What is this “chat” thing that keeps getting mentioned in the news and does WVI have it?
A7. Chat is a term used to represent several different methods of talking to someone else in real time. The first, and probably best known and most used of these methods is also known as Instant Messaging or IM. IM involves making up “buddy lists” of people you know who are on the same service, and you can talk to them one-on-one via typing. An extension of this is the “conference room” where you can invite several people to join you and you can all chat together. Popularized by AOL, other IM services include ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, and open source Jabber. The second type of chat is known as IRC, for Internet Relay Chat. In IRC an IRC server hosts “channels” where people running IRC client software can join in and start talking. Additionally, many IRC servers are hooked together into IRC networks, all hosting the same channels. More info on IRC can be found here. A third type of chat are what are known as chat rooms, and while they can involve different technologies they b
