That said, the chat client sports at least a couple of useful features. Like the great IRC protocol itself, you can create your own rooms and join in those of others, should you happen to know their names (see create chat room and enter chat room). But unlike IRC, every room is public and open to all known users (those who have logged in to the site). There are no security features, no channel ops, no banning–none of that. Think of these chat rooms as interactive radio stations. Or don’t, because that’s a lame analogy.

Anyway, take note of the talk command, because it will place the Terminal in a special mode in which almost anything you type will be sent directly to the chat room you are in, instead of to the Terminal’s server. The way to return to the normal mode is to enter “untalk“.

When you first enable the chat client, you will be in the default chat room for all users of VanCleve.com, called “Lobby”. Therefore, if I actually had any users, this would probably be a busy room, and you’d want to join another. But I don’t, and it’s not, so there’s no need. (Sigh!)