Hi there!

I thought it was the end. 28 days without newsgroup access. My ISP
says it is an "improved news service", being "outsourced".

I have been finding keeping up with NGs tricky for some time. I shall
carry on here, but if there are any more ISP problems, I might
disappear.

Please feel free to write. The eddress in my sig will reach me - but
no guarantee whether it will be today or next month - , or you can do
the obvious with

c a t 1
at
b l a k j a k
dot
o r g

Soon, I shall tell you all about Nanki Poo for the last few months, as
he gets more and more bossy. I am doing this in case I disappear so you
can see what has happened to him.

I am sort-of writing this as the beginning of the final good-bye. I
have no faith in the continuance of the service, and I shall *not* use
Google or anything which involved a lousy newsreader: once you get a
good one you realise how terrible using Outlook Express or Internet
Explorer is. To be fair, they are not newsreaders.

I have enjoyed most of my time here, from long before RPCA existed.
Despite all the nasty stuff we occasionally see, I still think the worst
article I ever read was from someone - thankfully, I cannot remember who
- who wrote a long diatribe about how "we" should all be proud of this
wonderful country, which is best in everything. It was clearly about
the USA, but it amazed me how rude it was for someone to write how "we"
should be proud of "our" USA when she was writing on an international
NG. It was also very rude that she never mentioned the country, and she
seems to have no idea that the USA does not lead the world in [for
example] inventions, money per head given in aid after the tsunami, and
telecommunications.

I have some great friends who are Americans, and I love the country
and many of the people. But until the minority who look down on anyone
else learn to shut up, the USA will always get people around the world
who dislike it.

Can you imaging Marina, for example, going on and on about how "we"
should be proud of "our" Finland, which no doubt leads the world in some
things, but inventing others? Of course not, but I bet she is just as
proud of her country.

Sadly, of all the articles ever posted, that is the one I remember the
most, but there have also been many wonderful articles. Many of the
earlier ones are on my Storypage, and I have hundreds more to add
sometime - so keep checking my Storypage please!

--
David Stevenson Storypage: http://blakjak.org/sty_menu.htm
Liverpool, England, UK Emails welcome
N Poo: SI O+W B 14 Y L+ W++ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q P+ B+ PA+ PL SC

On Nov 6, 7:20*pm, David Stevenson wrote:
* *I thought it was the end. *28 days without newsgroup access. *My ISP
says it is an "improved news service", being "outsourced".

* *I have been finding keeping up with NGs tricky for some time. *I shall
carry on here, but if there are any more ISP problems, I might
disappear.

* *Please feel free to write. *The eddress in my sig will reach me - but
no guarantee whether it will be today or next month - , or you can do
the obvious with

c a t 1
* *at
b l a k j a k
* *dot
o r g

* *Soon, I shall tell you all about Nanki Poo for the last few months, as
he gets more and more bossy. *I am doing this in case I disappear so you
can see what has happened to him.

* *I am sort-of writing this as the beginning of the final good-bye. *I
have no faith in the continuance of the service, and I shall *not* use
Google or anything which involved a lousy newsreader: once you get a
good one you realise how terrible using Outlook Express or Internet
Explorer is. *To be fair, they are not newsreaders.

* *I have enjoyed most of my time here, from long before RPCA existed..
Despite all the nasty stuff we occasionally see, I still think the worst
article I ever read was from someone - thankfully, I cannot remember who
- who wrote a long diatribe about how "we" should all be proud of this
wonderful country, which is best in everything. *It was clearly about
the USA, but it amazed me how rude it was for someone to write how "we"
should be proud of "our" USA when she was writing on an international
NG. *It was also very rude that she never mentioned the country, and she
seems to have no idea that the USA does not lead the world in [for
example] inventions, money per head given in aid after the tsunami, and
telecommunications.

* *I have some great friends who are Americans, and I love the country
and many of the people. *But until the minority who look down on anyone
else learn to shut up, the USA will always get people around the world
who dislike it.

* *Can you imaging Marina, for example, going on and on about how "we"
should be proud of "our" Finland, which no doubt leads the world in some
things, but inventing others? *Of course not, but I bet she is just as
proud of her country.

* *Sadly, of all the articles ever posted, that is the one I remember the
most, but there have also been many wonderful articles. *Many of the
earlier ones are on my Storypage, and I have hundreds more to add
sometime - so keep checking my Storypage please!

--
David Stevenson * * * * * *Storypage:http://blakjak.org/sty_menu.htm
Liverpool, England, UK * * Emails welcome
N Poo: *SI O+W B 14 Y L+ W++ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q P+ B+ PA+ PL SC

Hi David--I had wondered where you were, and am glad to hear Nanki-Poo
is
well, even if bossy!

Sherry

David Stevenson wrote:

I am sort-of writing this as the beginning of the final good-bye. I
have no faith in the continuance of the service, and I shall *not* use
Google or anything which involved a lousy newsreader: once you get a
good one you realise how terrible using Outlook Express or Internet
Explorer is. To be fair, they are not newsreaders.

If your ISP lets you down, try the free news server nntp.aioe.org I use it
as a backup and have found it usefull at times. A few people, like Polonca,
use it all the time.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Bagheera & Shadow)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

Adrian wrote
David Stevenson wrote:

I am sort-of writing this as the beginning of the final good-bye. I
have no faith in the continuance of the service, and I shall *not* use
Google or anything which involved a lousy newsreader: once you get a
good one you realise how terrible using Outlook Express or Internet
Explorer is. To be fair, they are not newsreaders.

If your ISP lets you down, try the free news server nntp.aioe.org I use it
as a backup and have found it usefull at times. A few people, like Polonca,
use it all the time.

OK, I'll consider that.

--
David Stevenson Storypage: http://blakjak.org/sty_menu.htm
Liverpool, England, UK Emails welcome
N Poo: SI O+W B 14 Y L+ W++ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q P+ B+ PA+ PL SC

David Stevenson kirjoitti:

I am sort-of writing this as the beginning of the final good-bye. I
have no faith in the continuance of the service, and I shall *not* use
Google or anything which involved a lousy newsreader: once you get a
good one you realise how terrible using Outlook Express or Internet
Explorer is. To be fair, they are not newsreaders.


Quite a few here on rpca use News Individual Net as their newsserver and
are very happy with it. It's not free, however, but at 10,- Euros per
year it's quite affordable. The are good at filtering spam, have real
people answering your emails, should you need to contact them etc.
More info and registration at:
http://www.individual.net/

--
Christine in Finland
christal63 (at) gmail (dot) com

David Stevenson wrote:

I thought it was the end. 28 days without newsgroup access. My ISP
says it is an "improved news service", being "outsourced".

Oh-h-h-h, don't mention "outsourcing" to me! Talk about hare-brained
ideas, they announced on the news last night that Honyewell in Arizona
will be outsourcing about a thousand jobs this next summer - over half
of them to the Czech Republic. (Considering that Honeywell is part of
the aero-space industry, and even some of its manufacturing jobs require
security clearance - or used to - you have to wonder what they are
thinking!)

Judith Latham wrote
In article , David Stevenson
wrote:

I thought it was the end. 28 days without newsgroup access. My ISP
says it is an "improved news service", being "outsourced".

I have been finding keeping up with NGs tricky for some time. I
shall carry on here, but if there are any more ISP problems, I might
disappear.

David, when i saw your post I had a word with DH who is in IT as his job.
We used to be on Demon but changed to blueyonder a few years ago.
Apparently as most internet users are not interested in newgroups, (their
loss) it isn't financially viable for most ISPs. So they are "outsourcing"
them.
DH says to look on google as there are now a lot of usenet providers. I
don't know how much you are into all this, so if I'm saying things that
you already know, please ignore them. He says that if you don't want to
download films, music etc. you should go for a text only (not binaries) as
these are cheaper. He had a quick look and found these:

Motzarella

www.giganews.com

Uk providers:-


claranews £30 per year 10 gig per month www.claranews.com


www.gradwell.com/usenet £20 per year


Have a look you will find there are a lot.

I would be sad if you left RPCA so many of us have been friends here for
so long. I still remember your comment about Stourbridge ring road many
years ago.

Demon is certainly providing NGs for the time being, it is just that I
am unconvinced it is going ot continue in the long run. Certainly I am
only interested in text-only stuff.

I do not really think Demon is much good any more, it is really just
that with Demon I get

Turnpike
Incoming faxes
As many eddresses as I want
A free website included

I keep getting offered cheaper broadband, but service? If I switch to
something cheaper - cheapest seems the packages, from Sky or Virgin or
similar, which includes broadband, telephone rental and possibly mobile
phones - will I get a decent newsreader? mailreader? fax? lots of
eddresses? website?

Sure, it might be worth paying less and getting some of these things
for a price. But I am not sure I can.

--
David Stevenson Storypage: http://blakjak.org/sty_menu.htm
Liverpool, England, UK Emails welcome
N Poo: SI O+W B 14 Y L+ W++ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q P+ B+ PA+ PL SC