Join other piano technicians on
Tuesday and Thursday nights in the
Internet Relay Chat channel!
Piano technicians have our own real-time chat channel called #pianotech. The #pianotech channel is on the StarLink-IRC Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network which, due to its small size and the prohibition of certain types of channels, avoids many of the problems encountered in the larger IRC networks.
While most people who chat regularly on IRC prefer to use IRC software to chat, it is not necessary to download software to chat in the #pianotech channel. For those who do not wish to use the software, simply click on one of the java chat links on this web page and follow the instructions. If you are using WebTV, please see the StarLink-IRC JavaScript for WebTv page.
Chat times are:
and:
There is also an international Sunday
chat:
The #pianotech chats have been a great success over the past few years, with active participants from many parts of the globe. This is an excellent opportunity to interact with other piano technicians worldwide in real time. At any of the scheduled chats, you may run into many people whom you may know from the piano technician e-mail lists and from conventions. Discussions range from shop talk about tools and techniques to piano design and, of course, using the Internet. Additional public and private "rooms" can be set up instantly for mini-technicals, if required, without having to leave the #pianotech channel.
The #pianotech "ftp" site, with MIDI files, pictures, and other materials used in current and previous discussions, can be found at http://www.musselwhite.com/pub/ (at that page, click on index.txt for more information).
Live chat is a great way to exchange ideas or just spend some time in friendly conversation with like-minded people. Please join us Tuesday and/or Thursday evenings, as well as Sundays (or ANY time!), in #pianotech on Starlink-IRC, even if just to say hello!
The quickest and easiest way to get to the #pianotech channel if you are unfamiliar with Internet Relay Chat is to click on one of these java links:
If you get a message that the nickname is already in use by someone else, try to choose something a little more unique.
Note: It is not necessary to download any software to chat on the StarLink-IRC network if you are happy using the java links listed above, but if you will be chatting regularly, you might wish to download and install a shareware IRC program to improve your chat experience. Here are links to two popular IRC programs, one for Windows and one for Macs:
When you run the program, you will need to choose a nickname (if someone else already is using the "nick," the program will ask you to choose a different nick). Then you will need to connect to a StarLink-IRC server.
Important notice, when using your IRC software's server list: The #pianotech IRC channel is on the StarLink-IRC network. Please note that StarLink-IRC is not the same as StarLink. They are two separate networks. The IRC server you use to connect to the channel should end in .starlink-irc.org, not .starlink.org. A StarLink server will not get you to the #pianotech channel on StarLink-IRC.
Here are a few StarLink-IRC servers from which to choose, most of which are probably already in your program's server list.
Canadian servers:
European server:
If you have trouble connecting to a server, try another one, since a server occasionally will be down.
After you have connected to a StarLink-IRC
server, type
Helpful people in the channel:
The "ops" (channel operators) in the #pianotech channel are the people whose job it is to help channel visitors if needed, and to deal with any problems that might occur in the channel. An op is indicated in the nickname list by a "@" in front of the nick (or, in the case of Ircle for Macs, an op's nick shows up in red, with no "@").
Here is a list of the #pianotech channel ops:
|
http://www.musselwhite.com/ http://www.vanderpiano.com/ http://ric2nr.tripod.com/ |
CStar is one of the nicks that you will see in the channel. For those unfamiliar with it, CStar is not a participant, but a program (called a "bot") which keeps the basic information about #pianotech and a number of other registered channels. CStar will not respond if you attempt to converse with it, so just ignore it and wait a while for someone else to show up.
