what is usenet?

[luvvbuzz]

i have looked at usenet.com as i have heard of usenet but never really looked into it until now. i have read a load of stuff on usenet.com but to be honest i am still none the wiser about what it actually is and how you use it. can people in the uk use it? it says you pay monthly, it doesnt say which methods of payment are accepted. also what sort of stuff is on it? is it p2p or is it something completely different?

[stiltman]

You can use it all over the world.
Think of it like these forums but multipied by a trillion

Tipically, the servers name will be news.domain.com

You can use Outlook Express to access the servers. I howerever would recomend using a program called Agent

[Rookie64]

i have looked at usenet.com as i have heard of usenet but never really looked into it until now. i have read a load of stuff on usenet.com but to be honest i am still none the wiser about what it actually is and how you use it. can people in the uk use it? it says you pay monthly, it doesnt say which methods of payment are accepted. also what sort of stuff is on it? is it p2p or is it something completely different?

newsgroups - they've been around almost as long as the Internet

Your ISP probaby has a newsfeed that you can access using OutLook Express, Netscape or other newsreaders, Agent is a popular one, but there are many others -

http://www.forteinc.com/agent/index.php



If not, you can get access through Google -
http://www.google.com/grphp?hl=en&tab=wg&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=

or other Free servers - http://freenews.maxbaud.net/

http://freenews.maxbaud.net/faq.html

You might have to pay to access to the binary groups...but if you're ISP has a newsfeed, then you'll get those groups too (depending on how many they carry - some are banned from various servers)

[luvvbuzz]

ok that is helpful stuff guys, i am going to chheck those links out now, but they mention something about limited downloads on usnet.com, what are they refering to? downloading software or media files or something like that?

[handyguy]

that means your isp limits what you can take from usenet. Mine does not however. Google has every singel usenet post ever written however, it does not have binary groups those are the ones with files

[luvvbuzz]

but what can i take from usenet?

[lordsmurf]

Welcome to the Internet ... it's nice when people begin to see that it is MUCH bigger than the puny "WWW" portion.

[stiltman]

that means your isp limits what you can take from usenet. Mine does not however. Google has every singel usenet post ever written however, it does not have binary groups those are the ones with files

Google only has posts that do not contain this in the header
"X-No-Archive: Yes"

[luvvbuzz]

i appreciate all your replies but can somebody set me right here? is usenet somewhere that i can download files, and share files or is it just about reading news stuff and message boards. thats what i really want to know.

[stiltman]

There are groups that have binaries in the messages. Binaries are files that have been encoded and ripped into pieces so they can propage around the world.

Outlook Express has a hard time with binary posts
Agent was created for this purpose.

newsgroups are in the form of Example alt.comp.priphs.motherboards.asus

News groups where you can find programs are like Example alt.binaries.

You'll learn it in no time at all....

googled

[bugster]

Yes, you can dowload files from usenet, but there is a learning curve as they tend to be encoded in various forms and often split into parts. Thats why you need a good newsreader program that handles multi-part files well, such as the previously mentioned Agent.

Many Isps include a free newsfeed but often limit access to binary newsgroups (where you will find the files) and also often 'expire' files after only 2 or 3 days.

There are commercial services that specialise in binary newsgroups but they cost money. One of the most popular is www.easynews.com. It costs $10 for 6Gigs or 1 month, whichever comes first. It also has an easy to use web-based front end and article retention times of up to 30 days. Others include claranews.co.uk, £4.99 for 20 gigs per month, but no web interface and retention of only 3 days on most binary groups.

Hope that helps.

[mysticgohan17]

they tend to be encoded in various forms and often split into parts. Thats why you need a good newsreader program that handles multi-part files well

Grabit

[thayne]

Usenet is porn central

[The village idiot]

Xnews!
Newsbin pro

Xnews is free!

Newsbin pro rocks when your curiosity becomes something more like insatiable habit. Newsbin and usenet server have a deal for 14.45 unlimited per month, check the newsbin web site:

from the Newsbin pro message of the day:

1) Giganews has announced increased capacity and now advertise 30 days of retention! Some groups will have upwards of 5 million posts. We are anxious to put version 4.3 out because it will be one of the few newsreaders capable of handling this amount.

2) Usenetserver has reinstated their discount for NewsBin users, $14.45 unlimited. Enter the word "newsbin" on the Customer Signup screen to receive the discounted price.



Use Usenetserver for your primary server and Giganews for fills, you'll get everything available on usenet. Visit our Usenet Tools site for more information about these and other news services.

Need more help on Usenet? Search for the wonderful "Tim Docs guide to using Usenet", you should find many links in the FAQs for most of the binaries groups. Think of Usenet as a HUGE centralized email system, with all messages sent to all users, just waiting to be retrieved.

BTW... DO NOT use Outlook Express (Outlook Distress ), and don't even bother if you are on AOL, it will be more frustating than it is worth! (Combining the use of AOL and Outlook will get you nothing but ridicule ) Do get a premium server account, there are many reasons for this, but I won't mention why.

SIde note for the others:

http://www.urban75.com/Mag/troll.html

Ignore cries of wasted bandwidth! This is pure drivel that will always be posted by the anti-troll lobby.

These jerks fail to understand that trolls are the best way to drive people off the internet thus making available multi-mbs for the rest of us to download our porn.

[mrbass]

http://www.mrbass.org/newsgroups
is my little tutorial in how to get started using newsgroups.

[The village idiot]

http://www.mrbass.org/newsgroups
is my little tutorial in how to get started using newsgroups.

Basic but effective! And I see you have a link to the Tim doc too