August 1, 2006 (Vol. 26, No. 14)
URL:
http://newsblip.net
Rating:
Strong Points: Great idea, well implemented
Weak Points: None
Summary:
In the early days of the Internet, I spent a large amount of time trolling the various UseNet newsgroups. After a while, these became unwieldy, and though they didn’t go away, I did—at least until I discovered an eclectic collection of newsgroups on NewsBlip.net. Providing access to a selected subset of the zillions of UseNet groups, NewsBlip wins my vote for increasing the signal and reducing the noise. The site describes their approach best—”We carry only hand-picked newsgroups with real discussions, and we monitor the overall quality of our newsgroups to ensure that we don’t carry clunkers.” I couldn’t agree more with them. Topic areas include Computers/Internet, Health/Medicine, Home/Family, News, Science/Technology, Recreation/Entertainment, and Society/Culture. Registration is required for full site access, but you can see a lot without it.
