title: Non-blocking console input?
body: <p>I am trying to make a simple IRC client in Python (as kind of a project while I learn the language).</p>
  <p>I have a loop that I use to receive and parse what the IRC server sends me, but if I use <code>raw_input</code> to input stuff, it stops the loop dead in its tracks until I input something (obviously).</p>
  <p>How can I input something without the loop stopping?</p>
  <p>(I don't think I need to post the code, I just want to input something without the <code>while 1:</code> loop stopping.)</p>
  <p>I'm on Windows.</p>