Hollywood Live! on IRC

Interviews with CBS's comedy series "Murphy Brown"
Executive Producers Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman

Hollywood Live! on Internet Relay Chat

Internet Relay Chat, or IRC, permits "real time" dialogue between two or more people who log onto the same IRC channel. Hollywood Live! is using a special channel called #hwlive on which you can ask questions of our celebrity guests.

Connecting to IRC
You need access via a client. If you have a shell account, your server probably has IRC on a menu - or try typing "irc" at your Unix command line. If you have a SLIP/PPP account but can dial up "on the unix side," this often is the easiest way to access IRC.
There are also software programs that make it easy to access IRC. Some available programs are:

Windows - Download one of these IRC programs:

Ichat for Windows (v.1 beta)
mIRC for Windows

WSIRC for Windows

Macintosh - Download the "Homer" IRC program, from one of these sites:

ftp.funet.fi

ftp.wr.com.au
ftp.docker.com

Download Ircle, another Macintosh IRC program.

Windows or Macintosh - Global Chat Download Page
Global Chat is a program that works in concert with Netscape and Mosaic and other browsers.

Whatever software you use, you need to connect to an IRC server on the EFNet, which is the major IRC network. There are many such servers. Some of them are:

irc.eskimo.com
irc2.ais.net
irc.cerf.net
irc.sdsc.edu
irc.caltech.edu
irc.winternet.com
EFNet Server List.

IRC Commands (non-Macintosh/Homer users)
Once you have successfully used your client software to connect with an EFNet server, you need to join the channel #hwlive:

type: /join #hwlive ... this puts you into channel "hwlive".
type: /who #hwlive ... this will let you know who is online
In order to maintain some semblance of order - and to stay on a preset topic (/topic #hwlive .... will show the session's topic) - a moderator will "chair" these sessions. To be called on to ask a question of the celebrity guest, type an exclamation point ... ! .... the equivalent of raising your hand.
Once you have the floor, type your question.

Using Homer
Homer is an easy-to-use IRC program for the Macintosh. The very first time you use Homer you'll get a window asking for some basic information:

Server Address -- The IRC server you are connecting to, such as irc.caltech.edu in the list above.
User ID. This is the name that will appear before your IP address, such as "newbie@your-address." It can be anything you want.
Username: Appears after the User ID. Again it can be anything; some use it to provide email address.
Nick: The Nickname you will be recognized by when you log on. When you send messages, your nickname will appear on the screen, followed by the message.
Server Port is preset. Don't worry about it.

Once you're connected to the server, choose New Channel from the File Menu, type in #hwlive and click the Join button to connect to our channel.
You'll have three windows on screen. The largest (Console) is where messages appear.
Another is the input window where you type messages. (It has LINK on the left and ACTION on the right.) To send messages, just place your cursor in the window, type your message and press return.
The third displays a list of the nicknames of users online (it's the window with the "Go Offline" button and NICK panel at the bottom where your nickname will be displayed.)
For more detail about Homer you can download Homer Documentation.
And for more information about Ircle for the Macintosh, click here.

For more information about IRC:

IRC introduction and resources.
The IRC Library. Includes FAQ and Primer.
IRC Homepage at Funet, Finland.

Hollywood Live! - "Murphy Brown" Page.

Hollywood Live! - Main Page.

Hollywood Network Main Page.

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