What is Club Wired?

Club Wired is an online public auditorium where HotWired members can gather to hear guest speakers and debate issues.

Clicking on the Club Wired icon opens a telnet window and prompts you for your HotWired username and password. Directions for running a telnet session (including a complete list of basic and advanced commands) are available by clicking the 'instructions' textlink on the Club Wired main page.

Once you are in the telnet session, you can get help at any time by typing /? This will list the following basic commands:

/c Change to another channel.

/M Post a question to the moderator.

/p Send a private message.

/h Change your handle to something else.

/a See who is currently logged in.

/+ See a list of the advanced commands.

/q Quit Club Wired.

These commands are case-sensitive; /M invokes a different function than /m.

How do I get into Club Wired?

Click the 'Enter Club Wired' textlink at the bottom of the Club Wired main page. You can also telnet to chat.hotwired.com, port 2428. You will be asked to enter your username and password as a security measure.

In the telnet window, type your username at the prompt.

What do I do once I'm in there?

Start talking! Type a message to let other participants know you're there. Anything you type at the prompt (that isn't preceeded by a command) will appear onscreen to everyone else on your channel in Club Wired.

How do I ask a question of a guest speaker?

To be able to listen to and ask questions of a guest speaker, you need to be in Channel 2, the Amphitheater, or Channel 3, Cafe Wired. Questions for a guest speaker are posted to a moderator. She or he then selects which questions to pass on to the speaker. To submit your question, type /M followed by your question. This sends your question to the moderator only; no one else will see your question unless the moderator posts it.

What if I can't get into Club Wired?

When trying to launch Club Wired, you may get one of the following messages:

'Your account has not been verified.' To correct this, go to the HotWired main page and click 'verify your account.'

'Unable to launch telnet session.' This may be due to corrupted or missing telnet software on your machine, or low memory, or a system conflict, or other problems on your machine. Try relaunching Club Wired. If this doesn't work, try turning off other applications before launching telnet. For more help, ask your sysadmin.

If your connection is suddenly broken, the telnet window will disappear. This may be due to problems on our server, on your network or somewhere else on the Net. To re-enter Club Wired, go back to the Club Wired main page and restart your session.

How can I get more information on telnet?

The Club Wired main page contains a link to complete Club Wired instructions. If you click on this link, you will find a list of advanced commands. We also suggest asking other users in Club Wired; somebody out there probably has the answer you seek.