Do you read Newsgroups?

[Gregory DG]

Wow, I just checked the alt.atari-jaguar.discussion, alt.atari-jaguar, and the alt.games.lynx newsgroups... Talk about dead. The only thing that's active there are the spammers!

 

Does anyone even read them anymore? Do NG's ever get deleted when they've outlived their usefulness? If it's nothing but a breeding ground for spam, shouldn't they be respectfully retired?

[Artlover]

You mean usenet is for more then binary attachments of cd images?

 

I've wondered about deleting news groups myself. Most are like you said, dead with alot of spam. Some groups are so dead there isn't even any spam either!

 

I've also always wondered what it takes to start a new group. Doesn't seem to be much on account of groups like;

 

alt.duck.quack

alt.duck.quack.quack

alt.duck.quack.quack.quack

aol.*

 

Sometimes I pop into comp.sys.cbm. That still has real people in it (last of the c64 diehards & ultranoobz) But I almost never actually post. Generaly, 24/7, I'm in some binary group.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

r.g.v.c but quite rarely.

[NE146]

Yeah I still read them. You have to find the active ones.

 

The ones I read are:

 

rec.games.video.arcade.collecting

rec.games.video.arcade

rec.games.video.arcade.marketplace

 

and of course... our old haunting ground: rec.games.video.classic

[Ze_ro]

Delete unused newsgroups? Boy, you haven't been around Usenet that long, have you? There are literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of useless newsgroups that have NEVER been used at all... like alt.a.b.c.d.e.f.g.h.i.j.k.l.m.n.o.p.q.r.s.t.u.v.w.x.y.z, there are TONS of newsgroups that are just misspellings of actual newsgroups, and there are even ones that are just there to insult specific people (and not even celebrities either, just someone who wasn't liked by someone who had the authority to create newsgroups). All that's populating these newsgroups now is spam. I don't know who has the authority to get rid of them, but a good house cleaning would be very much appreciated (If you compare this to the number if completely useless or abandoned web pages out there, it's probably not so bad anymore). Luckily, my newsreader gives me a search box so I can filter newsgroups at will, so the overflow of empty groups is no big concern to me.

 

Anyways, I used to read through newsgroups... I used to actually read through alt.atari-jaguar.discussion on a daily basis. I went to rec.games.video.classic for a short while, and a number of other newsgroups. There are a lot of newsgroups out there that are still very much alive, but the very specialized groups (like a.a-j.d) never last very long unfortunately.

 

These days, I generally stick to the alt.binaries.* heirarchy.

 

--Zero

[Gregory DG]

Delete unused newsgroups? Boy, you haven't been around Usenet that long, have you? There are literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of useless newsgroups that have NEVER been used at all...

 

I've been around them long enough to know they have been deleted before! :wink:

[Dan Iacovelli]

I read them from time to time I use googlegroups to read them(Comcast changed their policy it used to be free but now you have to pay extra)

You prob saw a few ofmy post the newsgroups you mentioned before for atari and games.

[Paul Slocum]

I use newsgroups all the time. It's a great resource for getting help from experts in about anything...

 

comp.os.vxworks

comp.sys.powerpc.tech

gnu.gcc.help

rgvc

comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc

sci.electronics.design

dfw.forsale

 

-paul

[Albert]

I generally don't browse newsgroups, but I very often use groups.google.com to search for information on various topics. Given that the archive goes back MANY years, it's a great source of information that you might not find elsewhere (such as on websites). I do look through some of the rec.games.video.* groups from time to time, such as rec.games.video.classic.

 

It seems much discussion about various topics has long since migrated to web-based forums such as AtariAge. This makes it much more difficult to find the "hotspots" of discussion around various topics. When you do find these hotspots, though, the discussions tend to be more focused (better signal to noise ratio, although not always) than on Usenet, and there's a better sense of community..

 

..Al

[SS]

r.g.v.c but quite rarely.

 

I used to be on r.g.v.c daily a couple of years ago but now I can't even remember the last time I visited the group.

[christianscott27]

i used to be on rgvc all of the time, its where i first discovered there was an actual retrogaming scene. it used to have some real life to it and an old guard of seasoned collectors. then it just went downhill, its easy to blame that DRSMITH666 guy, he is/was the ubertroll but i think it really just deflated due to other venues like this site. i kind of miss it, the info and people really helped me when i was just starting out. i still drop in once every month or so but never post.

 

the vectrex group on the other hand is still on the ball, its sometimes quiet but always on topic and full of the best vectrex experts.

[NE146]

its easy to blame that DRSMITH666 guy

 

Dude... Hello Megamanfan IS DRSMITH666

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*cough*

[SS]

i used to be on rgvc all of the time, its where i first discovered there was an actual retrogaming scene.

 

i think it really just deflated due to other venues like this site.

 

i kind of miss it, the info and people really helped me when i was just starting out.

 

Yep, yep, and yep.

[SS]

Dude... Hello Megamanfan IS DRSMITH666

 

My God! They DO both have 10 letters in their names! You may be on to something there.

[christianscott27]

DRSMITH666 went under a couple of names, sometimes he called himself bass guitar god and sometimes he masked as SATANSHOLL... in a weird way you had to respect him for just being so warped. all those pointless threads about intellivisions in arcades, anyways you MUST check out his website! its almost as if he was playing some really sly art school performance piece but sadly i think he really is like this-

 

http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/lcsboots/

 

megamanfan, steve "flash" juan is a different person, who's secret id is in fact homestarrunner's own

 

COACH Z

"i'm with the WU-TANG!"

[Lost Monkey]

Dude... Hello Megamanfan IS DRSMITH666  

 

I don't think so.. I remember MMF posting as Steve "Flash" Juon on RGVC before seeing him here...

[NE146]

Dude... Hello Megamanfan IS DRSMITH666  

 

I don't think so.. I remember MMF posting as Steve "Flash" Juon on RGVC before seeing him here...

 

Maaaaann.. you guys just don't know!

 

 

on usenet I go by the names DRSMITH666.. I am also a BassGuitarGod!

 

 

 

 

*cough*

[MegaManFan]

r.g.v.c but quite rarely.

 

I used to be on r.g.v.c daily a couple of years ago but now I can't even remember the last time I visited the group.

 

Same here. Too many posts from DR BOB SMITH GUGGENHEIM FRANKFURTER JONES SEALAB 2021 NINJA GAIDEN SUZUKI FIREHOUSE killed it for me. Besides, everyone I knew from RGVC seemed to be here anyway, except one or two. Even they eventually showed up.

[shep]

...I just really cant stand them....Not sure why....

[NE146]

...I just really cant stand them....Not sure why....

 

But you post on these forums.. what's the difference?

 

 

 

 

 

btw, Hey Megamanfan...just teasing ya bro

[Ze_ro]

But you post on these forums.. what's the difference?

 

Newsgroups don't keep track of how many times you've posted... how the hell are you supposed to tell who's winning?!?

 

--Zero

[Albert]

But you post on these forums.. what's the difference?

 

Newsgroups don't keep track of how many times you've posted... how the hell are you supposed to tell who's winning?!?

 

No kidding, this is a serious flaw in the Usenet model. Google needs to add a feature that lets you look up how many times you've posted to Usenet with a particular email address. Of course, I guess you can just go to the advanced search page and type in your email address in the "Author" field. I see I've posted 53 times using my [email protected] email address.

 

..Al

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I see I've posted 53 times using my [email protected]tariage.com email address.

And how much SPAM are you getting now?

[Albert]

I see I've posted 53 times using my [email protected] email address.

And how much SPAM are you getting now?

 

Between spam and stupid viruses and worms, more than you can imagine!

 

..Al

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Between spam and stupid viruses and worms, more than you can imagine!  

I bet you do.

 

How do you filter?