#gb Frequently Asked Questions List

About this FAQ

I'm also regularly on IRC, as Cully

General IRC Information.

• What does FAQ mean?
  
  FAQ is a list of Frequently Asked Questions, to save people actually having to ask them in the first place. Most Usenet groups have FAQ's, however few IRC channels seem to worry.
  
  
• Why does #gb have a FAQ, then?
  The only answer is, really, 'Why not?'. Many newbies join the channel and ask questions that newbies before them have also asked. This FAQ will hopefully give answers to most, if not all, the possibilities.
  
  
• What's a newbie?
  One who is new to, or inexperienced with, a system. In this case, IRC.
  
  
• What does LOL mean?
  
  It's a TLA for 'Laughs out loud'. Often said in response to someone making a joke or a freudian slip of some kind.
  
  
• TLA? Wassat, then?
  TLA = Three Letter Acronym.
  
  
• Are there any other acronyms I should know about?
  IRC - Inter Relay Chat :)
  BRB - Be Right Back
  BBL - Be Back Later
  BBIAB - Be Back In A Bit
  TTFN - Ta-ta For Now
  AFAIK - As Far As I Know
  ROTFL - Rolls On The Floor Laughing
  
  
• :) ?
  It's a smilie. See The Unofficial Smilie Dictionary for more information.
  
  
• What IS IRC?
  
• Is IRC text only?
  It can be use to transfer binary files...however, the only way to display graphics is via ASCII-Art. For example :

        ______
       /    |
      |     |
      |     ()-<I'm a company director, Actually.>
      |    /MM\/`
      |    \MM
      |    '()
      |     db
      | 
   ___|_____________
  

  
  
• Is this like Compuserve's CB ?
  Technically yes, I'm told.
  Financially no. Compuserve works out a great deal more expensive after about ten seconds use...
  
  
• What is this 'lag' that people mention occasionally? Another obscure acronym?
  The time it takes messages to get from one person (or server) to another person (or server). You can measure how badly someone is lagged by /ping-ing them.
  
  

Questions asked often on #gb

• Where did #gb come from?
  
  The channel +GB was created by Gedge early in 1992 to get away from +UK, the British channel of the time which was controlled by Lorry, Andie, Dunc and ScottM. #gb was formed to be a more friendly channel where anyone who wanted could have operators and people wouldn't be banned for speaking out. The cynics amongst you may spot the obvious flaws in this.
  
  
• Is there a split?
  
  At the moment EFNet is split for "political" reasons. There appears to be no obvious end to this conflict in sight, and for the time being it is best to consider EFNet as two disjoint nets. Most of #gb lives on the "European" side [EUnet], which consists of most of the British and European servers, and irc.stealth.net. The "American" side consists of the USA, Canada, and Japan.

  Users on this side of the Atlantic wishing to talk to the USA have a number of options, including irc.bt.net, irc-2.mit.edu, irc.voicenet.com and others. Users on the far side of the Atlantic are generally limited to irc.stealth.net to get onto this side.

  
  
• Are there any IRCops here?
  
  It depends why you're asking. If you want someone /killed for kicking you, then no. Ops should only be asked to look at problems on servers they have O-lines for -- asking them to deal with someone on the other side of the world is unlikely to be met with much sympathy. In particular, kills on other servers are highly politically incorrect unless there is *VERY* good reason. (<CYNIC>Like, the IRCop being bored...</CYNIC>)
  
  
• Are there any other British channels elsewhere?
  There are a number of #gb "spinoff" channels, but they tend to be very much oriented towards regulars and are not exactly known for their friendly treatment of newcomers. [Editor's note : completely unlike #gb, of course]. Don't be surprised if you are patronised, ignored, kicked, or banned on them.

  EFnet #england appears to attract a crowd which is almost completely disjoint from #gb these days.

  There are #british, #uk and #brits channels occasionally active on EFnet - these do not come highly recommended (if they were any good we'd be in them).

  There is a small #gb which is intermittently active on DALnet, largely made up of disgruntled (plus a few still-gruntled) EFnetters.

  Undernet has a #england which seems to attract a younger and more international crowd than EFnet #gb. It also has a particularly annoying bot.

  
  
• Is it me, or is it quiet in here?
  
  If you are logging in at 3am, it's quite likely to be quiet. A number of the regulars on #gb have a permanant internet connection, and so do not leave unless absolutely necessary.
  If it is daytime [in the UK] then it could be lag [see above].
  
  
• Why do people log on and then log off immediately?
  
  These are actually MI5 officers collecting names for the revolution when Thatcher returns to power. They also monitor accesses to this FAQ.
  
  
• Why do people log on, then off, then on, then off...
  
  It's a subliminal request for a ban.
  
  
• What's the average age of people on here?
  
  The mental age is around 30, although this drops to about 5 whenever Lorry arrives.
  
  
• Is this for Gameboy stuff?
  Yes. Now go away.
  
  
• Does anyone keep a record of what's been said?
  
  Only the really libellous bits.
  
  
• Why is everyone on here called Neil?
  
  Noting that all the Neils are exactly the same age, it can be summised that the name was on special offer that year.
  
  
• Is there something wrong with DNS?
  
  This is a FAQ. It is text. You honestly think that it knows the state of your DNS server?
  
  
• What are the bots on this channel?
  There are no bots on #gb. Bots are not welcome here.
  
  
• Who is in charge of this channel?
  The regulars.
  
  
• What does 'GB' stand for?
  
  So many answers to this question have been put forward that the possibilites so far suggested can instead be found at acronyms.html.
  
  
• Is there something wrong with Demon?
  Phone them if you feel that there may be a problem. Their support telephone number should be on any letter from Demon. IRC is not a support mechanism.
  
  
• Can I have ops?
  If you have to ask, then no. As people get to know you, over a period of days or weeks, you may find that they start opping you. Or they may not, it depends what sort of impression you make.
  
  
• Op me! (not a question but still occasionally said)
  
  /kick #gb lamer See above question.
  
  
• What do I have to do to get +O ?
  Beg.
  
  
• Any demon users on here?
  
  The command to see which people on channel are Demon users is listed in the IRC primer and trivial to use. If you can't be bothered to find out how to do it, we can't be bothered to tell you.
  
  
• Can anyone see me?
  
  No. However, we can correctly recieve your TCP packets and correctly interpret the ASCII English text.
  NB: Not being able to see someone has been known to happen. However, it's a very rare occurance, so it's normally safe to assume that yes, everyone can see you. You're just paranoid.
  
  
• How lagged am I?
  
  Depends where you are measuring from...
  
  
• Why all the underscores?
  A wacky (or possibly zany) idea which has pervaded the group consciousness. It now usually occurs whenever some idiot on another channel (often #redheads) persists in inviting people over. In response, we adopt nicks like ___, _--__-, etc, and go and confuse the hell out of them...
  
  
• What's this about a cabal?
  
  It doesn't exist.
  
  
• Can anyone tell me how to ftp ?
  
  Yes they can, and they also can tell you to RTFM
  
  
• What's that 'teamkick' that people mentioned?
  
  When on channel, ask for a demonstration. So we don't inconvenience you, make sure that auto-rejoin is set to "on".
  
  
• Why did I get kicked/banned?
  
  Because you upset somebody. A kick is usually a warning that you are being obnoxious. The best way to get banned after somebody has kicked you is to come back and start complaining...
  
  
• Why does everyone say Bollocks with a [tm]?
  
  The word 'Bollocks' is an officially registered trade mark of Sproing.
  
  
• Do these people ever actually see each other?
  
  Yes, there are regularly organised meets in London and other major cities. For more information, see http://www.demon.co.uk/meets/.
  
  
• Any girls on here?
  
  Nope, just guys pretending to be women. This is the INTERNET.
  
  
• Why does everyone have ops?
  
  Why not?
  
  
• Is there any #gb merchandise?
  Plug Alert

  There has been and there will be. abnorman did some t-shirts and 33 were distributed, with a big #gb on the front and "If you don't already know, you wouldn't understand." on the back, which was thought of by Vix. Lindsay managed to get one on the telly and on the radio.

  The future will hold a winter collection of probably long sleaved t-shirts, mugs, mouse mats, baseball caps, pens, pencils, keyrings, comedy boxers, small panties, condom's, etc, etc. If interested contact abnorman and he'll say 'yeah, when I get round to it.'

My thanks to all on #gb for their help compiling this list, especially those who told me constantly it was a crap idea but still gave me new suggestions. They know who they are. Any further help is appreciated.

Other #gb Pages :

• Danius Michaelides' Picture Archive
  
• Demon.Local and #gb Meets Page

FAQ started 3rd September 1995
Last updated 12th August 1996