Happy Atheist Forum

Operations Desk => Forum Suggestions & Announcements => Topic started by: Whitney on June 21, 2008, 11:37:03 PM

Title: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on June 21, 2008, 11:37:03 PM
I have created a chat room called "Happy Atheist" on a chat client called Pal Talk.  You may find the PalTalk Happy Atheist group at the following url:  http://chat.paltalk.com/g2/group/115709 ... Loader.wmt (http://chat.paltalk.com/g2/group/1157094680/WebLoader.wmt)

EDIT:  mac users and those that do not want to download something; use this:
http://www.paltalk.com/express/ (http://www.paltalk.com/express/)

I haven't managed to get it to work yet but if the room is open you are supposed to be able to access it through the above link.  However, the easiest way to access the room is to load Pal Talk onto your computer then go to All Rooms>Religion & Spirituality>Atheism>Happy Atheist  There are also many other fine rooms in that section where you can interact with fellow free-thinkers and debate religion.

The reason I am going with this approach instead of an integrated chat system:  1) The java based one I tried before (a long time ago) didn't work very well  2)Since it is part of a large network of chat rooms there will be a greater chance of the chat room being active when you log in. edit: 3) It has voice chat in addition to text chat.

Note:  Unless an admin is in the chat room the room will not show up on the rooms list.  Fix, anyone that has been a member here for a while will be given admin status in the chat room upon request; send me a pm through the forum or through pal talk.  If using a name other than your sn here, let me know your pal talk sn.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: afreethinker30 on June 22, 2008, 01:33:26 AM
Quote from: "laetusatheos"I have created a chat room called "Happy Atheist" on a chat client called Pal Talk.  You may find the PalTalk Happy Atheist group at the following url:  http://chat.paltalk.com/g2/group/115709 ... Loader.wmt (http://chat.paltalk.com/g2/group/1157094680/WebLoader.wmt)

I haven't managed to get it to work yet but if the room is open you are supposed to be able to access it through the above link.  However, the easiest way to access the room is to load Pal Talk onto your computer then go to All Rooms>Religion & Spirituality>Atheism>Happy Atheist  There are also many other fine rooms in that section where you can interact with fellow free-thinkers and debate religion.

The reason I am going with this approach instead of an integrated chat system:  1) The java based one I tried before (a long time ago) didn't work very well  2)Since it is part of a large network of chat rooms there will be a greater chance of the chat room being active when you log in. edit: 3) It has voice chat in addition to text chat.

Note:  Unless an admin is in the chat room the room will not show up on the rooms list.  Fix, anyone that has been a member here for a while will be given admin status in the chat room upon request; send me a pm through the forum or through pal talk.  If using a name other than your sn here, let me know your pal talk sn.

You might want to look into Stickam chat.It is alot easier to set up a account on there.And you can block users if need be.Also have voice and video it's all free.And you can setup a password.I believe (it's been a couple of months since I've been on) that you can have 8 webcams running all at one time.It seems to be alittle more friendly for those without dsl or cable to.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Will on June 22, 2008, 01:38:36 AM
The application is a .exe, so I (a Mac user) cannot join. How about IRC? Or maybe a shoutbox built into the forum?
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on June 22, 2008, 01:52:31 AM
Quote from: "Willravel"The application is a .exe, so I (a Mac user) cannot join. How about IRC? Or maybe a shoutbox built into the forum?

I tried looking for a phpbb3 mod for a simple shoutbox today and couldn't find one.  I am continuting to look though.

Quote from: "afreethinker30"You might want to look into Stickam chat.It is alot easier to set up a account on there.And you can block users if need be.Also have voice and video it's all free.And you can setup a password.I believe (it's been a couple of months since I've been on) that you can have 8 webcams running all at one time.It seems to be alittle more friendly for those without dsl or cable to.

I'll look into it...the main reason I used pal talk is that I use it anyway.  It does allow for blocking users...it's not so great for cams unless you pay for an account (which I do not).
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on June 22, 2008, 02:14:58 AM
I don't like that with stickcam that it not only appears to be messing with my mic (worked find until I added it to the op area) but that I have to be personally signed in for it to work.  With pal talk (although not good for mac users) only one of you would have to be present with admin code in hand.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Will on June 22, 2008, 02:23:45 AM
Quote from: "laetusatheos"
Quote from: "Willravel"The application is a .exe, so I (a Mac user) cannot join. How about IRC? Or maybe a shoutbox built into the forum?

I tried looking for a phpbb3 mod for a simple shoutbox today and couldn't find one.  I am continuting to look though.
Does this look legitimate:
http://www.110mb.com/forum/guide-add-sh ... 862.0.html (http://www.110mb.com/forum/guide-add-shoutbox-to-phpbb3-t12862.0.html)
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on June 22, 2008, 02:26:10 AM
stickam doesn't like my mic and has a hard time picking up if I am live or not.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Asmodean on June 22, 2008, 02:37:04 AM
Quote from: "Willravel"
Quote from: "laetusatheos"
Quote from: "Willravel"The application is a .exe, so I (a Mac user) cannot join. How about IRC? Or maybe a shoutbox built into the forum?

I tried looking for a phpbb3 mod for a simple shoutbox today and couldn't find one.  I am continuting to look though.
Does this look legitimate:
http://www.110mb.com/forum/guide-add-sh ... 862.0.html (http://www.110mb.com/forum/guide-add-shoutbox-to-phpbb3-t12862.0.html)

How about an independent chat software that does not have to do anything with the forums? As long as you can create another database, that shouldn't be a problem. Although such software would hog some bandwidth if used a lot.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on June 22, 2008, 02:43:16 AM
Quote from: "Asmodean"How about an independent chat software that does not have to do anything with the forums? As long as you can create another database, that shouldn't be a problem. Although such software would hog some bandwidth if used a lot.

I could set one up on one of my free hosting sites...then if it did exceed bandwith it wouldn't matter.  See my post above about the express pal talk...i think that fixes some of the concerns.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: afreethinker30 on June 22, 2008, 04:31:45 PM
Skype might just work then.It is somewhat like Paltalk but you have to add other users then have one start a chat.It can be a pain but it is for both Windows and Mac.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on June 22, 2008, 04:51:48 PM
I have updated the OP to include a link for those who either can't or do not want to dowload a program.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Asmodean on June 22, 2008, 06:23:41 PM
Quote from: "laetusatheos"go to All Rooms>Religion & Spirituality>Atheism>Happy Atheist

It seems strangely... not there...  :unsure:
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on June 22, 2008, 07:18:32 PM
Quote from: "Asmodean"
Quote from: "laetusatheos"go to All Rooms>Religion & Spirituality>Atheism>Happy Atheist

It seems strangely... not there...  :unsure:

Ya, that's because I am not signed in...you have to have at least one admin signed in for it to appear on the list.

I'll send you a pm with the admin code and how to use it.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on July 03, 2008, 01:42:58 AM
http://client11.addonchat.com/sc.php?id=320343 (http://client11.addonchat.com/sc.php?id=320343)

Try this out....if we like it I will embed it into the website this weekend.   Free integrated options for phpbb3 are still in development so I want to wait on installing those.  This approach is a no risk to the forum way to see if members will use chat or not.

To log in just type your user name and enter...please use the same user name as you use on this site so we will know who we are talking to.  Guests can use this chat.

Btw, the professional edition of this chat client is only 80 a year and can be integrated into phpbb3.  If it is something we want to do I might ask for a small donation at a later date...for now, I'm just letting you know it is an option.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on April 18, 2009, 01:36:57 AM
If anyone is on pal talk, just a reminder that we also have a chat room there it's called Happy Atheist Civil Debate right now:  http://chat.paltalk.com/g2/paltalk/1116985003 (http://chat.paltalk.com/g2/paltalk/1116985003)
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: PipeBox on May 01, 2009, 01:23:27 AM
Quote from: "Whitney"http://client11.addonchat.com/sc.php?id=320343

Try this out....if we like it I will embed it into the website this weekend.   Free integrated options for phpbb3 are still in development so I want to wait on installing those.  This approach is a no risk to the forum way to see if members will use chat or not.

To log in just type your user name and enter...please use the same user name as you use on this site so we will know who we are talking to.  Guests can use this chat.

Btw, the professional edition of this chat client is only 80 a year and can be integrated into phpbb3.  If it is something we want to do I might ask for a small donation at a later date...for now, I'm just letting you know it is an option.

I know I'd use it more if I knew people were on it.  Every time I've gone in, empty.  For hours on end, too.  An integrated one, or a shoutbox, would definitely get more attention, but how much more on a board like this, I don't know.  Still, I think it's a lot easier to just have chatroom discussions sometimes than filling up the boards with whatever pops into my head.  Speaking of that, I've another post to make.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: curiosityandthecat on May 01, 2009, 01:44:55 AM
I was thinking that, Pipebox. There's times that I'd be on it and see nobody for hours on end (I get really bored at work sometimes). Plus, if you're idle for a while, I think it logs you off without telling you. :/
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: joeactor on May 01, 2009, 02:01:29 AM
A scheduled "chat-time" would help, yes/no?
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: curiosityandthecat on May 01, 2009, 02:20:22 AM
Quote from: "joeactor"A scheduled "chat-time" would help, yes/no?
Not a bad idea, but probably difficult to do considering the members here are... well, everywhere.   :P
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on May 01, 2009, 03:45:29 AM
How about 3pm central standard time on Sundays?  Would that work for those in the states without running into lunch or dinner?
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: PipeBox on May 01, 2009, 04:29:18 AM
Sounds good to me, Whitney.

But now the word has to get out, as I know I only check this subforum once a month, and the same probably goes for others.   :unsure:
Again, it would be great to have more people in the chatroom more often, as I fear this Sunday will be the first HAF chatroom meeting, rather than an active chatroom.  There's a big difference in type of conversing that goes on, in my experience.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on May 01, 2009, 04:35:55 AM
Eventually I'm going to install a chat that will show how many people are online and in chat.  The modification just isn't validated yet and I don't want to mess up the forum with a beta release.  At the rate they are going, it will be release sometime next year.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: curiosityandthecat on May 01, 2009, 04:36:56 AM
Quote from: "PipeBox"Sounds good to me, Whitney.

But now the word has to get out, as I know I only check this subforum once a month, and the same probably goes for others.   :D
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on May 01, 2009, 04:41:31 AM
Yes, I could twitter it just like I do when I open the Pal Talk Happy Atheist chat room that isn't connected to HAF.

Everyone...follow me on Twitter...Curio said you have to!

http://twitter.com/HappyAtheist (http://twitter.com/HappyAtheist)
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: curiosityandthecat on May 02, 2009, 04:53:05 PM
It's too bad there's not a Twitter field in the user profile.  :unsure:
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on May 03, 2009, 01:00:56 AM
Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"It's too bad there's not a Twitter field in the user profile.  :unsure:
I'll see if I can figure that out.  I can easily make a place to enter it but it wouldn't display as a link.  I found a mod that adds skype..maybe I can modify the steps to get it to work for twitter....  I don't really have time to work on it right now though.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: McQ on May 03, 2009, 01:07:15 AM
Twitter, eh?

Wonder if I should start Tweeting?

You guys use it?
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: curiosityandthecat on May 03, 2009, 01:24:20 AM
Quote from: "McQ"Twitter, eh?

Wonder if I should start Tweeting?

You guys use it?
I use it constantly. It's kind of like my news source. :)
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on May 03, 2009, 02:00:56 AM
Quote from: "McQ"Twitter, eh?

Wonder if I should start Tweeting?

You guys use it?

I thought twitter was just another fad (which it is) and didn't use it till I realized the marketing potential.  Of course you can also use it for it's intended purpose, social things.  My husband tweets his friends to let them know he's getting on xbox live.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: curiosityandthecat on May 03, 2009, 03:10:32 AM
Well, between CDCemergency (real-time updates from the Center for Disease Control -- great for Swine Flu updates and whatnot), CNNbrk (CNN's breaking news updates), PZ Meyers, Richard Dawkins, the guys at Gamefwd.org (a video game website I write for), Men's Health Magazine (to whom I direct questions about diet, fitness, etc -- they're pretty good about replying and catering information to your needs), Neil Gaiman (the author), Wired magazine (because they're the best magazine being published right now), Ohio University (and its different colleges, departments, etc), Remember The Milk (the productivity/to-do list site) and the Atheist Quote of the Day, I barely visit any websites aside from HAF and my Google Reader (though I'm sure I could get most of my RSS feeds via Twitter, too).

Aside from that, there's a lot of cool people to follow. I follow a few people in the video game industry, a few chefs (like Tyler Flourence and Anthony Bourdain), and a few rather entertaining atheists. ;)

Oh, and you find cool stuff... like when the CDC finally isolates and stains the Swine flu!

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fh1n1flu%2Fimages%2FB00528_H1N1_flu_blue_med.jpg&hash=028458a8c6aaf472bbad9d626bfce14f10ac6e03)
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: McQ on May 03, 2009, 04:20:14 AM
OK, well I'm Tweeting.

I think.

 :confused:

Looks like I found Whitney and vice versa. Now I just have to figure out what to do with this!
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: curiosityandthecat on May 03, 2009, 07:38:38 PM
You might like to use an application rather than the web interface. Once you get going with a few dozen people you're following, the web page can get a little... insufficient. I use Tweetdeck (http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/). You can also use it to follow hashtag searches. I have one of mine set up for "#atheist OR #atheism OR #freethinker OR #freethinking". :)
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on May 03, 2009, 08:37:14 PM
I use Firefox add ons: TwitterBar and RSS Ticker.  I post to twitter with TwitterBar and get my following feed with RSS Ticker.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: joeactor on May 04, 2009, 02:21:39 AM
... I see Twitter as useful for that 3.7 seconds I have between texting, blogging, forum posts, voice mail, cell-phone calls, email, and... what am I forgetting?  Oh, yeah, LIFE (and some work too ;-)

No Tweets For Me,
JoeActor
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: McQ on May 04, 2009, 03:16:35 AM
I have Twitterfon on my iPhone. It seems a little hard to use. Maybe it's not and maybe I'm just missing the way the interface works. I'll figure it out eventually though. But like Joe, I'm so swamped as it is that I don't know when I'll be able to Tweet!
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on June 05, 2009, 01:26:16 AM
I think my Twittering...Tweetering...ah whattever...is starting to bring more traffic to the site.

Anyway...I looked at the beta chat on phpbb again...it is still in beta but a lot of people are using that mod without any issues.  So, I'm going to be setting up a test forum and giving the mod a test run.  Hopefully we can have chat on here by next month.  I am studying for my LEED exam which is at the end of June, so I don't want to promise the mod for this month.  It's pretty cool, you can see it in use here:  http://startrekguide.com/ (http://startrekguide.com/)  (scroll to the bottom)  I think the mod makes it be placed at the bottom of the forum list, I'm going to place it at the top so you can easily see it while going about your regular forum business.  I don't see why putting it in a different place should be difficult.

So, that's a glimpse of what is to come in the fairly near future.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: Whitney on December 13, 2009, 09:07:58 PM
I found out about Tiny Chat http://www.tinychat.com (http://www.tinychat.com)  through @atheisthitsquad  You can log into it with twitter and facebook accounts (or just log in with a random name) and it supports video and voice chat.  It can be embeded in the website.

Do we like this one?  I'm thinking of embedding this or something else at the top of each page so that we can easily see who is available for chat.  I may just use AddOn chat (the one linked at the top now) because it may fit better.

http://tinychat.com/happyatheist (http://tinychat.com/happyatheist)
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: saima122 on October 19, 2010, 06:37:38 AM
thanks for very  nice information..
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: leonswan2000 on October 19, 2010, 06:58:06 PM
I think a ll atheists should eat corrotts.
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: jduster on October 31, 2010, 03:33:25 PM
Unfortunately, people don't use it much anymore...
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: karadan on November 02, 2010, 03:11:13 PM
It is blocked at my work :(
Title: Re: Happy Atheist Chat Room
Post by: samlauncher on January 17, 2011, 10:04:34 AM
Appreciated info, its good to know..