AOL users have a different interface for Usenet. Keyword: Usenet.
Configuring Outlook Express News Reader
If you are not an AOL user and want to set up a News Reader on your home computer for full time access to Usenet, do it now as the optional activity for this course. This example will use Outlook Express. You may download alternative free and shareware versions of news readers from any software download site such as www.download.com. Search for Usenet Readers. If you use a different reader, your screens may look different, but the process is the same.
Three requirements to start:
1. NNTP news server address
2. login
3. password
You must obtain the NNTP address from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). It will look something like this: news.isp.com. Search for it on your ISP's Web site. Otherwise, call a service rep. or submit an email request for help. You will also need your password and login for your ISP, which is probably the same one you use for logging on to check your ISP's POP3 email.
STEP 1: Open Outlook Express. Go to Tools> Accounts... Open a new account.
Step 2: Select News and Add
STEP: 3. The Add option asks for your email and password and the NNTP address you acquired from your ISP.
STEP 4: Type in your NNTP address from your ISP.
For example, Pacific Bell users in California log onto either news.sf.sbcglobal.net if they live in Northern California or news.la.sbcglobal.net if they are from Southern California.
STEP 5: Mark the box for "My news server requires me to log on" and finish.
Once you log in, a downloading of news group names will begin. It will collect thousands and will take a few minutes to finish. When the initial download is over, you may then either double click on a group to enter, or search for keywords. If you subscribe to groups, Outlook Express keeps you informed of how many unread messages are accumulating and creates a shortcut to the group in the left column frame.
About once a month, you should refresh the list as new groups are added.
Before we leave NNTP...
Take a quick look at the cover pages of the two services linked below and you will see that keeping Usenet newsgroups uncensored is a major selling point. This will help you understand why the NNTP News ports are blocked at K-12 schools.