Is Usenet Worth Using?

A diagram of some Usenet servers and clients. The blue, green, and red dots on the servers represent which groups they carry. Arrows between servers indicate that the servers are sharing the articles from the groups. Arrows between computers and servers indicate that the user is subscribed to a certain group, and uploads and downloads articles to and from that server. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Users should thank Jim Ellis and Tom Truscott for coming up with Usenet. Barely out of college in 1979, these North Carolina natives first set up a small network of computers intended for information sharing among users. They wrote shell scripts that can handle only a limited number of groups and articles. Soon, the volume of incoming information and subscribers grew and the script had to be rewritten to make room for additional data. The demand kept growing and the system was rewritten again many times before it became the Usenet that the world has come to know.

What good is it anyway aside from being an innovation to the file sharing trend? People who are plugged almost 24/7 already know by now what this is all about and what it does. However, many people are still in the familiarization stage.

Usenet In A Nutshell

Usenet comprises a wide range of hosts or servers that people all over the world use to share information in the form of news or articles universally tagged as ‘newsgroups.’ If you are confused about how it works, think about torrents. The difference is that the files are transferred through server instead of the user or file hosts’ PC. Usenet is rather a more complex version of this especially for first timers but eventually becomes more user-friendly in the long run. Next to understanding Usenet is understanding how it works. It all begins with choosing the news provider that suits your taste.

Why Premium Is Better Than Free  

There are hundreds of Usenet providers on the Internet. Choosing which one works best depends on what you are looking for. Sometimes, a free news server is enough for those depending on texts groups mostly. A premium account on the other hand is ideal for users who are looking to transfer from binary groups. In this case, signing up for a free trial is the best way to test how efficient a premium provider can be.

Naturally, a news group provider with high retention rate garners more approval than those with low retention rate. Who would waste time looking for articles or files that are posted a while ago and gone after 24 hours? High retention rate gives users confidence that the information is made available for transfer for longer period. However, completion is still a valuable feature to look for. A missing or corrupted file is just as bad as not finding what you need.

Connection and file transfer speed also matter big time. Especially for those who are always after binary files, speed is always as vital as the encryption. Every user wants secure file transfer and private browsing experience. If the newsgroup provider also promises this, the price is just a footnote, but still a valuable detail to think about. As long as the news provider is able to meet the users’ expectations, a higher subscription rate is tolerable.

Is Usenet Worth It?

The facts are laid out. If you think that it is just another file sharing software wannabe, try to reconsider. Countless people find Usenet an impressive file sharing system because it is secured with a vast variety of information. Understanding it is a challenge but you can imagine the possibilities that come with it.

 

 

How To Overcome Heartbreak

Love is blind. Love conquers all. Love is a drug…blah…blah…blah…. Love has been earning too much flattery and blasphemy since time immemorial. Problem is, we all tend to fall for it. Another problem is, you cannot escape it. How many women have sworn to not fall again after being dumped by their fiancé just as the wedding bells were ringing? How many men have evaded commitment and ended up with Ms Rights eventually? It sucks to feel in love because you have to be happy for, say two years, and be miserable for the next five years but it happens anyway.

Many personal development coaches insist on keeping your faith, loving yourself more, and trusting the world again. For some reason, what they tell you are true even if they do not know anything about pain. But who needs a personal coach? Stop wasting money to pay for a psychologist! There are ways to overcome heartbreak without shelling out a penny. Here are some suggestions:

• Stay with the light. You are not dead yet. Mourning in darkness though would feel like hell so give yourself some sunshine. Studies show that light helps keep depression hormones at bay. Even if you have to drag yourself out of the room, do so and take a stroll at the park, malls, or eat at a nearest diner.
• Talk to people, even to strangers. If you have not been in contact with your friends lately, visit your phone book and have a little chat. Even the most nonsense topics could save you from the agonizing memories of your ex.
• Exercise. Well, it’s natural for people caught in the fangs of depression to lose the energy and enthusiasm. Like them, you may be at your lowest point and moving your fingers is already a toll. However, there is nothing you cannot do with a little help from yourself. Push that button hard. Even the minor movements can generate healthy blood flow and get you back in action.
• Pray…hard. We do not want to be preachy but prayer will bind you. Heartbreak is one of the worst chapters of the human life. Even when you are at a party, you still feel alone and suicidal, thinking there is no tomorrow and your purpose is gone. Talking to the Divine Being changes this. There is always a mysterious comfort alighting upon you when you express your hatred, fears, sentiments, and nostalgia.

You are not expected or demanded to make improvements overnight or after a week of practicing these small activities. Healing takes about a hundred, maybe thousands of baby steps to complete. You might say you have heard them before but why do they always come up that they have become generic. Exactly. The above-mentioned healing techniques are screaming and there is only one thing lacking…you. Help yourself move on and be okay because no one can.

On a personal note, I believe in what they say, ‘the only way over it is through it.’ Translation: you have no choice. Well, you do but don’t trust your judgment too much when the skies are still cloudy. You and the people who love you hate to find your unconscious body next to your bed. Being suicidal is normal when you are so sad or angry because you think no one cares. You will ask questions, mostly ‘whys,’ but who doesn’t. People who love have been there, done that. If they were able to survive one or two heartbreaks, why can’t you?

 

 

WTF! A Day In the Life Of Me

It’s a Hard Life (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Home-based got me stuck at home for one year. WTF! Yes, one year. I quit my regular job to study a caregiver course and hope to fly away from this god-forsaken country. That’s an exaggeration. I don’t want to renounce my homeland but financial success in the Philippines is elusive. It gives me the feeling that you have to be a Magna of summa cum laude graduate of Ateneo or UP to become a company CEO.

So, here I am, blogging, hoping to relieve my boredom and stress. It can be fun, home-based work. There’s no heavy traffic, noisy public, no pollution. But I must tell you, there is doom. Check out my schedule.

• 9:00 am – wake up for five minutes and return to sleep
• 10:00 am – what a shame, so I have no choice but to stay awake
• 11:30 am – rise from bed
• 12:00 pm – eat lunch
• 1:00 pm – sit down in front of the computer and warm up
• 2:00 pm – work while listening to the music of — the latest — Queen
• 5:00 pm – rest
• 6:00 pm – eat dinner
• 7:30 pm – 4:00 am – work

To this day, I am still wondering why I whine about the lack of social life, love life and a decent career. These are my choice. I prefer to live in the confines of my room and try to make money. However, I do not see anything wrong with that until I along with a classmate started our OJT. We were assigned to care for a paralyzed senior (89 y/o), single (never been kissed and never been touched), and nearly abandoned.

It was a pity honestly. Seeing her lying in bed for nine years makes me think, ‘is this going to be my future?’

Lola Zeny, as she is called, used to be a history teacher in UP high. She’s good at what she did back then, having been awarded teacher of the year circa 1960(?). But she devoted her life to work to be able to send her nephews and nieces to school. Despite that, these once little critters are nowhere to be found. Two of Lola Zeny’s brother had died and only one was left. We asked about his whereabouts but her carers do not know any updates.

Members of Lola Zeny’s households say she used to be a devil, always irate and arrogant. What do we know? All we saw was time passing by an old woman who I assume was dying to get up again and teach.

I do hope I was not zapped into my future. I better get a life as soon as we recover financially.