Chapter 4: 800 Million Messages at Your Fingertips: Google Groups

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In This Chapter

• A brief history of Usenet newsgroups, the Internet’s bulletin board system

• A glossary of essential Google Groups terms

• Browsing and searching the Groups archive

• Using standard and Groups-specific search operators

• Advanced searching in Google Groups

When I wrote Internet Searching For Dummies, I devoted quite a bit of space to a unique search engine called Deja News. Deja, as it was affectionately called by its devoted users, maintained a growing catalog of messages posted to Usenet newsgroups, which make up the native bulletin board system of the Internet. You could look up messages posted years ago, relive old flame wars, track down participants in e-mail, review somebody’s entire Usenet output across all newsgroups, and perform a slew of other newsgroup tricks. You could even use the site to post messages to groups — an innovative, if clunky, departure from the traditional use of a stand-alone newsgroup program.

Then, disaster. Deja News crumbled, a victim of the Internet boom-and-bust period. Much grief was felt across the online nation. But redemption was at hand in February 2001, when Google purchased Deja News and its catalog. The renamed Google Groups performs essentially the same functions as Deja News did, but with Google’s advanced searching sensibility and lightning-quick page delivery.

If you are unfamiliar with Usenet, this chapter might seem like a big nuisance. I implore you to mellow any such harsh attitude and ease into these pages with an open mind. Usenet is incredible. Google Groups is magnificent. The encompassing newsgroup culture is, to my mind, an indispensable part of online citizenship. Let me tell you a little story.

Some time ago, one of my Internet service providers, a local cable-TV company that provided high-speed Internet access through a cable modem, sold my town’s franchise to another cable company. There was no problem with

my TV service after the transition, but I suddenly couldn’t log on to the old company’s Usenet service, naturally enough. I called the new company and asked for the new server address that would enable me to get my newsgroups. To my astonishment, the representative told me that they would not be offering Usenet service to their inherited customers. This was like hearing they wouldn’t be providing e-mail service. So I immediately cancelled my account and got another ISP. Internet life without Usenet is inconceivable.

I won’t do business with an ISP that refuses basic services such as Usenet, but the truth is I could have continued my newsgroup habit through Google Groups. So if this scenario happens to you, don’t feel like you have to leave in a huff as I did. If you learn one thing from my tragic (well, annoying) experience, let it be to floss daily. Oh, and that Usenet newsgroups should be an important part of everyone’s online lifestyle.

So, what the heck is Usenet and its newsgroups, anyway? Read on. This chapter gives you a bit of history, and then moves to the practical stuff of using Google Groups to begin — or, for the more experienced, to enhance — your Usenet participation.

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