News server question

Sheldon Brown

Sorry to be O.T. but this is the main group I use, and I feel entitled
to ask a question for a change.

I schlep my Ti Powerbook back and forth all the time. At home I have
Comcast cable; at the shop I have a DSL connection. When I'm out of
town I use Earthlink dialup or sometimes various hotel based isps.

The problem is that each of these has its own News server, and I have to
shut down Netscape and re-start it using a different profile every time
I move from one connection to another. This gets me into different
history files and newsgroup subscriptions, and is generally a P.I.T.A.

Is there a reasonably priced News server I could subscribe to that would
offer a good choices of Newsgroups, and would allow me to use the same
passwords/logins regardless of how I was connected?

I very much like the Netscape News software, and want to continue to use it.

Sheldon "No News Is Bad News" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| I should have taken fewer courses in metallurgy and |
| more courses in marketing. --Albert Eisentraut |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Derk

Sheldon Brown wrote:

> I schlep
You should only schlep schmattes, not your notebook!

Why don't you use:
http://groups.google.nl/groups?hl=n...c.bicycles.tech

Greets, Derk

MSeries

Sheldon Brown wrote:

> Is there a reasonably priced News server I could subscribe to that
> would offer a good choices of Newsgroups, and would allow me to use
> the same passwords/logins regardless of how I was connected?


Take a look at http://news.individual.net/

Its what I use and its free, carries rec.bicycles.tech

Dan Daniel

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 11:26:09 -0400, Sheldon Brown
<captbike@sheldonbrown.com> wrote:


>
>Is there a reasonably priced News server I could subscribe to that would
>offer a good choices of Newsgroups, and would allow me to use the same
>passwords/logins regardless of how I was connected?
>

Better, there is a free one-

http://news.individual.net/

Pretty complete if you are willing to forego binaries. Fast- picks up
new posts quickly. Highly recommended.

Jean

"Sheldon Brown" <captbike@sheldonbrown.com> wrote in message
news:40854111.4090400@sheldonbrown.com...
| Sorry to be O.T. but this is the main group I use, and I feel entitled
| to ask a question for a change.
|
| I schlep my Ti Powerbook back and forth all the time. At home I have
| Comcast cable; at the shop I have a DSL connection. When I'm out of
| town I use Earthlink dialup or sometimes various hotel based isps.
|
| The problem is that each of these has its own News server, and I have to
| shut down Netscape and re-start it using a different profile every time
| I move from one connection to another. This gets me into different
| history files and newsgroup subscriptions, and is generally a P.I.T.A.
|
| Is there a reasonably priced News server I could subscribe to that would
| offer a good choices of Newsgroups, and would allow me to use the same
| passwords/logins regardless of how I was connected?
|
| I very much like the Netscape News software, and want to continue to use
it.
|
| Sheldon "No News Is Bad News" Brown


Try either of the two *free* newsgroup servers below:

eagle.america.net

news.america.net

I've been using these servers for years (initially because it made it
easier to change ISP's without having to resubscribe using to a new
newsgroup server, and now because my current ISP does not have a newsgroup
server) and I've never had any problems with either one.

Jean

G.T.

"Derk" <I_hatespam@invalid.org> wrote in message
news:4085435e$0$559$e4fe514c@news.xs4all.nl...
> Sheldon Brown wrote:
>
> > I schlep
> You should only schlep schmattes, not your notebook!
>
> Why don't you use:
> http://groups.google.nl/groups?hl=n...c.bicycles.tech
>

Because he said "I very much like the Netscape News software, and want to
continue to use it."

I'd recommend www.teranews.com.

Greg

Matt O'Toole

Sheldon Brown wrote:

> Sorry to be O.T. but this is the main group I use, and I feel entitled
> to ask a question for a change.
>
> I schlep my Ti Powerbook back and forth all the time. At home I have
> Comcast cable; at the shop I have a DSL connection. When I'm out of
> town I use Earthlink dialup or sometimes various hotel based isps.
>
> The problem is that each of these has its own News server, and I have
> to shut down Netscape and re-start it using a different profile every
> time
> I move from one connection to another. This gets me into different
> history files and newsgroup subscriptions, and is generally a P.I.T.A.

> I very much like the Netscape News software, and want to continue to
> use it.

I've had the same problem.

I'm not intimately familiar with the latest Netscape newsreader, but you might
be able to get all those profiles to use a common .newsrc file. Many
newsreaders will. Try asking this particular question on a Netscape or Mozilla
newsgroup. It's the easy/cheap solution, if it will work.

> Is there a reasonably priced News server I could subscribe to that
> would offer a good choices of Newsgroups, and would allow me to use
> the same passwords/logins regardless of how I was connected?

Here's a page with a bunch of these services listed:

http://www.newsrover.com/service.htm

Unfortunately, most seem to have doubled their prices for their cheapest plans,
from $5 to $10 per month. There are still a few cheap ones though. You could
try Teranews, which has a "free" plan with a nominal setup fee. I never had
much luck with free news servers. They come and go like the four winds. Once
they get discovered they start to suck really badly, as the porn/warez/mp3 crowd
hops on.

Good luck in your search, but try the software solution first.

Matt O.

sittingduck

Sheldon Brown <captbike@sheldonbrown.com> wrote:

> Is there a reasonably priced News server I could subscribe to that would
> offer a good choices of Newsgroups, and would allow me to use the same
> passwords/logins regardless of how I was connected?
>
> I very much like the Netscape News software, and want to continue to use
> it.
>
> Sheldon "No News Is Bad News" Brown
>

If text is all you are after, I would suggest news.individual.net, as several
others already have. What they didn't mention is that you will need to sign
up, and wait for them to issue you an account, which can take several days.
There are many free or open servers out there, but individual is one of the
very best, they carry a wide variety of groups, have good retention, and
progagation is almost instant.
I remember one of the major providers offering unlimited text access after a
one-time signup fee, but can't recall which one it was.

mhejl@nospam.motorola.com

Sheldon Brown <captbike@sheldonbrown.com> wrote:

> I schlep my Ti Powerbook back and forth all the time. At home I have
> Comcast cable; at the shop I have a DSL connection. When I'm out of
> town I use Earthlink dialup or sometimes various hotel based isps.

> The problem is that each of these has its own News server, and I have to
> shut down Netscape and re-start it using a different profile every time
> I move from one connection to another. This gets me into different
> history files and newsgroup subscriptions, and is generally a P.I.T.A.

> Is there a reasonably priced News server I could subscribe to that would
> offer a good choices of Newsgroups, and would allow me to use the same
> passwords/logins regardless of how I was connected?

> I very much like the Netscape News software, and want to continue to use it.

Don't bother with another server; even a different server (I use giganews)
would have the same issues unless you used the provider's web-based reader.

In Mozilla 1.6 and Netscape 7.x you can set the newsrc file location in
the "Server Settings" under the properties for the news server.
This file contains your subscribed groups and article history
and has a defacto standard format. Almost all the original text-based
readers (like tin, pine, mut, etc) and more modern readers like Agent
can share the same .newsrc file.

In Netscape/Mozilla, this is set by default to a file in your profile
directory. Hence, when you change profiles, you change newsrc file.
Simply point both your profiles to the same file.

Mikey

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <c63no7$ot4$1@avnika.corp.mot.com>,
<mhejl@nospam.motorola.com> wrote:
>Sheldon Brown <captbike@sheldonbrown.com> wrote:
>
>> I schlep my Ti Powerbook back and forth all the time. At home I have
>> Comcast cable; at the shop I have a DSL connection. When I'm out of
>> town I use Earthlink dialup or sometimes various hotel based isps.
>
>> The problem is that each of these has its own News server, and I have to
>> shut down Netscape and re-start it using a different profile every time
>> I move from one connection to another. This gets me into different
>> history files and newsgroup subscriptions, and is generally a P.I.T.A.
>
>> Is there a reasonably priced News server I could subscribe to that would
>> offer a good choices of Newsgroups, and would allow me to use the same
>> passwords/logins regardless of how I was connected?
>
>> I very much like the Netscape News software, and want to continue to use it.
>
>Don't bother with another server; even a different server (I use giganews)
>would have the same issues unless you used the provider's web-based reader.
>
>In Mozilla 1.6 and Netscape 7.x you can set the newsrc file location in
>the "Server Settings" under the properties for the news server.
>This file contains your subscribed groups and article history
>and has a defacto standard format. Almost all the original text-based
>readers (like tin, pine, mut, etc) and more modern readers like Agent
>can share the same .newsrc file.
>
>In Netscape/Mozilla, this is set by default to a file in your profile
>directory. Hence, when you change profiles, you change newsrc file.
>Simply point both your profiles to the same file.
>

_ I think you have this exactly backwards. While an article ID is
unique across USENET, the message id numbers that NNTP uses are
unique to each server. Newsrc files contain message id numbers,
not article numbers.

_ Booker C. Bense


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S o r n i

bbense+rec.bicycles.tech.Apr.20.04@telemark.slac.stanford.edu wrote:
> _ I think you have this exactly backwards. While an article ID is
> unique across USENET, the message id numbers that NNTP uses are
> unique to each server. Newsrc files contain message id numbers,
> not article numbers.

New topic from OP's question: ever since some guy "impersonated" me a few
days ago (either here or on .misc -- only one post AFAIK), my server started
dropping posts like crazy. (I think Chris B. may have busted him, but not
sure.)

Just a coincidence?

(I just changed the little spam-defeater in my addy just in case; hope it
works as well as previous one.)

Bill "paranoid poster?" S.

G.T.

mhejl@nospam.motorola.com wrote:
> Sheldon Brown <captbike@sheldonbrown.com> wrote:
>
>
>>I schlep my Ti Powerbook back and forth all the time. At home I have
>>Comcast cable; at the shop I have a DSL connection. When I'm out of
>>town I use Earthlink dialup or sometimes various hotel based isps.
>
>
>>The problem is that each of these has its own News server, and I have to
>>shut down Netscape and re-start it using a different profile every time
>>I move from one connection to another. This gets me into different
>>history files and newsgroup subscriptions, and is generally a P.I.T.A.
>
>
>>Is there a reasonably priced News server I could subscribe to that would
>>offer a good choices of Newsgroups, and would allow me to use the same
>>passwords/logins regardless of how I was connected?
>
>
>>I very much like the Netscape News software, and want to continue to use it.
>
>
> Don't bother with another server; even a different server (I use giganews)
> would have the same issues unless you used the provider's web-based reader.
>
> In Mozilla 1.6 and Netscape 7.x you can set the newsrc file location in
> the "Server Settings" under the properties for the news server.
> This file contains your subscribed groups and article history
> and has a defacto standard format. Almost all the original text-based
> readers (like tin, pine, mut, etc) and more modern readers like Agent
> can share the same .newsrc file.
>
> In Netscape/Mozilla, this is set by default to a file in your profile
> directory. Hence, when you change profiles, you change newsrc file.
> Simply point both your profiles to the same file.
>

I think he wants an even simpler soulution of not having to change
profiles. There are enough free or extremely cheap news servers out there
that I think Mr Brown will attain his goal of just using one in the future.
And more than likely his new server will be better than one of the ISP
provided ones.

Greg

Werehatrack

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 11:26:09 -0400, Sheldon Brown
<captbike@sheldonbrown.com> may have said:

>Is there a reasonably priced News server I could subscribe to that would
>offer a good choices of Newsgroups, and would allow me to use the same
>passwords/logins regardless of how I was connected?

Huh? Configure your newsreader to login with an ID and password
regardless of where you're connected, and it should not care about
that. Some hotel broadband nets block port 25 to keep spammers from
using them as access points, but I haven't run into one yet that keeps
me from using my usual nntp host...and your existing Earthlink account
should give you access to news.earthlink.net from *anywhere*. (But
their retention stinks.)

If you want a third-party news server for other reasons, it's hard to
beat Easynews for retention times and server response speeds.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Dane Jackson

Sheldon Brown <captbike@sheldonbrown.com> wrote:
> Sorry to be O.T. but this is the main group I use, and I feel entitled
> to ask a question for a change.
>
> I schlep my Ti Powerbook back and forth all the time. At home I have
> Comcast cable; at the shop I have a DSL connection. When I'm out of
> town I use Earthlink dialup or sometimes various hotel based isps.
>
> The problem is that each of these has its own News server, and I have to
> shut down Netscape and re-start it using a different profile every time
> I move from one connection to another. This gets me into different
> history files and newsgroup subscriptions, and is generally a P.I.T.A.

I've taken to using a private newsserver to alleviate problems. This
solution is (probably) not the one you want to take. But I'll describe
it anyway.

Basically I run the leafnode server on my home computer. I run a cronjob
to pull down new posts and post my articles. Since everything is run on
the local computer, it's all very very fast. You would setup
authentication on it so noone else could use it and just connect to it
anytime you wanted to read newsgroups.

This pre-supposes you have
1. A networked (probably unix) computer at home you leave on.
2. sufficient round 'tuits to get it setup.

> I very much like the Netscape News software, and want to continue to use it.

Bah! tin forever!



--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"Chastity: the most unnatural of the sexual perversions."
-Aldous Huxley