Category Archive for ‘Guides’ at Nateweb

So, if you’re like me, you read a lot of websites. You probably also have a Gmail account. If so, I would really recommend that you start using Google Reader. You could use other readers, but I’m only going to talk about Google Reader. Why should you use Google Reader? There are a few benefits.

Whenever you open up the RSS reader (Google Reader), it will go to your websites and get the latest news for you. If you are using a program, and you haven’t opened the reader in a long time, then you will just miss out on news items. (You will only see something like the newest 10). Google Reader keeps track of everything
You can nicely scroll through your news items.. if you just scroll Google Reader will mark items read as you pass them. (Other readers are not as elegant with this)
There are a number of hotkeys you can use to make your reading better. I basically just use one.. the space bar. It either acts as page down, or jumps to the next news item if it is less than a page. Great feature, believe me.
You can check it from any computer. This is a big plus, because it is just like your regular news sites.

So, now that you want to use google reader, I’ll show you how to add news sites. First off you want to go to your favorite news site. Lets look at CNN.

Note that if you are using firefox, the toolbar has a new orange icon next to the address.

You can get to your RSS feed by clicking this button, but it is not always the smartest thing. It is better to look around the page for something mentioning Feeds or RSS. For example at the bottom of the CNN page you see this section:

Click the link RSS, and on this new page look at the new menu you get for that orange button..

You have a lot more choices now. You can either click one of these, or click one of the links below. You always want RSS feeds (not Atom), but you can also click XML.

Once you have clicked on the feed that you want, you will be taken to a screen like this (in firefox):

When you see this screen, click subscribe now, and then click “Add to Google Reader.” If you don’t see this nice button, you can copy the address, and open up google reader (reader.google.com) and click the add button on the left.

Paste the address of the page you found and you are good to go.

If you did not find a comment for RSS on your website, Google can try for you. Just copy the address of the website into the add dialog (for example, type www.digg.com). The downside is that it will just add the first thing it finds. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it is bad.

Also note that when you add a subscription, you can add it to a folder.. If you add it to a folder you can group your news.. see how I have it grouped?

Enjoy your news.. add a lot of sites to google reader, and it will pay off. You save a lot of time being able to skim through sites content only when it is updated. You can star news items or share them.. starring means you can get back to it quickly, share means you can share it with other people if you desire (you can make an RSS of your shared items.. which is kind of odd.. an RSS feed of RSS feeds).

Have fun!

Well lots of people have been asking me how to use this program so I figured I could make a guide for everyone. First off here is the most imortant information: to find out the connection information for the Rochester Hub, look at the screenname (AIM) RochesterHub.

1) Download a program called DC++ from: here (download the latest installer… might be zip file)

2) Install DC++ (run the file)… make sure to check the “I Accept” checkbox

3) Click Next past the next few menus… then click close to close the installer.

4) To get to the program goto Start > All Programs > DC++ > DC++ (I would recommend right clicking on the icon, and clicking “send to desktop”… this creates a shortcut on your desktop to get to the program)

5) Open up DC++…. Exit the notepad file that opens up… you will never see it again… you should see the following screen…. Where it says Nick put your name (this is a private hub… no cute crap)… for connection type put T3, then click the downloads tab on the left

6) Here you need to specify where you download the files you get from The Network. I would recommend making a folder like C:\UR Downloads (and browse to that for the top box)… then make a folder inside that labeled something like Unfinished (and make that the bottom one) …. When you start downloading a file it will be in the unfinished folder, then when it completes it moves to the finished folder… this way you wont have broken files that never finished…. Then click the sharing tab

7) This is the most important step… its how you share your stuff with other people. Click Add Folder and browse to anything you want to share… at least share your music. Feel free to share anything you have… movies, games, programs, videos, music! The more the better… just keep clicking add folder…. Also make sure you have 5 upload slots… remember this is private, so don’t worry about sharing everything you have… when done click appearance

This is a preference issue… I would check the “minimize to task bar” checkbox… you only share your files when you are connected to the network… so it would be best to open up DC++, then connect to the network and leave it online all day, so other people can get your files… this way it minimizes to where your clock goes… out of the way!… then click the advanced tab

9) Check the “open the favorite hubs window at startup” this is just a nice thing, saves you a step… when you do that, click ok!

10) Now click the gold star… its outlined in red in the picture below

11) Click the New button, and fill in the information you can see below… Name: “The Network” Address: “128.151.142.165:1561” … leave everything else blank… then click ok

12) You will see the “The Network” button there… congratulations you are done setting up DC++… you should never have to do any of the stuff you just did again! You might notice your computer is slightly slower momentarily… this is the computer scanning the files you set to share to make sure they exist… its also generating a list of the files… just give it a minute … then close DC++, and reopen it… you should be taken to the same screen.

13) To connect to the hub, double click on “the network”… your screen should look similar to the screenshot below- to find a file you can click the highlighted magnifying glass… type the name of the thing you are looking for and you will see what other people on the network have. You can only see what other people have shared… which is why its good for you to share for others. On the right, in the window you can see all of the people in the hub, and can see how much they have shared. If you want to see what someone has, right click on their name and click “Get File List”… then you can download whatever you like from them. Notice the white window on the bottom, this is where you will see information about what you are downloading and who is downloading from you. The Tabs at the bottom allow you to switch between windows… searches appear there, and peoples file lists…. Explore around… when you find a file or folder of files you want just right click and download…. They will download to the fodler you specified when installing the program.