`subshell'. 2. /n./ A series of linked data areas within an
operating system or application. `Chain rattling' is the process
of repeatedly running through the linked data areas searching for
one which is of interest to the executing program. The implication
is that there is a very large number of links on the chain.

:channel: /n./ [IRC] The basic unit of discussion on {IRC}.
Once one joins a channel, everything one types is read by others on
that channel. Channels are named with strings that begin with a
`#' sign and can have topic descriptions (which are generally
irrelevant to the actual subject of discussion). Some notable
channels are `#initgame', `#hottub', and `#report'.
At times of international crisis, `#report' has hundreds of
members, some of whom take turns listening to various news services
and typing in summaries of the news, or in some cases, giving
first-hand accounts of the action (e.g., Scud missile attacks in
Tel Aviv during the Gulf War in 1991).

:channel hopping: /n./ [IRC, GEnie] To rapidly switch channels
on {IRC}, or a GEnie chat board, just as a social butterfly
might hop from one group to another at a party. This term may
derive from the TV watcher's idiom, `channel surfing'.

:channel op: /chan'l op/ /n./ [IRC] Someone who is endowed
with privileges on a particular {IRC} channel; commonly
abbreviated `chanop' or `CHOP'. These privileges include the
right to {kick} users, to change various status bits, and to
make others into CHOPs.

:chanop: /chan'-op/ /n./ [IRC] See {channel op}.