Seems that nntp.aioe.org is now dead. What's up ?

Seems that news-eternal-september has dropped many newsgroups including
the beloved
microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion
Where now ?

"BeeJ" <BeeJ@NoSpam.com> wrote

|
| Seems that news-eternal-september has dropped many newsgroups including
| the beloved
| microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion
| Where now ?
|

paganini.bofh.team

Don't try to use encryption. It works on port 119. I'm
not aware of any other options left. The man who runs E-S
seems to have a chip on his shoulder about Microsoft
and dropped all the MS groups without warning, claiming
they were full of spam. There was an extended
discussion in the E-S support group. Last I heard, aioe
was down in a serious way with no word on when/if it
might be back.

On 3/16/2023 7:57 AM, Newyana2 wrote:
> "BeeJ" <BeeJ@NoSpam.com> wrote
>
> |
> | Seems that news-eternal-september has dropped many newsgroups including
> | the beloved
> | microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion
> | Where now ?
> |
>
> paganini.bofh.team
>
> Don't try to use encryption. It works on port 119. I'm
> not aware of any other options left. The man who runs E-S
> seems to have a chip on his shoulder about Microsoft
> and dropped all the MS groups without warning, claiming
> they were full of spam. There was an extended
> discussion in the E-S support group. Last I heard, aioe
> was down in a serious way with no word on when/if it
> might be back.

The microsoft.* groups ran for ten years past their best-before date.

He could have removed them, at the time the (unsigned) rmgroup
came in on the wire. But he didn't.

I expect the problem was, there was some maintenance activity in 2023
(filter writing) required in there, and just giving the groups
a whack was the best option. he is still dealing with
"issues" on his filter right now. So it's not like the amount
of labor involved was magically reduced. Whatever is going on
(refusal of Google Groups to clean up their act?), is keeping him busy.

He is trying to tune that filter, such that future programming
of the filter is "dead easy". Reducing future maintenance efforts.

The attitude of administrators has always been, to
"not turn their server into a fetish". One administrator
fell into that trap, and the guy was borderline mental from
constantly playing whack-a-mole with the troublemakers. He would
be spending hours every day, editing shit. As an administrator,
that's a sign you're doing it wrong. Even commercial sites, which
have staffed positions, don't lean that hard on the controls.
They spend most of their time dealing with barratry and abuse
of process (activities related to takedown requests).

Whatever is going on right now, all more or less aligns with the
"RAID failure" on AIOE. But the signs are, there is more to that
story than we know. Generally, when an administrator becomes
visibly agitated, it means the troublemakers are getting to him.
Paolo showed signs of that, back in the message flood in the
middle of 2022. In the middle of the flood, he did something
he would normally not do. It's not a surprise, that the AIOE server
is not getting restored, as the "better option" for him personally.

Each administrator is using a different approach. On Mixmin,
the admin has "jammed a stick in the gears". As opposed to shutting
down the server entirely. All other services on that server
run normally. Only INN is jammed up.

On Netfront in 2022, the administrator did not screw around. Took about
30 seconds to solve the flood he was given. Just switched off
posting... forever. Server runs read-only. I expect things
are very quiet there now :-)

When the kids jump on the soft... you just take the sofa
away, and that teaches the kids a lesson. They sit on the
floor to watch TV.

At this point, you're probably better off buying a block
from a commercial server. For text posts, a block can last
a long time. Then you don't have to deal with honey pots
and vanishing servers.

Paul

On 16/03/2023 12:32, Paul wrote:
>
> Whatever is going on
> (refusal of Google Groups to clean up their act?), is keeping him busy.

Yes, probably that will be part of it. Recently another ng I subscribe
to - even though it's almost, but not quite, dead - is receiving
more drug spam than genuine posts, all of which are from gmail accounts
via google groups. Trouble is, many of the few remaining genuine posts
come via that route too, otherwise I'd just filter on ...
*.gmail.com

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
www.macfh.co.uk

"Paul" <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote

| The microsoft.* groups ran for ten years past their best-before date.
| | He could have removed them, at the time the (unsigned) rmgroup
| came in on the wire. But he didn't.
|

The reason I said that he seems to have a chip on his
shoulder was because he said something to that effect.
Good riddance, or some such. Others in the support group
echoed his sentiment. It seemed to be a specifically anti-MS
sentiment. As for spam, I've always found the MS/Windows
groups to be pretty much the only viable ones. Most others
I visited dried up years ago, got taken over by spam, or
became too anti-social to use. (The Linux groups have
always been anti-social. The Android group is only borderline
usable.) ... So I doubt very much that this was about
spam on MS groups. In any case, it doesn't matter now.
They're not coming back on E-S.

I hate to leave because this pis part of my daily routine,
but truth be told, I used to frequently provide help and
get useful info myself. These days, both events are rare.
We've dwindled to a small club of old men ranting in the
donut shop. :)

| Whatever is going on
| (refusal of Google Groups to clean up their act?), is keeping him busy.
|

I thought I read somewhere that GG was shutting down. ??

On 3/16/2023 12:44, Newyana2 wrote:
>
> | Whatever is going on
> | (refusal of Google Groups to clean up their act?), is keeping him busy.
> |
>
> I thought I read somewhere that GG was shutting down. ??

That would be wonderful... that will take out most Usenet spam. I
surely won't morn the AIOE spammers, either. ES is OK for a freebie,
but I access most of my groups with block news. For text NG, that $4
block will last a life-time... and it works a lot better than ES.

On 3/16/2023 12:44 PM, Newyana2 wrote:

>
> I thought I read somewhere that GG was shutting down. ??

No, no, they'll fire the staff... and leave it running.

It's the high tech way, doncha know?
Light a dumpster on fire, roll it down a hill...
Where it stops, nobody knows.

Paul

Hello Newyana2!

** On Thursday 16.03.23 - 07:57, Newyana2 wrote to :

> ..The man who runs E-S
> seems to have a chip on his shoulder about Microsoft
> and dropped all the MS groups without warning, claiming
> they were full of spam.

He missed alt.comp.os.windows-xp

It's just getting ATM banking fraud messages.

--
../|ug

Newyana2 wrote on 17/3/23 3:44 am:
> "Paul" <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote

<Snip>

> | Whatever is going on | (refusal of Google Groups to clean up their
> act?), is keeping him busy. |
>
> I thought I read somewhere that GG was shutting down. ??
>
Hmm! Was anybody deafened by the cheer that went up?? ;-P
--
Daniel

"AugustA" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote

| He missed alt.comp.os.windows-xp
| | It's just getting ATM banking fraud messages.
|

It was only the microsoft.* groups he removed.
I suppose that from a purist point of view they're
not "official" groups. But as you point out, many
alt and alt.comp groups are for commercial products.
I don't subscribe to anything else: XP, 7, 10, VB
programming, android, firefox, vbscript, raspberry pi...

So what does it matter whether the name starts
with alt or microsoft?

Over the years I subscribed to a webmaster group,
digital graphics, home repair and others. But they all
either died from lack of use or turned into small clubs run
mostly by anti-social tyrants who thought they had
squatters' rights. It seems like one can try just about
any group these days and 9 times out of 10 there's
nothing there but 2 year old spam.

Hello Newyana2!

** On Sunday 19.03.23 - 09:01, Newyana2 wrote to :

> So what does it matter whether the name starts
> with alt or microsoft?

I concur. Rayban's decision is an enigma.

> Over the years I subscribed to a webmaster group,
> digital graphics, home repair and others. But they all
> either died from lack of use or turned into small clubs run
> mostly by anti-social tyrants who thought they had
> squatters' rights. It seems like one can try just about
> any group these days and 9 times out of 10 there's
> nothing there but 2 year old spam.

Fidonet could be a fine alternative place. Many of the message
areas are available via nntp.

Here are few nntp feed options:

===============================================================
==
JAMNNTPD SERVERS LIST
=================================================================

The Johan Billing JamNNTPd project

This is a list of known JamNNTPd servers working. They are essentially
the modern version of Bulletin Board Systems.

You connect to them using the newsreader of your choice and you don't
need any other software installed on your computer -- regardless of
operating system -- but that favourite mail client of yours.

Even smart phones can handle this, giving you the opportunity to get
your daily doses of fidonet on the bus, tram or train on the way to
your job, school or whatever.

Updated 2022-09-20

URL news://eljaco.se:4119
Join http://fidonews.eu
NETMAIL Yes, 2:203/2

URL nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi
Join https://news.fidonet.fi
NETMAIL Yes, 2:221/360

URL nntp://fidonews.mine.nu
URL nntps://fidonews.mine.nu
Join http://fidonews.mine.nu
NETMAIL Yes, 2:221/6

URL nntp://news.bytemuseum.org
nntps://news.bytemuseum.org (secure)
Join Info in group +ACCCESS&SUPPORT+
NETMAIL Yes, 1:19/10

URL nntp://news.pharcyde.org
Join Info in group, +GETACCESS+
NETMAIL Yes, 1:154/10

URL: news.tequilamockingbirdonline.net
Join mailto:sysop@tequilamockingbirdonline.net
NETMAIL Yes, 1:266/404

You can be rest assured that spam would NOT make its way into
these channels.

--
../|ug

Newyana2 <Newyana2@invalid.nospam> wrote:
> "AugustA" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote
>
> | He missed alt.comp.os.windows-xp
> |
> | It's just getting ATM banking fraud messages.
> |
>
> It was only the microsoft.* groups he removed.
> I suppose that from a purist point of view they're
> not "official" groups. But as you point out, many
> alt and alt.comp groups are for commercial products.
> I don't subscribe to anything else: XP, 7, 10, VB
> programming, android, firefox, vbscript, raspberry pi...
>
> So what does it matter whether the name starts
> with alt or microsoft?

I don't know why he removed the microsoft.* groups - at the time, I
was probably getting a tan on some Aussie beach :-) - but the name
starting with microsoft is - or better: was - very relevant.

Groups starting with a company or organization name are
company/organization owned groups which are *not* part of Usenet like
comp and alt.

The microsoft.* groups ran on Microsoft's internal servers and there
probably were Microsoft internal/private groups.

The microsoft.public.* sub hierarchy was - as the name implies -
accessible from outside Microsoft, but was supposed to be accessed only
via newsreaders and not be propagated to other non-Microsoft servers.

That was of course a mistake on Microsoft's part, because soon people
fetched ('sucked') articles from the Microsoft servers and fed them into
other servers all over 'the Net'.

So strictly speaking the microsoft.public.* groups are not part of
Usenet, but in practice they are (were?) carried by many (most?) of the
servers which also carry the real Usenet groups.

I hope I have bored you enough with this tidbit of NetNews history.

[...]