Reading the Course Newsgroup

You should make it a point of reading and contributing to the course newsgroup regularly. Questions or comments about what we have talked about in class, questions or comments you may have about any assignments or labs, comments about things you may have come across outside class that are related to prog. lang. topics, etc. are all appropriate. (Obviously, you should not post anything that could be construed as academic misconduct or otherwise inappropriate. If you are not sure, please check with me.)

If you have problems with reading news from home, I can't really help because I don't know how to set things up correctly on different machines/browsers. A student in one of my courses several quarters ago does know and sent me the following suggestions that people can use to set up their machines/browsers. If you have trouble using these instructions, send a request to help AT cse.

Here are four approaches to setting up the newsgroup settings from home.

  1. Some students have reported that they couldn't connect by following the instructions below. But by using 119 (instead of 563) for the port and having no encryption (instead of SSL), they were able to connect. So if the following does not work, try using port 119 and no encryption. But note that that applies only if you are on OSU wireless. If you are connected from the outside, you must use SSL (and port 563); otherwise you are asking for real trouble!

  2. Set the correct settings:
    Server: news.cse.ohio-state.edu
    Port: 563
    Encryption: SSL

  3. A variation on the above:
    Environment: Windows + Thunderbird
    Account: Create a newsgroup account in Thunderbird. Use news.cse.ohio-state.edu as newsgroup server.
    Account setting: Go to account setting. Make sure SSL connection is used; then port should be automatically set to 563; if not edit it manually.
    Subscription: Open dialog box of subscription. Thunderbird will verify the certificate; if there is no warning, no further setting is needed; if not, click "view certificate", export the certificate and save it. Then, under "advanced" tab, go to "view certificates" and import the certificate manually in "authorities" tab.
    Finally, subscribe to cse.course.cse655 (or cse755 etc. as the case may be).
  4. You may also want to see this page.

  5. A surefire and secure way:
    Download SSH from the OSU site licensed software page (or you can use PUTTY which is open source):
        http://osusls.osu.edu/upgrades/stg2wnx.html#anchorshel
    Download Xwin32 from the same page:
        http://osusls.osu.edu/upgrades/stg2wnx.html#anchorxwin
    Open SSH (or PUTTY) and configure it to connect to
        stdsun.cse.ohio-state.edu
    should be set automatically to port 22

    Ensure that X-Forwarding is enabled (it is an option you may have to look for under settings or configuration)
         connect to stdsun.cse....

    Once you have a command line working, open Xwin32 (won't display much on the screen after the splashscreen), then open a newsgroup manager (e.g. Thunderbird) in the command prompt (e.g. type "thunderbird") it may be slow at first, but a window will open on your desktop with (thunderbird) in it, and you can configure your news account from there. If a window does not pop up separately, you may need to set Xwin32 to multiple window mode.

  6. If you still manage to get lost or confused, send an e-mail to help@cse.ohio-state.edu and they can aid you along the way.

Another note (from a different student) about reading newsgroups from home:
When setting up the newsgroups from home, SSL must be enabled and using port 563 (the default port). When prompted for a username/password, a user should enter their UNIX username/password. So really the only difference between accessing the newsgroups from STDSUN and from home is checking the SSL option and making sure that changes the port to 563.

Here are instructions from the CSE help desk:
The following site should help you with step by step instructions on how to join a newsgroup.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Joining_newsgroups
The CSE Department newsgroups server is news.cse.ohio-state.edu
If you need anything else, please contact the CSE Helpdesk.

If you use any of these directions or find some other approach that works, please email me. / Neelam.

A tip from another student (for Mac users):
In setting up Mozilla Thunderbird on the Mac, I had to make a security exception for the CSE certificate since it is self signed.

To do this, go under Settings, then Advanced, then Certificates and click on "View Certificates." Then, click on "Add Exception ..." and point the URL to https://news.cse.ohio-state.edu:563. Accept the certificate, ignoring the warnings, and you should be good to go as far as connecting to the news server.