I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.

Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't
have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way around if I
have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark doesn't seem to be
that fruitful for me

Much obliged

On Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:30:09 -0400
justaW <justaw@noreply.invalid> wrote:

> I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to
> join maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all
> of them are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
> Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that
> don't have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way
> around if I have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark
> doesn't seem to be that fruitful for me
>
> Much obliged

Very active groups.

alt.politics.democrats
alt.politics.republicans
alt.politics.trump
alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
alt.politics.usa
talk.politics.misc

justaW wrote:
> I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
> maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
> are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
> Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't
> have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way around if I
> have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark doesn't seem to be
> that fruitful for me
>
> Much obliged

comp.mobile.android

is always busy.

What specific interests do you have? Hobbies etc.

Ed

On 18-Jun-23 11:19 AM, Ed Cryer wrote:
> justaW wrote:
>> I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to
>> join maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of
>> them are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>>
>> Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't
>> have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way around if I
>> have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark doesn't seem to
>> be that fruitful for me
>>
>> Much obliged
>
> comp.mobile.android
>
> is always busy.
>
> What specific interests do you have? Hobbies etc.
>
> Ed
>
>
>
Ed,
I think I could be considered a techie, gamer, or tinkerer, with a very
basic IT homelab set up (backups, nas, dns).
I want to try to avoid politics because everywhere else, the algorithm
curates what you see in order to strike an emotional response. I'm sick
of that happening on social networks
Thanks

On 6/18/2023 10:30 AM, justaW wrote:
> I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
> maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
> are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
> Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't
> have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way around if I
> have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark doesn't seem to be
> that fruitful for me
>
> Much obliged
Yes! you are obliged to spread my butt cheeks
and sniff & lick my asshole. You may gag on
the smell if you wish. Most people do.

justaW,

> I want to try to avoid politics because everywhere else, the algorithm
> curates what you see in order to strike an emotional response.

Pretty-much all of it is spam anyway. Most, if not all of it, is ment to
sway you to "buy" their product.

> I think I could be considered a techie, gamer, or tinkerer, with a very
> basic IT homelab set up (backups, nas, dns).

alt.comp.software.firefox
alt.msdos.batch.nt
alt.os.linux
alt.windows7.general
comp.sys.raspberry-pi
comp.unix.shell

I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones I am subscribed to myself.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

On 06/18/2023 12:40 PM, R.Wieser wrote:
> justaW,
>
>> I want to try to avoid politics because everywhere else, the algorithm
>> curates what you see in order to strike an emotional response.
>
> Pretty-much all of it is spam anyway. Most, if not all of it, is ment to
> sway you to "buy" their product.
>
>> I think I could be considered a techie, gamer, or tinkerer, with a very
>> basic IT homelab set up (backups, nas, dns).
>
> alt.comp.software.firefox
> alt.msdos.batch.nt
> alt.os.linux
> alt.windows7.general
> comp.sys.raspberry-pi
> comp.unix.shell
>
> I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones I am subscribed to myself.
>
> Regards,
> Rudy Wieser
>
>
There are many newsgroups that are relatively free of spam.

However, the spam level varies with the topic of the newsgroups.

So, not knowing your preferences and likes and dislikes, it is
impossible to recommend a newsgroup for you.

The best way to find an newsgroup for you, is to look at the
subscription list for the news server you are using. Scroll through
the list of newsgroups available and subscribe to all of the ones of
interest.

For me if there are no post, I unsubscribe immediately. I open each
news groups and check to see the spam to good post ratio. If there is a
high spam content I unsubscribe. For others I follow each for a while
to see the activity and whether the post are interesting.

I know of no other way to select newsgroups, that you like.

On Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:30:09 -0400, justaW <justaw@noreply.invalid>
wrote:

>I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
>maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
>are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
>Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't
>have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way around if I
>have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark doesn't seem to be
>that fruitful for me

Although some have more spam than others, almost all newsgroups have
some. I could tell you which ones I participate in, but your interests
are probably very different from mine, so they would be of no help to
you. And many newsgroups still exist but are dying, with almost no
posts to them anymore.

Usenet is dying.

I'm subscribed to 18 newsgroups, but only about half of them are still
active. Yes, I could dump the others, but I keep them just in case
someone posts something of interest.

Also note that you can set up filters in Thunderbird to hide a lot of
the spam.

So you should choose the newsgroups with subjects that interest you
(other people's opinion are really meaningless), read them for a
while, be sure they are still active and not just all spam, get rid of
those that aren't, and set up filters for those you keep.

By the way, In my opinion, worse than spam are messages by trolls, but
they can also be filtered. There are several trolls here and in the
Windows 11 newsgroup.

In message <TxEjM.6237$Zq81.2244@fx15.iad>, justaW
<justaw@noreply.invalid> writes
>I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
>maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
>are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
>Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't
>have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way around if I
>have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark doesn't seem to be
>that fruitful for me
>
>Much obliged

Rather than choose your newsgroups on the basis of their spam content, a
better idea would be to switch to a news server that does a good job of
filtering out the spam, which is clearly not the case with your current
server. I can recommend news.individual.net where - although subscribed
to 20 or so groups - I only see about one spam article per week. It
costs 10 euros a year, which is money well spent.
--
John Hall "[It was] so steep that at intervals the street broke into steps,
like a person breaking into giggles or hiccups, and then resumed
its sober climb, until it had another fit of steps."
Ursula K Le Guin "The Beginning Place"

On Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:30:09 -0400, justaW wrote:
> I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
> maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
> are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
> Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't
> have spam?

misc.taxes.moderated --a shining throwback to the old glory days
before Google trashed Usenet.

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

justaW <justaw@noreply.invalid> wrote:
> I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
> maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
> are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
> Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't
> have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way around if I
> have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark doesn't seem to be
> that fruitful for me
>
> Much obliged

The spam is usually predictable so the way to deal with it is with what's
called a "killfile". You define rules to filter the spam and trolls and
then the newsgroups become decent places.

What newsreader are you using? Someone will point out how to set up the
killfile for your software or you can google it.

On Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:30:09 -0400, in
<TxEjM.6237$Zq81.2244@fx15.iad>, justaW <justaw@noreply.invalid>
wrote:

>I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
>maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
>are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
>Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't
>have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way around if I
>have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark doesn't seem to be
>that fruitful for me
>
>Much obliged

There are many (to say the least) newsgroups with a plethora (again to
say the least) number of topics. It's almost pointless to make
suggestions when you give no hint as to your interests.

I suggest you go thru your newsgroup directory, pick the groups that
match your interest and then download maybe the last 100 message
headers. The downloading shouldn't take much time at all. If you can't
separate the junk/spam groups from the promising ones simply by
reading the subject, then download the actual message bodies. Delete
the groups that are just junk.

--
Jim H

On 2023-06-18 16:30, justaW wrote:
> I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
> maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
> are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
> Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't
> have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way around if I
> have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark doesn't seem to be
> that fruitful for me
>
> Much obliged

Any interesting group eventually gets spam and trolls (which are worse).
Spam is easier to identify.

I see you are using Thunderbird. Thunderbird has filters, but its spam
filters do not work on news, unfortunately.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 6/18/2023 10:30 AM, justaW wrote:
> I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
> Might anyone share with me a few groups that they frequent, that don't have spam? Any subject, really. I think I can find my way around if I have some breadcrumbs, but poking around in the dark doesn't seem to be that fruitful for me
>
> Much obliged

Google Groups has a connection to USENET. Using a Google account,
you can post here. See for example, the post on June 2.

https://groups.google.com/g/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general

Some of the "actual" spam, if you check the headers,
this is garbage that Google allows its idiots to post.

Google is not a responsible USENET participant. There is
a certain thing a spammer can do inside Google Groups, that
guarantees that Google cannot censure them. I was shocked to
find this hole evident, some months ago.

Like adverts for whores in Pune. Or non-prescription
drug sales ("LSD in biscuits").

Not all groups are listed in Google Groups.

The groups that aren't included in the Google Groups
collection then, are "mostly free of real spam".

OK, now try and find "alt.comp.os.windows-10" in Google Groups.
Is it there ? No ? Now, how many adverts for whores in Pune
did you find ?

This is versus trolling. Trolling is a different topic.

Paul

On 18/6/2023 10:30 pm, justaW wrote:
> I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
> maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
> are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.

There are not that many computer-related Usenet newsgroups that are active.

alt.comp.freeware
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt

In article <u6rpfj$2dcmf$1@toylet.eternal-september.org>,
Mr. Man-wai Chang <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 18/6/2023 10:30 pm, justaW wrote:
>> I'm fairly new to this, using usenet and newsgroups. I've tried to join
>> maybe two dozen that seem to be interesting, but literally all of them
>> are filled with spam, except this and the windows 11 group.
>
>There are not that many computer-related Usenet newsgroups that are active.

Depends on your definition of "active".

I follow several technical groups that may go weeks or months w/o any new threads,
but when they do get activity, it is usually worth reading.

Also, I often seek help myself in those groups, and that is, of course,
worth the effort.

--
The randomly chosen signature file that would have appeared here is more than 4
lines long. As such, it violates one or more Usenet RFCs. In order to remain
in compliance with said RFCs, the actual sig can be found at the following URL:
http://user.xmission.com/~gazelle/Sigs/InsaneParty

On 22/6/2023 12:15 am, Kenny McCormack wrote:
>
> Depends on your definition of "active".
>
> I follow several technical groups that may go weeks or months w/o any new threads,
> but when they do get activity, it is usually worth reading.
>
> Also, I often seek help myself in those groups, and that is, of course,
> worth the effort.

These days people go to web-based forums instead of Usenet or NNTP servers.

In article <u71e2v$39snp$1@toylet.eternal-september.org>,
Mr. Man-wai Chang <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 22/6/2023 12:15 am, Kenny McCormack wrote:
>>
>> Depends on your definition of "active".
>>
>> I follow several technical groups that may go weeks or months w/o any new threads,
>> but when they do get activity, it is usually worth reading.
>>
>> Also, I often seek help myself in those groups, and that is, of course,
>> worth the effort.
>
>
>These days people go to web-based forums instead of Usenet or NNTP servers.
>

Yes, some people do that.

Lotsa people waste inordinate amounts of time on silly things like Facebook
and Twitter and Instagram and so on...

--
I shot a man on Fifth Aveneue, just to see him die.

Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

> These days people go to web-based forums instead of Usenet or NNTP servers.

Probably doesn't help when people on usenet tell them to go to forums or
social media!

In message <kfl0t5FcmbU2@mid.individual.net>, Andy Burns
<usenet@andyburns.uk> writes
>Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:
>
>> These days people go to web-based forums instead of Usenet or NNTP servers.
>
>Probably doesn't help when people on usenet tell them to go to forums
>or social media!

I don't think most people who started using the Internet within the last
10-15 years are even aware that Usenet exists, so opinions expressed in
Usenet posts are unlikely to influence them either for or against it.
--
John Hall "[It was] so steep that at intervals the street broke into steps,
like a person breaking into giggles or hiccups, and then resumed
its sober climb, until it had another fit of steps."
Ursula K Le Guin "The Beginning Place"

In article <i3pKSTCH$VlkFw0D@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>,
John Hall <john@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
>In message <kfl0t5FcmbU2@mid.individual.net>, Andy Burns
><usenet@andyburns.uk> writes
>>Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:
>>
>>> These days people go to web-based forums instead of Usenet or NNTP servers.
>>
>>Probably doesn't help when people on usenet tell them to go to forums
>>or social media!
>
>I don't think most people who started using the Internet within the last
>10-15 years are even aware that Usenet exists, so opinions expressed in
>Usenet posts are unlikely to influence them either for or against it.

Congratulations on totally missing Andy's point.

--
Kenny, I'll ask you to stop using quotes of mine as taglines.

- Rick C Hodgin -

On Thu, 22 Jun 2023 20:55:09 -0000 (UTC), gazelle@shell.xmission.com
(Kenny McCormack) wrote:

>In article <u71e2v$39snp$1@toylet.eternal-september.org>,
>Mr. Man-wai Chang <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

>>These days people go to web-based forums instead of Usenet or NNTP servers.
>>
>
>Yes, some people do that.

Yes, his statement was very inaccurate, although I'd say that *most*
people do..

>Lotsa people waste inordinate amounts of time on silly things like Facebook
>and Twitter and Instagram and so on...

Yes.

On 23-Jun-23 10:19 AM, Ken Blake wrote:
> On Thu, 22 Jun 2023 20:55:09 -0000 (UTC), gazelle@shell.xmission.com
> (Kenny McCormack) wrote:
>
>> In article <u71e2v$39snp$1@toylet.eternal-september.org>,
>> Mr. Man-wai Chang <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>> These days people go to web-based forums instead of Usenet or NNTP servers.
>>>
>>
>> Yes, some people do that.
>
> Yes, his statement was very inaccurate, although I'd say that *most*
> people do..
>
>> Lotsa people waste inordinate amounts of time on silly things like Facebook
>> and Twitter and Instagram and so on...
>
>
> Yes.
We're in an age where everyone is checking their phones every few
minutes. Things move too fast. I long for the days of old school
internet forums (I'll admit, an era newer than usenet) where you read
the new messages when you log in. You don't get a ding on your phone
every time someone replies to something.
That, and slower communication tends to nudge you into sending more
thoughtful messages. At least you'll know that your message is there and
marked as 'new' for someone, until they check the thread again. Unlike
social medias now where what you post is going to be drowned out almost
immediately by a thousand other people posting the same, or similar things.

I appreciate everyone's help in pointing me in the right direction for
some active newsgroups.

Cheers

justaW wrote:

> I appreciate everyone's help in pointing me in the right direction for
> some active newsgroups.

Were you hoping for any particular interest, or just anywhere that's not
dead, full of drugspam, or has people with a few brain-cells left?

On 23-Jun-23 4:49 PM, Andy Burns wrote:
> justaW wrote:
>
>> I appreciate everyone's help in pointing me in the right direction for
>> some active newsgroups.
>
> Were you hoping for any particular interest, or just anywhere that's not
> dead, full of drugspam, or has people with a few brain-cells left?
>
The later by far