Well, I may be a new sailor, but I an
certainly not a tech newbie. I provide critical computer programming
and
support for a fortune 500 company. ..

Yea, your the guy who tells everyone who calls with a problem to
reboot.

I would think a person who provides "critical programming and support"
who was having a problem reading newsgroups would know to:

http://news.google.com/archivesearch