• Usenet Software
• Software Settings
• Newsgroups
• Searching Usenet News
• What is Spam?

Usenet Software

Most web browsers, such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, handle reading Usenet News. If you're looking for a stand-alone news reader, geeksnet recommends:

Agent for Microsoft Windows, or it's freeware cousin,
FreeAgent for Microsoft Windows

Software Settings

There are some general settings common to all Usenet News clients. Other settings vary from client to client, so specifics are left up to the documentation for whichever client you choose to use.

News Server, NNTP Server
geeksnet.com's news server handles NNTP service. NNTP (Network News Transport Protocol) is what your Usenet News client uses to send and receive news.

geeksnet is proud to offer the finest in Usenet news service. Here you'll find over 78,000 newsgroups to choose from. You may choose to log on to any of four(4) different news servers:

news.geeksnet.com
At geeksnet, we believe in the freedom of the individual user to read uncensored material on the Internet. We carry all newsgroups that we can find. No interference from Net-Nanny Internet providers or a censoring government.

anonymous.geeksnet.com
When you post through anonymous.geeksnet.com others on Usenet will not be able to tell who you are. So feel free to post whatever you like, without fear of retaliation by others. Your identity is totally hidden! geeksnet.com is the only Usenet service in the area who offers this.

binaries.geeksnet.com
In addition to our "uncensored" servers, you will have access to geeksnet's exclusive "Binaries Only" news server. This means... More Binaries - Longer Retention Times - Faster Downloads!

spamkiller.geeksnet.com
Spamkiller filters out about 90% of all spam from this server. The result is a larger spool file with articles that are kept twice as long as other servers. The crosspost limit is set to 3 and third party cancels are accepted.

Server Authentication
NONE. geeksnet.com's news server authorizes connections by IP address, you do not need to supply a username/password. We will soon offer connectivity to our news servers from machines outside our IP address space (work or another connection), please contact: webmaster@geeksnet.com if you are interested in this feature.

Email Settings
See Email section

Many Usenet News clients support replying to articles via email, so you may need to fill out some email settings as well.

Newsgroups

There are thousands of newsgroups in the world, geeksnet.com's news server carries approximately 78,000. Newsgroups cover topics as diverse as academics, base jumping, computers, erotica, food, games, humor, music, politics, religion, science, sports, television, and zen. Millions of people from all over the world read and post to Usenet news.

Newsgroups are hierarchically classified by subject. There are several global top level hierarchy names (alt, comp, humanities, misc, news, rec, sci, soc and talk) and numerous local top level hierarchy names (de -- German newsgroups, mn -- Minnesota newsgroups, ba -- San Francisco Bay Area newsgroups, etc.).

Some newsgroups are moderated. This means that all posts must be approved by someone (the newsgroup moderator) before they are broadcast. Newsgroups which are used for important announcements are usually moderated to keep the signal to noise ratio high.

There are several newsgroups which are particularly useful for anyone who reads Usenet.

• news.announce.newusers -- Explanatory postings for new users (Moderated)
• news.answers -- Repository for periodic Usenet articles (Moderated)

You can find the names of other newsgroups which interest you through the service DejaNews.

Enter a topic or interest below to search for newsgroups.

Searching Usenet News

You can search for Usenet news articles or for names of newsgroups through the service DejaNews.

What is Spam?

Spam is, simply, the same thing lots and lots of times. Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE, junk mail) and massive Usenet cross-posts and multiple-posts are the most common examples of spam. Spam is an abuse of resources at worst, an annoying waste of time at best.

• Net Abuse FAQ
• alt.spam FAQ or "Figuring out fake E-Mail & Posts"
• Boycott Internet Spam!
• Blacklist of Internet Advertisers
• news.admin.net-abuse.misc