A popular Newsreader (Usenet client program). You can read Usenet articles that other folks have posted with Agent. OR... with Agent, you can even post articles to newsgroups for folks to read and debate. Also available, with less function, as "Free Agent" (for free , what else).

On an anonymous FTP server, you can download goodies (files) and sometimes even upload your files without even having an account on the server machine. You just log on using an ID of ANONYMOUS, and then type your e-mail address for the password.

(America Online) The largest BBS. Uses a Windows/ Mac-based client-server format. You install AOL's client software on your PC (from their diskette) and then link to AOL's server with your modem. (AOL diskettes are free and everywhere; they were taped to the squashes yesterday at the Giant supermart.) AOL features strict censorship. (See "BBS" and "client-server".)

Goes with anonymous FTP. Archie keeps a central index of many of the files that are available by anonymous FTP. If you need a file and you know the file's name (or Ok, a piece of the name), Archie will tell you where to find it. You need an Archie client program on your PC (freeware), and you just connect to some willing Archie server out on the Net that does this fulltime.

ASCII is a code using numbers from 0 to 127. Each number stands for a text character (letter, number, punctuation, next line, etc.) Each ASCII code number requires 7 bits to represent it. (IMPRESS YOUR DATE--> ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange).

IMPRESS YOUR DATE--> ATM = Asynchronous Transfer Mode. ATM is a standard for sending and receiving data that breaks it up into 53-byte "cells." ATM works well with many different types of sending and receiving hardware, and it can transmit voice AND video AND digital data simultaneously.
ATM breaks data into uniform cells because "ATM Switches" can then process and route the cells VERY fast (like very efficient traffic cops). So ATM is a VERY fast way to send stuff. And before ATM sends anything, he first negotiates the speed of the path he'll be using... he decides if his stuff takes I-95 or old US Route #1.

The fast communications lines and their connectors in some network. How fast? Fast relative to the rest of that particular network. Some Net backbones are "FDDI" and can carry 100,000,000 bits per second (they're glass fiber optic). (IMPRESS YOUR DATE--> FDDI = Fiber Distributed Data Interface, a way to transmit data on glass fiber optic cables.) The backbone of the Internet is a bunch of special phone cables, like FDDI type, that can carry data at hundreds of millions of bits per second. The high speed data lines of the Internet backbone connect the "little" networks together all over the world.

The back end of an ISP is the phone line that connects the ISP to the Internet. The point where the ISP's phone lines meet the Net's phone lines is called a Network Access Point (NAP). An ISP can have an excellent "front end" (plenty of fast modems, so you never get a busy when you dial the ISP), and it still can run like a slug in January if its back end is overloaded, or if the NAP is overloaded (many ISP's may use a single NAP). (TIDBIT--> small ISP's often don't connect to the Net. They connect to big ISP's. Then the big ISP's connect you to the Net.)

How much water you can push through the pipe; how much data you can shove along a cable ("FDDI" fiber cables have a bandwidth of 100 million bits per second.) ALSO... a vague, ephemeral thing that people on the Net will sometimes accuse you of wasting; as, "You quoted the whole article and added a one line comment... what a waste of bandwidth, you idiot." (NETIQUETTE--> When posting to Usenet, don't quote more than you need to, but DO quote something, so people will have some idea of what you're talking about. People who respond to posts but quote nothing often are called "idiots.")

Even a lot of computer and modem users are confused by baud and bits per second. So we'll start at the start. A bit is a 0 or a 1. (A character is represented by several bits.) Data is sent through computers and modems and the Internet as strings of bits, like... 0110101011000. Bits per second (bps) is the number of bits sent or received per second. But BAUD is something different. BAUD is the number of times per second the "state" changes in a modem or in a network or whatever. If the frequency or the voltage or the phase or the whatever electrical on a communications line changes 2400 times per second, we say the line is running at 2400 baud. BUT... one baud... that is, one change of state... can represent MORE (or less) than one bit. SO... maybe a 2400 BAUD modem, by using some secret code (like four different tones), can send FOUR BITS PER BAUD... four bits with every electrical state change. Then this 2400 BAUD modem can send and receive data at 9600 bits per second (bps). Simple, no? Yea.

Bulletin Board System. An electronic bulletin board on some remote computer. Folks have discussions (just like Usenet), download files and pictures (like FTP), make announcements, etc. There are a zillion BBSs in the world, and most are smallish PCs like yours, with just a few phone lines connected (one or two customers at a time). Some BBSs are dedicated to just one topic, like home repairs. And many now connect you to the Internet, a bit. AOL is the largest BBS.

Some parts of the Net were designed to carry only text (like e-mail and Usenet). Other parts can handle binary (pictures, programs, sounds, etc.) just fine (like FTP). So how do you attach a program or a picture to e-mail or a Usenet post? Cool and easy. Your e-mail program and your newsreader will convert the binary to a text code. In fact, on Usenet, there are newsgroups dedicated to binaries. Such groups would include alt.binaries.pictures and alt.binaries.collies. Do not post binaries in non-binary newsgroups; you will be called an "idiot" or a "F*ckwit" (common insults).

A method, like UU-encoding, to convert files that aren't ASCII (like programs, pictures, etc.) to ASCII, so you can attach them to your e-mail letters. BUT... most e-mail uses a code called MIME for its attachments. Do we care? Never.

(Impress your analyst--->) Blers (stands for "Bit Link Error RateS") are errors in data (and protocol) blocks that are received by your modem. If there are many block errors (more than 2 blers during several minutes of connection), your modem may have be experiencing problems receiving data from the phone line. "The $%#@! Courier modem had 231 blers in 4-1/2 minutes!" is not cool. On the other hand, one bler every 12 minutes is considered very cool by gamers (e.g., Quake). If you give a USR modem the famous "ati6" command, it'll respond with lots of data, including blers.

The client program that you run on your PC when you want to look at stuff on the Web. Many browsers, like Netscape, also send e-mail, read and post to Newsgroups, download via FTP, and do various other tricks and handstands. In general, it's a way to "look" at stuff on the NET (including multimedia and sounds... and where do we find pictures and animation and sounds on the Net? On the Web? Right.)

Cache stores information where you can get to it fast. A Web browser cache stores a page's HTML code, as well as any graphics and multimedia embedded in it. That way, when you go back to the same page, everything doesn't have to be downloaded all over again. Since hard disk access is much faster than Internet access, this speeds things up.
Most time-sensitive Web information -- like stock quotes -- will use the "http Expires header", so that your Browser is forced to request a new page from the Web server. A place with a "proxy server" (like AOL) however ignores such refresh requests, and just gives the same cached page again. (We say it doesn't "punch through".)
The main reason you want to clear your browser cache is for performance -- especially on a slow or low-memory PC. Cleaning out the cache (and the history list) can dramatically improve the speed of a browser.

By The Way. Shorthand used in e-mail and Usenet to "save bandwidth" (right). In reality, often used to show you're not a newbie (a newcomer to the Net).

Usually, when you give your Web browser a URL (like... http://www.xx.com/~bill/gerbils), your browser contacts the Web server named www.xx.com, and the server sends file gerbils from directory bill back to you.
HOWEVER... a Web server can be set up so that when files in certain directories are requested, instead of the file being sent back to you, instead it's executed on the server. So when you give your browser a URL like... www.xx.com/bill-cgi/gerbils, file gerbils is executed as a program, and the OUTPUT of that program (whatever it may be) is sent back for your browser to display.
This capability is called Common Gateway Interface or CGI; and the programs stored in the special directory at the Web server are called CGI Scripts.

IRC is like a conference call on the phone, only with text; each conference call is called a channel. Channels are similar to AOL chat rooms. BUT... on IRC, you can be on more than one channel at a time.

Talking to other folks on the Net, usually by typing and reading their typed responses on your monitor, in real time.

If I connect to a host computer on the Net that's running an FTP server , and I want to download some files from him to my PC, I need to be running a program on my PC called an FTP client . FTP server on the host, FTP client on my PC. Volia, stuff downloads to my PC. That's an example of a client-server. The client gets stuff from a server, maybe 10,000 miles away. Each server (like a POP3 mail server) needs a specific client (like Eudora).

If a host name is dog.wolf.net, then dog is the computer name.

If you're surfing the Web, going from site to site, some of them may put a "cookie" in your browser. The cookie has a little bit of information in it... maybe it just says you visited "Bill's House Of Ill Refute" on 7 October. Then, the next time you visit, Bill can look for your cookie, see how long it's been since your last visit, and stamp you a new cookie for your browser. Cookies can be used for LOTS of things. (No, this Web site feeds you NO cookies... bad for you, anyway.) You can't eat these cookies, but you can purge them the hell outta your browser.

Everything in the known and unknown universe that you can access with some computer network. The world you enter when you log onto the Net, as opposed to old-fashioned, boring Reality, where you have to work for money, and where you meet real people, and do other mundane stuff. In cyberspace, even a dog can type a Web page like this one; and at 430 AM on Sundays, all cats are gray, and all ISPs are equal.

This is something you can get from many ISPs. It can be a leased phone line (you're connected without dialing), or it can be a phone number that only you have. The line will never be busy, and you can use it to stay connected to your ISP forever, which is cool if you're running your own server. The rub is that dedicated lines usally cost hundreds of dollars per month. But... with a dedicated line, your PC can have a direct, permanent connection to the Net. Dedicated lines may be expensive, but they're cool.

A free service on the Web that searches for Usenet posts with certain keywords. SO... post to Usenet wisely; Deja News archives a gazillion posts for forever and a day, and they're all available for folks to browse.

DHCP stands for "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol." DHCP is a way that your PC can get a unique, working IP address when you dial into your ISP (some alphabet soup here). You need an IP address for the Internet to be able to direct good stuff to your PC, like the Web pages your browser requests. (It's like your telephone number... you usually need one to be able to receive phone calls.) DHCP is a better way for you to get an IP address than having your ISP pick one out of the air and then see if anyone else is already using it.

Standard with Windows 95. Allows you to connect to one ISP (or one out of many, if you subscribe to more than one) just by clicking an icon. And Windows 95 takes care of the Winsock and the TCP/IP and the dialing and all of that stuff. If you have it, flaunt it (unless you have some reason not to). It's the greatest invention since the collie.

MEMORIZE THIS TO IMPRESS EVERYONE--> Ok, let's say you want to browse www.dog.wolf.net . Well, you can't. Not until that www.dog.wolf.net (an easy-to-remember name) gets translated into an "IP Address" like 204.180.128.183 (an impossible-to-remember number). So who translates host server computer names into IP addresses? TA DA... the 1.) DNS server to the rescue (DNS = Domain Name System).
Your ISP has a DNS server, often a few. They examine the host computer name you've entered, and they send the dog.wolf part to the 2.) .NET Root Server (which knows about all the ".NET's" and is "out there" somewhere).
The .NET Root Server has information in its tables that allows it to find the wolf.net site (or domain). So it sends your request for an IP address there, to wolf.net (wherever on earth that may be). There, your request goes to the 3.) Authoritative Name Server .
"Hello, I want the IP address for www.dog.wolf.net ." Well, cool, because the Authoritative Name Server just happens to have a list of all the host computer IP addresses at its location. And it's the guy who finally sends 204.180.128.183 back to your PC, so that you can rock 'n' roll... and start browsing www.dog.wolf.net on the Web.
(Yea, there are a few steps to it. But it ain't rocket science. And it usually works. And it's pretty much transparent. And it's how the DNS (Domain Name System) REALLY does its thing, no BS.) AND your ISP also "caches" IP addresses, so the lookup usually goes very fast. The process we described only happens when your ISP has never been asked about a host before (or if the existing cached entry has expired).
And once you know that Aunt Emma's phone number is 410-666-9969... uh, sorry... that www.dog.wolf.net's IP address is 204.180.128.183, you're free to bypass the whole DNS and just give your browser- http://204.180.128.183 . May save you a second or two.

A tough one here, because different folks define domain differently.
First, the correct answer. If a host name is dog.wolf.edu, then edu is the domain; and that host is in the .edu (educational) domain. dog.wolf.fr would describe a host computer in the domain of France. And so on.
Second, the way most folks use it... the name of an Internet site. If a host name is dog.wolf.edu, the edu is the "high level domain", and wolf.edu is the domain. (And dog is the name of the specific host computer or host or server we're interested in.)
(IMPRESS YOUR DATE--> In our example, dog.wolf.net is also called a FQDN, a "Fully Qualified Domain Name.")
In the e-mail address nobody@netcom.com, the domain, or site, is netcom.com . The domain in the Web address http://www.mindspring.com is mindspring.com.

If you move something from the Net (a picture, a program, whatever) to your PC, you've "downloaded" it. And e-mail programs like Eudora will download your accumulated e-mail from your ISP's (POP) mail server down to your PC.

Using your PC to send letters and files to folks at other computers. (If you send huge quantities of big letters with unsolicited garbage, that's called mail-bombing someone. Folks who do mail-bombing are called supreme "idiots". (Unless it's justified (if you do it, it's always justified)).

If you stick a user name to the left of a host name and separate them with an @, you get an e-mail address, like collie@dog.wolf.net. Every e-mail address in the world is a unique mailbox.

(Also called mail groups, listservs, and majordomos ) You send e-mail to a group address, and it goes to everyone subscribed to the group. Similarly, every e-mail someone sends to the group goes to you; neat way to have conversations on specialised topics (or just to socialise). You join by subscribing, unjoin by unsubscribing. Many e-mail lists are private, many are open. (There are a LOT). Just be careful, you can begin getting a LOT of mail. Quickly.
(CAREFUL -- mailing lists have TWO addresses. One you use when you want everyone subscribed to the list to see what you have to say. The other is for administrivia -- like subscribing and unsubscribing. If you send your unsubscribe request to the entire group, you'll be called an "idiot".)

We can connect PCs that are close together into a network. Maybe they're all in the same office park. Then they can easily exchange e-mail, they can share printers and files, etc. Such a setup is called a "Local Area Network," or a LAN. Ethernet is one type of LAN, one way of connecting the computers together. PCs connected by Ethernet can swap data at 10 million bits/ sec... pretty fast, compared to the 56,000 bit/ sec modems we use to connect to our ISPs. (IDEA--> Hey, what if we connected the LAN to an ISP with just one, very fast connection? Then all the PC's on the LAN could have VERY fast access to the Net. Sounds great. Works, too.) (NUGGET OF KNOWLEDGE--> Internet Service Providers hopefully have several PCs (or bigger computers) in the same room or building... and a cool way to connect them, so that they can exchange data, is ETHERNET... in fact, Ethernet is a popular way for ISPs to link their computers.) Nuff said.

A popular e-mail client ("client" means the program runs on your PC) for retrieving your e-mail that's been queued up on your ISP's server; also great for sending e-mail. Comes in "Lite" (free to individual users) and "Pro" (you pay a few $) versions. (SUGGESTION--> Start with "Lite"; then after a few months, you can tell if you really need "PRO." We still use "Lite," and we get LOTS of e-mail.) (HINT--> You're importance on the Net is proportional to the amount of e-mail that you receive; ALWAYS claim that you get lots of e-mail... only your ISP knows for sure anyway, and it makes you sound important... and you can always subscribe to mail groups and get as much e-mail as you like. (Be sure that you know how to un-subscribe; sending the word "unsubscribe" to everyone in the group will brand you as an a newbie (or worse, an "idiot").)

Frequently Asked Questions (and their answers). You'll see this all over the Net. It's just a list of the most common questions and their answers on some subject, written by people who got tired of answering the same questions over and over. Your ISP may have a list on its Web site. Usenet newsgroups (message boards) and IRC channels (chat rooms) frequently have FAQs. Asking a question that's answered in the FAQ makes you an "idiot"; so read any FAQs before you ask a question. (It's Ok to ask if there's a FAQ and where it is. In fact, it makes you look cool.)

Finger is a utility program that you can run as a client on your PC to locate people on other sites (or you can type it on the command line, if you have a Unix shell account). Type finger dog@wolf.net and you'll get the real name of the person with that e-mail address. You can see if "dog" has an account at domain "wolf.net." If wolf.net lets you. And if the person with that e-mail address lets you. You may also be able to see when that person logged on last, WHERE they logged on FROM (good for locating trolls), and other information. Finger is an attempt to link cyberspace and reality (it doesn't).

Sometimes, curious folks try to use the Internet to visit internal networks in banks, the CIA, hospitals, The Nuclear Defence Agency, you ISP, you name it. A FIREWALL is a combination of programs and computer hardware that folks use, in an attempt to prevent such visits by the curious. (Do they work? Does the lock on your door work? Ok, usually. But since the CIA's Web page was recently "enhanced", never say never.) A firewall is designed to allow only specific kinds of messages, perhaps from specific folks, to flow between private (trusted) networks and the "untrusted" Net.

A flame is a zinger, an attempt to denigrate or insult or make someone look like an "idiot". And if you receive a flame (usually in response to a post on Usenet), then you've been "flamed." [Actually, you haven't, but thanks for attempting a viewpoint.] --This is a flame, just kinda subtle. If you post a message to a mailgroup or Usenet newsgroup that it has nothing to do with, you can usually expect a nasty e-mail with a flame; no big deal.
And a "FLAME WAR" is when two or more users flame each other in an escalating manner that threatens to continue into the next millenium. If you like flames and flame wars, check out alt.flame on Usenet. (Or enter some friendly Usenet newsgroup like alt.aol-sucks and say some nice things about America Online (AOL); be sure to affect an arrogant and pompous demeanor.)

This is a plan that many Internet Providers (ISPs) offer. It's the opposite of your long-distance service, where the longer you stay connected, the more you pay. It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet... as long as you're hungry, you can stay and keep feasting on the Internet. However, you can't camp out there after dinner and wait for breakfast; when you're done, you leave (log off). It's often called "unlimited," but "unmetered" is a better name. If you think you want to move into the restaurant and have ALL your meals at the a-y-c-e buffet, best to tell your ISP you want a "dedicated line" account... piggies can make the lines busy for others... sometimes. Just be honest here, and you'll be cool.

A good fast way on the Internet to download stuff to your PC from some server on the Net. (pictures, programs, whatever you can find out there). You can also use FTP to move stuff FROM your PC to some server. (You'll usually do this if you have a Web site; then, you'll want to "upload" stuff from your PC to your ISP's Web server, for all to see). (FTP = File Transfer Protocol).

A format for representing a picture on the Net or on a computer in a file. GIFs are compressed, and so they're usually smaller than pictures in many other formats (except for JPGs, which are compressed even more... so much that some of the colour and/ or detail has been thrown away, though this may not be noticable. (IMPRESS YOUR DATE--> GIF = Graphic Interchange Format, JPEG = Joint Photographic Experts Group.)

Use a gopher client on your PC to connect to some gopher server out there. Pick an entry from the menu he gives you. Pick another... menus get more and more detailed. Ultimately, get the names of lots of files on some topic. Gophers are very cool, but have been pushed aside by the Web (sight and sound on the Net). As a result, lots of stuff that you find using Gophers is old (but much is still excellent). Try it, you may like it, especially if you're doing research, as opposed to surfing.

A computer on the Internet that does something for others. Like, maybe it has files it lets you download to your PC. Or displays Web pages. Or sends your e-mail out to folks. Or posts your Usenet articles. Or lets you chat on IRC. Maybe it plays a game with you. And on and on.

The name of a host computer on the Net, usually the one you want to reach. Host names look like dog.wolf.net . The dog part is the name of a specific computer at the site (location). And wolf.net is the name of the site.

Hope This Helps (Helped). A shorthand, often used sarcastically or in a flame, at the end of a correction of another or after an explanation. Usually used on Usenet.

The language your Web browser reads. The nicely formatted documents your browser returns to you were written in HTML.
In HTML, this definition looks like-->

A way for moving HYPERTEXT files around the Net. HTTP is the way that most of the stuff moves about the Web. In fact, HTTP is the underlying protocol for the Web. (IMPRESS YOUR DATE--> HTTP = "HyperText Transfer Protocol.") (IMPRESS YOUR LOVER--> There are four phases to HTTP (you can follow them on your browser). 1.) Make a connection with the specified host computer (a server); usually, your browser tries to make a connection with port 80 on the server. 2.) The request phase... your browser makes a request of the server. 3.) The server responds and sends some control information along with the requested page to the browser. And 4.) the close phase, initiated when the requested page is sent, or you press stop on your browser.)
(UPDATE -- someone realized that doing many connections and disconnections when most of the items retrieved are coming from the same web server was kind of.... stupid. HTTP version 1.1 has added the ability to maintain a socket connection and make multiple requests... makes sense.)

Text that has links to other files. Like this page has some links that will take you to other documents (like the buttons at the top and bottom). Click on a hypertext link, and you retrieve another document or picture or whatever.

ICQ is a cute abbreviation for "I Seek You." You download the ICQ program, and it tells you when your friends are on the Internet... and then you can page them and chat with them. (They also need to download the ICQ program.) With ICQ, you can even send files to your buddies; and lately, you can even initiate a voice and video session with your mates..

Internet Explorer, a popular Web browser from Microsoft. IE is in many ways similar to Netscape, the most widely used Web browser.

In my (humble) opinion. A shorthand used to indicate that the writer is expressing a debatable opinion, as... "IMHO, dog Wolf has no equal as a philosopher and lover." Also, rarely, IMNSHO... "In my not so humble opinion."

Also called the Net. Capitalised. A network, like the phone system, but it carries data instead of voice. Like the phone system, it covers the whole world and it's big business. Like phones, almost everybody account has a number (called an IP address). (Like phones, the numbers are running out.) The Internet is a bunch of networks connected together into a "super" network of networks. It's NOT the only "net of nets" but it's definitely the biggest. And every computer on the Net, be it client or server, speaks the TCP/IP language. (Or it doesn't speak at all.)

It would be cool if we could just install some program on our PCs that would allow our modems to dial up the Net directly.
But our modems connect to phone lines... to the switched public voice phone lines... phone lines which are both analog and switched. We want to hear the weather forecast, here we dial 410-936-1212.
But if we want www.weather.com... with IP address 208.134.241.155 on the Net, can't we just dial with our modems to... BZZZT, thanks for playing...
Because our modems can't dial an IP address. They can only dial telephone numbers. And the Net is definitely NOT on the switched voice analog network, the public phone network, that we all know and love and use to chat with Aunt Biddie. NO... The Internet lives on its own "semi-private" network.
And an ISP is the something that lets folks with PCs and modems who have a connection to the regular telephone network connect to the Internet. An ISP interfaces between the public phone system and the Internet's digital phone lines... phone lines that carry PACKETS instead of voice conversations.
And when our modem dials an ISP, we get our own "Internet phone number" (called an IP address); then we can can use software on our PC to connect to other computers on the Internet (and they can connect to us). Netscape asks a distant server for some page; the server sends the page to our PC.
Most ISPs also provide a "box" to save our e-mail, so that we don't need to be connected to the Net constantly. And most ISPs provide a newsfeed, so that we can get articles from Usenet. Many ISPs also let us store our Web pages on their servers, so that folks around the world can view them. Some large ISPs are MindSpring, AT&T WorldNet, IBM Global, Earthlink, and Netcom.

The InTERnet is what you get when you connect together a bunch of "Little Networks". All the computers on the InTERnet speak the same language when they communicate -- they follow a set of rules called "TCP/IP". The "Little Networks" can speak anything -- IPX, Swahili, you name it. BUT... if a Little Network (like, say, the network that connects all the computers in a company) speaks TCP/IP when it communicates with other computers on the SAME network -- then that Little Network is called an InTRAnet. An InTRAnet is a Little Network that speaks TCP/IP when its own computers communicate. An InTRAnet may also be connected to the InTERnet -- or it may not.
(IMPRESS YOUR GERBIL--> If you connect one or more InTRAnets together, you get what's called an EXTRAnet; like maybe I'm Ford Motors and I have an InTRAnet to connect all my internal computers, and all the companies that supply me with parts also have their own InTRAnets connecting their computers; and we connect all these InTRAnets together -- wham... we have an ExTRAnet... our own little private InTERnet. Very cool.)

A thing that looks like nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn, where each nnn is some number from 0-255 (like 206.80.150.1, is called an IP address. Every computer on the Net has a unique IP address (it's the same as a phone number on the telephone net). Host names get converted to IP addresses before TCP/IP (and you) can really use them.
There are STATIC IP addresses (you get the same IP number every time you log onto your ISP), and DYNAMIC IP addresses (you don't). Because folks have trouble remembering 204.168.83.2, many IP addresses also have host domain names that are easier to remember.

A thing on the Internet that lets you chat with other folks (one or many others) online in real time. Like everything on the Net, you crank up your IRC client (program) on your PC, and then you connect to an IRC server "out there." Then you can create a "channel," and once you do that, other folks can drop in and chat with you and each other. Or you can can drop into an existing channel when you connect with an IRC server. There are IRC servers around the world, and they're getting increasingly busy. Groups of servers can link to each other. EFNet is the biggest group. The Undernet is another popular group of servers. BUT... if I'm in room #Wolf on EFNet, and you enter room #Wolf on the Undernet, we won't see each other, and we can't talk. Parallel universes. Each group of servers is its own universe of thousands of chat rooms. It's a big galaxy out there waiting to be explored, which is part of the fascination of IRC and the Net. Get to know some folks, and they'll give you the names of some servers that comprise "secret" IRC nets. And you never know who you'll meet (or have met). Literally. (Heck, you could even meet ME some night out in IRC cyberspace-land.)