What is NNTP?

NNTP, or Network News Transfer Protocol, is the protocol which communicates Usenet email messages between Usenet Servers and Usenet Newsreaders, and is defined in RFC 977. Just like SMTP and POP are protocols for sending and delivering mail, and HTTP is a protocol for requesting and receiving web pages, NNTP is the protocol for requesting and sending Usenet news messages. 

What are Usenet Binaries?

At some point in the history of the Usenet, someone wanted to send files besides text to the groups, just as you would attach a picture to an email message you sent a friend. Since Usenet messages do not support attachments, people started to use programs to convert their binary data like images, videos, and software into one or more text emails, by using a known binary-to-text encoding algorithm such as Base-64 or yEnc encoding. Users who viewed the messages could then use software to decode them back into their original binary form, and view the image or video. 

Since the only way to browse Usenet binaries such as images and videos from a PC newsreader is by either reading subject descriptions or downloading an entire group in a batch, an online binary Usenet web newsreader such as UsenetBinaries.com is usually preferred, especially if the user does not already have free access to a Usenet newsserver. This also absolves the overhead of decoding and reasssembling multiple files. 

Glossary of Usenet Terms