Does anyone use the Council Fire feature of this QJ website?  I occasionally log into it and I have never found anyone online.  

Do I need a secret handshake or password?  

prouboy

Logged on now, but got disconnected.  I'll try again later.

I'll be back on around 8:00 if anyone wants to drop in.

dd

Back on with an alternate ID.

Definetly a seceret handshake or decoder ring is needed

It used to be you could find 6-8 users in there late on a Friday or Saturday night.  It went away for awhile.  I'm not sure when it came back but after I did I never saw anyone in there anymore.

To make a "go" of Council Fire, I suspect we would need to do as dd has done... some general announcement as to when people plan to be in there.  Otherwise, folks pop in, pop out, never see anyone & eventually quit trying.

I enjoyed Council Fire a lot.  Lots of good information to be had there.

Jimbo   8-)

How do you sign in?

Complete a registration (what ever you want as an ID and password).  Then log-in.

I'm signed on now.

dd

That's a good question.

I just tried it, myself, for the first time in months or years... it gives me an error message when I try to sign in.

dd got in.  Chicken got in.  I guess it doesn't like me or SaltedLeech.

Jimbo   8-)

Well, I got IN for a little while.  Then it kicked me out.  Then it let me in as Jimbo2.  Then it kicked me out again.  Then it wouldn't let me back in as either "Jimbo" or "Jimbo2" because I was showing as already logged in.  Very weird.

There are 8 guys in there right now.  Some of them signed in but may actually be in "limbo" like I was, since not all of them seem able to respond.

I'll sign in as "Jimbo3" & see what happens.

Our system has bugs.

Jimbo 1-2-3  8-)  8-)  8-)

Had the same problem Jimbo 1 2 3 or whoever you are now.

Marten,

I figured as much.  I saw you listed as being present in the Chat Room but when I initiated conversation with you, you were silent.  Same thing happened to me w/Jimbo1 & Jimbo2.  Jimbo3 actually existed in the Chat Room & chatted for awhile before fading into oblivion.  He saw Jimbo1 disappear from the list of those present.  He figured Jimbo2 would be next in line to disappear from the "present" list but before that happened, he himself went poof.

Council Fire kind of makes me schizoid but I guess I'll go back in there on Friday evening, just for kicks... even if I have to register myself as Jimbo 4, 5, or 6.  Might be a whole crowd of Jimbo's in there.  

Only one of us will be able to say anything... fortunately.

Jimbo  :question  8-)

I was able to enter last night, and for the first time ever (for me) there was quite a bit of "chatter."  So much so in fact that it was hard to follow!  

There are limitations to the technology when you have 3+ conversations going, and the responses are all delayed!  Like you say Jimbo, makes one a bit schizoid, but still fun.  

prouboy

I got in last night, and visited with BT, SL, prouboy, and DD. It was fun. Friday evenings usually work for me about 9pm or so. So, I will try to pop in again on Friday about 9pm.

Note to multiple Jimbos and others who may experience issues. Your user id must be the same as your board id, and your password is the same one that admits you to the board. So, if you've lost your id ;D or your password, you may want to ask db for a new one. :P

Putting a number with your id won't help, it only confuses the system.

8-) 8-)

Not quite, OS.

Sadly, when the Council Fire "doorkeeper" asked for my password and I gave it the correct password it said I needed to download a sofware ("Quick" something or other).  It did not APPEAR to have let me in the Chat Room during the 18 minutes of downloading but it must have (unbeknownst to me).  After the download, I hit enter, again, and THAT is when it wouldn't let me in ('cause it said I was already there; NOT functional in the least but there).   Thus, I registered Jimbo2 since Jimbo1 was non-functional.  For some reason, Jimbo2 was disabled within a minute or so.  Thus, the birth of Jimbo3.

There was no question of my entering my original password correctly.  IMHO, the system brain fart occurred due to some complication associated with the software download.  In other words, without the software, Jimbo1 couldn't talk.  AFTER the software was installed, Jimbo1 still couldn't talk but I could not get in as Jimbo because I was already IN there.  

I have no idea why Jimbo2 got blown out.  As for Jimbo3, he committed sepuku and met with an honorable death.

I suspect I WILL be able to get in on Friday night as Jimbo1.  We'll see.  One of me in the Chat Room is enough.

Others needing to download the "Quick" program should beware of the possibility for an initial side effect, however.

Jimbo  8-)

My experience was a little different.  Only my initial attempt to get logged into the chat room was problematic ... but I think it was my fault.  I hit the enter key before the chat software had completely downloaded and, like Jimbo's initial experience, my ID was logged in but I was locked out.  So, like Jimbo, I created an alter-ego (dentondoc2).  I was able to successfully log in with the new ID and play a bit ... others were not present at the time so I made a few text entries to see if they showed in the display screen. (This trial was around 6:00.)  BTW:  Both logins used the same password, but was not my password for the board.

Prior to the 8:00 jam session, I again logged in.  Again, no one was present so I decided to talk to myself.  In one window (browser session), I logged into chat as "dentondoc."  In another, I logged in as "dentondoc2."  Then I began alternating messages from one session to the next to confirm that the text entered in one window was actually displayed in the other window.  It did, but there was a noticeable delay.  

One interesting result is that the chat software was not confused by two sessions running from the same IP address.

One suggestion for help keep conversations participants more separated.  It DOES help if you pick something other that the default color (black) for your text.  Other than Jimbo and I, everyone else logged on used black.  It took a bit longer to decide who was talking (had to look to the left to see who the poster was in addition to reading the message).

Generally, the intermixed conversations were not too bad.  We often had this on the old chat board.  It does take a bit of practice, but it does help if you use a "lead in" (e.g., name, id or something) if you want to direction your text to someone in particular.  Last night we had maybe 4-5 people participating, and sometimes 3 different conversations running.  It takes practice, but if you are a multi-tasker you can get through the "confusion" easier.

I should be able to be on chat on Friday by 9:00.  I'll check in to see what's shaking.

dd

BTW:  I logged into chat around 8:00 last evening and logged out about 10:00.  The only interruption is connection I experienced was by my choice (I needed to move from one computer to another.)

I was relating my experience, your milage may vary. It has been at least a couple of years since I even tried the CF. I had thought it had gone away. Guess I wasn't paying attention.

It's too bad you can't remember the secret handshake, especially considering the amount of time we spent teaching it to you... ;D :-? :o

DentonDoc wrote on Feb 10^th, 2011 at 4:37pm:

One suggestion for help keep conversations participants more separated.  It DOES help if you pick something other that the default color (black) for your text.  Other than Jimbo and I, everyone else logged on used black.  It took a bit longer to decide who was talking (had to look to the left to see who the poster was in addition to reading the message). dd

Save the flamingo color for me!  See you at 9pm on Friday!

Jimbo   8-)

You guys are making me cry.... :'( .... almost.  

I've got to take 42 high school students bowling at the local Air Force Base tomorrow....and it'll be too dang loud to jump on QJ with my wife's netbook...maybe next Friday.   :)

pine_knot wrote on Feb 11^th, 2011 at 12:43am:

You guys are making me cry.... :'( .... almost.   I've got to take 42 high school students bowling at the local Air Force Base tomorrow....and it'll be too dang loud to jump on QJ with my wife's netbook...maybe next Friday.   :)

Don't be too disappointed ... its a TEXT "chat."  You can be as loud as you want!

Maybe we should look into something like a Yahoo Chat Room so we could do an audio feed.

dd

;D ;D ;D

wouldn't let me in at all :o

wally wrote on Feb 11^th, 2011 at 1:45am:

wouldn't let me in at all :o

Must be time to renew your subscription...

wally wrote on Feb 11^th, 2011 at 1:45am:

wouldn't let me in at all :o

That's because we have a dress code.   ;D

dd

I'll take a bath and even use soap

We must have a few minimum standards, you know...we can't just include everyone...otherwise the riff raff would join in...

There's a chat on this site??? What now? Really? Why? I don't chat...

DOH!   (You need to Login or Register

Ahhh yes three years ago I put it on the same server as the photo gallery so guess what? I gotta make that go away or find a new home for it sometime soon as well. FWIW - It was used about 12 - 18 times in all of 2010. Feb 9, 2011 was HUGE in comparison.

In the meantime:
You need to register with the chat thingy. If you already did at some point but forgot your (totally unconnected with the forums) password, if you PM me, I can delete your name and you can reregister as you. Not a big deal. Or you can be youyou2 if you want.

As I recall you get disconnected after a certain length of inactivity. Close the chat window itself and you're screwed. You can't login again (since you already are in) until the chat dumps you as an inactive, good for nothing....

FWIW - what's there is a simple, server-side chat. There's absolutely nothing to download but for the html window and new lines of chatter. A second or two at most. Jimbo, are you thinking of the old Java based chat. It's nothing like that. This one is pretty cut and dried basic. I'm surprised the passwords are encrypted as I look at it now.

The only guess I have as to a delay is the original browser window asking you if you would like it to remember your password. I can't change your browser settings but for stuff of little consequence I'd suggest tweaking my memory whenever....

I can help around the fringes but it pretty much is what it is.

db wrote on Feb 11^th, 2011 at 8:09am:

You can't login again (since you already are in) until the chat dumps you as an inactive, good for nothing....

Snow_Dog wrote on Feb 12^th, 2011 at 7:47pm:

"Sir, you can't go into Canada because our records indicate you are still in Canada from your last trip."     :D

;D
So was anyone who tried accessing the Council Fire last night unsuccessful?

db wrote on Feb 11^th, 2011 at 8:09am:

Ahhh yes three years ago I put it on the same server as the photo gallery so guess what? I gotta make that go away or find a new home for it sometime soon as well. FWIW - It was used about 12 - 18 times in all of 2010. Feb 9, 2011 was HUGE in comparison.

Oh DRAT!  Just when I was getting some company on chat.

BTW:  Jimbo and I were on last night for an hour 9:00 - 10:00.  We kicked around for a while waiting for other entertainment to arrive, but alas, no takers.  But at least I got the personalized version of what happened during Jimbo's last adventure into WCPP ... see your next issue of BWJ.  (I did notice later that old_salt logged in around 10:30 or so.)

Anyone try "TinyChat?" or some other "free" service.  I notice that TinyChat (although open to all comers) can serve about 12 concurrent users ... and there you get full audio/video.  Supposedly, the complete content is flushed when the session ends.

dd

My daughter uses Skype all the time (man that sounds weird). I can borrow her  (actually my wife's) machine when I ask nice. Never heard of TinyChat but if I don't have to type or anything - that would be worth lugging her computer to my office. I can still smoke then right? Ya I know but...

db wrote on Feb 12^th, 2011 at 9:45pm:

My daughter uses Skype all the time (man that sounds weird). I can borrow her  (actually my wife's) machine when I ask nice. Never heard of TinyChat but if I don't have to type or anything - that would be worth lugging her computer to my office. I can still smoke then right? Ya I know but...

So far as I know, Skype is only one-to-one.  But I do use it to chat with my grand daughter all the time.  She says "I need to Skype my Pops."

dd

Let's try the chatroom again tomorrow (Friday) night at 9pm. Hope several can plan to chime in...

I'll drop by to toss a log on the fire about 8:00 tonight.

dd

Nice and warm here by the fire.