OK, it seems there is an interest in a devoted triumph newsgroup, so I
dwell a bit on how to attach to the new Newsgroup.
OK, I'll try to describe how a newsgroup works in an orderly fashion:
A newsgroup is a collection of posts from the contributers/readers of the
newsgroup. The reader can read all these posts if he wants to, he just
picks the posts that he'd like to read from a long list. This list shows
the reader who wrote the different posts, and what subject line the posts
have.
When he (the reader) reads something interesting that he'd like to comment
on, he replies to the post. All posts written on that particular subject as
replies are called a thread. Quite often, someone writes a very interesting
post on a subject, and people reply, and reply to the other replies in
several rounds. Now, what is important is the fact that when you write
something on the NewsGroup, you don't write a post that all the other
readers receive, they can only see your mail on the list with the subject
line, and your name on it. If they choose to read it, well, they might do
so, but if not, they can leave it alone.
Concretely, when you read the newsgroup, you see a long list with posts
(all very interesting of course), and you read the ones you like, reply to
the ones you like, or alternatively, post a new message to start a thread.
A newsgroup is a way of organizing messages/letters/posts, and presenting
the list in a nice fashion.
OK, that's how it works. Now onto the HOWTO part of this mail:
In order to read/write news, you need a newsreader. This is a program
specifically built for this, and it is a free companion to the netscape
package, or the microsoft Internet package. In the more recent netscape
version it is called Netscape Messenger, Microsoft's newsreader is called
Outlook Express. Both these packages are free, and more often than not, the
one or the other is preinstalled, so that you have one of them on your
computer, possibly and probably without knowing.
I can try putting up a link in this post that should be able to direct you
to the newsgroup:
news://hfmac277.uio.no/alt.autos.big-triumphs
Well, this line is split in two, the NNTP server name (hfmac277.uio.no),
and the newsgroup name (alt.autos.big.triumphs).
If the previous line shows as a hyperlink (you know, a clickable, blue or
coloured text with a line underneath), you can try clicking it (or double
clicking), and the computer fires up the newsreader on your local computer
automatically. And once you see the list, and click around a bit you'll
understand how the newsgroup works.
If that line above doesn't appear as a hyperlink, you can try and copy it,
and then paste it into the address field of your internet browser. This
should work, unless you haven't got a newsreader at all on your machine...
OK, when you have successfully opened the newsgroup through your computers
newsreader program, you need to notice how to start reading the NewsGroup
afterwards. You could of course click the hyperlink above in this letter
every time you'd like to read the newsgroup, but that is a pretty elaborate
way of doing it. In a lot of newsreaders, you will get a new line in a
overview window containing the name of the newsgroup
("alt.autos.big-triumphs"), and you will open the newsgroup by clicking
that line. Subscribing to a newsgroup simply means that you have a line in
your newsreader/emailreader that start up reading the newsgroup.
Oh, I got a bit lengthy there, sorry about that. Anyway, some info on how
things work is of benefit to most people.
If you find this description totally beyond apprehension (Well, I hope
not!), please let me know, I'd love to gather a lot of triumph owners in a
newsgroup, it can be useful, but mainly because it creates a social
environment.
Anyway, I think this is something that might deserve a short article in
SixAppeal, the more people participating in such a newsgroup, the better! I
bet that 100 randomly picked triumph owners can answer 99.9% of all
questions asked! And when that odd 0.1% question appears we could always
call Chris Witor!
OK, enouh for now, see you all at the newsgroup! If you're having trouble
connecting or any other trouble with news, do contact me, I'll almost
certainly be able to help.
If this triumph newsgroup becomes a "hit", we could always expand it into
several newsgroups, like: "alt.autos.big-triumphs.tuning",
"alt.autos.big-triumphs.racing", "alt.autos.big-triumphs.mechanical",
"alt.autos.big-triumphs.bodywork" and perhaps
"alt.autos.big-triumphs.the-pub" for the more social chatting! Or how about
"alt.autos.big-triumphs.widows"? Hahaha!
We have vast possiblities!
---Asgeir---
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