I saw the article of Ives and went immediately to that site. But I was a bit annoyed with the advertisement and the way one had to connect.
Now, I'm one of the old guys who also experienced the IRC era, and had in the past an IRC Server running.
So why not one for SVS? It is cleaner, faster, and no advertisements :)
[Updated to include a download that allows access via any HTML Web browser.]
It's getting better, here is a Web page to access the IRC Server, so if you're behind a firewall, you're still be able to join the team: http://www.xs4all.nl/~starf0x/IrcChat/
SVS IRC Chat
Don't forget to add this site to your favorites.
To make it even simpler for you, I've made a GUI for SVS Chat.
It works via HTML, so you can connect also from work.
(Not recommended of course :)
Press CTRL & Space to hide it to the tray. (Bosskey)
And it is very tiny, only 160 KB....