Thanks to all that contributed to this document. ************************************************************** ALT.BINARIES.MULTIMEDIA.EROTICA Frequently Asked Questions Version 3.2B Revised November 25, 1998 ************************************************************** Also available for download from: http://extra.newsguy.com/~theprof/Abmefaq.zip or http://extra.newsguy.com/~theprof/Abmefaq.txt WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS FAQ ==================================== 1. This pre-HTML version is intended for frequent posting, so I've *tried* to keep it short. Apologies if it sounds a little preachy or curt. 2. Since multipart binaries are advanced Usenet, and since multimedia is advanced porn, there's a lot to know about ABME. This FAQ attempts to cover all the basics, but not exhaustively. Outside sources of further information are listed at the end. 3. There's no need to read the entire FAQ, how about that? Each section or Q&A is coded "N" (newbies only, including ALL AOLers!), "E" (of interest to everybody) or "T" (techies only). Some of the basic stuff is marked (E) because everyone will want to know about new tools or what's unique to ABME or large binaries groups. Just please be honest with yourself about your level of experience. If you aren't successfully downloading and playing tons of video clips, you need to read the newbie material. Of course, if you're quite experienced, you are welcome to read it as well. You just might have a better answer to some of the questions, in which case... 4. Feedback is more than welcome. If you have something to contribute - particularly for Mac/Unix/Linux users - please post your comments in alt.binaries.multimedia.erotica.d (preferred) or alt.binaries.multimedia.d. Please don't email the poster, since the FAQ is a group effort. Besides, open discussion is what Usenet is all about. 5. Unless a specific download site is indicated, the software recommended in this FAQ can be obtained from major software archives, such as http://www.tucows.com, www.macorchard.com, www.winfiles.com, www.shareware.com, or www.download.com. Rather than repeat these URLs throughout, they are indicated by "archive sites." With rare exceptions, DO NOT ask for or post software in the ABM newsgroups. 6. Hope this helps!!! Have fun discovering, and see you in the d group. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTENTS ======== I. USENET BASICS A. How It Works B. Netiquette in Large Binaries Newsgroups C. Spam and Scams D. The Myth of Anonymity II. ABOUT ABME AND RELATED NEWSGROUPS III. DOWNLOADING A. The Posts Explained B. News Servers and Known Problems C. Newsreaders D. Decoding Offline E. Missing Parts F. Connectivity Problems G. What NOT to Download H. Kill Filters IV. VIEWING YOUR DOWNLOADS A. Extracting Zip and Other Archive Files B. Video File Types, Players and Codecs C. Error Messages and Other Problems D. Joining, Editing and Converting Video Clips V. POSTING A. Posting Questions, Answers, Comments, Requests B. Posting Binaries in ABME/ABNME/ABMU VI. CAPTURING AND EDITING VIDEO CLIPS A. The Basics B. Capping Glossary VII. LINKS AND ADDITIONAL HELP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I. USENET BASICS (N=Newbies Only; E=Everybody; T=Techies Only) ================= A. How It Works ---------------- [N] AOLers, for your info: Usenet is the correct name for what America Online calls just "newsgroups." The reasons for AOL shying away from the term Usenet will become clear later in this FAQ. Each part of the Internet was designed to carry certain types of data; that is, they use different "transfer protocols." For instance: o The Worldwide Web is HTTP, short for HyperText Transfer Protocol. (Hypertext refers to the links you see in web pages and help files.) Web pages can contain text, videos, music, java scripts - just about anything. o FTP is File Transfer Protocol. Any type of file can be accepted by FTP servers. o Email servers use SMTP, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, limited to ASCII text. Ah, but you can email binary attachments, you say? Read on! Usenet articles are sent from one news server to another much like email, via Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP). The articles I post to my server are forwarded to my server's "mailing list" of other news servers, which then send the articles to their list of servers, and so on. Usenet articles ripple out from the originating site, taking varying amounts of time and various routes to travel to you. Since posted articles are treated like email, Usenet was never meant to handle binary material; just ASCII text. To work around this, early net gods devised ways of converting (encoding) binaries into text for posting to "bulletin boards" (the ancestors of Usenet), and then back to their original binary form (decoding) after downloading. Many encoding schemes are available, but UUencode/UUdecode is the accepted Usenet standard. A good newsreader can detect binaries and perform all of the encoding/decoding for you. Many email programs do the same, enabling you to send binary files via SMTP, converted into ASCII. Pieces of information traveling over the Internet are called packets. Mail and news servers have packet size limits, which vary widely. Many binary files (programs, sounds, multimedia) are quite large when encoded. In order to handle this situation, Usenet provides that large articles can be broken into several pieces and linked together. We call these multipart posts. More about all this later on in section III. DOWNLOADING. B. Netiquette in Large Binaries Newsgroups ------------------------------------------- Recurring themes across all large binaries newsgroups, which operate very differently from picture groups: [N] 1. LOOK FOR A FAQ before you post even a single question. In most newsgroups that provide them, the FAQ is posted only about twice a month, so... [N] 2. LURK AND LEECH for at least a few weeks before posting anything, including questions. Find out what's welcome or taboo first. Observing a while will also help you avoid the mistake of duplicating very recent or tired posts by rushing to contribute without knowing the group's history. [N] 3. RTFM (read the freakin' manual). Learn how to use your computer, software and basic Internet tools like search engines. While others are willing to help out, don't expect to be spoonfed. Even if you're not a newbie, you can get up to speed on any area of the Net that is new ground to you with these free resources: o On the Web, start with: http://www.newbie.net (for an eye-opener, take the clueless newbie self test); http://www.newbie-u.com; http://www.netlingo.com; read your Internet Service Provider's FAQs. o In Usenet: news.answers and alt.answers (tons of FAQs in both). Also, find out if your provider hosts any "local" newsgroups for members needing tech help. [E] 4. LOOK FOR A DISCUSSION GROUP. It usually has the same name as the binaries group, with the addition of a "d" on the end; for example, the official discussion group for ABME is alt.binaries.multimedia.erotica.d. NEVER post chat in a binaries group if there is a d group!!! In most binaries-only groups, you will either be ignored or flamed into oblivion because the chat posts prevent the binaries from coming through intact. [N] 5. DON'T SHOUT unless you mean it, and then you better be right, eh? In posts and email, THIS IS SHOUTING. Turn off that caps lock. [E] 6. CONSERVE BANDWIDTH, loosely defined as the amount of information that can flow through a channel. All Usenet resources are limited. The ever-increasing demands on news servers have led to tons of lost posts, shorter retention times and dropped newsgroups. Wasting bandwidth is the Usenet equivalent of littering -- there's really no excuse for it and it hurts the whole community, especially in terms of allocating resources. Bandwidth wasters are: o Reposting files that are still on the servers. o Posting software that is available via the Web or FTP. o Off-topic posts, including chat posted to a binaries- only group. o Posting more than the readers can reasonably download, which leads to requests for reposts. o Posting questions when the answers are already right in front of you. Read part 00 of the binary posts! o Multiple, simultaneous posts of the same request. o "Me too" posts (well... unless it's fan mail ). o Excessive cross-posting. o Flame wars. Take it to email or shut up. Your opinion doesn't need to be on thousands of servers worldwide. o Trolling, which leads to spamming (see below). o Ridiculously long signatures. o HTML attachments, especially for signatures or simple text messages. Spare us, will ya? C. Spam and Scams ------------------ [E] Responding to spam makes you a spammer, too (surprise!). Besides, you don't think those mass advertisers are actually reading the newsgroups, do you? Replying to their posts is the equivalent of talking back to a recording on the telephone. There's no need to post a spam alert, either. Anyone with a few hours of Usenet experience can recognize it as well as you can. [E] Another type of spam is an off-topic discussion that just won't die out, especially if YOU perpetuate it. These usually start with a "troll" -- an inflammatory or controversial remark intended to lure responses and clog up the system. [E] If you're in a fighting mood, learn what you can do about spam by reading news.admin.net-abuse.usenet and by searching for "antispam" on the web or in DejaNews, an archive for Usenet posts (http://www.dejanews.com. The domain name is a play on the French "déjà vu" which means "already seen.") [N] "Make money fast" pyramid schemes are not only illegal, they're outright stupid, since you have to post your name and address in order to participate. Expect a lot of trouble but zero cash. These posts also qualify for instant cancellation by Usenet administrators. [E] We know of no FTP sites offering fair trades of video clips or any other types of binaries. Expect to give and not receive. Best case, your email address will merely end up on tons of junkmailing lists. D. The Myth of Anonymity ------------------------- [N] There's enough information in the headers of your posts for the authorities to identify you, even if you use a fake name and email address. [N] To the wise guys: You'd be amazed at how cooperative your Internet Service Provider can be about closing an account and sharing information with law enforcement agencies. They'd rather lose your small fee than harbor a criminal or troublemaker. In Usenet, behave like you're in a public place and under scrutiny, because you are. [N] To the good guys: Since the "information superhighway" is public, you may encounter the same type of population mix you'd meet on any busy cosmopolitan thoroughfare, including con artists, thieves and psychopaths. You'd be wise to keep your real identity out of Usenet. No need to make it easy for them. II. ABOUT ABME AND RELATED NEWSGROUPS (N=Newbies; E=Everybody; ====================================== T=Techies Only) [E] ABME is several things: 1. It's a binaries newsgroup providing reviews via video captures ("vid caps" or just "caps" for short) of adult films. It's a "try before you buy or rent" concept. 2. Some of the posts are original animations, created specially for posting to ABME as free entertainment. 3. Some of the posts are from readers' home videos, so be kind in your remarks! Critiques for these are not warranted, but emailed cheers from the sidelines are usually welcome. 4. With few exceptions, ABME cappers and reposters are NOT associated with commercial web sites or video vendors. They volunteer their own time, money and effort to produce the files you download. The point is, they don't owe you anything since it's all free to you. Download what you like and pass up what you don't like or can't view. 5. Since the posts are free and voluntary, you the downloader have an obligation to fulfill your part of the transaction. If your current news server is inadequate, that means subscribing to a better one or being satisfied with what you get. It also means acquiring the skills and software you need to view the material the way it is offered, "as is." 6. If your system is not compatible with some of the videos, please don't whine to the contributors. Upgrade, or pass up what you can't use or, better yet, store it for the day you can. As mentioned previously, this is advanced stuff and your computer may not be ready for all of it, but there's usually something available for everyone. 7. Video posts from commercial sites are quite welcome, but ads without multimedia contributions are spam, as are all picture posts in ABME. Readers, please don't encourage Usenet abuse by patronizing spammers' sites. 8. ABME and related newsgroups are for adults, by adults and feature adults. Kids and pedos alike, get lost! Okay, any questions? [E] Q: Yeah. What do you mean by "related newsgroups"? A: There's more to ABME than just ABME. Currently there are 2 binaries-only newsgroups, 3 for discussion and one "mixed mode" in the ABME family. (Also see section V. POSTING.) If your server doesn't carry one or more of the following, please ask your newsmaster to do so: alt.binaries.multimedia.erotica (ABME, also called the e group) - binaries only - Essentially for adult videos. Please go elsewhere to gab or to post pictures, sounds, software or anything else that's not erotic multimedia. alt.binaries.multimedia.d (ABMD, also called the d group, but see ABMED below) - discussion - Actually belongs to alt.binaries.multimedia, a NON-erotica binaries group. Chat related to multimedia, downloading and other technical topics is acceptable here, but we're trying to move the ABME-specific talk to our own, new d group. ABMD is carried by most servers. ABMED is still unavailable in places. alt.binaries.multimedia.erotica.d (ABMED, the correct d group) - discussion - The official d group for ABME and the proper place to post questions, comments or requests related to ABME. Also, along with the FAQ, the right place to look for answers or news before you even post. Still not on AOL. Members, please hammer your newsmaster! In the meantime, use ABMD. alt.binaries.multimedia.help (ABMH) - discussion - Created to attract people who might search for "help" groups or who don't know that "d" groups are for discussion, to give them an alternative to posting in ABME or ABM, and it works. They post questions in an uncluttered group and get answers they can actually find. alt.binaries.multimedia.utilities (ABMU) - binaries and discussion - Originally intended as a place to discuss software, but it's acceptable to post hard-to-find, small utilities here. If it's available on the web, however, please post just the URL, not the file! ABMU should not be confused with warez or cracks groups. Also, use your common sense about downloading potential trouble. Don't accept executables from strangers, and learn how to scan for viruses. See III.G. What NOT to Download. alt.binaries.nospam.multimedia.erotica (ABNME) - binaries only, retromoderated - Created 2/98, brand new. The name ought to repel spammers, and the founders promise to cancel any that seeps in. If the newsgroup works out, expect to see more cross-posting to ABNME and perhaps a complete migration at some point. (By the way, if ABNME looks empty to you, it might be your cross-post filters at work.) The d group, FAQ and guidelines are the same as for ABME, but see section V.B. Posting Binaries in ABME/ABNME/ABMU for more info. [E] Q: Sheesh. Okay, tell me again - what goes where? A: Erotic multimedia posts go in ABME and/or ABNME. Utilities go in ABMU, only if necessary. Any kind of chat goes into ABMED, ABMD or ABMH. [E] Q: What qualifies as multimedia? A: Photos, sounds, and drawings are all SINGLE media and therefore not acceptable in ABME since there are other newsgroups dedicated to those formats. Moving pictures or pictures with sound or animations are MULTImedia. Therefore, erotic video clips, anime and slideshow presentations with sound are ABME material. [E] Q: What qualifies as erotica? A: Here's another recurring theme: Adult entertainment featuring adults doing adult stuff. We don't want to see the Budweiser frogs tonguing a beer truck or naked babies dancing, but if the babe is 18+ and dances out of some clothes... :P) Softcore, hardcore and erotic comedy clips are all welcome. Just label clearly, please. [E] Q: Is ABME moderated? A: No, and it's not practical or ultimately desirable to do so. ABNME is RETROmoderated, solely for the purpose of cancelling spam. [E] Q: Then who runs ABME? A: Technically, no one, although there's a good-sized group of contributors and readers who safeguard it through both individual and united efforts. That doesn't mean we agree on everything. The ABM* newsgroups are a free public forum with thousands of participants. [E] Q: Well, then what's with all the rules? A: They are merely time-tested practices for keeping the newsgroups healthy, pleasant and available. It might help to think of the posters as our hosts who are spending their own time, money and effort to provide us with free entertainment. If they ask us to do things a certain way, let's at least give them that courtesy. Collectively, they have many years of Usenet experience. That ought to count for a lot with newbies. [E] Q: Is there an ABME FTP site where I can get video clips or multimedia utilities? A: Ah, wouldn't that be nice? But, no, for both financial and legal reasons, as well as your own security. You're much better off getting software from established archive sites or the author's page. If someone announces an FTP site offering "ABME" material, use it at your own risk. [E] Q: Is there an official IRC channel where I can talk with ABME posters? A: Yes, and the best time to find experienced people there is late evening, Eastern US/Canada time. The channel is #abme&d on DALnet. Currently the recommended server is Santa Clara, CA: spider.ca.us.dal.net. (Sorry AOLers, you can't get to DALnet from there.) Warning: Unlike Usenet, we can and do ban troublemakers, kids and boors from the channel. No file trading permitted, but bring beer, questions and a sense of humor. [E] There are also some very important guidelines about what's acceptable in ABME in section V. POSTING, some of which is for techies only. Please look it over anyway, just so you know what's what. III. DOWNLOADING (N=Newbies Only; E=Everybody; T=Techies Only) ================ A. The Posts Explained ------------------------ [E] Q: I can't figure out some of the subject headers in ABME. What do all those abbreviations mean? A: Some of the more common ones are defined below. For details on the video formats and codecs, see section IV. VIEWING YOUR DOWNLOADS. a or an anal AVI AVI video format bj blow job CinePak Radius Cinepak codec is required cs cum shot dp double penetration f female fac facial cum shot gb gang bang gs golden shower I.263 I.263 codec is required IR?? the specified Intel Indeo Video codec (IR32, IR43, IR50, etc.) is required m male MOV QuickTime video format MPG or MPEG MPEG video format nopw file is not password protected (see section IV.A. Extracting... Archives) o oral pw password protected (see section IV.A. Extracting... Archives) QT QuickTime video format reg regular male/female sex RM Real Media streaming video format s or snd sound tf tit fuck VIV Vivo streaming video format ws water sports zip compressed archive containing the type of file indicated in the header [N] Q: What do those fractions in the subject header mean? A: Large binaries need to be split up into multiple, linked parts for posting. The fractions indicate the part number. For instance 5/32 is part 5 of a 32-part file. You need all 32 parts available on your server to successfully download the video. (See section III.E. Missing Parts.) [N] Q: What does it mean if there are two different fractions in a header? A: If there's more than one n/n expression in the header, the first usually indicates the how many files are in a series, such as diddle_a.avi, diddle_b.avi and so on. Please note, Free Agent (and perhaps some other newsreaders) will choke on these "false fractions" so posters are requested to kindly refrain from using them. Agent handles them just fine, though. If you have problems, retrieve the message bodies individually, then select all the parts and use Manually Decode Binary Attachments to force Free Agent to join the parts correctly. [E] Q: What's a 0/n (or 0/XX or 00) part and is it important? A: Oooh, yeah! It's important alright. That's the beginning of the multipart post where the contributor includes a text message for you. It usually contains system requirements for viewing the video, where to find the needed codec or player, and a description of the contents (the movie review). A very high percentage of the questions posted in the ABM* newsgroups are the result of readers ignoring these introductory texts. Tsk, tsk! News flash for posters and AOL members: There's now an option in the AOL newsreader to filter out all text messages in binaries groups. Unfortunately, the part 0/n posts are also filtered out, leaving AOLers completely in the dark. [N] Q: I downloaded a video but all I see is a bunch of jumbled junk on my screen. Where's the video? A: That jumbled junk IS the video, encoded into ASCII for posting to Usenet. Remember back in section I. USENET BASICS where the need for encoding was first explained? Well, that's what it looks like. If each line begins with an M, it's UUencoded. If not, chances are it's MIME base 64 encoded. How to handle each is explained later on under C. Newsreaders and D. Decoding Offline. [E] Q: Where can I find out a little more about a clip before I download it? A: Besides reading the descriptions in part 0/n of the posts, watch for Refridgeraider's Revue which is posted occasionally in ABME. It's a txt file posted in zip form. Download it and hang onto it for reference, because it's handy for many other reasons, too, like looking up file sizes, stars' names, number of files in a series, etc. Posters: How about making it easier for The Fridge by emailing him your file info, or putting enough data in your 0/n parts? [E] Q: Why don't you guys post more MPEGs? A: Because medium quality MPEG cards begin at around $1,000 and go way up from there for better quality. By comparison, good cap cards for AVI output start at under $300. Moreover, beginning with the debut of the Indeo Video 4.1 codec for AVIs, the compression and clarity that can be obtained with a reasonably priced MPEG setup have fallen way behind the state of the art. AVIs are currently about one-fourth the size of comparable quality MPEGs. As one poster put it, "Don't let anybody kid ya... size counts." [N] Q: How can I convert a txt file to a video? My Filegrabber won't let me download any other way. A: Hello, AOLer. How did I know, eh? Basically you can't. If you didn't get the "download file" option it usually means you're missing parts of the post on your server. If you see that all the parts ARE there, then either the post is mime or the Filegrabber just isn't working (again). In these two cases, see section III.D. Decoding Offline. As a matter of fact, please read ALL of this DOWNLOADING section. By the time you're finished, we won't have to convince you that you NEED to spend as little as $19 a year extra for a top news service and software to solve all your downloading problems. To help you find only complete multipart posts, AOL has now given you the option of filtering out all text posts and incompletes. The downside of this feature is that you won't be able to read part 0/n of the posts, which usually contain important information about codecs and system requirements, as well as a description of the clip. AOL took out essential ABME material but left in all the spam pictures! You also won't be able to find incomplete posts, including any you might be waiting for. Other ABME readers can see at a glance which parts are missing and request that those parts be reposted. [N] Q: What if the Filegrabber says the message is too long to download? A: Keep clicking the More button until the whole body of the post is in the window. B. News Servers and Known Problems ------------------------------------ [E] If your server misses lots of posts, consider getting a different ISP or subscribing to a supplemental newsfeed. Excellent newsfeed means better than 85% complete posts within 24 hours of posting, including multiparts in chunks of 10,000 lines or more, and getting all parts of huge files. Good retention is at least 3 days, often longer. Yes, there really are such servers! You can see which ISPs have dial-up access in your area at http://www.thelist.com or http://www.thedirectory.org. [E] To guarantee that you'll get complete posts from your favorite cappers, just get on the same server(s) they use. Most of the majors post to Extra Newsguy, Altopia or AT&T Worldnet. [E] Be aware: Some large servers use "farms" of machines, and each time you log on you get a randomly assigned server. Occasionally, that machine might not be correctly synchronized with the others in the news farm, so it does not give you messages you should be getting. Suspect you have this problem if some posts "expire" prematurely or if you are missing parts that you know other members have retrieved. Ask your provider how to force a connection to the same machine every time. Also, if using Agent, click on Options | User and System Profile | System, check the box titled "Server Creates messages out of order." In Free Agent, click on Group | Default Properties | Retrieving, check the box titled "Server Creates messages out of order." [E] Here's what we know about some ISPs, listed alphabetically. If you're on a large provider you think is great and it's not listed, we'd be happy to pass along that information, especially for ISPs outside the U.S. Please post "Attention: FAQ" in one of the discussion groups. A list of news-only services follow the ISPs. o America Online (http://www.aol.com) -- [This is admittedly a long rant, but there are 11 million people on AOL who need to know there's a solution to their problems.] Not an Internet Service Provider at all, but an "online service" which operates very differently from an ISP. Usenet is not a priority for AOL, so you have two big problems. First, AOL's news feed is terrible! Second, AOL's newsreader program just plain stinks. It lacks most of the basic features standard newsreaders have that make downloading so easy. And just wait until you read the sections on newsreaders, connectivity problems and missing parts. You're going to be amazed at what everybody else can do that you can't. Furthermore, AOL's server is not the standard NNTP type, so you can't even change your software unless you have a different news server to connect to. Now, no one is saying you have to dump AOL altogether. But if you want to download from ABME, it is simply inadequate. Keep AOL, but ADD another service as follows, and then use a great freeware newsreader to connect to it: You can sign up with a top Internet Service Provider and switch to "bring your own access" billing for AOL. This will cost you about an extra $10 per month ($20 for the ISP and the AOL fee drops to $10); or... You can subscribe to a news-only service in addition to AOL, for as little as $19 A YEAR more, and connect to the news server via your AOL dial-up access to the Internet. o AT&T WorldNet (http://www.att.com/worldnet/) -- Excellent newsfeed and customer support, good retention. Uses a "news farm" server system (see above for potential problems). On the whole, many satisifed customers. o Erol's (http://www.erols.com) -- Worth checking into if you live in or near the Boston to Washington corridor. Excellent newsfeed and prices, good retention and customer service. Currently supports 56k flex modems but not X2 or cable. However, Erol's was recently acquired by RCN Corporation, a cable and telecommunications company, so we're watching for new access options. o MindSpring (http://www.mindspring.com) -- Long retention of binaries, about 8 days currently, and excellent newsfeed. In 1997 they bought PSI to expand nationally. If you're not in the southeastern U.S., Mindspring's original territory, check to see if they have upgraded the POP in your area. They have already upgraded New York and some other major markets. There is some question as to whether Mindspring will continue to offer unlimited connection time for a flat rate. o MicroSoft Network (http://www.msn.com) -- On online service, similar to AOL in quirkiness, newsfeed and desirability, but at least you can use a third-party newsreader. If you have MSN, you probably realize you need a supplemental newsfeed. o Netcom (http://www.netcom.com) -- Dropped ABME rather than upgrade their servers to handle the volume. [E] Supplemental newsfeeds, subscription: Your mileage will vary with each of these since it's a remote (vs. local) server connection, so make sure it will be usable for you BEFORE you sign on. Do a ping to the server and look for packet loss. Do a traceroute as well. If MCI is in your path your connect speeds will be very slow. Try out the one with the least packet loss to you. Don't be fooled by services with high numbers of newsgroups carried, since thousands of groups are defunct. o Airnews (http://www.airnews.net) -- $9.95 a month plus $9.95 setup. Verrry long retention of binaries, good speeds and excellent newsfeed. When posting via Airnews, your ISP/NNTP information will be added to the headers, so if complete anonymity matters to you, consider this a "download only" service. o Altopia Full Access ("alt.net") (http://www.altopia.com) -- $10 to $40 a month, for low to high speed access, respectively. ONLY ONE DAY RETENTION for binaries groups! There has been a waiting list for this service for as long as I can remember, probably because people like to POST via alt.net for the anonymity and great propagation. o Newsguy, formerly Zippo (http://www.newsguy.com) -- Only $19 a year, the best buy in the list, and most of the spam is filtered out by the Zippo Hippo. Connectivity varies, depending on the path between your ISP and Newsguy, so check into that before signing. Some members are getting fast downloads, others can't even connect at times. Definitely worth a tryout, though, for the price. Extra Newsguy, formerly Super Zippo (link to it from the newsguy page or go to http://extra.newsguy.com) -- $69.95 a year or $9.95 a month. The same great newsfeed as regular Newsguy, but more groups, a bit longer retention, Usenet image and sound archives, web space (min. 6 month subscription) and extra email accounts. o Newscene (http://www.newscene.com) -- $120 a year or $12 a month. New, and so far reports are mixed. o Supernews (http://www.supernews.com) -- $90 a year or $10 a month. Free trial available. Claims to have complete posts and very long retention, but no mention of binaries in this claim. ABME readers mention incomplete posts and rotten customer service. Some other pay services to try, from the Altopia home page (go there for current links): o Bahnhof Liberty News o Barditch News Server o BuffNET News o Netcene Internet Services o Newsdex o Randori Communications o Real News o VIP-News [E] Supplemental newsfeeds, free: With free news servers, you get what you pay for but they are a great resource if you want to hunt around for a missing part now and then. (See section III.E. Missing Parts for how to combine parts from two different servers.) To search a database of free news servers sorted by speed, group count, message count, domain, or longevity, go to http://www.jammed.com/~newzbot/. Search the servers in the lists for a particular group. Or try http://mserver.lipsia.de/sdienst/html/sgroup_e.html, another server database. C. Newsreaders --------------- [E] Bad tools make extra work. Good tools make extra leisure. ABME is supposed to be fun, so get the best tools for it and stop missing out on what your present software can't handle. Most of the downloading tips and tricks in this FAQ refer to Agent because that's the newsreader chosen by the most experienced Usenetters. If you're on a Mac or have another Windows reader you prefer, go ahead and read all the tips anyway. The underlying principles can often be adapted to your software. But first, here's what we know about some newsreaders to help you choose. Windows: ------- o We unabashedly endorse Forté Agent, simply the best newsreader available ($29, http://www.forteinc.com). Too many features to list here, but the most important for ABME participants are offline reading, kill and watch filters, full in/out email, configurable for multiple servers or users, automatic MIME and UUdecoding, joined retrieval of headers for multiparts, customizable view filters and sorting, global search, extensive help file, and a keep article command (see III.E. Missing Parts to find out why this is important). Free "add-ons" are available to fix timeout errors (see III.F. Connectivity Problems). Offered for both Windows 3.1 and 95 in many languages. A FAQ and help with Agent can be found in alt.usenet.offline-reader.forte-agent or get the FAQ, the manual and some great add-on utilities from the "unofficial" mirror site hosted by a member of the Forté support team, http://sd.znet.com/~lance/. o Of all the freeware readers around, Forté's scaled-down Free Agent has the most helpful features for downloading large multipart binaries. Same download and help sites as Agent. o If you want a freeware reader that has kill filters and mime decoding, try News Xpress (archive sites). There's a FAQ for it at http://www.malch.com/faq.html. o WinVN is also freeware and can handle multiple servers (archive sites). o Windows 95/NT only: Anawave Gravity ($39.95, http://anaserve.com/anawave/gravity/index.html). Looks promising, but check the competitive matrix. Free Agent is there but Agent is noticeably absent, and so is any mention of multipart binaries. I'm not spending the money to find out whether or not it's suitable for ABME. Macintosh: --------- The following have all received the coveted 5-cow rating from Tucows (http://www.tucows.com): Newswatcher, Yet Another Newswatcher, Multi-Threaded Newswatcher, and Hogwasher. You can link to authors' pages from Tucows to compare features. Waste of Time: ------------- Netscape News, MS Internet News, and MS Outlook Express -- Tried them all and can assure you they are lame for multipart binaries. Get a real, dedicated newsreader client. Even the freeware ones outperform any of these. [N] Q: What's the difference between an online and an offline newsreader? A: The "waste of time" reader built into your web browser is a good example of an online reader. Same for AOL. There's nothing to see unless you're connected to a server. Agent and most of the others above are offline readers, which transfer information from the news server to data files on your hard drive. You can disconnect from the server and even disconnect your modem, and still be able to read the headers and all the posts for which you've retrieved bodies. Also, offline readers keep track of which posts you've already seen, so you only have to get new headers when you log in again, not all headers. Offline readers require quite of bit of free hard drive space to accommodate those data files, but they are worth it because of the possibilities they present. More about this in the Missing Parts and Connectivity Problems sections. If you already have an offline reader, be sure to read its help file about how to purge and compact the data after each session. People using Windows 95 with fat32, be aware that your news program might misread its disk usage and fail to compact the data files at times. No biggie, just force it to by clicking on Compact Databases during a session. [E] Q: When I try to download a binary, my newsreader tells me there's no attachment, but I know there is! A: Then it's probably MIME base 64 encoded, and you are probably using FREE Agent or another newsreader that won't decode it. When you learn to recognize mime posts before downloading, your best bet would be to have an alternate free newsreader to use for downloading those. Otherwise, see section III.D. Decoding Offline. [N] Q: When I download a video, it plays for a few seconds and then stops and all I see is garbage on my screen. A: Odds are very good you're using Netscape News or MS Internet News or Outlook Express, and your software only decoded part 1 of the multipart file. To fix the error, highlight and download all parts of the file. Count them and make sure every part is there. Then, after you have the message bodies downloaded, right click and look for "combine and decode" or something similar. When you're done, go get a real newsreader that will let you do this automatically for a bunch of files overnight, keep files indefinitely while waiting for missing parts to be reposted, and even restart your download after a timeout. [E] Q: How can I stop and resume a long download? A: Most newsreaders don't have this function built in, but with an offline reader you can trick it. If you see just a single header for the multipart post (e.g., in Agent you retrieve headers joined), split the file into its parts. Sort by subject. To avoid accidentally purging them, use the keep/lock command on all the parts (Forté users, hit K). Then retrieve the bodies. Stop and resume any time you want, so the download only has to begin again at the current part. When all bodies have been retrieved from the server, click on save and remove the lock so the post can be purged. There are additional benefits to downloading piecemeal as described above: (1) You don't have to completely restart the download if your connection cuts out. (2) If an intermediate part has been corrupted by any of the news servers along the route to you, its actual line count will usually be noticeably smaller or larger than the other parts, and often this is only apparent after the message body has been retrieved. If this happens, ask for a repost of that part and fill it in using the methods descibed in III.E. Missing Parts. [E] Q: Some of the subject lines are way too long to read. Can't you guys make them shorter? A: Well, often that's a valid request. We know that some people get out of hand with their headers. Unless you're on AOL, you can help yourself, too, by exploring your newsreader's display options. In Agent and Free Agent, switch the window arrangement from the default T shape to three horizontal panes. Be sure to click on "Save as Default Window Layout." In all newsreaders, click on the dividers between column headings and slide the bars right or left to adjust column widths to your liking. Reducing the font size helps a lot too. If your system's screen resolution is set to 640x480, see if you can live with 800x600 or higher. Don't forget, if text looks too small for your comfort at that resolution, you can increase font sizes in Windows and most software. [N] Q: Can I use (Free)Agent or another newsreader with AOL? A: No and yes. You cannot use it to access AOL's news server, but you can subscribe to a supplemental news service for as little as $19 a year (or an ISP) and connect to that. The service will give you the news and mail server IDs you need to enter into (Free)Agent's Options. All you have to do to connect then is dial your modem as usual, then open (Free)Agent. [N] Q: Can I use (Free)Agent with MSN? A: MSN requires the use of a proprietary encrypted password authentication method to access their news servers. Free Agent does not support this method, but Agent does. See Help | Release Notes | Secure News and Email Logons. [E] Q: My spouse and I like different newsgroups and options for (Free)Agent. Can we both have it our way? A: Yes. Follow the process below for two different servers, adapting it to two users. [E] Q: I use (Free)Agent and have two news servers. I've checked the help file, but it's not clear about which files (agent.exe?) have to be copied to set up for multiple servers. A: The first two steps are essentially the same for Win3.1 and 95/NT. Step 3 is a little different. [Win3.1 instructions are in brackets like this where they vary.] The example below uses Agent filenames just to keep it simple, but the process is the same for Free Agent. You don't have to duplicate agent.exe or any of the other system files; just the data folder, which includes the agent.ini. Then you have to create two different shortcuts [program group items] pointing to two different start-in folders [working directories]. Here's an extract from the help file, along with some additional step-by-step explanation: 1. "Create a folder for the program files, including agent.exe, agent.hlp, *.csm, main*.clx, and main*.tlx. (See Agent's Directories and Files.)" -- You already have this. It's the Agent folder. Just leave it as is. Since you'll have to copy the data folder in a later step, it makes sense to open Agent now and go over all your options to make sure they're exactly what you want for both servers if you want certain things the same. For instance, this is a good time to change your display to three horizontal panes if that's always your preference. That way, you won't have to duplicate those steps for your second server later on. 2. "Create a separate folder for each user or news server (e.g., c:\agent\his and c:\agent\hers)." -- Let's use your ISP and Newsguy as the examples, since that's a popular combination. In the Agent folder, create a new folder and call it "Newsguy." Copy the entire contents of the Data folder into the Newsguy folder. Then rename the Data folder "ISP." Now you have two identical data folders, with the same newsgroups subscribed, same options, etc. 3. "Create a shortcut [program group item] for each user or news server with the program (c:\agent\agent.exe) specified as the Target [command line], and the user's or news server's folder (e.g., c:\agent\his and c:\agent\hers) in the \'Start in\' field [working directory]." -- [Win3.1 users, skip to the next paragraph.] In the Agent folder, click on agent.exe and then right click and create a shortcut. Rename the shortcut "Agent ISP." Right click the shortcut and then its properties tab. Go down to where it says "Start in" and edit that to point to your ISP folder; e.g., C:\Agent\ISP. Click OK, then move that shortcut to your desktop. Then repeat the process, creating a second shortcut that points to your Newsguy folder ("Agent Newsguy"). This time, change the icon as well if you want the two shortcuts to look different on your desktop. [In Program Manager, open the Program Group containing Agent and click on File | New | Program Group Item. Set the description to "Agent Newsguy" with the Command Line pointing to the program itself (e.g., c:\agent\agent.exe) and the Working Directory to Newsguy (c:\agent\newsguy). Then click OK. You should now have two Agent icons in your Program Group window. Click on the original Agent icon and then on File | Properties. Change the description to "Agent ISP" and the Working Directory to c:\agent\ISP.] 4. Last step -- Options: You can set up separate download directories for each server/user or you can continue to save everything to your current download directory. You can also now customize the default properties for each server differently. For instance, I filter my Newsguy headers to eliminate all the chat in ABME, but I don't do that in my ISP config. Don't forget to edit the system, posting and inbound email options for different servers. D. Decoding Offline -------------------- [E] Even if your newsreader decodes both UUE and MIME base 64, there are times you may need to decode a post offline. For instance, it's possible to save encoded parts of the same file from two different servers and then use your decoder program to assemble them (concatenate). Saving Downloads for Offline Decoding: ------------------------------------- o If the file is UUencoded (every line begins with "M"), save as .UUE; if it's MIME base 64, save as .MME. o If you have all parts of a post on one server and your newsreader has this feature: Retrieve all message bodies first. Make sure the parts are sorted in the correct sequence, then select them all together. In (Free)Agent, click on File | Save Messages As... and choose "no dividers" and "bodies only, no headers." o If the parts are on more than one server, or if your newsreader doesn't have a command for saving the parts already joined, then download and save each one individually with temporary sequential filenames, such as file01.mme, file02.mme, etc. Choose "no headers" if you have that option. Exception: In Agent and Free Agent, you can download the earliest parts joined as described above and save them joined, then change servers and APPEND the missing part to the file. Change back to your primary server and append the remaining parts. It's a tricky process, though. See E. Missing Parts for more details on saving from two servers. o AOLers: If your Filegrabber doesn't give you the option to download the file (as opposed to the article), the post is either MIME or an incomplete UUE post or the Filegrabber isn't working (again) for some reason. You must have all the parts and download them individually. After downloading, examine one of the files in any text reader to determine whether it's MIME or UUE. Rename the files accordingly, then decode. Decoders and Configuration: -------------------------- There are many decoders available for both Windows and Macintosh. After installing, associate the decoder with file types .UUE and .MME (may be different for Mac) so that it will open automatically when such a file is double clicked. Configure your decoder to join multiparts (concatenate). Occasionally, a Usenet poster will bundle several files into one MIME post (not in ABME, please!!!) and a good decoder will extract all of them if configured correctly. Here are some shareware decoders to try out, in three different flavors. See what you like: o XferPro from Safasoft (for both Windows and Macintosh, http://www.shareware.com): The easiest and most reliable of them all, IMO. Just double click on any file you want to decode. XferPro will create the new file with the correct filename in the same directory and then close by itself. If the filesize says 0, not to worry. That will right itself after refreshing the view or using the file. Try to play the video or extract the zip file you just decoded. If all goes well, delete the encoded file(s). o Wincode (Windows only, archive sites): Many like the standard Windows GUI (graphical user interface) and most Usenetters are familiar with it, if that's any comfort. o CoderPad (Windows only, http://www.winfiles.com or http://users.aol.com/lamprog/coderpad.html): Standard features, plus cut and paste input directly from your newsreader. E. Missing Parts ----------------- [E] Q: Does all the chat and spam in ABME hurt a large post's chance at coming through complete? A: YES and YES!!! The more spam or garbage messages in circulation, the farther back the binaries are in the queue. The number of posts actually matters much more than the size. Each message must go through the same channels as binary parts do, and only so many will go through at once. Consider the handling required to process 1,000 2-line posts as opposed to a single 2,000-line binary. Reduce the spam and the chat, and you will see more complete posts. This is why we're always hammering people to use the discussion groups. [N] Q: Then just post the files in one piece, doh! A: Cute. You must have missed the paragraph way back at the beginning of this FAQ where we explained why large posts are broken up into pieces. News servers have packet size limits, which vary somewhat but are definitely present. As a general rule, the larger the article size, the fewer Usenet news servers will get the parts. Multipart posts in smaller pieces generally mean greater distribution with fewer problems. If you really did skip right to this part of the FAQ, please stop right here and read from the beginning, otherwise you won't understand much of what follows. [N] Q: Okay, if you have to post in parts, can't you guys post ALL the parts? A: We do! Why would anyone deliberately post incomplete? Once in a while you'll see an aborted post, where the upload timed out and the originator didn't know how to resume it or cancel the unusable parts, but that's the exception. [N] Q: I almost never see complete posts. What am I doing wrong? A: Most likely, just using a lousy news server. If you skipped it, please go back and read III.B. News Servers and Known Problems. [E] Q: But I'm on one of the better servers. Is there something in my setup I missed? A: Make sure your newsreader is set up to receive articles in random order because that's how the parts travel. In Agent, click on Options | User and System Profile | System, check the box titled "Server creates messages out of order." In Free Agent, that's in Group | Default Properties | Retrieving. [N] Q: How come the parts don't show up all at the same time? A: Since message routing on the Internet is dynamic, pieces 4 and 5 of an 8-part file may have been routed through many more machines than the rest of the pieces. Articles sometimes land on a particularly bogged down news server between you and the originator where they are spooled (saved on disk) until the server has enough resources to do its part of the broadcasting. Sometimes, by the time those parts get moving again, your server has already expired posts from that date and you miss out. When faced with fragmented multipart posts, it's always a good idea to wait a couple of days for all the pieces to show up. If they never do, you should contact your news administrator to report the problem. Your newsadmin can sometimes check for logjams upstream and correct them, but only if made aware of the problem. [N] Q: I've seen files in ABME with over 100 parts. You gotta be kidding! No one can get those complete... right? A: Wrong. While smaller files are obviously more easily digested by many more people (and therefore, the better way to post) good servers get all those parts just fine. [N] Q: I notice that the posts from certain people are always incomplete, so they must be doing something wrong. A: Maybe, maybe not. There are several factors involved. First, take a look at the path in the headers of those posts. Chances are, you'll see a long list of servers between yours at the beginning and the poster's at the end. Every hop is a chance for a part to be dropped. The question, then, is which one of you is too far away from the Usenet backbone. Odds are, it's you. If you want to guarantee that you'll get complete posts from your favorite cappers, just get on the same server(s) they use for posting. Most of the veterans post to Newsguy, Altopia or AT&T Worldnet. A post is always complete on the originator's server. On the other hand, some people post in chunks that are too big for many news servers to handle, and some servers have dropped packet size limits way down in an attempt to cope with increased Usenet volume. In 1996, 15,000 lines per part was common. In 1998, anything over 7,500 lines (or even smaller) is often stopped in its tracks. If you only see part 0/n of the post and the last part, which is often much smaller than the intermediates, then the post has obviously run into packet size limits someplace. [N] Q: Okay, but where? If there's no standard, how can I tell if my server is being stingy or the poster is being extravagant with packet size? A: What's the largest individual part size you see in ABME? If it's fairly small, and if you see a lot of posts missing their entire middles, you can safely assume your server is filtering out larger parts. [E] Q: How can I get the missing parts? A: If you've given the post a couple of days to propagate and have all but a few parts, most contributors will cheerfully re-up the missing ones for you. Post your request in ABMED, Attention: . DON'T POST THAT TO ABME or you'll be contributing to the spam problem! (Posters, are your follow-ups set to ABMED?) [E] Q: But I was told a long time ago it's impossible to repost just parts. As a matter of fact, I remember a whole lot of flames directed at newbies who asked for them. A: All that has changed, thanks to a veteran ABME capper known as Templeton Peck, the author of Peck's Power Post (freeware, They can be gotten from one of the following sites: (http://members.tripod.com/~grok/video.htm or http://www.aganazzar.com/101). That's the posting software most ABME contributors now use because it can restart a post after a server disconnection and also enables reposting individual parts. [E] Q: The parts I asked for were reposted, but I still didn't get all of them. Can't I just ask the poster to send them by email? A: Ummm... no, better not. Lots of reasons. (1) What you're asking for is a substantial amount of upload time for just yourself. That's an awfully big favor to ask. (2) Mail servers have both packet size limits and total user mailbox size limits, so emailing is probably a waste of time anyway. (3) If you didn't get the parts, then other readers on your server didn't get them either. Usenet posting gives everyone a crack at completing their downloads. (4) As mentioned previously, your end of the transaction is to get on a better server if the one you use is inadequate for large binaries newsgroups. It's not fair to continually lean on people for reposts yet fail to make improvements on your end. [E] Q: Can I save parts from more then one server and piece them together? A: Yes, definitely, assuming you mean from exactly the same post. (Mixed posts may work, but only under certain conditions beyond the scope of this FAQ.) If you don't have a second membership somewhere, free news servers are a great resource for finding a stray part now and then (see III.B. News Servers). Here are two different methods of piecing the file together: (1) If you use Agent or Free Agent (or another good OFFline newsreader), retrieve the bodies individually for the parts you have. Click on Edit | Select All, and hit K (keep command, padlock icon). Now all the ABME headers from your primary server are marked kept and you'll be able to tell them apart from any you get via the secondary server. Change the NNTP server ID and get ABME headers again. If the missing parts fill in, retrieve their message bodies, then save your completed file. To clean up the mixed-source headers, click on Edit | Select All, and hit delete. Any extraneous headers (not locked) from the second server will be deleted. Then you can remove the locks from the rest, restore your server ID, and you'll be back to normal again. (2) People who already have two servers set up, each with its own newsreader, may prefer this method. Retrieve message bodies and save each part individually, with sequentially numbered filenames and either .UUE or .MME extensions. Decode offline (see III.D. Offline Decoding). Exception: Agent and Free Agent users can save the first parts joined (without separators or headers), then switch readers and APPEND the next part. Switch back to the first newsreader and append the rest. [E] Q: If the missing parts I request don't come through immediately, the ones I already have will be gone from my server. Is there some way to keep those parts while I'm waiting for the rest? A: Yes. However, with an ONline newsreader, you'll have to save each part individually to your hard disk and then decode the file offline when it's complete. If you're using an OFFline reader, the methods below for either Agent or Free Agent should work for you. The difference between the two, in this instance, is Agent's ability to display a single, joined header for multiparts and more sorting options. Agent users: 1. Split the incomplete message into individual parts. 2. Select all the parts and hit K (keep command, padlock icon). 3. Hurry up and retrieve the bodies for those parts before they disappear from your server. Leave them right where they are, no saving, no decoding, no further action required until the rest come through. 4. When the missing parts are reposted, split them (if there's more than one, they might be displayed joined at first) and then retrieve the bodies. 5. When you have the bodies for all the parts, sort the message list by Subject so the parts fall into correct numerical order. Then: (a) If the headers are identical, click on part 1 and hit "A" (save command). You're all done! Well... except for removing the padlock(s) and purging. (b) If the reposted parts have a different subject header from the original post (for example, Attn: Sparky, etc.), you might find it easiest to create a folder and move all the parts to the folder, then select all of them by clicking and dragging. Otherwise, select them while they're still in the main ABME browser window by clicking on part 1 and then scrolling down to the last part and hitting shift-click, THEN find the new parts and add them to the selection with control-clicks. Now click on Message | Join Sections. Use the Up and Down buttons on the screen to put the new parts into correct number sequence with the rest. Click on Save. Done! Free Agent users: 1. Select all the parts and hit K (keep command, padlock icon). 2. Hurry up and retrieve the bodies for those parts before they disappear from your server. Leave them right where they are, no saving, no decoding, no further action until the rest come through. 3. When the missing parts are reposted, put a padlock on them and retrieve the bodies. 4. When you have the bodies for all the parts, select them by clicking on part 1 and then scrolling down to the last part and hitting shift-click to select all with identical headers. To select reposted parts with different headers, find them and then use control-click to add them to the list of selected parts. 5. Click on File | Manually Decode Binary Attachments. A dialogue box will pop up with the parts listed. Use the Up and Down buttons on the screen to put the parts in correct numerical order. Click on Save. Done! F. Connectivity Problems ------------------------- [E] You know how it goes. Whenever you try to download a large file, either your modem quits or your server disconnects you before you're finished and you have to start all over. Or you try to download a bunch of videos while you're sleeping or at work, and when you come back all you see is a screenful of error messages. It can make a grown man cry, huh? Well, dry your eyes, Bunky, there's a better way. Hunt around for connectivity, TCP/IP and newsreader tools at http://www.tucows.com, www.macorchard.com, www.winfiles.com, www.shareware.com, or www.download.com. What you're looking for are utilities to redial a disconnected modem and to restart your newsreader tasks. One word of caution, though: some "connectivity" tools are just keep-alive pingers which might violate your ISP's Terms of Service. That's not what we're talking about anyway. Here are two utilities we like for Agent and Windows 95/NT: o For modem disconnections, get DUNCE (Dial Up Networking Connection Enhancement), http://www.winfiles.com/apps/ or http://maikon.net/templeton/utilities.html. How it works: Automatically enters "connect" whenever your DUN dialogue appears. o Task Monitor for Agent (not for Free Agent), Windows 95/NT4 only, http://maikon.net/templeton/utilities.html. In the event of a timeout or disconnection, restarts retrieving marked message bodies and posting Usenet and email messages. Use in conjunction with DUNCE for foolproof downloading. How it works: Searches at specified time intervals for error windows where the parent window contains the word "Agent." If you have marked messages for retrieval in multiple newsgroups, Task Monitor will resume downloading in newsgroup order. To rearrange them to your liking, get Agent Group Order from ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/jo/jonzonk/agent/ago.html. To keep from timing out so fast, try changing your agent.ini settings to these: [Timing] GetHostByNameTimeout=1000 ConnectTimeout=1000 ResponseTimeout=1000 PostResponseTimeout=1000 QuitResponseTimeout=1000 SendTimeout=2000 PostTimeout=2000 SplashTime=2 SMTPSessionTimeout=1000 Extra foolproof downloading: If you use Agent, try using the Split Sections command on each multipart before downloading. Then... All offline newsreaders, including Free Agent: Select the file parts and download the bodies first (get marked message bodies). After you have all parts of the file, click on part 1 and save it. The advantages of this method are that you can stop and resume your downloads at any time. In case of a disconnection, you only have to resume from the last part retrieved. The only disadvantage is that you will need sufficient hard disk space to temporarily store many large encoded files during a long download session. [E] Q: How long should it take to download a video from ABME? A: The two major factors governing download time are (1) your modem connect speed (not to be confused with the max speed your modem will handle) and (2) what news server you are downloading from (i.e., LOCAL, your ISP's news server, or REMOTE, another news server you connect to through your ISP, such as Newsguy or Airnews). Here are typical times for downloading a 1MB (approx. 15870 lines) file from a LOCAL server: SPEED TIME (Approx.) +/- 5% ===== =============== ====== 28.8 305 sec (05:05) 15 sec 26.4 340 sec (05:40) 17 sec 19.2 465 sec (07:45) 23 sec 14.4 610 sec (10:10) 30 sec 9600 935 sec (15:35) 46 sec Remember that these times are affected by phone line conditions and server loading, but they should not vary more then about 5%. For REMOTE servers, the times given above will probably be the best you will ever see under ideal conditions. Depending on the number of servers/ routers/gateways you need to go through and congestion on the Net itself, actual time may be DOUBLE the times listed above. [E] Q: How can I tell if I have a bad connection to begin with? A: There are a lot of utilties available for monitoring your actual, average connection speed. Shop around at http://www.tucows.com, winfiles.com or macorchard.com. Seeing your actual bytes per second data transfer rate can be a real shock! Whenever you see wide fluctuations with a lot of stalling, suspect bad phone line conditions. Redial your modem and check again. G. What NOT to Download ------------------------ [N] Q: I'm using a Mac and can't play some of the files I download from ABME. What should I skip? A: Actually, if you have a good buddy with Windows 95 or NT on a pentium class machine, you don't have to skip anything. See section IV.D. Joining, Editing and Converting Video Clips. If you're on your own, pass up any .AVI posts marked IR41 or higher, or I.263. These Intel codecs are not available for Macintosh systems. (However, you just might find that QuickTime 3.0 can now handle IR41 AVIs.) Also, if you have avoided password-protected zip files because only the registered version of your extraction utility has that feature, try UnZip 5.32 from http://www.macorchard.com. Editorial: Mac users, please don't complain to ABME contributors if you can't use what they offer, as is. When you bought your system, you probably already knew that a whole world of software and multimedia would be unavailable to you. While we fully respect your freedom of choice, it was, after all, your decision. We ask that you in turn respect the cappers' freedom to post whatever they want, however they want, since their offerings are free and voluntary. The same goes for Intel and their free codecs. The real issue is between you and Apple. [N] Q: Same question, but I'm using Windows. What videos won't run on my system? A: All PC users -- You won't be able to play certain QuickTime .MOV or .QT files unless they are "flattened." Mac files have a resource fork and a data fork. These have to be combined together via a process called "flattening" for the file to be usable on a PC. More about this in IV.D. Joining, Editing and Converting Video Clips. Windows 3.1 -- You won't be able to play .AVI video files compressed with Indeo Video 4.3 (IR43 in the headers) or higher, or with I.263... at least until you upgrade. You can certainly download and store the files if you have the room and the inclination. 486 and older systems -- Pass up .AVI videos using Indeo Video 5.0. Some 486DX people have had luck with I.263, although system requirements state pentium or better. Worth a shot. Or, again, you can download and store the files for future use if you plan to upgrade your CPU. [N] Q: Can I get a virus by downloading from ABME? A: Sure, but not from videos. [N] Q: How can I avoid viruses? A: Don't download any executables from ABME (.exe, .com, .dll or .bat files, or zip archives containing them). First of all, they don't belong there, so assume the poster is either ignorant or a wise guy. You don't want to entrust your computer to either type! Throughout this FAQ and in section VII. are URLs for reliable download sites for all the recommended software. Invariably, the safest places to download from are the author's web or ftp site, or major archive sites. Second best are other reputable host sites. The LEAST desirable are Usenet newsgroups. [N] Q: How do people get viruses from zip files? A: By flying blind. A zip archive can contain anything, including executables. You can't go strictly by what the Usenet subject header says. Get a zip extraction utility with a graphical user interface, such as WinZip (archive sites), and learn what all the commands do. For instance, don't assume you know what "check out" means. You can safely decompress the contents of the zip archive, but don't run any of the executable files until you've performed a virus scan on them. If a virus is present, the only way you could activate it is by executing the file. AOLers: Click on Members | Preferences | Download and remove the checkmarks from "Automatically decompress files at signoff" and "Delete zip files after decompression." Stay in control of your own computer, otherwise you may lose track of whatever executables you've extracted, as well as where they came from and what they are. [E] For more information about viruses, read alt.comp.virus. Their FAQs are also at http://www.webworlds.co.uk/dharley/ or http://www.faqs.org/faqs/computer-virus/. For Mac users: http://www.macvirus.com/reference/. H. Kill Filters ---------------- [E] The Agent help file is your best resource for learning how to use kill and watch filters, but readers have asked for suggestions about how to filter ABME effectively. In these examples, everything is filtered out except the on-topic binary posts and important notices. Make sure you set up the filters for ABME only, not global. Set to skip: subject: .jpg and not (preview) subject: .txt or .htm* or .gif or .exe or .com or .dll or .bat Set to mark read, and scan the headers to be sure you haven't killed anything you didn't intend to: subject: * and not (.avi or .mov or .mpg or .mpeg or .rm or .viv or .zip or ABME or FAQ or preview) IV. VIEWING YOUR DOWNLOADS (N=Newbies Only; E=Everybody; =========================== T=Techies Only) A. Extracting Zip and Other Archive Files ------------------------------------------ [N] Q: I downloaded a zip file that needs a password. Where is the password and how do I enter it? A: The password is contained in a text file that is also inside the zip file (unless the poster made a mistake, which happens on rare occasion). Open the zip file using Winzip (or another GUI extraction utility). You should see that it contains two files. One is the video which will have a plus sign (+) by its filename, indicating that it is password protected. The other file will be an unprotected text file containing a message for you as well as the required password. Highlight the text file and click View. After you read the text file and get the password, highlight the password protected file. Click on Extract. You will be prompted to enter the password, which is case sensitive. Type it exactly the way it was shown in the text file, or paste it in. [N] Q: I already tried to extract the video with PKUnzip and got an error message and no video. Now what? A: You apparently didn't notice that the unprotected text file was extracted. Read it. Then re-enter your command with the -s switch. You'll be prompted for the password. [N] Q: How do I extract password-protected zip files on a Mac? A: Try UnZip 5.32 from http://www.macorchard.com. [E] Q: Why do people bother with passwords? A: Some posters believe that the passwords add an extra level of protection (for the poster, especially!) against accidental viewing of adult material by minors or by unwary adults. In fact, when the U.S. Congress was exploring the Internet before drafting the Communications Decency Act, ABME was cited as "making an effort" to protect against accidental viewing. The debate over passwords continues with no consensus, although it always comes down to being the poster's prerogative. [N] Q: AOL does the extracting for me, but some zip files don't work at all. A: Those would be the password-protected zip files we've been discussing. AOL's built-in decompression utility can't handle them, and it's unwise to use it anyway. Click on Members | Preferences | Download and remove the checkmarks from "Automatically decompress files at signoff" and "Delete zip files after decompression." Get WinZip or another good decompression utility and learn how to do it yourself. [E] Although it's not warranted in ABME, from time to time someone will post using a form of file compression other than .zip. Here are the file types to watch for and where to find the required decompression software. .arj and .jar - http://www.arjsoftware.com .rar - UnRAR, WinRAR or MacUnRAR, archive sites .sit - Macintosh Stuffit Expander, http://www.macorchard.com or Windows Sitex, ftp://ftp.aladdinsys.com/pub/SITEX10.EXE B. Video File Types, Players and Codecs ---------------------------------------- [E] Honorary mention: Woldo's MCI Video Player is a freeware Windows 95 program that can play any combination of .AVI, .MOV, .MPG or .DAT (video CD) files from a queue. The author's page is gone, but you can download it from http://extra.newsguy.com/~theprof/wmpl140e.zip [N] .AVI -- Native Video for Windows format. Windows users can view with Media Player and many others. Some .AVI files require Windows 95/NT and/or a pentium class machine, depending on the codec used (see below). Mac owners can view certain .AVIs, depending on the codec used (see below), with the Apple QuickTime player after converting to .MooV with the AVI to QT Utility and/or VfW Converter. (However, check into QuickTime 3.0 for current requirements.) Microsoft's Internet Explorer (Web Browser) for Macintosh can play AVI files directly. MacZilla is an inexpensive shareware Netscape Navigator Plug-In for the Macintosh that plays QuickTime .MOV, Video for Windows AVI, and MPEG-1 files. If you pay the fee, MacZilla will send you a STANDALONE player (not a Netscape Plug-In) for the Macintosh. The MacZilla URL is: http://maczilla.com. For help with all other operating systems or everything you could possibly want to know about the AVI format, visit http://www.rahul.net/jfm/avi.html. [N] .MOV -- Native Apple QuickTime format. Windows users can view with Media Player and many others, or with Apple's QuickTime for Windows; Mac owners use QuickTime Player (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/). [N] .MPG (or .MPEG) -- Cross platform. Windows users: For best results, play these files with VMPEG 1.7 (archive sites). Sometimes the .MPG file is video only and is posted along with its corresponding .WAV sound file. As long as both have the same filename and are in the same directory, VMPEG will play them together when you open the .MPG file. If you find any .MPE video files on your hd, just rename them .MPG. This happens when a file is posted as .MPEG and the extension is truncated on download. On a Mac, use you can use Sparkle to view .MPGs with separate .WAV files. QuickTime 3.0 now supports MPEG (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/). QuickTime 2.5 can also play these with the MPEG extension from Apple. [N] .QT -- Same as Apple QuickTime .MOV format. Rename to .MOV and try again. If your player still doesn't like it, try QuickTime 3.0. [N] .RM -- RealMedia streaming video format. Intended for web pages. Some ABME readers like these files, in spite of the poor quality, because of the small file size relative to .AVI or other formats. Others hate them. Get the player or browser plug-in from http://www.real.com. Since the format is proprietary, all questions about .RM files should be directed to RealMedia. [N] .VIV -- Vivo streaming video format. Similar to RealMedia in that the format is intended for web pages, and the quality is a big disappointment for many purists. Get the player or browser plug-in from http://www.vivo.com. Since the format is proprietary, all questions about .VIV files should be directed to Vivo. [E] A codec is a method of COmpression and DECompression for audio and video files. If you don't have the right codec installed on your system, certain video files won't play at all. Others will play only the audio or the video portion. This is a common problem with some older and newer codecs, since they wouldn't have been installed on your system along with your present operating system or movie players. See below which codecs you can use and where to get them. [Please note: Intel has an announcement on their Codec page that its contents will soon be combined with their Indeo Video 5.0 Driver page. If any of the Intel links below don't work, do a site search for Indeo Video or get a more recent copy of this FAQ.] All Operating Systems: Some older videos in circulation require IR21 which is no longer available from Intel, but you can get it from Don Juan's page, http://members.tripod.com/~grok/video.htm. Windows 95 and NT: Pentium owners can get the latest Indeo codecs (IR32, IR43, IR50, etc.) as a developer pack, iv5devl.exe, from http://developer.intel.com/ial/indeo/video/driver.htm. 486 and older CPUs won't be able to use IR43 or IR50. Download "Indeo Video 4.1 and Indeo Video 3.2" from http://www.intel.com/pc-supp/multimed/indeo/codec.htm. For pentium class and 486DX systems: Go to http://members.aol.com/SlavTrainr/STsPage.html to get the I.263 codec with IMC audio. This version, which is distributed to cappers with the Intel Capture Utility, is not available separately from Intel. In spite of having the same filename, the one at Intel's site is video only. There's no harm in installing both but, because of the same filename, be careful not to let one installation program file overwrite the other. Intel's download page is http://support.intel.com/support/createshare/ camerapack/codinstl.htm. Windows 3.1: Download "Indeo Video 4.1 and Indeo Video 3.2" from http://www.intel.com/pc-supp/multimed/indeo/codec.htm. Sorry, Intel has not made IR50, IR43 or I.263 available for Win3.1. Macintosh: Indeo Video 3.2 should have been installed on your system with the QuickTime Movie Player, or download it from http://www.intel.com/pc-supp/multimed/indeo/codec.htm. Sorry, Intel has not made IV4*, IV5* or I.263 available for Macintosh. C. Error Messages and Other Problems ------------------------------------- [N] Q: Some of my AVIs play fine, but with others I get "Requires Vids R4.1 to run." [or 2.1 or 5.0, etc.] A: You need the required video codec. Check the last section to see if it's available for your operating system. [E] Q: What is I.263 and where do I get it? A: It's a codec you need in order to play certain AVI files. System requirements are Windows 95/NT, pentium or 486DX. If your pc meets those requirements, scroll back to the last section and read about it under Windows 95. And please get into the habit of reading part 0/n of the binary posts! To date, information about this codec has ALWAYS been posted along with the video clips using it. [E] Q: I installed I.263 but I still don't get any sound. A: Then you must have installed the one from Intel's site. Go to http://members.aol.com/SlavTrainr/STsPage.html for a different version which includes IMC audio. If that doesn't do it, reinstall all the multimedia components from your Windows 95 CD. You're missing an audio codec that should be there. [E] Q: Why do some of my MPGs play too fast? A: It's a discrepancy between the video and audio rates, with video racing to keep up. See if you can adjust the frames per second in your player to 15 or thereabouts, or try VMPEG 1.7 (archive sites). [E] Q: All of a sudden, I can't play AVIs anymore. I keep getting MMSYSTEM296 errors now. What happened? A: This question comes up so often, that it has become known as The Error. Most likely, Active Movie sneaked into your system and trampled something. Try reinstalling all the multimedia stuff from your Windows 95 CD. If that doesn't work, two other possible solutions have been posted to the news groups. The first is: This is a question that comes up periodically to which I have never heard the "correct" answer. Some things to try: 1. Uninstall ActiveMovie. Double check your registry and make sure there is no trace of it. Many people have no problems with ActiveMovie, but it and I do not get along. 2. Reinstall DirectX. The drivers can be found at Microsoft's website or on many game CDs. 3. If these don't work, this is how I fixed my 296 error. Assuming you have the WIN95 CD: (a) Edit your autoexec and remove the REM-By Windows setup in front of your CD ROM driver. (b) Reboot and when "starting Windows 95" appears press F8. (c) Choose the "step by step confirmation" option. Answer yes to all prompts. (d) Switch to your CD drive and type setup. (e) Reinstall 95 over the existing 95. MAKE SURE you choose to replace ANY video related files that exist. I personally think the culprit is the mciavi.drv file, but have not been able to verify. (f) Reinstall the newer codecs, i.e. 4.3, 5.0. The only problem with this method is you will most likely have to reinstall your graphics card and sound card drivers, unless WIN95 setup does a good job of picking them automatically. On the plus side, you should not have to reinstall programs since you are installing over the old 95. There is also a Powertoy available from Microsoft that will let you extract just a certain file from the .cab files on the WIN95 CD, but I was never able to get it to work. If you can, try it first. I would be VERY interested to know if it is indeed the mciavi.drv file that is the problem. And another answer: The below MAY be of help, Your Mileage May Vary. I didn't write it. The "I" below is someone else (and "I" have no clue who it was anymore). Make many backups first, don't complain I didn't warn you! -------- MMSYSTEM296 error while playing some AVIs is caused by missing registry entries. Installation of some programs (e.g., Active Movie from my experience) seems to delete these entries. The following entries should exist in your registry (if they aren't there, create them): HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avifile EditFlags 00 00 01 00 HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avifile\Compressors\auds (default) "{0002000F-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avifile\Compressors\vids (default) "{00020001-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avifile\Extensions\AU (default) "{00020003-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avifile\Extensions\AVI (default) "{00020000-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avifile\Extensions\WAV (default) "{00020003-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avifile\RIFFHandlers\AVI (default) "{00020000-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avifile\RIFFHandlers\WAV (default) "{00020003-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" As with any registry modifications, care should be taken to back up the registry first. Many tools available on the net for doing this. The simplest is boot to MS-DOS Command Prompt and make copies of the two hidden files system.dat and user.dat. File then open your regedit.exe file, it works like your windows explorer. You might need to add some folders like I did. But this fix worked for me! -------- Use at your own risk, I accept no responsibility if this totally hoses your system (of course, then you'd just be reinstalling Win95 anyway per the above fix, so what ya got to lose!). D. Joining, Editing and Converting Video Clips (T=Techies Only) ----------------------------------------------- [T] In this section, "editing" means simple frame cuts with simple tools. For more sophisticated editing, the high-priced professional tools are discussed in section VI. CAPTURING AND EDITING VIDEO CLIPS. Also check out section VII. LINKS AND ADDITIONAL HELP. Maybe you don't really want to join your clips permanently. If all you want to do is view a series of files more or less seamlessly, a new movie player might be all you need. A freeware one to try is Woldo's MCI Media Player for Windows 95. It will play AVI, MOV and MPEG files from a queue in any combination, and even loop the whole queue. Get it from: http://extra.newsguy.com/~theprof/wmpl140e.zip Whichever conversion utilities you decide to use, you should know that the conversion process is lossy. That is, taking an existing, heavily compressed video clip and decompressing and then recompressing it to save in a different format WILL result in some loss of quality. AVI, MOV or MPG Output ---------------------- ... from various formats: MainActor (shareware, $60, http://www.mainconcept.de) for Windows 95/NT or OS/2 can combine, convert and edit source video from any combination of AVI, MOV and MPG files for output in any of those formats. The shareware version of MainActor is fully functional, but has an annoying nag screen. AVI Output ---------- ... from AVI: For Windows 95 and NT users, the best tool for joining AVIs is Peck's Power Join (shareware, $10). No recompression, no loss, lightning fast. Also does simple frame cuts. They can be gotten from one of the following sites: http://members.tripod.com/~grok/video.htm http://www.aganazzar.com/101/ ... from AVI: AVIJOIN (freeware, Win95 and NT) can also be found at Templeton Peck's site, on the free utilities page. Be aware, AVIjoin will drop compressed audio. ... from AVI: MS VidEdit (Windows, all) is a free and widely used utility for basic editing tasks. However, it is several years old and has been dropped from all the major archive sites. You can still find it easily on the Web or in FTP if you do a search for it. ... from AVI or raw source: PAE, Personal AVI Editor, is a Windows (all) shareware editing program for both existing AVIs and new captures. You can get a full-featured 30-day evaluation copy from http://www.flickerfree.com. The purchase price is $49.95. ... from MOV on the PC: Intel Smartvid (freeware), from http://developer.intel.com/pc-supp/multimed/indeo/ smartvid.htm. ... from MOV on PowerMacintosh: With the introduction of Apple's QuickTime 3.0, everything about this subject is in a state of flux. Old links and utilities are disappearing rapidly. To get a quick education about converting to AVI for the PC, visit http://www.rahul.net/jfm/avi.html (the AVI Overview page) and http://www.apple.com/quicktime/. The old solution -- probably still needed by owners of older Mac systems -- was Video for Windows (for Macintosh), a collection of utilities and extensions for the Mac that adds support for Windows video file formats. One of the included utilities is VfW Converter which can convert Quicktime MooV files to AVI files playable on the PC. The Video for Windows file is usually called: video-for-windows-11p.hqx. Do a Web or FTP search to find current download sites. The converter alone is at http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/ HyperArchive/Archive/gst/mov/avi-to-qt-kit-11.hqx. MPEG Output ----------- ... from various formats: There are lots of shareware MPEG utilities for all operating systems at The MPEG Archive, http://www.mpeg1.de/intro.html. Look for MPEGJOIN, AVI2MPG, and CONVMPEG, or search your favorite archive/ftp sites for these. MOV Output ---------- ... from various formats: The best bet currently, for both PC and Macintosh users, seems to be the latest release of QuickTime 3.0, from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/. ... from AVI: PowerMacintosh users can also try AVI->QuickTime. This application is available at various Web and FTP sites in the file avi-to-qt-converter.hqx. One site to try is: ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/gst/mov/ avi-to-qt-converter.hqx. ... from AVI on a PC: Intel Smartvid (freeware), from http://developer.intel.com/pc-supp/multimed/indeo/ smartvid.htm. V. POSTING (N=Newbies Only; E=Everybody; T=Techies Only) =========== A. Posting Questions, Answers, Comments, Requests -------------------------------------------------- [E] An overly high percentage of the questions posted in ABME and the other groups are the result of readers ignoring part 0/n of the video files posted. Those texts often contain important messages about system requirements, so please get into the habit of checking them. Warning to AOLers: Your newsgroup Preferences dialogue now gives you the option of filtering out all text messages. Unfortunately, the introductory part 0/n posts are also skipped. An overly high percentage of the requests for reposts, and reposts of reposts, are from people who don't check ABME often enough to catch the files they want. Please be fair to the posters and other readers. When you ask for a file, check back daily to be sure you don't miss it. If you can't or won't keep up with the group, then don't post requests. It's that simple. [N] Q: Help! Why can't I get these files to work? A: I dunno, maybe you should call the Psychic Network? Please, when you ask for help, at least provide enough information so someone CAN help you. At a minimum give your OS type (Win95, Win 3.1, Mac, etc.), your CPU (pentium, 486, etc.), a description of your problem (uploading, downloading, decoding, viewing), and the specific file you are having trouble with. The more information you give, the better the chances someone can provide you with an answer. [E] Q: Okay, I am reading this FAQ and doing my homework. So now I can skip reading the discussion groups, right? A: No one is twisting your arm, but the d groups are where you'd find timely announcements about server problems, corrupt posts, new codecs, virus alerts, etc. Also, we STRONGLY recommend that you at least scan the headers before posting even a single question. [E] Q: No way. I don't have time to read all that stuff. A: Your time is not worth more than ours, dude. It takes time to reply to people individually. Usually, the answer is right in front of you and all you have to do is find it. If you have Agent, finding your answers is actually quicker than asking. Select the pertinent newsgroups and then use Edit | Global Search to find posts discussing whatever you need to know. This feature is not built into FREE Agent, but is available as a separate utility called "Agent Global Search" (AGlobS) from ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/jo/jonzonk/agent/aglobs. [E] Q: Why is it that some people who ask questions get helped, some get flamed, and others are just ignored? In ABME, people are even asked to repost the question elsewhere. A: Polite questions in the proper groups get responses, unless the answer is already staring them right in the face. In that case, the poster might be ignored or get a little reminder to read before before posting. Umm, that's why the questions and answers are posted publicly, ya know -- to be read by all who need to. Sometimes a question goes unanswered because the person didn't provide enough information or because we don't know the answer. It happens! Sometimes it's because the question should have been directed elsewhere, such as to a software or hardware vendor, or internet service provider. Chat and requests in ABME itself are mostly ignored because replying would only reinforce and perpetuate the non-binary posts to that group. Besides, most of the contributors filter out the chat in the e group, which is their prerogative as well as yours. People who are rude and abusive or who post garbage are called out on it. Whining from lazy wankers who want everything done for them tends to get on our nerves. (Gee, can you tell?) We figure that anyone who needs to be spoonfed isn't old enough to hang around ABME. [E] Q: Okay, so I posted a question in the e group. What's the big deal? Instead of wasting time nagging me to repost it in that black hole of a discussion group, why couldn't you just use the same amount of bandwidth to answer the question in ABME where everyone can see it? [adapted from an actual rant in ABME] A: You mean make an exception for you? Why? See the last answer, especially the part about kill filters. The black hole is actually ABME. Posters read the d groups, but not necessarily the binaries-only group. And ALL chat in ABME hurts propagation of binaries! [E] Q: If you don't want to answer in ABME, why not reply by email? A: Look, it's a newsGROUP. If you're going to take up the space to post a question, then other people are entitled to get the answer as well. It comes off as pretty rude to shut them out by asking for an email reply. [E] Q: Then I guess it's a bad idea to email the posters? A: Can't give you a blanket answer on that one. Not necessarily. Many posters dislike getting email and post with fake addresses, but some enjoy it. If you don't get an answer, it could be due to illness, travel, whatever, whereas in the newsgroups we can cover for each other, so you'd actually get a quicker answer by posting. SPECIAL NOTE TO AOL MEMBERS, as long as we're on the subject of emailing posters: There are "features" of the AOL newsreader that force you to do bad things and it drives us nuts. (1) If you want to post a "reply to group" message, your idiotic system will often give you an error message stating that "Followup is allowed via email only." This is dead wrong, and not the author's intention at all. Your newsreader is misinterpreting the "reply to" and "follow up" fields in the original post. (2) In other cases, you are able to post a follow-up Usenet message, but only to the same newsgroup as the original post and you can't redirect it. By now, if you've read all the previous guidelines for participating in ABME, you know that posting chat to the e group is a huge no-no. And most of it is from AOL! Please hold off posting any messages until you have closed ABME and switched to ABMD. If this is all a huge pain in the butt for you, that's not our fault. Complaining to AOL won't do any good either, because it's their stated policy that they don't want members to post. (That's why they'd be lying if they called their newsgroup area "Usenet." You lack certain kinds of access, so it doesn't really qualify to be called Usenet.) Since you can't contribute binaries, that puts you in an awkward position to ask for any concessions from ABME folks, and letting you slide on all the chat in ABME would be a HUGE concession. Please -- get a real news server and software and join the mainstream out on the real Internet. Life around Usenet is much easier out here. [E] Q: If I know the answer to a posted question, is it okay for me to reply? A: In the e group, please don't, unless you answer by email or redirect the thread to a d group, and even that's not a good idea. At most, point the person to this FAQ. In the discussion groups, please do and thanks in advance! Just don't take it as a personal attack if other people don't agree with your answer. You'll get used to the give and take. [E] Q: Is it EVER okay to post chat in ABME? A: Yes, in the following instances, it's desirable: If you discover that a binary you have posted is corrupt or that you attached the wrong file, please thread a warning to it. If you know or suspect that a binary contains a virus, PLEASE THREAD A WARNING TO IT! If you have to abort an upload and you can't continue, please issue cancels and thread a message to the post. (But please see section V.B. Posting Binaries for how to avoid this situation.) [E] Q: HeY, d00dZ, mY NeWZ SeRVeR SuX. NE1 WaNNa TRaDe By eMaiL? A: No. It's obvious you're only about 15 years old. If you were an adult with a credit card, you'd be able to subscribe to a great news server. Besides, even if your mailbox could accommodate large files, anyone with anything to share would be throwing their time away uploading for just one person. Posting makes the files available to everyone all at once. Then, many of the people who download them like to "give back" by posting what they have. See how nice that works out? Lots of posts, everyone benefits. B. Posting Binaries in ABME/ABNME/ABMU (T=Techies Only) --------------------------------------- Q: Is there any subject matter that is taboo in ABME? A: Child pornography, kiddie porn, KP. Since nearly all ABME contributors are in the U.S.A. and Canada, we are governed by laws requiring models to be at least 18 years of age. We ask that international ABME participants respect those constraints and our cultural sensibilities. Or else! Since KP can only attract trouble for ABME folks, and for many other reasons, videos where over-18 models pretend to be minors are also frowned upon. Q: What about Traci Lords? A: Traci clips are pretty much not posted by the regulars here. While it's true that she gave a false age and can be seen as the perpetrator and not the victim of a crime, she was still underage and thus the clips ARE child pornography. If you post any videos she made while still a minor, expect complaints to your provider and possible account loss. You can also be held accountable under child pornography laws. Are a few seconds of porn worth that trouble? Q: Is it okay to post stuff that's outside of mainstream tastes, like gay or really kinky vids? A: Sure. As with all posts, just label it clearly. If you're still hesitant, check around for other newsgroups where you may be more comfortable. Find out first if it's really okay to post large binaries there, though. Even if the posts are wanted in those groups, another drawback is that you may have to answer a lot of technical questions or refer those readers to the ABM groups to grab this FAQ. On the whole, it's just easier to post in ABME. Q: Can I repost this FAQ to other newsgroups? A: No, please don't. You really only need to refer people to alt.binaries.multimedia.d, which is the most widely available of the ABM groups, to find the latest version. Q: Is it okay to repost files I've downloaded from ABME? A: Yes, absolutely, but please make sure you are not repeating very recent or tired posts. If you only visit occasionally or if you're very new around here, you're probably not be aware of what has been posted before. Also, if you're not a steady reader, it would be very much appreciated if you stick around for a week or two after posting and answer any questions about your posts. Q: I have a bunch of small videos that I'd like to post in one big zip file, ok? A: Nooooooooooo!!!!! Keep them separate, please! Why should anyone be asked to download the whole collection? Most steady readers would probably already have at least some of the clips. Also, tastes vary. Let everyone pick and choose from individual posts. Q: Should I post a readme file along with the videos? A: Not as a separate post, but please include the message as part 00 of your multipart binary file. It won't get filtered out that way. Q: I rename all my clips so I can remember what's in them. Now I can't remember the original filenames. Is it okay to post them anyway, renamed? A: No. You'd be flamed into oblivion by anyone who wastes the download time only to find out they already have the clips. Renaming is a mistake often made by newbies, to their regret. They find themselves downloading dupes, too, because they can't tell they already have the clip. It's better to keep track of content by sorting clips into descriptively named folders. Q: Uh oh, so now what can I do about finding out the original filename? A: Watch for Refridgeraider's Revue in ABME. If you know the star's name, use your text reader's Find command to search for it. If the description of the clip matches, compare file sizes and other details. Think you found the right one, but you're not sure? Either ask for a repost and download it, or describe your clip in detail and ask if anyone knows the correct name. Q: I got some clips in IRC and on the Web, although I suspect they originated in ABME. Can I repost those? A: Only if you can verify that the filenames are the original ones (they often aren't) and - very important - that you have the entire, full-length file. It's highly unlikely, though. Q: Is it absolutely necessary to post a preview and a description? A: Opinions vary as to which is better, but please do at least one or the other. Posting both would make you a super hero, especially if the clip is a long download. Q: What should I put in my subject header? A: Essential information is whether the clip is new (your own cap) or a repost; filename; codec; if it's a zip archive, we need to know the video format of the file it contains. When reposting someone else's work, it's a good idea to credit the capper. Other important information can go either in your header or your description (part 0/n), such as filesize, playing time, dimensions, stars, type of action, your review. Observe how the veterans post. Q: My posting software is asking me to fill out some header fields. What are they for? A: The "follow up" field redirects Usenet replies to your post to whichever newsgroup you fill in. PLEASE set it to alt.binaries.multimedia.erotica.d. The "reply to" field is for your email address, and certain systems will force any replies to email if that's filled in (AOL, for instance). Better to leave it blank. "Distribution" doesn't apply to this type of post; leave blank. Answer yes to "X-No Archive" if you don't want your posts to go into the Dejanews archive. Q: Is it better to zip or not, and should I use a password? A: That's strictly up to you, but here are some pros and cons: Unless the video is highly compressed, the zip file may be considerably smaller, so that's a plus. The minus for readers is that they won't be able to preview the file while it's downloading. Passwords that are used to safeguard against accidental viewing by minors are perceived to be a waste of time or an inconvenience by some readers, but it's YOUR nym on the post. Do what feels right for you and for ABME. If you do use a password, include it in an unprotected txt file in your zip archive. Q: How can I make previews to post with the videos I've collected? A: Play the video and stop it where you want to do the screen cap. Copy the player window to the clipboard (Win95, hit alt-printscreen). Open any picture editor and paste the clipboard image. Crop and save as *.jpg. Q: I'm starting to get the feeling no one ever sees my contact sheets. How can that be? A: If you don't include the word "preview" in your header, the post is probably being filtered out by many readers along with the spam picture posts. Q: What program should I use for posting? A: We love Peck's Power Post v.6b!!! It's freeware, available from one of the following sites: http://members.tripod.com/~grok/video.htm http://www.aganazzar.com/101/. PPP was written by an ABME capper known as Templeton Peck to solve timeout problems. It can restart timed out posts, and also permits reposting individual parts. Read the help file and feel free to ask questions in ABMED if you're not sure of something. Then do a test post to alt.test. Check your headers there and make sure everything looks the way you expected. Q: What's the best size for individual parts? A: Somewhere around 6500 to 7500 seems to work best. Any larger and parts may get dropped. Any smaller and there would be too many individual articles, which contributes to clogging up the servers. Q: How long should I keep records in PPP of what I've posted? A: That's up to you, but don't be surprised if you see requests for parts several weeks after your post. It's much easier to repost if the records are all there in your history, otherwise you'd have to re-create the ones you need. Q: How come I can't get PPP to do any other tasks while I'm posting? A: It was designed to go "brain dead" during an upload, part of the reason it's fast. If that's a genuine problem at any time, just suspend and then resume posting. Q: Is it okay to download and upload at the same time? A: Yes, it sure is, but expect one or the other -- maybe both -- to progress much slower, which increases the risk of timing out. Q: I made a BIG mistake. How do I cancel the post? A: 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. Q: I sent the cancels, but I when I retrieved headers on my other server the post appeared anyway. A: Newsguy and many other servers don't accept cancels, so please thread a warning to the post stating that it's a mistake and has been stopped and cancelled. Q: How much can I post in one day? A: Limiting yourself to about 30 megabytes a day is best. This gives people time to download what they want (not just your posts) and keep current. If you regularly exceed that benchmark, you'll find yourself flooded with repost requests anyway. Keep an eye on the newsgroup and judge by what you see. When there's a lot of activity, slow up a bit. During a lull, you can post a little more. Q: I've joined together a series of clips into one huge file. Is it okay to post it that way? A: This is one of those questions where there's no consensus in the group, but let's go through some of the issues and you can see where the objections might crop up. Is it your own work or someone else's? Were the original segments posted quite recently? Has the clip been recompressed and, if so, did the quality suffer? Is it now bigger than the sum of its original parts? Have you improved the compression to end up with a smaller total filesize? Have you made any other improvements, such as converting to a cross-platform format? Was the file made from clips that many people already have? How's your propagation when you post? Are you prepared to fill parts requests for a couple of weeks? Is the material something special or quite ordinary? Q: Should I cross-post to the nospam group, ABNME? A: That's totally up to you. Just be aware that cross-posting is one of the criteria used in that group to determine whether a post is spam. The only cross-posting permitted there is with ABME. If you regularly post to ABME plus another newsgroup and want to include ABNME now, that won't work. Q: I've noticed that someone is asking for a certain clip to be reposted and it looks like the original poster didn't see the request. Is it okay if I repost it? A: Sure... UNLESS the request was in ABME or the clip has already been posted a couple of times recently. In those cases, you can probably figure out why the request is being ignored. VI. CAPTURING AND EDITING VIDEO CLIPS (T=Techies only) ====================================== A. The Basics -------------- Q: What is the purpose of this FAQ? A: The purpose of this FAQ is to provide you with some general info concerning capturing and editing videos. Its purpose IS NOT to tell you how to cap, how to edit or to go into details about how to use the various capture/editing programs. There are other groups and FAQs for that. Q: What do I need to capture video? A: First off, you need a computer and a VCR, of course! You will also need a video capture device (cap card) as well as a capture/editing program. Q: Great, where can I find this stuff? A: Try some of the vendors in section VII. LINKS AND ADDITIONAL HELP. For editing, most cappers use either Adobe Premier or Ulead Media Studio which are professional capture/editing packages. Q: Ok, I have my computer, VCR, cap card and software. Now what? A: Plug the VCR's video outs into the cap card video ins. Plug the VCR's audio outs to the cap card's audio ins (if your cap card supports audio), or to your sound card's audio ins. Insert tape into VCR. Fire up your capture program. Choose your settings. Press play on the VCR and start capping. Q: That sounds really easy! Is it really? A: Yup. Capping is a breeze. Finding the right settings to cap at however... Q: What are some of the settings I need to set? A: In general, you will need to tell your capture program the frame size, frames per second, whether or not to cap audio, and the compression (if any) to use. You will also need to tell the cap program what to call the file and where to put it. Q: Ok, what should I set them at? A: Ahhhhhh... that is THE question isn't it? In general, you should try and cap the best quality you can. What that is depends on the cap card, your computer, your VCR etc. There is an old adage that says Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO). In capturing video, this old adage should be GIGOx2. Any "noise" or artifact in the original capture will show up even worse when the final compression is done. Q: Damn, that didn't help much! How about some "suggested" settings? A: Ok, these are some suggestions: Framesize: (640x480, 320x240, 240x180 or 160x120) Framerate: 30, 24 or 15 fps Audio: PCM 11,025khz, mono, 8-bit Compression: As little as possible without dropping frames. Q: Super! I just used my hot new cap card and machine to capture this 640x480, 30fps, uncompressed video which runs for 10 minutes... and it looks great!!! I'm ready to post it, right? A: Whoa, whoa. Hold on a second! Take a look at that filesize! Do you really want to post that or expect anybody to download it? Q: Oh my god! You're right! This file is huge!!! What went wrong? A: Nothing went wrong. You have yourself a real nice source clip. Now it is time to edit. Q: Why should I edit my clip? A: ABME is not really for the posting of whole scenes capped from X-rated movies. The group's purpose is to provide a place for people to see portions of films, which will allow them to decide if they want to go rent or buy the film. A preview of sorts. Q: What should I edit out? A: That is up to you. You are The Editor. Most clips in ABME have a little lead-up portion, some hot and heavy stuff, then a climactic ending. Q: How do I edit my source clip? A: That depends on the editing software you are using. In general, you play the source clip back in your editing software and add "mark in" and "mark out" points. Mark in at the point where you want your clip to begin, mark out where you want that part to stop. Mark in the next part, mark it out, etc. In effect you are making several smaller clips of the source clip. Q: Ok, I did that. Now what? A: Again, that depends on your editing software. In general, you go back and delete the portions of the clipped clip you don't want in the final version. Q: Now I have all these "holes" in my clip! A: Yup. Now fill in the holes by moving your clipped clips together. Q: Ok, I got you now. However, by taking out the sections I didn't want, the clip has no "flow". What can I do? A: This is where transitions come in. Sometime a hard transition -- stop one piece, start another -- works fine. Other times you need to "blend" the pieces back together to make a smooth running video. If you are using one of the better edit programs, you should have many options to get from one piece to the next. Q: Finally! I have what I think is a neat little preview. Can I post it now? A: Hang in there. We are almost done. I told you capping is a breeze. Trying to decide what parts of the source clip should stay and what parts should go, and then trying to decide how to get from part to part is the "work." We are almost home. Q: Ok, I am hanging. What's next? A: Now you are ready to take the edited clip and do the final compression. It is a good idea at this point to save the clip using whatever compression your machine can do the fastest and view the resulting file to make sure you have a smooth flowing preview. Especially watch the transitions. Everyone in ABME will know where you have made your cuts. Are they where you want them? Do they get you from scene to scene smoothly? Q: Yes, it looks great. Final compress time? A: Yup. Q: Which codec should I use to make my final compression? A: That is up to you. For AVIs, Indeo Video 5.0 and i263 seem to provide the best compression with the least quality loss. The downside to these codecs is that neither Mac users nor Win3.1 users can view the clips. Indeo 4.3 lets the Win3.1 users view, but your filesizes will be larger than if you used the 5.0 or 263 codecs, and the Mac people are still outta luck. If you want damn near everybody to be able to view your clips, you should consider compressing using Indeo 3.2 or as MPEG or QuickTime MOV. Q: Ok, I have started my final compression, but it says it's going to take forever! What is wrong? A: Nothing is wrong. The length of time necessary to compress varies greatly depending on what codec you have chosen, what editor you are using, how long the clip is and what else you are trying to do on your machine while it is compressing. As a benchmark, a 5.0 compress with no multi-tasking should take about 15 minutes per minute of finished video on a non-MMX P200. IV4.3, 3.2 and i263 compresses take even longer. I told you capping was the easy part! Q: At last, my final compression finished! Can I please post now? A: Almost. The next thing you should do is to decide what to put in your header. The header for your post should include the type of clip (F/M, FF, etc.), the codec used during the final compress (5.0, 4.3, etc.) and the type of file (AVI, MPG, etc.). This allows people to glance at the header and decide if they want to download it. Q: Ok, done. Next? A: Make a 0-part file. This file should include a more verbose description of the clip. It should also include the movie from which the cap came, the stars of the clip and your personal opinion as to the content/quality of the scene. Runtime of the clip and filesize are also appreciated. Q: Ok, done. Now what? A: Make sure you know what you are doing when posting. Try out one of the test groups if you don't. Then, post away!!! Thanks much for your contribution! B. Capping Glossary -------------------- Artifacts - Imperfections, blurriness, the "garbage out" in GIGO. Codec - COmpression and DECompression. This is the program which allows the video to be stored in a compressed format, then decompressed at runtime. Datarate - The amount of information, expressed in kilobytes per second, stored in a video. A datarate of 100 kps will generate a file which is 1 meg in size for every 10 seconds of length (100,000 x 10). In general, given identical framerate, framesize and codec, a video with a higher datarate will have better quality than a video with a lower datarate. Drops - Dropped frames. During the capture process, if the computer cannot handle the amount of data coming from the VCR, it will skip (drop) frames to try and keep up. The more dropped frames in a capture, the jerkier the playback will be. FPS - Frames per second. This is the speed at which the video plays. Most videos in ABME, at least the AVIs, are done at 15fps. This setting provides fairly smooth motion. Transition - This is the way two clipped pieces from an editing video are put back together. A hard transition is one where one piece is simply put right next to another. Other transitions -- like a wipe, fade, etc. -- are where one piece "blends" into the next piece. VII. LINKS AND ADDITIONAL HELP =============================== Cap Cards: o ATI All-In-Wonder, etc. - http://www.atitech.ca o AVerMedia - http://www.aver.com/aver/ o Intel Smart Video Recorder III - http://www.intel.com/ imaging/isvr/index.htm o Matrox Marvel Millenium, etc. - http://www.matrox.com o miroVIDEO DV300, etc. - http://www.miro.com/L2/EndUser.html o Truevision TARGA cards - http://www.truevision.com [Note: PC Magazine reviewed cap cards its Oct. 7, 1997 issue. To read the reviews and link to related articles: http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/features/vidcap/_open.htm] Capping/Editing Software: o Adobe Premiere - http://www.adobe.com o Ulead Media Studio - http://www.ulead.com o Xing MPEG Encoder - http://www.xingtech.com o Personal AVI Editor - http://www.flickerfree.com o AVIJOIN - http://maikon.net/templeton/ o MPEGJOIN - http://www.mpeg1.de/intro.html o AVI2MPG - http://www.mpeg1.de/intro.html o MPEGJOIN - http://www.mpeg1.de/intro.html o AVI->QuickTime - ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/gst/ mov/avi-to-qt-converter.hqx. o MainActor - http://www.mainconcept.de o Intel Smartvid - http://developer.intel.com/pc-supp/ multimed/indeo/smartvid.htm. o VfW Converter - http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/ HyperArchive/Archive/gst/mov/avi-to-qt-kit-11.hqx o Peck's Power Join - They can be gotten from one of the following sites: http://members.tripod.com/~grok/video.htm http://www.aganazzar.com/101/ Codec Knowledge Bases: o http://www.intel.com o http://www.microsoft.com o http://www.apple.com o http://www.terran-int.com/CodecCentral/index.html Codecs: o Indeo Video Developer Pack - http://developer.intel.com/ial/ indeo/video/driver.htm o Indeo Video, specific codecs - http://www.intel.com/pc-supp/ multimed/indeo/codec.htm o I.263 video only - http://support.intel.com/support/ createshare/camerapack/codinstl.htm o I.263 with IMC audio - http://members.aol.com/SlavTrainr/ STsPage.html o IR2.1 - http://members.tripod.com/~grok/video.htm Macintosh Help and Software: o http://www.apple.com o http://www.macorchard.com - internet tools o http://www.enteract.com/~kyle/links.html o http://www.macvirus.com/reference/ Multimedia Knowledge Bases: o rec.video.desktop o comp newsgroup heirarchy - search for "video" groups for your operating system o http://www.apple.com/quicktime/ o http://www.intel.com o http://www.microsoft.com o http://www.rahul.net/jfm/avi.html - AVI Overview page o http://www.mpeg1.de/intro.html - The MPEG Archive News Servers: o All the links are in III.B. News Servers and Known Problems. Newsreaders and Add-Ons: o All the links are in III.C. Newsreaders. Software, Miscellaneous: o Archive sites - http://www.tucows.com, http://www.macorchard.com, http://www.winfiles.com, http://www.shareware.com, http://www.download.com o Agent Global Search - ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/jo/ jonzonk/agent/aglobs o Agent Group Order - ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/jo/ jonzonk/agent/ago.html o ARJ archive extractor - http://www.arjsoftware.com o CoderPad - http://www.winfiles.com or http://users.aol.com/lamprog/coderpad.html o DUNCE - http://www.winfiles.com/apps/ or http://maikon.net/templeton/ o JAR archive extractor - http://www.arjsoftware.com o Peck's Power Post - They can be gotten from one of the following sites: http://members.tripod.com/~grok/video.htm http://www.aganazzar.com/101/ o RAR extractors (UnRAR, WinRAR or MacUnRAR) - archive sites o Sitex.exe - ftp://ftp.aladdinsys.com/pub/SITEX10.EXE o Task Monitor for Agent - http://maikon.net/templeton/ o UnZip 5.32 - http://www.macorchard.com o Wincode - archive sites o Woldo's MCI Media Player http://extra.newsguy.com/~theprof/wmpl140e.zip o XferPro - http://www.shareware.com Usenet/Internet Info: o alt.answers or news.answers - tons of FAQs o http://www.dejanews.com - Usenet archive o http://www.dogpile.com - use 11 search engines at once o http://www.netlingo.com - Internet dictionary o http://www.newbie.net - courses, FAQs o http://www.newbie-u.com - courses, FAQs Viruses: o alt.comp.virus o http://www.webworlds.co.uk/dharley/ o http://www.faqs.org/faqs/computer-virus/ o http://www.macvirus.com/reference/ Thanks for reading! Enjoy the vids :P~~~