[zafiro17]

Comp.misc for computer stuff Misc.news.internet.discuss for oddball Sci.misc for science

These are three decent groups for content similar to HN.

If you need a usenet provider, try solani.org (no cost) or individual.net (paid but excellent)

For clients, any *nix install will have slrn, tin, pan, or possibly knode. Thunderbird is on mac and windows as well as BSD/Linux.