we had a great chat last nite!

[janice]

Well, well, the chat was last nite, and I had a great time (and I think the others did too, but I don't want to put words into the mouths of others!) There was 7 total--we will have to do it again!  Definitely!  If you are not used to chat, you will think it is stupid and a total waste of time--but it's not!!  We did learn alot from each other (at least I did), we exchanged ideas, got music to download, etc.

Any other chatter from last nite can feel free to add their comments!

[Bob]

Let's have another one.  We could create a pianoforum buddy list.

[donjuan]

Yeah, It was great!!
(and my parents say I dont have a social life..ladedah..)
But, I was really looking forward to chatting with our forums most opinionated- You know, Bernhard, Faulty Damper, Spatula, and others...

Next time, join in, guys!!
donjuan

[janice]

Surely somebody else has something note-worthy to say about our chat!  Ok, here's a reason to come next time--if you don't come, we will talk about you behind your back--lol.  How's THAT for motivation?!

[squinchy]

I don't really have anything noteworthy, but I have 3 things to say:

1. Twas fun!  
2. Twas late!
3. Twas sleepy!

Actually, this might be noteworthy. Maybe we should have 2 rooms-a piano chat and a life+etc chat. I know that this would be weird-you'd have to pop into both if you wanted to talk in more than one room, but it seemed like last time, there were so many conversations going that it was hard to tell which response was to which question, etc.

[Hmoll]

Wish I could have joined you. Was working late. Will try next time.
Glad it was productive.

[donjuan]

Squinchy, I dont know if I can multi-task like that- having multiple conversations.  Why dont we talk about everything all at once.  Music and life etc. are interchangeable, dont you think?

[Spatula]

Yeah, It was great!!
(and my parents say I dont have a social life..ladedah..)
But, I was really looking forward to chatting with our forums most opinionated- You know, Bernhard, Faulty Damper, Spatula, and others...

Next time, join in, guys!!
donjuan

Sorry guys, was drinking fri nite (haha jk jk), no I was actually shopping around for a new shelf CD player which I can listen to good Classical music in my room, and not be disturbed...

I know this is kinda off topic but which brands do you recommend for electronic stuff.  I'm thinking of:

Pioneer, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, JVC (is this good?)
Yahama... and Bose (if i can find it).  Which speakers do you recommend?  I'm planning to put this in my bedroom, so its not gonna disturb my family.

And thanks Don Juan for letting me know my comments are actually somewhat helpful and insightful, even though sometimes a little wierd.  

[donjuan]

Of those brands you listed, I Like Panasonic overall.  It has the best quality for the dollar.  Sony and Samsung are crap, I dont care what anyone else thinks, JVC and Pioneer are always great, but they tends to be a little pricey.  I have an RCA system in my room, and it works just fine.
donjuan

[rlefebvr]

I had a great time although I could not stay for the whole thing.

I think for a first time, it is only natural for us to want to get to know each other.

I think next time if there is one, we should have a theme. A main one we wish to discuss. Could be a certain composer, a particular piece or type of piece. Whatever we fancy, but something that would be worth discussing as a piano group.

[faulty_damper]

About which stereo:

the player doesn't matter too much but the actual output device does.  Almost all output devices (the speakers) use paper cones.  The problem with paper cones is that it swells when its humid and contracts when its dry.  So what happens is that after a while of use, it loses its tension, kind of like when your piano goes out of tune, so it sounds muffly.  To remedy this, there are new cones made out of aluminum instead of paper which I hear are far superior.  Though I don't own one.  So get speakers with aluminum cones.

[faulty_damper]

I logged on at 9:30 PST and thought everyone would be by bed by then (since the chat started at 10pm EST).  Oh well.  I didn't realize anyone was still chatting until Janice sent me a message which was a bit too late as I was using my sisters computer and she was kicking me off of it.  She said she wanted "to go to sleep".  So I left her room and went to the kitchen.  A few minutes later, she came into the kitchen and started cooking food!  If this is her idea of sleeping, what's her idea of cooking?  Sorry I didn't get to chat with you guys.  Next time my sister goes "to sleep" I'll have time.  Unless she's cooking.

[donjuan]

What the heck would your sister be cooking at such an hour?

[faulty_damper]

She was hungry?

[Tash]

oh i would've liked to have been there! was the 10pm that time in sydney time? i get hell confused with international times and i'd like to join in next time

[Saturn]

What the heck would your sister be cooking at such an hour?

It could only have been one thing: instant ramen.

- Saturn

[Spatula]

It could only have been one thing: instant ramen.

- Saturn

Instant Ramen = Dinner of Champions

[faulty_damper]

Yeah, I think it was some kind of instand noodle!

[Antnee]

Instant Ramen = Dinner of Champions

I.......Love RAMEN NOODLES!!!!!  

- Hey next time, I wanna chat too... We need to schedule another....

-Tony-

[goalevan]

I really enjoyed the chat - even though I was on and off afk for most of it Would love to do it again

[Spatula]

This time...Fri nite at 8:00 PM MOUNTAIN TIME (Don Juan we live in same time zone so help me know how this is like for those people living in Eastern and Western parts)

Er...I don't know really where MT falls in the US, but I think one of the states is Montana (is anyone home?)

Tell me again how to get it!  I wanna party w you guys  

[janice]

Send me your AIM screen name via private message here at the forum, because I have a list of everybody.  So whenever you guys wanna have one, just figure it out and post it, and I will invite everyone all in together.

This is to all who were at the last one:  who was it that was able to get us all in together after I got booted those times?  Since I don't have a reliable internet connection, I will need you there again.  Was it donjuan?

[squinchy]

This is to all who were at the last one:  who was it that was able to get us all in together after I got booted those times?  Since I don't have a reliable internet connection, I will need you there again.  Was it donjuan?

I think it might have been motrax. Well, either one of them.

Can we eventually have one a little bit earlier in the evening??

[donjuan]

Janice, it was Motrax.  He even said so.

It was difficult to get you back in because even after you were booted, your name remained on the chat list.  We need Motrax to tell us how he did it..
donjuan

[Bob]

So that would be:

7pm Western
8pm Mountain
9pm Central
10pm Eastern

this Friday, June 25th


I take it everyone chatting is in North America?

Does anyone know if there's a website that calculates time zones?

[janice]

Again, I had an awesome time last Friday nite!!  It was great to be with others who have no social life either! LOL  We have a common bond!  Seriously, it is neat to dialogue with others and I have noticed that I can't wait to read "this person's" or "that person's" post because I now feel that I "know" that person.

I hope motrax can be there(it sounds like we ARE doing it again Friday nite, correct?) to help me out because I know that I will get booted once or twice.

Again, send me your AIM screen name via private messenger here at the forum.  If you have questions about AIM, send those too.  It sounds like we are on again for Friday nite.  Are we?

[donjuan]

Ill be there for sure! 8:00 Mountain time (Right, Spatula?hehe)  School exams are over Thursday for me, so I will stay up for a bit and chat.
Looking forward to it!
donjuan

[Clare]

For calculating time zones, this site will help: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

[Tash]

ok so for me that's like saturday midday? haha it's so far ahead of time over here

[nerd]

For me it's saturday 5 am Not good.

[Spatula]

For me it's saturday 5 am Not good.

Which country do you live in?  

[nerd]

Finland
EDIT: That's GMT+2

[Bob]

Here are a couple time zone converters.  There might be a problem with Daylight Savings Time.

https://travel.americanexpress.com/travel/personal/resources/tools/time/

https://www.virtualtourist.com/vt/tt/1/

[nerd]

Hmm... ok, it's not 5am. It's either 3am or 4am (I'm almost (ie. >50% sure)). Still not very good. If only we could get it down to, say 2 am...

EDIT: Instead of some odd "mountain time", could you tell how far it's from GMT (eg. GMT-7) and do you use teh daylight saving stuff?

[faulty_damper]

I think I'm in a part of the world that is -8hours, GMT, but with daylight savings, I think it's now -7hours, GMT.  So with everyone's poor mathematical computational skills, we should just click on the link Clare provided.

[janice]

I'm sooooo confused!!! LOL  You guys figure it out and post it, and I'll open up the room.  I think that someone else (preferrably someone who was at last week's chat) should have the list of names and AIM screen names also, in case I can't be there, and vice versa.  Who was it that was able to change the name of the room?  Whoever it was--you seemed to know quite a bit.  I really am clueless!  LOL  Should we change the time/day also?  So Bernhard and other Europeans can be there.  Saturday isn't a work day for many, if not most, Americans.  We could have it on Saturday US time, so that it is Friday (or would that be Sunday?) for the Europeans. These are just some thoughts off the top of my head.  Tell me what you think?  But I need to know which one of you changed the name of the room so it was more "official sounding".  Was it motrax?  If you can do that again I think that I MIGHT be able to get back in again on my own, because I WILL get booted.

[janice]

 So with everyone's poor mathematical computational skills, we should just click on the link Clare provided.

Great idea!!  LOL@ poor mathematical computational skills!

[nerd]

I usually wake up at 12:30pm and go to bed at 3:30am. So, in theory anything between 1pm and 3am fits me. I'm at GMT+2 with daylight stuff, so it's actually GMT+3. SO, anything between 10am and midnight (GMT) is ok for me, any day.

Maybe everyone should say which days/times suit them (GMT times preferably ) and then pick up a time which allows most participants?

How about creating an irc room?

[nerd]

Actually, I already created a room on AfterNET (https://www.afternet.org/. The room name is #pianoforum.net. Check it out!

[donjuan]

Excellent!! but I am completely lost on how to access the room.  
Oh, and just note- My normal computer(with AIM software) is having internet problems, right now I am typing on my sister's laptop.  Janice, I may not be able to make the chat on Friday.

donjuan

[janice]

Excellent!! but I am completely lost on how to access the room.  
Oh, and just note- My normal computer(with AIM software) is having internet problems, right now I am typing on my sister's laptop.  Janice, I may not be able to make the chat on Friday.

donjuan

Awwwww!!!  I was really looking forward to chatting with you again, donjuan!!  Drop me an email.  I'm lost on this IRC stuff also.  Let's try the AIM room again and see what happens, because I think I figured out something so that there won't be mass confusion when I get booted.  Again--this might lead to my solution--who was it that renamed the room once we were all in?

[nerd]

For ircing you need an irc client. There are many but I think mIRC is the most famous one. It's not free, though. Also, the newest Opera (7.5) has irc capabilities (and it's an excellent web browser )

When you have a client program running, connect to irc.afternet.org, port 6667 and join #pianoforum.net

[janice]

For ircing you need an irc client. There are many but I think mIRC is the most famous one. It's not free, though.

Thanks, but I know that I would rather do something free.  LOL  If I were rich, I'd get a better server so that I don't get booted out of chatrooms!  But this is just me talking, the others can give their opinion.  Let's figure out the time for the chat--if we were to have it at the same time on Friday as we did it last week, then that would be 9 pm (Eastern time).  Instead of figuring out the GMC and daylight savings and going to other websites to figure this out, etc etc, let's just go by the clock up on the top of this page, let's all log on at 3am on the 26th (according to the clock here) but it is actually the same time as last week, if you went last week.
 Don't confuse me anymore!!  LOL

[nerd]

Thanks, but I know that I would rather do something free.

Well, Opera is free (it shows just two little ads; they don't take too much room). It's also possible to use a java applet at the AfterNET site. Here are some instructions:
1. Go to https://www.afternet.org/
2. On the left there's a "Main Menu". Click on "Chat Now"
3. Wait until the applet loads and connects and such (it's ready when it shows some green text)
4. Enter the following commands to the input box:
/join #pianoforum.net
/nick your_nickname
5. That's it

[nerd]

I found a free decent-feeling IRC client; HydraIRC. You can get it here: https://www.hydrairc.com/. Go to "Downloads", scroll down to "Binaries" and select "HydraIRC.exe". That's the easiest way.

Here's how you set it up (after you've installed it):
1. First it asks you to create identities. Do that. In the Preferences dialog, click on "New" and fill in the information. It's enough to fill the four topmost entries. Click on "Add" to add your nickname to the list. Then "OK" and "OK".
2. Go to File->New Server
3. Click "Add Network", type "AfterNET" and click "OK"
4. Click "Add Server"
- Description: Random server
- Address/Port: irc.afternet.org, 6667
- Network: AfterNET
5. Click "OK" and "OK"
6. After a while the window should fill with red text. Now enter the following command: /join #pianoforum.net

When you want to join the next time select "File->Connect" (or press Ctrl+S) and then "AfterNET->irc.afternet.org" and "OK". When it's ready, enter: /join #pianoforum.net

[donjuan]

hey! I got my internet working again!  Janice, I prefer the original plan- the one where you invite everyone on your list to a AIM chatroom.  Nerd's idea sounds complicated...
donjuan

[janice]

hey! I got my internet working again!  

Yeeeeaahh!!  See you there!

[nerd]

Nerd's idea sounds complicated...

Yeah, but it only sounds complicated With HydraIRC it's simple and with that Java-applet it's very simple...

The reason I thought an IRC channel would be good is that timing stuff. You can join an IRC room any time you want...

But if you decide to use the AIM thingie are there any chances the meeting could be a couple hours earlier? I could at least join and watch

[Bob]

(I apologize if someone's already mentioned this.)

For time zones, I think Janice's idea of using piano forum's time might be best.  Under your profile link on the top of each page, you can adjust the page that appears on your computer to your own time zone.  

If you want to know "piano forum" time, you can check your profile page in case you've adjusted your page to your time zone already.  For example, for me in the Central time zone in the USA, I'm -6 hours from "piano forum" time.


Sidenote:  If we're all over the world, there probably isn't a time that going to be convenient for everyone.  We could always set up a few meeting times.

[nerd]

Sidenote:  If we're all over the world, there probably isn't a time that going to be convenient for everyone.  We could always set up a few meeting times.

Or we could use IRC Those on broadband can idle there all day long and others can join there when they can/want/other. Meeting times can be decided for irc, too, of course...

Boy, I'm starting to be annoying, I guess. Good night!