Chat is yet another way we can discuss our Kemp ancestry, but in real time. I have set up a KFA Chat Room on mIRC on Rootsweb (in box where it asks for server, type rootsweb). Please feel free to use this chat room to discuss your Kemp genealogy. The KFA Board and Committee members may or may not be on-line at times, but all are welcome to use this area.

You'll usually find me (aka Dallas) in KFA Sat. mornings around 9a.m. Central Time. There are also people from around the world in the genealogy chat room (look for me there also). To join an additional chat room, highlight join and then type: genealogy - there is always someone to help you refine your chat skills in irc-help or in any of the chat rooms.

What do I need before I can install an IRC client?
Besides running MS-Windows you need to have a properly installed WINSOCK. If you can use FTP, E-mail, News or other Internet programs from within Windows already, you can safely assume you have a winsock installed and it is working properly.

To connect to IRC you'll need a small chat program like mIRC. mIRC is the shareware IRC chat program made for Windows and offers a fast and clean interface to IRC which you can download for free at the mIRC Homepage

There are lots of FAQ's on their page, but once you have it downloaded:

1. click on icon that sort of looks like an electric plug (at least in my version it does)
2. mIRC Setup window will appear; click on IRC Servers so you can pick one, choose whichever seems to be close to home, but if one seems slow after use, you can always choose another; then click on Add; fill out Name - email Address - Nickname - Alternative Nickname
3. That's probably all you'll need to fill out, as mIRC will try to fill in the rest of the fields for you; click ok
4. From now on when you sign on, you'll only need to click on Connect to IRC Server
5. You'll then see a lot of funny stuff rolling past your window and then a mIRC Channels Folder will pop up. Scroll down list to KFA - highlight - join or if you do not see it on your list, type KFA in the box at the top of the window - Add.
6. A window will pop up with three sections: to your left will be the box you'll see our chatter in, to the right will be the box where you'll see who is on-line by their nickname, and the box that runs across the bottom is the one where you will type what you want to appear on the screen.

I'm pretty new at this myself, but if you ask a VERY basic question, I might know the answer ... my TXGenWeb group meets on a regular basis for a round table discussion and I have found this works pretty good.

If the above is as clear as mud to you, you might wish to check out the Genealogy Forum site, which is one of many that holds on-going chats. They also have wonderful instructions for:

• instructions on downloading mIRC and
• hints for using mIRC

For those that wish to hold a discussion, you might wish to post a note to the newsgroup listing the subject, so that all those in that Kemp line can join in ... and be sure to mention which time zone, so we can all coordinate our clocks.

Equivalent Times Around the World (at least what I think I figured out):

0200 - UTC
11:30am - Adelaide, AUS
12 noon - Sydney, AUS
4 pm - NZ
6 pm - Hawaii Time
7 pm - Pacific Daylight Time
8 pm - Mountain Daylight Time
9 pm - Central Daylight Time
10 pm - Eastern Daylight Time
11 pm - ATL Time
3 am - London, ENG
4 am - Europe

Or try U.S. Time Zones or Times Around the World or Time Conversion Chart

I hope you enjoy this new feature.

The Kemp Family Association Homepage
is created, edited & maintained by
Linda-Jeanne Dolby � 1997
A New England Kemp in Texas
This page may be freely linked to, but not copied without my consent.