irc

[jxrry59]

I downloaded mirc and spent the last hour in irc for the first time-while i am out there finding out how it works and how to navigate what do i need to do to protect myself as it seems loke a whole new 'net?
It is really confusing and seems like someone like myself must be an easy mark

[zzzdawg]

Make sure you run a good anti-virus (Mcafee seems to catch more trojans) and keep it up to date. Avoid showing your 'puter stats. Be careful who you trust. Scan anything you d/l before opening. Run a properly configured firewall and check it frequently for open ports. Sygate offers a few free port scans..not the most comprehensive...but it checks the ones the script kiddies target most often. Don't follow posted links or pm's on join..they are spam and virii.

Hope this helps.

[jxrry59]

I'm gonna go walk the dog but that helps a little-does just being there at all risky-how do i block stats- i need to find out how to use ftp-if this is too much is there a seurity minded tutorial that the completley ignorant(me) should use-thanks for all that offer assitance

-I only downloaded mirc to use on AO but wow!-I was overwhelmed!

[zzzdawg]

Try this link for some info:http://livinginternet.com/?r/rs.htm

[er0k]

proxies are a good start if you go to non-masked connecting servers. ie a server that doesnt "change your ip address (host mask) when you connect to something non sensical" if you are just having trouble navigating around irc, some of these basic commands might help:

/join #channelhere

/list - lists channels currently being used

/dcc nickname here file here - sends files

/me whatever you feel like typing here.

/part leave channel

/quit leave server

/away <message here> - leaves an away message

/back (on some) tells you how long you were gone, and removes the away message

lots of help can be found on the net. go to google and type irc commands or something along those lines.

www.xchat.org

[jxrry59]

Thanks-all good useful info---Does www stand for wild wild web?? lol thanks again

[tatui]

Well, i think you already know the server and channel to use. Before I add just a few commands and explain a bit about irc, take note about what people would do to harm you there:
What they usually do is fool you into doing something that will allow them to have access to your machine. This includes sending viruses, and asking you to type some commands. Never type anything if you don´t know what it does. In doubt, check the client´s documentation or search for it on a search engine. An example is when someone tells you that server x is much faster, and asks you to type /server servername . It could be a server run by the person (a so called bouncer), which connects to a real server of the network, thus giving you acess to that IRC network and giving the other user the opportunity to see everything you send/receive to/from channels. So, rule of thumb here is: trust noone until you are used to the system.

Some other basic commands:
/server server.ircnetwork port ---- this connects you to the server you chose, and you may chose a port as well (optional). Hmm forget about the port..
/nick newnick --- to change your nick
/query nick --- Opens a private chat window. Now you and that person can talk in secret.
/whois nick -- info on that nick
/mode yournick +p --- this is just to hide the channels you are visiting from whois

Ah, www stands for World Wide Web. ops.. were you joking? :P lol

[er0k]

yeah there are all kinds of commands. /msg nickhere is the same as query nick here

/amsg - send message to all channels open

/ping nick here - ping a user

for channels with services:

/nickserv register nickname password email

/nickserv identify password

if you have ops:

/mode channel + or - whatever

/mode user + or - whatever

/kick user reason - kick user out of channel

/kill user reason disconnect user from server

/ban user@bleh

/samode #channel +or - whatever nick here

/oper nickhere passhere

___________________

just stuff like that

[Jabberwocky]

there have been many excellent irc tuts written in the tutorial forums you can find here:

http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=133897