On Wed, 20 Oct 1999 04:36:02 -0600 (MDT), fpjm wrote:
> Where does one start tu search Usenet? and do you need a special reader
> ?
USENET is a worldwide bulletin board system that can be accessed
through the Internet or through many online services. The USENET
contains more than 14,000 forums, called newsgroups, that cover every
imaginable interest group. It is used daily by millions of people
around the world.
A "newsreader" is an Internet application that is designed to connect
to USENET news servers in order to download and post to the various
newsgroups. A good newsreader will contain many management tools to
enhance your use and enjoyment of USENET, such as:
* Subscribing to newsgroups: your news-reading software will make these
groups immediately accessible, so that you can read their contents
quickly and easily.
* Unsubscribing from newsgroups: removing groups from your easy access
list.
* Reading newsgroup postings: your news reader presents new messages -
postings - to you, and keeps track of which postings you have and have
not read.
* Threads of discussion: replies to a posting are grouped together with
the original posting, so that the reader can follow the messages within
a newsgroup which are part of a particular discussion or a topic.
Posting to newsgroups: you can participate in group discussions; your
news reader knows where to send your posting.
* Responding to a posting: you can send a response to the newsgroup
(often called follow-up) or to the author of a posting (often called
reply).
If your ISP provides you with access to a news server using NNTP
(Network News Transfer Protocol), then you should consider downloading
a good, freeware newsreader. I would recommend Forte's Free Agent:
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/freagent.htm WWW browsers now include
News-reading software. For instance Microsoft Internet Explorer uses
Outlook Express to view and post to News. If you are using the
complete Netscape Communicator, then it will serve as a newsreader,
although it is not as feature-rich as the Forte FreeAgent.
The first step is to download the list of newsgroups. This can be a
very large list depending on the News Host. When this is done, you can
select the newsgroups you wish to subscribe to. Thereafter these will
be the ones which will be downloaded by default. With your
subscriptions in place, you can now access the articles which are
currently held for each of the newsgroups, read them and post articles
to them.
No newsreader is required to participate in the News discussions on
Deja.com. This service on the WWW, as well as containing searchable
archives of postings from more than 20,000 Usenet newsgroups, offers a
Web interface to Usenet News where you can participate in discussion
once you have registered. You need only your Web browser.
http://www.deja.com/
I find myself leaning more and more to the Deja site instead of running
a newsreader. The Deja site site makes searching the newsgroups'
postings fast and easy and more complete than you could manage with
your own newsreader. The newsreader's superiority is in managing your
own newsgroup experiences, while WWW sites such as Deja are best for
searching the millions of posts for a particular keyword.
For the many in the Internet without access to a news server, since not
all ISPs provide that service, sites such as Deja.com provide a very
necessary service.
> Any learning site on Usenet?
Yes, you can learn right there in your e-mail client. Send a blank
message addressed to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Also, are Eudora and Gravity different tools, or do they have the same
> purpose?
Eudora is an e-mail agent or client with the purpose of accessing and
managing your POP3 or IMAP e-mail. Eudora has no direct news features.
Gravity is a shareware newsreader.
> Finally, what is LOL. ?
LOL is an acronym (abbreviation) for [most common] "Laughing Out Loud".
http://www.acronymfinder.com/
http://www.datacomm.ch/~silver/smile2.htm
Send a blank message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Alan
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
