I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?

On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:27:12 AM UTC, Félix An wrote:
> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?

yes, for now - and that spam explosion is a very recent problem which hopefully
will get sorted by the moderator soon.
The bigger issue is that GG will stop supporting Usenet content,
which may mean last orders for some of us.

On 2023-12-18 15:54, Burkhard wrote:
> On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:27:12 AM UTC, Félix An wrote:
>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>
> yes, for now - and that spam explosion is a very recent problem which hopefully
> will get sorted by the moderator soon.
> The bigger issue is that GG will stop supporting Usenet content,
> which may mean last orders for some of us.
>

I got into Usenet using Thunderbird and eternal-september.org. I prefer
the interface of Thunderbird over Google Groups, and the content can
also be cached for offline reading. I wish Usenet popular among other
Gen Z'ers! I much prefer it to X and Reddit (and it works in China,
unlike the other two I mentioned)!

Félix An <fffelix.jan.yt@gmail.com> wrote:

> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?

What spam? I don't see any,
(well almost)

Jan
(on Eternal September)

Burkhard <b.schafer@ed.ac.uk> wrote:

> On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:27:12?AM UTC, Félix An wrote:
> > I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
> > with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>
> yes, for now - and that spam explosion is a very recent problem which
> hopefully will get sorted by the moderator soon.
> The bigger issue is that GG will stop supporting Usenet content,
> which may mean last orders for some of us.

Who cares? Most of them, good riddance.
In the olden days DIG had blocked Google entirely, without obvious loss.
(the fnordic people excepted)

Jan

On Sun, 17 Dec 2023 23:54:15 -0800 (PST), Burkhard
<b.schafer@ed.ac.uk> wrote:

>On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:27:12?AM UTC, Félix An wrote:
>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>
>yes, for now - and that spam explosion is a very recent problem which hopefully
>will get sorted by the moderator soon.
>The bigger issue is that GG will stop supporting Usenet content,
>which may mean last orders for some of us.

I for one would be disappointed if that happened. I acknowledge the
convenience of using a web-based server, and I acknowledge the
challenge in finding a workable non-Windows Usenet app. Technically,
any OS capable of handling email should also handle Usenet, at least
the text froups. Apparently app authors just aren't interested in
Usenet.

--
To know less than we don't know is the nature of most knowledge

jillery <69jpil69@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 17 Dec 2023 23:54:15 -0800 (PST), Burkhard
> <b.schafer@ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>> On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:27:12?AM UTC, Félix An wrote:
>>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>>
>> yes, for now - and that spam explosion is a very recent problem which hopefully
>> will get sorted by the moderator soon.
>> The bigger issue is that GG will stop supporting Usenet content,
>> which may mean last orders for some of us.
>
>
> I for one would be disappointed if that happened. I acknowledge the
> convenience of using a web-based server, and I acknowledge the
> challenge in finding a workable non-Windows Usenet app. Technically,
> any OS capable of handling email should also handle Usenet, at least
> the text froups. Apparently app authors just aren't interested in
> Usenet.
>
There’s NewsTap on Apple devices. Dunno what’s on Android. Linux had Pan,
which apparently works on Windows too.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_(newsreader)

https://pan.rebelbase.com/

And there’s T-bird. Probably more Windows stuff.

On 12/17/23 10:24 PM, Félix An wrote:
> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>
Yes, to a degree. Occasionally somebody posts something interesting. And
the spam is quickly moderated away.

On 12/18/23 2:10 AM, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> Félix An <fffelix.jan.yt@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>
> What spam? I don't see any,
> (well almost)
>
> Jan
> (on Eternal September)

I also us Eternal September, and this thread, on my browser, is
immediately preceded by 17 posts with subjects like, "Como Hackear
Facebook Gratis ...". Those 17 posts arrived over 46 minutes; there are
three different "From" fields, but subjects are similar enough to
indicate a common source. The content of the one I opened was in
Spanish, and near the beginning was the phrase, "clic aqui."

A similar event, probably from the same source, occurred a day or two
earlier.

I have not bothered to explore further.

--
Mark Isaak
"Wisdom begins when you discover the difference between 'That
doesn't make sense' and 'I don't understand.'" - Mary Doria Russell

Mark Isaak <specimenNOSPAM@curioustaxon.omy.net> wrote:
> On 12/18/23 2:10 AM, J. J. Lodder wrote:
>> Félix An <fffelix.jan.yt@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>>
>> What spam? I don't see any,
>> (well almost)
>>
>> Jan
>> (on Eternal September)
>
> I also us Eternal September, and this thread, on my browser, is
> immediately preceded by 17 posts with subjects like, "Como Hackear
> Facebook Gratis ...". Those 17 posts arrived over 46 minutes; there are
> three different "From" fields, but subjects are similar enough to
> indicate a common source. The content of the one I opened was in
> Spanish, and near the beginning was the phrase, "clic aqui."
>
> A similar event, probably from the same source, occurred a day or two
> earlier.
>
> I have not bothered to explore further.
>
Similar spurts are happening to Apple groups and the paleontology group.
Hopefully it ends when GG goes defunct (finally!). Good riddance!

Maybe it’s a final dying gasp from the spammers.

On 12/18/23 2:10 AM, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> Félix An <fffelix.jan.yt@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>
> What spam? I don't see any,
> (well almost)
>
> Jan
> (on Eternal September)
>
Lucky you!

On Dec 18, 2023, Félix An wrote
(in article <ulooj0$3cq3a$1@dont-email.me>):

> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?

[wakes up, rolls over grumpily]

There’s very little spam, especially if compared to, say,
rec.arts.sf.written. Most of the spam is eaten by the bot (bow down before it
and sing ”Oh, Canada”) and most of the spam which avoids the bot is
easily detected and killed.

You appear to be using Eternal September. The guy who runs ES gleefully
slaughters spam. Let him know that he missed some, and, lo! it shall be gone.

On 2023-12-18 11:19 AM, WolfFan wrote:
> On Dec 18, 2023, Félix An wrote
> (in article <ulooj0$3cq3a$1@dont-email.me>):
>
>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>
> [wakes up, rolls over grumpily]
>
> There’s very little spam, especially if compared to, say,
> rec.arts.sf.written. Most of the spam is eaten by the bot (bow down before it
> and sing ”Oh, Canada”) and most of the spam which avoids the bot is
> easily detected and killed.
>
> You appear to be using Eternal September. The guy who runs ES gleefully
> slaughters spam. Let him know that he missed some, and, lo! it shall be gone.
>
Popping over to my unfiltered ES feed, I see that on the 16Th between
8:52 and 9:14 there were 15 posts from Charla privada and Renard Origins
(the spammers) and nothing since.
--
--
Don Cates ("he's a cunning rascal" PN)

DB Cates <cates_db@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On 2023-12-18 11:19 AM, WolfFan wrote:
>> On Dec 18, 2023, Félix An wrote
>> (in article <ulooj0$3cq3a$1@dont-email.me>):
>>
>>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>>
>> [wakes up, rolls over grumpily]
>>
>> There’s very little spam, especially if compared to, say,
>> rec.arts.sf.written. Most of the spam is eaten by the bot (bow down before it
>> and sing ”Oh, Canada”) and most of the spam which avoids the bot is
>> easily detected and killed.
>>
>> You appear to be using Eternal September. The guy who runs ES gleefully
>> slaughters spam. Let him know that he missed some, and, lo! it shall be gone.
>>
> Popping over to my unfiltered ES feed, I see that on the 16Th between
> 8:52 and 9:14 there were 15 posts from Charla privada and Renard Origins
> (the spammers) and nothing since.

Are they using GG?

On 2023-12-18 17:37:19 +0000, DB Cates said:

> On 2023-12-18 11:19 AM, WolfFan wrote:
>> On Dec 18, 2023, Félix An wrote
>> (in article <ulooj0$3cq3a$1@dont-email.me>):
>>
>>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>>
>> [wakes up, rolls over grumpily]
>>
>> There’s very little spam, especially if compared to, say,
>> rec.arts.sf.written. Most of the spam is eaten by the bot (bow down before it
>> and sing ”Oh, Canada”) and most of the spam which avoids the bot is
>> easily detected and killed.
>>
>> You appear to be using Eternal September. The guy who runs ES gleefully
>> slaughters spam. Let him know that he missed some, and, lo! it shall be gone.
>>
> Popping over to my unfiltered ES feed, I see that on the 16Th between
> 8:52 and 9:14 there were 15 posts from Charla privada and Renard
> Origins (the spammers) and nothing since.

None of those reached me (I'm not complaining!). I'm running Unison
with News.Individual.net ("the German server").

--
athel cb : Biochemical Evolution, Garland Science, 2016

*Hemidactylus* <ecphoric@allspamis.invalid> wrote:

> jillery <69jpil69@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Sun, 17 Dec 2023 23:54:15 -0800 (PST), Burkhard
> > <b.schafer@ed.ac.uk> wrote:
> >
> >> On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:27:12?AM UTC, Félix An wrote:
> >>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
> >>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
> >>
> >> yes, for now - and that spam explosion is a very recent problem which
> >> hopefully will get sorted by the moderator soon.
> >> The bigger issue is that GG will stop supporting Usenet content,
> >> which may mean last orders for some of us.
> >
> >
> > I for one would be disappointed if that happened. I acknowledge the
> > convenience of using a web-based server, and I acknowledge the
> > challenge in finding a workable non-Windows Usenet app. Technically,
> > any OS capable of handling email should also handle Usenet, at least
> > the text froups. Apparently app authors just aren't interested in
> > Usenet.
> >
> There's NewsTap on Apple devices. Dunno what's on Android. Linux had Pan,
> which apparently works on Windows too.

On Mac, what is available depends how old your system is.
The best solution is to run an old headless MacMini, by ScreenSharing,
on an older version of OSX. (for other useful things too)

If you want to be completely up to date there is good old Hogwasher
and the completely new Usenapp. (both also good for binary)

Jan
(no experience, still on MacSoup)

Mark Isaak <specimenNOSPAM@curioustaxon.omy.net> wrote:

> On 12/18/23 2:10 AM, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> > Félix An <fffelix.jan.yt@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
> >> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
> >
> > What spam? I don't see any,
> > (well almost)
> >
> > Jan
> > (on Eternal September)
>
> I also us Eternal September, and this thread, on my browser, is
> immediately preceded by 17 posts with subjects like, "Como Hackear
> Facebook Gratis ...". Those 17 posts arrived over 46 minutes; there are
> three different "From" fields, but subjects are similar enough to
> indicate a common source. The content of the one I opened was in
> Spanish, and near the beginning was the phrase, "clic aqui."

Yes, and that's about all of it in a long time.
Not even worth writing a kill-file entry for.

FYI, there are unmoderated usenet groups
that receive about 100 000 spam messages -per day-.

> A similar event, probably from the same source, occurred a day or two
> earlier.
>
> I have not bothered to explore further.

Just ignore it, it is nothing yet,

Jan

On Mon, 18 Dec 2023 11:37:19 -0600, the following appeared
in talk.origins, posted by DB Cates <cates_db@hotmail.com>:

>On 2023-12-18 11:19 AM, WolfFan wrote:
>> On Dec 18, 2023, Félix An wrote
>> (in article <ulooj0$3cq3a$1@dont-email.me>):
>>
>>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>>
>> [wakes up, rolls over grumpily]
>>
>> There’s very little spam, especially if compared to, say,
>> rec.arts.sf.written. Most of the spam is eaten by the bot (bow down before it
>> and sing ”Oh, Canada”) and most of the spam which avoids the bot is
>> easily detected and killed.
>>
>> You appear to be using Eternal September. The guy who runs ES gleefully
>> slaughters spam. Let him know that he missed some, and, lo! it shall be gone.
>>
>Popping over to my unfiltered ES feed, I see that on the 16Th between
>8:52 and 9:14 there were 15 posts from Charla privada and Renard Origins
>(the spammers) and nothing since.
>
There were a couple of others; all now reside in my Special
Childrens' file.
>
--

Bob C.

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science,
the one that heralds new discoveries, is not
'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'"

- Isaac Asimov

On 2023-12-19 01:19, WolfFan wrote:
> On Dec 18, 2023, Félix An wrote
> (in article <ulooj0$3cq3a$1@dont-email.me>):
>
>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>
> [wakes up, rolls over grumpily]
>
> There’s very little spam, especially if compared to, say,
> rec.arts.sf.written. Most of the spam is eaten by the bot (bow down before it
> and sing ”Oh, Canada”) and most of the spam which avoids the bot is
> easily detected and killed.
>
> You appear to be using Eternal September. The guy who runs ES gleefully
> slaughters spam. Let him know that he missed some, and, lo! it shall be gone.
>

Thank you, I have notified them already!

On 2023-12-18 11:58 AM, *Hemidactylus* wrote:
> DB Cates <cates_db@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> On 2023-12-18 11:19 AM, WolfFan wrote:
>>> On Dec 18, 2023, Félix An wrote
>>> (in article <ulooj0$3cq3a$1@dont-email.me>):
>>>
>>>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>>>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>>>
>>> [wakes up, rolls over grumpily]
>>>
>>> There’s very little spam, especially if compared to, say,
>>> rec.arts.sf.written. Most of the spam is eaten by the bot (bow down before it
>>> and sing ”Oh, Canada”) and most of the spam which avoids the bot is
>>> easily detected and killed.
>>>
>>> You appear to be using Eternal September. The guy who runs ES gleefully
>>> slaughters spam. Let him know that he missed some, and, lo! it shall be gone.
>>>
>> Popping over to my unfiltered ES feed, I see that on the 16Th between
>> 8:52 and 9:14 there were 15 posts from Charla privada and Renard Origins
>> (the spammers) and nothing since.
>
> Are they using GG?
>
It appears the operator of ES has deleted them all and responses. I got
a "post has expired" when I tried to look at them.
--
--
Don Cates ("he's a cunning rascal" PN)

On Mon, 18 Dec 2023 06:15:51 -0800, John Harshman
<john.harshman@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 12/17/23 10:24 PM, Félix An wrote:
>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>>
>Yes, to a degree. Occasionally somebody posts something interesting. And
>the spam is quickly moderated away.

Of course, that depends on the moderator's understanding of "spam".

--
To know less than we don't know is the nature of most knowledge

On Mon, 18 Dec 2023 13:16:44 +0000, *Hemidactylus*
<ecphoric@allspamis.invalid> wrote:

>jillery <69jpil69@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, 17 Dec 2023 23:54:15 -0800 (PST), Burkhard
>> <b.schafer@ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:27:12?AM UTC, Félix An wrote:
>>>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>>>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>>>
>>> yes, for now - and that spam explosion is a very recent problem which hopefully
>>> will get sorted by the moderator soon.
>>> The bigger issue is that GG will stop supporting Usenet content,
>>> which may mean last orders for some of us.
>>
>>
>> I for one would be disappointed if that happened. I acknowledge the
>> convenience of using a web-based server, and I acknowledge the
>> challenge in finding a workable non-Windows Usenet app. Technically,
>> any OS capable of handling email should also handle Usenet, at least
>> the text froups. Apparently app authors just aren't interested in
>> Usenet.
>>
>There’s NewsTap on Apple devices. Dunno what’s on Android. Linux had Pan,
>which apparently works on Windows too.
>
>https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_(newsreader)
>
>https://pan.rebelbase.com/
>
>And there’s T-bird. Probably more Windows stuff.

The different flavors of Android are probably the most common OS's
these days.

--
To know less than we don't know is the nature of most knowledge

jillery <69jpil69@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 18 Dec 2023 13:16:44 +0000, *Hemidactylus*
> <ecphoric@allspamis.invalid> wrote:
>
>> jillery <69jpil69@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On Sun, 17 Dec 2023 23:54:15 -0800 (PST), Burkhard
>>> <b.schafer@ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:27:12?AM UTC, Félix An wrote:
>>>>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
>>>>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
>>>>
>>>> yes, for now - and that spam explosion is a very recent problem which hopefully
>>>> will get sorted by the moderator soon.
>>>> The bigger issue is that GG will stop supporting Usenet content,
>>>> which may mean last orders for some of us.
>>>
>>>
>>> I for one would be disappointed if that happened. I acknowledge the
>>> convenience of using a web-based server, and I acknowledge the
>>> challenge in finding a workable non-Windows Usenet app. Technically,
>>> any OS capable of handling email should also handle Usenet, at least
>>> the text froups. Apparently app authors just aren't interested in
>>> Usenet.
>>>
>> There’s NewsTap on Apple devices. Dunno what’s on Android. Linux had Pan,
>> which apparently works on Windows too.
>>
>> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_(newsreader)
>>
>> https://pan.rebelbase.com/
>>
>> And there’s T-bird. Probably more Windows stuff.
>
>
> The different flavors of Android are probably the most common OS's
> these days.
>
Good point.

On Tuesday 19 December 2023 at 15:02:13 UTC+2, *Hemidactylus* wrote:
> jillery <69jp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Mon, 18 Dec 2023 13:16:44 +0000, *Hemidactylus*
> > <ecph...@allspamis.invalid> wrote:
> >
> >> jillery <69jp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> On Sun, 17 Dec 2023 23:54:15 -0800 (PST), Burkhard
> >>> <b.sc...@ed.ac.uk> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:27:12?AM UTC, Félix An wrote:
> >>>>> I heard about this famous newsgroup from Wikipedia, and I was greeted
> >>>>> with spam when I opened this up for the first time. Is it still active?
> >>>>
> >>>> yes, for now - and that spam explosion is a very recent problem which hopefully
> >>>> will get sorted by the moderator soon.
> >>>> The bigger issue is that GG will stop supporting Usenet content,
> >>>> which may mean last orders for some of us.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I for one would be disappointed if that happened. I acknowledge the
> >>> convenience of using a web-based server, and I acknowledge the
> >>> challenge in finding a workable non-Windows Usenet app. Technically,
> >>> any OS capable of handling email should also handle Usenet, at least
> >>> the text froups. Apparently app authors just aren't interested in
> >>> Usenet.
> >>>
> >> There’s NewsTap on Apple devices. Dunno what’s on Android. Linux had Pan,
> >> which apparently works on Windows too.
> >>
> >> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_(newsreader)
> >>
> >> https://pan.rebelbase.com/
> >>
> >> And there’s T-bird. Probably more Windows stuff.
> >
> >
> > The different flavors of Android are probably the most common OS's
> > these days.
> >
> Good point.
>
I have too lot of different devices from what I eyeball the news on idle
moment. GG was overkill for that task, and got worse and worse over
the years but at least it worked in browser. Installing software for just to
see plain text in internet does not make much sense.
So sad that they bought Deja News to close it 23 years later.
<https://www.wired.com/2001/02/google-buys-deja-archive/>