If you chat with us the #wcwu chatroom and you have a registered nickname, please be sure to log in before October 2nd and use the identify command with your password. Freenode is removing all expired nicknames (those that haven't been identified in 120 days or more) on October 2nd. Their blog announcement about it is here.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, that's okay - you probably don't have a registered nickname. Primarily, we register nicknames to ensure that our preferred nick is available to us at all times. Also, it allows us to have 'ops' (operators, who can kick or ban trolls, rude people, etc). The funny thing is that 10 years ago, that was more important the other way around - we don't get much in the way of trolls at #wcwu. :)

Freenode is being DDoS attacked again, so chat is kind of not working at the moment.

They're advising people to try connecting using chat.freenode.net (instead of irc.freenode.net). I was able to log in earlier using the Freenode Web Chat.

Just wanted to give everyone a head's up. You can check the Freenode Staff Twitter for more information or updates. I'll be updating this post when the all-clear is given.

Update 7:30pm ET: Freenode is still having problems, but chat is accessible through the Freenode Web Chat link above. Colloquy won't connect, but Textual will and mIRC for PCs. :)