newsreader : Java Glossary

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newsreader

Trying to track newsgroups using a browser is a bit like eating your dinner with toothpick. It can be done, but it is slow and awkward. That approach should be reserved for emergencies. A newsreader is a program that lets you read postings in newsgroups and post messages for the all the world to read. It is a specialised tool. It does not work inside a browser. It lets you keep a record of your posts and other people’s posts. It lets you keep good posts permanently. It organizes the posts and allows you search your local database. It lets you filter out posts from twits and spammers.

The newsreader talks a specialised newsgroup NNTP protocol to the newsserver, usually provided by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). A browser talks to an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) server such as Google. Newsreaders don’t talk to Google and browsers don’t talk to new servers. Newsreaders use separate mechanism for delivering news from the browser-based Google Groups that you may be used to. It is the same content. Google works by translating between the two delivery mechanisms.

Newsreader Vendor List

Popular newsreader programs include:

Forté Agent. This is the one I have been using since the early days of the Internet. I am not that familiar with the others. It comes in free and pay versions. It appears to me incompatible with the High Winds newsserver, though I cannot figure out why. It sometimes works if you configure max connections to 5 and turn off the adjust max connections feature.
40Tude Dialog: free for individuals, $59.00 USD for companies. Supports multiple servers, binary attachments, Unicode, multi-threading, filtering, colourising to sort out quotation nesting depth, multiple identities, email, random sigs and bookmarks. I discovered it would not work with shawnews but it would with the equivalent newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com. I think the problem is the layers of indirection shawnews ⇒ shawnews.gv.shawcable.net ⇒ news.shawcable.net ⇒ newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com ⇒ [69.16.185.250].
Mozilla Thunderbird (C++ opensource). A standalone mailreader/newsreader. It organises the newgroup is a tree which is faster to navigate that a simple linear list. Oddly it has no mechanism to delete messages or filter out spam.
Newsbin: particularly good with multiple attachments. $35.00 USD
Gravity: free, open source, rule based. Written in C++. Not compatible with highwinds.
Xnews: regex filtering, written in Delphi, does not let you ignore or mark threads. Windows only. Not compatible with highwinds.
NewsRover
Pine
Opera. Opera is a browser but has a built-in newsreader. Don’t confuse this with reading newsgroups via the Google or Yahoo web interface to newsgroups. It only handles newservers that do not require login.
Outlook. Outlook is a combination mailreader/newsreader.
Pan

newsreaders.com maintains a list of newsreaders.

A newsreader can also refer to a hand-held unit like a Kindle used for reading newspapers electronically. The New York Times has one that works with Adobe Air.

blog
Google Groups: lets you use a browser as a newsreader
Kindle
newsgroups
newsserver: lists of free and pay newsservers

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