How to filter out all Google Groups posts with NewsProxy
John Corliss
through the Google Groups service (as evidenced by the number of replies
to it), it's my intention to continue posting these instructions
periodically. The reason for this post is more thoroughly described by
an old friend (Blinky the Shark) at this fine site:
*******************************************************************
It used to be that people who participate in usenet would complain about
"AOLosers" but these days, it's the Google Groups users who are causing
most of the problems. This is because:
1. Google is impossible to contact with complaints for the most part.
2. If you actually succeed in contacting Google, they usually don't
respond to usenet abuse complaints, totally ignoring you.
3. Google seems to allow anybody to create a new account over and
over, even if they've had other Google Groups accounts canceled.
There are a few good people who are using Google Groups to access this
group but not enough of them to make it worth having to put up with all
the spew also coming from Google.
The good Googlers should consider obtaining and configuring a real
newsreader of their choice to access usenet directly. If their ISP
doesn't provide usenet access via either their own servers or through
somebody else's (my ISP subcontracts Supernews, for instance), the
Googlers should also consider getting a free account with Motzarella:
http://www.motzarella.org/en/index.php
and THEN use the aforementioned newsreader of their choice to access
usenet through *that* service.
Your mileage may vary regarding how you view Googlers in general but I,
for one, have had my fill of all the spamming, sporge and other idiocy
originating from Google Groups. I've also had my fill of excessive
top-posting, lack of quoting and unnecessary, repetitive and-or
off-topic questions from that source. All of this occurs because many
Googlers have no idea that they're posting to usenet and believe that
they're only participating in an online forum.
As a result, I _filter out_ *ALL* posts originating from Google Groups.
If you are of the opinion that this is too harsh, read on because
towards the end I will describe how to merely *flag* Googler posts
instead of filtering them as I do.
Here's how to filter out Googlers:
For a news reader, I use Thunderbird. It's possible to use NewsProxy
in conjunction with that program to block everything coming from Google
Groups. I'm using version 1.2.0 of NewsProxy which, IIRC, jon pointed me
towards.
___________________________________________________________________
NOTE! this program is also known as "nFilter". Since the version I
recommend installs by default into a folder named "NewsProxy" and
because the installed executable in that folder is named
"NewsProxy.exe", I will refer to the program as "NewsProxy" in this post.
___________________________________________________________________
If you have problems getting NewsProxy 1.2.0 to install, simply change
the extension to ".zip" and use something like IZArc:
to extract the installation files into a folder of your choice. You can
then run the setup from that folder.
Once you get NewsProxy up and running (note *RUNNING*, and it's very
simple to do) be sure to:
1. configure it to access your news server (note, SERVER, not READER)
via port 119.
2. configure your newsreader to access NewsProxy instead of your news
server (instructions for Thunderbird below.)
3. set up the filtering rules.
Doing the aforementioned three steps will set up NewsProxy as a proxy
program.
Now to explain the second of those three steps. I use Thunderbird for a
newsreader, so the following instructions apply only to that reader.
Other newsreaders can also be configured in similar fashion and in fact,
might have built in filtering capabilities so that you don't even need
NewsProxy at all!
Configure Thunderbird to use NewsProxy by doing the following:
1. right click on your usenet account name
2. select "Properties"
3. click on "Server Settings"
4. replace the contents of the "Server Name:" field with simply
"localhost" (no quotation marks). Thunderbird will appear to lock
up but be patient; it will eventually resume operation and the
name of the account will be changed to "localhost".
Now it's time to set up the filtering rules. Double click on the
NewsProxy system tray icon so that the configuration window opens and do
the following:
1. click on "Edit"
2. select "Filters" by clicking on it
3. your filter file will open in Notepad at this point and it's
simply a text file
4. place the following line all the way at the bottom of the filter:
alt.comp.freeware drop Message-ID:*googlegroups.com*
or if you want to filter Google Groups posts from every newsgroup that
you read, the following will work:
* drop Message-ID:*googlegroups.com*
If you just want to merely _label_ Google Groups posts as a kind of
alert (I have tried using this method but decided it was better to
simply filter the posts) you can use the following rule instead:
alt.comp.freeware aflag:>GOOGLER<--- Message-ID:*googlegroups.com*
Make sure you put a shortcut to NewsProxy in your Startup folder so that
it will run every time you start your computer up, or you will often
forget to start it.
Most newsfeeds use the "Message-ID:" header as an "overview field", so
this guide should work for you. To help understand this, see the NFilter
FAQ, section 4.1:
http://www.nfilter.org/faq.html#4.1
If you're using another news reader, it shouldn't take much to figure
out how to configure it to use NewsProxy as what it is.... a usenet proxy.
AHHHHH! The sound of quiet...
--
John Corliss BS206. I use nFilter to block all crossposts, everything
from troublemakers like Andy Mabbett, Bear Bottoms, gavin, hummingbird,
Kayman and proteanthread, and all Google Groups posts because of
Googlespam. No ad, cd, commercial, cripple, demo, dotnet, nag, share,
spy, time-limited, trial or web wares OR warez for me, please.
PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL
Bear Bottoms
wrote:
> 2. If you actually succeed in contacting Google, they usually don't
> respond to usenet abuse complaints, totally ignoring you.
That should tell you something net cop. Usenet is free to be used by
anyone. You want to censore it...do so for yourself. Leave others alone.
[But you don't do that do you net cop]
--
Bear Bottoms
Freeware Website http://bearware.info
Franklin
> your post is OFF TOPIC and should be labelled thus.
>
Surely a posting about nFilter/NewsProxy/Thunderbird is on topic.
Could you be a Chris Millbank-sockpuppet that is trying to cause trouble?
Stubbo of Oz
<jcor...@fake.invalid> wrote:
> Snip ....................
>The good Googlers should consider obtaining and configuring a real
>newsreader of their choice to access usenet directly. If their ISP
>doesn't provide usenet access via either their own servers or through
>somebody else's (my ISP subcontracts Supernews, for instance), the
>Googlers should also consider getting a free account with Motzarella:
>
> http://www.motzarella.org/en/index.php
this gives "Error 404 - The webpage cannot be found"
> Snip ....................
--
----------------
Stubbo of Sydney
----------------
GlowingBlueMist
news:jjart31l9fe1m5l9k...@4ax.com...
Try: http://www.motzarella.org/RegisterNewsAccount.php?language=en
or just plain http://www.motzarella.org and pick "User registration" from
the menu. Both links seem to work from the USA in English with out being
asked.
John Corliss
> John Corliss wrote:
>
>> Snip ....................
>> The good Googlers should consider obtaining and configuring a real
>> newsreader of their choice to access usenet directly. If their ISP
>> doesn't provide usenet access via either their own servers or through
>> somebody else's (my ISP subcontracts Supernews, for instance), the
>> Googlers should also consider getting a free account with Motzarella:
>>
>> http://www.motzarella.org/en/index.php
>
> this gives "Error 404 - The webpage cannot be found"
>
>> Snip ....................
Sorry. Try this one instead:
It worked for me just now.
Stubbo of Oz
Many thanks - got it now!
Cheers ............
BP
haven't gotten it to work since installing it on my new system. It's as
if NewsProxy and my newsreader (MesNews) don't communicate with each
other. I've checked port numbers and evennthe spelling of "local
host". I have Norton on my system, if that makes a difference.
John Corliss explained on 3/16/2008 :
BP
in the newsreader program, not as it appears below as two words.
BP formulated on Monday :
David H. Lipman
| your post is OFF TOPIC and should be labelled thus.
It is NOT OT.
Google spam is inscreasing daily and Google has become the enemy. Discussing how to filter
out Google posts is On Topic for all those trying to deal with Google's greed and
irresponsibility.
Anything that deals with FAQs, Charters, protecting a given news group or filtering spam
within a given news group is always On Topic. It deals specifically with the news group.
--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp
Me.Here
[OK] David H. Lipman wrote:
> From: "PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL" <corliss.i...@home.invalid.com>
>
> | your post is OFF TOPIC and should be labelled thus.
>
> It is NOT OT.
>
> Google spam is inscreasing daily and Google has become the enemy. Discussing how to filter
> out Google posts is On Topic for all those trying to deal with Google's greed and
> irresponsibility.
>
> Anything that deals with FAQs, Charters, protecting a given news group or filtering spam
> within a given news group is always On Topic. It deals specifically with the news group.
+ 1
Ron May
<DLipman~nospam~@Verizon.Net> wrote:
> From: "PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL" <corliss.i...@home.invalid.com>
>
> | your post is OFF TOPIC and should be labelled thus.
>
> It is NOT OT.
>
> Google spam is inscreasing daily and Google has become the enemy. Discussing how to filter
> out Google posts is On Topic for all those trying to deal with Google's greed and
> irresponsibility.
>
> Anything that deals with FAQs, Charters, protecting a given news group or filtering spam
> within a given news group is always On Topic. It deals specifically with the news group.
Even more to the point, it's a tutorial on the use of freeware
NewsProvy/NFilter. Very much ON topic.
--
Ron M.
(I filter Googlespam)
alt.comp.freeware information pages:
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/acf/Index.php
3c273
"PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL" <corliss.i...@home.invalid.com> wrote
in message news:john.corliss.is.t...@corliss.troll.com...
David H. Lipman
| On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:55:56 GMT, "David H. Lipman"
| <DLipman~nospam~@Verizon.Net> wrote:
|
>> From: "PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL" <corliss.i...@home.invalid.com>
>>
|>> your post is OFF TOPIC and should be labelled thus.
>>
>> It is NOT OT.
>>
>> Google spam is inscreasing daily and Google has become the enemy. Discussing how to
>> filter out Google posts is On Topic for all those trying to deal with Google's greed and
>> irresponsibility.
>>
>> Anything that deals with FAQs, Charters, protecting a given news group or filtering spam
>> within a given news group is always On Topic. It deals specifically with the news group.
|
| Even more to the point, it's a tutorial on the use of freeware
| NewsProvy/NFilter. Very much ON topic.
|
Agreed!