IRC Hacks [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Hack 1 IRC from Windows

Ask any Windows user what he uses to connect to
IRC, and the chances are he will say mIRC.

mIRC
is undoubtedly the most popular IRC
client for Windows, offering lots of tools, functions, and features.
mIRC is shareware, but this fact has not dampened its success over
free clients such as
Bersirc (http://bersirc.free2code.net) and ChatZilla
[Hack #4].
This can be partly attributed to its ease
of use, but seasoned IRC users will also find that it provides all of
the powerful features they want. mIRC provides extensive scripting
support, and thousands of mIRC scripts are available on the Web. mIRC
is under active development.

You can grab mIRC from http://www.mirc.com. Like most Windows
software, installation is quite straightforward, and it will offer
you the chance to create a desktop icon to run it. The first time you
run mIRC, it will pop up the Connect dialog automatically, where you
must provide some details (as in Figure 1-1).

Figure 1-1. mIRC Options dialog box

Full Name

This is where you can specify your full name (if you want!). Because
this is visible to all other IRC users, most people try to protect
their anonymity to some extent by entering something funny instead.

Email Address

This is obviously useful if you want
other IRC users to be able to contact you, but most people tend to
enter fake addresses for fear of spam.

Nickname and Alternative

Here you can specify your
nicknames. Whenever you say something
on IRC, it will appear to come from your nickname. Because all
nicknames on an IRC server must be unique, the dialog requests an
alternative nickname, as somebody else may already be connected and
using your preferred nickname.

If you are ultraparanoid about your privacy, then make sure you leave
the Invisible Mode
checkbox ticked. This will make it harder for people to find you,
unless they know your nickname or are in the same channels as you.

Click on the OK button, and you will be faced with the main Status
window. Messages from the IRC server typically end up here.
freenode is an IRC network where many
people gather to discuss peer-directed projects, and it is often a
good place to ask questions about


Java,
Perl, PHP, and other programming languages. You can use the freenode
IRC network by entering /server
irc.freenode.net into the Status window. After a moment,
you will be connected to one of the servers in this IRC network.

When you
join a
channel by typing /join
#irchacks, you will see a new window
appear inside mIRC. This will be used to display all messages sent to
that channel. It also contains a list of all users in that channel,
as shown in Figure 1-2. Typing a message and
pressing Enter will cause your message to be sent to the channel and
received by all of these users.

Figure 1-2. Using mIRC

You can send a private message directly to another user by
double-clicking on her nickname. This brings up a new window in which
you can talk directly to that user.

As you become more experienced with mIRC, you will probably
feel like exploring the configuration options. With these, you can
change colors, fonts, aliases, pop-up menus, and sounds and use
advanced scripting features. Some of the hacks later in this book
will show you how to get the most out of mIRC.