NewsGroups!

The World Wide Web is an interactive network, and one of the best uses of this aspect are the Newsgroups. With over 20,000 separate newsgroups, and more being added every day, there is definitely something for every interest on the planet. We will not be listing all the NewsGroups here; we will give you an introduction to the way they work, and link you to some of the sites that will help you find the groups that match your tastes!

What are newsgroups? The official definition according to the Usenet FAQ:

   Usenet is a world-wide distributed discussion system. It consists of a set of "newsgroups" with names that are classified hierarchically by subject. "Articles" or "messages" are "posted" to these newsgroups by people on computers with the appropriate software -- these articles are then broadcast to other interconnected computer systems via a wide variety of networks. Some newsgroups are "moderated"; in these newsgroups, the articles are first sent to a moderator for approval before appearing in the newsgroup. Usenet is available on a wide variety of computer systems and networks, but the bulk of modern Usenet traffic is transported over either the Internet or UUCP.

In English, that means they are groups of folk from all over the world exchanging ideas and comments on the topic of that newsgroup. If you cannot find the topic you want to talk about, no problem; start your own newsgroup!

Newsgroups are most often accessed using "news readers", either stand alone programs or included as part of your browser suite. If you don't already have a news reader you are comfortable with, you might want to check out Stroud's page, where you will be linked to a number of the best Web Utility downloads. If you would rather access a newsgroup through your Email account instead of news reader software, you can join most groups by signing up with the "List Server" for that newsgroup.

When you join a newsgroup there are two things you can do to keep yourself out of an instant Flame War. First, don't post to the group for the first several days. You should always start out by "lurking" on the newsgroup and reading what other folks have to say. Odds are that several other people will ask the same question that you want to have answered. In fact, that same question may have been asked 30 times over a 10-day period, so by reading all the previous threads when you first log in you may find your answer waiting for you! The reason people ask the same question over and over (and immediately get flamed for it!) is they fail to read what's already posted before asking the question themselves.

So what happens to the question asked 30 times in 10 days? Well, it is considered a Frequently Asked Question (and now you know where that internet term came from!), and is added to the FAQ's file for that newsgroup. Which brings us to the second thing you should do when joining a newsgroup; read the FAQ's before posting to the group! Not only will it have all the FAQ's (with their answers), but it will also have the posting rules and the defined scope of the subject covered by the group. It often also contains a list of related newsgroups, ftp sites, and web pages, to point you to other resources on the subject.

Now the real trick; how do you FIND the newsgroup that interests you? The sites listed in the right-hand part of the screen are all created just for that purpose! Log into them and do a search for the keywords you would expect to find related to that interest. If you don't find it at one site, try another; there are too many newsgroups for any one place to keep track of them all!