J
J. P. Gilliver (John)
[]dadiOH <[email protected]> said:
However, a poster via Google groups may _think_ his complaint has
succeeded because posts _as seem via Google groups_ have banners added,
or (though apparently it's difficult to get Google to do it) removed.
Think of Google groups as a public library which keeps copies of
newspapers. If a user complains, the library staff will - or _may_ -
affix warnings to archive issues, or even remove them from access. This
will not affect those copies in other libraries or private archives -
though anyone who only uses that library may not realise that.
Fortunately, your (jack0233's) query was answered by one of the gold
members of this 'group, Paul. His answers tend to be long [even longer
than mine (-:], but that's usually because he covers every possible
eventuality.
I _would_ suggest you get a standalone newsreader software (free) and
sign up (free) with one of the news providers. For the software, I'd say
the best compromise between good and
lots-of-people-use-it-so-its-easy-to-find-answers is Thunderbird (there
are even newsgroups specifically for it); for the service, the two main
free ones are something like aioe, and the one I mainly use,
eternal-september. (Some prefer aioe because it doesn't require any sort
of identification; some treat posts from there with a _little_ more
suspicion for that same reason. E-S - I don't know about aioe - doesn't
carry binary newsgroups; for those, though I rarely use them now, I use
Teranews, which costs about $3, once, to sign up with, and is then free
forever.) Most of these providers - E-S, aioe, Teranews, and others -
carry most newsgroups, at least as many as Google Groups do. Another
advantage of having a standalone news client software is that it allows
you to have accounts with several news providers, including some
"private" ones (for example, the one run by mozilla, which contains
'groups _mostly_ only provided on those servers and _not_ "peered" with
other servers).
I'm sorry you encountered policemen only too keen to answer not the
question you asked (and to warn you against doing something you weren't
doing anyway, as you were wanting to use the dongle for your _own_ use,
and were taking it away when you left). But as you see, posting from
inside Google Groups doesn't protect you from that sort of thing!
(Though Google may make it appear - to you - that you can do something
after the fact.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
Anybody who thinks there can be unlimited growth in a static, limited
environment, is either mad or an economist. - Sir David Attenborough, in
Radio Times 10-16 November 2012