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Harley Hahn's Usenet...
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An Introduction to Usenet
USENET is a worldwide system of discussion groups in which millions of people participate. There are tens of thousands of different Usenet groups, and anyone on the Internet may participate for free. Usenet was originally designed to carry local news between two universities in North Carolina. For this reason, Usenet groups are often referred to as NEWSGROUPS, even though, today, they are used as public forums for discussions. Similarly, Usenet itself is sometimes referred to as THE NEWS or NETNEWS. Within each newsgroup, people send messages, called ARTICLES, for other people to read. Once an article is sent to a group, anyone in the world may read it. Each Usenet group has a unique name. The name consists of two or more parts, separated by periods. For example, here are the names of several groups:
alt.celebrities
Much of the time, you can guess the purpose of a Usenet group just by looking at its name. For example, news.newusers.questions is for new users to ask questions about Usenet. The group talk.environment is for people to debate topics devoted to the environment. Usenet groups are organized into HIERARCHIES. When you look at the name of a group, the first part of the name is the hierarchy. For example, the news hierarchy contains groups in which people discuss Usenet itself. The talk hierarchy is for debate. There are hundreds of different hierarchies, but only thirteen are of general interest. These are shown in the following table. All the Usenet groups in Harley Hahn's Master List of Usenet Subgroups are from these hierarchies. The 13 most important Usenet hierarchies
There are two ways to access the Usenet newsgroups. You can use a special program called a NEWSREADER, or you can use a Web- based Usenet service (see below). When you use a newsreader program, you tell it which group you want to look at. The newsreader then fetches the articles and displays them for you. If you decide to post (send out) an article of your own, you can use your newsreader to compose the message and send it to the appropriate group. Internet Explorer comes bundled with a newsreader called Outlook Express (the same program that handles email). If you don't use Internet Explorer, or if you want a better newsreader (my choice), you can easily find one to download from the Internet for free. You might ask, where are all the Usenet articles stored? The answer is, most Internet service providers (ISPs) maintain a Usenet repository for their customers. This repository, called a "news server" or a "news feed", contains all the articles that are currently available. As new articles come in, they are added to the repository. After a certain amount of time — usually several days — old articles are purged to make room for new ones. Before you can use your newsreader, you must configure it by telling it the name of the computer you will be using as a news server. Your Internet service provider will tell you this name. If you have problems getting started, they should be able to help you configure your newsreader. Once your newsreader is configured, there is an easy way to read the articles in a particular group. Within your browser, there is a place where you can type the address of a Web site you want to visit. The easy way to look at a Usenet group is to type the ADDRESS of the group. This consists of the word news: followed by the name of the group. For example, if you want to read the articles in the group in which people debate environmental topics, specify the following Usenet address to your browser: news:talk.environment Your browser will recognize this as a Usenet group, and will start your newsreader automatically. What do you do if you need access to a news server? For example, what if your ISP does not offer Usenet service? Or, what if they do, but you are not satisfied with the quality of the service? The solution is to get yourself a Usenet newsreader program and subscribe to a high-quality news service. Here is the one I recommend. There is a small monthly charge, but it is worth it. Usenet News Service
If you are a heavy-duty Usenet user, I recommend that you use a newsreader program. However, such programs are complex and take time to master. There is an alternative that is easier, especially if you are not a nerd. There are Web-based services that allow you to read and send Usenet articles. These services are useful in several situations:
When you use a Web-based Usenet service, all you need is an Internet connection and a regular Web browser. This makes accessing Usenet simple, especially if you are an AOL or WebTV user. Here are some Web-based services for you to try: Web-based Usenet Access
One last hint: If you have a copy of the book Harley Hahn's Internet Yellow Pages (see below), look in the "Usenet" section for many other resources that will help you use and understand Usenet.
Many Usenet newsgroups are devoted to pictures. Most of these groups have the word binary in their name, because pictures are stored using a binary (that is, non-text) format. For example:
alt.binaries.pictures.fine-art
Some ISPs (Internet service providers) do not carry these groups because the postings take up a great deal of disk space. (Pictures require a lot more space than plain text.) In addition, some ISPs do not carry the binary groups because many of these groups contain erotic pictures. Although most of the binary groups are of this nature, there are a good number that contain non-erotic pictures such as graphics, cars, animals, sports, art, cartoons, and so on. If you want to access the Usenet picture groups but your current news server is inadequate, you may want to subscribe to a news service that specializes in such groups. Here are a few services that will give you access to all the Usenet binary groups. To use a newsreader program (the best choice), you need access to a comprehensive news server that specializes in binary newsgroups. Here's my choice: News Server-based Binary Access (pictures)
Alternatively, you can look at pictures using your Web browser. In this case, you need a service that provides Web-based service: Web-based Binary Access (pictures)
There are between 20,000 and 50,000 different Usenet newsgroups (depending on whose numbers you believe). However, most of these groups are not of general interest and do not have worldwide distribution. Moreover, many newsgroups are BOGUS, that is, non-existent or filled with spam (unsolicited advertising). To help people find the groups they wanted, I created a master list of Usenet newsgroups. To make this list, I started with all the newsgroups in the thirteen major hierarchies (alt, bionet, bit, biz, comp, humanities, k12, misc, news, rec, sci, soc and talk). My researchers and I then checked every group, keeping only those that were active and not bogus. I then wrote a short, accurate description for each newsgroup, placed the group in a category, and organized the whole list to be easy to search. From time to time, my researchers and I bring the list up to date by putting in new groups, and deleting the ones that have become bogus or obsolete. I started this list in 1994 and, since then, I have had 10 major revisions. When I started, there were other such lists, but they have all fallen by the wayside. Today, Harley Hahn's Master List of Usenet Newsgroups is the only well-maintained, comprehensive list of Usenet discussion groups in the world. Harley Hahn's Master List of Usenet Newsgroups
There are tens of thousands of Usenet groups, and it is not always easy to find the one you want for a specific topic. If you want to find a group, here are two suggestions. First, start your search by using my master list: Second, take a look at the Yellow Pages book, where you will find a great many Usenet groups throughout the book, along with Web sites and mailing lists. Harley Hahn's Internet Yellow Pages For a more detailed explanation of Usenet and how to use it, please see Chapter 13 of the book: Explore the Net with me... You'll find a lot more Usenet-related material in two of my books that are part of The Harley Hahn Experience Web site. Just click on the links below. First, if you want to learn how to use Usenet well, take a look at Chapter 13 of my book, Harley Hahn's Internet Advisor. You'll find help on every important Usenet-related topic, as well as many useful resources.
Harley Hahn's Internet Advisor,
Second, Harley Hahn's Internet Yellow Pages contains over 4,300 Usenet groups throughout the book (along with Web sites and mailing lists). As you read the book, whenever you see a group you'd like to explore, just click on it: all the links are live. Harley Hahn's Internet Yellow Pages The Harley Hahn Experience Finally, the Usenet section of the Yellow Pages book has a great many specialized resources:
Harley Hahn's Internet Yellow Pages,
© All contents Copyright 2008, Harley Hahn
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