Giganews Offers VyprVPN Free to Diamond Customers

Giganews just announced a new VPN service for all Diamond customers. The service (called VyprVPN) helps ensure your privacy online.  VyprVPN is free for all Diamond account customers through June, 2010.  Giganews has partnered with Golden Frog to offer VyprVPN and is promising more new and innovative products to come.

The VyprVPN service extends the same privacy, security and speed you enjoy from Giganews Usenet access to the rest of your Internet experience. We had a chance to test the VPN during the initial beta and were impressed with both the speed and reliability of the service.

VyprVPN allows you to privately and securely browse the web, e-mail, instant message, browse newsgroups and more by encrypting the traffic.  The setup is very simple.  You add a network connection for the VPN, replace your IP address with a VyprVPN IP and browse securely.

With VyprVPN you choose from a US or European IP address and can switch between the server clusters if necessary.  The applications for VPN services are varied and include providing security for hotspot users, enabling VOIP applications and unlocking websites while abroad.

VyprVPN is available for several operating systems including Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Windows Mobile.  We tested the PC and iPhone versions last month.

Giganews will be offering VyprVPN access to Diamond customers free of charge through at least June 30th of next year.   A very good deal considering VyprVPN and similar services cost around $15 a month.

Sign up for a Giganews Diamond account today and save 50% on your first month of service along with free VyprVPN access.  To learn more read our Giganews review.

ThunderNews Spacial – Save 50% Off Usenet Access

ThunderNews is currently offering NGR visitors 50% off your first two months of Usenet access.  The discount is good on the first two billing cycles of any monthly newsgroup account.  Please note it can not be stacked with long-term discounts.

To sign up for the 50% off special visit Thundernews.com and enter ngr50for2 into the discount coupon code field during the sign up process.

Let’s take a look at some of the compelling features ThunderNews has to offer along with the discounted pricing.

Thundernews features:
- 465 days binary retention
- 1,265 days text retention
- up to 20 connections
- 256-bit SSL excryption
- US and Eoropean servers
- free News Rover client
- 24/7 live chat support

Here are a few of their most popular premium plans with discounted pricing:
- unlimited access, 20 connections, SSL – $21.99, $10.99
- 75 GB a month, 20 connections, SSL – $16.99, $8.49
- 50 GB a month, 20 connections, SSL -$13.99, $6.64
- 25 GB a month, 20 connections, SSL – $9.99, $4.99

If you don’t need the full retention, SSL, max connections or access to the European servers then Thundernews is offering the same 50% discount on standard accounts with 425+ days of retention and up to 8 connections:
- unlimited, 425 day retention, 8 connections – $19.99, $9.99
- 75 GB a month, 425 day retention, 8 connections – $15.99, $7.99
- 50 GB a month, 425 day retention, 8 connections – $12.99, $6.49
- 25 GB a month, 425 day retention, 8 connections – $8.99, $4.49

To learn more about the Usenet service read our ThunderNews review or visit Thundernews.com.

Help Fixing Usenet News Server Connectivity Issues

It can be very frustrating when you pick up the phone, turn on the TV or try to hit the Internet and have issues.  The same holds true for Usenet service but there are a few simple steps you can take to fix common news server problems.

Here are 7 easy steps to help troubleshoot news server connectivity issues:

1. Confirm login information – if this is your first time trying to login then make sure you follow the provider’s setup instructions.  This normally consists of an email with username, password, news server addresses and ports. Visit our newsreader guides section for help setting up popular Usenet clients.

2. Confirm the news server address – some Usenet providers will use a single news server address and dynamically connect to the fastest server farm.  Others will provide different addresses based on location and whether or not you connect via SSL.

3. Confirm the port number – this is where a lot of people get confused.  When connecting to newsgroup servers you specify both a news server and port.  The port number is very important. Default port numbers are 119 (standard) and 563 for SSL connections. We offer a news server address / port list to help in this effort.

4. Test the news server connection – you can use a tool like Simple Little Usenet Test to test the connectivity to your Usenet provider.  The tool is simple to use and allows you to verify account settings and test basic functions.

5. Analyze error messages – sometimes you can learn a lot from an error message.  Common connectivity issues include failed logins, connecting from multiple IP addresses simultaneously and misconfigured server / port information.

6. Download the latest newsreader updates – make sure you have the latest version of your newsgroup client software. We provide a list of the latest newsreader versions and download information.

7. Ask for help – if you are still unable to connect to the news server then ask your Usenet provider for help.  The email you received after signing up should point you in the right direction.  If not visit their site and look for a support section.

Conclusion – hopefully this list helps you quickly resolve any news server connectivity problems.  If not consider an all-in-one Usenet service.  Some providers offer their own newsreader which simplifies setup.  Especially for those new to Usenet.  For more information on these services along with the latest free trials and special offers visit our Usenet providers section.

College Football Newsgroups – Teams & Conferences

Why not follow your favorite college football team with other Usenet enthusiasts?  Does your team have its own newsgroup?  If not get one started.  Newsgroups are a great way to share your opinion and hear from other college football fans who follow the same team or conference.

Read our Beginnier’s Guide to Newsgroups to learn how to connect with other college football fans to discuss your favorite teams.

In a second we will list a number of popular teams and conferences along with newsgroups associated with each.  If your team isn’t on the list then use Giganews newsgroup search to see if the team has a group.  If a newsgroup doesn’t already exist then feel free to request one.  Once added let us know and we’ll help you promote your team’s newsgroup.

College football team newsgroups:
- Alabama Crimson Tide – alabama.sports.alabama
- Auburn Tigers – alabama.sports.auburn
- Cincinnati Bearcats – uc.bearcats
- Florida Gators – alt.sports.football.college.fla-gators
- Kansas Jayhawks – alt.sports.college.big12.kansas
- Kentucky Wildcats – alt.sports.college.sec.kentucky
- LSU Tigers – alt.sports.college.lsu
- Michigan Wolverines – alt.sports.college.michigan
- NC State Wolfpack – alt.sports.college.nc-state
- Nebraska Cornhuskers – alt.sports.college.nebraska
- Northwestern Wildcats – alt.sports.college.big10.northwestern
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish – alt.sports.college.notre-dame
- Ohio State Buckeyes – alt.sports.college.ohio-state
- Purdue Boilermakers – alt.sports.college.big10.purdue
- Syracuse Orange – alt.sports.college.syracuse
- Tennessee Volunteers – alt.sports.college.sec.tennessee
- Texas Longhorns – alt.sports.college.utexas
- UCLA Bruins – alt.sports.college.pac10.ucla
- UNC Tar Heels – alt.sports.college.unc

College football conference newsgroups:
- ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) – alt.sports.college.acc
- Big 12 – alt.sports.college.big12
- Big East – alt.sports.college.big-east
- Big Ten – alt.sports.college.big10
- Conference USA – alt.sports.college.conference-usa
- Ivy League – alt.sports.college.ivy-league
- MWC (Mountain West Conference) – alt.sports.college.mwc
- PAC 10 (Pacific 10 Conference) – alt.sports.college.pac-10
- SEC (Southeastern Conference) – alt.sports.college.sec
- WAC (Western Atlantic Conference) – alt.sports.college.wac

Google Groups vs Traditional Usenet Newsgroups

We get the occasional email asking which is better - Google Groups or traditional Usenet newsgroup access.  Should you join Google Groups  or look at traditional Usenet providers?  The answer really depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

In 2001 Google purchased Deja News and in doing so acquired a search engine to access archived newsgroup posts.  The Usenet search has had some technical issues of late but Google is still offering access to newsgroup articles.  However, Google Groups does not offer access to certain content and groups including the alt.binaries hierarchy.

Google Groups provides two types of groups.  One being traditional Usenet newsgroups and the other non-Usenet groups.  If you want to create your own group then non-Usenet is your only option.  The non-Usenet groups can be created as public or private.  They offer mailing list features along with the ability to create web pages, share documents and allow member comments.  Google Groups is web-based making it easy to access but doesn’t offer the enhanced features of some newsgroup readers.

If the goal is to promote a group or organization (email members, share documents, comment, etc.) then Google Groups is a good option.  If you are looking for newsgroup access then traditional Usenet providers are the way to go.

For more information on Google Groups visit http://groups.google.com/.

Here are some resources to learn more about traditional Usenet newsgroup access:
1. Newsgroup Reviews
2. Usenet University by Giganews
3. Getting Started with Usenet by Newshosting
4. Usenet Charter Directory by NewsDemon
5. Usenet for Mac Users by NewsgroupDirect
6. Open Directory Project / DMOZ
7. Wikipedia – Newsgroups

Newsguy Christmas Giveaway : Give the Gift of Usenet

With Thanksgiving just finishing up we’re all in Christmas shopping mode.  Newsguy says “Why not give the gift of Usenet?” with their Christmas Giveaway Special.  Purchase any Newsguy newsgroup account (including deeply discounted term plans) and receive a second identical account free.  Give the free account to a friend or treat yourself to double the fun.  Better yet stack this deal with their term specials and get unlimited Usenet access for $7.90 a month or 50 GB for around $4.00 a month.

The Newsguy Christmas Giveaway special launched last week and will run through the holidays.  It is unique in that you can gift the second Usenet account or double the term of your own account.

Here are a couple examples that take full advantage of the offer:

1. Sign up for a year of unlimited newsgroup access for $189.95 (already discounted 20%) and receive a second year free.   That means you get two years of unlimited Usenet access for $189.95.  That breaks down to under $8.00 a month.

2.  If you don’t need unlimited Usenet then look at the Newsguy Extra account which includes 50 GB of downloads a month.  You can sign up for a year of Newsguy Express for $99.95 (already discounted 40%) and receive the second year free.  That brings the cost to just over $4.00 a month. In addition to newsgroup access the Newsguy Extra account also includes web hosting and email.  Not to mention the web interface and rollover gigs.

Read our Newsguy review to learn more about the service or visit Newsguy to take advantage of the Christmas Giveaway special.

SABnzbd+ 0.5.0 Newsreader Beta Released

SABnzbd+ 0.5.0 newsgroup reader is now in public beta.  We had the opportunity to try it out a couple months ago and were impressed with the new enhancements and improved skins.  For those not already familiar with SABnzbd+ the free Usenet client is open-source, web-based,  cross-platform with support for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux.

Whether you already use SABnzbd or not the beta is definitely worth downloading.  Drop by our SABnzbd+ 0.5.0 preview page to learn more about the new features and screen shots of the new quick start features.  To learn more about the beta visit SABnzbd.org or download the 0.5.0 beta from Source Forge.net.

————

Here are the extended release notes from the SABnzbd wiki:

Core Upgrades

  • New Quick-Start Wizard – If you don’t have any servers set you’ll get a neat little five-page wizard allowing you to change all the config settings you really need to worry about. Stuff like “How should SABnzbd be accessible? Remotely or locally?” and “What’s your server address”, in a step by step manner. Features a button on the server page to test the connection to the news server, to make sure you have entered your details correctly.
  • HTTPS Support – The Web-UI now supports HTTPS and has a standard login window (if you use a login/pass). The URL no longer requires the /sabnzbd/ part, though the old URL is still supported.
  • File Quick-Check – We can now skip par2 verification altogether in some cases by performing a quick-check of file hashes before post-processing. If quick-check passes, then all the files are complete and we can proceed without doing the lengthy par2 verification step.
  • Localization System – We now ship with five localizations, English, French, Dutch, German and Swedish, and have a rather simple system for implementing new translations. If you’d like to contribute one, please inquire on our forums.
  • More Indexing Sites – SABnzbd now supports more than just Newzbin. See the support list for full details. Highlights include the RSS feeds for NZBMatrix and Nzbs.org
  • Revamped Config System – The configuration backend was overhauled in 0.5. Many of the config pages have been changed around to make more sense, you can now easily enable/disable servers, you can turn servers on and off with schedules and in general all server interaction is much faster than before. You also only have to restart SABnzbd for major changes to take effect.
  • File Association – .nzb files can now be associated with SABnzbd in Windows, so you can just double click them to load the file into your queue. You can set this up manually on other operating systems by launching SABnzbd with arguments containing a path, or multiple paths to local nzb/rar/zip files.
  • Password Support – Basic support for password protected rar-files is now in. It’s limited, but it works.
  • .TS filejoining – The file joining system now supports merging .TS files.
  • New Sorting Options – Date and Custom sorting options have been added, so downloads with a date can be sorted as such, and further customized sorting options can be developed by users.
  • Email Templates – You can now design custom email templates to report whatever information you want, including multiple recipients.
  • OSX Status Icon – SABnzbd now embeds itself in the menubar to give you some basic functions (no more Dock icon).
  • OSX Growl Notifications – SABnzbd now display Growl notifications (e.g. pause, resume, downloads start and finish…).

The API

  • 0.4 introduced our API, 0.5 expands it to cover everything SABnzbd is capable of. Why does this matter? It means if you know any programming language and understand how to parse XML/JSON and POST data to an address, then you can write some application which can communicate with SABnzbd almost as easily as a template can.

The Queue & History

  • Per-Item Pause – Now, in addition to being able to pause the whole queue, you can also pause individual items in the queue. You can also force downloads to start while the whole queue is paused.
  • Temporary Pause – 0.5 also brings the ability to pause the queue temporarily. So if you just want to pause for 30 minutes while you use your internet connection for something else, you can. This is nice, as it means you don’t have to remember to go back and unpause SABnzbd.
  • Priorities – The queue now has four priorities, Normal, High, Low and force. Think of this as an easy method to move things around your queue, or to insert things into specific areas of your queue. One use case is to set everything to “normal” by default, so it works like 0.4.x. However, you can then add a new post or RSS feed as high-priority to have it be inserted to the top of the queue, or add one as low-priority to have it inserted at the bottom of the queue and keep below normal downloads that are added. Forced items will go straight to the top of the queue, and will continue to download even if the queue is paused.
  • Renaming – You can now rename items in the Queue, SABnzbd will use the new name as the completed directory name.
  • New History Backend – The history is now stored in a database, so we can handle larger histories better, and store more information about downloads. It also now survives between having the queue cleared.

Templates

  • New Default Template – With 0.5, the “smpl” template is now the default. The old basic template is still there, but is now called “Classic”.
  • SMPL – Has been reworked to be much faster and friendlier to use. The default page now shows the top 5 items from the queue and history. The queue and history are also now paginated to stop loading a massive number of items.
  • Plush – Complete backend rewrite to work almost exclusively off the API [so it's MUCH faster], and a reorganized (and more accessible!) main menu. The Queue and History also now have pagination built in, so you can have hundreds of items in both, and only ever have to deal with a manageable number of items on any given page.
  • Mobile – Thanks to the new API and the jQTouch Framework, we’ve got a brand new mobile theme. It’s full featured (save for config options), and gives you the ability to add new nzbs, reorder existing ones, manage the queue, etc. “Mobile” replaces the old “iPhone” template.