Comcast Dropping Usenet

[T]

In article <X6ydnft3lq8Z_UjVnZ2dnUVZ_sudnZ2d@comcast.com>, a@b.c says...

http://www.comcast.net/newsgroups/

I'm gonna miss these two groups more than most.

Thanks for all the help over the last 15+ years.

Check out Motzarella.com, free Usenet access. I'm using it since Cox's
Usenet servers have been pretty much useless the past couple of months.

 

[mm]

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:00:52 +0000 (UTC), Roger Blake
<rogblake10@iname10.com> wrote:

On 2008-09-21, William Sommerwerck <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote:
But if I dropped Comcast (as Scarlett said) -- Where would I go? What would
I do? Satellite doesn't provide Internet service. * And I can't go back to
dial-up.

Internet service is available via satellite, a friend of mine in a rural
area has it.

Good to know. Plus Verizon at least has internet via cell phone
towers.

I still use dialup. Nothing wrong with dialup, it teaches one the virtue
of patience, and with the right provider it is very inexpensive!

I agree.

I have dsl for a year now. WRT email and Usenet, the extra speed
means next to nothing. Its good that webpages are faster, but I used
to dl webpages while reading my email or the newsgroups.

What is nice about dsl is it's easier to play radio; and even tv such
as the political conventions, where it started even earlier than
public tv. But I don't have cable tv

I got a good deal on dsl for teh first 2 years, but I have no idea
what they will want to charge me a year from now.

Some of the money spent on the Iraq war might have been spent to install a
universal fiber-optic infrastructure.

I don't really have any interest in having a fiber optic connection to my
home, and do not believe taxpayer dollars should be spent on such a thing.

They put in fios here about 3 months ago, and based on the colored
dots on teh grass, it seems at least one of my neighbors has
subscribed. I live in a middle middle income townhose n'hood and I
don't think anyone here can really afford it, but some will buy it.
--
A tribute to Erols/RCN/Starpower which took away newsgroups,
without giving any notice, in advance or when they did it!!

And a real tribute to https://www.forteinc.com/apn/subscribe.php
which starts at 3 dollars for 12 gigs a month,
including alt, misc, the big 8 and everything else, 12 gigs is
far more than someone who dl's mostly text should ever need.

 

[UCLAN]

mm wrote:

But I can't understand how the two of you don't know that you can't
tell just from looking, and why you think there was no sig. when I've
told you there was one**. And why it's so important to each of you,
and why you're so sure you're right, that you go to the trouble to
post.

A) There was no sig (as Google will verify.) It appeared as plain
text in the body of your message. Nothing to distinguish it as a
sig rather than just more of your post. How was one to know where
your text stopped and your sig began?
Message-ID: <f9sad49rer18db4fqkta4fhprtqe94a72p@4ax.com>

B) You're taking the trouble to reply. What does that say?

 

[JeffM]

Roger Blake wrote:

I don't really have any interest in having a fiber optic connection to my
home, and do not believe taxpayer dollars should be spent on such a thing.

The money has ALREADY been given.
The problem is that the ISPs pocketed the cash and haven't delivered:
http://www.google.com/search?q=$200.billion+internet.service.providers

 

[Franc Zabkar]

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:01:54 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> put finger to keyboard and composed:

You are using Forte Agent 1.93/32.576 English (American) which is
about six years old. Even so, it should support a proper sig file.
What you are using right now is not a sig delimiter. It is missing the
space after the dashes.

My version of agent has no problem seeing mm's dash-dash-space.
Something is wrong at your end. Maybe Mozilla strips trailing spaces?

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

 

[Franc Zabkar]

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:01:54 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> put finger to keyboard and composed:

What you are using right now is not a sig delimiter. It is missing the
space after the dashes.

This is mm's post as seen by Google:
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/msg/f433ba78b75a0ae2?dmode=source

There is definitely a dash-dash-space sig delimiter.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

 

[Eeyore]

Don Bruder wrote:

Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:
Don Bruder wrote:
Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:
nospam wrote:

http://www.comcast.net/newsgroups/

I suggest YOU drop comcast.

I, for one, would love to.

The problem:
What would you suggest I use for connectivity?

No alternative at all ? Cable or ADSL, whichever Comcast isn't. If none then
presumably the internet you already have ?

You install a 'news reader' program - the simpler the better IMHO, I use
Netscape
4.8, configure it and hey presto you have news.

Graham

The internet I already have is Comcast. Unless I drop back to the
slow-motion hell of dial-up, or move up to a multi-hundred-bucks-a-month
fractional T line, there simply IS no alternative. (I've looked into
that option, and no matter how I try to diddle the numbers, it just
plain ain't feasible - As a ballpark figure, I'd be laying out something
on the order of 30 grand for the install, and likely waiting for close
to a year for it to happen, before I saw so much as a single byte of
data traveling on it.)

Like I said: Ain't communications monopolies wonderful?

Were you the OP ?

Well you'll have to stick with comcast and shell out a few shillings for news. I
reckon Astraweb's $10 one-off pre-pay deal is good for many years for text groups.

Graham

 

[Samuel M. Goldwasser]

Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> writes:

Don Bruder wrote:

Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:
Don Bruder wrote:
Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:
nospam wrote:

http://www.comcast.net/newsgroups/

I suggest YOU drop comcast.

I, for one, would love to.

The problem:
What would you suggest I use for connectivity?

No alternative at all ? Cable or ADSL, whichever Comcast isn't. If none then
presumably the internet you already have ?

You install a 'news reader' program - the simpler the better IMHO, I use
Netscape
4.8, configure it and hey presto you have news.

Graham

The internet I already have is Comcast. Unless I drop back to the
slow-motion hell of dial-up, or move up to a multi-hundred-bucks-a-month
fractional T line, there simply IS no alternative. (I've looked into
that option, and no matter how I try to diddle the numbers, it just
plain ain't feasible - As a ballpark figure, I'd be laying out something
on the order of 30 grand for the install, and likely waiting for close
to a year for it to happen, before I saw so much as a single byte of
data traveling on it.)

Like I said: Ain't communications monopolies wonderful?

Were you the OP ?

Well you'll have to stick with comcast and shell out a few shillings for news. I
reckon Astraweb's $10 one-off pre-pay deal is good for many years for text groups.

I did that when UPenn dropped USENET, but then someone suggested aioe
(nntp.aioe.org) which is currently free, and seems to be just about as good.
And no sign-in passowrd.

--
sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

 

[Samuel M. Goldwasser]

Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> writes:

nospam wrote:

http://www.comcast.net/newsgroups/

I'm gonna miss these two groups more than most.

Thanks for all the help over the last 15+ years.

Go to astraweb. $10 non-expiring 25GB of downloads.

Graham

I did that when UPenn dropped USENET, but then someone suggested aioe
(nntp.aioe.org) which is currently free, and seems to be just about as good.
And no sign-in password.

--
sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Samuel M. Goldwasser:

I did that when UPenn dropped USENET, but then someone suggested aioe
(nntp.aioe.org) which is currently free, and seems to be just about as good.
And no sign-in password.

Individual.net has been good to me for a few years now.

It's about $18 per year - close enough to free for me.
--
PeteCresswell

 

[Ken]

Samuel M. Goldwasser wrote:

Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> writes:

nospam wrote:

http://www.comcast.net/newsgroups/

I'm gonna miss these two groups more than most.

Thanks for all the help over the last 15+ years.
Go to astraweb. $10 non-expiring 25GB of downloads.

Graham

I did that when UPenn dropped USENET, but then someone suggested aioe
(nntp.aioe.org) which is currently free, and seems to be just about as good.
And no sign-in password.

Thanks, that was just what I was looking for.

--
sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

 

[UCLAN]

Samuel M. Goldwasser wrote:

I did that when UPenn dropped USENET, but then someone suggested aioe
(nntp.aioe.org) which is currently free, and seems to be just about as good.
And no sign-in password.

And blocked by many users because of the amount of SPAM and troll messages
that originate from that site.

 

[mm]

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:29:13 -0700, UCLAN <nomail@thanks.org> wrote:

mm wrote:

But I can't understand how the two of you don't know that you can't
tell just from looking, and why you think there was no sig. when I've
told you there was one**. And why it's so important to each of you,
and why you're so sure you're right, that you go to the trouble to
post.

"Read my sig" was meant to tell the OP that he should look at the
bottom for critical information, in case he became bored by the
details in the text about what was needed for conversion, etc.

A) There was no sig (as Google will verify.) It appeared as plain
text in the body of your message. Nothing to distinguish it as a
sig rather than just more of your post.

And why would that matter to the OP?

How was one to know where
your text stopped and your sig began?

Why does he have to know?

As long as he reads to the end, he'll see the part I especially wanted
him to see.

My post in reply to Michael disputes the notion that a sig. has to
start with --b. I don't think it does, so therefore Google can't
verify that there was no sig. Such a sig. can be recognized when it
appears over and over after*** every article a person posts. ***Of
course one or more newsreaders allow for inserting a sig. other than
at the end.

Message-ID: <f9sad49rer18db4fqkta4fhprtqe94a72p@4ax.com

B) You're taking the trouble to reply. What does that say?

I already know that I have a morbid curiosity about things like this
and the people who do them. But you didn't answer why you thought it
important enough to post. You may have more time for self-examination.
--
A tribute to Erols/RCN/Starpower which took away newsgroups,
without giving any notice, in advance or when they did it!!

And a real tribute to https://www.forteinc.com/apn/subscribe.php
which starts at 3 dollars for 12 gigs a month,
including alt, misc, the big 8 and everything else, 12 gigs is
far more than someone who dl's mostly text should ever need.

 

[UCLAN]

mm wrote:

A) There was no sig (as Google will verify.) It appeared as plain
text in the body of your message. Nothing to distinguish it as a
sig rather than just more of your post.

And why would that matter to the OP?

How was one to know where
your text stopped and your sig began?

Why does he have to know?

Because *you* instructed him to *read your sig*. If he looked for a sig,
he found none. You instructed him to read something that didn't exist.

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2008-09-22, Dave Plowman (News) <dave@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:

In article <sLadnVxX-8xcGkrVnZ2dnUVZ_rDinZ2d@comcast.com>,
William Sommerwerck <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote:
The internet is of no real importance. Roads are. (As to whether the
Interstate Highway System was a good idea, or constitutional, that's
a discussion for a different place and time.)

I'm sure lots of people -- including business people -- would strongly
disagree.

Absolutely. A decent data link can reduce the amount of post etc
previously sent by road - and faster and at lower cost.

paper mail is just the beginning. (dialup is sufficient for that)
a decent data link can reduce the number of people sent by road

Bye.
Jasen

 

[Eeyore]

Roger Blake wrote:

On 2008-09-21, William Sommerwerck <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote:
There's lots wrong with dialup when you're downloading multi-megabyte files.

I have no need to do that. (Of course others might need that capability
and they would require a faster connection.)

Yeah, I guess the interstate highways were a really lousy idea, too.
Eisenhower, that damned socialist.

The internet is of no real importance. Roads are.

Really ?

In some instances like teleworking the internet can REPLACE the road.

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

"Samuel M. Goldwasser" wrote:

Eeyore writes:
Don Bruder wrote:
Eeyore wrote:
Don Bruder wrote:
Eeyore wrote:
nospam wrote:

http://www.comcast.net/newsgroups/

I suggest YOU drop comcast.

I, for one, would love to.

The problem:
What would you suggest I use for connectivity?

No alternative at all ? Cable or ADSL, whichever Comcast isn't. If none then
presumably the internet you already have ?

You install a 'news reader' program - the simpler the better IMHO, I use
Netscape
4.8, configure it and hey presto you have news.

Graham

The internet I already have is Comcast. Unless I drop back to the
slow-motion hell of dial-up, or move up to a multi-hundred-bucks-a-month
fractional T line, there simply IS no alternative. (I've looked into
that option, and no matter how I try to diddle the numbers, it just
plain ain't feasible - As a ballpark figure, I'd be laying out something
on the order of 30 grand for the install, and likely waiting for close
to a year for it to happen, before I saw so much as a single byte of
data traveling on it.)

Like I said: Ain't communications monopolies wonderful?

Were you the OP ?

Well you'll have to stick with comcast and shell out a few shillings for news. I
reckon Astraweb's $10 one-off pre-pay deal is good for many years for text groups.

I did that when UPenn dropped USENET, but then someone suggested aioe
(nntp.aioe.org) which is currently free, and seems to be just about as good.
And no sign-in passowrd.

Limited number of posts per day (not many) and NO cross-posting.

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

"Samuel M. Goldwasser" wrote:

Eeyore writes:
nospam wrote:

http://www.comcast.net/newsgroups/

I'm gonna miss these two groups more than most.

Thanks for all the help over the last 15+ years.

Go to astraweb. $10 non-expiring 25GB of downloads.

I did that when UPenn dropped USENET, but then someone suggested aioe
(nntp.aioe.org) which is currently free, and seems to be just about as good.
And no sign-in password.

OK for low volume users only.

I use it too sometimes.

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote:

Per Samuel M. Goldwasser:
I did that when UPenn dropped USENET, but then someone suggested aioe
(nntp.aioe.org) which is currently free, and seems to be just about as good.
And no sign-in password.

Individual.net has been good to me for a few years now.

It's about $18 per year - close enough to free for me.

They also tolerate Usenet abusers. One reason I HATE them.

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

Doug Smith W9WI wrote:

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:07:15 +0100, Eeyore wrote:
The problem:
What would you suggest I use for connectivity?

No alternative at all ? Cable or ADSL, whichever Comcast isn't. If none then
presumably the internet you already have ?

ADSL is unavailable in much of the country, including many places that
aren't nearly as isolated as one might think.

Tssk. But then the UK has the advantage of being a smaller place. And telecoms
(including internet service) is highly deregulated.

For example I have 2 physical phone lines. One can provide ADSL, the other has
cable attached. If I felt the need to combine the two (and this can be done) I
could be essentially 'fault tolerant' and obtain speeds in in the 40 Mbps region.

Graham