Usenet, the Internet-based distributed bulletin board system with over 110,000 separate forums, is still alive and well — over 30 years after it was created in 1980. What do I mean by "distributed bulletin board system?" Think of it as a forum that is hosted on many, many, many different computers, each displaying some or [...]
Usenet? What’s that? Net News…
Often when I’m asked where I learned so much about computers, I mention that I’ve long been a reader of Usenet. Usually, I get a blank stare and a "What’s that?" in response. Usenet has been around for a long, long time. Many people have heard of bulletin board systems (BBS’s) and forums. Usenet is [...]
Intermittent Printer-Computer Connection
Sometimes, the problem is strange and intermittent — and the solution seems to defy logic. Such was the problem that subscriber Al Soroka had: My USB connection to my Canon i80 printer is on again, off again. I can reliably use the IR connection with an old laptop, but my newer Dell Studio laptop running [...]
Outlook, Outlook Express and Usenet News
Reader Greg H. wrote me about a problem he as having reading Usenet newsgroups. Hey Terry- Seems like my newsgroup access has gone away. I’m running XP Pro and never had trouble like this before. Usually, I’d launch Outlook, click on View, then News>Go To and go from there. Now, the News option in the [...]
What programs can I use to read Usenet News?
My favorite Usenet news reader software is Agent. My favorite service for Usenet News is Giganews. Agent is available in both paid-license and freeware-license versions. Actually, it is the same program — the difference is whether you have purchased a license key or not. If you don’t want to purchase a license, Agent will revert [...]
Usenet – Internet News – News Groups
Sometimes, you really don’t want to send email to a specific person. You may not want to send it to a specific group of people. You want to communicate to anyone who might be able to answer your question. There are a number of communities that exist only in the Internet as forums — places [...]
Software Review: Agent Usenet Newsreader
Program: Agent Publisher: Forte Inc. Category: Usenet News Reader My Shareware/Freeware Pick of the Week is the Usenet newreader "Agent," from Forté. Agent is a trialware / freeware program for reading Usenet news. Agent is licensed as "Trialware". In other words, you can download Agent and try it out free of charge for 30 days. After 30 days, [...]
Accessing and Reading Usenet Newsgroups
Reader Greg H. wrote recently to ask for help solving his inability to access the Usenet newsgroups on Verison’s servers. For those not familiar with Usenet newsgroups, think of them as a mailing list type of system that has been around for well over 25 years. Rather than emails sent to our computers, though, the [...]
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