newsbin.com

Does the subscription search service utilize NZB files? I read that if you use NZB files to initiate a download, your IP address can be visible to someone who knows how to look for it. I'm assuming if someone has the time, downloading headers and searching those is 'safer' than NZB...? Am wondering if Newsbin's service searches through their already-downloaded headers as opposed to being an interface to a NZB search.

Does the subscription search service utilize NZB files? I read that if you use NZB files to initiate a download, your IP address can be visible to someone who knows how to look for it. I'm assuming if someone has the time, downloading headers and searching those is 'safer' than NZB...? Am wondering if Newsbin's service searches through their already-downloaded headers as opposed to being an interface to a NZB search.

Newsbin search is as safe as headers. Only you and your news server know what you're downloading. We don't log your searches. We log counts of searches but not content. NZB files are just smallish text files that describe how to download a file. Using NZB files is just as safe as using header downloads or our search. The download is just between you and your news server.

If you download NZB's from other websites. They know you downloaded the NZB but they don't know if you downloaded the files mentioned in the NZB or not.

NZB files are nothing like Torrents. Torrents are inherently dangerous because while you download the file, other people in the same torrent swam, sharing data with you can get your IP and know what you're downloading. People who get caught downloading are almost universally using torrents. I've never heard of someone being tracked down by downloading from Usenet.

Thanks -- so, is it more or less a subscription to a private NZB service...?

You could say that. Most free NZB sites store far fewer records than we do though. We go back into the past as far as the longest retention news servers.

Thanks for the explanation. Am in the process of switching over to a MacBook and really wish NewsBin was available. Whole different usenet world now, and mostly all of what's available accesses public NZB sites with not even an option to download headers instead.

You can run Newsbin on the mac using "Parallels".

Thanks -- I'm familiar with that. I have just a 512gb drive, Parallels+Windows would take too big a chunk of that. The price of Parallels and Windows is cost prohibitive right now, and Newsbin is the only app I'm missing. I do still have my Windows laptop, but the only reason I have to use it is for Newsbin.

Well, when you get sick of OSX, don't forget you can install real Windows on the Mac with bootcamp. Wife's got tired of OSX and I switched her over.

Not gonna happen -- I'm hooked. I've only ever used Windows, started out with DOS -- if I were stuck on it, I wouldn't have shelled out megabucks for a MacBook Pro. I'm set -- but I've had more time to tweak things than maybe your wife has. Coming from Windows, there's definitely some tweakage required. Thought I'd continue using my Surface Pro 2 for NewsBin & Plex Media Server/Roku 3, but things happen so much faster and quirk-free with Plex Media Server on my Mac.