Search

[Perseid]

Ok. Here we go.

Usenet was originally designed as a bunch of text groups. Kind of like the forum we have here. Usenet is still used for this by many people. To browse groups with a list of messages you need a program such as Forte  Agent. You can read/post in text groups and download binaries this way. There is a problem that many groups are on the same topic and some of these groups have millions of messages, making things hard to find. Thus there is something called an NZB file. It's an XML file that says what the messages are and what group they are in. So if you download AmericanIdol.nzb it will tell your newsreader where to go to download the right messages. newzbin is a site with NZB files, though they want money. I use nzbmatrix.com and yabse.com, though there are many of these now. Agent now supports NZB files but you might want to look at a program that was specially made for downloading files read from NZBs. altbinz is one of those. I use NewsBin, not to be confused with the service newzbin.

OK. I don't know if that made any sense. It seems complicated and it is in many ways, but when you're downloading a new release 360 game at a constant 600k/sec it's worth it.

[uzumakishade]

so with altbinz and yabse.com or nzbmatrix.com i can download gcn and ps2 games?

[Perseid]

You need access to a usenet server but yes. Click around the categories on nzbmatrix. That's what you can get if you get a good usenet server.

[uzumakishade]

and to get access to a usenet server i woul have to pay right?

[Perseid]

Yep. usenetserver is $15(less if you buy 3 month chunks) and giganews is $25. There are others too but I don't know much about them. I have heard bad things about usenext.

[bitblt]

and to get access to a usenet server i woul have to pay right?

Check if your ISP already offers newgroup/Usenet service.  I use COX high speed internet and they provide news.cox.net servers as part of my regular service package. I can download at 500KBs all day long using News File Grabber. Don't pay for Usenet service unless you need to.

[kkan]

and to get access to a usenet server i woul have to pay right?

Check if your ISP already offers newgroup/Usenet service.  I use COX high speed internet and they provide news.cox.net servers as part of my regular service package. I can download at 500KBs all day long using News File Grabber. Don't pay for Usenet service unless you need to.

yeh my ISP also offeres 80,000 unfiltered newsgroups but they restrict us to just 2 threads for downloading so its pointless using them for anything more than the odd single file here and there

[darkuni]

I recommend checking out my Usenet Primer...

http://www.monroeworld.com/pchelp/usenet/1.php

[Hi]

As great as usnext sounds, as I've said, it costs $$. Why pay to pirate things? The whole point of piracy is it's free. And, also, is usnext safer than bittorrent?

And again I'll ask my un-answered questioned. About how many torrents do you think I should download a month.

By the way, I agree that piracy is giving utorrent a bad name. I think though that this might be because most people don't want to go through the trouble of getting bittorrent to work. Pirates on the other hand, are getting stuff that most people pay for, for free. It's worth a hassle with a torrent client to get tons of free stuff.

[Perseid]

Usenet, not Usenext. Usenext is a Usenet provider that apparently isn't very good. And yes, Usenet is way safer than BT. With a torrent anyone who connects to the tracker can know what you upload and download. With Usenet only your Usenet provider knows what you download and you don't upload at all unless you choose to post something. Your chances of getting an MPAA/RIAA letter are near 0.

How many torrents should you download? Well, if you're really that worried about getting in trouble, the answer is none. It just depends on how lucky you are. One torrent can get you sued if you're really unlucky. And, of course, the more torrents you connect to the more opportunity you have of being caught. Try to stick to private trackers, though that's not foolproof. I personally don't worry about it and I've never gotten a letter.

[bitblt]

Why pay to pirate things? The whole point of piracy is it's free. And, also, is usnext safer than bittorrent?

And again I'll ask my un-answered questioned. About how many torrents do you think I should download a month?

I guess you don't realize your questions have already been answered.

You can download as many torrents as you want. The number of downloads isn't the problem. The problem/feature with torrents is that when you download you are also uploading. Your ISP might not appreciate too much uploading. Another problem is that your IP address and what your are downloading is public knowledge.  There are groups that work for game, music and movie publishers that constantly monitor what people are downloading. They look at your IP address and then send complaints to your ISP. Your ISP is required by law to contact you and issue a cease and desist warning.  In some rare circumstances your ISP may be given a subpoena to release your personal information.  I recommend you only use torrents for legitimate purposes. Besides I rarely get over 200KBs downloading from torrents anyway. I usually get more like 80KBs average.

Downloading from Usenet servers is private and safe.  My ISP provides newsgroup service with consistent non-stop 500KBs+ download speeds at no extra charge to me.  The retention rate seems to be good because I still see files posted from summer 06. The only limitation is four simultaneous threads. News File Grabber seems to utilizes these available threads quite efficiently.  I often download multi gigabyte ISOs and have not found the need to pay for third party Usenet service.

[h8uthemost]

For DS and GBA games, I usually don't download from torrents. Unless it's something brand new, and hasn't hit the http: sites yet. I mean, there isn't any need to. DS and GBA games are so small, they download in a minute. But bigger games, it's always through torrents.

But, I belong to a few private torrent sites(BlackCats, Oink, TorrentLeech, , Demonoid.invite only), and I guess these are much safer than the public ones(torrentspy, isohunt, etc.). So, the torrents go through testing before uploaded, to make sure no viruses are released.  I'm not sure how safer it is from the law, or getting caught though. You have to seed back at these sites, and keep a good ratio, or you will get banned. And since everyone has to seed back what they take, the download speeds are awesome. Between 300 and 800kbp/s. Which is freakin' excellent.

So as long as you watch how much bandwidth you use every month, you probably won't send a red flag to your ISP. I use PeerGuardian 2 also. Not sure how much this helps, but I know it does do something, because it shows all the IP's that it blocks. So it's worth checking out.

So basically, pay for Usenet, or get into a private site. Those public sites are garbage.

Oh, and make sure to forward a port. More people will be able to connect to you.

[uzumakishade]

does anyone know if rogers provides a usenet server? i doubt it but would like to know before paying for one

[Perseid]

Most ISPs do. You should check the support section of your ISP's website. It may not be any good but it's worth a try before forking out $.

[stanleyopar2000]

What About EV-DO Through Sprint?! Am i in trouble (i mostly dl abandonware)