Topic: Some Great Newsgroups/usenet Information Sources........

[W1RC]

Here are three excellent Web sites that provide information for beginners (and experts alike) on how to tap the treasures of the Internet.  Originally called USENET back in the pre-historic days in the 1980s and early 1990s before the Web was invented, the service is now more commonly referred to as ?Newsgroups?.  I use both terms interchangeably.  But whatever you choose to call it this little known Internet component is still very much alive and just loaded with goodies that are there for the taking.

However, there is a learning curve and you need to know a few basic things, like what is the difference between a text and binary file, how to choose and use a newsreader client app and how to select a news service provider.  More advanced topics include how to use a search site to find ?NZB files? or trackers to find what you want and other utilities that are used to download and post material to usenet.

Here are three Web sites that contain information and tutorials that will get you up to speed quickly and confidently.

http://www.harley.com/usenet/

https://www.binaries4all.com/beginners/

http://www.slyck.com/Newsgroups_Guide_QuickStart

One tip that may not be clear is in regards to choosing a news service provider.  You need to subscribe and pay for the service but it is pennies if you follow this advice......

News service providers sell their services in two ways; so many gigabytes per month and in ?blocks? of a fixed number of gigabytes with no time limit.   They all offer subscriptions where you get to download up to so many GB in a month for a fixed fee. For example, Newsdemon.com has a basic subscription that gives you 50GB of downloads a month for $3.00 (I told you it was pennies).  But a smaller number of news service providers also offer ?blocks? of data as well; you can buy the same 25GB for $12.00 but there is NO TIME LIMIT on using it.  Larger blocks are available as well.  Three providers that offer ?blocks? are netdemon.com, astraweb.com and UseNeXt.com in Europe. The choice is yours. 

Here is a ?hands on?  tutorial on how to get up and running quickly:

http://www.harley.com/usenet/guide/index.html

Have fun and enjoy!

73,

MisterMike