You need to read the Security and Encryption FAQ.
It just might save you from unnecessary legal
troubles. (seriously) Use a Posting Tool that
allows for Reposting single sections, and for resuming an
interrupted post.
Both Peck's Power Post or
Power Post 2000
are capable of doing this. Refrain from posting any files again for
at least one week after the last request for parts has been
made.
Just because a couple of downloaders ask for it
is no reason to increase the load on servers.
Avoid the use of the '/', '\', '#" and ' " '
characters in the description. Most posting software adds this to
tell the reader how to assemble the parts of a multipart file. If
you add one, then some reader software will not read the header
correctly, and gets confused.
For example, the following
header
And many newsreaders react to # - the pound sign in a multi part post - best to skip them all together.
I know the answer to a question, post it?
Sure, but always be sure to point the person
to this FAQ.
That's the whole point of having this site,
which is to avoid answering the same series of questions
repeatedly.
Posting Binaries in ABEB*
What might I post in ABEB?
A: Scanned or otherwise created electronic versions of BOOKS.
NO Closed formats! (
More on this)
NO
CD images/CD-based e-books!
NO freeware!
NO shareware!
NO Cracks!
NO Magazines!
NO Programs/Executables!
NO e-book "readers"!
NO Audio files!
NO Comics!
PLEASE don't post anything that
is freely available elsewhere! Games and CD images have their own
newsgroups. Freeware and shareware can be found on the Web.
Direct people there by giving the URL if you think the software is
useful. Direct them to the cracks groups or other source you know
of for the crack to any given program/utility.
Can I start posting as soon as I read this FAQ and learn how my newsreader works?
A: Well, technically you CAN, but too many people do this already. Most people, when they begin, do not have a great deal of stuff to post. Perhaps the best thing to do is respond to requests (you'll see this posted as REQ) from others if you have managed to get pieces they have missed. If you have not been here very long, even if you have something fairly new, you wouldn't know that it was just posted just two days ago. The idea is not to show everyone how much you can post, but to post useful or requested materials. With technology being what it is, many newcomers have DSL or cable modems (some even have access to T1s or better) and can literally flood the groups with posts. All this does is decrease the amount of time the posts stay on the servers, so fewer people get them and more repost requests are generated. If you have a high-speed connection be conscious of the fact that most people here do not, and shorter expire times get everyone agitated. Start SLOWLY. If you are not sure it will be welcomed, wait awhile, or even better yet - ASK THE GROUP. We know that many are anxious to contribute, to pay back the group for what they have been able to get. But another post of Anne McCaffrey or Piers Anthony will not really help. They already get posted a couple of times a week. If you are patient, you will eventually see everything you wanted and more. And you will learn what is needed and what is not. And NEVER post for the first time without first posting to a test group to insure that your settings are adjusted correctly. If you screw up, you will be flamed, and rightfully so for wasting so much bandwidth with a useless binary. Even most long-time regular contributors post to a test group first whenever they upgrade their newsreader.
Should I post shareware or freeware?
A: ABSOLUTELY NOT. Posting
programs is inappropriate. Period. End of discussion.
(instead just post a link to the shareware site).
Should I post <insert specific reader format>?
A: That depends.
The members of ABEB cannot stress enough how often this is topic comes up, or, the strong emotions it receives when it does. So, to clear the air, and put this somewhere more "permanent" we'll post "THE ANSWER" here in the FAQ. (This should help reduce future questions, and avoid unnecessary flamewars.)
For the most part, No. This is, as has been stated repeatedly, generally disliked by the group as a whole. (Though, you'll always see someone claiming that "lots of others" say otherwise. Ignore them. This FAQ has been created BY the *group* after all.) The group, as a whole, would prefer that ANY and ALL posts made *should be* in an OPEN format.
The open formats commonly used are:
Text, HTML, PDF, and RTF
If your e-book requires a specific reader to be able to read it, it is then considered to be a CLOSED (the opposite of 'open', easy eh?) format.
The preferred format is plain text files, closely followed by GOOD HTML/RTF/PDF (for documents containing lots of images, etc.) Simply whipping a file through the converter of your liking is NOT enough justification for you to post it. We've seen far too much of this for there to be any rationale for it. The entire point of these groups is to provide QUALITY e-books that EVERYONE regardless of their OS/hardware can access and READ. Closed/Proprietary formats make this not only impossible, but aggravating to the newcomer as well.
However, it should be said that there are
exceptions to these standards in the group.
Should I post cracks or serial numbers?
A: ABSOLUTELY NOT. This is not
a 'Warez' group. There are plenty of better places for this type of
information, like alt.binaries.cracks (or a similar group).
Requests for cracks should also be made there, not here
(ABEB).
Should I post CD Images/CD-based e-books?
A: ABSOLUTELY NOT. Again, there are groups designed specifically for images. ABEB doesn't have the necessary retention for posts that large.
They should be posted in one of the image groups,
or, alternatively, alt.binaries.misc and a pointer posted in
here.
This group generally deals in very small text/html files of
books.
Not everyone has a CD Recorder, nor the space needed to store a
600+ MB CD Image.
Besides, posting in such large amounts would most certainly get you flamed for being a complete, and mind-staggering moron.
Don't do it. Seriously. You have been warned. (There have been cases where 'flooders' have lost their accounts over this.)
If I only have parts of a larger e-book, should I post what I have with a request for the rest?
A: NO! Do this and and you
will have your head handed to you on a platter!
This is known as a HWIH post (Here's What I Have - fill in
the rest). Do not post partials except to fill a specific request
for those pieces. To do otherwise will simply result in more people
missing the same pieces you are, and that generates more requests.
But even more than that it is an egregious waste of valuable
bandwidth which clogs up the group with worthless binaries that
contribute to pushing complete posts off the servers and shortening
expire times for everyone including you. If you are missing pieces
of an especially large e-book, simply request the parts you are
missing. HWIH posts are THE supreme irritant
for almost everyone in any binary group and is an excellent
way to be completely ignored by everyone (after they're done
roasting you) who could have been willing to help you.
I found this really cool <something> at <website>, can I post it in ABEB?
NO.
PLEASE avoid posting materials
found freely on the 'Net or Websites. Usenet
is a limited resource, and thus, we make an effort to use it
wisely.
ABEB does not have the retention of larger binary groups,
and thus, if something can be found elsewhere, post a
LINK not the
material!
Is it okay to repost files I've downloaded?
Yes, but make sure you are not repeating very recent or tired posts. If you only visit occasionally or if you're new around here, be aware of what has been posted before. Also, plan on sticking around for a week or two after posting to answer any questions about your posts.
How about a bunch of small files posted as one big zip file?
Keep them separate! Why should anyone
be asked to download 50 files in order to only get one?
Most steady readers would probably already have
at least some of the books. Also, you only increase the
likelihood that your post will not be propagated correctly by doing
this. Let everyone pick and choose from individual
posts.
Should I post a description?
ALWAYS. Either an nfo file or a text message in the 00 part. It will cut down on the messages to answer.
To zip or not?
There are some pros and cons to using
compression:
If the file is not highly compressed, (like
TEXT or HTML) the zip file may be considerably smaller, so that's a
plus.
The con is that there will always be some doofus who
hasn't/won't/can't read the FAQ, and thus, will be complaining
about how they "can't open it".
Ignore them, and always try to use some form of compression with your posts.
What program to Post With?
There are two programs worth your time and energy to install and learn. Both of these programs offer two major advantages over Agent posting, and both are kept on site here at the FAQs.
What's the best size for individual parts?1. You can restart an aborted post at the section that failed, preventing you from having to cancel the lost post and start from the beginning. Not only a big time saver, but a bandwidth saver as well.2. You can repost single section requests (i.e. part 14/32) rather than having to repost the whole thing. Now if only you could get your newbie downloaders to read the download section on how to join parts!
The first is Peck's Power Post v.6b! It was written by ABME caper Templeton Peck to solve time-out problems. It can restart timed out posts, and permits reposting individual parts. Read the help file and feel free to ask questions in ABMED if you're not sure of something. Check out the PPP posting tips section for more info.
The second is a Major revision of an older program known as Auto Post. Auto Post users quickly abandoned it for Peck's due to numerous shortcomings. This revision is known as PowerPost2000, and appears to have adopted many of the improved features of Peck's, and then improved on them. A few tips on PP2k are here.
Around 6500 to 7500 lines seems to work best. Though, some servers are dropping anything above 200k. Anything larger than 7,500 and parts will start getting dropped in the pipe. Anything smaller then 3,200 and there would be far too many individual articles, which contributes to clogging up the servers.
How do I cancel my post?
You do that with your newsreader. Stop the upload if it's still in progress. Retrieve headers, and find the post you want to cancel. Check your newsreader's command menus for Cancel Usenet Post. In Agent, it's in the Post menu. Send a cancel for each part. (See the Tips section for more information on how to cancel posts with Agent). Be aware that Newsguy and some other servers don't accept cancels, so please thread a warning to the post stating that it's been stopped and canceled.
Should I crosspost?
Be aware that cross posting is one of the
criteria used in Usenet to determine whether a post is spam.
However, if there is a particularly high demand
for what you're offering, Xposting to the appropriate sub-group
is acceptable.
Is it easy to post large binaries? Absolutely.
If you're not up to writing your own Perl auto posting script, there's a great C program called xmitBin which will take care of all your binary posting needs (it'll even do e-mail!). Originally written by Jim Howard (the last maintainer of the ABP FAQ), this program will auto post, customize headers, post individual parts, and whatever else you can think of with respect to posting binaries. It can be invoked directly from the shell prompt, shell scripts, cron, other C programs, etc. It's highly flexible and configurable, and comes with *complete* source code.
Use this patch ( ftp://ftp.io.com/pub/usr/neutrino/linux/usenet/xmitBin-1.9.diff.gz) to optimize the Makefile for Linux/gcc, and enhance xmitBin's anonymity functions and large, multipart binary posting capability.
Newspost - type "newspost -h" to see available options and a couple examples. Newspost automatically appends the name of the binary attachment you are posting and which part of that file you are posting. For example, if you use the commandline:
$ newpost -s "This is my favorite album" *.mp3
The subject lines posted would be:
This is my favorite album - Track01.mp3
(1/2)
This is my favorite album - Track01.mp3 (2/2)
This is my favorite album - Track02.mp3 (01/17)
This is my favorite album - Track02.mp3 (02/17)
This is my favorite album - Track02.mp3 (03/17)
etc...
Nothing is appended to the subject line when the -t option is used.
Be sure to read the Posting to Usenet with 'newspost' HOW-TO
I expanded the PPP window to full
screen to post, and while posting it catered.
Now I can't shrink it again, and I'm having
time-out problems.
You must have crashed and/or rebooted while PPP was active? If you do that while PPP is minimized, you will have problems too. If you have Microsoft Access, try this:
1. Open up newsrc.mdb in the directory where you installed PPP.With Peck's I can't post. I get "Article 1/15 was not accepted by the server. (441 Can't parse "Date" header) 441".
2. Select the table called prefs and double click on it
3. Look for the field called windowstate and change whatever values are there to 2775,765,6540,10140,0
4. Close access and then try PPP again.
PPP doesn't work with the European settings for time and date. Just go to the regional settings in control panel and change the setting to English (US)
PPP hangs up at 4% of a file, and stops. I have to end task to close. A reinstall did not solve it.
Weird-assed bug and this was the only solution found that worked. Anything you do to change the file size should remove this problem. If you zip the file, just add a line or two to your text file. If it's an unzipped I often have clipped one frame off of it, and it changes the offset that Peck's or agent uses and this somehow lets the file go through properly.
When I run Peck's it goes to
the task bar like it has been minimized. I try and maximize but
nothing happens. When I close it by right clicking, a
little window says "run-time error 91" and "object
variable or with block variable not set".
You'll need to reinstall the
program.
1. Make a copy of the newsrc file,With PPP is it possible to have the follow-up set different for every group that you post to? You would have to change it every time ... unless... you keep separate .mdb files for each group/file set. The mdb keeps the prefs for that post.
2. Then, Uninstall it completely,
3. Reinstall the program....and set up with default settings.
4. Copy over your newsrc file.
How do I repost a single part of a post?
If you still have the original post showing, this is no problem:
1. Highlight the original postWill PPP will work with cable modem?
2. Right click
3. Select Repost
4. Select "Only One Section"
5. Enter the section number being requested.
6. Fire away. (Hint: you might want to Change the header)
It should work just fine with its default settings. If not, check which port your ISP requires you to connect to their Usenet server.
How do I repost a single part of a
post?
If you still have the original post showing,
this is no problem:
1. Select the file
2. Right click and a pop-up menu appears.
3. Use the "task properties"option & follow the instructions.
Agent sees all the posting done by PP2K as separate Parts
If $F isn't the LAST parm on the
Subject Line in PP2K - Agent won't see the part identifiers and
combine them into one header. Just add $F as the LAST parm
(even if you've used it previously - that's ok) and it will post in
a form that Agent recognizes correctly. Versions after 24b should
have this problem cleared up.
|
01.) Limit your posts to 35 e-Books/megabytes per 24 hours (whichever one comes first) |
|
02.) Make good use of the 0-(information)file and include all pertinent info |
|
03.) Use informative subject headers that are not too long - avoid using more than 80 characters! |
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04.) Check your e-books before posting them. (Or label them as UC for "Uncorrected") |
|
05.) Test post in the test groups ONLY (alt.test for text, alt.binaries.test for binaries) |
|
06.) Crosspost into the appropriate subject and group (when applicable) |
|
07.) Alert the requestor if you are responding to a request. i.e. "ATTN: <person>" |
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08.) Wait 5 days before reposting (give your post time to propagate AND expire before posting again) |
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09.) Cancel your "oops" if you do mess up. (see the tips section for advice on how to do this) |
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10.) The only acceptable binaries for posting
are e-books, and their associated
images/diagrams. |