We can chat if we want to

[autographedcat]

Way back in the wild west days of the Internet, there was a chatroom for filkers called #filkhaven. It was originally established by Debbie Ohi​ on a web-to-IRC service called TalkCity, and a couple of years later, when TC because an ad-glutted annoyance, Mike Whitaker​ and I founded FilkNet to take it private.

That version of #filkhaven still exists, but it's been a pretty quiet place for a long time. I've tried a couple of times to lure people to it again, but it seems that people have had trouble getting software to work and connected to it.

Lately, I've been hanging out on a Discord chat set up by a gaming friend, and I noted how much that felt what I liked about our old chat hub. So I decided to create a new iteration of the room there.

To log in is simple. Go to the link below, create a free account, and...that's it. There is a downloadable client, if you want, or you can just use the web-based application, which works just fine. (And there's mobile platform support as well.)

Hope to see some of you there!

https://discord.gg/x2qFU7E

Comments

[kjn]

Well, I hang out there sometimes, but it's mainly hrrunka and Colin talking radio nowadays.

[katyhh]

Oh man, those were the days!
For me, it is two reasons these days... A) at work, these days, more things are blocked on my work machine than in earlier years. Most chat programs will not work, unless it is something that new that usual blocking software does not know yet. I think my company uses McAffee, and they block a ridiculous amount of things.
B) my evenings are full... back then, I kinda spent most of my evening time online to talk to my (now) hubby, now, during the week, we both work late, come home, shop, clean, cook dinner, watch shows and talk IRL ;) Gah, all boring grown up stuff ;)
But it really would be nice to recreate that haven :)

[madfilkentist]

One disturbing bit in the terms of service:

By uploading, distributing, transmitting or otherwise using Your Content with the Service, you grant to us a perpetual, nonexclusive, transferable, royalty-free, sublicensable, and worldwide license to use, host, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, and display Your Content in connection with operating and providing the Service.

Anything we say there has no privacy whatsoever.

I know all the services have ridiculous terms like that. That's why I sign up for as few as possible.

[sibylle]

Alas alas when the IRC was still around I rarely ever logged in because it made me terrible at actually getting work done, and I definitely have no less work than I did back then these days ... .