Accessing the CS 161 newsgroup

There are two ways you can access the cs161 newsgroup:

via your web browser, or
with a dedicated Usenet client.

The web-based interface is a bit easier to set up and requires no special software, but you may find the interface clunkier. In the long run you might prefer to use a dedicated client, though it will require you to have appropriate software installed on your machine. Instructions for both methods may be found below.

Please thank our friends at the CSUA for setting up and administering the course newsgroup!

Option 1. Web-based interface to the newsgroup

You can access the newsgroup via your web browser, using the EECS instructional WebNews client. You will need to log in with your EECS instructional account username and password. This is accessible from all locations, whether you are on campus or off campus.

Detailed instructions: To access the web interface:

Go to the WebNews page.
Enter your instructional account username and password, when prompted.
You should see a page titled "WebNews". Click on "Change Subscriptions", then type ucb.class.cs161 into the textbox. Click on the box labelled "Submit" near the top.
Click on the box labelled "Group Index" near the top.
Click on the link to "ucb.class.cs161". You should see messages related to CS161.

When logging on again in the future, you should be able to skip steps 3 and 4.

Option 2. Using a dedicated Usenet client

Alternatively, you can access the newsgroup via a dedicated Usenet client. Many email clients -- e.g., Outlook, Thunderbird, pine -- also support Usenet newsgroups.

General instructions: The news server (NNTP server) is news.csua.berkeley.edu. Don't enable SSL. If logging in from off-campus, the username is usenet and the password is gobears; if logging in from a campus IP address, you shouldn't need to enter any username or password. Then subscribe to the ucb.class.cs161 newsgroup.

For specific clients: Here are specific instructions for some popular Usenet clients:

Thunderbird:
1. Start Thunderbird.
2. Click "New / Other Accounts", and use the wizard to create a "Newsgroup account". Enter news.csua.berkeley.edu as the "Newsgroup server".
3. Click on "Manage newsgroup subscriptions". Enter ucb.class.cs161 into the text field for "Show items that contain:", select the ucb.class.cs161 newsgroup, and click on "Subscribe".
4. Now if you click on the corresponding account in the left pane to expand it, you should see the newsgroup appear (possibly summarized like this: "u.c.cs161 (1)"). Click on the newsgroup name to see its contents.
If you are prompted for a username and password at any time, use username usenet, password gobears.
Sylpheed:
1. Start Sylpheed.
2. Create a new account, by clicking on "Configuration / Create new account".
3. In the "Preferences for new account" window, select the "News (NNTP)" option under "Server information / Protocol", use news.csua.berkeley.edu as the "News server", and fill out all other fields.
4. If you are connecting from off campus, tick the checkbox labelled "This server requires authentication", and fill in usenet as the username and gobears as the password. Click OK.
5. A new account should appear in the left pane. Right-click on that account and select "Subscribe to newsgroup".
6. A window should pop up enabling you to select a newsgroup to subscribe to. Enter ucb.class.cs161 in the textbox labelled "Find groups:" and click "Search". tick the checkbox next to the newsgroup ucb.class.cs161. Click OK.
7. Now clicking on the newsgroup ucb.class.cs161 in the left pane should pull up newsgroup posts for CS161.

If you have detailed instructions for other Usenet clients (e.g., Outlook, Mail.app, etc.), send them to me and I'll add them here.

The EECS instructional group maintains their own instructions on how to access the class newsgroup here. However beware that their information may be slightly out of date.

Bonus: RSS feed

A RSS feed of the newsgroup is also available.

In case of difficulties

If you get stuck or run into insurmountable difficulties, the EECS instructional support group might be able to help you. You can reach them by email to inst@eecs or in 378 Cory, 384 Cory, 386 Cory, or 333 Soda.

Mail inquiries to cs161@inst.eecs.berkeley.edu.