Comcast no longer supports usenet

Mick wrote:

Do you mean your ISP no longer has a news server? You don't have to
change ISP for that reason. Just use an independent server like
www.individual.net/

I'd rather pay my subscription in US dollars than in euros.

I'd rather pay in British pounds ...but it is only 10 Euros per year.

I subscribe to a lot of different groups, including some binaries, and
I don't think they carry those.

Ok, but it is a good service for those who just want to use "ordinary"
groups. Apart from brief periods of downtime occasionally, it is reliable
and quick with messages appearing within a second of posting. It filters
some spam, too.

~PB

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:57:27 -0700 (PDT), Dan O
wrote:

On Oct 30, 12:00 am, wrote:
On Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:04:02 -0700 (PDT), Chalo

wrote:
Chas wrote:

Comcast is no longer supporting Usenet. I've had to switch to an old
dialup connection.

If they're acting like an abusive monopoly, maybe it's time to
demonstrate to them that they are not.

Chalo

Dear Chalo,

Er, in my case that would mean switching to Qwest dsl, which never
offered Usenet.

I'm not sure that this slap in the face would teach Comcast cable a
very clear lesson about its divinely ordained mission to provide me
with free usenet access.


Comcast... free... (?)

Dear Dan,

Same price, with or without usenet.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:08:47 -0700 (PDT), Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On Oct 30, 8:32*am, Qui si parla Campagnolo
wrote:
On Oct 29, 11:20*pm, "* * Chas" (remove
spamski to e-mail me) wrote:

Comcast is no longer supporting Usenet. I've had to switch to an old
dialup connection.

Connecting online through Google Groups in a pain in the butt compared to
Outlook Express which I've been using for the past 12 years.

Any suggestions for easier connections?

Chas.

NOT a computer kinda guy but....'google' at the top, click on 'more'
and then to my 3 groups..all via comcast.

And, of course, bookmark the page once you're there. With Firefox,
I've got r.b.tech in my bookmarks toolbar at the top of the screen.

- Frank Krygowski

Dear Peter, Russell, & Frank,

Google Groups works fine for less obsessive posters with a more
relaxed approach to the newsgroup.

A good test is whether you mind having Google stop dead for a few days
every month, showing no new posts, and then suddenly come to life
again.

If you don't mind that kind of interruption (or haven't even noticed
it), then Google Groups is probably all you neeed and want.

A newsreader program that pulls new posts and threads off a news
server site can make following a newsgroup much easier and quicker.

Many posters find that once they try a newsreader, they never go back
to Google Groups.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Oct 30, 11:39*am, wrote:
On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:08:47 -0700 (PDT), Frank Krygowski





wrote:
On Oct 30, 8:32*am, Qui si parla Campagnolo
wrote:
On Oct 29, 11:20*pm, "* * Chas" (remove
spamski to e-mail me) wrote:

Comcast is no longer supporting Usenet. I've had to switch to an old
dialup connection.

Connecting online through Google Groups in a pain in the butt compared to
Outlook Express which I've been using for the past 12 years.

Any suggestions for easier connections?

Chas.

NOT a computer kinda guy but....'google' at the top, click on 'more'
and then to my 3 groups..all via comcast.

And, of course, bookmark the page once you're there. *With Firefox,
I've got r.b.tech in my bookmarks toolbar at the top of the screen.

- Frank Krygowski

Dear Peter, Russell, & Frank,

Google Groups works fine for less obsessive posters with a more
relaxed approach to the newsgroup.


Less obsessed and more relaxed. Carl...




A good test is whether you mind having Google stop dead for a few days
every month, showing no new posts, and then suddenly come to life
again.

If you don't mind that kind of interruption (or haven't even noticed
it), then Google Groups is probably all you neeed and want.

A newsreader program that pulls new posts and threads off a news
server site can make following a newsgroup much easier and quicker.

Many posters find that once they try a newsreader, they never go back
to Google Groups.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

russellseaton1 wrote:

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:

* * Chas wrote:

Comcast is no longer supporting Usenet. I've had to switch to an old
dialup connection.

Connecting online through Google Groups in a pain in the butt compared to
Outlook Express which I've been using for the past 12 years.

Any suggestions for easier connections?

NOT a computer kinda guy but....'google' at the top, click on 'more'
and then to my 3 groups..all via comcast. May be a pain compared to
Outlook but still easier than shifting up the cogset with DAe.

I'm with you Peter. *Never knew there was any other way to get to
Google groups other than going to the Google page, clicking on More,
then clicking on Groups. *Seems pretty simple and easy. *No room for
complaints. *Apparently its far more complex than I realized.

Perhaps you didn't notice that Google Groups was up to two days late
getting things posted last weekend, like it often is. I got personal
replies to things I had posted a couple of days before I was able to
see them or any public replies to them.

Chalo

On Oct 29, 10:20*pm, "* * Chas" (remove
spamski to e-mail me) wrote:
Comcast is no longer supporting Usenet. I've had to switch to an old
dialup connection.

Connecting online through Google Groups in a pain in the butt compared to
Outlook Express which I've been using for the past 12 years.

Any suggestions for easier connections?

Chas.

I have the same issue with Comcast dropping. I switched to Google
Groups, bookmarked R.B.T, and it works. But its more time consuming
than the old newsreader I used, Winvin. I could just look at headers
and ignore most posts if I wanted to in a string. Motrarella looks
interesting and I'll try setting it up later with my newsreader.

To pull an add-on service like 2G / month of usenet to its customers I
only see as a cost cutting move by Comcast. They were paying Giganews
something for the service, now they're not but Comcast customer bills
have not gone down accordingly.

mtb Dad wrote:
Noobie question.

I've only ever accessed this group through Google. What is a news
reader and why is it better?

A software program that displays and posts newsgroup messages - easier,
faster and nicer to use than Google Groups via web browser. Try one and see
for yourself.

You can download a news reader program, or just use Outlook Express if you
have that already, as it has its own news reader built in. OE is improved
with http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/

A news reader program needs to access a news server - which your ISP may
provide, or you can use an indeendent one.

~PB

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:30:01 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Oct 29, 10:20*pm, "* * Chas" (remove
spamski to e-mail me) wrote:
Comcast is no longer supporting Usenet. I've had to switch to an old
dialup connection.

Connecting online through Google Groups in a pain in the butt compared to
Outlook Express which I've been using for the past 12 years.

Any suggestions for easier connections?

Chas.

I have the same issue with Comcast dropping. I switched to Google
Groups, bookmarked R.B.T, and it works. But its more time consuming
than the old newsreader I used, Winvin. I could just look at headers
and ignore most posts if I wanted to in a string. Motrarella looks
interesting and I'll try setting it up later with my newsreader.

To pull an add-on service like 2G / month of usenet to its customers I
only see as a cost cutting move by Comcast. They were paying Giganews
something for the service, now they're not but Comcast customer bills
have not gone down accordingly.

Dear Ron,

Based on the savings of not offering usenet, how much would you expect
Comcast to lower its monthly bill?

Given the size of Comcast as an ISP versus the pitiful size of usenet,
this is about like expecting Andrew Muzi to lower his prices if he
starts selling bicycles without valve caps.

Some idea of how much Comcast is saving is indicated by the fact
Google Groups offers free access to most newsgroups, while
www.motzarella.org offers free access to most text newsgroups.

(I'm paying exactly the same for Comcast plus newsgroup access now as
I did last month--I just changed three settings in my newsreader to
get RBT from the free www.motzarella.org site. So far, no problems.)

(Once again, that's www.motzarella.org, in case any Comcast users want
to solve the problem for free.)

And once again, rumor has it that the reason Comcast and 17 other
cable providers are dropping usenet is because they're afraid of legal
problems that dwarf any hope of financial gain:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...h-comcast.html

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Noobie question.

I've only ever accessed this group through Google. What is a news
reader and why is it better?

Thanks!
L

In article ,
says...


On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:30:01 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Oct 29, 10:20*pm, "* * Chas" (remove
spamski to e-mail me) wrote:
Comcast is no longer supporting Usenet. I've had to switch to an old
dialup connection.

Connecting online through Google Groups in a pain in the butt
compared to
Outlook Express which I've been using for the past 12 years.

Any suggestions for easier connections?

Chas.

I have the same issue with Comcast dropping. I switched to Google
Groups, bookmarked R.B.T, and it works. But its more time consuming
than the old newsreader I used, Winvin. I could just look at headers
and ignore most posts if I wanted to in a string. Motrarella looks
interesting and I'll try setting it up later with my newsreader.

To pull an add-on service like 2G / month of usenet to its customers I
only see as a cost cutting move by Comcast. They were paying Giganews
something for the service, now they're not but Comcast customer bills
have not gone down accordingly.

Dear Ron,

Based on the savings of not offering usenet, how much would you expect
Comcast to lower its monthly bill?

Given the size of Comcast as an ISP versus the pitiful size of usenet,
this is about like expecting Andrew Muzi to lower his prices if he
starts selling bicycles without valve caps.

Some idea of how much Comcast is saving is indicated by the fact
Google Groups offers free access to most newsgroups, while
www.motzarella.org offers free access to most text newsgroups.

(I'm paying exactly the same for Comcast plus newsgroup access now as
I did last month--I just changed three settings in my newsreader to
get RBT from the free www.motzarella.org site. So far, no problems.)

(Once again, that's www.motzarella.org, in case any Comcast users want
to solve the problem for free.)

And once again, rumor has it that the reason Comcast and 17 other
cable providers are dropping usenet is because they're afraid of legal
problems that dwarf any hope of financial gain:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...ut-for-usenet-
access-through-comcast.html

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Giganews, which Comcast was using, is going to charge $7.99 for 2G per
month with a 20% discount for ex-comcast subscribers first 3 months. Was
comcast paying them half of that, 25%? Whatever it was I wouldn't mind
my Comcast bill going down a few bucks each month rather than creeping up
as it has been.