This is a very large network of groups which cover practically every subject you could
think of, and a few you couldn't......
They exist to accept postings from anyone who cares to post.
The groups are named after their subject. The preceding "alt.binaries" indicates
that the group accepts very large non-text files such as movie files, mp3's, pics or audiobooks etc. They are usually non-supervised and thus non-censored.
They are accessed via a Usenet server, most of which are Pay Servers, ie you pay per gigabyte
or per month for downloading (uploading is free for account holders). There are a small number of Free and Test servers which are normally unreliable and close without notice.
A newsreader is required to access the groups, any number are available, some free, a few are listed in the post below.
Generally speaking the newsgroups are safe places to download practically anything and they are anonymous.
Google will give you an indepth explanation or ask me :)
Guidelines for uploading audiobooks in alt.binaries.mp3.audiobooks
Revised Jan 2011.
The following GUIDELINES may be useful, but if in doubt - ASK in the group.
Please post your comments on these guidelines and maybe you'll get them amended :)
The main aim of these guidlines is to reduce difficulties and frustrations of group
users and so encourage everyone to join in and help.
In addition to the above, There is also the important point that badly organised headers may
get excluded from NZB site indexes because of an unrecognised format. NZB indexes are
becoming more important by the day.
There is an incomplete FAQ at http://abma.britcom.org.uk
Powerpost (YencPowerPost) is STRONGLY recommended. There are variants like Camelsystem Powerpost (Google 'em)
In summary the guidelines for POSTING are:-
01. Do organise headers & filenames...
a) To contain the Author, Book title and part number IN THAT ORDER and not much else.
b) Keep them short and don't REPEAT anything.
(Powerpost WILL repeat the title if you type in the title AND put $f - No need to type in the title)
02. Do use numbers properly
a) Never start a header or a filename with a number
b) Try not to use more than one set of numbers
c) Using leading zeros is essential
03. Do include an info file.
04. Do include PAR files.(Essential - Even the best servers lose stuff)
05. Do use a proper nickname. (not Yenc@Powerpost or noone@nowhere etc)
06. Quality - 64/44/mono is "standard". Anything higher it is a waste with no perceivable benefit
and the excess size slows downloads considerably and eats up limited bandwidth.
Sizes of parts should range between 2Mb and 30MB.
PLEASE DON'T AUTO-SPLIT FILES ACCORDING TO SIZE.
ie All constituent files of the same size will inevitably split a sentence or even a word. Ensure
that your software splits in a silence, at least, or do it manually.
Bitrate 64 or 48 and mono.
Stereo doubles the size and is a total waste of time and space, for normal audiobooks.
Specialist - full cast acted - audiobooks/dramas may be considerably larger at 128 Kb/s & stereo.
(Stereo for audiobooks often creates a slight echoey effect if your listening equipment is
just the tiniest bit off.)
iTunes, of all things, is useful to convert to mono and adjust the bitrate if necessary also.
32/22/mono should be the lowest quality and this is iffy.
24/11 is often scratchy, echoey and thin. Uncomfortable to listen to.
------------------------------------------------------------------
07. Don't use numbers as filenames or headers.
08. Don't post non-mp3 files (eg MP4, M4a RAR etc).
09. Don't Put REQuests in the header of another posted book.
10. Don't post non-English books without saying which language they are in, in the header.
WENN DAS BUCH NICHT AUF ENGLISCH IST, BITTE ANGEBEN, WELCHE SPRACHE IN DER ÜBERSCHRIFT danke soviel
INDIEN HET BOEK NIET IN HET ENGELS IS, ALSTUBLIEFT STAAT DIE TAAL IN DE RUBRIEK (KRANTEKOP)dankuwel
IF THE BOOK IS NOT IN ENGLISH, PLEASE STATE THE LANGUAGE IN THE HEADER. Thank you so much.
(apologies if these are not perfect translations)
PS - Non-English audiobooks
Most Newsreaders have FILTERS, (normally called twit filters) which will filter out, ie NOT download or display,
headers which you have identified to them. These filters usually work on both the subject matter and the poster.
So, Putting all the Non-English letters of the alphabet into a filter will avoid quite a lot of non-English
downloading. Identifying the non-English posters and putting them in the filter also works.
That's 10 but they're not commandments, in fact if most folk did 1., and 2.... I can dream....
Because Guidelines 1 & 2 are so important here follows some more detailed explanation.
SPECIAL NOTE - TROLLS
Flaming (usenet-speak for STRONG criticism) is almost wholly counterproductive.
Reasoned argument and helpful suggestions are much the preferred response to
any percieved inconvenience.
NEVER respond to strongly worded criticism - It is almost certainly a TROLL and he is trying to bait
you into responding and he/she/they could eventually disrupt the group (it HAS happened - just IGNORE them)
Looking up the word TROLL in Google will get you a detailed explanation.
EXAMPLE "Stop Posting this Stephen King Shit in here !!!"
Example "Re: REQ: All this incendary political crap is killing the group ??
Please ignore these and similar posts.
EXAMPLES OF Faults and how to fix them
--------------------------------------
Here are a few examples...BUT....
These examples are not quoted to be critical of posters. It is perfectly obvious that
Posters are the lifeblood of the group and there would be no group if audiobooks weren't posted.
The examples attempt to show how, with a little tweaking, the hard work (and time and expense)
of the posters is not wasted because the downloaders can't deal with the posts properly.
1. Good Headers for Posts...
Karen Marie Moning - Beyond the Highland Mist 013 of 116.mp3
James Grippando - Hears No Evil 11 Of 23.mp3 NR yEnc
attn Greg Bernard Cornwell - RS12 Sharpe's Battle 08of20.mp3
The essential information is displayed in an unambiguous fashion, simply and briefly.
The headers will stay together because they are alphabetical and the numbers order them
further (with essential leading zeros). Neat, tidy, understandable and therefore usable
with no problems.
The James Grippando header contains two ancillary bits of info (NR & yEnc) which are
tucked away at the end and don't interfere with the rest.
The Bernard Cornwell post is prefixed (attn Greg) and has the series index included (RS12)
but the post is still easily understood.
The further the headers drift away from this format, the more complex it becomes and thus
problems start to appear for group users.
2. This next example is OK but stylised (which some might call individual)...
Patrick Tull reads "Patrick O'Brian - AM08 The Ionian Mission 07 of 13.mp3" [15/21] yEnc (NMR)
Anyone but a newbie would be able to deal with it easily but it does contain
a lot of ancillary info and a double numbering system.
3. This example is close to being perfect....
"Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Natural Born Charmer - 10 of 12.mp3 Susan Elizabeth Phillips-Natural Born Charmer-Unab-56Kbps" yEnc
It suffers from these drawbacks.
a) The author and title seem to be repeated. This may well be a slight error in the
use of the posting program. Powerpost would do this if the author and title were
manually typed in followed by the mandatory $f. (ie DON'T manually type the title)
Other posting programs may well be similar.
The net effect is that the header is too long to be read on most newsgroup
readers' screens. In order to read the end of the header most people would have to
change their page format or something similar and some may not even realise that
there is more info off the edge of their screen. So shortening, by avoiding the repetition,
would be easier for everyone and more informative.
b) The extra bits of info on the end just make a too-long header even longer.
This info would be OK on the short-form header, but it could go in the nfo file.
c) The quotation marks around the header are a puzzle and detract slightly as well.
This next example also suffers from having too much info in the header and the title of the
book get pushed to the right, maybe off the screen.
Laura Lippman--TessMonaghan4--DeborahHazlett-NR@64/44/m--[185/199] - "BT8-15_InBigTrouble.mp3" yEnc
It takes a little analysis to realise that we have:-
The author, the series name and number, the audiobook narrator, New Rip (NR) info,
the rip quality (64 Kb/s bitrate & 44 KHz sample rate & Mono), a numerical index, a
second alpha-numerical index, the book title, lastly the method of coding for usenet.
It would be an improvement to simplify such a header and put the additional info in the nfo file.
The next header is too long, billboarding, wrong format and in German - not stated but thankfully obvious.
TKKG.157.Oskar.und.die.sieben.Zwerge by mestate65.part5.rar TKKG - 157 - Oskar und die sieben Zwerge KOMPLETT by mestate65
Incomprehensible headers like this one...
are extremely confusing, especially if there were no nfo file. The first half of the header
is pure billboarding and annoying, the second half is codified to oblivion.
AND it's a rar file to boot. (Not only that but its a German book - not stated of course)
If there's a guideline which this didn't break, its not for the want of trying.
Numbers etc
-----------
a) Please don't start the filename with incidentals like track numbers, such as...
track 06 cd04 PHB
Because...
each track 01 will be ordered with the other track 01's and the post will be messy
In other words it will be ordered by track not by CD.
eg
track 01 cd 01 PHB
track 01 cd 02 PHB
track 01 cd 03 PHB
.
.
.
track 02 cd 01 PHB
track 02 cd 02 PHB
etc etc.
Much better would be....
Porterhouse Blue cd01 track01.mp3
or for those who don't want whole CD's..... Porterhouse Blue 001 of 154 etc
FOR POSTING PURPOSES any sensible method is fine. For listening purposes
however, the downloader should expect to edit the mp3 files to their own
use. Some folk play mp3's on their PC, others make mp3 CD's, mp3 & mp4 players
are gaining popularity........etc
(The requirements of mp3 players vary a bit but the trend is for larger numbers
of smaller files)
My mp3 player - Sanyo sansa clip+ - uses the TAGS to order files, I think.
So, getting the tags in a sensible order is equally important. It would help to
have the Tags correct at posting but the downloader should check and edit them.
(Tags are file naming and numbering info contained within the mp3)
On a personal preference I don't leave spaces between 001 of 154 eg 001of154
This is because it separates clearly the file numbering system from any other number which
might appear in the title or header.
The only significance in keeping the CD reference is that you can be fairly certain
that the CD starts and ends in a sensible place, ie not in the middle of a word or
sentence. There is often audio confirmation of the start and end of CD's also.
b) Put numbers towards the end (after the author and book title).
Starting the header with numbers will not cause a problem in a year when only your
post starts with a number (YES, a year). When there is more than one such book, the
leading numbers will become intertwined and the books will become more difficult
to download and keep separate.
eg
(1/32) Tom Sharpe - Porterhouse Blue.mp3
(1/36) Terry Pratchett - Guards Guards.mp3
(2/32) Tom Sharpe - Porterhouse Blue.mp3
(2/36) Terry Pratchett - Guards Guards.mp3
(3/32) Tom Sharpe - Porterhouse Blue.mp3
(3/36) Terry Pratchett - Guards Guards.mp3
I mentioned A YEAR, that's how long most servers keep headers and files, some a lot longer, so
anyone downloading headers after a short absence (like a holiday) will tangle up any headers
starting with a number.
Any headers which have numbers BEFORE the author and title, effectively start with a number.
c) Remember to use leading zeros.
Differing PC programs order numbers in differing ways, confusingly so.
Some progs will see through the human failings and order numbers according
to their face value, like....
1
2
.
.
9
10
11
.
.
20
21
etc
However lots of progs order numbers according to their first digit, like....
For a list of 1 to 100
1
10
100
11
12
.
.
19
2
20
21
.
.
29
3
30
So you can see the muddled state they can get into. However ALL ordering systems
will place 001 before 010 and that before 100. Thus leading zeros are a must.
d) It is helpful and relieves a deal of anxiety if the total number of the files is
clearly given. ie 11of32, 001 of 154 etc etc. So that the user can be sure that
he/she has got the complete audiobook.
Numbers like "CD 4 track 06" are lacking this vital piece of info
Useful Links, most free (see FAQ for more) http://abma.britcom.org.uk
www.quickpar.org.uk/ PAR software and tutorial.
www.quickpar.org.uk/Tutorials.htm
www.powerpost.cjb.net/ The BEST Uploading software
Variants now available - eg Camelsystem Powerpost
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ Biography, Bibliography & Photos *Excellent Source*
www.amazon.com/ Sources of data for info files.
www.booksontape.com/ "
http://www.barnesandnoble.com "
http://www.harpercollins.com "
http://en.wikipedia.org Biography, Bibliography & Photos
http://mp3bookhelper.sourceforge.net/ Lots of easy techie help with audiobooks
http://www.mpesch3.de mp3 direct cut - audio splitter & more.
http://brawnylads.com BLjoin File splitter and joiner(small easy and free)
www.mp3-faq.org/tips/bookssubfaq.html Information about Binary Newsgroups and Usenet in general.
www.binaries4all.com/index.php
www.slyck.com/ng.php Slyck's Guide to The Newsgroups - Intro
Suggestions for amendments and additions are welcome. Just post them in the Group.
A Few Newsreaders...
COMMENTS
123NewZ
40tude Dialog
AllNews
alt.binz
Android Newsgroup Downloader
Auto Binaries Collector
Binary News Reaper Not recommended - beta and unsupported
Dutch Binaries Program
Forté Free Agent Newsreader Nice simple and established program.
Gigi's Own NewsReader
Grabit
LeechGuy
Mesnews
MicroPlanet Gravity
News File Grabber
News Rover Well known
NewsBin Pro Fairly popular
NewsLeecher Good program
Newsman Pro
NewsPro Good but advanced (complicated)
NewsReactor
NewsXpress
NewZMiner
Nomad News
Noworyta News Reader
NwReader
NZB-O-Matic
Ozum
PostCatcher
QuadSucker/News
Sophax
Surfino Newsreader v2.2
The nzb Project
The unPoster
Ultraeecher
Usenet Explorer Good but advanced (complicated)
WinVN Usenet News Reader
XanaNews Newsreader
Xnews
Tamava Reader (Java)
Gnewsgroups
Binbot Binary Newsreader
Any comments ? Recommendations ? Post 'em !
lanky
