Internet Relay Chat

Connection details, for the IRC familiar.

Server: irc.tzirc.com
Support Channel: #Help
Chat Channel: #TheZone

What is IRC? For those new to IRC.

IRC is short for Internet Relay Chat.  I tell my friends to think of it like multiplayer notepad.  It doesn't have smileys.  It doesn't have cool noises.   It just has text, and people.

One of my favorite features about IRC is that you can run your own server, or collection of servers called a network.  That just means you can make a private communication area that can host multiple chat rooms that can be available to as many or as few people as you would like.

Paul Sobel and I administrate TheZone IRC Network ... or tZ-IRC.  On this network, Paul owns #TheZone.   This is a channel (IRC equivalent to a chat room) Paul set up for ourselves and some Internet friends.  I don't say "friends" lightly.  The Internet is a place where relationships, even strange impersonal ones, can grow.  I speak to some of these people every day, and have for the past years.  I play online games with them.  I solve problems with them.  I ask them for advice on my software, and help testing various things.

Most people use an IRC client.  The most popular one on Windows is mIRC.  mIRC can be difficult to set up at first, since there are multiple servers and multiple channels.  Most things in IRC are command based.  For that reason, I recommend you try our web-chat feature first.  Warning: #TheZone is a channel where many of the regulars see their presence in the channel highly similar to their presence in their own living rooms, with their closest friends.  They tell lame jokes.   They pick on each other.  They swear.  And they act goofy.  I personally may not condone all of it, but we tolerate it, bless God!
Jay Baldwin is a follower of Jesus Christ residing in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and daughter. Jay is an Executive Director and Software Engineer (Web Ninja!), a self-proclaimed scriptural scholar, and a pilot. He's also an avid gamer, loves tennis, and has a black belt in Korean martial art Tang Soo Do.