Boycott Google groups! Use this to read usenet..

Paul E. Schoen

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Apr 6, 2008, 7:17:14 PM4/6/08

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I found a free newsreader http://news.interbulletin.com. This looks like a
much better way to have web-based access to usenet than Google Groups.

This does have a limit of 5 postings per day, so they will not contribute
to spamming. I would gladly contribute to the efforts of this service.

I was unable to post, however. I even tried a little-used NG
sci.engr.electrical.sys-protection. But I'll contact them to see why
posting does not work.

Usually I only need to read, and not post, newsgroups when I am at work or
elsewhere without access to a news server, so I will use this rather than
Google. It's actually much better!

Paul

JeffM

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Apr 6, 2008, 8:31:54 PM4/6/08

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Paul E. Schoen wrote:
>I found a free newsreader http://news.interbulletin.com.
>

I was thinking about a similar post as well.

>This looks like a much better way to have web-based access to usenet
>than Google Groups.
>

Feature-for-feature: No.

I AdBlocked the stupid background image immediately.
The format of the entry page after that is OK--if that's what you
like.
The times stated as GMT {plus/minus} drives me batty.
Web links aren't clickable there--cut & paste only.

Kinda stupid that the opening page uses a monospaced font
and the *message* pages AREN'T.
Whitespace in HTML pages gets collapsed and isn't recoverable.

Google's ability to show monospaced pages
is absolutely necessary to read ASCII prints; nobody else offers this.

>This does have a limit of 5 postings per day,
>

That sucks.
I searched Google's Usenet archive and noticed that
InterBulletin also adds a 1-line footer ad; Google scores again.

>I was unable to post, however.
>

Hmmm. Earlier today, went there and pulled up a Posting page
but I didn't actually attempt to post.
I *was* mildly impressed; now--not so much.

>[...]I'll contact them to see why posting does not work.
>
Not a glowing recomendation so far.

>Usually I only need to read, and not post, newsgroups
>when I am at work or elsewhere without access to a news server,
>so I will use this rather than Google. It's actually much better!
>

...until somebody posts a schematic.
.
.
These guys (Poland) have a fair archive for *reading*:
http://news.elektroda.net/scielectronicsdesign-vf6.html
Latency is low.

Web links are clickable; Usenet Message IDs AREN'T
(another thing Google gets right).
No ability to post from there.
There is no indication of threading.
.
.
Next to Google, THESE folks have the best Web interface I've found:
http://www.electronicskb.com/Default.aspx
The latency is very low.
The threading is indicated.
(I'm not crazy about the way it's done--but it's there.)

No clickable links of any type--in fact, long links get mangled,
so cut & paste is a chore.
They also add a 1-line footer ad to posts made from there.

JeffM

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Apr 25, 2008, 5:10:20 PM4/25/08

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>Paul E. Schoen wrote:
>>I found a free newsreader http://news.interbulletin.com.

>>This looks like a much better way to have web-based access to usenet
>>than Google Groups.
>>

Again: No.

JeffM wrote:
>[...]for *reading*
>http://news.elektroda.net/scielectronicsdesign-vf6.html
>[...]
>http://www.electronicskb.com/Default.aspx
>latency is very low.
>[...]No clickable links[...]

>They also add a 1-line footer ad to posts made from there.

Here is another Web-based site for reading the group.
It allows posting--but adds a 3-LINE FOOTER AD to posts.
They update in bursts, so latency for reading can be 2 hours.
I can't say what posting latency is like--but I wouldn't hold my
breath.

The page design has one really stupid premise:
On my Gecko browser,
the leftmost 35% of the screen is essentially blank space.
After applying NukeAnything (or Platypus), it's much better.

On the main page, posts are arranged by posting time
so there are multiple instances of the same thread
(like interbulletin.com--which I don't like).

Long Subject lines are truncated.
Subject lines with non-7-bit characters look like crap
(mostly spam anyway).
...and they delete topics marked as OT
--but *keep* REAL spam (Morons)
...or maybe they just don't properly index a lot of posts
(see "timestamps", below).

On pages for reading posts, the threading is nicely indicated
--but timestamps are a mish-mash.
Web links are clickable; Usenet Message IDs AREN'T.

While they make an effort to retain spacing, it's a proportional font
--so unless you reconfigure your browser, ASCII prints will be junk.

JeffM

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Apr 25, 2008, 5:20:36 PM4/25/08

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JeffM wrote:
>>Paul E. Schoen wrote:
>>>I found a free newsreader http://news.interbulletin.com.
>>>This looks like a much better way to have web-based access to usenet
>>>than Google Groups.
>>>
>Again: No.
>
>JeffM wrote:
>>[...]for *reading*
>>http://news.elektroda.net/scielectronicsdesign-vf6.html
>>[...]
>>http://www.electronicskb.com/Default.aspx
>>latency is very low.
>>[...]No clickable links[...]
>>They also add a 1-line footer ad to posts made from there.
>
>Here is another Web-based site for reading the group.
>

...and, of course, I forgot the link:
http://www.talkaboutelectronicequipment.com/group/sci.electronics.design

Stephen J. Rush

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Apr 25, 2008, 5:36:54 PM4/25/08

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Why not just get a real newsreader, like Pan or Agent? There is more to
the Internet than the Web.

JeffM

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Apr 25, 2008, 5:53:00 PM4/25/08

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>>>Paul E. Schoen wrote:
>>>>[...]a much better way to have web-based access to usenet

>>>>than Google Groups.
>>>>
>>JeffM wrote:
> >>http://news.elektroda.net/scielectronicsdesign-vf6.html [...]
>>>http://www.electronicskb.com/Default.aspx latency is very low.
>>>

::JeffM wrote:
::http://www.talkaboutelectronicequipment.com/group/
sci.electronics.design

Stephen J. Rush wrote:
>Why not just get a real newsreader, like Pan or Agent?
>There is more to the Internet than the Web.

Jim Thompson has a list of at least 65 people
who for one reason or another are limited to Port 80 access.
The most common reasons are:
1) Port 119 blocked by IT.
2) Not allowed to add software to the computer.

Jim Thompson

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Apr 25, 2008, 6:25:38 PM4/25/08

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On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:53:00 -0700 (PDT), JeffM <jef...@email.com>
wrote:

I might smirk and ask... If port 119 is blocked by IT, are you not
goofing off on company time by reading news ?:-)

Larkin and Fields and I report to no other...

Rich Webb

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Apr 25, 2008, 7:24:01 PM4/25/08

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On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:25:38 -0700, Jim Thompson
<To-Email-Use-Th...@My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

>I might smirk and ask... If port 119 is blocked by IT, are you not
>goofing off on company time by reading news ?:-)

Absolutely, an appropriate amount of "goofing off" being necessary to
overall productivity and mental health. Some folks take smoke breaks,
some wander over to the coffee mess, some take a gander at usenet,
some do other things (darts, anyone?).

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

Paul E. Schoen

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Apr 25, 2008, 10:28:20 PM4/25/08

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"Stephen J. Rush" <sjr...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:MOidnYq2palr04_V...@comcast.com...

Where I work as a consultant, they do not have usenet access, or at least
they have ignored my requests to set it up. So I need a web-based method to
at least read posts, which are often related to the work I am doing there.
I can wait until I get home to post replies, but it's helpful to be able to
read some of the posts there.

My email to InterBulletin bounced, and I never was able to post. And it
seems they have even longer latency than the one suggested:
http://www.talkaboutelectronicequipment.com/group/sci.electronics.design

Thanks!

Paul