CU-SeeMe Related Links

Locating people that are using CU-SeeMe

Many times I get asked to recommend places to connect with people. Unfortunately not every one is looking for the same thing in CU-SeeMe so that makes it difficult to recommend individual places or location resources aka lists that contain reflectors. The IRC channels and the websites are all listed below that I feel are representative of the CU-SeeMe community. There may be more I'm sure but these I feel will help the newbie venture out into the CU-SeeMe netdome. Feel free to contact me with a resource that isn't listed as an incomplete list is no fun for anyone!



IRC Channels

What is IRC?

IRC stands for "Internet Relay Chat". It was originally written by Jarkko Oikarinen in 1988. Since starting in Finland, it has been used in over 60 countries around the world. IRC is a multi-user chat system, where people meet on "channels" (rooms, virtual places, usually with a certain topic of conversation) to talk in groups, or privately. There is no restriction to the number of people that can participate in a given discussion, or the number of channels that can be formed on IRC.

There have been many IRC channels set up with the theme of CU-SeeMe. Most have more than one reflector associated with them too. This can be a lot of fun as you can get to know people both when they are using the reflector and at times when they are not. You end up chatting more is the bottom line. Not everyone feels like being on camera all the time!

The IRC channels have rules which some people find helps in filtering the internet of the 'undesired', making life more relaxed. These rules have evolved over a long time based on experience with all types on internet users. Some guys feel the rules are anti-male but lets face it, guys outnumber women on the internet anywhere from 8-1 to 12-1 depending on who you ask. The rules keep the women comfortable.

There are two well known IRC 'networks' that have CU-SeeMe related channels or chat rooms but there could be more.


Getting Started with mIRC

A short setup guide can be found here for those needing it. IRC veterans can skip it!


DALnet

DALnet has been a well controlled place that a lot of folks have stayed with because of that. Of late many people have joined those already there because they didn't like or got tired of the problems on Undernet and EFNet. Recently (the last 18 months) the number of CU-SeeMe related channels on DALnet has dropped from 5 to none.

PopularChannel NameWeb page
*#cuseemefunhttp://www.cuseemefun.com/

 

#CuSeeMe-Heavenhttp://www.geocities.com/cuheaven_scent/

Undernet

Undernet has always been 'the' network for those that didn't like or left DALnet. The original CU-SeeMe channels from EF-Net migrated here when that network began to have troubles. Life was good for almost 6 years after that. Then a major hacking in January 2000 occurred. This network had around 46 CU-SeeMe related channels then, most of them VERY dormant. Users were sometimes spread out across many of them with only a handful having a good amount of members. Undernet's Channel Services purged most of these dormant channels after restoring order. Now the number of CU-SeeMe based channels has dropped to 2 active ones with many users.

PopularChannel NameWeb page
*#cu-ecstacy

 

 

#cuseemelusthttp://www.geocities.com/cuseemelust/

 

#cuseemesexhttp://www.cuseemesex.com/

EFNet

This is the network where 'it all started' according to many. I have some old foggy memories of going there once or twice. You might find some other equally old timers there trying to return to CU-SeeMe, but that's only a guess. Lately the network has just recovered from a major hack attack so it may be a bit odd there for a bit. You've been warned!




Web based Reflector listings

These are a few of the many that are out there on the internet. I know there are more reflector lists. The ones not listed here many have a VERY high rate of bad listings within them. By 'bad' I mean they have outdated information. This could be: reflector taken down, IP address has changed, conference ID has changed or the reflector changed from public to private. So this is the best of the best.


http://www.chatpal.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Web_Links&file=index&req=viewlink&cid=3
ChatPal This scanner checks a list of CU-SeeMe reflectors every 60 minutes to make sure they are active.

http://www.rocketcharged.com/cu-seeme/
RocketCharged "...reflector list includes reflector status. This status gets updated every hour to provide the best possible environment for your Cu-SeeMe experience. "

Streak's CU-SeeMe Web Reflector Scanner His scanner HAD been the most accurate list of active reflectors around for many years. It is now gone, but not forgotten!


http://www.videofrog.com/cuseeme/servers.phtml
Video Frog Joining Videofrog Pro gives you access to their scanned list of adult CUSeeMe reflectors! The G rated ones are free.



Capture Cards

 Capture cards allow you to use a camcorder or a security camera as your CU-SeeMe video source. Many people use the Winov cards and like them. There are others that make good capture cards as well.


3Com-USR HomeConnect camera

The 3Com HomeConnect PC Digital Camera was manufactured by 3Com under license by Vista Imaging. In May 2001 the company 3Com decided to no longer market the camera. Inventory was discontinued and sold off. Camera driver updates are still available from creator of the ViCAM® camera, VistaImaging. Windows XP users must download the update as the driver CD with the camera has no XP support.


The camera and lens kits are still available here http://www.usbstuff.com/cameras.html Many people like them for their low light capability. This has kept the asking price used on auction sites such as ebay.com rather high in comparison to Logitech.



CU-Doodle?

CU-Doodle is a screen capture driver for Windows for use with CU-SeeMe. Instead of capturing video from a camera, a frame grabber or digitizing board, CU-Doodle captures whatever appears in a 160x120 'capture area' floating frame on the screen. A camera is not required. Use it to 'capture' hand-drawn images and text or other video sources, by simply dragging the image to the capture area. Also useful for interfacing video devices not compatible with CU-SeeMe. You should be able to use the Snappy as input to CU-SeeMe for example or a scanner, etc; if you can display it on the screen, CU-Doodle will pick it up and send it out as video... CU-Doodle now works with the White Pine Color CODEC. You can, for example, mix the B/W output of your QuickCam with color overlays, and send it out as color CU-SeeMe.



Connectix B/W Quickcam Drivers

 Connectix QuickCam B&W Setup Drivers Win95 1,207 kb   bwquickcam.zip this is the original disk It seems a lot of folks get back to CU-SeeMe after loosing track of their disk, a common request in my mailbox!



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Last modified Friday, September 19, 2003 2:08 PM