NGR, Author at Newsgroup Reviews Blog

NZB360 Returns to Google Play Store

February 21, 2017 by NGR

February 21, 2017 update – we’re very excited to share that the latest release of NZB360 is available on Google Play. After three years of being absent from Google Play, Kevin has managed to get NZB360 back in the store. Better yet the latest NZB360 v10 adds support for Radarr. You can download the app free from Google Play and upgrade for $4.99. I encourage anyone who wants to enjoy Usenet access on your Android device to purchase the app. You can read what other Usenet fans have to say about the new app on Reddit.

February 14, 2014 update – Kevin, the developer of NZB360, has been kicking around ideas for distributing and licensing the app outside the Play store. Unfortunately Google isn’t going to return the app so he is figuring out another distribution method. Right now it sounds like there will be a base NZB360 app offered free of charge. With some extra features that you can activate for a fee. The consensus on Reddit is to offer a one-time fee rather than a subscription model. It sounds like he might offer both. The ETA on the app being available is two weeks. We’ll update you once again when it’s ready.

As of Thursday, February 6th NZB360 is no longer available in the Google Play store. No explanation is given. You simply get a “we’re sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server” error message. We first read about the removal of NZB360 in this sub Reddit forum post. The developer of the popular Android app confirmed that Google dropped NZB360, apparently without warning and without reason given for the action.

The image above is from the NZB360 page on AppBrain. According to the site if you have an AppBrain account you can use their installer to directly install the app on your device. Perhaps that’s another option for the time being. Assuming AppBrain isn’t just pulling the download from the Google Play store.

Hopefully Google either corrects their mistake or accepts the appeal for NZB360 to return to their store. If not the developer promises to find a new distribution method. Given the time and effort spent on making NZB360 arguably the best app of it’s kind for Android users I certainly hope we don’t have to wait long for Google to respond. If an alternative ends up being necessary we’ll make sure to post the new URL right here.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet. Follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest news.

Filed Under: Newsreaders, NZB360

DOGnzb Open for Registration

February 13, 2017 by NGR

Have you been hoping for an invite to DOGnzb? If so this is your chance. DOGnzb is open for registration. Last time they opened registration it was only for a few hours though so if you want an account we suggest you register fast. New members typically receive a 30 day free trial for the site. After that you can continue using DOGnzb for a fee. Unfortunately DogNZB no longer offers lifetime accounts. Instead they offer 1 year for $15, 3 years for $35 or 5 years for $50. You can pay with bitcoin or use a credit card. Note that credit card payments also incur a $10 service charge. Given the popularity of the site and scarcity of invites we suggest you get in now. If you’ve missed previous opening this is your chance to gain access to DOGnzb.

The site doesn’t really need an introduction. Since Newzbin and NZBMatrix dropped out, DOGnzb has become one of the hardest tickets in town. Not only is the site great for finding Usenet content, it’s also damn near impossible to get an invite. Cheers to the DOGnzb team for opening up registration. Even if it’s for a short period of time. To sign up visit their registration page. It should say “Registration” at the top. If it says “Login” the open enrollment has already ended. We’ll keep this post updated any time the site is open to new users.

Here’s a list of features available to DOGnzb users:

Exclusive regex rules and deobfuscation algorithms result in additional NZBs available
Fine tune your Watchlist delay setting and retention limits.
Sync from IMDb and Trakt watchlists every 60 minutes
Trigger metadata refresh of any TV show or Movie
Push notifications alerts to your mobile phone.
iCal feeds of your TV Show Watchlist.
Custom Searches and RSS feeds updated hourly.
Passthrough and Emulation APIs for mobile phones.
Primary and Secondary Push Queues.
View NZB contents and perform partial downloads.
Mobile Website Interface

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet. Follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest offers.

Filed Under: NZB Sites

NZB Sites with Open Registration

February 13, 2017 by NGR

Feb. 13, 2017 update: Dognzb is currently open to new registrations. I’m not sure how long it will last so if you want in I suggest you register right away. You’ll have 30 days to try out the site. During that time you will need to upgrade to VIP which now costs $15 a year (plus $10 service charge) if you want to continue using the NZB site.

Nov. 15, 2016 update: Registration is open at SimplyNZBs. New users can register for an account and immediately gain access to the site. Access over 1500 days of backfill across 192 newsgroups. As a free member you have limited API and site access. VIP members get up to 5000 API hits a day. You can register now at https://simplynzbs.com/

June 30, 2016 update: 6box is currently open for registration. The admin accidentally deleted some active users while working to clear dead accounts. Rather than send out invites he has opened the site for registration. To register simply visit https://6box.me/register

July 25, 2014 update: NZBSooti is open to new members thru Sunday. If you haven’t checked out their site yet I recommend it. Just remember to sign up by Sunday. To register visit https://www.nzbsooti.sx/. In addition NMatrix is offering 50% off account upgrades this weekend. The cost is $5 for life if you upgrade by Sunday. To register and upgrade visit https://www.nmatrix.co.za/

June 10, 2014 update: Dognzb is currently open to new registrations. I’m not sure how long it will last so if you want in I suggest you register right away. You’ll have 30 days to try out the site. During that time you will need to upgrade to VIP for a one time fee of $10 if you want to continue using the NZB site.

April 17, 2014 update: nMatrix is getting ready to go private. If you’d like to become a member before they go private visit https://www.nmatrix.co.za/. You will need to sign up and then upgrade to VIP status to keep access.

Mar. 7, 2014 update: NZBSooti is open to new members this weekend. If you haven’t checked out their site yet I recommend it. Just remember to sign up by Sunday. To register visit https://www.nzbsooti.sx/register

Feb. 1, 2014 update: nMatrix is opening registration for one day. Make sure to sign for a free account on February 1st. The registration window will end at midnight EST. To register visit https://www.nmatrix.co.za/register

Jan. 10, 2014 update: Dognzb opened registration to celebrate the New Years holiday. New users have 30 days to try out the site for free. To keep your account active they requite that you upgrade to VIP in the first 30 days. The cost is $10 for VIP access.

I know a lot of Usenet fans have been looking around for new NZB sites and search engines since Newzbin2 and NZBMatrix closed down. You’ll be happy to know there are several new options. Obviously they aren’t as complete as the big dogs of the past but give them time. Better yet each of the sites we’re about to list is open to new registrations so you won’t need an invite. The sites are free to join and use. Some of them offer premium accounts or VIP status based on donations. Check them all out and see what you think.

From what we’ve seen so far it seems like there are a few new NZB sites and Usenet search engines that have a shot of being the next NZBMatrix. Their are several contenders and our favorite is nzbX. Again though registration is open at all these sites as we’re writing so we recommend you sign up for each and try them all out. Find the best fit for you. Several of them are built off Newznab so you’ll notice similarities.

Here’s a list of NZB sites that are free to use or have open registration:

Dognzb – Dognzb.cr (lately they have been opening registration for short periods every few weeks)
Nzb.su – Nzb.su (closed to new members other than by invitation)
Nzbplanet – Nzbplanet.net
NZB Finder – Nzbfinder.ws
Nznindex.in – Nzbindex.in
NZBFriends – Nzbfriends.com
FindNZB – Findnzb.net
NZBid – Nzbid.org
BiNZB – Binzb.com
FastNZB – fastnzb.info

Remember to sign up for the new sites while they’re open for registration. We’d like to wish each of the new NZB sites and search engines the best in building an active community of Usenet fans.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet. Follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest deals.

Filed Under: DOGnzb, NZB Sites, NZB.su, Nzbplanet Tagged With: NZB site invitation, NZB site registration

Does Astraweb Store Passwords in Plain Text?

February 3, 2017 by NGR

Earlier this week a concerned Astraweb member posted on Reddit to warn others that Astraweb is storing passwords in plain text. He included an email from Astraweb that included the username and password for all three accounts that were tied to his email address. What’s wrong with that? For starters no one should hold you’re password in plain text anymore. You may have noticed that when you forget your password and request help that most companies reply with a link to reset your password. Instead Astraweb replied with every username and password tied to the user’s email address. By storing passwords in plain text Astraweb is putting members at risk. This is especially true for those who reuse the same password on other websites.

There are a number of steps you can take to help protect your online accounts. The first is to use a different password for each account. Long gone are the days of using a single password and keeping it on a post-it note under your keyboard. You would think that practice ended long ago but I recently visited a company that specializes in website development and watched the office manager refer to a post-it note to log into a customer’s project. They proceeded to refer to the same note to log into other customer’s projects. Needless to say that didn’t leave a good impression. Most of us do a better job now a days but there is still plenty of room for improvement. Make sure you use strong passwords and never reuse them. You can use a free password manager like KeePass to help keep track of all your passwords.

The next step is to use multi-factor authentication whenever possible. You may already use two factor authentication to log into work while traveling or for financial institutions. The use of two-factor authentication has grown to include a lot of popular mainstream websites including Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon and many more. Most of them use a software token like Google Authenticator. How does it work? You simply install the Google Authenticator app on your iOS or Android device and use it to log into your favorite sites. This keeps anyone from accessing your account. They would need both your password and the rotating code that is presented on your device at the time of login. This is far more secure than just using a password.

There are a number of other steps you can take to help protect your identity online. If you don’t already use a VPN service then we suggest researching them and adding one to help protect your privacy. This is especially true for those who use public wifi networks. Whether you enjoy grabbing a cup of coffee while browsing the Internet or traveling, a VPN is a must. It’s way too easy to log into wifi at a restaurant or hotel and not realize you’re communications aren’t protected. You can take of this by logging into a VPN before using public wifi. A good VPN will also help you avoid censorship and geo restrictions. It’s not necessary for downloading from Usenet. Most providers offer SSL encryption which we recommend enabling in your newsreader.

Filed Under: Usenet Providers

NewsgroupDirect 2 Terabyte Block Sale

January 27, 2017 by NGR

NewsgroupDirect is currently celebrating a great start to the new year with a special on 2 terabyte blocks. Their latest deal comes in the shape of a huge block account. The largest we’ve seen offered in quite some time. Through January 29th NewsgroupDirect is offering 2 TB of Usenet access for $70. Since NGD blocks are non-expiring you can use the account until it is depleted. Visit the NGD Deal of the Week page to sign up.

I normally recommend block accounts for backup and fills. To fill missing content I would suggest a European Usenet provider. A 2 terabyte block is huge. Most Usenet fans could use it as their primary account for months. Remember that NGD blocks are non-expiring. At less than 4 cents a gig the price is great. NGD block users enjoy high retention along with 50 SSL connections. Remember to sign up before January 29th to save.

The 2 terabyte promotion is also open to existing members. If you already have a NewsgroupDirect account then you’ll want to log into their website and click on add block. From there you can add a 2 TB block for the $70 discounted price instead of the $150 regular price. We’d also like to mention that NGD block accounts are shareable. Since you are buying a block of Usenet access they don’t mind you sharing the account.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet. Follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest specials.

Filed Under: NewsgroupDirect, Usenet Providers

Free Test Accounts from Xennanews

January 27, 2017 by NGR

The team at Xennanews is giving away free test accounts for their Usenet service. You can connect to their test server in Germany and use the service for free. There are a few limitations. The first of which is speed. You can use up to 10 connections but the speed is limited to 10 Mbit. The test accounts forbid posting and account sharing. The final limitation is binary retention. While the account page doesn’t mention retention we’re hearing that the available retention is somewhere around a month. So you can expect about 30 days of retention and 10 Mbit speed. However, just remember the account is free so you have nothing to lose.

As you can see Xennanews is down to about 550 free test accounts early in the morning on Friday, January 27th. I recommend you get one quickly because they will surely run out fast. All it requires to sign up for the free test account is an email address. Simply enter your email and click on the “Get” button to sign up. There is no cost and you will be immediately taken to a screen that shows your account details. That means you can hop right into the xennanews server. The server address is test.xennanews.com and available ports include 119 for non-SSL and 563 for SSL connections. Remember the free account is limited to 10 Mbit and 10 connections.

Cheers to the Xennanews team for giving away free test accounts. We hope you get in on the action. The account is a good one to have as a backup and for fills on newer content. I recommend Eweka as a primary Usenet service in Europe. They offer our visitors unlimited access to over 3,000 days of binary retention and speeds up to 100 Mbit for just €7,50 a month. You can read our Eweka review for more details and to save on unlimited Usenet access.

Filed Under: Usenet Providers

Giganews Scores Legal Victory for Usenet

January 24, 2017 by NGR

Jan. 2017 update – Giganews has once again prevailed in the court of appeals over Perfect 10. Cheers to the Giganews team on their continued efforts.You can read the full verdict from the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Here’s a view of the conclusion in which the court of appeals affirms the district court’s decision. Read Giganews related blog post to learn more about the legal victory and their response.

Feb. 2014 update – Last week Giganews scored a legal victory for Usenet. The case involved Perfect 10 suing Giganews for copyright infringement. They contended in part that Giganews was not protected by the DMCA Safe Harbor provision and that they were willfully distributing copyrighted content owned by Perfect 10. The case started back in 2011 and recently brought a nice victory for Giganews and the Usenet community in general.

We’ll touch on a few of the issues brought forth in the Perfect 10 vs. Giganews case. You can learn more by reading the verdict here. It’s only 21 pages and is an interesting read for anyone who has ever wondered just how DMCA is supposed to work. As it turns out Giganews is right in line with what the DMCA and Safe Harbor were meant to protect. The case set some nice legal precedent to help protect Usenet providers in the future.

In reading the judgement you can tell that the judge wasn’t impressed by the case presented by Perfect 10. They were very sloppy in their arguments. Which isn’t all that surprising given their previous loses in court. They seem hell bent on suing technology companies. Trolling can be a lucrative business these days I suppose. Instead this case helped define what expectations Usenet providers will have in terms of DMCA requests.

We’re not going to spend time explaining the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) because the judgement goes into detail for those who want to learn more about DMCA and Usenet. Instead I want to share some of the arguments Perfect 10 made in the case along with the court’s response. We’ll start with how Perfect 10 presented Giganews with takedown requests and then move on to some of the other issues in the case.

How Not to Present a DMCA Takedown Notice

Giganews has a page on their site that clearly defines the information they need for DMCA notices:

Clear identification of the person or entity submitting the DMCA Notice.

Clearly stated relationship to the copyright holder (self or authorized agent).

Message-IDs for all articles the DMCA Notice is requesting Giganews take down. Please keep in mind some files are large enough to be posted across several Usenet articles; these are called multi-part posts. Be certain to identify by Message-ID all articles you want taken down.

Clear statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that you are copyright holder, or authorized to act on behalf of the copyright holder.

A “physical or electronic signature” of an authorized person to act on behalf of the owner. This is fulfilled by a name and a physical address that the authorized individual can be contacted should someone wish to contest your notification.

While not legally required by the DMCA, including “copyright violation” in the subject line of your email will flag your DMCA Notice and bypass spam categorization.

Submit the Notice to dmca2008@giganews.com, the email address we have registered with the Copyright office pursuant to Section 512(c) of the Copyright Act.

Did Perfect 10 follow those instructions? Not at all. According to the court documents Perfect 10 presented Giganews with a series of screenshots. The images showed them using a newsreader to search for related content. They sent that information over to Giganews and told them to remove everything related to those searches. Nevermind that they didn’t provide the message ID’s for the articles to be deleted.

You can think of the message ID on a Usenet post like you would a URL for a web page. In order to remove content from a news server the provider needs to know exactly what to delete. A screenshot of a search performed in a newsreader isn’t at all adequate. Imagine trying to deal with that kind of notice to find and remove specific posts. There are so many flaws in that approach. Thankfully the court agreed.

Yet another issue in the case was whether or not Giganews properly dealt with repeat infringers. This is important to falling under safe harbor protection. Something that technology companies like Google as well as Usenet providers rely on. Giganews was able to show that they warn users after the first notice and terminate their account after any subsequent notices. That’s their stance on dealing with repeat infringers.

Again the court agreed with Giganews. At question was why Giganews hadn’t kicked off more users. That really comes down to the decentralized nature of Usenet. Just because Giganews receives a DMCA notice and removes content doesn’t mean it was posted on their service. What if the content was posted by an Astraweb customer. Giganews certainly can’t terminate their account. Once again the court understood and agreed.

One other issue we found interesting had to do with peering. Since Usenet is decentralized it relies on peering between news servers. User generated content is copied between those servers. Perfect 10 questioned whether or not the copying of data should be considered copyright infringement. The judge sided with Giganews in that data being copied between servers in being done on behalf of the user that posted it.

This is a clear victory for Giganews and the Usenet community in general. Cheers to the Giganews team for defending Usenet and setting some important legal precedent. That’s a great way to kick off the new year.

You can visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet and join us on Twitter @NewsgroupRevs.

Filed Under: Giganews, Usenet Providers

NewsDemon $10 Unlimited Usenet + VPN

January 19, 2017 by NGR

Over the last couple years we’ve seen several leading Usenet providers add VPN to their list of offerings. The addition of VPN has helped protect the privacy of thousands of Usenet fans. It also helps users avoid geo restrictions to unlock sites in other countries. NewsDemon has partnered with SlickVPN to give members the option of affordable VPN access. They are currently offering a sale for new members with unlimited Usenet and VPN access for $10 a month. Better yet, you can sign up for 12 months of Usenet + VPN for just $92 a year.

As you can see NewsDemon has several plans. In addition to those listed above, they also have a series of block accounts. We’re going to focus on the last three plans listed above. You will notice all three plans include VPN. They are each offered at a deep discount compared to the previous pricing. Let’s start at the top of the list and take a look at what’s included with each plan along with the price:

Unlimited + VPN – unlimited Usenet + VPN for $10 a month or $92 a year.
200 GB + VPN – 200 GB of Usenet + unlimited VPN for $8 a month
100 GB + VPN – 100 GB of Usenet + unlimited VPN for $7 a month

As a proponent of online privacy I recommend using the VPN included with NewsDemon. I’m not aware of any providers offering a better price on a monthly plan that includes Usenet and VPN. The sale is not an introductory price. The discount is recurring so you will save as long as the account is active. Enjoy unlimited Usenet + VPN for just $10 a month or $92 a year. That’s less than $8 a month for the annual plan.

In addition to rolling out new plans, the NewsDemon team has added TrustPilot to their site. This gives you a chance to see what users are saying about the service. Looking at the last 20 reviews, we saw a mix of feedback with 12 five stars, 2 four stars, 4 three star, and 2 one stars. A NewsDemon staff member made it a point to reply to the one star reviews. It’s nice to see the company being proactive in addressing any issues that members may have along the way. Their overall TurstPilot rating is currently 8.1 out of 10.

Filed Under: NewsDemon, Usenet Providers

Maximizing Astraweb Download Speeds

January 9, 2017 by NGR

Jan. 9th update – According to Astraweb users on Reddit and our own testing it appears their news servers are down and have been for a few hours now. Newshosting has an unlimited Usenet + VPN plan for a comparable price if you need an alternative. Otherwise we suggest you set up both U.S. and European news servers for Astraweb. It won’t give you access to the service at the moment but could help with future slowdowns.

From time to time we hear from Astraweb members who are experiencing slow download speeds. At first we referred them to the Astraweb speed troubleshooter and Astraweb tech support since a number of factors can cause slower than normal download speeds. After reading some helpful tips and doing some testing of our own we found that splitting connections between their news servers can help maximize performance.

In a moment we’ll share some newsreader configuration tips that might help when slow downs occur. First we’d like to mention that Astraweb performance is normally good. We’ve been using the service for years and on occasion (normally on Sundays) the speeds can drop. In those cases performance typically returns to normal within a few hours. So rather than recommend alternatives we’re suggesting a workaround.

If you’re experiecing slow download speeds with Astraweb and have already taken the steps in their speed troubleshooter or know the issue isn’t on your end then try splitting your connections between Astraweb news servers. We’ll give examples for both standard and SSL encrypted connections.

Astraweb has news servers in the US and Europe. To maximize download speeds during times of slow performance we suggest you setup two servers and split your connections between them.

Here is the Astraweb news server info:

Secure (SSL encrypted):
– ssl-us.astraweb.com (U.S. servers)
– ssl-eu.astraweb.com (European servers)
– using port 443 or 563 (we recommend port 443)
– set each server to use 10 connections

Standard (non-SSL):
– us.news.astraweb.com (U.S. servers)
– eu.news.astraweb.com (European servers)
– using port 119, 23, 1818 or 8080
– set each server to use 10 connections

Not to confuse anyone. Setting up two Astraweb servers is the same process you would take to setup news servers for two different Usenet providers. You set each one up individually. Perhaps using names like Astraweb US and Astraweb EU to easily differentiate between them in your newsreader. If you think your ISP may be throttling Usenet downloads then try an alternate port. Try port 443 for SSL and port 23 for non-SSL.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet. Follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest specials.

Filed Under: Astraweb, Usenet Providers Tagged With: Astraweb slow, Astraweb slow connection, Astraweb slow download

Easynews Holiday Giveaway

December 20, 2016 by NGR

Our friends over at Easynews are celebrating the holiday season with a giveaway. All new and existing members can enjoy an extra Christmas gift. We read a tweet from a happy Easynews customer who won five bonus gigs and a free month of unlimited NNTP. The unlimited NNTP alone is worth $9.95 a month so that’s a nice prize. The Easynews Holiday Giveaway will end on Dec. 31st so visit Easynews.com to claim your gift.

The Easynews web interface is by far the best around. Browse over 2,600 days of binary retention through your web browser. With the ability to search for content, view images, preview and stream. All without any software. Then if you want to go beyond 2,600 days you can fire up your favorite newsreader and browse over 3,000 days of retention. You can check out our Easynews web interface review to see some of the features in action.

Confused by NNTP vs. web retention? If so here’s a quick explanation:

NNTP retention uses newsgroup software like SABnzbd, Newsbin Pro, NewsLeecher, or Binreader to browse and download from Usenet. Easynews includes NNTP access with all their plans. They also have the option of unlimited NNTP Usenet for just $9.95 a month. With or without a corresponding web plan.
The web interface and web retention are unique to Easynews. A great choice for those new to Usenet who don’t want to mess with installing a client. Use the web interface to search for content, preview, stream and download. Easynews also supports iOS and Android. New members can try it free for 14 days.

New and existing Easynews members will receive the following gifts this holiday season:

Big Gig subscribers receive 10 bonus gigs
Plus subscribers receive 5 bonus gigs + 1 month of unlimited NNTP
Classic subscribers receive 5 bonus gigs + 1 month of unlimited NNTP

Cheers to the Easynews team as they get into the gift of giving this holiday season. Remember that all new and existing customers are eligible for the promotion. Don’t forget to claim your gift before the end of the year.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet and follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest deals.

Filed Under: Easynews, Usenet Providers