Survivors has been running for almost three years now. It is an information support and self-help group. It is a non-judgemental, safe and supportive place to go. We are open to all those who have suffered any kind of childhood abuse. We aim to keep the channel open 24hrs a day and hope that there will always be an op there to help and support you. There is no issue surrounding abuse that has not been covered in #survivors so do not be afraid to chat with us. We have all experienced abuse of one kind or another and we are all survivors and understand your inner most feelings.

The Key Functions of #Survivors On The Net are as follows:

Provide support and information on the internet for survivors of childhood abuse, their partners, family and friends.

Focus on supporting Organisations involving survivors of abuse, i.e.local, national and international groups and other user groups.

Develop strategies for informing people about #Survivors On The Net and the resources available to them.

Promote communications via the internet to businesses, not-for-profit and charitable organisations, service users and workers

Support and training for people wishing to set up similar services.

 

Key functions of #Survivors

(IN DETAIL)

#Survivors can be found on Dalnet. If you have any trouble finding us then please email me info@survivors.org.uk or any of the other ops and we will be glad to help you find us. I am in the process of setting up a link that will take you directly to the channel, but these things take time, so bear with me, in the mean time, please ask us if you need some help.

Ops In Survivors:-click on name to see a piccy of the ops

 

Connecting to Dalnet

1. To find the channel you need to get and IRC (Internet Relay Chat). If you already have one then please move on to step two. We recommend using mIRC. The latest version is currenty 5.0 and can be found in 16 or 32 bit versions. mIRC can be downloaded from with a WWW browser from any of the following:-

http://pebbles.axi.net/mirc/

http://www-geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/6000/

http://www-2.nijemrode.nl/software/mirc/

2. Get onto Dalnet. Dalent is the third largest IRC network. It is the home of the #survivors channel. When you have loaded the mIRC programme, or whichever IRC client you are using, type in

server.irc.dal.net 7000

mIRC had a complete server list which you can get by typing

finger servers@dal.net in the mIRC application

3. Get into #survivors. In mIRC (or whatever client you are using type:

/join #survivors

That will bring you to the channel. If there is no-one there, please try again, but you should not have to wait for long, it is our aim to have somethere at all times. Upon entering the channel (and someone is there) you will be greeted by an op. An op is similar to someone on the other end of a help-line number, they are there to help you and make you feel safe. An op will have a sign by there nick like this @ and it is good if you let them know how you found us and that you are new, that way we can exolain how the channel works especially if you are new to the internet also. For those that are really new to the internet here is what the channel will look like upon joining and some of the commands that you can use to make things easier.

Ok, top left is the coversation flow, and if at first it seems a little fast for you it is possible to scroll back and catch up with what is being talked about. Just before each comment is the nick of the person so that you know who is speaking. On the right is the name of the members of the channel and agin those with an @ beside their name, are there for you to ask any questions of. At the bottom is where you can type what you want to say. If there are many people in the room, and you are wary about diclosing anything at that point it is possible to talk to one of the Ops by double-clicking on their name which will bring up another window. Here a conversation can take place on a one to one basis without anyone know what the topic of the conversation is. Please feel free to do this and tell the ops that you are new and you would like to sit and listen and watch how the channel works, that way they are aware of your situation and won't think you are a prankster. I say this, because when someone enters the ops will do a check to make sure that you are not an undersirable lurking on channels that have nothing to do with surviving......we like to keep you as safe as we can.

Some other things you will find on IRC

STATUS WINDOW

The status window will show any messages from chanserv, who is leaving the channel, who is joining and any relevant information that would affect your connection.

LAGGED

There are few things that can be more irritating than this, especially if you are really new and are still getting to grips with the IRC. Lagging means, as it is defined, behind, which on IRC means that your messages are not getting straight to the others, they are taking longer than usual. This can make it look as though you are being ignored because no-one has responded to you. Try not to worry to much, you have to sit it out and wait for things to catch up again. However, it is possible to find out what your ping response is by using this command

/ping #survivors

This command sends your ping to all the others in the channel and will come back and say your ping reply is for example 2 secs, then that is good. I will explain later about bad ping responses. A ping reply of 2 secs or similar is the amount of time it takes for your message to reach the others.

NETSPLITS

Sometimes you will see a message similar to this (I will use my nick as an example...paddy)

***Quits paddy (*.bu.edueff.org)?

Dalnet has lots of servers (entry points), these you will find listed in the programme of mIRC that you download. Each person joining Dalnet will pick a server, I usually use Santa Clara, to connect. When you see a message such as the above, it will mean that I have split from the part of the net that you are on, that my server has split from yours.

If you were the one to split, upon rejoining people may say to you welcome back, yet when looking at your screen it will appear as though we all left. Confused????? :) Its not really that bad, just remember that netsplits are from the point of view of the user.

If this happens, the best thing to do is wait it out and wait for the netsplit to mend itself. It is not really a good idea to change server during a netsplit. If you do you may come another problem where it is contributing to the split and time lag.

Some useful IRC commands

/whois nickname

Will give information that Irc server holds about a user and the channels they are on.

/names #surviors (or the channel of your choice)

Will show the users currently in the channel.

/me says hello

Action. Will print a message in a different colour..something like this *paddy says hello to everyone

/part #survivors ( or the channel you are in)

Will end your connection to the channel and close the window

/msg paddy (or the nick of the person you wish to message)

Will send a private message to that user. Others will not be able to see that message.

/dcc chat nickname (or the nick of the person you wish to message)

Will initiate a direct chat link with the another user. This for of chat differs from /msg by that it does not go through the IRC server, and is a good way to continue your chat and avoid the lag (split).

 

If you find that you still have problems connecting then please email me info@survivors.org.uk and mark the email connecting to #survivors and tell me what system and software you have, and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as I can, or any of the other ops listed above, we are there to help you.

Page Design : Jill Miles

ArtWork: Jill Miles

(or borrowed from other sources on the net)

Jill Miles (paddy)
Copyright © 1997 [#Survivors On The Net]. All rights reserved.
Last revised: 16th August 1997