Edge1
Workin' Ta Live
join:2006-03-01
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| Talk to me about EasyNews
Hi folks - please be patient - I am new to this. I read a number of threads and thought I'd give EasyNews a shot. I prefer to download entire albums vs individual songs, at least for now. I've previously owned these albums on cassette and LP (yes I'm old). I have Verizon DSL's "slow" connection $14.95/month deal of 768 KBps. My experiences with download speeds (MP3 files) and cost from a few services:
MP3Advance...30-40 KBps.....$14.95/1 year
LimeWire.....2-5 KBps.......FREE
EasyNews.....90-100 KBps....$10/mo ($120/year)
Thus far I've found Limewire the easiest/most understandable interface. But pathetically slow. I didn't choose to upload yet simply because I wanted to try them out. I will upload if I like a service, but Limewire isn't it apparently. I realize I may have to tweak settings, but am not overly comfortable with that. I've read that if I choose to upload that my speed will likely increase. Hmm.
MP3Advance is the next easiest interface, but from what I've gathered its a leech service that is "tapping into" Kazaa (?). No uploading occurs nor was asked for. If its total leaching through a leech service, then in principle I don't think I like it.
EasyNews. Man, its clunky (not pretty). I don't understand all the jargon being tossed around (binaries, newsgroups, HTTP vs NNTP, etc) and I don't really know how to effectively/efficiently search for what I want. But boy its fast compared to the other services, and I love that its a point and click web-based technology that didn't require a software installation. I was never asked or prompted to point to files of my own to upload, unlike LimeWire. I wouldn't even know how to do it.
I see EasyNews' FAQ points to some newbie sites that might help so I'll try them.
OK - its example time. I log into my Easynews account, end up in Members Area. I don't understand the options such as "all groups", "all groups by alpha", "all group by autocategory", blah blah blah. I see MP3 (sounds) and assume thats where the music is. So I click on it. I then see a listing of about 100 rows with names like "alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.complete_cd". Well, I know I want to download Pink Floyd's Meddle, so I click on that link. Then I type "pink floyd meddle" in the search box and end up with just 10 hits, none of which is the entire Meddle CD. They all appear to be from one uploader and just by the size of the files I know that no full albums are there. If this service is as great as advertised, then where is all the music? I'm sure I'm not navigating it well...any EasyNews users want to help a guy out? Thanks.
DK
PS- Just to test out the speed I found "Sick Again" off Led Zep's Physical Graffitti. The download speed smoked everyone else at 90-100 KBps. Now that's what I'm talkin about! Even faster would be nicer of course. I still don't know how people have the patience to download entire video files. |
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Edge1
Workin' Ta Live
join:2006-03-01 |  No takers? Bummer. |
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Rufus T Firefly
There's No Such Thing As A Sanity Clause
join:2001-04-25
Marshfield, MA
| reply to Edge1
Have you tried Verizon's news server before paying for EasyNews? Learn how to use a news reader and give Verizon's news server a try. It's no additional cost. You already pay for it. Check the newsgroup FAQ at the top of the page.
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"A man is only as old as the woman he feels."-Groucho Marx |
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EUS
Kill cancer
Premium
join:2002-09-10
Montreal, QC
clubs:  | reply to Edge1
try going to
members.easynews.com/global
That should direct you to their http searching page, pretty slick for beta page. |
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dumwaldo
Premium
join:2001-03-12
1 edit | reply to Edge1
EUS has the right idea, use »members.easynews.com/global4/search.html and search all the newsgroups at once. Be sure to make use of the advanced search features like limiting search results to just audio files. The reason this is so difficult to find and not pointed out on the easynews website is because easynews considers this a beta service.
Rufus T Firefly, is also right. you have a pretty decent news server available to you with verizon but they have much less storage than easynews. The easynews website will give you around 30 days worth of postings while verizons news server only gives 7 to 10 days. You would also need additional software to use verizons news server as opposed to the simple web interface easynews provides.
Some tips for using easynews.
You can use NZB files with the easynews web interface. go to the zip manager and you will find a place to import NZB files.
The PAR viewer makes it much easier to download large multipart posts. Click the par viewer to go to a page with ONLY the post you want on it. If the post is made up of rar parts with the new naming style (part1.rar, part2.rar) there will be a link to download the extracted file as a single file. This is very handy for archives with just one file (video and such) but does not always work for archives with multiple files.
Easynews will allow you to connect from 5 different domains in a month. Feel free to use it at work or at friends houses on their computers. |
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Edge1
Workin' Ta Live
join:2006-03-01
·Verizon Online DSL
| Thanks Rufus, EUS, and Waldo. Rufus, I honestly didn't know anything about Verizon's Newsgroups - they inundate you with a lot of junk to have to sift through, but I remember nothing about newsgroups. I have already paid for EasyNews, figuring that for $10 its worth a shot. Obviously free is a nice option.
EUS I appreciate that and I did give the /global4 a shot and had a little better luck because it seemed to make a little more sense. I did find a few full albums, but not what I was looking for. Its hard to tell what some of the files actually are, because the names are so long and sort of all over the place.
Waldo - I got the idea for trying this from your post in one of the other threads. I've got to tell you that you quickly lost me with your post. What are NZB files, PAR viewers, rar parts, etc.? I sort of have a very vague idea after going to slyckdotcom or whatever, but I will obviously have to learn a whole lot more techie stuff to figure this out. So I guess I have to download a PAR viewer? I really don't understand what a viewer does. I'm already viewing the page. Oh well, I'll keep trying. I'm reasonably well educated but pathetically still need a 3rd grade explanation of what the heck is going on here  . Please bear with me. People who use and understand Easynews seem to clearly love the service, so I'd like to learn more about it.
Thanks and keep the tips coming if you so desire - I'll certainly read them.
DK |
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imtim83
You All Deserve The Economic Meltdown
Premium
join:2001-06-03
Kenner, LA
2 edits | You should try »www.newzbin.com as well! Easynews search is nice but I have a feeling names will soon become even more crazy.
Newzbin won't replace easynews it just makes searching a lot easier. Of course you can still search just files with newzbin if need be. |
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dumwaldo
Premium
join:2001-03-12
| reply to Edge1
said by Edge1  :Waldo - I got the idea for trying this from your post in one of the other threads. I've got to tell you that you quickly lost me with your post. What are NZB files, PAR viewers, rar parts, etc.? I sort of have a very vague idea after going to slyckdotcom or whatever, but I will obviously have to learn a whole lot more techie stuff to figure this out. So I guess I have to download a PAR viewer? I really don't understand what a viewer does. I'm already viewing the page. Oh well, I'll keep trying. I'm reasonably well educated but pathetically still need a 3rd grade explanation of what the heck is going on here . Please bear with me. People who use and understand Easynews seem to clearly love the service, so I'd like to learn more about it. Thanks and keep the tips coming if you so desire - I'll certainly read them. DK I am going to try and dissect the questions from your post and give the most direct answers I can. Before i give any more information you should be aware that most of this advice applies to larger postings. For downloading music the best way that I know is to simply search using the search page and download the songs one at a time from there. The zip manager is just a hassle for small blocks of files like music CD's.
Keep in mind that usenet gets EVERYTHING; so there will come a day when you want something more substantial than a music CD. I am pretty confident in that notion.
DUDE, RAR FILES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF UNDERSTANDING USENET!!! I hope that gets the point across. Read this, »www.slyck.com/ng.php?page=5 and when you are done read it again. Then read it one more time and bookmark it to read it again in the future. Just in case i wasn't entirely clear you should really read this... »www.slyck.com/ng.php?page=5
What are NZB files
An NZB file is an index file. The information inside the file tells a newsreader EXACTLY where a post is on usenet. For your purpose the easynews website is your newsreader.
You can download NZB files from websites like »www.newzbin.com/ that index usenet posts. Newzbin charges $2 per month for downloading NZB files but there are many sites that offer these type of files for free. In my experience i have never seen a free site that does as good a job as newzbin.
Once you have downloaded an NZB file for a post you do not need to locate anything yourself. You would load the NZB file on the zip manager page of easynews and it will create a new page with just the post you want displayed on it.
PAR viewers
So I guess I have to download a PAR viewer?
The par viewer is a feature of the easynews website. You do not need to download anything.
In this picture, you can see that some of the search results have a link in them called "par viewer". One of those links is highlighted in grey.
When you click on a par viewer link for a post you are taken to a much less complicated page with ONLY the post associated with the par viewer you clicked the link from. In addition to that, any comments the poster made with the post will be removed and you will only see file names.
The new page that opens will look like this...
It is much easier to download larger posts this way. From this page it is very easy to create zip files using the internal easynews zip manager page. It is also much easier to use a download manager from this page than from the search results page.
If the archive of files are named with the part##.rar style of file names, you will find a nice surprise by scrolling down the page. The easynews website will put the files together for you and allow you to download the contents of the archive.
Look at this picture. It shows the end of the rar archive and after that it shows the link to download the MPG file as one file instead of using the rar parts.
Just a few closing tips to help understand when you are reading headers.
REQ is short for request. Often people will post files with a request for something in return. This is probably the main source for misunderstanding headers. Always look for the actual file name to know what you are downloading. You can spot the file names in post headers because they are in quotes. Not every post includes the file name in the header but for the most part all REPUTABLE posters will do this.
I am on the forum at least once a day. if you have any questions, please don't hold back. Ask whatever you want and it will not go ignored. My PM inbox is always open too if you have a question that requires specifics that shouldn't be posted. eg. location of specific posts.
peace,
dumwaldo |
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Edge1
Workin' Ta Live
join:2006-03-01
·Verizon Online DSL
|  Dudes - AWESOME replies. I really want to figure this out now. I get the message about RAR files and needing to read slyck.com about 20 times too .
Waldo - I appreciate big-time your patient and well-constructed explanation (complete with pictures for the newsgroup-challenged ). I've got learning to do, but those fundamentals you just shared are critical to understand whats happening and what the heck I'm looking at. I DID go to the newsgroups FAQ offered here, so between that, slyck.com, and your posts I sure better be able to figure this out.
Once again - I was highly impressed with the speed of downloads. I downloaded what I now believe was just one piece of a movie file (.avi.001) and of course I got about 48 MB incredibly quickly. Now I figure the file was a RAR type file (in pieces) because it wouldn't play in WMP (got some error about a codec) and had the .001 suffix. I don't know where the rest of the movie is, but now I think I might be able to find it based on your NZB explanation!
I'm sure I will have specific questions re: the process for downloading movie files, stitching them back together, and perhaps ultimately burning them to DVD. Methinks I want to finally pull the trigger on the DVD-RW purchase from Newegg  . If you can't already tell, I tend to be a late adopter of technology. Heck I just coverted from dialup a month or two ago. THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! |
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dumwaldo
Premium
join:2001-03-12
| reply to Edge1
Sometimes people split files apart with software other than winrar. files with 001, 002, etc... at the end will not always extract using winrar. HJ Split should be able to rejoin any posts with the 3 digit number extensions...
»www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/
You will also benefit by downloading VLC media player. VLC uses its own internal codecs and eliminates a lot of the hassles of having to manually find and install codecs for windows media player. VLC is also able to play partial files and files that are 'inside' compressed formats. What that means is you can often view the contents of a part of an archive.
Install VLC then right click that 001 file and select open with, then chose VLC from the list. You have a pretty good chance it will play the video section that is inside the file you have.
BTW
50 MB part files will ALWAYS indicate the complete post is multiple gigs, such as a DVD image or HDTV stream. If you are going to download full DVD's you DEFINITELY want to get that DVD burner . |
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Bark
join:2006-03-19
Grand Junction, CO
1 edit | reply to Edge1
One caveat about Easynews HTTP is that it won't show damaged yEnc encoded files if they can't be rebuilt from scratch using the PAR2's. |
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Edge1
Workin' Ta Live
join:2006-03-01
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to dumwaldo
Thanks Waldo and Bark! Waldo, that VLC player is cool and worked on that file! I'm discovering what's out there and its a bit overwhelming. Also, since I already pay for Verizon, I used Outlook to sign up for Verizon's newsgroups (using this site's Verizon FAQ). I guess the retention is less there? Anyway its amazing that there are like 35,000 newsgroup possibilities there. I'm kinda fired up at all the possibilities here...I saw one for my kids that has old games and stuff (I recently refurbed an old Dell for them to play with/learn on).
Newegg will definitely be getting an order today . I think I need more HD too .
Bark - am I to interpret that as a good thing or not? Sounds like it is, I just want to make sure I understand. I read about reconstructing rar files using par files (with SmartPar), and now par2 with QuickPar. Amazing how it all comes back to 1s and 0s.
Thanks again guys! Keep it coming if you feel so moved!
DK |
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Bark
join:2006-03-19
Grand Junction, CO
1 edit | reply to Edge1
If some files are posted damaged/corrupted and if there are not enough PAR2 to create them from scratch, you have to use NNTP to get the partially damaged files. Not good if you don't like to use NNTP. See »forum.easynews.com
And Outlook Express doesn't decode yEnc - you would have to use something else. |
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imtim83
You All Deserve The Economic Meltdown
Premium
join:2001-06-03
Kenner, LA
| reply to Edge1
dkimpel there are program out there that will repair and extact the files for you, so you never have to do it, like SABnzbd.
Its free.
P.S. I know easynews does this now on the fly with some files but not all files and easynews is very expensive if you download a lot.
I wish easynews had unlimited sometimes or at least block accounts.
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Thank God i am not getting married, having kids, going on a date, etc! Oh Thank God!»Re: newzbin.com file datebase now 50 days |
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gjrhine
join:2001-12-12
Pawleys Island, SC | reply to Edge1
Get yourself a 200 or 300gb USB drive. |
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imtim83
You All Deserve The Economic Meltdown
Premium
join:2001-06-03
Kenner, LA
| said by gjrhine :Get yourself a 200 or 300gb USB drive. He will need a whole lot more than that. I can just remember the first time I started. It seems just like yesterday. |
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gjrhine
join:2001-12-12
Pawleys Island, SC
| said by imtim83 :said by gjrhine :Get yourself a 200 or 300gb USB drive. He will need a whole lot more than that. I can just remember the first time I started. It seems just like yesterday. Not if you keep moving video and music stuff to DVD and CD. Software is about all that takes up residence on my hard drive.
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Gary in South Carolina --For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three. |
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grandpinaple
join:2006-01-03
New York, NY | Yeah, but if it's on hard drive it becomes a no hassle fast access searchable library. |
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imtim83
You All Deserve The Economic Meltdown
Premium
join:2001-06-03
Kenner, LA
| reply to gjrhine
said by gjrhine :said by imtim83 :said by gjrhine :Get yourself a 200 or 300gb USB drive. He will need a whole lot more than that. I can just remember the first time I started. It seems just like yesterday. Not if you keep moving video and music stuff to DVD and CD. Software is about all that takes up residence on my hard drive. Not with hdtv
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Thank God i am not getting married, having kids, going on a date, etc! Oh Thank God!»Re: newzbin.com file datebase now 50 days |
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gjrhine
join:2001-12-12
Pawleys Island, SC | said by imtim83 :Not with hdtv Only for the time being. |
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