My Favourite Newsgroups

When I first started checking out the newsgroups, I used my Netscape browser. The first newsgroup I subscribed to was alt.support.depression. It was a difficult time in my life and the people on this newsgroup were very kind and supportive. They were also very knowledgable about medication and it's side-effects.

My second newsgroup addition was rec.pets.cats. Having read many books on cat care, I found it especially interesting to see a "regular cat owner's" experience with feline family members. This newsgroup is great for general feline health information, with specific information on some conditions.

Several posters share their experience of having cats with insulin-dependent diabetes. Others have had cats with feline urologic syndrome (FUS) and provide valuable information regarding symptoms, treatment and dietary restrictions recommended by their veterinarians.

Even with my upgrade to the Agent Newsreader, and the ability to create a "kill-file" to screen out spam, getting it all is impossible.

After one year of daily downloads, I have tons of MIDI files (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). I collect Pop, Jazz, Classical, and pretty much everything else. It's much faster to download a MIDI file from a newsgroup, than it is to get it from someone's website. The best place to get MIDI files is alt.binaries.sounds.midi. MIDIs will play on the standard Windows Media Player so there is no need to download a special "MIDI player." unless you have a ton of space on your hard drive.

If you love Gillian Anderson as much as I do, you can get pictures of her from alt.binaries.x-files. If you persevere there *are* many very good pictures to be found here. There are also some wave files from the show that are regularly posted.
Yes, there is also spam . . . but what else is new?

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I used to spend quite a lot of time reading and occasionally posting to rec.arts.bodyart. This newsgroup is an excellent source of information regarding many permanent and semi-permanent forms of body modification. Tattoos, piercing, brandings, and cuttings are a few of the topics which are discussed here. Professional tattoo artists and piercers regularly contribute to discussions. This newsgroup has an extensive FAQ available, and it is recommended that newbies read the FAQ prior to posting a question to the group.� They allow no binaries postings on this newsgroup, and the group is very well moderated for an alt.* hierarchy group. Pirate Nick Baban welcomes newcomers and the atmosphere is very friendly and close-knit. This group is a personal favourite!

A Word About Viruses!

Don't worry too much about catching them on these newsgroups. Viruses attach themselves to executable files. This means that the downloaded file must have a *.exe or *.com extension and *also* that this file must be executed (opened) before it can invade your system. In general though, it is wise to use a virus checker after downloading *.zip files. Use McAfee VirusScan, or use the one included with your specific platform.
Recently there have been quite a few Java applet viruses (.class) and MS Word Macro viruses (like Melissa)... another reason for a virus scanner. McAffee's comes with a VShield which scans all downloads and filters website java. I don't use MS Word...I love WordPerfect and have used it since it was DOS based (remember DOS?) :)

Note:

Viruses cannot attach themselves to text files (for example: E-mail, *.txt, *.doc)
Viruses cannot attach themselves to images or movies (for example: *.jpg, *.gif, *.avi, *.qt, *.mov)
Viruses cannot attach themselves to sound files (for example: *.wav, *.mid, *.mod, *.au)

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Updated April 10, 1999.