A cross between a MUD (Multi-User Dimension) and IRC without the role playing of MUDs or a "real-time" chat room to which a user usually connects via a Telnet application, though it is possible to connect to some via a WWW browser. You will also need to know the address of the talker as well as special codes in order to talk. Talkers make use of either full-screen or line-by-line ASCII graphics/text. Sometimes described as a "live" newsgroup or "virtual community". Talkers are governed by the same sort of general rules that apply to netiquette, as well as a few specialized rules of their own. Generally, these are determined by the administrators of a specific talker. The administrators & superusers (SUs) of the talker are there to keep the rules enforced, and to make sure that everyone has a good time.
There are special codes which you must learn how to use in order to interact on one of these talkers. There are a few very popular ones like NUTS, IForMS, and Jonathan's Code although there are many more. The code contributes a certain "feel" to the talker. How the code works also can control what kind of commands you get and how fast the code responds to what you type in. For example, on NUTS after you "say" something, you can often start typing in the next thing you want to "say" before the code will let you, and you end up typing after your last "say".
If you have ever used the "talk" program that comes with most versions of Unix, then the talker server could be compared to a multi user "talk" program. Any number of users (restricted only by the I/O bandwidth of the server the talker is running on) can login to the telnet site and see what each other is typing in real time. For a look at the history of talkers click on the more button below.
A first Tier Internet Service Provider - An ISP whose has a direct connection to the Internet. ISPs can also be Tier 2, 3 or more which usually means that they lease their connections and possibly other services from a Tier 1 provider such as CAIS, Frednet, Clark Net, Digex, or Netcom.
A type of computer virus which comes disguised as a program. People download this program usually from the Internet because they think that the program is of some use, but once they start it up it could perhaps erase your hard drive or just wreak havoc all over your system. Recently there has been a discovery of a Trojan Horse type virus which comes in the form of a file called AOL4FREE.COM this file should NOT be downloaded to your system by any means. The name comes from the Greek legend of a horse that looks benevolent at first but really holds trouble.