Today, September 18, the TORn Barlichat turns 15!
As best we can tell, September 18 way back in 1999 is the day our server admin Corvar first fired up our chat software and Barlichat was born.
So we’re gonna have a little get-together today in the chat to celebrate. If you have ever chatted on our server, feel free to drop by and say hello today! Chatters old and new are most welcome.
We’ll be kicking off officially at 7pm GMT and going through till 2am. What’s that in your timezone? Go check our fabulous tome and date conversion chart here.
How to connect
Barlichat is based on internet relay chat technology (that means it’s hella old skool). It’s a text-only, moderated chat room full of eccentric Tolkien fans. We’re open 24/7 (although some times are busier and more active than others).
There are many ways to connect to the chat server. However, the easiest is generally to use a browser-based client. We usually direct folks to Mibbit:
* TORn Mibbit Widget
* Mibbit direct (as opposed to the widget above, this allows you to see others joining and leaving)
If you’re more oldschool or technically adept, you can install one of the scores of standalone chat clients that available for desktop and mobile devices. Just plug in our server details (see bottom) into the client and connect.
* Xchat: http://xchat.org/ (Windoze PC and Linux. Free)
* mIRC: http://www.mirc.com/ (Windoze PC. 30-day trial)
* AndChat: http://www.andchat.net/ (Android app for mobile. Free)
* Colloquy: http://colloquy.info/ (Mac OS and Apple mobile devices. Free)
Our server details:
IRC server name: irc.theonering.net
Channel/room name: #theonering.net
Port: 6667 (6697 for SSL connections)
Finally, for anyone who remembers … here is a link to the final version of our old TORnIRC skin of mIRC. It’s a self-extracting .exe so you just launch it and it automatically installs. No need to plug in any details, it takes you straight to our chat room.
However, it hasn’t been updated since about 2003 so … it’s as-is and without-warranty etc etc.
