With the demise of Google Groups I've decided to finally quit being lazy
and configure a news reader/mail client, going with Eternal September
and Thunderbird, mostly because they're free. However, I have a few
questions that I was hoping the more savvy and experienced users here
might be able to help me with. I have searched various web references
and user forums but haven't really found any explanations to the issues
below:

- I've noticed the message composition in Thunderbird seems to limit
characters per line to 73 when it wraps, but it keeps the format of the
message I'm responding intact, wrapping at the window width. I can't
find a way to configure the message window to allow my typing to wrap at
the window width.

- Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
with a Usenet organization?)

- I linked Thunderbird to my Hotmail account which is how I'm subscribed
to the various Usenet groups. Messages I'm posting to Usenet through
Thunderbird have placed a profile picture next to my posts as they
appear in google groups that _isn't_ the profile picture associated with
my Hotmail account. What's even more confusing is that email messages
sent from Thunderbird via Hotmail _do_ show the profile picture
associated with my hotmail account, as do messages to Usenet posted
through Google Groups. IOW - When I post to Usenet through google
groups, it uses my profile picture. When I post to Usenet using
Thunderbird/ES it uses some picture I have no connection to. I have no
idea what it's a picture of, appears to be a black and white photo of a
guy playing a guitar. Could be worse, I suppose. I've not been able to
find any information on how or why this is happening, let alone how to
change it.

None of these issues are of any critical importance to me. If There's a
way to fix #s 1 and 3, great, if not, no big deal.

On 28/12/2023 20:22, Zen Cycle wrote:
>
> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
> with a Usenet organization?)

I presume "A noiseless patient Spider" is the default "organisation"
value in Thunderbird. I also presume that the purpose of the
organisation field is to denote company, government department, academic
institution, etc., and is not relevant to consumer internet.

--
alias Ernest Major

Ernest Major wrote:
> On 28/12/2023 20:22, Zen Cycle wrote:
>>
>> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
>> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
>> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
>> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
>> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
>> with a Usenet organization?)
>
> I presume "A noiseless patient Spider" is the default "organisation" value
> in Thunderbird. I also presume that the purpose of the organisation field
> is to denote company, government department, academic institution, etc.,
> and is not relevant to consumer internet.
>

Half right. It's the default org value header put there by ES

On Thu, 28 Dec 2023 21:28:39 -0700, Pro Plyd
<invalide@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>Ernest Major wrote:
>> On 28/12/2023 20:22, Zen Cycle wrote:
>>>
>>> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
>>> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
>>> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
>>> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
>>> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
>>> with a Usenet organization?)
>>
>> I presume "A noiseless patient Spider" is the default "organisation" value
>> in Thunderbird. I also presume that the purpose of the organisation field
>> is to denote company, government department, academic institution, etc.,
>> and is not relevant to consumer internet.
>>
>
>Half right. It's the default org value header put there by ES

Correct. For completeness, most Usenet servers have default values for
headers fields, but will not overwrite whatever a user specifies. So
Zen Cycle can specify whatever he wants in the org value header.

And since it was mentioned, several posters have noted that ES has
been dropping posts, and have had better results with Solani
(news.solani.org).

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

On 12/29/2023 1:08 AM, jillery wrote:
> On Thu, 28 Dec 2023 21:28:39 -0700, Pro Plyd
> <invalide@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> Ernest Major wrote:
>>> On 28/12/2023 20:22, Zen Cycle wrote:
>>>>
>>>> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
>>>> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
>>>> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
>>>> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
>>>> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
>>>> with a Usenet organization?)
>>>
>>> I presume "A noiseless patient Spider" is the default "organisation" value
>>> in Thunderbird. I also presume that the purpose of the organisation field
>>> is to denote company, government department, academic institution, etc.,
>>> and is not relevant to consumer internet.
>>>
>>
>> Half right. It's the default org value header put there by ES
>
>
> Correct. For completeness, most Usenet servers have default values for
> headers fields, but will not overwrite whatever a user specifies. So
> Zen Cycle can specify whatever he wants in the org value header.
>
> And since it was mentioned, several posters have noted that ES has
> been dropping posts, and have had better results with Solani
> (news.solani.org).
>

A user on another board I'm subscribed to noted the messages getting
dropped by ES all seem to be from users posting directly through the GG
interface.

--
Add xx to reply

On Fri, 29 Dec 2023 07:00:12 -0500, Zen Cycle <funkmaster@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>On 12/29/2023 1:08 AM, jillery wrote:
>> On Thu, 28 Dec 2023 21:28:39 -0700, Pro Plyd
>> <invalide@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>> Ernest Major wrote:
>>>> On 28/12/2023 20:22, Zen Cycle wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
>>>>> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
>>>>> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
>>>>> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
>>>>> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
>>>>> with a Usenet organization?)
>>>>
>>>> I presume "A noiseless patient Spider" is the default "organisation" value
>>>> in Thunderbird. I also presume that the purpose of the organisation field
>>>> is to denote company, government department, academic institution, etc.,
>>>> and is not relevant to consumer internet.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Half right. It's the default org value header put there by ES
>>
>>
>> Correct. For completeness, most Usenet servers have default values for
>> headers fields, but will not overwrite whatever a user specifies. So
>> Zen Cycle can specify whatever he wants in the org value header.
>>
>> And since it was mentioned, several posters have noted that ES has
>> been dropping posts, and have had better results with Solani
>> (news.solani.org).
>>
>
>A user on another board I'm subscribed to noted the messages getting
>dropped by ES all seem to be from users posting directly through the GG
>interface.

The other user to which you allude might be unaware of the several
instances I have documented of posts from non-GG servers which ES
missed in the last few months.

Since we are discussing ES service, historically ES goes into
read-only mode without notice, for periods of hours to days. I
acknowledge posts eventually appear, so I consider such practice an
inconvenient cost of free Usenet service.

I acknowledge I have insufficient knowledge of the record of other
Usenet servers, but I have shown that other Usenet servers posted what
ES dropped. There's no technical reason for any Usenet server to fail
to post even one recent post from a froup they say they carry;
repeatedly doing so is inexcusable.

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

On Fri, 29 Dec 2023 07:00:12 -0500, Zen Cycle <funkmaster@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>Add xx to reply

x + x = 2x

8-}

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

On Dec 28, 2023, Zen Cycle wrote
(in article <umklee$3vejo$5@dont-email.me>):

> With the demise of Google Groups I've decided to finally quit being lazy
> and configure a news reader/mail client, going with Eternal September
> and Thunderbird, mostly because they're free. However, I have a few
> questions that I was hoping the more savvy and experienced users here
> might be able to help me with. I have searched various web references
> and user forums but haven't really found any explanations to the issues
> below:
>
> - I've noticed the message composition in Thunderbird seems to limit
> characters per line to 73 when it wraps, but it keeps the format of the
> message I'm responding intact, wrapping at the window width. I can't
> find a way to configure the message window to allow my typing to wrap at
> the window width.
>
> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
> with a Usenet organization?)
>
> - I linked Thunderbird to my Hotmail account which is how I'm subscribed
> to the various Usenet groups. Messages I'm posting to Usenet through
> Thunderbird have placed a profile picture next to my posts as they
> appear in google groups that _isn't_ the profile picture associated with
> my Hotmail account. What's even more confusing is that email messages
> sent from Thunderbird via Hotmail _do_ show the profile picture
> associated with my hotmail account, as do messages to Usenet posted
> through Google Groups. IOW - When I post to Usenet through google
> groups, it uses my profile picture. When I post to Usenet using
> Thunderbird/ES it uses some picture I have no connection to. I have no
> idea what it's a picture of, appears to be a black and white photo of a
> guy playing a guitar. Could be worse, I suppose. I've not been able to
> find any information on how or why this is happening, let alone how to
> change it.
>
> None of these issues are of any critical importance to me. If There's a
> way to fix #s 1 and 3, great, if not, no big deal.

One good place to ask for Eternal September help is the group
eternal-september.support .

--
David Dalton dalton@nfld.com https://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page)
https://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page)
"And if I shed a tear I won’t cage it; I won't fear love;
And if I feel a rage I won’t deny it; I won't fear love" (Sarah McLachlan)

On Mon, 01 Jan 2024 04:18:00 -0330, David Dalton <dalton@nfld.com>
wrote:

>On Dec 28, 2023, Zen Cycle wrote
>(in article <umklee$3vejo$5@dont-email.me>):
>
>> With the demise of Google Groups I've decided to finally quit being lazy
>> and configure a news reader/mail client, going with Eternal September
>> and Thunderbird, mostly because they're free. However, I have a few
>> questions that I was hoping the more savvy and experienced users here
>> might be able to help me with. I have searched various web references
>> and user forums but haven't really found any explanations to the issues
>> below:
>>
>> - I've noticed the message composition in Thunderbird seems to limit
>> characters per line to 73 when it wraps, but it keeps the format of the
>> message I'm responding intact, wrapping at the window width. I can't
>> find a way to configure the message window to allow my typing to wrap at
>> the window width.
>>
>> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
>> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
>> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
>> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
>> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
>> with a Usenet organization?)
>>
>> - I linked Thunderbird to my Hotmail account which is how I'm subscribed
>> to the various Usenet groups. Messages I'm posting to Usenet through
>> Thunderbird have placed a profile picture next to my posts as they
>> appear in google groups that _isn't_ the profile picture associated with
>> my Hotmail account. What's even more confusing is that email messages
>> sent from Thunderbird via Hotmail _do_ show the profile picture
>> associated with my hotmail account, as do messages to Usenet posted
>> through Google Groups. IOW - When I post to Usenet through google
>> groups, it uses my profile picture. When I post to Usenet using
>> Thunderbird/ES it uses some picture I have no connection to. I have no
>> idea what it's a picture of, appears to be a black and white photo of a
>> guy playing a guitar. Could be worse, I suppose. I've not been able to
>> find any information on how or why this is happening, let alone how to
>> change it.
>>
>> None of these issues are of any critical importance to me. If There's a
>> way to fix #s 1 and 3, great, if not, no big deal.
>
>One good place to ask for Eternal September help is the group
>eternal-september.support .

My understanding is Zen Cycle's expressed problems are related more to
TBird than to ES. But I acknowledge your advice can't hurt, and might
help.

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

On 1/1/24 6:37 AM, jillery wrote:
> On Mon, 01 Jan 2024 04:18:00 -0330, David Dalton <dalton@nfld.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On Dec 28, 2023, Zen Cycle wrote
>> (in article <umklee$3vejo$5@dont-email.me>):
>>
>>> With the demise of Google Groups I've decided to finally quit being lazy
>>> and configure a news reader/mail client, going with Eternal September
>>> and Thunderbird, mostly because they're free. However, I have a few
>>> questions that I was hoping the more savvy and experienced users here
>>> might be able to help me with. I have searched various web references
>>> and user forums but haven't really found any explanations to the issues
>>> below:
>>>
>>> - I've noticed the message composition in Thunderbird seems to limit
>>> characters per line to 73 when it wraps, but it keeps the format of the
>>> message I'm responding intact, wrapping at the window width. I can't
>>> find a way to configure the message window to allow my typing to wrap at
>>> the window width.
>>>
>>> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
>>> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
>>> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
>>> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
>>> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
>>> with a Usenet organization?)
>>>
>>> - I linked Thunderbird to my Hotmail account which is how I'm subscribed
>>> to the various Usenet groups. Messages I'm posting to Usenet through
>>> Thunderbird have placed a profile picture next to my posts as they
>>> appear in google groups that _isn't_ the profile picture associated with
>>> my Hotmail account. What's even more confusing is that email messages
>>> sent from Thunderbird via Hotmail _do_ show the profile picture
>>> associated with my hotmail account, as do messages to Usenet posted
>>> through Google Groups. IOW - When I post to Usenet through google
>>> groups, it uses my profile picture. When I post to Usenet using
>>> Thunderbird/ES it uses some picture I have no connection to. I have no
>>> idea what it's a picture of, appears to be a black and white photo of a
>>> guy playing a guitar. Could be worse, I suppose. I've not been able to
>>> find any information on how or why this is happening, let alone how to
>>> change it.
>>>
>>> None of these issues are of any critical importance to me. If There's a
>>> way to fix #s 1 and 3, great, if not, no big deal.
>>
>> One good place to ask for Eternal September help is the group
>> eternal-september.support .
>
>
> My understanding is Zen Cycle's expressed problems are related more to
> TBird than to ES. But I acknowledge your advice can't hurt, and might
> help.
>
> --
> To know less than we don't know is the nature of most knowledge
>
Eternal September isn't the best choice you could make. Giganews
requires payment, but seems to work much better. Thunderbird requires
some patience to set it up properly, but I think I have it under control.

On Mon, 1 Jan 2024 08:50:56 -0800, the following appeared in
talk.origins, posted by erik simpson
<eastside.erik@gmail.com>:

>On 1/1/24 6:37 AM, jillery wrote:
>> On Mon, 01 Jan 2024 04:18:00 -0330, David Dalton <dalton@nfld.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Dec 28, 2023, Zen Cycle wrote
>>> (in article <umklee$3vejo$5@dont-email.me>):
>>>
>>>> With the demise of Google Groups I've decided to finally quit being lazy
>>>> and configure a news reader/mail client, going with Eternal September
>>>> and Thunderbird, mostly because they're free. However, I have a few
>>>> questions that I was hoping the more savvy and experienced users here
>>>> might be able to help me with. I have searched various web references
>>>> and user forums but haven't really found any explanations to the issues
>>>> below:
>>>>
>>>> - I've noticed the message composition in Thunderbird seems to limit
>>>> characters per line to 73 when it wraps, but it keeps the format of the
>>>> message I'm responding intact, wrapping at the window width. I can't
>>>> find a way to configure the message window to allow my typing to wrap at
>>>> the window width.
>>>>
>>>> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
>>>> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
>>>> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
>>>> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
>>>> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
>>>> with a Usenet organization?)
>>>>
>>>> - I linked Thunderbird to my Hotmail account which is how I'm subscribed
>>>> to the various Usenet groups. Messages I'm posting to Usenet through
>>>> Thunderbird have placed a profile picture next to my posts as they
>>>> appear in google groups that _isn't_ the profile picture associated with
>>>> my Hotmail account. What's even more confusing is that email messages
>>>> sent from Thunderbird via Hotmail _do_ show the profile picture
>>>> associated with my hotmail account, as do messages to Usenet posted
>>>> through Google Groups. IOW - When I post to Usenet through google
>>>> groups, it uses my profile picture. When I post to Usenet using
>>>> Thunderbird/ES it uses some picture I have no connection to. I have no
>>>> idea what it's a picture of, appears to be a black and white photo of a
>>>> guy playing a guitar. Could be worse, I suppose. I've not been able to
>>>> find any information on how or why this is happening, let alone how to
>>>> change it.
>>>>
>>>> None of these issues are of any critical importance to me. If There's a
>>>> way to fix #s 1 and 3, great, if not, no big deal.
>>>
>>> One good place to ask for Eternal September help is the group
>>> eternal-september.support .
>>
>>
>> My understanding is Zen Cycle's expressed problems are related more to
>> TBird than to ES. But I acknowledge your advice can't hurt, and might
>> help.
>>
>> --
>> To know less than we don't know is the nature of most knowledge
>>
>Eternal September isn't the best choice you could make. Giganews
>requires payment, but seems to work much better. Thunderbird requires
>some patience to set it up properly, but I think I have it under control.
>
FWIW, I used Supernews (~$60/year) for about 15 years, until
I decided to "go freebie". Supernews was *very* reliable,
but I decided that even that little was more than I wanted
to spend, especially considering the much-reduced traffic in
the Usenet groups that interest me. As for T'Bird, I prefer
Agent (paid version). There might still be a source for the
free version; IIRC the only downside was a lack of killfile
availability (but I could be mistaken; it's been quite a
while).
>
--

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 1/1/24 10:48 AM, Bob Casanova wrote:
> On Mon, 1 Jan 2024 08:50:56 -0800, the following appeared in
> talk.origins, posted by erik simpson
> <eastside.erik@gmail.com>:
>
>> On 1/1/24 6:37 AM, jillery wrote:
>>> On Mon, 01 Jan 2024 04:18:00 -0330, David Dalton <dalton@nfld.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Dec 28, 2023, Zen Cycle wrote
>>>> (in article <umklee$3vejo$5@dont-email.me>):
>>>>
>>>>> With the demise of Google Groups I've decided to finally quit being lazy
>>>>> and configure a news reader/mail client, going with Eternal September
>>>>> and Thunderbird, mostly because they're free. However, I have a few
>>>>> questions that I was hoping the more savvy and experienced users here
>>>>> might be able to help me with. I have searched various web references
>>>>> and user forums but haven't really found any explanations to the issues
>>>>> below:
>>>>>
>>>>> - I've noticed the message composition in Thunderbird seems to limit
>>>>> characters per line to 73 when it wraps, but it keeps the format of the
>>>>> message I'm responding intact, wrapping at the window width. I can't
>>>>> find a way to configure the message window to allow my typing to wrap at
>>>>> the window width.
>>>>>
>>>>> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
>>>>> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
>>>>> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
>>>>> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
>>>>> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
>>>>> with a Usenet organization?)
>>>>>
>>>>> - I linked Thunderbird to my Hotmail account which is how I'm subscribed
>>>>> to the various Usenet groups. Messages I'm posting to Usenet through
>>>>> Thunderbird have placed a profile picture next to my posts as they
>>>>> appear in google groups that _isn't_ the profile picture associated with
>>>>> my Hotmail account. What's even more confusing is that email messages
>>>>> sent from Thunderbird via Hotmail _do_ show the profile picture
>>>>> associated with my hotmail account, as do messages to Usenet posted
>>>>> through Google Groups. IOW - When I post to Usenet through google
>>>>> groups, it uses my profile picture. When I post to Usenet using
>>>>> Thunderbird/ES it uses some picture I have no connection to. I have no
>>>>> idea what it's a picture of, appears to be a black and white photo of a
>>>>> guy playing a guitar. Could be worse, I suppose. I've not been able to
>>>>> find any information on how or why this is happening, let alone how to
>>>>> change it.
>>>>>
>>>>> None of these issues are of any critical importance to me. If There's a
>>>>> way to fix #s 1 and 3, great, if not, no big deal.
>>>>
>>>> One good place to ask for Eternal September help is the group
>>>> eternal-september.support .
>>>
>>>
>>> My understanding is Zen Cycle's expressed problems are related more to
>>> TBird than to ES. But I acknowledge your advice can't hurt, and might
>>> help.
>>>
>>> --
>>> To know less than we don't know is the nature of most knowledge
>>>
>> Eternal September isn't the best choice you could make. Giganews
>> requires payment, but seems to work much better. Thunderbird requires
>> some patience to set it up properly, but I think I have it under control.
>>
> FWIW, I used Supernews (~$60/year) for about 15 years, until
> I decided to "go freebie". Supernews was *very* reliable,
> but I decided that even that little was more than I wanted
> to spend, especially considering the much-reduced traffic in
> the Usenet groups that interest me. As for T'Bird, I prefer
> Agent (paid version). There might still be a source for the
> free version; IIRC the only downside was a lack of killfile
> availability (but I could be mistaken; it's been quite a
> while).
>>
Actually, killfiles (or "filters" on T-bird), can easily be manually
done by "delete". This shortcut is available for all, but it's more
satisfying to explicitly block repeat offenders.

On Mon, 1 Jan 2024 11:16:11 -0800, the following appeared in
talk.origins, posted by erik simpson
<eastside.erik@gmail.com>:

>On 1/1/24 10:48 AM, Bob Casanova wrote:
>> On Mon, 1 Jan 2024 08:50:56 -0800, the following appeared in
>> talk.origins, posted by erik simpson
>> <eastside.erik@gmail.com>:
>>
>>> On 1/1/24 6:37 AM, jillery wrote:
>>>> On Mon, 01 Jan 2024 04:18:00 -0330, David Dalton <dalton@nfld.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Dec 28, 2023, Zen Cycle wrote
>>>>> (in article <umklee$3vejo$5@dont-email.me>):
>>>>>
>>>>>> With the demise of Google Groups I've decided to finally quit being lazy
>>>>>> and configure a news reader/mail client, going with Eternal September
>>>>>> and Thunderbird, mostly because they're free. However, I have a few
>>>>>> questions that I was hoping the more savvy and experienced users here
>>>>>> might be able to help me with. I have searched various web references
>>>>>> and user forums but haven't really found any explanations to the issues
>>>>>> below:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - I've noticed the message composition in Thunderbird seems to limit
>>>>>> characters per line to 73 when it wraps, but it keeps the format of the
>>>>>> message I'm responding intact, wrapping at the window width. I can't
>>>>>> find a way to configure the message window to allow my typing to wrap at
>>>>>> the window width.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
>>>>>> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
>>>>>> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
>>>>>> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
>>>>>> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
>>>>>> with a Usenet organization?)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - I linked Thunderbird to my Hotmail account which is how I'm subscribed
>>>>>> to the various Usenet groups. Messages I'm posting to Usenet through
>>>>>> Thunderbird have placed a profile picture next to my posts as they
>>>>>> appear in google groups that _isn't_ the profile picture associated with
>>>>>> my Hotmail account. What's even more confusing is that email messages
>>>>>> sent from Thunderbird via Hotmail _do_ show the profile picture
>>>>>> associated with my hotmail account, as do messages to Usenet posted
>>>>>> through Google Groups. IOW - When I post to Usenet through google
>>>>>> groups, it uses my profile picture. When I post to Usenet using
>>>>>> Thunderbird/ES it uses some picture I have no connection to. I have no
>>>>>> idea what it's a picture of, appears to be a black and white photo of a
>>>>>> guy playing a guitar. Could be worse, I suppose. I've not been able to
>>>>>> find any information on how or why this is happening, let alone how to
>>>>>> change it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> None of these issues are of any critical importance to me. If There's a
>>>>>> way to fix #s 1 and 3, great, if not, no big deal.
>>>>>
>>>>> One good place to ask for Eternal September help is the group
>>>>> eternal-september.support .
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My understanding is Zen Cycle's expressed problems are related more to
>>>> TBird than to ES. But I acknowledge your advice can't hurt, and might
>>>> help.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> To know less than we don't know is the nature of most knowledge
>>>>
>>> Eternal September isn't the best choice you could make. Giganews
>>> requires payment, but seems to work much better. Thunderbird requires
>>> some patience to set it up properly, but I think I have it under control.
>>>
>> FWIW, I used Supernews (~$60/year) for about 15 years, until
>> I decided to "go freebie". Supernews was *very* reliable,
>> but I decided that even that little was more than I wanted
>> to spend, especially considering the much-reduced traffic in
>> the Usenet groups that interest me. As for T'Bird, I prefer
>> Agent (paid version). There might still be a source for the
>> free version; IIRC the only downside was a lack of killfile
>> availability (but I could be mistaken; it's been quite a
>> while).
>>>
>Actually, killfiles (or "filters" on T-bird), can easily be manually
>done by "delete". This shortcut is available for all, but it's more
>satisfying to explicitly block repeat offenders.
>
OK. I never tried T'Bird as a Usenet client; if it works for
you that's fine.

Just an aside... IMHO T'bird is so poor as a mail client, as
compared to Pegasus Mail, that I'm seriously considering
going back now that PMail conforms to the bogus "security"
requirements of gmail.
>
--

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 Mon, 1 Jan 2024 08:50:56 -0800, erik simpson
<eastside.erik@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 1/1/24 6:37 AM, jillery wrote:
>> On Mon, 01 Jan 2024 04:18:00 -0330, David Dalton <dalton@nfld.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Dec 28, 2023, Zen Cycle wrote
>>> (in article <umklee$3vejo$5@dont-email.me>):
>>>
>>>> With the demise of Google Groups I've decided to finally quit being lazy
>>>> and configure a news reader/mail client, going with Eternal September
>>>> and Thunderbird, mostly because they're free. However, I have a few
>>>> questions that I was hoping the more savvy and experienced users here
>>>> might be able to help me with. I have searched various web references
>>>> and user forums but haven't really found any explanations to the issues
>>>> below:
>>>>
>>>> - I've noticed the message composition in Thunderbird seems to limit
>>>> characters per line to 73 when it wraps, but it keeps the format of the
>>>> message I'm responding intact, wrapping at the window width. I can't
>>>> find a way to configure the message window to allow my typing to wrap at
>>>> the window width.
>>>>
>>>> - Poking around in the features I noticed some information in the header
>>>> files, specifically there is an "organization" field. Mine is "A
>>>> noiseless patient Spider", On some I've seen "What are you looking for?"
>>>> What is "organization" such that it seems to allow random naming (I know
>>>> mine is a reference to Whitman, but what the hell does that have to do
>>>> with a Usenet organization?)
>>>>
>>>> - I linked Thunderbird to my Hotmail account which is how I'm subscribed
>>>> to the various Usenet groups. Messages I'm posting to Usenet through
>>>> Thunderbird have placed a profile picture next to my posts as they
>>>> appear in google groups that _isn't_ the profile picture associated with
>>>> my Hotmail account. What's even more confusing is that email messages
>>>> sent from Thunderbird via Hotmail _do_ show the profile picture
>>>> associated with my hotmail account, as do messages to Usenet posted
>>>> through Google Groups. IOW - When I post to Usenet through google
>>>> groups, it uses my profile picture. When I post to Usenet using
>>>> Thunderbird/ES it uses some picture I have no connection to. I have no
>>>> idea what it's a picture of, appears to be a black and white photo of a
>>>> guy playing a guitar. Could be worse, I suppose. I've not been able to
>>>> find any information on how or why this is happening, let alone how to
>>>> change it.
>>>>
>>>> None of these issues are of any critical importance to me. If There's a
>>>> way to fix #s 1 and 3, great, if not, no big deal.
>>>
>>> One good place to ask for Eternal September help is the group
>>> eternal-september.support .
>>
>>
>> My understanding is Zen Cycle's expressed problems are related more to
>> TBird than to ES. But I acknowledge your advice can't hurt, and might
>> help.
>>
>>
>Eternal September isn't the best choice you could make. Giganews
>requires payment, but seems to work much better. Thunderbird requires
>some patience to set it up properly, but I think I have it under control.

I presume pay servers provide more reliable service than free servers.
However, my understanding is to identify free servers to replace GG.
ES isn't the only one. Although most free servers have stopped
working in the last few years, Solani.org is still active, as you
previously mentioned.

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