Usenet Redivivus! Best Post Viewing in Google Groups

[Ion Saliu]

Axiomatics, Axiomatiques, Axiomatischen, Axiomáticos, Assiomatici, Axiomatici et al.:

There is a new useful feature for reading the Usenet posts in Google Groups. The vast majority of newsgroup members use GROUPS.GOOGLE.COM to post and read on the Internet pioneering service, Usenet.

One drawback of the Google service, very useful otherwise, is the default font. It is a proportional font (of variable-width, that is). Youngbloods, keep in mind, however, that initially Usenet was written and shown in a monospace font. It was the ubiquitous Courier, borrowed from the good ole typewriter. I know, many youngsters don’t even know what a typewriter is!

Very importantly, my software generates outcomes (e.g. lottery numbers, statistical reports, etc.) in monospace-font format. Many readers had some trouble viewing the output of my software. We used a workaround: copy-and-paste the Usenet reports to Notepad for better viewing. It hasn’t worked well for the most part.

And now a good Samaritan came up with the best solution. The posts in the good ol’ Usenet can be acceptably viewed in Google groups. A change in the cascading style in the browser shows the posts in a monospace font (e.g. Courier). I exhaled a big sigh of relief!
• https://groups.google.com/g/comp.lang.forth/c/qW5U1xmla_0/m/xSI3W02dBQAJ
• “Monospace font in Google Groups”.

The operation works in two browsers. I had 100% success with Google Chrome (version 112) and Mozilla Firefox (version 111). What is Microsoft Edge waiting for?!

Following please find detailed and clear instructions.

CHROME:
• In Tools on the toolbar, click More tools, then Extensions. Click the 3-bar button at the top left to open the Extensions menu; at the bottom, click ‘Open Chrome Web Store’. In ‘Search the store’, type Stylus. Click on app’s name to add to Chrome.
• After installation, click on the Extensions button on Toolbar, click on Stylus, then Pin to toolbar.

FIREFOX:
• In Tools on the toolbar, click Addon and tools, Extensions (in the left panel), Find more addons, search for Stylus; in Search results, click on Stylus, then Add to Firefox.
• After installation, click on the Extensions button on Toolbar, click on Stylus, then Pin to toolbar.

How to add viewing with a monospace font (e.g. Courier) –

1.– Open a Google group in the Chrome or Firefox browser. For example, the address bar should read https://groups.google.com/g/rec.gambling.lottery/ for this lottery newsgroup.
2.– Click the Stylus button on the toolbar (e.g. S in a square)
3.– Check the option box ‘Write style for’
4.– The U button appears; e.g. groups.google.com/This URL
5.– Click on the URL (it should be HTML-activated)
6.– Go to the bottom section that reads ‘URLs on this domain’
7.– Copy-and-paste the following code snippet (overwrite the lines 9, 10, 11):

div[role=region] {
font-family: Consolas, Courier, monospace;
display: block;
max-width: 60em;
white-space: pre-wrap;
}
div[role="region"] br {
display: none;
}

8.– You see the code you copied was moved up to the section ‘/* ==UserStyle==’
9.– Click Save in the left panel (‘Add Style’)
10.– Close the window/tab (e.g. https://groups.google.com/g/rec.gambling.lottery/)
11.– Reopen the window/tab; the new viewing style is in effect.

I subscribe to several Google groups. I notice that adding Stylus to one newsgroup, automatically changes the viewing to monospace in ALL my favorite groups.

May Usenet live forever!


Ion “Axiomatic Parpaluck” Saliu
Intelligently At-Large (both naturally and artificially)
• https://saliu.com/ai-chatbots-ion-saliu.html
• Artificial Intelligence, AI Chatbots, Ion Saliu, Newton, Einstein

[Ion Saliu]

Axiomatics of Grandiose Endeavors:

We must keep this thread at the top or, at least, on the first page in Google Groups. It is very useful. It does make a difference when reading posts originally written in a fixed-width font. They were well-formatted but looked scrambled in Usenet.

[Ion Saliu]

Ultra-Axiomatics:

The personal computing, including good ol’ 16-bit DOS, had 80 columns. That is, the maximum width was 80 characters in a monospaced font. Many reports in the early days of Usenet were created for an 80-column screen. We can resort to that width by changing the max-width: 60em; line to 80 characters horizontally. Thus, the block of text we need to add to the browser becomes:

div[role=region] {
font-family: Consolas, Courier, monospace;
display: block;

max-width: 80em;

white-space: pre-wrap;
}
div[role="region"] br {
display: none;
}

Incidentally, the Courier font is easier to read at any age! Ain’t it so, Kotkoduck, Kokostirk et al.?

Here is a statistical report created for an 80-column screen. Look how clearly it looks in Stylus compared to the proportional-font screen you were used to –

Lotto 5 / 43 Report: DECADES & LAST-DIGITS
File: PA-5; Date: 07-17-2015
Draws Analyzed: 1000

The numbers in each column in the DEC area show how many numbers from the DECADE listed in the header came out
in the corresponding drawing. The numbers in the 2nd area show the distribution of the LAST DIGIT for every number
in the lotto draw; e.g. 20 has last digit 0; lotto #1 has 1 as last digit, lotto #43 has 3 as last digit, etc.

D E C A D E S Total L A S T D I G I T S Total
Line Draw Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec combos Dig Dig Dig Dig Dig Dig Dig Dig Dig Dig combos
no ings 1-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 DEC 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DIG

1 9 11 14 23 28 1 2+ 2+ 0- 0- 0 18225 0 1 0- 1+ 1+ 0 0- 0- 1+ 1+ 1600
2 7 26 32 41 42 1- 0- 1 1+ 2+ 0 5400 0 1 2+ 0 0- 0 1+ 1 0 0 800
3 1 2 7 14 24 3+ 1- 1 0 0 0 8400 0 1+ 1 0 2+ 0 0- 1 0 0- 600
4 6 9 17 19 22 2 2+ 1+ 0- 0- 0 16200 0 0- 1- 0- 0 0 1 1+ 0 2+ 480
5 2 3 31 36 42 2 0 0- 2 1+ 0 6480 0 1 2+ 1+ 0 0 1- 0- 0 0- 1000
6 7 9 26 31 36 2 0 1+ 2- 0 0 16200 0- 1+ 0 0 0- 0 2+ 1+ 0- 1- 480
7 4 9 30 38 39 2 0- 0- 3+ 0 0 4320 1 0 0 0- 1+ 0 0- 0 1+ 2+ 384
8 3 9 10 23 36 2+ 1- 1+ 1- 0 0 36000 1+ 0- 0- 2+ 0- 0 1+ 0 0 1+ 640
9 12 13 14 31 32 0 3+ 0- 2+ 0- 0 5400 0 1 2+ 1- 1+ 0 0 0 0- 0 1000
10 13 22 23 38 41 0 1- 2 1+ 1 0 18000 0 1 1 2+ 0- 0 0 0 1+ 0 1000
11 12 14 21 24 43 0- 2 2+ 0- 1+ 0 8100 0 1 1 1+ 2+ 0 0 0- 0 0- 750
12 9 12 19 21 37 1+ 2+ 1- 1 0- 0 40500 0 1 1 0 0 0- 0 1 0- 2+ 600
13 17 25 28 31 42 0 1 2- 1 1+ 0 18000 0 1 1 0- 0- 1+ 0 1 1+ 0 1600
...

There is always an anchor:

• https://groups.google.com/g/rec.gambling.lottery/c/TztssQOdv9M
• The Best RGL Posts, Contents: Lottery, Strategies, Systems, Software

[Ion Saliu]

max-width: 80em;

white-space: pre-wrap;
}
div[role="region"] br {
display: none;
}
>
> 8.– You see the code you copied was moved up to the section ‘/* ==UserStyle==’
> 9.– Click Save in the left panel (‘Add Style’)
> 10.– Close the window/tab (e.g. https://groups.google.com/g/rec.gambling.lottery/)
> 11.– Reopen the window/tab; the new viewing style is in effect.
>
> I subscribe to several Google groups. I notice that adding Stylus to one newsgroup, automatically changes the viewing to monospace in ALL my favorite groups.
>
> May Usenet live forever!
>
>
> Ion “Axiomatic Parpaluck” Saliu
> Intelligently At-Large (both naturally and artificially)
> • https://saliu.com/ai-chatbots-ion-saliu.html
> • Artificial Intelligence, AI Chatbots, Ion Saliu, Newton, Einstein

Stylus does work in the Edge browser as well. Goto the bottom of the ‘Extensions’, ‘Find new extensions’. Look for: “Can't find what you're looking for? You can also get extensions from the Chrome Web Store.” Download and install as in the Chrome browser.

[Ion Saliu]

Heads-up –
I noticed Stylus changes, unwarrantedly, the appearance (font type) of websites other than newsgroups. Curiously, my webmail looks different with some accounts. For example, I can’t see the messages in my Inbox with the old Hotmail via Outlook. I simply disable Stylus. I click the ‘green’ button on the toolbar. I check the box ‘Turn all styles off’. The button turns ‘red’. When I navigate to a newsgroup, I uncheck the same box; the button turns ‘green’ again.

May Usenet live forever!


Ion “Axiomatic Parpaluck” Saliu
Intelligently At-Large (both naturally and artificially)
• https://saliu.com/ai-chatbots-ion-saliu.html
• Artificial Intelligence, AI Chatbots, Ion Saliu, Newton, Einstein

May Usenet live forever!