#usenet

According to fedidb.org, we've just crossed 10M user accounts in the #fediverse (with #mastodon making up around three quarters of this). Just over 1M of those are monthly active users. A quick Google search says that there are around 500M monthly active users on #twitter.

So far my experience has been great here: to me, Mastodon feels like a modern version of #usenet from a few decades ago: back then you read a newsgroup, now you read a hashtag 🙂

#Google Groups may finally get (effectively) depeered from #Usenet

https://jfloren.net/b/2023/10/12/0

a Merry Christmass #Hacker #song in #usenet
for the full song visit #comp.lang.c in our beloved
and real decentralized social network talking #nntp

Проект Usenet: 60 петабайт текста и полная децентрализация на акустических модемах

Когда Тим Бернерс-Ли в ранних 90-х представил технологии, определившие будущую Всемирную паутину, в мире уже не одно десятилетие существовала по-настоящему децентрализованная компьютерная сеть с довольно богатым контентом и открытым доступом, в отличие от окружённой мифами ARPANET. В этом посте мы вкратце расскажем о Usenet — проекте двух университетских выпускников, который всё ещё живет, не оглядываясь на новые технологии. Началась эта история в Северной Каролине с двух друзей из Дьюкского университета, Джима Элиса и Тома Траскотта. Они работали над протоколом UUCP, Unix to Unix Copy Protocol. Их друг из университета Северной Каролины Стивен Белловин хотел создать софт, который позволил бы людям пользоваться этим протоколом, и тоже вошёл в основную команду. Проект оказался довольно успешен: с помощью UUCP стало возможно отправлять файлы и сообщения между компьютерами и мини-компьютерами, соединёнными по сети. И, поскольку речь идёт о 1970-х, под компьютерами подразумеваются мейнфреймы, занимающие целую комнату или этаж. Мини-компьютеры же варьировались по размерам примерно от письменного стола до пары холодильников. Для своего времени они обеспечивали приличную вычислительную мощность, но до мейнфреймов им было далеко.

https://habr.com/ru/companies/sberbank/articles/779002/

#usenet

Few people know that everybody's favorite Christmas song to hate — "The Christmas Shoes" — was inspired by a chain email that was going around in the late 90s.

Here, preserved on Google Groups from #Usenet, is that email:

https://groups.google.com/g/bit.listserv.christia/c/yQtaBTVVn4c/m/Jm25J-L7iTIJ

#Christmas

@SheDrivesMobility Hartge's Second Law: "Wer mit den Lebensumständen einer anderen Person argumentiert, um diese Person dadurch anzugreifen oder in ein schlechtes Licht zu rücken, hat keine Argumente mehr und damit automatisch verloren." #Usenet #Laws

@fhouste

En même temps, pour accéder confortablement à #Usenet , mieux vaut passer par un lecteur de news plutôt que par un site web. Mais si l’on tient absolument à rester sur le Web, il existe des passerelles web-to-news plus ou moins récentes qui donnent généralement accès à une sélection de groupes. Un exemple qui fait la part belle aux groupes francophones :

https://pasdenom.info/news.html

(Voir la section Portail Web.)

I'm thinking we need to bring back the #Usenet *plonk*

@apontious We had lots of silly, too-on-the-nose names in Ye Olden Days.

Pandemonium (a game about tabloid reporters investigating aliens and monsters), is run by The Editor.

#ItCameFromTheLateLateLateShow (the game of B-movie roleplaying) has a Director.

And, of course, the all-time classic: The #WEG #Ghostbusters RPG has a Ghostmaster.

(You know, I feel like there was a #FAQ list for this topic on #USENET back in the day!)

Episode 10: AOL, Fediverse, and Eternal September

Continuing with the pre-history of #internet and how #AOL joining #usenet presaged the migration from #twitter to the #fediverse (and elsewhere).

In the second half, we take a look at Erin Kissane's @kissane survey of #bluesky users and their reasons for leaving #mastodon
and draw links to how AOL differed from the usenet experience back in 1993.

https://www.implausipod.com/1935232/13373854-implausipod-e0010-aol-fediverse-and-eternal-september

@Mrfunkedude #usenet however may be too far dead to recover I fear.

#usenet is so sick, yo

@hrbrmstr

Just had a flashback to the the olden times of #Usenet, where I was awarded a #UselessUseOfCat by R. Schwarz at some point 🙂

(Just did some web-archeology and found it: https://groups.google.com/g/comp.unix.shell/c/MZX7mK4_iqg/m/urjLcqyEE2UJ)

i can delete and re-download a whole series in lower quality to save space through #sonarr + #usenet in less than an hour. i am a god

I got today a calendar reminder that I am supposed to post to Kip Williams the message "Virginia Lee, Kip. She played Agent Joyce Winters."

But Kip left Twi**er for Blue Sky, and I don't have an account there. So I'm asking for a favor for other rec.arts.sf.written (the #usenet #ScienceFiction group) graduates: if you have a Blue Sky account, could you post that message to him?

It would be funnier if you do this with no context, or at least wait an hour before providing context.

#Astraweb has agreed to refund the money for my non-functional #Usenet account, so that's a point in their favor. But I'll be sure only when the refund shows up.

@timelordiroh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September
#Internet #History #Usenet

Dubious #Usenet provider #Astraweb continues to be weird. Today got an email with the subject "Configue your Usenet reader" but the body was another reminder my account had been cancelled. At least they provide evidence to back up my disputing the credit card charge, if I have to.

If you're looking for a #Usenet provider, absolutely AVOID #Astraweb and #PureUsenet . Both disable posting by default, and I found it impossible with either one to get it enabled. I guess they figure their spam problem is solved if they have no users posting.

@ramin_hal9001 in google groups it's hard to see the structure of the threads and quoted text gets confusing, this post is an example of why my hunch that something has been lost in translation: https://groups.google.com/g/comp.lang.lisp/c/-M5FZAvw_I0/m/zDtlcJrEexkJ tl;dr "avoid Scheme, but do know it first" "if you really want to implement your own language, implement Scheme. if you really want to _use_ a good language, choose Common LIsp. corollary: implement Scheme in Common Lisp" "stop me before I code in C again!!!" #lisp #scheme #usenet

Do you know someone who still has a site with curated collection of #funny pictures, movies and jokes? Preferably by someone who doesn't use the word "meme" - we've already got 9gag and that's one too many. When I was a kid I loved visiting http://fun.from.hell.pl/. Bonus points for being #nerdy/#computer oriented! For now I have a huge backlog from #usenet - https://www.netfunny.com/rhf/best.html

@ra if you count #usenet, 1984-85. I remember the Great Renaming and Canter & Siegel.

#lineart Use the #usenet

¿Que es Usenet?

Usenet es un foro de internet federado y descentralizado de alcance global, además de ser la red social digital más antigua del mundo. Conforma un sistema de red entre pares (P2P) para publicar artículos en grupos de noticias circulantes y está organizada de forma jerárquica, similar al Sistema de Nombres de Dominio.

https://hispagatos.org/post/que_es_usenet/

#hispagatos #usenet #hispagatos #descentralizacion #Internet #libre #HackingIsNotACrime https://hispagatos.space/@nothing/111176124108376642

Hello fellow #hackers, #activists, #tinkers, and #privacy advocates, did anyone try this? looks good, a #gemini client with pure #VIM keys is something I miss on #amfora etc https://github.com/gemrest/sydney #LeaveTheCentralizedAndBloatedWeb #usenet #gopher #irc #matrix #fediverse #2usenet https://hispagatos.space/@rek2/111381830850267262 @rek2

Hello fellow #hackers, #activists, #tinkers, and #privacy advocates, did anyone try this? looks good, a #gemini client with pure #VIM keys is something I miss on #amfora etc https://github.com/gemrest/sydney #LeaveTheCentralizedAndBloatedWeb #usenet #gopher #irc #matrix #fediverse #2usenet

Google Groups 的 spam 的量又下降了不少...

延續「從 Google Groups 送出來的 spam 數量稍微下降...」這邊的觀察，從 10/22 到 10/29 降了 2/3 左右，再往後拉七天到了 11/5 可以看到又少了 3/4 左右。

另外整個 article volume 看起來也有降很多，從三個不同的 peering 來的量都有降，看起來是從源頭就有做一些事情。

這是 10/22 的量：

這是 10/2

https://blog.gslin.org/archives/2023/11/10/11445/google-groups-%e7%9a%84-spam-%e7%9a%84%e9%87%8f%e5%8f%88%e4%b8%8b%e9%99%8d%e4%ba%86%e4%b8%8d%e5%b0%91/

#Computer #Murmuring #Network #Spam #Usenet #filter #google #groups #spam #usenet

@gbhnews I'd vote for movies on your own personal streaming service.

#plex #radarr #sonarr #usenet #torrents #automation

i set up my #prowlarr behind a reverse proxy using #yunohost's redirect and now i can access it from anywhere using my #sso account :blobfoxcomfycomputer:

#usenet

Today in BoneQuest History for November 6th 2003 "THE THINGS WE FIND ON USENET PART 3" https://bonequest.com/1860 #bonequest :deuce: :pants: #deuce_pants #piss #piss_tarp #series #title_mismatch #usenet

@blindcoder @qbi

damals (TM) im #Usenet hieß es noch: "Sei weise, plonk leise."
Aber jemandem eine öffentliche Merkbefreiung auszustellen und dieser noch ein #Plonk folgen zu lassen, hat doch einen ganz anderen, wesentlich befriedigerenden Effekt. 😝

Mastodon seems to be a lot more fragile than USENET; the whole PubSub thing seems to assume better connectivity than old-style distribution permits

This blog has been offline from ActivityPub / Fediverse for a few days, due to a bug in the WordPress Supercache plugin regarding (not) honouring the HTTP Accept header.

Back in the days of USENET, a node going offline for that length of time would not be a huge problem; the articles would be pushed or offered downstream to other peers, and dropped if they were deemed too stale (generally 1 week, often more) and all that would happen is a brief spike.

In this case with ActivityPub on WordPress however, an example Mastodon server has dropped everything posted in the past 4 days with the exception of the first thing I posted this morning, after finding a workaround for the bug.

Yes, it’s a different world with different choices Alec, blah blah blah blah blah, but I am not impressed. If the ActivityPub architectures are not tuned in the expectations of delivering robustness of communication in the face of outages, it is going to (for instance) lose all account of protests in <some oppressive regime> where the in-country instances can only achieve intermittent connectivity in the face of state attempts to block communication.

It could be WordPress at fault, it could be Mastodon, it could be the ActivityPub spec or the recommended timeouts or who knows what cause; I cannot say and I am also not going to be the one to fix it because I also have bigger fish to fry.

But nor am I going to leave this issue unobserved. We need to talk about weakness in order to have it addressed.

#distribution #federation #mastodon #usenet

https://alecmuffett.com/article/108216

With all that #fediverse effervescence, I just rediscovered #irc with #weechat, and realized that #neomutt also support #usenet servers. Going back to the source in a way.

#nntp

📬 Usenet-Provider Dreamload.com offline
#Szene #Usenet #dreamload #Dreamloadcom #Firstload #UsenetProvider https://tarnkappe.info/artikel/szene/usenet/usenet-provider-dreamload-com-offline-282398.html

Por qué importa el software libre y las plataformas descentralizadas - https://kolektiva.media/w/mRH7qRM6NHxJGLK6Ge3PRH #HackerCulture #Hacking #Hackers #Usenet #Matrix #fediverse #decentralization #hispagatos #SoftwareLibre #FreeSoftware !hispagatos@lemmy.ml usenet: alt.2600,alt.2600.madrid,hispagatos.talk

Hispagatos Introducción al Mundo Hacker con Hackerñol y 2600.Madrid- https://kolektiva.media/w/kf8uwWRNyc9TANdLzw784h #CulturaHacker #HackerCulture #hacking #Hackers #2600 #2600.Madrid #usenet alt.2600/alt.2600.madrid hispagatos.talk

@profoundlynerdy I don't think Usenet Archives https://www.usenetarchives.com/ (?) contains much of the <news:no.*> hierarchy, specifically <news:no.typografi> from the 1990-ties.

Even more specific find the message-id of https://groups.google.com/g/no.typografi/c/LxTDrNldIS0/m/8PxOcCE3IOMJ

#Usenet #UsenetNorge

Does anyone know if it is at all possible to get the original messages (for example the `Message-ID`) from Google Groups' #Usenet archive?

There is "Show original message" menu, but it claims "Either email addresses are anonymous for this group or you need the view member email addresses permission to view the original message".

I think it used to be possible in the old Google Groups interface.

#Google #GoogleGroups

Usenet is still alive, and the Big-8 Board is managing things again

> The first Usenet servers opened in 1980, over 10 years prior to the inception of the original World Wide Web. After 40 years, this distributed discussion system is still thriving, and a new board is now overseeing its operations behind the scenes.
https://www.techspot.com/news/99987-usenet-alive-big-8-board-managing-things-again.html #Usenet #socialmedia

@RickiTarr I was today old when I realized that the user experience on #Mastodon is just like that of #Usenet News 20-30 years ago, with the instance they post from visible in the user handle and all. Back then the host was a bit of an indication of what to expect. Not unlike now.

Nymmäsen hokasin. #Fedi instanssin sisältävine käyttäjätunnuksineenhan on just kuin 30 vuoden takainen #Usenet News. Tämmöiseksi se varmaan olisi ajan mittaan kehittynyt. Häsät vaan tulleet ryhmähierarkian tilalle.

People with automated/semi-automated piracy setups with IE Radarr/Sonarr/Lidarr/<insert software with last letter of word doubled> how did you set that up? How much did storage cost? Or bandwidth on e.g. a rented seedbox if you rented one?

I want to set up a nice Jellyfin server on my local network but I need some stuff to put on it first.

#piracy #torrenting #usenet #seedbox

#usenet the new #comp.lang.go #newsgroup for the #go or #golang language was submitted to the big-8 a couple of days a go for a last review and voting, this here is the original first proposal https://www.big-8.org/wiki/Nan:2023-07-04-rfd-comp.lang.go, but now we have moved forward, after these we are aiming to add #comp.lang.rust I code on both of them, and like them both for different aspects. So I am glad we're working on this the #comp.lang.c is a vibrant and super active community, so will be happy to have the other two.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/30/usenet_revival/ #OpenSource #Fediverse #UseNet

Okay, I’ve dusted off my reader and account. Who’s got some good groups they’ve been enjoying? #usenet

https://mastodon.social/@dangillmor/111054527850151364

@estherschindler I unsubbed from all my groups a year or two back cos there was just no content any more. Shame really, cos #Usenet was the first #Fediverse. A protocol based on #NNTP would be far superior to #ActivityPub!

@dangillmor I certainly wouldn't mind seeing #USENET replacing Reddit.

Which I think is only notable in that somehow, it exactly replicates my experience of getting on the internet years ago. (#Usenet) This wonder that, indeed, I was far less unique than I'd expected, because humans do a lot of similar things.

I guess I'd somehow expected that the experience would fade for us collectively over time, with more regular access to the internet. But it seems that it hasn't, really.

I realize this is incredibly esoteric and I'm looking for a demographic that's sub-0.1% here, but can anyone comment to the screen reader #accessibility of #Usenet in 2023? What does the client landscape look like, both for text and binary newsgroups? I know Thunderbird can read text, but that's about it. Interested in anecdotes from things like SABnzbd, NZBGet, etc.

@amoroso

USENET Revival?!
So is the new generation of Useneters preferring TIN or TRN as a reader? Which works better with current MacOS?

#Usenet

I should try USENET one day :P

#USENET

So I've finally gotten around to trying USENET for the first time thanks to this article from El Reg.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/30/usenet_revival/

#usenet #retrocomputing

OTD 1982: #SunMicrosystems joins #Usenet. #Suntember https://www.krsaborio.net/bsd/research/1982/0908.htm

I'm happy there's renewed activity around Usenet, such as a new management committee and group maintenance to remove obsolete groups and create new ones.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/30/usenet_revival

#usenet