[[ Image:Chilli1.jpg | 250px | thumb | right | A grand chilli there ]]

These days, we all know about chilli peppers. We have them on pizzas, in sauces, and even on patios simply as decorative plants. Although very abundant in hotter countries, chillies really only began to appear in Irish supermarkets within the last 15 years or so.

== Growing chillies ==

=== Germination ===

The most effective method for germinating chilli seeds in Ireland is the wet paper towel method. Do this in mid-Spring so that they begin to grow in time for the rest of the season.

* Fold up a few layers of kitchen towel and wet it under a tap. Wring it out so it's not too wet.
* Open the towel up like a book, and on one half lay out the chilli seeds in rows, ~2cm away from each other.
* Fold over the other half, so that the seeds are enclosed in damp paper towel.
* Put the seeds and towel into a ziplock sandwich bag, and put into a hotpress.
* After 10-14 days, the seeds will have grown a taproot big enough for transplanting into a propagator.

=== Growing ===

You need to keep chilli plants in warm environment to promote growth. This can be a greenhouse or a south-facing window. In around early April, transplant the seedlings into a propagator or a pot covered in clingfilm. The compost should not be too wet. When the plants grow their second set of leaves you can take them out of the propagator (or remove the clingfilm) and let them continue to grow in the greenhouse or window.

Chillies like to be treated mean: don't overwater and don't use any plantfood. This will allow the heat to build up much better.

If there are a lot of leaves on the plant and very few chillies, snip off a few leaves. This will allow the nutrients in the plant to go towards growing the chillies.

=== Harvesting ===

This is best done in late summer/early autumn. The chillies can be red or green when harvested, it's entirely up to you (and up to whatever the plant produces!). They can be used fresh, dried, or frozen.

== Chilli peppers for culinary use ==

=== Drying chillies ===

The traditional way to dry chillies is to hang them in a sunlit window. In Irish weather, this is best done during the summer, and only peppers with undamaged stalks should be used (broken ones let in moisture and bacteria and will cause the chilli to rot).

* Tie 2 or 3 fresh chilli peppers together by their stalks using string or an elastic band.
* Hang the bundle on a hook at a south-facing window.
* In 4-6 weeks the chillies should be dry enough to grind up (if they're not, chop them up and let them dry in the open for a couple of days).
* If you shake the chilli, you will hear a rattling if it is dry enough. The noise is made by the seeds, which can be saved and used to grow more plants.

The dried flakes can be sprinkled into dishes during cooking, or, if you like a bit of extra heat, used as a seasoning for a served dish.

=== Fresh chillies ===

When preparing fresh chillies, please note that the capsaicin in the peppers is an irritant. If you have sensitive skin, wear rubber gloves. If you decide not to wear gloves, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly, as the oil from the chilli is difficult to remove. If you touch your eyes, nose, or any other sensitive part of the body without taking the proper precautions you will feel the effects for a couple of hours. And it's not nice!

To prepare a fresh chilli:

* With a small sharp knife, split the chilli pepper along its length into two halves.
* Put each half on a chopping board, open side up. With the knife, scrape along the inside of the chilli to remove the seeds.
* Chop the chilli halves as required for cooking.

Most people tend to remove the seeds, but if you wish, you can leave them in, and simply slice up the whole chilli.

[[Category:HowTo]]

RBVM Ssh

2011-11-11T19:11:05Z

Lithium: /* Access from an external machine */

First of all, you will need to install an ssh server on your VM before you can ssh to it. You will probably need to do this with a [[RBVM_Vnc|VNC Viewer]]. When your in your VM, you can install OpenSSH with:

apt-get install openssh-server

Make sure your VM is powered on before proceeding. If you want to access your VM from another Redbrick server, you can ignore the login details (passwords, etc.) on the page that comes up after you turn on the VM. If you're logging in from an external computer, take note of those details and follow the instructions below - and/or on that page - carefully.

== Access from other Redbrick servers ==

Note your VM's IP address from the VM Management page (not from the page that comes up after you switch on your VM). To login simply ssh to that IP address, with your VM user/pass (not your Redbrick login details). You will have set up these details when installing the operating system on your VM.

ssh username@IP_ADDRESS

Note that this is the method to use once you login to Redbrick using PuTTy or whatever, as once you're logged in, you're using Redbrick servers.

== Access from an external machine ==

You will need to setup a tunnel to get to your VM, if you're accessing from outside Redbrick. To do this, type:

ssh -L 1337:YOUR_VM_IP_ADDRESS:22 username@login.redbrick.dcu.ie

This binds port 1337 on your own computer to your VM (on port 22, the ssh service). So to connect to your VM:

ssh 127.0.0.1 -p 1337

This is the method to use when you're not logged directly onto Redbrick, such as when you're using your home Linux machine.

RBVM Ssh

2011-11-11T19:10:00Z

Lithium: /* Access from other Redbrick servers */

RBVM Ssh

2011-11-11T19:06:57Z

Lithium:

First of all, you will need to install an ssh server on your VM before you can ssh to it. You will probably need to do this with a [[RBVM_Vnc|VNC Viewer]]. When your in your VM, you can install OpenSSH with:

apt-get install openssh-server

Make sure your VM is powered on before proceeding. If you want to access your VM from another Redbrick server, you can ignore the login details (passwords, etc.) on the page that comes up after you turn on the VM. If you're logging in from an external computer, take note of those details and follow the instructions below - and/or on that page - carefully.

== Access from other Redbrick servers ==

Note your VM's IP address from the VM Management page (not from the page that comes up after you switch on your VM). To login simply ssh to that IP address, with your VM user/pass (not your Redbrick login details). You will have set up these details when installing the operating system on your VM.

ssh username@IP_ADDRESS

== Access from an external machine ==

You will need to setup a tunnel to get to your VM, if you're accessing from outside Redbrick. To do this, type:

ssh -L 1337:YOUR_VM_IP_ADDRESS:22 username@login.redbrick.dcu.ie

This binds port 1337 on your own computer to your VM (on port 22, the ssh service). So to connect to your VM:

ssh 127.0.0.1 -p 1337

2011-10-28T13:43:40Z

Lithium:

2011-06-26T23:02:49Z

Lithium:

Weechat

2011-06-26T22:57:20Z

Lithium: New page: Once upon a time there was BitchX. Then there was Irssi. Now there is Weechat. More and more people are switching over to Weechat from Irssi, probably coz the colours make IRC easier to re...

IRC

2011-06-26T22:28:00Z

Lithium: /* WeeChat */

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) allows real-time chat over the internet. People can communicate in groups in rooms known as channels or one to one through private messages.

Redbrick's IRC server is hosted on <s>[[deathray]]</s> <s>[[minerva]]</s> [[morpheus]] and <s>is prone to the odd crash now and again</s> is therefore totally reliable ;).

Below is a brief introduction to the use and etiquette of IRC.

== The Basics ==

=== Irssi ===
Pronounced: ire-see, like IRC... geddit?

This is the most common way to connect to IRC at present! You can access it by typing 'chat' from your terminal after logging into RedBrick. You can also run irssi directly by typing 'irssi'; if you do this, you will need to manually connect to the IRC server by then typing: /connect irc.redbrick.dcu.ie

You'll then be greeted with a screen like this:

[[Image:Welcome_to_chat.gif]]

This might look a little daunting at first, so we'll explain what everything means.

This is #lobby, RedBrick's default IRC channel, and one of many.

The line at the top of the screen is the topic, which contains info about current events, funny quotes or random gibberish. In this case it shows what's happening during Rag Week. Currently, the topic can be set by anyone in #lobby. Below this, is the main area where messages and info are shown. Every time you join a channel in IRC, you're shown who's in it, so all the words between the different '[' and ']' characters are the nicks of people in that channel. This area will soon fill up with messages from people talking. If you wish to see who's in a channel at any type, just type: /n

As you can see, phaxx has just said hello to receive. phaxx's name is highlighted here because he has addressed receive directly. Highlighting makes sure you notice when people are talking to you. Your own nick will appear in bold (just in case you forget which one is you).

'''Status Bar'''

The blue status bar at the bottom of the screen will keep you up to date with what's happening in all your channels. It shows your nick, then the current channel (and its modes in brackets). The Act part on the right will show you if you something's happening in another channel by displaying the number of that channel. Look at "Navigating IRC" to find out how to switch between channels.

=== Other Connection Methods ===

==== WeeChat ====

This is another program similar to irssi, some people think it's better than irssi, but then some people think pinapple goes well on pizza. You can try weechat by running:

weechat-curses irc://irc.redbrick.dcu.ie

Tell me this doesn't look a billion times nicer than that piece of shit above:
[[Image:Rb online full color.png]]

Dregin has a version of weechat with some scripts designed for Redbrick users. It runs on azazel, which as of 26/6/11 is the current login machine. Run it by hitting:

user@azazel ~> /home/associat/d/dregin/root_azazel/bin/weechat-curses

==== Webchat ====

Web chat is available at http://webchat.redbrick.dcu.ie. It's great, not like the shite old java webchat.

==== Your Own IRC client ====

It is possible to use your own irc client running on your computer, but this requires [[OtherIrcClients|ssh port forwarding]].

== Chatting ==

To chat, all you have to do is type what you want to say and hit return.

For example, when you type:

[#lobby] I think that undone guy is really cool!

and then hit return, you'll get something like this:

< gizmo> I think that undone guy is really cool!

If you want to do perform an action simply type '/me' and then the action:

[#lobby] /me thinks that undone guy is really cool.

will produce:

'''* gizmo''' thinks that undone guy is really cool.

An endless variety of [[Smilies|emoticons]] can also be used to express feelings.

If you want to leave chat (this will exit irssi or weechat altogether) just type:

/quit <text>

which disconnects you from the IRC server and returns you to your shell. The text parameter is optional, when it's used it gives a reason to the others for your leaving, for example:

/quit I must flee!

Of course, if you're using the web-chat client, it's probably quicker just to close the window when quitting.

== Navigating IRC ==

An IRC server will have lots of different channels. When you first connect to the server you will find yourself in Redbrick's biggest channel, #lobby. You can go in and out of most rooms to see who's there or join a conversation. If you want to check what other rooms there are, you can type '/list'. This will give you a list of the rooms with two or more people in them, and the topic associated with them. By default, it will appear in window/channel 1.

To switch to another channel, there are two methods. The first is to press ESC, release it then press the number of the channel. Alternatively, you can hold ALT and press the number. You can also use the left and right arrow keys instead of numbers. It is recommended that you use the ESC method as ALT can cause problems with terminal programs on some operating systems.

Anyone can create channels, to do this you simply have to join a room that doesn't already exist. In order to join a room, you just type:

/join #<name of channel>

So for example if you wanted to join the #gamessoc channel, you would type:

/join #gamessoc

and there you can chat about games and make fun of Simon to your heart's content.

You can get a list of the users in the current channel by typing:

/names

or

/n

while there. This will give you a list of everyone in the room at the time. In WebChat, all the names just appear on your right.

To check the name and details of a specific user, type:

/whois undone

or

/wi undone

to bring up some information on that user.
If you'd like to leave a particular channel, type:

/part

to leave the current channel you're in,
followed by any message you want to leave with.

for example:

/part this channel frightens and confuses me.

== Private messaging ==

If gizmo wants to tell undone he thinks he's a really cool guy, but doesn't want everyone online to see it, he can do this:

/msg undone I think you're a really cool guy.

This will send the private message "I think you're a really cool guy" to the user undone. This starts a new channel between just two people where the conversation can continue, or not. You can switch to this like any other channel.

After the conversation is finished (or you just want to close the window) you can do so by typing

/wc

== Chat etiquette and channel operators ==

Chat has a certain amount of unwritten rules about being polite and courteous to others. Obviously we don't aim to censor users, but there are certain things that are to be avoided.

Avoid excessive use of the Caps Lock button as it appears as though you're shouting and can get annoying.

Avoid using colour, as although it probably annoys atlas - which we all know is fun - it can get quite irritating to other users too.

Of course some people will break the rules and as such there are channel operators around to step in when they're needed.

Channel operators are denoted by having an '@' symbol before their name like so:

<@undone> i have ops! \o/

All members of the RedBrick committee have ops on #lobby. If you create a new channel, then you will automatically gain ops there and have control over things. A channel operator can kick or ban a user from a room and also set the modes and topic. When kicking or banning a user, the channel operator must always ensure that as witty a remark as possible is added afterwards:

06:07 -!- korvuss was kicked from #gamessoc by undone [witty remark!]

== Modes ==

Each room in IRC has its own set of modes that determine what users can do in the channel. Some of the following commands set some of the more commonly used modes to a room:

/mode +i

This makes the room invite only. In order to invite someone to the room, type:

/invite undone

to invite undone into your channel.

/mode +o undone

will give undone ops in your channel, which is an excellent idea.

/mode +t

will set the channel so only ops or half ops can change the room's topic.

/mode +k pass

sets the password "pass" on your room.

IRC has other useful commands such as /exec, which lets you execute a shell command as though at the prompt. For example:

/exec ls

Be wary of users who tell you to run a /exec command, as it may not always be in your best interest to do so.

Obviously there's a lot more to learn about IRC so if you have any questions, email [[Helpdesk]], or you know... google it.

== Links ==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat IRC at wikipedia] - wikipedia.org's page about IRC.

[[Irssi|irssi]] - page about irssi, detailing some of the more advanced options and features.

[http://www.irssi.org/ irssi.org] - the website of Redbrick's default IRC client.

[[Category:Helpdesk]]

2010-05-30T17:36:03Z

Lithium:

File:Chilli1.jpg

2010-05-30T17:32:34Z

Lithium: