If you’re a Usenet dinosaur like we are and you’ve been using the Usenet since the beginning of time, you probably know all there is to know about Usenet headers already. But we are aware that many people are not as geeky as we are, in fact, we were shocked to find out that not all people drink ten cans of Jolt cola per day and pull themselves away from the internet just long enough to go to the bathroom – we were totally blown away when we heard a rumor that some people actually turn their computers off during the day! Don’t worry if you’re not like us, that can be a good thing because that means you’re probably luckily just a normal human being It is for normal people, that we write this article. If you’re new to the Usenet or you have been using it for the last couple of years, chances are that your familiar way of searching the Usenet is through the use of nzb indexing sites and nzb files. While it is true that NZB indexing sites are a rather fast and very efficient way to comb the Usenet for what you’re looking for, they are not the only way to search the Usenet, nor do they actually allow you to search though everything that is actually there.

The only way to search all available content within the Usenet newsgroups is to browse each newsgroup using article headers. Usenet headers allow you to see various pieces of information about each post within a newsgroup. A Usenet article header will include information such as the post title, the newsgroup that it was uploaded to, and the date the post was uploaded. Because each post has a unique header, by browsing the headers you will be able to see each and every post that is available in a particular Usenet  newsgroup. NZB files and nzb indexing sites on the other hand, target only specific posts within a Usenet newsgroup. In other words, there is not an NZB file to identify each and every post on the Usenet. This makes browsing and searching all of the available content using only NZBs impossible. At this moment, if you’ve been paying attention, you’re probably jumping up out of your chair with elation because you just realized that there is more content available on Usenet than is available through NZB sites. Well go right ahead and dance a chair-Jig because you are right! There is much much more content available on the Usenet than has ever been indexed on an NZB site. To begin using headers and browsing for new continent, you need to use a fully featured and fully capable Usenet client like Unison for Mac or Newsbin Pro for PC. To get a full listing of all the headers in a newsgroup, all you have to do is open your Usenet client and select your favorite newsgroup – give it a few moments and the posts will explode on your screen

To get a better idea and see what we are talking about first hand, watch the video below.