Hi and welcome to the 74 Bench. The Bench has always been the place for the 74 population (in the college) to get together, and this electronic place is no different, except that this java-powered chat area is open to everybody.
Loading the applet will take some time, like about 1 minute, but after the initial loading and once you get connected, the chat will go on very smoothly. So while the applet is loading, you might as well take time out to read the rules and perhaps the FAQA (no mistake here -- Frequently Asked Questions, Answered). This list of FAQ is taken from paraCHAT, and for the most recent version, you can refer to the list maintained by paraCHAT. The first thing you must have to participate in the chat here at the 74 Bench is a browser -- a java-enbaled browser.
Down the page, where the chat area is, you'll see a grey box, if the applet has not fully loaded. When it's done, you'll see some sort of window with dynamic advertisements (our sponsers). To chat, just enter your name (or nickname), and click on the "Ok, Connect!" button. Wait a little while, and once you're connected, you can chat! Do be adventurous and try the various features of this chat area, like the Float button, Private chat, Ignore user, lots more. To send your message off, just hit Enter -- no buttons to press at all, like in other chat rooms. If there isn't anybody here, you can always mail your friends (us too -- we'd be happy to join you).

Since this chat area is provided as a free service by paraCHAT, we have to agree to some simple conditions set by paraLOGIC. They're real simple to stick to, but trust us, these rules will greatly increase the friendliness of this whole chat area:
"There must not have any material that is or may be considered libelous, obscene, defamatory, infringing of any third party's intellectual property rights (including copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy) or violation of any law, statute, ordinance or regulation.' (in particular it may not be used on any site containing (or consisting primarily of links to sites containing) nudity or pornographic material of any kind, or material that exploits images of children under 18 years of age)."
That's directly quoted from the agreement with paraLOGIC.

Right, here's the real chat area. Bring in all your coffee and get connected ... we talk about abything under the sun!!
Sorry, your browser is not Java enabled. 

1. What kind of browser do I need to use paraCHAT?
You need to use a web browser that is Java enabled like Netscape 2.0, 3.0 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0. If your browser is not Java aware you will not see the chat room but get a message 'Sorry your browser is not Java enabled' MAC users must use MS Internet Explorer 3.01b , it will not work with Netscape currently. Please see following MAC question for more. Win 3.1 can use Netscape 3.01 Beta with Java for Windows 3.1 , see following question on Win 3.1 for more.

2. How do I chat using paraCHAT?
When you visit the web page with the chat room and your browser supports Java you will see the chat window. Click on the Connect button , enter you user name (other fields are not required) and click on OK. You are in the chat room. You will see the others in the black window on the right. Type any message in the text box at the bottom and it is sent to all users by default.

3. How do I send a private message?
Check the 'private chat' check box and highlight the user and then any message typed is sent only to that user with a [PRIVATE your_name] in front of it so he know who sent it and that it is private.

4. Can I block out annoying messages?
To silence annoying chatters in your room , check the 'ignore user' check box and highlight the user and then any message sent by the user will not be displayed on your screen. If you like using commands you can use *ignore add username Its as if that annoying user just went away! Wish it worked in real rooms too right?

5. What's that Surf button for?
By default, the Surf button takes you to the last URL in the chat text, i.e the last URL someone typed in as part of their message or was in the chat window. If you want to surf to something else, highlight the URL in the chat window and hit Surf. This is how you can visit that cool site some user just typed a message about. Please note Surf takes you to the URL on a separate window of your browser so you can keep chatting on the original browser window.

6. Can I customize the chat window, fonts colors?
Type '*chat' in the text box (where you type to send messages) to get a help on how to change fonts and colors for your window. For example
*chat bgcolor black (changes background color of the chat window to black)
*chat fgcolor green (changes foreground (text) color of the chat window to green)
*chat font courier (changes font of the chat window to Courier)
*chat fontsize 14 (changes font size of the chat window to 14)
*chat (gives a help on the entire list of commands available)

7. How can I find out more about the others in the chat room?
Highlight the user name and click on the 'User Info' button to get info on the user's login.

8. I am using a MAC and cannot connect to paraCHAT. Why?
There are known problems with Netscape's implementation of Java and we are working with Netscape to see if we can work around those bugs. So currently paraCHAT will not work for Mac users using Netscape. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.01b is known to work well for some Mac users and work with some repaint bugs (chat window messed up and cannot see the chat command buttons) for other Mac users. If you are a Mac user and have had luck with any other version of these browsers or any others please send us email at pchat@webpage.com, we want to know!

9. I cannot connect to paraCHAT. I get 'Connection to parachat.webpage.com:7779 failed' message. Why? What do I do?
The error was due to our chat server being too busy at the time you tried the login..In such instances please login again after a few minutes.Please do not hit Connect multiple times, wait for a few minutes and then re-connect, else the Server receives several connect requests from the same machine and it will actually take longer to connect. Sorry for the inconvenience.

10. Is there a Java enabled browser for Windows 3.1 that works with paraCHAT?
You could use the new Navigator 3.01 Beta with Java for Windows 3.1 available for download at Netscape's homepage. It is believed to work with paraCHAT though it is slow and has some bugs.

11. I am being annoyed / harassed by a user on the chat room. What can I do?
Firstly you can ignore the message, by clicking on the Ignore User button - see question 4 above for more. You can also click on the user name and then on User Info. This will give you the user's IP address. If you know how to (or ask your sys admin) do a traceroute to the IP address and determine the ISP (Internet provider) and then send email to the ISP giving as much information as possible about log on time, persons information and request some action - e.g disconnect service.

12. My Java console gives me a 'set daemon bug' message on Netscape. What is that?
This is just an informational message - please ignore it.

13. I was logged on and the connection to the Internet/chat server dropped. I cannot log back with the same username (nick) Why?
If you log back via the same machine (IP address) it detects a more recent login and lets you in. However if you use another IP address (another machine or a dynamic IP address), it will not permit another login if it still has a login under that user name. After a time-out period of 10 min the user is automatically logged off and you can then reuse the same user name (nick).

14. Can I make the chat window bigger?
YES! You can now! Click on the Float button to bring up the chat applet in a separate window, separate from the browser. This separate chat window can be resized and moved independent of the browser window containing the chat web page. Use Unfloat to remove this separate chat window and fix it back on the chat web page. Please note by default the size of the floated window is 3/4 the size of your browser window. You can change it as you wish, the size it comes up with just a default start size.

15. I cannot connect to paraCHAT. I get some or all of the following messages : Connection Failed . Disconnected:Network connection closed. Error 444 Why? What do I do?
These errors are due to your Internet connection going down, or due to our chat server being too busy at the time you tried the login. In such instances please login again after a few minutes.Please do not hit Connect multiple times, wait for a few minutes and then re-connect, else the Server receives several connect requests from the same machine and it will actually take longer to connect. Sorry for the inconvenience.

16. I get the message : Session killed due to another login from your machine and then I cannot connect. Why?
This is a bug that we are working on, you get the message when the system is too busy, please retry after a while.

17. I use AOL, how can I use paraCHAT?
Just connect to AOL, go to the Word Wide Web, minimize the AOL window and launch a Java enabled browser. You can download Netscape Navigator v3.01 from http://www.netscape.com or Microsoft Internet Explorer v3.0 from http://www.microsoft.com.

18. I get ...'could not connect to server BAD_PARAMETERS:BAD_PARAMETERS'. Why?
That error is due to the system detecting that one or more of the applet parameters passed is invalid. Please check the HTML code on the Java chat applet against the code received on registration. Also if you are using Netscape Gold 3.0 you may get this even with correct HTML due to a parameter passing bug on Netscape Gold 3.0. In that case please use another browser/version like Netscape 3.0 (non Gold), Gold 3.01 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0

19. I am using Netscape 3.0 / MS I.E. 3.0 on Windows 95 and still get the 'Sorry not Java enabled' message, is there some option I need to set?
Make sure that your browser's Java feature is enabled. For Netscape Navigator, enable Java by clicking "Options", "Network Preferences", "Language". Make sure the "Enable Java" checkbox is checked. For Microsoft Internet Explorer, enable Java by clicking "View", "Options", "Security". Check the "Enable Java programs"checkbox.

20. What is the Float Button for? Can I resize the chat window after a Float?
Click on the Float button to bring up the chat applet in a separate window, separate from the browser. This separate chat window can be resized and moved independent of the browser window containing the chat web page. Use Unfloat to remove this separate chat window and fix it back on the chat web page. Please note by default the size of the floated window is 3/4 the size of your browser window. You can change it as you wish, the size it comes up with just a default start size.