IRC (Internet Relay Chat) was created in 1988 by Jarkko Oikarinen. It gained popularity throughout the 1990s, before waning in the 2000s as other more centralized social and chat networks grew into the behemoths they are today.

IRC and similar chat rooms offered a way to directly interact with people all over the world in real time. For many folks, this window to the rest of the world gave them an outlet for creativity and social interaction with like-minded people. 

While the usage of IRC has declined, there are still servers running, with many active channels on them. This project allows you to join and chat on IRC servers from your Adafruit Fruit Jam device. 

Parts

This project requires an Adafruit Fruit Jam, an HDMI cable, a DVI compatible display, a USB keyboard, and a USB C cable to power the Fruit Jam.