The Day After ???

[Max]

So, get newsreader software and don't access Usenet by Web links
But that's easier said than done. Not possible in office. Even Google/groups
are barred.
Only access to MS webpages are allowed.

Actually, who is parasiting who? Isn't it Google/3rd party sites parasiting
on MS, reproducing posts on MS' hosted webpages? I heard there's a lot of
discussions in those private MS MVP ngs, but hardly any trickle of those
discussions drips into these public ngs to enlighten the rest. Again, I'm
just a simple user/responder of xl ng newsgroups via MS webpages, at the
mercy of events evolving.

 

[L. Howard Kittle]

HI Dave,

I did what you told Don G. to do and got the eternal-september loaded
complete with password and such.

I cannot see how to access anything to do with Excel newsgroups.

I've clicked on everything on the home page and others and I don't
understand squat about what I'm doing or what I should try to do...? Been
to FAQ's and all options clickable.

I believe I read that "you will be offered Excel Newsgroups to select
from..." but if not then you have to "trick" eternal-september into offering
them...???

Any suggestions.

Regards,
Howard

 

[Dave Peterson]

When you look at the list of newsgroups, do you see a list of about 10?
Including one named: eternal-september.where.are.all.the.newsgroups

If you see that then you haven't configured the name/password correctly -- or
you haven't refreshed that list.

Subscribe to this eternal-september.where.are.all.the.newsgroups newsgroup and
you'll see one message that describes how to get access to all the newsgroups.

If all this is true, then since you're using OE, you can rightclick on the
newsserver and choose properties.

Then on the Server tab, you can check the "this server requires me to log on"
and fill out the account name and password.

Then ok your way out out of this dialog.

Then rightclick on the server once more and choose Refresh list. After that
finishes, you should be able to subscribe to the excel newsgroups.

(I hope <vbg>.)

But as long as the msnews servers are still carrying the *excel* newsgroups, I'm
staying here.

 

[Stan Brown]

Actually, who is parasiting who? Isn't it Google/3rd party sites
parasiting on MS, reproducing posts on MS' hosted webpages?

No. Microsoft made the decision to inject into Usenet everything
that was posted on its Web-based forums (or certain ones). Now they
regret that, so they're "closing the newsgroups". Typical Microsoft
desire to eat their cake and have it, and when reality intrudes they
go off in a snit to hatch up something even more non-standard that
they think they'll be able to control.

There are quite a number of sites that leech off Usenet, making
copies of Usenet articles and posting them on their own Web sites
without permission, as though the articles had been posted to their
forums. I believe Microsoft was one of those, though presumably that
has now stopped just as the injection into Usenet has stopped.

 

[Aaron]

Actually, who is parasiting who? Isn't it Google/3rd party sites

No. Microsoft made the decision to inject into Usenet everything
that was posted on its Web-based forums (or certain ones). Now they
regret that, so they're "closing the newsgroups". Typical Microsoft
desire to eat their cake and have it, and when reality intrudes they

^ The cake is a lie!!

go off in a snit to hatch up something even more non-standard that
they think they'll be able to control.

There are quite a number of sites that leech off Usenet, making
copies of Usenet articles and posting them on their own Web sites
without permission, as though the articles had been posted to their
forums. I believe Microsoft was one of those, though presumably that
has now stopped just as the injection into Usenet has stopped.

Now that at least one newsserver has cloned some MS.public newsgroups,
if there is enough participation to achieve a critical mass without
being polluted by trolls and spam, then they may do well on their own
without MS's blessing. One of the things I liked about MS's newsserver
was that the amount of crap seemed to be lower than on other servers.

 

[Stan Brown]

Now that at least one newsserver has cloned some MS.public newsgroups,

"Cloning" a newsgroup is simply not a meaningful concept.

It sounds like you think a given newsgroup has a particular home, but
that is emphatically not the case. The whole idea of Usenet is that
it's distributed. The benefit is that each article is hosted on
every server that it reaches (if the server carries that newsgroup).
The risk is that if there's a transmission problem, a given server
may not see a particular article. But in the past decade or so that
really hasn't been an issue as a practical matter.

 

[Aaron]

Now that at least one newsserver has cloned some MS.public newsgroups,

"Cloning" a newsgroup is simply not a meaningful concept.

It sounds like you think a given newsgroup has a particular home, but
that is emphatically not the case. The whole idea of Usenet is that
it's distributed. The benefit is that each article is hosted on
every server that it reaches (if the server carries that newsgroup).
The risk is that if there's a transmission problem, a given server
may not see a particular article. But in the past decade or so that
really hasn't been an issue as a practical matter.

Perhaps cloning was a poor term to use. But if not enough newsservers
subscribe to it, or carry it, or distribute it, or whatever; then there
will be no traffic. I used msnews to access this ng for years, now that
it is gone there were two posts since yesterday, yours and mine - and
neither dealt with Excel. Compare that to before ms dropped usenet.

When the customers leave and the trolls move in, then why bother coming
here? I just removed msnews from my Thunderbird accounts.

--

I'm glad my Mom named me Aaron,
That's what everybody calls me.

Hemidemisemideity of Anonymous Eponymity
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"Mommy, make daddy stop singing".

I dye my hair so much my driver's license
has a color wheel. Nancy Mura