OT Say Good-by

You can use Google groups for free on your web browser. Not as nice as a news reader, but it is manageable.

"Mark A" ...

And if you have ultra-geeky friends, you can use their server.

;-)

Natalie

It was posted - a few days ago, I think. I'm assuming ngs will still be accessible via other servers (I use Giganews, for ex., instead of TW/Roadrunner's server).

Whole thing - re: rationale for ISPs abandoning news servers - seems to be overkill, to me. Cutting a very wide swath, to get rid of a narrow path.

Cathy

I wonder how many liberals it will get rid of?

Charles the Curmudgeon. Hater of all things liberal. Definitely developing hardening of the attitudes.

Indeed the auto NGs have changed over the years. The time was we engineers and techs would exchange inform. Then the guys looking for a cheap, or no cost fix for their wornout vehicle started to come in. Now we have the losers that do not have a life and the kooks trying to covert others to their kookiness.

We all know who them. Now the kooks are cross posting in many NGs. I try to eliminate all the cross posts and reply to only the NG I'm in. It appears most of the wacko's and kooks are in the Toyota NG however. ;)

Its not even that... Every education starts with the basics.

Whats killed usenet over the years is lack of moderation. In fact, USENET is the perfect example of how a city would be without law and order.

On that note, more moderated web based newsgroups have popped up over the years.

But... I subscribe to ngs which manage to keep themselves in line. If things get too weird/annoying, the problem gets discussed & things even out again.

I tired a meoderated ng once - blech!!!

Cathy

Yeah, one of the negatives of moderated are those moderators who do not allow the free exchange of ideas. Their basic moderation should be to stop violent statements and such and nothing else. It is so easy for people to get offended by other peoples opinions these days.

Throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Yeah, that's a more succinct way to say it.

Cathy

Yes, the POV/whim(s) of the moderator comes into play. Plus, the slowness drove me nuts. In an unmoderated group, I post, it shows up in a couple of seconds. One can often have virtually real-time conversations. That didn't even begin to happen with the moderated group.

Cathy

If this actually happens I can think of several scenarios.

1. Those who already use Usenet will find free or pay servers to continue accessing the groups.
2. Discussions will move to other groups.
3. New discussion groups will pop up.
4. More free or pay newsservers will appear.
5. The ISPs will either rethink their policy and restore Usenet access or they will lose many customers.
6. Usenet will eventually fade away to oblivion.
7. An entirely different medium will be created.

The cat is out of the bag. Exchange of ideas/files and chatting are here to stay until someone just completely shuts down the Internet, and then people will find another way.

My ISP quit effectively carrying usenet about 4 years ago. They technically connected thru extremely bad sources (*lots* of downtime), and when I complained (frequently), they would say that I was one of 2 subscribers in their system, so they could not afford to pay for good service. I think they also said that the larger ISP's were dropping usenet (not sure how true that was at the time).

I also tried some free usenet connection sources (like aioe.org), but also found them to be extremely unreliable.

I recognized reality for what it was (I wanted to stay with the small ISP) and have since been paying to individual.net (out of the Freie Universität Berlin) - $10 euros a year, zero down time. The only pain was they only accept payment thru the Eurpoean equivalent of PayPal or direct transfer from your banking account - I went with the former - had to set up an account just for that one annual payment. Other than having to get set up for payment thru a European entitiy, it has been hassle-free, and the $10 euros a year is insignificant.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

I would like to see auto news groups that require one to register as an automotive related person that would need an access password, like the various auto manufactures sites where I have access. IE Ford Star and Toyota Dealer Daily etc..

Monitored NGs are better but one still needs to deal with the guy looking for a free fix for his worn out vehicle

Teranews then.

Teranews is a lot better than it used to be.