The software used to read (and post) Usenet articles is called a newsreader. Newsreaders work by communicating with your Internet provider's news server and displaying the information in a user-friendly format. Most newsreaders are fairly easy to use, although you might not fully understand some of the terminology used.

While some Web browsers now include a built-in newsreader, there are many advantages to using a separate newsreader application. One of the biggest advantages is that separate newsreaders, unlike Netscape's newsreader, usually have easy-to-use kill files, which make reading Usenet articles much more enjoyable.

"Threaded" Articles

One of the terms used when dealing with newsreaders that causes the most trouble with new Usenet users is "thread." Newsreaders often give the option of "threading" articles and people often refer to "threads" within a newsgroup. A thread is simply a group of articles in a newsgroup that each have the same subject, in which one of the articles is the original post and the rest are followups (replies). Sometimes a thread can last so long that the original post is no longer on your Internet providers news server and nothing but followups exist.

Keeping the definition of "thread" in mind, the difference between threading articles or not within your newsreader is this: threading articles makes all articles with the same subject appear together, under the original post; leaving your articles unthreaded will result in articles being sorted strictly by the selected method (date, subject, etc.), regardless of whether or not they have the same subject. In most cases, threading is the way to go. This makes it easier to follow a thread because you tend to forget what the original post says if you read it 37 articles ago!

Using the "Kill File"

Because most Usenet newsgroups are not moderated, Usenet can seem to be cluttered with annoying ads or stupid questions. This can be easily fixed, however, with the use of a "kill file." A kill file is simply a file (usually kept in the same directory as your newsreader) that contains strings of information that tell your newsreader what articles in which newsgroups to automatically erase. That's right! Your newsreader, with the help of a kill file, can automatically sort through all incoming Usenet articles and choose not to display ones that look like "junk mail."

Most newsreaders allow the user to "program" their kill files using easy-to-use menus or dialogue boxes. The user can usually choose to delete messages with certain phrase(s) in the Subject: line or in the From: line. In other words, a kill file can be used to eliminate messages with subjects containing one or more words, specified by the user, or messages from a specific individual (whose e-mail address you enter in your kill file).

Many newsreaders allow these "kill strings" to be entered by newsgroup, or globally. In other words, you might want all articles from eternce@example.com to be deleted from the rec.games.chess newsgroup, but not from any other newsgroup (perhaps he gives bad chess advice?). Or you might want all messages (in all newsgroups) with the words "fast cash," to be deleted (these words, among others, are commonly used in chain letter advertisements).

UUDECODING Binary Files

The alt.binaries.* newsgroups, among others, contain binary files for downloading. Binary files are simply non-text files that can be either executable programs, compressed files (ZIP'd), pictures (JPEG's or GIF's), sounds (WAV's), or video clips. Since binary files can't be displayed in articles as text (because they aren't text files), they must first be converted into ASCII text. On the Internet, this is done using a programs called UUENCODE and UUDECODE. As you probably guessed, UUENCODE is used to encode files, or convert them from their binary form to text form, and UUDECODE is used to decode files, or convert them back to their binary form from text form. When a file is UUENCODED, it will look like a bunch of ASCII characters (letters, numbers, and symbols) arranged in a huge box that might be hundreds of lines long. If you ever see this in an Usenet article, don't be alarmed -- it's probably a UUENCODED file.