to the IRC channel?
I did a search for IRC but its like trying to find a loogie in the Atlantic… Jeez.
What server is it off of?
IRC is weird and scary, and I don’t understand it.
Does that help?
When you say “the IRC channel,” I’ll assume for a minute that you mean #straightdope, the IRC channel that is not affiliated with this message board in any way whatsoever, so help me God.
That channel is located on Undernet. If you have mIRC or Pirch or Mayham or a suitable program, launch it and choose Undernet as your server. Once connected, type “/join #straightdope” and you’ll be there.
But remember, it’s NOT affiliated with SDMB, the Chicago Reader, Ed Zotti, Cecil Adams, or any of their minions, helpers, doctors, lawyers, garage mechanics, or masseuses. 
Quick explanation of IRC:
IRC predates the web. You need an IRC client to access it (and a net connection obviously ). You connect to an IRC server, which in turn is connected to other IRC servers to create an IRC network (like Undernet or IRCNET).
Once you’re connected, you can join a channel. Channels are prefixed with a “#” (yeah, yeah, I know, but keeping it simple!). So you join a channel like #straightdope (for instance).
People on the same channel can chat to each other like a web based chatroom (which were inspired by IRC).
If the channel you join didn’t already exist, then you create it, and become an operator. Operators are usually designated by having @ before their nickname (ie. Username).
Operators can kick people off a channel, ban people from a channel, change the channel topic and do a few other things. They can also assign operator rights to other people.
Bots are programs that act as though they were people on the channel. They’re given operator status and use simple rules like:
If dylan_73 joins #mychannel set mode +o dylan_73
Which would make me a channel operator every time I join #mychannel.
I think that about sums it up.
Teensy little clarification: Not all bots are ops, and they don’t always follow simple rules. I used to have one that played trivia games (answering questions, not asking them), and would greet people by what everyone else called them, which was not necessarily their real username. It also figured out the keyword commands for other bots in the room, and played around with their responses. I didn’t trust it with op status, though.
Forgive this unrelated post, but how *^%&ing long
have there been other Malkavians on the SDMB? Forget
the IRC, what in the hell happened to my connection to
the MMN? I knew it was a mistake to masquerade as a Son
Of Ether!
End of Hijack. We now return you to your normal, grey
reality