How do you use newsgroups?

I am confused, how do you use newsgroups? I have heard you can find lotsa interesting stuff in these places, but what are they exactly and how do you use them???

Are they like forums?

Ignorant ##RaCeR##

Open MS Outlook - find the newsgroup part. You\'ll need a newsgroup server to add it it (like news.worldonline.com or whoever your ISP is - or perhaps you can find a free one (use google.com to search)). Then you search for newsgroups (using the name or part of the name). Then you\'re set to go reading.

But what are they exactly? There not illegal are they? Are they just websites? Posts by people? Photos? Files?

Sorry, this is just something I know nothing about, and want to explore.

It\'s just kinda like a forum, but only with text (no graphics). So basically it\'s one BIG forum with 40,000+ different groups (topics), where you discuss, buy and sell, or whatever the group is for. It can be good fun and quite useful.

BTW, if you\'re searching for something in particular Google.com has an option to search newsgroups, and then show the messages like ordinary links (if it sounds confusing, just try it out - search for Gran Turismo 3, or whatever, to try it).

[Living-In-Clip]

Think of a newsgroup as a collective way to subscribe and share information / files in the most old fashioned way (before this P2P file sharin\' crapola).

A newsgroup itself is not illegal, sometimes the content is..*hint piracy..hint*

Yeah, there are newsgroups that share \'binaries\' - that is pictures, movies, software *wink wink* and such.

Ohhh, so, is that like that alt.binary.altavista kinda thing???

So, you could almost say its like IRC?

Thanks for you help, I am gonna try and check it out.

[videoholic]

You could also say that itis nothing like IRC.

Go to download.com and download forte agent.

You can find absolutely anything in the newsgroups.

What is that? Does it contain spyware?

Is it better to use that then Outlook?

It\'s just a news agent. I used it a long time ago, and quite frankly it was confusing and bland looking. Perhaps it\'s better now. Personally I just use Outlook. Nice and simple.

[videoholic]

Outlook is ridiculous if you are looking to download files.  If a file is a couple megs long it has to be split into parts.  Outlook you have to assemble all these many many threads together to make the one file.  Forte agent does that for you.  It makes the newsgroup directory much much much smaller.  Some files are 30+threads long.  With FA, you just see one thread because it combines it for you.

Coool, I will check it out.

Originally posted by Videoholic
Outlook is ridiculous if you are looking to download files.  If a file is a couple megs long it has to be split into parts.  Outlook you have to assemble all these many many threads together to make the one file.  Forte agent does that for you.  It makes the newsgroup directory much much much smaller.  Some files are 30+threads long.  With FA, you just see one thread because it combines it for you.

Ah yeah... I never download stuff though, so Outlook has been enough for me. I don\'t download smut*.

*Disclaimer: I don\'t download smut from newsgroups.