ThunderNews Blog
Tech Pioneer and Newsgroup Subscriber John McCarthy Passes Away
October 27th, 2011
Computer scientist John McCarthy, who is one of the fathers of artificial intelligence and even coined the term, died Sunday at the age of 84.
A pioneer and thought leader in areas such as artificial intelligence and ‘utility computing’, which in many ways maps to the ever popular ‘cloud computing’ offerings of today, John McCarthy’s work has had a significant impact on many aspects of the day to day activities of computer programmers and IT professionals alike, especially those regarding USENET newsgroups.
McCarthy designed the LISP programming language in 1958 while a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lisp, one of the oldest high-level programming languages second only to Fortran, is still in use today.
Tributes to McCarthy poured in Tuesday, some from posters on Usenet, where McCarthy had an active presence.
McCarthy received the Turing Award in 1971 for his major contributions to the field of AI.
He was born in Boston on September 4, 1927 to an Irish immigrant father and a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant mother.
McCarthy showed an early aptitude for mathematics and he taught himself mathematics by studying the textbooks used at the nearby California Institute of Technology
McCarthy, who retired from Stanford in 2000, was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences.
New Technology Allows Authorities to View Online History
September 11th, 2011
Launched at the Black Hat 211 security conference and released on Usenet, Offline Windows Analysis and Data Extraction (OWADE) is capable of unlocking files indicating the web history of computers that are operating on Windows.
Elie Bursztein’s team at Stanford University developed the software, which he says will allow authorities working cases involving pedophiles to better track their online and social media activities, allowing them to match a certain suspect to an online identity or alias. Police have access to hard drives, but previously were unable to match online aliases to certain suspects and were unable to access their accounts. “Now, law enforcement organizations can extract information from websites like Facebook to find out,” Bursztein said. “We’ve built a tool that can reconstruct where the user has been online, and what identity they used.”
The technology works by unlocking Microsoft’s encryption, as a great deal of data such as browsing history, site logins and passwords are protected using an algorithm that generates an encryption key. Bursztein and his team figured out how the system works last year, leading to their being the only team in the world able to decrypt this data. They have now decided to make this public.
Of course, with the information made public, those with ill intents may use the information to hide their activity. “If somebody knows what they’re doing with their data, they will try and hide it and work around [solutions like this] as much as they can,” said John Haggerty of the University of Salford, UK according to NewScientist.com.
Usenet has been a platform that many innovators have used to announce their projects and breakthroughs. Through technology newsgroups, many technologically savvy individuals continue to share ideas and information to this day, just as they have for decades on Usenet, which preceded the World Wide Web and was an early way for people to communicate.
Avoid Exceeding Data Caps and Monitor Usenet Usage
July 29th, 2011
Don’t find yourself having exceeding your online data cap. Make sure that you monitor your online usage, including those from USENET so you’re not hit with those nasty overage charges. You could lose access entirely, so make sure that you know where you are in terms of usage.
First, you could try installing DD-WRT on your router, which will monitor your internet usage automatically. This can be quite convenient as all that’s required is that you check your router’s IP address and click ‘Status’ and then ‘WAN’. A graph should appear at the bottom of the page where you’ll see the bandwidth used each day. You can even get more specific by placing your mouse over the graph for more details.
You can also monitor internet usage on your Mac, Windows or Linux computer by making a few downloads.
Ntop: This may be run on any platform, although its binaries are geared specifically toward Windows and UNIX. You’ll find a detailed overview of the network usage.
SurplusMeter: This may be used for the Mac. It allows you to set a daily cap and you may accumulate surplus usage.
Comcast users may log into their account through the Comcast website to monitor their internet usage. However, some users have not been pleased with its effectiveness.
So to recap, the DD-WRT is the simplest way to go about monitoring your internet usage, although there are other ways to go about it as well. Whatever method you choose, keep up with your internet usage so you don’t run into overage charges or so you’re not cut off from the internet completely.
What Are Private Newsgroups?
July 11th, 2011
Private newsgroups may contain text and binary messages. With Thundernews.com, you’ll receive access to many private newsgroups so that you may discuss various topics with people from all over the world. Choose from newsgroups like alt.*, games.*, humor.* or music.* with ThunderNews.com so that you’re able to find what you’re looking for. These private newsgroups are great forums for participating in unique discussions and debates with other users.
Users may also use these private newsgroups to ask questions about topics they’re interested in or hobbies they’re pursuing, or even for research that they’re conducting. Who knows, you may even end up making a new friend or meeting a community of other users who share your same interests. In a lot of ways, that’s what Usenet is all about. You’ll be able to connect with other users who share different points of views or experiences that may shape their ideas or opinions on certain subject matter.
A private newsgroup may be a good forum for sharing binaries or files with others around the world. You may find video, audio or pictures in these binary newsgroups, which can be a good way to gain access to the content you’re interested in. Discussions may also arise from the sharing of these binary files in a group dedicated to discussion of the binary group. You may find people discussing the file being shared or other similar videos, music, etc.
Usenet is very user-driven, so these private newsgroups are what the users make of them. After signing up with Maximum Usenet, you may access the private newsgroups in a couple of ways. You may access the private newsgroup using your internet browser or through a newsreader. ThunderNews.com even offers a free newsreader to make things easier for our users so they’re able to access Usenet. So stop waiting and give ThunderNews.com a try now!
ThunderNews Offers New Version Of NewsRover
March 14th, 2011
ThunderNews is proud to announce a new version of the NewsRover newsreader, available to all current Thundernews members.
NewsRover 16 has just become available with a host of new enhancements to its already feature-rich newsreader. NewsRover is known as one of the most used newsreaders in the world.
ThunderNews has now made available a new preconfigured version of NewsRover 16 for all members with any purchase or subscription.
Features of NewsRover 16 include:
Performance
Sophisticated, multi-threading caching system that eliminates the need for temp files when downloading and decoding messages. This greatly improves download speed and the impact on system resources.
Images
Pop-up image preview screen to display thumbnail pictures as they’re downloaded. On the configuration settings, you’ll be able to set the amount of time the pictures will be displayed before being replaced by the next and also the ability to detach the preview window from NewsRover.
Output
Some file types are now put into private subsfolders to avoid file name conflicts
Download Speed Display
A new main-screen status bar allows you to easily montior your connections speed to our ThunderNews Newsgroup servers
Newsgroup Subscriptions
New options have been added to help sort and choose which Usenet newsgroups to subscribe to
Usenet search
New features to sort by date, subject and size have been added to the global Usenet search screen.
Other new features are also included with the new version of Newsrover.
All ThunderNews members are able to download there preconfigured copy of NewsRover from their members page.
The new version will automatically upgrade your version of NewsRover and keep all of the configuration settings intact.
You may need to download headers again from certain newsgroups with this revision change. All other settings will remain the same.
If you have any questions on how to access the new version of NewsRover 16 or need assistance in setting up or using the new features, contact the ThunderNews newsgroup newsreader support team – available 24/7.
ThunderNews is dedicated in providing quality services and features to all its customers. The upgraded version of NewsRover is free to all current and new members of ThunderNews as part of any subscription plan.
NewsRover 16 Available Free To ThunderNews Members
October 8th, 2010
ThunderNews is proud to announce a new version of NewsRover is available to all current Thundernews members.
NewsRover 16 has just become available with a host of new enhancements to its already feature-rich newsreader. NewsRover is known as one of the most used newsreaders in the world.
ThunderNews has now made available a new preconfigured version of NewsRover 16 for all members.
Features of NewsRover 16 include:
Performance
Sophisticated, multi-threading caching system that eliminates the need for temp files when downloading and decoding messages. This greatly improves download speed and the impact on system resources.
Images
Pop-up image preview screen to display thumbnail pictures as they’re downloaded. On the configuration settings, you’ll be able to set the amount of time the pictures will be displayed before being replaced by the next and also the ability to detach the preview window from NewsRover.
Output
Some file types are now put into private subsfolders to avoid file name conflicts
Download Speed Display
A new main-screen status bar allows you to easily montior your connections speed to our ThunderNews Newsgroup servers
Newsgroup Subscriptions
New options have been added to help sort and choose which Usenet newsgroups to subscribe to
Usenet search
New features to sort by date, subject and size have been added to the global Usenet search screen.
Other new features are also included with the new version of Newsrover.
All ThunderNews members are able to download there preconfigured copy of NewsRover from their members page.
The new version will automatically upgrade your version of NewsRover and keep all of the configuration settings intact.
You may need to download headers again from certain newsgroups with this revision change. All other settings will remain the same.
If you have any questions on how to access the new version of NewsRover 16 or need assistance in setting up or using the new features, contact the ThunderNews newsgroup newsreader support team – available 24/7.
ThunderNews is dedicated in providing quality services and features to all its customers. The upgraded version of NewsRover is free to all current and new members of ThunderNews as part of any subscription plan.
ThunerNews Newsreader Picks – June 2010
May 31st, 2010
In the world of Usenet, unless you have a good dependable newsreader, you probably won’t be able to truly access all of the newsgroups available to you.
For the month of June, here are our picks for the most popular newsreaders available for your operating system:
NewsRover – Windows - Available free with membership from ThunderNews, the newsreader is feature rich and has a good, intuitive interface.
Pan – Unix/Linux/Ubuntu – Pan is a great newsreader for Unix users. The program is easy to install and also has a good amount of features and capabilities to get everything you can from Usenet.
Asar Hogwasher – Apple – Hogwasher has been around for a while. With its latest 4.3 version, it’s better than ever with a good deal of features without any bloat. It also automates a lot of functions to make your Usenet experience simple and fast.
That’s our roundup. If you have a newsreader you’d like us to consider or review, use our comment system below.
iMac Newsgroups: 27 inch iMac Crashes Like PC
October 30th, 2009
If you’re one of the first ones that went out to buy Apple’s new 27 inch iMac, you may be experiencing significant performance problems. These problems have been reported on apple newsgroups to take up to 105% CPU usage and freeze many Snow Leopard systems.
Before you go and blame your mac newsreader, be aware that the root of the problem seems to be originating from Flash-based videos. Many of the users in the Apple newsgroups call up the OS Activity Monitor and report that the Flash Player demanded a surprising 114.4 percent of the iMac’s CPU processes when a YouTube or Flash video was playing.
Frustrated iMac owners have suggested a number of unofficial and temporary fixes, including power cycling Apple’s AirPort, triggering the iMac’s sleep\wake cycle, resetting PRAM\NVRAM and re-installing Snow Leopard.
With a recent campaign attacking the new Windows 7 by questioning its reliability, this is the fourth time since the Snow Leopard OS launch that a major problem affecting most of its users has occurred. No official word from Apple to either acknowledge or fix the problem that appears to be wide spread.
News Rover V14.1, Rev. 0 Now Available in Members Area
November 17th, 2008
S and H Software has released the News Rover newsreader v14.1 to us. V14.1 is a major release and you should consider upgrading to it. (We skipped V14.0.) Click here to check out what’s new.
To get the latest copy of News Rover newsreader,log into your account and chose the link to ‘Download News Rover’ from the left menu of the Member’s Page.
Free NewsRover NewsReader Software
May 4th, 2005
ThundersNews announces today that we now offer the News Rover usenet newsreader client for our customers. We are proud to offer the very popular News Rover software to our customers FREE!!!
News Rover is normally offered for sale at $29.95, but we offer it to our customers at no charge. We are confident that once you try our news servers, you will impressed with the fast speeds, long rentetion and great article completion rates.
News Rover is packed with great features that save you time and effort when surfing the Usenet. News Rover provides: automated downloads, download tracking, and viewers for several file formats. News Rover is adept at handling multipart messages.
Check out the full feature list at NewsRover.com.
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