" in probably 25 years. It’s amazing how things that once seemed so important get relegated not just to history, but sometimes to total oblivion.

Well, almost. Apparently, it has its own wikipedia article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netsplit

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#26

Post by theshrike79 »

bigfatkitten wrote: post #10
lacunary wrote: post #5

can't ride a netsplit to takeover and +m a huge channel IRL

Or CTCP PING users with cheap modems with +++ATH0

You could also send a specific string to a channel, which caused mIRC to log it to a file. Then a hyper-sensitive anti-virus would see it and quarantine mirc.exe :D

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#27

Post by nonamesleft »

bigfatkitten wrote: post #10
lacunary wrote: post #5

can't ride a netsplit to takeover and +m a huge channel IRL

Or CTCP PING users with cheap modems with +++ATH0

Also seemed to work over ICMP ping, with "+++ATH0M0DT112", they did not return to the channel.

I think it was some buggy Rockwell modem chips that did not require the delay between +++ and switching to command mode, but it has been some decades.

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#28

Post by bigfatkitten »

nonamesleft wrote: post #27
bigfatkitten wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or CTCP PING users with cheap modems with +++ATH0

Also seemed to work over ICMP ping, with "+++ATH0M0DT112", they did not return to the channel. I think it was some buggy Rockwell modem chips that did not require the delay between +++ and switching to command mode, but it has been some decades.

It did indeed, though people used to hide their IP addresses through various means, and so CTCP was usually a sure fire winner.

Most cheap modems seemed to ignore the required 1 second (IIRC) delay. Well-heeled users who could afford U.S. Robotics et al were safe, winmodem users were not.

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#29

Post by bigfatkitten »

theshrike79 wrote: post #26
bigfatkitten wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or CTCP PING users with cheap modems with +++ATH0

You could also send a specific string to a channel, which caused mIRC to log it to a file. Then a hyper-sensitive anti-virus would see it and quarantine mirc.exe :D

Probably EICAR. AV engines are only supposed to fire on EICAR when the file contains only magic string, but many are/were trigger happy and will alert if it appears anywhere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EICAR_test_file

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#30

Post by cykros »

bsuvc wrote: post #6

I am sure IRC was good for some people, but I can say for me personally it was a net negative and real life was so, so much better. I wish I never used IRC. I also personally witnessed multiple friends who dropped out of college due to IRC addiction in the early 1990s. I am curious if anyone else has a similar memory of IRC.

There are people on IRC who I've maintained contact with for longer than anyone I can think of off the top of my head aside from family members. Many now through other channels (thanks to the Discord wrecking ball), though some still on IRC.

Hard to say how many intellectual rabbit holes I've gone down as a result.

I can say for sure life would have looked very, very different without it.

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