The StarLink-IRC NEWSLETTER
February 2000
"All the news that fits, we print"
SPECIAL: 20 February is Our Editor's BIRTHDAY !!!
(free announcement added by an anonymous arachnid)
FIRST NEWSLETTER OF THE 2000's
Vol 4, Issue 2
StarLink-IRC Newsletter
Published Occasionally
Feb 2000

StarLink-IRC Network - Your family friendly cybertown!
Editor-in-Chief - lois
Roving Reporter - Deano
New Stars by treecat
Event Reviews by Amazing
Fogweb Follies by Itsy
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Deadline:15th of the Month
Back Issues

Send any news items to newsletter@starlink-irc.org
Send any gossip or other dirt to the same place.

NET NEWS Amazing

Some General Information

For all who have webpages: Don't forget you can join the webring by going to www.starlink-irc.org or can ask questions concerning it in #WebRing :)

All channel owners: If you happen to change ISP's or have a change of email address please let someone in #channels know.
If for any reason cservice needs to get in touch with you in regards to your channel we need a valid email address. You can also let cservice know by sending an email to slirc-register@starlink-irc.org

Gameers: Great word game channels: #Trivia, #Scramble, and #WedNiteTriva.
As you enter #Trivia or #Scramble, a message comes up asking for new puzzles or trivia questions and where to send them. If you have any that you would like added, please check out the email addresses in each of these channels and send them in.

THIS MONTH'S CELEBRATIONS - Let's party!
by lois
February
  • 20 JR’s birthday (#norwich)
  • 20 Lois’s birthday (#norwich)
  • 22 Amazing’s birthday (#everywhere)
  • 22 Roadrunner (#mIRC)
  • 22 President’s Day (holiday)
  • 25 Dane36 (#mIRC)
  • 26 Chatman’s birthday (#Just4fun)
  • 26 Cameo’s birthday (#Just4fun)
  • 28 Webby’s birthday (Cservice and #Canadian)
  • 29 Leap Day

March

  • 1 National Pig Day (Take a Pig to Lunch)
  • 3 Sonnybuck’s birthday (#Just4fun)
  • 5 NOlady’s birthday (#40 Something)
  • 5 g-force (#nowwhere)
  • 6 Andrew’s birthday (Cservice, #crittercat and #idajo)
  • 7 Roxee’s birthday (#Just4fun)
  • 8 Sharkie’s birthday (#norwich)
  • 9 Ash Wednesday
  • 12 Lolitahh’s birthday (#Just4fun)
  • 14 Chiefy’s birthday (Cservice and #cops)
  • 15 Pinkcat’s birthday (#crittercat)
  • 15 Ides of March
  • 16 Moska’s birthday (#BrazilianAmigos and #crittercat)
  • 17 St. Patrick’s Day
  • 25 Plucky’s birthday (#KrispyCreamDonuts)

SPECIALS

  • None this month


(If we do not have your birthday or anniversry date, let us know so we can celebrate with you. Tell us which channels you are on, please)
HORRORSCOPE (a new feature for Jan 2000)
by Lois

Feb 19 - Mar 20 - Pisces

Pisces people are generally very unrealistic and their self-image is blurred. Thus, most posts by Pisces people stink, even though they thought everyone would shower them with congratulatory emails. (Note: NOT the opinion of Ye Editor)
AMAZING AND LESSER THINGS!
by Amazing

StarLink-IRC has been honored by receiving a couple of awards the last few days. Check them out at www.starlink-irc.org <http://www.starlink-irc.org/> and congrats to our webmaster Itsy

*******************************

Thanks once again for the great color show put on by the color team in #mIRC on Feb 5th. We look forward to many many shows in the future!

*******************************

Reminders If any channel owners change ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and/or change email addresses, please let someone in cservice know. That is the only way we can contact you if there are any problems with your channel.

Subscribe to the mailing list at www.starlink-irc.org/slreg.html#MailingList <http://www.starlink-irc.org/slreg.html>

(Amazing adds: We have the new Harold, Ky server, with its admins IronHawk and Rick_Man .. also we have java chat on LasVegas* as a replacement for Lexington*

********************************

Suggestions from the #Townhall meeting held Sunday night Feb. 13th, about how to make your channel popular:

lippy
  • patience and be yourself
  • on't come on too strong and scare users away
  • take time to show genuine interest
  • Miranda
  • advertise it on a webpage treecat
  • be there and chat with everyone and especially make the newcomers feel welcome IronHawk
  • offer assistance to newcomers and don't shrug them off
  • slate some kind of event for your channel
  • Amazing
  • have a 'catchy' topic
  • if you have access to CStar in a channel, be opped in that particular channel to make it look like the channel isn't empty. If users do a channel listing and see the channel empty then they won't join it.
  • Itsy
  • advertise in the newsletter. Send in a paragraph about your channel to "channel chatter" at newsletter@starlink-irc.org
  • last but not least...give away free food!
  • CHANNEL CHATTER
    Tell us about your channel - send info to newsletter@starlink-irc.org
    #Norwich
    #NORWICH:
    Friendly Op Deano, who decided he didn’t have enough of hospital food a month ago, decided to return for dessert this month. He is home now, and we hope he will stay on the outside with us from here on!
    Busted Bones Brigade : Buster joined the brigade while playing on his snowmobile in NY’s heavy snows. Kookum joined up with two fractures in her back, due to osteoporosis.
    #
    WHO'S DOING WHAT?
    by lois and amazing
    • No real gossip this month.

    (Tell us what's happening on your channel - send info to newsletter@starlink-irc.org)

    FOGWEB FOLLIES
    A short column of made-up facts and non-information brought to you by your friendly neighborhood arachnid

    Not much in the follies this month. Trucks and gas pipes report all clear for the year so far.. the weekend brekky IS offering a special in #TownHall each Sat and Sun .. our very own Oyster Meringue Pie and Octopus Eye marmalade. We have lots left. Oh lordy do we have lots left ..

    Drop by .. open on weekends in #TownHall

    NEW CHANNELS
    New Stars in our Link by Treecat
    A warm welcome to this month's new channels and their owners.
    If you have a chance, do stop in and give these folks a friendly Hi!
      • #nazchat - serephman
      • #adam_sandler - Katie
      • #OCD - Aut-Tuto
      • #Skaters - EncNarf
      • #tmproxima - the_darken
      • #Shoot_Out_City - gunslgr
      • #Sampler76 - carey
      • #christianchat - grandpa
      • #Poison^Ivy - SweetRose
      • #phoenix - Sirrus
      • #Teenash - STING
      • #Killean-Family
      • #MartialArts-Chat - ^STEALTH^
      • #canadianbacon - matt
      • #SmackDownHotel - Michele
      • #familyaffair - Couz
      • #Celtic_Corners - MistyBlue
      • #USS-Avatar - Capt_Worf
      • #ussinvincible - CptStabler
      • #Cybercafe - Sweets
      • #mikrotec - Patricio
      • #KrispyCreamDonuts - Plucky
      • #Section31 - CaptJordan
      • #Rivendell - lorelin
      • #TeenZone - Miranda
      • #KyChatHouse - Rick_Man
      • #40Up - Dwight
    TRAVEL
    Places to go on the net

    Cyberspace Law for Non-Lawyers

    Now that more and more indigent attorneys are trying to mine the Internet, we need to know where we stand legally in Cyberspace. This clear and concise course on Internet law covers such topics as Copyright Law, Privacy Law, Trademark Law, Libel Law, Free Speech Law, Contract Law and much more.

    TECH TALK
    Things to look out for on the net

    This information is sent by Dane, regarding the new version of mIRC. Please contact him with any questions.
    Dane35 #mIRC - ColorTeam - StarLink-IRC http://members.xoom.com/danexx/mc/

    mIRC 5.7

    On February 2nd, there was again a new version of mIRC released, and once again lot of people upgrading found themselves having problems with scripts and popups that worked perfectly in the mirc 5.6+ versions.

    How come things can be working in an old version, suddenly fails to be working in a new version? This is because the author of mIRC Khaled, has a habit of changing already- implemented features, or taking out old features that have been replaced with new ones. Maybe you sit and wonder, why not just let the old features remain there - why not just make sure that features changed still understands the old format? I am sorry but I only have 1 answer : "I don't know".

    If you are going to upgrade from pre-5.60 version to 5.70 you will find that you will get lots of errors, lots of stuff failing. This is because the 5.6 version contained lots and very vital changes to the script language. I hope maybe this small article can be of help for those that would like to try fix the errors themself, so that older stuff that they like using will still work.

    Before you start out on the often timeconsuming work it can be to correct scripts and popups, try look to see if the things you are using are out in a new version, or have been fixed to work with the new version. This will in the end save you some time.

    In this article I will try cover the error-producing changes from version 5.60/5.61 - 5.70. Should you be in a position where you are changing from pre-5.60 to 6.70, then pay a visit to the help channels on StarLink-IRC, and have a chat with the people about what you have loaded, and maybe a chat about how you can upgrade without major frustrations. On StarLink-IRC you will find lots of helpful people.

    Now to the changes and how to try fix the errors :) ---------------------------------------------------

    "{" and "}" is not allowed in popup names in 5.70, you will get errors about invalid commands, and your popups will look messed. Solution : edit the popup list and look for popupnames containing those 2 characters, and change them to something else. Maybe you have a popup named @};-, rename eg to Rose or @);-, the actual popup will still look the same when used.

    $parms and $parm1 - $parmn is no longer supported by mIRC, instead change those to : $parms -> $1- $parm1 -> $1 $parm3 -> $3 etc etc.

    *1 is not anymore in mIRC, instead change to : *1 -> $1- *2 -> $2- etc etc

    If you have problems grabbing sound files from a friend using mIRC 5.7, or you find that you dont send on the !nick request, and you are using mIRC 5.7. Then there is now added a "problem" to mirc. It looks like the wav Khaled tried to implement support for long file names in the !nick grab methode caused that mirc looks at everything after the !nick as the filename. Many people uses a grab text after the filename like -> <Whobear> !Dane35 hehehe.wav grabbing with my grabber mirc !nick request listener thinks the file name is : hehehe.wav grabbing with my grabber, and wont sent. Therefor if you want the "grab comment" then make it on a new line", or you will have to get a script that will support long file names and a "grabber comment". The PPPlayer 7.0 will, when done, support this.

    New features in daily use.

    When copying in mIRC by dragging your mouse over the text, there is now an option that you can hold down the CTRL-key while doing it. This will make mIRC copy the control codes too, like color and bold codes.

    Added "max cps per user" option to Options/fserve dialog. Allows you to limit max cps used by a dcc send to a user in a Fileserver. This is also applied to /dcc sends initiated in a remote script. This way you can control that your bandwith is not completely used up by DCC sends.

    Added "hide ping? pong!" option to IRC dialog., did you ever get tired of seeing the green ping? pong! filling your status window, now you can ask mIRC to turn it off in the IRC dialog.

    Khaled added support for microsoft agent, and for speak regionising software, tho those things might be fun to play with for a couple of hours, I am not sure of the real value, but that is my oppinion.

    Beside the listed things there are lots of bug fixes, and added to the script language, if you are interrested in this kind of reading I suggest reading the version.txt, that comes with mIRC.

    I hope this will help in some of the frustration there is when upgrading your mIRC.

    THE MEETING ROOM
    by Amazing
    COLOR SHOWS
    Saturday
    Mar 4th in #mIRC
    at 7pm PST
    there will be a color show and release of
    galpops.mrc and galgreets.mrc

    TRIVIA!!: Running all the time in #Trivia and #Trivia-Pro with a junior version in #Kidzchat
    SCRAMBLE: The word game .. in #Scramble of course.
    OUTBURST: Occurs randomly (mostly Fridays) in #Just4Fun
    Hosted by somebody, this is a fun and exciting game you have to try.

    Regular Network Event Schedule
    Note: All times are Eastern US

    SUN
    9:30 PM
    #TownHall
    Network Wide User Meeting **
    MON
    9:00 PM
    #TownHall
    User Classes and Seminars as available
    TUE
     --:--
    --
    --
    WED
    -9:00 PM
    #WedNiteTrivia 
    Live TRIVIA .. spelling optional!
    THU
    8:00 PM
    9:30 PM
    10:00 PM
    #OldRadio
    #TownHall
    #MoonShadow
    Fans of Old Time Radio
    Network Wide User Meeting **
    Trivia!
    FRI
    9:00 PM
    #Just4Fun
    Now and then. Outburst Game! Fun for All
    SAT
    -:--
    --
    --

    Unpaid Advertisement

    NET MEETINGS:9:30pm EST Sun/Thu in #TownHall
    Hosted by Amazing, SL-IRC Net meetings are now held Sunday and Thursday nights, 9:30 ET in #TownHall. Everyone is invited to attend!
    Unpaid Advertisement
    RESERVE TOWNHALL FOR YOUR MEETING!
    #Townhall can be reserved for parties or meetings. Send an email to slirc-register@starlink-irc.org if you are interested in reserving the channel for an event. An email will be sent back, confirming the reservation. Put #townhall in the SUBJECT of the mail, and date, time and reason in the BODY.

    Yet Another Unpaid Advertisement!. there has to be some way to make a buck here

    IN MEMORIAM
    Those who have moveed on
    THE LIBRARY
    contributed poems, humor, and stories
    PROVERBS FOR THE MILLENNIUM
    (Contributed by Scorp of #Scorp’s Place)
      1. Home is where you hang your @.
      2. The email of the species is more deadly than the mail.
      3. A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click.
      4. You can't teach a new mouse old clicks.
      5. Great groups from little icons grow.
      6. Speak softly and carry a cellular phone.
      7. In some places, C:\ is the root of all directories.
      8. Oh, what a tangled Website we weave when first we practice.
      9. Pentium wise, pen and paper foolish.
      10. The modem is the message.
      11. Too many clicks spoil the browse.
      12. The geek shall inherit the earth.
      13. Don't byte off more than you can view.
      14. Fax is stranger than fiction.
      15. What boots up must come down.
      16. Windows will never cease.
      17. Virtual reality is its own reward.
      18. Modulation in all things.
      19. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.
      20. There's no place like your homepage.

    HOW TO TELL IF AN ARKY HAS WORKED ON A COMPUTER

    (Contributed by Zingo of #norwich)
    1. The monitor is up on blocks.
    2. Outgoing faxes have tobacco stains on them.
    3. The 6 front keys have rotted out.
    4. The extra RAM slots have Dodge truck parts in them.
    5. The numeric keypad only goes up to 6.
    6. The password is "Bubba."
    7. There is a gun rack mounted on the CPU.
    8. There's a Skoal can in the CD-ROM Drive.
    9. The keyboard is camouflaged.
    10. The Mouse is referred to as a "Critter."



    Lois
    -30-
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