Does anyone here go to chat rooms anymore? My friend tries to get me to go to Yahoo! ones (“They’re funny to watch!” she says), but I can’t stand the childish insanity (as opposed to the wacky fun insanity here 
). But sometimes I have that craving to go into some chat room where people talk intellectually, or at least coherantly. Any suggestions?
BTW, the Straight Dope has one, right? I think I’ve heard others refer to it, but I’ve never known where it is.
The “chat room” you refer to is #StraightDope on Internet Relay Chat. If you don’t have an IRC client, you can download one free via http://www.mirc.com for the PC or http://www.ircle.com for the Mac. Be aware that both are shareware versions; mIRC has a nag screen once a month (actually a nag redirect-your-browser) and Ircle just stops working until your cough up some dough.
Anywho, set your client to an Undernet server. That’s where we are. If you need actual step-by-step directions for IRC, I can give them but won’t bother until someone asks 
Disclaimer: #StraightDope is not owned, moderated or endorsed by the SDMB, The Chicago Reader or The Straight Dope.
Umm, **Joph[/]? He said GOOD chat rooms…
You’re gonna lose your title, woman!
By the way, you can check here to see who’s on #SD at any given moment.
I know. January 1, 2002 I will lose the title of “Official Chat Addict, 2001”. I know this. Unless, of course, I’m still the most active chatter, which is a pretty good possibility.
::checks coding::
::previews::
::fixes coding::
::makes note to “Disable smilies in this post”::
Okay, I think we’re good here…
SUBMIT!
Check out http://thriveonline.oxygen.com/chat/
I can’t guarantee that people will talk intellectually, but, it is much better than yahoo!!