[caryatid]

log on to irc.freenode.net:8001

I have never done anything like this before. Does this mean to put irc.freenode.net:8001 into the address bar of my browser and hit enter? When I tried that, I got an error message and the browser closed. I have IE6.0 ... should it work for my browser?

I have never tried anything like this before ... just curious to see if it would work.

[xcamel]

it would be irc://irc.freenode.net:8001 if your browser has a built-in chat client. Otherwise, you'll need a chat-specific client like mIRC or PircH for windows.