A much overlooked part of our community is the silcroad IRC server. It's a great place to chill and get to know people, and of course it's totally anon. If you're bored and looking for people to chat with, stop by! Don't know what IRC is? Not sure how to log on? No problem. Download Pidgin from http://pidgin.im/ UPDATED INSTRUCTIONS 2013-09-20 by Atomos Here's a tip for correct account setup in pidgin for security: Basic Tab: Username: You choose your nick obv. (forum name preferred) Server name: silcroadg3c3mtu6.onion Password: LEAVE-BLANK Local Alias: LEAVE-BLANK Advanced Tab: (important) Port: 6667 Enc: UTF-8 Username: DO NOT LEAVE BLANK - Windows users - it will take your account name, i've warned about this before. Anything BUT blank. All 3 tickboxes unchecked Proxy Tab: (important) Standard OS with TorBrowser: Proxy Type: Tor/Privacy (SOCKS5) Host: 127.0.0.1 Port: 9150 (If you use an older tor version, or standalone: port 9050) It will be 9150 or 9050 - try the other if you get "Connection Refused" User/Pass: BLANK Tails / Whonix / TorLiveCD: Proxy Type: Use GNOME Defaults That's it - Tails/Whonix are setup to route EVERYTHING through tor, there is no need to change this. (You'll just break it if you do) Right, so the people have spoken, they wanted their own room away from prying eyes and trolls - we call this #cheers. When you join for the first time you'll just be stuck with a pidgin window saying "Available" Now Click "Buddies / Join a Chat / Room List (button)" Join #public after posting here to say "hello, this is me that's joining" - Then make yourself known, or msg me over irc. This way we know you own the nick, verify you and put you on the auto invite list.