Google's Gone Pitiful...Again

[Scott Lurndal]

A very sophisticated response, indeed.

scott

[notbob]

It seemed appropriate.

nb

[nailshooter41]

Not true, nb.

It does require one more step. If you are using Google to search this group, go to "advanced search" and you can specify the search parameters according to your needs, including time.

I believe it will search back to '81 or '84, something along those lines.

Searching archives is still the best use of this group if you know what you are looking for when you start.

Robert

[Steve Turner]

[Doug Miller]

They *also* provide a portal through which people can *post* to usenet, and that's how the overwhelming majority of the spam in usenet gets there.

More like the guy that stops to help you change a flat tire is the same guy that scattered the 50# box of roofing nails in the road in the first place.

If Google provided a read-only interface like Deja did -- and like Google

*used* to -- there would be no cause for complaining to Google about the spam. But make no mistake: the primary reason the spam is there is because Google allows it to be posted through their servers.

[Maxwell Lol]

BTW I never see them. Use a better USENET provider....

[Larry Blanchard]

That's about an accurate assessment of the problem as can be made. Some have gone so far as to filter any posts originating from Google. I haven't done that yet, but I may be forced to eventually.

[notbob]

I was under the impression pan was capable of blanket killing a group (google) while still allowing exceptions to pass. I may be wrong, but you may want to check your user docs.

nb

[-MIKE-]

We all use this newsgroup and this discussion is taking place here.... and I haven't see spam all day long... or even all week for that matter. If I did, I certainly forgot about it, so it doesn't seem to be a problem for people who don't use google for usenet.

So like I said before, googlegroups sucks, get a real usenet account and use a dedicated reader. :-)

[Han]

Hi Charlie:

I am reminded that today (10/10) is your Birthday! Have a great day!

Here's some sawdust on you!

[Doug Miller]

Incorrect. I see from your headers that you're using eternal-september.org to access usenet -- as do I. EternalSeptember does a *very* good job of removing the spam injected through Google; many other providers do not.

That's how I've been accessing usenet for the last, oh, fifteen years or so. I use Google only to access archived posts, never to read current traffic.

[-MIKE-]

Hmmm, you mean there's *another free* way to access usenet that doesn't give one a bunch of reasons to complain about it? :-)

I've used it to search, many times and haven't run into a bunch of spam either.

Usenet's days are numbered, anyway. Have been for a while. I'd say it's in hospice, at best.

I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

[Dave Balderstone]

Snort!

Death of USENET! Film at 11!

Tell you what... See you here in 10 years, and I'll remind you how wrong you were/are.

That will be the 40th anniversary of usenet, BTW.

[-MIKE-]

I've been on the train, practically since it left the station. I've seen the rise and decline in popularity. As the web gets faster and CPU's get faster, things move over to web based forums. Right now, there are people having the same discussions we are, in real time with one another, with streaming video, giving demonstrations.... from their phones.

Most groups I frequented are already dead. This one is a rare exception of one who's frequenters seem to prefer text only interface.

I would speculate that it has to do with the average age of participants in here being probably around 45 or higher. There's an "old guy" mentality in here, that rejects anything "new fangled." It's not a criticism, just an observation. I find myself on the fence many times because in my job, I have to be somewhat cutting edge on trends, but in my life I prefer some predictability and grounding.

Usenet is the pay phone or cassette tape of the internet.

[J. Clarke]

I went to work for Hamilton-Standard in 1979. They told me that they were going to phase out propellers in 5 years. Thirty years later they're still making them. It paid well but it was the most miserable job I've ever had because they had the "this department is shutting down" attitude the whole time I was there.

[Steve Turner]

I work at IBM and for many years I was on the OS/2 project (first in Boca Raton, then in Austin, until it finally died), and all throughout that time we never ceased to hear chastising remarks about new tools or applications that were implemented as "console" (command line) applications instead of "Presentation Manager" (windows) applications (What? You want a GUI-only C++ compiler product with no way to invoke it from the command line? They actually produced such an animal!). This was because the command line was not "strategic" and would eventually be "going away". Yeah right.

[Pat Barber]

[Charlie Self]

You really don't pay attention: I was the one complaining.

[Charlie Self]

Until about three weeks ago, this frigging machine wouldn't allow me to do so. I don't know what had gotten into my registry, but it was weird. Then my hard drive went TA. Now, I'm reconstructing that, which has already cost me a lot of time. When time permits, I'll move off GG and onto something more sensible, but time may not permit this year.

[Charlie Self]

Thanks, Han. That was Saturday, of course, and today is that most wonderful day of the week, Monday.