Seraphimlabs IRC is free for general use. To access it please use the link in the utilities section of the menus or a dedicated client such as XChat2. Mibbit is also supported, please select Lost Signal WebIRC from the dropdown menu.
Please note the Windows version of XChat expires in 30 days, if you have Windows use XChat2 to avoid this.
The IRC is using Inspircd, and is connected to an IRC network that makes use of Anope services.This provides capabilities such as nickname and channel registration, topic persistance, and numerous other useful features.
In addition, hosted chatterbots with some administrative and entertaining features are available. Please use & or ~ to address them. You are welcome to host your own bot too as long as it is kept under reasonable control, many of them can run without requiring an actual server.