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By Brian Smyth
Homebrew Adventures is proud to announce a significant upgrade to its Brewboard, online now. In our continuing effort to consume even more of your time online, we've added several new features that are sure to keep you glued to our "green screen of death".
Thanks largely to the hard work of our Brewboard administrator, Keith Royster, we have upgraded our forum software, significantly increased our server space, and added the following features:
New 'My Assistant' feature: a pop-up tool for finding today's active topics, today's active posters, all-time active posters, etc.
Improved 'My Controls' feature: added profile data, so you can learn more about your fellow members
- an added ability to set your own timezone offset
- an added ability to customize the number of posts you view per topic
- an added ability to customize the number of topics you view per forum
- an added ability to receive pop-up notifications when you receive new private messages
Improved ability to track a topic: you receive an email when someone responds.
Improved 'Personal Message' features: an added personal notepad for taking notes or saving snippets
- an added ability to save draft messages
- an added ability to track who's read and who has not read your PMs
- an added 'Inbox Meter', so IrishJny knows when it's about to overflow
- an added ability to archive old PMs, so IrishJny can keep his old PMs without overflowing his inbox
- improved design and navigation tools
- more smilies
- a calendar
and last but not least, A Live Chat room, open to all members, 24/7
| PRONUNCIATION: |
chaat |
| INTRANSITIVE VERB: |
Inflected forms: chat·ted, chat·ting, chats
1. To converse in an easy, familiar manner; talk lightly and casually. 2. Computer Science To participate in a synchronous exchange of remarks with one or more people over a computer network. |
| NOUN: |
1. An informal, light conversation. 2. Computer Science A synchronous exchange of remarks over a computer network. 3. Any of several birds known for their chattering call, as of the genera Saxicola or Icteria. |
| PHRASAL VERB: |
chat up To engage (someone) in light, casual talk: “He would be . . . chatting up folks from Kansas” (Vanity Fair). |
| ETYMOLOGY: |
Middle English chatten, to jabber, alteration of chateren. |
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Simply click the button at the top right of the Brewboard main page, and you'll download a chat window and several applets. This may take a few seconds. Once downloaded, you'l need to login to the chat. To log in, simply enter your existing brewboard username and password. If you don't have a forums account, then use the link provided at the top of the page to register. Certain restrictions are imposed on usernames, and they must be 15 letters or less in length.
To communicate in the chat room, you merely need to type text into the little text box towards the bottom of the applet, and press Enter to send your message. Your message will appear in the content (larger) box above it when it is received by our server. Others may then read what you have typed, and respond to you. If you wish to get another user's attention, simply type in their name somewhere within the message that you are sending them. Their message will appear in a different color, and a sound will be played.
You may notice various buttons, checkboxes, and right-click menues on the chat room. These allow you to logout, request help (as you have already figured out), float/dock the chat room, turn on/off audio, turn on/off the timestamp and turn on/off the autoscroll feature.
The HBA Chat is comprised of a main room and three separate subrooms (beer, wine and other). The HBA Chat features graphic and audio emoticons, font and color choices, and a complete set of special commands that allow you to use macros to communicate. Users can also create their own subrooms, send private chat messages, autoscroll, timestamp, scrollback and add URLs.
For a complete description of the HBA Chat features, click HBA Chat under the help menu.
If you are having difficulties getting online one of our chat clients, this check-list may help you determine exactly what the problem is, and how to resolve it. The majority of our users have no trouble at all connecting.
Java is required:
You must have a Java-enabled browser
Java must be turned on and allowed to run
If you are running a version of a Microsoft Windows and see only a broken link icon, you will need to download a copy of the Java Virtual Machine in order to run our application. You may download Java Support for your browser from one of the following links below:
Microsoft Virtual Machine (for MSIE only)
Sun Java Plugin (for Netscape, Mozilla, Opera, MSIE, etc..)
Older versions of Netscape (on certain platforms) such as v4.08, and v4.7x may not run our software. We strongly recommend upgrading to a newer version of Netscape (v6.xx or better) if this is the case. Certain browsers running on Macintosh platforms are not capable of running our software due to problems outside of our control. As WebTV does not support Java», WebTV users will not be able to access our chat rooms.
Users behind firewalls may need to inform their local IT/network administrator to allow TCP connections on ports 9000-9009 at client.invisionchat.com.
AOL Members: Some users have reported that the built-in AOL browser has difficulty connecting to our service, or does not load colors/emoticons properly. To resolve this, minimize your AOL connection, and use the Internet Explorer browser that came with your computer to access our chat rooms.
Many thanks to our Beta Testers! We appreciate all of your great feedback. You help make this Brewboard a real pleasure to host.
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Brews to Chat about: |
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 Brewboard's 21st Century Schizoid Ale:: Brewboard’s 21st Century Schizoid Ale is a group effort involving several members of Homebrew Adventures’ Brewboard Community from as far away as Japan. It began as an idea posted on the forums and rapidly turned into a Monster with dozens of members suggesting varied ingredients. Its original pedigree seems to have been very German, but then it drifted more towards Belgian. With the addition of Maple Syrup, it became firmly North American. Deep brown in color, medium to full body with a complex hop profile. The use of Maple Syrup in this recipe will add a woody finish to this beer. This is truly an Ale with multiple personalities. (Starting Gravity: 1.073-1.077) (Finishing Gravity: 1.014-1.018) (IBU: 58-62) (Approximate Alcohol content: 6.5-7.2%)
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Wurzburg Weizenbier:: Pale, medium bodied version of a southern German wheat beer. Clove and slight banana flavor notes are common. Highly effervescent and mildly sour with low hop bitterness ...ah, summer! |
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Bridget's Love Potion Saison:
Saison beers are distinctive specialty beers from the Belgian province of Hainuat. These beers were originally brewed in the early spring for summer consumption, though contemporary Belgian saisons are brewed all year round with pale malts and well dosed with Belgian hop varieties. Lively carbonation ensues from a secondary fermentation in the bottle. The color is classically golden orange and the flavors are refreshing with citrus and fruity hop notes. (Starting Gravity: 1.066-1.070) (Finishing Gravity: 1.014-1.018) (Approximate Alcohol content: 6.5-7.2%) |
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Abbey Normal Belgian Ale:: Abbey Style Ales cover a lot of ground in terms of strength, color, and flavor. They can vary from 6 to 11% alcohol. They can be pale to dark brown. Hops rarely play a dominant role so the flavors generally range from sweet to spicy to earthy. The use of pure Belgian Candi Sugar aids in giving this beer its authentic Belgian character. Medium amber in color, medium to full bodied with a malty/spicy aroma. Liquid yeast is strongly recommended with this recipe. (Starting Gravity: 1.075-1.080) (Finishing Gravity: 1.014-1.020) (Approximate Alcohol Content: 7.8-8.3% by volume) (24 IBU) |
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Chappaquiddick Ale:
Chappequiddick Ale is a Boston style ale that is characterized by a malty body and medium bitterness with a very clean finish devoid of yeast characteristics. It will be medium to dark amber in color. A refreshing ale with the hues leaning towards tan. An excellent session beer! (Starting Gravity: 1.042-1.048) (Finishing Gravity: 1.007-1.013) (Approximate Alcohol Content: 4.0-4.5%) (35 IBU)
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Crimson Oktoberfest: Copper colored, medium bodied, malty brew with a sweet toasted malt flavor and aroma. This style was originally brewed for Oktoberfest but is too good not to be consumed year round. |
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