A. Newscene FAQ
B. News Reader Setup
C. The Usenet Community
D. Other Usenet FAQs, Netiquette Guidelines, Posting, History


Newscene Frequently Asked Questions  (back to top)
  1. How do I contact Newscene support?
  2. How do I set up and configure my news reader program to access Newscene?
  3. News header and/or article retrieval is slow
  4. I cannot retrieve any new messages in the groups.
  5. How do I change my username and password for any of my accounts?
  6. How is my account billed?
  7. How do I cancel my account?
  8. How do I activate my free email account?
  9. What are the addresses for the POP and/or SMTP servers?
  10. I am getting a "502 Authentication Error." What does this mean?
  11. I lost my username and/or password. How can I obtain this information?
  12. Why are some multi-part binary postings incomplete while another news server has all of the parts?
  13. I am not able to locate a newsgroup.
News Reader Configurations  (back to top)
  1. Outlook Express (Internet Explorer 4.x first configration)
  2. Outlook Express (Internet Explorer 4.x add new news server)
  3. Internet News
  4. Agent (registered version)
  5. Free Agent (freeware version)
  6. Collabra (Netscape 4.x)
  7. News Xpress
  8. YA News Watcher
  9. NN or Tin (Unix)
  10. News Rover
  11. WinVN


Newscene Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I contact Newscene support?  (back to top)
You can contact Newscene by telephone, email, fax, or mail.
Netcene Internet Services, Inc.
11711 Holmes Circles
Omaha, NE 68137
phone: (402) 895-2633
fax:  (402) 895-2637
 sales@newscene.com or tech@newscene.com

2. How do I set up and configure my news reader program to access Newscene?  (back to top)
You can find the setup instructions for many news readers in our News Reader Configurations section.

3. News header and/or article retrieval is slow.  (back to top)
The Internet is a complex network structure. Several things can go wrong.

The most common conclusion is the news server is overloaded, bandwidth is maximized, or too many users. With the recent upgrades in Sparc hardware and T3 installations these issues are not the problem here at Newscene. Alternative problems are related to you ISP, backbone provider problems, congested network exchanges, packet flooding by a faulty router, and the list goes on. To determine possible routing issues you can perform a trace route from our servers to you.

Another check is to do a trace route from you to our servers. From the DOS prompt you can type:

tracert news1.newscene.com
tracert news2.newscene.com
tracert news3.newscene.com

4. I cannot retrieve any new messages in the groups.  (back to top)
Possibilty #1

Your resource information used by your news reader program still contains information from your old news server. To fix this you will need to force your news reader to rebuild the resource information file. Each news reader is a little different. Most likely you can unsubscribe to all of your groups (be sure to not save any current resource information if prompted). The resubscribe and get all the available headers from our news server.

Possibilty #2

Make sure you are accessing an active group. There are alot of junk news groups. Some with closely matched names. Be sure the group name is actually the one you really want and not a misspelled group.

5. How do I change my username and password for any of my accounts?  (back to top)
You can fill out one of our handy account maintenance forms located on our web servers:

www.netcene.com or www.newscene.com

or you can send an email to tech@netcene.com

6. How is my account billed?  (back to top)
Newscene's billing cycle is based upon the first of every month. Each monthly account is initially billed based upon when they are activated (a prorated amount). Each monthly account is renewed automatically unless we are notified via telephone of email. Prepay accounts are not automatically renewed. When the prepay nears its expiration notices are sent out informing the user. Renewal information is included with the notices.

7. How do I cancel my account?  (back to top)
The account user only needs to notify us via telephone or email. Refunds will be issued for any remaining subscription time. For prepay users, refunds will be calculated based upon when the account is cancelled.

* For example: A user signs up for 3 months at $30. The same user cancels the account after 1 month. The user will be charged for a single month ($12) and receive a $18 refund because the preay subscription was terminated early.

8. How do I activate my free email account?  (back to top)
All Newscene users are entitled to a free email account. It can be requested at the time the user submits a news application or anytime after the user's news account is activated. If the user already has a news account, but currently does not have an email acount, the user will need to send a request via email to tech@netcene.com. Be sure to include the requested email account name and password. Email account names must be a-z, lowercase, 0-9, maximum of 8 characters.

9. What are the addresses for the POP and/or SMTP servers?  (back to top)
Our pop server address is popd.netcene.com. Our smtp server is smtp.netcene.com

10. I am getting a "502 Authentication Error." What does this mean?  (back to top)
This means either your login or your password is incorrect.

11. I lost my username and/or password. How can I obtain this information?  (back to top)
You must contact us either via telephone or email. You must include some kind of information to uniquely identify who you are. This can include email address, address information (if supplied previously with application), last 4 digits of credit card, or first/last name (if supplied previously with application).

12. Why are some multi-part binary postings incomplete while another news server has all of the parts?  (back to top)
News propagation is never guaranteed. News propagation is dependent upon network conditions, the number and qualilty of news peers, server conditions, forged cancellations, and the size of the post.

Any post made to a server is sent out to all of its peering servers. All premium news services have multiple source feeds to get more news in and out faster.

Some posts are sectioned into smaller segments to help improve propagation to other servers.

Because of this segmentation, some posts may appear incomplete the upload was interupted. This is why not all multipart binaries are complete.

Some parts of multipart posts can be cancelled. Newscene does not honor any cancellations because it is too easy to forge cancellations. However some servers do honor cancellations. This fact alone could prevent some parts of the post from not reaching a server.

13. I am not able to locate a newsgroup.  (back to top)
If you are not able to locate a newsgroup on Newscene that you have located on another server or know of its existence then send us an email requesting us to add the group.

News Reader Configurations

1. Outlook Express (Internet Explorer 4.x first configration)  (back to top)
Comes free with Internet Explorer 4.x. Handles multipe email and news servers. More information available at Microsoft Corporation

1. Open Outlook Express.
2. Select "News" from the "Go" menu.
3. Configure your User profile.
4. Follow the instructions provided by the Internet Connection Wizard.
5. In the window in which you have to enter the news server address news1.newscene.com
6. Check the button "My news server requires me to log on".
7. Click Next (the Internet news server Logon window appears).
8. Enter your "Account Name" and "Password". Click Next
9. Select the appropriate connection to the Internet. Click Next.
10. Click Finish.
11. Before closing a window prompt if you want to see a list of available Newsgroups now. Click Yes if you want to do it now. Then follow the instructions in step 13 below. Click No if you want to do it later. To get the list next time follow the steps below.
12. Next, get the newsgroups by selecting "Newsgroups" from the "Tools" menu (or from the tool bar click on the "News Groups" icon.) Retrieving the newsgroups the first time it could take few minutes. To update the list of News Groups available click the "Reset List" button on the right hand side.
13. To subscribe to your desired newsgroups select desired group and click the "Subscribe" button.
14. To Show only the subscribed groups click on the "Subscribed" tab located below the newsgroups list.
15. When you have finished subscribing to the newsgroups click "OK".
16. To actually read the subscribed newsgroups select "News" from the "Go" menu (or click on the "News Groups" icon to see a list of available News Groups) The list of the News Groups that you have subscribed will then appear. Select one of the news groups to which you$ double click, and you will begin retrieving the headers. Click on an article header to view the article.
2. Outlook Express (Internet Explorer 4.x add additional news server)  (back to top)
Comes free with Internet Explorer 4.x. Handles multipe email and news servers. More information available at Microsoft Corporation

1. Open Outlook Express.
2. Select Accounts from under the Tools menu.
3. A dialog box will open up. Click on the Add button and select News.
4. Fill in the server name, Newscene.
5. Fill in you return emal address.
6. Fill in the server address (news1.newscene.com, etc.)
7. Check the box that 'My news server requires me to log on'
8. Select Log on using and fill in your account name and password.
9. Enter a friendly news account name. Can be any name you want.
10. Select how you connect to the Internet.
11. Click Finish.
12. Before closing a window prompt if you want to see a list of available Newsgroups now. Click Yes if you want to do it now. Then follow the instructions in step 13 below. Click No if you want to do it later. To get the list next time follow the steps below.
13. Next, get the newsgroups by selecting "Newsgroups" from the "Tools" menu (or from the tool bar click on the "News Groups" icon.) Retrieving the newsgroups the first time it could take few minutes. To update the list of News Groups available click the "Reset List" button on the right hand side.
14. To subscribe to your desired newsgroups select desired group and click the "Subscribe" button.
15. To Show only the subscribed groups click on the "Subscribed" tab located below the newsgroups list.
16. When you have finished subscribing to the newsgroups click "OK".
17. To actually read the subscribed newsgroups select "News" from the "Go" menu (or click on the "News Groups" icon to see a list of available News Groups) The list of the News Groups that you have subscribed will then appear. Select one of the news groups to which you$ double click, and you will begin retrieving the headers. Click on an article header to view the article.
3. Internet News  (back to top)
Comes free with Windows 95. More information available at Microsoft Corporation

1. Open up Internet News.
2. From the main menu select News and a dialog window opens up.
3. Click on the Server tab.
4. Click on the Add button and anothe window opens up.
5. Click on the General tab.
6. Type in the news server address (news1.newscene.com).
7. Click on the checkbox - 'This server requires me to login'.
8. Click on Logon Using.
9. Fill in your login name and password.
10. If this is to be your default server then click on Set as Default.
11. Click on the Connection tab.
12. Select how you connect to the Internet.
13. Click on the Advanced tab.
14. Enter 119 into the News Port Number.
15. Later if you experience timeout you can come back to adjust the Server Timeout settings.
16. Click on Apply.
17. Click on OK.
18. If you are prompted to subscribe to the newsgroups on the news server then select Yes. It should connect and begin to retrieve a group list whcih can take a little while.
19. After the newgroups are retrieved you will be prompted to decide which groups you wish to subscribe.
20. After subscibing to the groups you can use the pulldown to select whcih group you wish to view.
Agent (registered version)  (back to top)
Commercial product with many advanced features including integrated email and news folders, kill filters, and lots of third party addons. More information available at Forte, Inc.

1. Open up Agent.
2. Select User and System Profile under the Options menu.
3. Click on the User tab. Fill in email information. Select Login With a Username and Password. Fill in your news account login and password. Make sure the checkbox is checked to Remember Password Between Sessions.
4. Click on the System tab. Fill in the news server address. Our news server address is news1.newscene.com. Also fill in your email server information.
5. Click on the OK button and you are all set to go.
6. Select Refresh Groups List under the Online menu. Select Delete All Extinct Groups. Click OK to retrieve a complete list of all of our newsgroups.
7. Subscribe to the newsgroups by highlighting a group and then select Subscribe List under the Group menu
8. Use Show Groups and Folders under the Group menu to display the subscribed news groups.
9. Select Get New Headers In Subscribed Groups under the Online menu to retrieve article headers.
5. Free Agent (freeware version)  (back to top)
Freeware product with a subset of the many advanced features offered in the commercial version of Agent. More information available at Forte, Inc.

1. Open up Free Agent.
2. SSelect General Preferences under the Options menu.
3. Click on the User tab. Fill in email information. Select Login With a Username and Password. Fill in your news account login and password. Make sure the checkbox is checked to Remember Password Between Sessions.
4. Click on the System tab. Fill in the news server address. Our news server address is news1.newscene.com. Also fill in your email server information.
5. Click on the OK button and you are all set to go.
6. Select Refresh Groups List under the Online menu. Select Delete All Extinct Groups. Click OK to retrieve a complete list of all of our newsgroups.
7. Subscribe to the newsgroups by highlighting a group and then select Subscribe List under the Group menu
8. Use Show under the Group menu to display the subscribed news groups.
9. Select Get New Headers In Subscribed Groups under the Online menu to retrieve article headers.
6. Collabra (Netscape 4.x)  (back to top)
Comes free with Netscpae 4.x.More information available at Netscape Communications Corporation

1. Open up Netscape Collabra. You can either launch Collabra directly or launch Netscape 4.x. If you choose to launch Netscape 4.x you can open Collabra by selecting the Collabra Discussion Group from the Communicator menu.
2. From the Edit menu select Preferences.
3. Click on the Groups Server.
4. On the right side enter the news server address. Be sure port 119 is specified and Secure should be unchecked.
5. Click the Choose button to specify where your news group folders will be stored.
6. Decide whether you want to be prompted if more than 100 (or whatever you specify) messages are downloaded.
7. Then click OK and a new discussion group entry is created.
8. Right mouse click on the group and select Subscribe to Discusion groups. A window pops up and prompts you for a login and password.
9. After entering your login and password correctly you will begin to receive the newsgroups. This may take a while so be patient.
10. Afterwards you then subscribe to whatever your groups you want.
7. News Xpress  (back to top)
Freeware product with many advanced features including online graphic viewing during download. News Xpress can be located at Tucows. More information available at News Xpress

1. Open up News Xpress.
2. Select Options from the File menu.
3. Click on the Servers Directory tab. Fill in the news server address. Our news server address is news1.newscene.com. Also fill in your email server information.
4. Select the News Server Authorization and fill in your news login and password. When completed click OK.
5. To retrieve a listing of the newsgroups click on All tab located at the bottom of the screen. Select Update Groups Info from the Group menu to retrieve our newsgroups list.
6. After reviewing all the available news groups you can subscribe to the groups by clicking on the bullets or highlighting the newsgroup then selecting Subscribe from the Group menu. When you have completed subscribing to the desired newsgroups you can click on the Subscribed tab to review your selections.
7. To retrieve headers highlight the desired newsgroup and select All Articles from the View menu.
8. YA News Watcher  (back to top)
Freeware product MacIntosh users. More information available at Tucows

1. Open up News Watcher.
2. Select Preferences from the Edit menu.
3. Select Servers Addresses from the pulldown menu. Fill in the news server address. Our news server address is news1.newscene.com. Also fill in your email server information.
4. Select Authentication from the pulldown menu. Fill in your news login and password. Make sure Always Authenticate is checked to remember your login and password between sessions. When completed click OK.
5. Exit YA Newswatcher and open it up again.
6. To subscribe to the newsgroups select the desired newsgroup and then select Subscribe from the Special menu or you can drag-and-drop the selected newsgroup to the Titled Group window.
7. To retrieve the newsgroup headers double click on the newsgroup.
9. NN or Tin (Unix)  (back to top)
1. Using Unix news readers requires you to set the NNTPSERVER variable.
2. You will need to add an environment variable command to your .profile and/or .login file.

C, TCSH Shell: setenv NNTPSERVER news1.newscene.com
BORN, KORN Shell: NNTPSERVER=news1.newscene.com; export NNTPSERVER
3. To open tin you need to type tin -r.
10. News Rover  (back to top)
Shareware product with flexible search features and thumbnail previews. More information available at S&H Computer Systems

1. Open up News Rover.
2. Open the configuration window by selecting the Configure menu.
3. Click the Server tab.
4. Click Add Server.
5. Fill in the news server address. Our news server address is news1.newscene.com.
6. Select Logon authorization required. Fill in your news login and password. Select the method of how you will connect to the Internet.
7. Click the E-Mail tab. Fill in your email server information.
8. To retrieve the list of newsgroups select the Get-Newsgroups menu.
9. Click on New Interest Group to begin subscribing to the newsgroups.
10. Click on New Interest Group.
11. To retrieve the newsgroup headers click on Run located in the News Rover window.
12. Select Messages from the View menu to examine the articles.
11. WinVN  (back to top)
Freeware product with basic features including multiple server support. More information available at Tucows FAQ available at WinVN Hompage

1. Open up WinVN.
2. Select Communications from the Configure menu. If it is a first install then the Commuications Options will open automatically.
3. Fill in the news server information. (news1.newscene.com, port 119)
4. Fill in the Authorization Information. Be sure check Save Password.
5. Fill in the SMTP Server information. Use SMTP protocol.
6. Fill in your appropriate time zone.
7. Click OK.
8. Select Connect to Server from the Network menu. If it is a first install then you will automatically attempt to connect to the news server.
9. Click Yes when prompted to retrieve the latest group list from the server. If it is a first install then you will automatically attempt to retrieve the list from the server.
10. Select the groups you want to subscribe.
11. Select Subscribe Selected Groups from the Group menu.
12. Double click on a group to open a new window to retrieve the list of articles.
13. Double click on an article to open a new window to retrieve the body of article.
14. To decode an article, select the articles parts by clicking on the individual article. Then select Decode Selected Articles from the Articles menu.
The Usenet Hierarchy  (back to top)

The second most popular activity on the Internet. Usenet is a vast resource of information. Topics include technology, hobbies, computers, web surfing & development, television shows, and much more. If you are new to the Usenet community visit http://www.netannounce.org/news.announce.newusers/ for a complete listing of Usenet information.

Alt.*       Arts & Entertainment
Biz.*       Business Topics - Commercial & Retail
Comp.*       Computing Related Groups
Humanities.*       Academic Discussion Topics
Misc.*       Miscellaneous Topics
News.*       Usenet News
Rec.*       Recreational Groups
Sci.       Scientific or Medical Topics
Soc.*       Social Subjects
Talk.*       Gemneral Discussions

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