Post #10,581
9/26/01 7:35:36 PM
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My ISP has blocked it's usenet news server.
For the last week and a half, the news server has been blocked by my ISP. They recently posted that the problem has "been escalated to management", and suggested using google search instead.
I wonder if this is just an expense cutting measure in the nature of reducing connect time for people downloading attachments, or pressure from legal weasles regarding copyright or obscenity issues, or if somebody has suggested that this is yet another way to keep terrorists from communicating. Or they could be using IIS servers and require an indefinate amount of time to clean out the worms/virii.
Are your usenet news servers still up? Should I just change ISP if I want usenet?
Regards and thanks,
Hugh
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Post #10,599
9/26/01 9:33:46 PM
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I basically blew off Usenet in `95.
I'd use Deja and later Google to search the archives for any useful information. but I don't try to mine the raw ore by hand. It's way too low grade. And as for participating in discussions, Usenet has long since been superceded by better alternatives.
Usenet is a relic. Let it rust.
[link|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/index.html|http://www.angelfir...e/index.html]
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Post #10,608
9/26/01 10:40:29 PM
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I thought so too
But in the last year, there has been a huge drop
in noise, so Oracle, Solaris, and Storage groups
have been very good without having to wade through
the trash. I'd hate to lose it again.
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Post #10,620
9/27/01 12:13:33 AM
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I still find it occasionally useful also.
Do you still have access or is this just a whim of my ISP?
Thanks,
Hugh
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Post #10,703
9/27/01 8:04:48 PM
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@home has it
But since they are going bankrupt, who know where I'll
be getting my access from?
I usually read/post from Google though. I like their
recently added threading.
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Post #10,721
9/27/01 10:43:07 PM
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Just your ISP
I still have full access through both of my ISPs (one in the US, one in Belgium), so it doesn't look like a NATO action ;-) IIS may not be too far off. Besides being infested by worms/virii, it also has a tendency not to restart the newsgroup service after a crash...
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Post #10,697
9/27/01 6:31:51 PM
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I totally blew it off in 97
That is when I left grad school. I haven't had a newsfeed since.
Of course then boards like this one came along to take up my time...
Cheers,
Ben
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Post #11,917
10/5/01 11:32:15 AM
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Re: I basically blew off Usenet in `95.
And as for participating in discussions, Usenet has long since been superceded by better alternatives.
I disagree.
The biggest thing that USENET lacks is a good way to link to prior posts (without Google or something).
Other than that, its far better for discussion.
No ads, for one. No font crap. Ok, some dumbasses do post in HTML, but its few and far between.
So its very fast - far faster than HTML boards - plus, its essentially cached locally with the local newsserver.
Addison
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Post #10,729
9/28/01 12:00:55 AM
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The net has gone to pot
Usenet and any other non-revunue generating feature is probably just a casualty in the post VC era. Services are dropping like flies or wilting like drout grapes. AOL will look "fast" and reliable in comparison one of these days.
Everybody is struggling in the tech world. Even web-ads are under-priced in relation to their effectiveness per TV, radio, etc. (Don't make me find that article.)
________________
oop.ismad.com
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Post #10,842
9/28/01 6:31:15 PM
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Well, don't bogart that joint, son. Pass it down. :-)
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Post #11,102
10/1/01 12:33:44 PM
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Leave Bogart out of this!
The one thing I think that's worth having about Usenet is its distributed nature. That makes it much more efficient and robust against technical failures. You can bring down an NNTP server or two, but that doesn't bring down all of Usenet. If we could just sort out the social engineering problems, it would be dandy.
BTW, K5 is having the same quality control problems as Usenet, despite a radically different operating paradigm and feature set. But we're not having problems here. Why is that? I think it's the selection of participants. We mostly work with computers FOR A LIVING, and are preconditioned by necessity to be both more logical, and less illogical, than the general populace, or the typical computer enthusiast, for that matter. That's the only variable I can find that maps to the different results.
And then there's Slashdot, which falls somewhere in between.
[link|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/index.html|http://www.angelfir...e/index.html]
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Post #10,900
9/29/01 10:03:04 AM
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Mine is OK
I haven't read rec.games.roguelike.nethack for a while, but my ISP is still serving it.
On the other hand, my company switched to a provider that doesn't automatically provide it - we'd have to do mucho gunk to get it - so I haven't read Usenet from work, however valuable or valueless, in almost a year.
Who knows how empty the sky is
In the place of a fallen tower.
Who knows how quiet it is in the home
Where a son has not returned.
-- Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966)
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Post #11,916
10/5/01 11:31:19 AM
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There are paid NNTP servers.
Might want to look into them.
I picked up a SuperNews account at one time, then they changed their name... back when my ISP's newsserver was rather.. dodgy.
newsguy? freenews? Those ring bells as to having some NNTP access...
Addison
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Post #11,923
10/5/01 11:47:35 AM
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Thanks. I'll check around for them
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Post #11,968
10/5/01 3:00:46 PM
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Supernews
Originally a BBS run out of a garage and under the stairs of a house up against the base of the hills in San Rafael, CA.
After fighting with Pacific Bell (pre-Satanic Bullshit Corp aquisition) over residential rates for what was, in truth, a business, and realizing that any BBS is inherently limited to the number of lines and modems available, this Internet thing showed up. One line no longer equated to one user.
Some time after, the service migrated to MAE West's facility, what for to have a better newsfeed, and was recristened "Supernews", specializing in a (crappy) Usenet-to-Web gateway.
Ages passed. A&M transpired, Supernews begat Remarq, Remarq subsumed by [link|http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=CPTH&d=c&k=c1&a=v&p=s&t=2y&l=on&z=m&q=l|Critical Path]. From a market high of nearly $120, CPTH now trades at $0.58, and two executives have left the company under an SEC probe. Interesting to note: 13% of all NASDAQ stocks are now trading below $1.
My piece in all of this? That BBS belonged to the kid brother of a friend of mine. Craig Wallace was the sysop of that board, and continued with the company through its various twists and turns. My memories are of some poignant ASCII art dot-matrix printouts that somehow got taped up behind the sliding chalkboards of the Physics classroom in high school....
--
Karsten M. Self [link|mailto:kmself@ix.netcom.com|kmself@ix.netcom.com]
What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?
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