Glossary
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Glossary of Terms
Includes NewsBin specific, Internet related, and just plain silly definitions of words. These words are defined specifically from the standpoint of a NewsBin User. Other definitions for the same words most likely exist. If you would like to contribute to this list, or request that a word or NewsBin feature be defined, send your term (and definition if you know it) to Dexter.
Contents |
A
Article
Another word for Message
Auto Headers
A feature of NewsBin (V5 series) that automatically downloads new headers, allowing you to have up to date headers at all times.
Automatic Download
a feature of NewsBin (V4 Series) that automatically downloads every binary attachment to every Post in every selected group. It does abide by any filters set and continues to download until the last group is processed, unless Recycle Servers mode is selected, in which case it will start over after the amount of time specified in the Restart Delay.
Automatic Startup
a feature that tells NewsBin (V4 Series) to start downloading as soon as the program is started. Works the same as hitting the Start Header Download button. Works in conjunction with Automatic Download mode.
Automatic Shutdown
a feature that tells NewsBin (V4 Series) to close itself after the last file of the last post in the last selected group is downloaded. Works in conjunction with Automatic Download mode.
B
Bandwidth
Refers to the capacity of an internet connection in terms of amount of data that can be transferred in a defined period of time. For example, the raw bandwidth of some cable internet connections if 5 Mbps (megabits per second). Used in a sentence: "NewsBin will eat all your available bandwidth for breakfast and will beg you for more."
Bandwidth Limiter
Feature of NewsBin under the Setup menu on the Network tab the tells NewsBin not to eat all your bandwidth and to save some for your other applications. The setting is set in bits per second so to ask NewsBin to only use half of your 5Mbps bandwidth, set it to 2500000 (2,500,000 bits per second or 2.5Mbps).
Beta
a version of software that is currently undergoing development but runs well enough to be subjected to a few brave souls. NewsBin releases typically spend close to a year as beta software. The cycle starts with a core set of hardened NewsBin users and then it is made available to the general public for wider beta testing.
C
Chunk
Refers to a decoded Part, typically for Multi-part posts. NewsBin saves chunks in the CHUNKS folder until all parts of the post are downloaded, then they are reassembled and deleted. Chunks are not deleted for incomplete posts or if the option to save chunks is enabled.
If the Cache Chunks option is set, Newsbin keep chunks in memory and writes to disk when it is time to reassemble the file or if the cache fills up.
Compact View
Compact view is a setting available in Post lists and the Search tab. When checked (turned on) Newsbin displays a single line for the many parts of a multi-part post. This simplifies browsing through lists of posts on Groups where the content regularly exceeds the limit of the NNTP protocol. When you choose to download a Compact View line, Newsbin will select all of the related parts and process the repair (PAR) files automatically.
Connection
An established communication with a server. Most servers allow multiple (but limited) simultaneous connections. NewsBin supports this by allowing you to set the maximum connections allowed per server. Each connection will be used to download a post (V4 series) or all available connections are used to download parts of posts (V5 series).
Connection Limit
The maximum number of connections allowed to a given server at any one time. The maximum number Newsbin allows is 100 connections.
Crash
The application exits unexpectedly, often with an error message generated by either NewsBin, or Windows.
D
Display Age
The setting (in days) that controls how deep into your stored headers Newsbin will display when you open a the Post List for a Newsgroup. This setting can be adjusted at a global, group or filter level.
Download Age
The setting (in days) that controls how deep into the News server history you want when downloading headers. Default setting is 30 days. This setting can be adjusted at a global, group or filter level.
Download Limit
The maximum amount of data a server will let you retrieve over a period of time.
Download Path
The path or folder where Newsbin places the resulting downloaded files. Download path is a configuration setting that can by customized at the Global and Newsgroup level. There are also special folder naming options for special types of files (NZB and MP3 files). Download path can also be overridden when selecting files to download. The Download Path used for any file in indicated in Download and Files tabs.
E
Enabled
When enabled, things are considered for use.
F
File
The end product, what gets saved on your Hard Drive after all the hard work of downloading, decoding, and recombining is done.
Fill
A Part or File re-posted after the original posting for the purposes of making a post complete. In Version 5, this also refers to an attribute that can be set for a server. A Fill Server is only used if no other servers in your list have a specific post.
Filters
These prevent posts that do not match them from being displayed, just like an oil filter stops stuff that isn't oil from going through.
Freeze
See Stall
FTR
See First Time Records. Deprecated, See Display Age
G
GIF
Graphical Interchange Format (GIF) - Invented by CompuServe for efficient transmission of graphics. The format can only support 256 colors, or 8 bits. The newer revision, 89a, allows for multiple images in one file to simulate animation. Unisys owns the patent to a form of compression used in GIF files, and thus you may want to use the newer and completely free PNG format instead of using GIF files.
Groups
see Newsgroups
H
Header
This is the top portion of a message that includes the subject, date, poster email address, and other information to uniquely identify the post to NewsBin. You can download headers to see what posts are available in the newsgroup or you can use the Internet Search feature to see headers related to your search from our Usenet Index.
NewsBin combines related headers onto one line in the cases where they represent a Multi-part post.
Hang
See Stall
I
J
JPEG
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) - This is a method of storing graphic images. It was specifically made for storing more than 256-color images. It compresses pictures much better than the GIF way (GIF is meant to store graphics of 256 colors or less). You can also set the amount of compression you would like for the graphic; however, the higher the compression the less quality the picture has. On the down side, even at 100% quality (or 0% compression) the graphic is not perfect. JPEG files use the extension ".jpg."
K
L
Lock Up
The entire system will quit responding to user input, often even preventing the mouse cursor from moving.
M
Master Splitter
A program used to split files up into smaller pieces by simply chopping the original up. They usually end with numerical extensions like .001, .002, etc. NewsBin can combine these files using the Combine Posts feature.
Message
Very similar to an E-Mail, a message is the base of all communications over UseNet. It consists of Headers, and a body which may or may not contain binary information (ie: part of a file).
Message ID
Every Message has a globally unique (news server independent) identifier called Message ID. With this ID, NewsBin can download a Part without knowing what group its from or knowing the specific Article Number (or Record Number), which is news server dependent. Many usenet indexing services now perform searches and provide search results in a Message ID file called .NZB. NewsBin Version 4.3 and above can download posts by feeding it an NZB file.
MP3
extension portion of a filename for a file containing music. MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3) is a compression standard for audio. It enables compression of CD-audio by about 10x, depending on the bit and sampling rate. It does not stand for MPEG-3, but rather it is the audio part of the MPEG-1 audio / video compression standard.
MPA
See Max Post Age
MPG
extension portion of a filename for a file containing a movie. MPG is a compressed format created by the Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG)
Multi-part post
a post of a (typically) large File that was uploaded to a news server by breaking it into equal parts and stored as many separate Messages using a similar subject heading.
multi-threaded
Multi-Threaded - Some operating systems allow multiple parts, or threads, of a single process to run simultaneously. These OSs are referred to as multi-threaded. UNIX is a multi-threaded OS, as is Windows XP
N
New
In the v4 series, this would apply to a Post containing any Parts which did not exist on the server the last time you downloaded Headers from that group.
In v5, posts are considered New from the time their headers are downloaded, until the time all their parts are explicitly marked as read.
NewsBin
Also written as Newsbin. Focuses on downloading binaries from Usenet. Does not even pretend to read text posts or do posting well. It does allow you to handle the largest newsgroups and the largest binary posts on Usenet.
Newsgroup
Or just Groups - categories that organize where certain content is posted. For example alt.binaries.pictures.autos should only have pictures of cars in it. Groups containing the word "binaries" typically contain posts with encoded attachments representing binary files such as images, music, movies, or programs. You manage the groups you subscribe to in the Add Groups dialog.
O
P
Part
The binary section of a single Message that makes up a portion, or all of, a Post. Sometimes used to refer to the entire message, and not just the binary section.
Part may also be used to refer to a singe file from a multi-file RAR archive.
PNG
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) - PNG is an image format that uses lossless compression, similar to the GIF format. How the PNG format differs however, is that the GIF format involves licensing LZH compression standard from Unisys. PNG is a public domain format that was designed to replace GIFs. Support for PNG is currently included in the most recent versions of Internet Explorer, Navigator, and the Opera browser.
POS
acronym meaning "Piece of Shit". Commonly used as reference to non-NT based windows operating systems such as Windows 95/98 and ME or to software that just doesn't do what it should or is very unreliable.
Post
Can be used as a noun or a verb. It is either a specific representation of information available on the news server, or the act of putting information on the server. For example "I just downloaded a post that had a great picture of the new 'Vette" or "Can you please post a picture of a new 'vette?".
Messages have a size limit. If a large File is posted, it needs to be chopped up into smaller Parts and each part posted separately. Each part has a unique subject with special numbering to indicate it is part of a set. This is called a Multi-part post. NewsBin automatically combines these so you don't have to.
Posts and Messages may also be referred to as Headers which would not be entirely correct. A Header is just the top part of a post.
Post ID
See Message ID
Poster
person who Posts content to a usenet newsgroup. Identified in NewsBin as the email address supplied NewsBin allows you to filter out certain posters if need be.
Post List
The tab that opens when you choose one of several options for viewing the post headers of a group or 'group of groups'. A post list shows all posts and has find and filtering capabilities.
A Post List is the tab that opens when you view a group. If you right-click a group in the Groups tab and select Show Posts, a tab will open with the name of the group in the tab, and a listing of posts for that group.
Q
Quade
as known in the NewsBin Forums. This is the author of NewsBin.
R
rar
rar (.rar) - This is the file extension of a type of compressed file created by the WinRAR program by RarSoft. It is considered by many to be more versatile than other compression programs on the market such as WinZip.
Record Number
Similar to a Message ID, each Message on a news server is assigned a unique Record Number. Unlike Message IDs though, these Record Numbers are for exclusive use of the server they are on, and the same message is unlikely to have the same Record Number on more than one server.
Recycle Servers
a feature that tells NewsBin (Version 4 series) to start over from the beginning of your list of selected groups when it is done. Waits for the amount of time specified in the Restart Delay. Only works in Automatic Download mode.
Restart Delay
a setting that tells Recycle Servers mode how long to wait before starting over (Version 4 series).
Robot
software that can be configured to perform iterative tasks that a common human would become weary of. For example searching newsgroups for certain type of file, downloading the files, and decoding them such as, well, NewsBin of course!
S
Sequential
Occurring one after the other.
Simultaneous
Occurring at the same time.
Signature Cache
A list of signatures for all files downloaded. NewsBin uses this as its duplicate detection mechanism. Version 4 series use signature.dbm. Version 5 uses signature.db3.
Size
The total amount of data to be downloaded. Not to be confused with the amount of data that ends up on your hard drive.
Spool
The folder in which all the Headers for a group are stored.
SSL
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is used to encrypt data between you and your news server. The same technology is used for secure websites [HTTP->HTTPS], [NNTP->NNTPS].
Stackable
In order to pass the filters, the item must pass all of the filters. No one takes precedent.
Stall
The application quits responding to user input, portions of the display may not draw, CPU or HD usage are 100%. The application will recover from this state if given enough time.
Storage Age
The setting (in days) that controls how long Newsbin will retain headers from a group in your database. The default setting is 200 days(500 days in versions 5.55 and later). The setting in the Options-Setup dialog and applies to all groups.
Subject
the portion of a Message's header that is the poster's description of the content that was posted. Typically includes the name of any attached binary file but it is sometimes incorrect.
T
U
Usenet
A network of servers that share information with each other. Some servers are available through your Internet provider but the best ones are run by companies who sell subscriptions to access their servers like Astraweb.
Usenet existed before the Web, created in 1979 at Duke University. It was originally used for students from different schools to communicate with each other in a way so other academics with access could read and contribute to different topics. These topics were organized in sections called Newsgroups. Back then, the Internet existed as ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), connecting Universities and government facilities together. Usenet was publically documented in 1983 with RFC 850. The protocol evolved to be called Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) and was submitted to become a standard in 1986 as RFC 977.
Usenet is text based and was not designed to handle files. Over the years, Usenet expanded out of academia and people figured out how to post binary content (files like spreadsheets, pictures, music, etc) to Usenet. To do this, the files had to be encoded so it looked like text to the Usenet news servers. This increased the file sizes by 30% and required encoding by the poster and decoding by the receiver. NewsBin was written in 1995 as an automated way to download and decode these files. In 2001, a more efficient encoding scheme called yEnc was developed that only added 3% overhead. Today over a terabyte of data per day is posted to Usenet.
UUEncode
An encoding scheme that converts binary files into a format that can be accepted by systems that can only process ASCII characters. It increases the size of the original file by 30% in it's encoded format. This was the primary encoding format for posting files to Usenet until the advent of yEnc encoding.
V
Virus
a self-distributing program. Usually designed to cause harm to infected computers.
W
X
Y
yEnc
An encoding scheme that has replaced UUEncoding as the encoding scheme of choice for posting binary content to Usenet. While UUEncode has around 30% overhead, yEnc is much more efficient with only about 3% overhead. This means that binary content downloaded from Usenet is actually 30% bigger than the actual file if it is UUEncoded.
More information about yEnc is available on the Official yEnc Website.
Z
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