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Harley Hahn's
Le petit guide
Master List
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Top Usenet
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HARLEY HAHN'S USENET CENTER
Are you in a hurry? No problem.
Usenet is a vast, worldwide system of discussion groups, used for both discussion and file sharing. The best way to learn how to use Usenet is by reading my Usenet Tutorial: However, if you don't want to take the time right now, I understand. In the meantime, I can show you how to be up and running in 9½ minutes — for free. All you have to do is follow three simple steps:
1. Arrange for Usenet service
At that point, you can begin using Usenet, and you and I will walk through the process of performing the three most common Usenet activities:
• Searching for photos
Later, when you get more time, you can read the tutorial and explore the rest of Harley Hahn's Usenet Center. 
Before we start, I want to take a moment to explain some quick terminology. For historical reasons, Usenet discussion groups are usually referred to as NEWSGROUPS. (It's just a name. Usenet is used for discussion and file sharing, not for news distribution.) To access Usenet, you run a program on your computer to connect to a remote computer that contains the Usenet data. The program is called a NEWSREADER; the system to which you connect is called a NEWS SERVER. Thus, our first goal is to arrange for you to have access to a Usenet news server. We will then install a newsreader program on your computer. At this point, you will be able to use Usenet.
Typically, Usenet service costs between $5 to $30 a month. To me, that's a bargain. There are many Usenet service providers, so you have a large choice. Here are some particularly good ones:
Binverse
It happens that Binverse (one of the best-known Usenet providers) will let you try out their service for free, so let's do that. Click the link below, and register for their free offer. Then come back to this page to continue. Once you have registered with Binverse, they will email you several welcome messages. One of them will contain your user name and password. Wait for that message to arrive (it should only take a moment or two) and then continue.
The next step is to download and install a Usenet program called a "newsreader". This is the program you will use to access Usenet. There are a variety of newsreaders from which you can choose. Since evaluating them will take time, and since we don't want to spend any money, I suggest you go with the Binverse newsreader. It's a powerful, high-quality program, and Binverse offers it for free to their clients. Click the link below to download the Binverse newsreader program. Download the Newsreader program Install the program and start it. Then come back to this page to continue.
The final step is to configure your newsreader program. The Binverse newsreader comes mostly pre-configured, so all you need to do is tell it your user name and password. When the newsreader program starts for the first time, it will prompt you to enter this information. Simply copy and paste your user name and password from the email message you received when you registered. You are now ready to use Usenet.
Usenet is complex and newsreader programs can take a while to master. So don't be frustrated if it takes you a while to figure out how everything works. To get you started, I'll take you through the process of performing three basic Usenet activities:
• Searching for photos
In our examples, we'll use the Binverse newsreader. Before we start you should know that the first time you use any newsreader, it will have to download a lot of information from the remote computer (the "news server"). So be understanding if your newsreader needs to take a few moments for the initial downloading. Searching for Photos To start, let's search for some photos of art. Near the top-left of the Binverse window, you will see a box with several tabs: Files, Text, Photos and Browse. Click on Photos. In the search box, type "abstract art" (without the quote marks) and then click on Search. 
The newsreader will contact a Usenet search engine to look for images that have been marked as being abstract art. The newsreader will then display small versions of all such images. If you double-click on an image, the the newsreader will download the full-sized version and display it for you. (This will take a moment, so be patient.) One thing I should warn you about: there is a lot of pornography on Usenet and you will sometimes run into it unexpectedly when you look at photos. For example, one time I searched for photos of kittens, and I was shown a lot of images of a naked woman playing with a kitten. If you are adventurous, take a moment to repeat the exercise and search for something else. Reading Messages For our second task, we'll take a look at the messages within one of the Usenet discussion groups (called "newsgroups"). We'll look at one of the newsgroups that is used to share jokes. The name of this newsgroup is rec.humor. (I know that if you are new to Usenet, all this sounds a bit strange. Don't worry. Everything is explained in the Usenet Tutorial.) Near the top-right of the Binverse window, you will see a round button named Configure Search. Click on this button. In the middle of the window to the left, look for a box labeled Search Newsgroup List. In that box, type "rec.humor" (without the quotes). The newsreader will display a list of all the newsgroups that contain rec.humor as part of their name. Using the scroll bar to the right of this list, scroll down until you come to rec.humor. Click on the box to the left of the name. This will put a checkmark next to the name, which means you have now "subscribed" to the newsgroup. Now right-click on the name of the group and select Open Newsgroup. This tells the newsreader to download all the messages (called "articles") currently present in the group. This may take a moment, so be patient. 
Once you see the list of articles, look for one you'd like to read and double-click on it. The newsreader will download the article and display it for you. Hopefully, it will be funny. File Sharing For our final task, we'll take a look at how Usenet is used for file sharing. In particular, many people use Usenet to download "binary files" also called "binaries", such as software, music, videos — in fact, any type of file. Caveat: It is illegal to share copyrighted files without the permission of the copyright holder (so don't do it). For our example, we will download a copy of Ubuntu Linux, an operating system that is freely distributable. Such software is huge and, as such, it must be download as a large set of many smaller files. Once these files are downloaded, they must be checked for errors. If there are any errors, they must be fixed. Then, all the parts must be put together correctly to re-create the large, original file. When you use Usenet to download large binaries, you need to worry about all these details. Some Usenet newsreaders, however, such as the Binverse newsreader, are designed to make this job easy. Here is how it works. To start, we'll search for Ubuntu. Near the top-left of the Binverse window, you will see a box with several tabs: Files, Text, Photos and Browse. Click on Files. Type "ubuntu" (without the quotes) and click on search. After a few moments, you will see a variety of search results. When you look at the results, you will see five columns: Date, Size, Files, Newsgroup, and Title. Notice that some of these results point contain many separate files. 
To download a binary, right-click it and select File Genius. The newsreader will look for the information it needs to download what you want. Once this happens, you will see a button called Start Download. Click on this button and the downloading process will begin. As the various files are being downloaded, you will see informative messages in a box in the top-right corner of the window. Eventually, all the files will arrive, and you will see a message "Download Complete" to the right of the Start Download button. At this point, the newsreader has combined the many small files into the original binary file. To access the binary file, click on the round My Files button near the top of the window. This will show you a list of all the files you have downloaded successfully. Finally, right click on the file, and select Open Download Folder. You will see the newly downloaded file, sitting in its folder, waiting for you. For reference, binverse has an illustrated guide you may find useful. For help with the more advanced features, click on "Advanced Techniques". Binverse illustrated reference Now that we are finished, I would like to suggest that you take some time to read the tutorial. I'm sure you'll find it useful and interesting. Enjoy.
© All contents Copyright 2010, Harley Hahn
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