Hello, all.

alt.usage.english is now available for reading and posting
via the RockSolid Light web interface at:

https://news.novabbs.org/interests/thread.php?group=alt.usage.english

In light of the general defectiveness of GG as a Usenet
interface and Google's complicity in deluding Usenet with
SPAM, users of GG are advised to try RockSolid.

Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@gmail.moc> writes:
> Hello, all.
>
> alt.usage.english is now available for reading and posting
> via the RockSolid Light web interface at:
>
> https://news.novabbs.org/interests/thread.php?group=alt.usage.english
>
> In light of the general defectiveness of GG as a Usenet
> interface and Google's complicity in deluding Usenet with
> SPAM, users of GG are advised to try RockSolid.

Google is deluding its users into believing that Google are a responsible
internet company whilst being responsible for the recent deluge of spam.

Phil
--
We are no longer hunters and nomads. No longer awed and frightened, as we have
gained some understanding of the world in which we live. As such, we can cast
aside childish remnants from the dawn of our civilization.
-- NotSanguine on SoylentNews, after Eugen Weber in /The Western Tradition/

On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 3:04:22 PM UTC-4, Phil Carmody wrote:
> Anton Shepelev <anto...@gmail.moc> writes:

> > alt.usage.english is now available for reading and posting
> > via the RockSolid Light web interface at:
> > https://news.novabbs.org/interests/thread.php?group=alt.usage.english
> > In light of the general defectiveness of GG as a Usenet
> > interface and Google's complicity in deluding Usenet with
> > SPAM, users of GG are advised to try RockSolid.
>
> Google is deluding its users into believing that Google are a responsible
> internet company whilst being responsible for the recent deluge of spam.

Anton's thing is from "nova bbs." Could that be a Russian thing?

On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 12:04:22 PM UTC-7, Phil Carmody wrote:
> Anton Shepelev <anto...@gmail.moc> writes:
> > Hello, all.
> >
> > alt.usage.english is now available for reading and posting
> > via the RockSolid Light web interface at:
> >
> > https://news.novabbs.org/interests/thread.php?group=alt.usage.english
> >
> > In light of the general defectiveness of GG as a Usenet
> > interface and Google's complicity in deluding Usenet with
> > SPAM, users of GG are advised to try RockSolid.
> Google is deluding its users into believing that Google are a responsible
> internet company whilst being responsible for the recent deluge of spam.
>
Something wrong there. I use Google Groups to read and post in aue, and
I get near zero spam. I'm not using any kind of spam blocker, so I don't know
where your spam is coming from.

bill

* "Peter T. Daniels" <11284ee1-e0a2-4eb1-8aab-bfe0a99ce636n @googlegroups.com> :
Wrote on Mon, 30 Oct 2023 13:01:34 -0700 (PDT):
>
> Anton's thing is from "nova bbs." Could that be a Russian thing?

This is a "web based interface". It doesn't provide nntp and isn't an
alternative for newsclients. (Anton is still posting from
eternal-september, despite the fact that the administrator is openly
hostile to Putin, and advertisies it through .sig)

Peter T. Daniels:

> Anton's thing is from "nova bbs." Could that be a Russian
> thing?

Why would that matter?

--
() ascii ribbon campaign -- against html e-mail
/\ www.asciiribbon.org -- against proprietary attachments

Madhu to Anton Shepelev:

> > alt.usage.english is now available for reading and
> > posting via the RockSolid Light web interface at:
> >
> > https://news.novabbs.org/interests/thread.php?group=alt.usage.english
>
> This is a "web based interface".

Yes, as I wrote. It is an alternative to GG's Usenet
gateway.

> It doesn't provide nntp and isn't an alternative for
> newsclients.

No, but the same team are running an NNTP server, see
i2pn2.org.

> (Anton is still posting from eternal-september, despite
> the fact that the administrator is openly hostile to
> Putin, and advertisies it through .sig)

It does not mean I endorse such lowly insults, but I am not
a fan of Mr. Putin myself.

--
() ascii ribbon campaign -- against html e-mail
/\ www.asciiribbon.org -- against proprietary attachments

bill:

> Something wrong there. I use Google Groups to read and
> post in aue, and I get near zero spam. I'm not using any
> kind of spam blocker, so I don't know where your spam is
> coming from.

99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The
spammers have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by
posting about 20 000 messages per day.

--
() ascii ribbon campaign -- against html e-mail
/\ www.asciiribbon.org -- against proprietary attachments

On Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:38:46 +0300
Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@g{oogle}mail.com> wrote:

> Peter T. Daniels:
>
> > Anton's thing is from "nova bbs." Could that be a Russian
> > thing?
>
> Why would that matter?
>
It does to that True Patriot PTD.

--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

On 31/10/23 21:51, Anton Shepelev wrote:
> bill:
>
>> Something wrong there. I use Google Groups to read and post in aue,
>> and I get near zero spam. I'm not using any kind of spam blocker,
>> so I don't know where your spam is coming from.
>
> 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The spammers have
> overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by posting about 20 000
> messages per day.

What seems to be happening, though, is that GG blocks the spam for its
own readers, but passes it on unblocked to other news servers.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

On 31/10/23 21:51, Anton Shepelev wrote:

> 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The
> spammers have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by
> posting about 20 000 messages per day.

ObAUE: spam is a noun, not an acronym, so it shouldn't be upper-cased.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 11:18:19 AM UTC, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 31/10/23 21:51, Anton Shepelev wrote:
> > 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The
> > spammers have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by
> > posting about 20 000 messages per day.
> ObAUE: spam is a noun, not an acronym, so it shouldn't be upper-cased.

Presumably it originates from this sketch? I wonder if Monty Python
coined other words or usages?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycKNt0MhTkk

My brain hurts.

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 12:37:44 PM UTC, Lionel Edwards wrote:
> On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 11:18:19 AM UTC, Peter Moylan wrote:
> > On 31/10/23 21:51, Anton Shepelev wrote:
> > > 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The
> > > spammers have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by
> > > posting about 20 000 messages per day.
> > ObAUE: spam is a noun, not an acronym, so it shouldn't be upper-cased.
> Presumably it originates from this sketch? I wonder if Monty Python
> coined other words or usages?
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycKNt0MhTkk
>
> My brain hurts.

"My brain hurts":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M68GeL8PafE

On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 10:28:24 PM UTC-6, bil...@shaw.ca wrote:
> On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 12:04:22 PM UTC-7, Phil Carmody wrote:
> > Anton Shepelev <anto...@gmail.moc> writes:
> > > Hello, all.
> > >
> > > alt.usage.english is now available for reading and posting
> > > via the RockSolid Light web interface at:
> > >
> > > https://news.novabbs.org/interests/thread.php?group=alt.usage.english
> > >
> > > In light of the general defectiveness of GG as a Usenet
> > > interface and Google's complicity in deluding Usenet with
> > > SPAM, users of GG are advised to try RockSolid.
>
> > Google is deluding its users into believing that Google are a responsible
> > internet company whilst being responsible for the recent deluge of spam..
> >
> Something wrong there. I use Google Groups to read and post in aue, and
> I get near zero spam. I'm not using any kind of spam blocker, so I don't know
> where your spam is coming from.

At the moment, two of the ten posts I see at the top of GG's display (not
counting Skippy) are spam.

--
Jerry Friedman

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 6:59:31 AM UTC-6, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 10:28:24 PM UTC-6, bil...@shaw.ca wrote:
> > On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 12:04:22 PM UTC-7, Phil Carmody wrote:
> > > Anton Shepelev <anto...@gmail.moc> writes:
> > > > Hello, all.
> > > >
> > > > alt.usage.english is now available for reading and posting
> > > > via the RockSolid Light web interface at:
> > > >
> > > > https://news.novabbs.org/interests/thread.php?group=alt.usage.english
> > > >
> > > > In light of the general defectiveness of GG as a Usenet
> > > > interface and Google's complicity in deluding Usenet with
> > > > SPAM, users of GG are advised to try RockSolid.
> >
> > > Google is deluding its users into believing that Google are a responsible
> > > internet company whilst being responsible for the recent deluge of spam.
> > >
> > Something wrong there. I use Google Groups to read and post in aue, and
> > I get near zero spam. I'm not using any kind of spam blocker, so I don't know
> > where your spam is coming from.
>
> At the moment, two of the ten posts I see at the top of GG's display (not
> counting Skippy) are spam.

Or for better statistics, 10 out of 30 on the first page, counting Skippy in the
total but not as spam.

--
Jerry Friedman

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 7:05:26 AM UTC-6, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 6:59:31 AM UTC-6, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 10:28:24 PM UTC-6, bil...@shaw.ca wrote:
> > > On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 12:04:22 PM UTC-7, Phil Carmody wrote:
> > > > Anton Shepelev <anto...@gmail.moc> writes:
> > > > > Hello, all.
> > > > >
> > > > > alt.usage.english is now available for reading and posting
> > > > > via the RockSolid Light web interface at:
> > > > >
> > > > > https://news.novabbs.org/interests/thread.php?group=alt.usage.english
> > > > >
> > > > > In light of the general defectiveness of GG as a Usenet
> > > > > interface and Google's complicity in deluding Usenet with
> > > > > SPAM, users of GG are advised to try RockSolid.
> > >
> > > > Google is deluding its users into believing that Google are a responsible
> > > > internet company whilst being responsible for the recent deluge of spam.
> > > >
> > > Something wrong there. I use Google Groups to read and post in aue, and
> > > I get near zero spam. I'm not using any kind of spam blocker, so I don't know
> > > where your spam is coming from.
> >
> > At the moment, two of the ten posts I see at the top of GG's display (not
> > counting Skippy) are spam.
>
> Or for better statistics, 10 out of 30 on the first page, counting Skippy in the
> total but not as spam.
>
Sorry, make that 9 out of 30, I jumped to a conclusion about "compat".

--
Jerry Friedman

On 2023-10-31, Lionel Edwards wrote:

> On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 11:18:19 AM UTC, Peter Moylan wrote:
>> On 31/10/23 21:51, Anton Shepelev wrote:
>> > 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The
>> > spammers have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by
>> > posting about 20 000 messages per day.
>> ObAUE: spam is a noun, not an acronym, so it shouldn't be upper-cased.
>
> Presumably it originates from this sketch? I wonder if Monty Python
> coined other words or usages?
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycKNt0MhTkk
>
> My brain hurts.

That's the only explanation I've ever heard for it.

<https://www.howtogeek.com/773383/what-is-spam-and-why-do-we-call-it-that/>

--
she's as beautiful as a foot,
she heard someone say, the other day

Peter Moylan to Anton Shepelev:

> > 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The
> > spammers have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c,
> > by posting about 20 000 messages per day.
>
> What seems to be happening, though, is that GG blocks the
> spam for its own readers, but passes it on unblocked to
> other news servers.

I have no evidence for that. comp.lang.c is crawling and
dripping with spam on GG:

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.lang.c

> ObAUE: spam is a noun, not an acronym, so it shouldn't be
> upper-cased.

Not spare parts of animals :-? Well, your valid argument
does not stop Tony from writing `RAW' instead of `raw', with
respect to digital images encoding direct data from the
matrix...

--
() ascii ribbon campaign -- against html e-mail
/\ www.asciiribbon.org -- against proprietary attachments

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 7:04:55 AM UTC-4, Kerr-Mudd, John wrote:
> On Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:38:46 +0300
> Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@g{oogle}mail.com> wrote:
> > Peter T. Daniels:

> > > Anton's thing is from "nova bbs." Could that be a Russian
> > > thing?
> > Why would that matter?
>
> It does to that True Patriot PTD.
> --
> Bah, and indeed Humbug.

Are all stooges so naive? Or do they merely pay no attention
whatsoever to international news and electronic security?

On 2023-10-31 07:27, Adam Funk wrote:
> On 2023-10-31, Lionel Edwards wrote:
>
>> On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 11:18:19 AM UTC, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>> On 31/10/23 21:51, Anton Shepelev wrote:
>>>> 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The
>>>> spammers have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by
>>>> posting about 20 000 messages per day.
>>> ObAUE: spam is a noun, not an acronym, so it shouldn't be upper-cased.
>>
>> Presumably it originates from this sketch? I wonder if Monty Python
>> coined other words or usages?
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycKNt0MhTkk
>>
>> My brain hurts.
>
> That's the only explanation I've ever heard for it.
>
> <https://www.howtogeek.com/773383/what-is-spam-and-why-do-we-call-it-that/>

In case some of you are not going to that link, or are not srolling down
far enough, here's the definitive reason for writing it in lower-case.

Internet "spam" became such a huge cultural concept that, in 1998, the
owner of the Spam trademark, Hormel, published a web page called "Spam
and the Internet" that spelled out the company's position on the
relationship between SPAM and what they called "unsolicited commercial
email (UCE)." It commented on the origins of the term:

"Use of the term "SPAM" was adopted as a result of the Monty Python skit
in which a group of Vikings sang a chorus of "SPAM, SPAM, SPAM . . . "
in an increasing crescendo, drowning out other conversation. Hence, the
analogy applied because UCE was drowning out normal discourse on the
Internet.

We do not object to use of this slang term to describe UCE,
although we do object to the use of our product image in association
with that term. Also, if the term is to be used, it should be used in
all lower-case letters to distinguish it from our trademark SPAM, which
should be used with all uppercase letters."

--
Chicken: n, An egg's way of producing more eggs.

* Adam Funk <ivb71kxc1s.ln2 @news.ducksburg.com> :
Wrote on Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:27:46 +0000:
> On 2023-10-31, Lionel Edwards wrote:
>> On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 11:18:19 AM UTC, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>> On 31/10/23 21:51, Anton Shepelev wrote:
>>> > 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The spammers
>>> > have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by posting about
>>> > 20 000 messages per day.
>>> ObAUE: spam is a noun, not an acronym, so it shouldn't be upper-cased.
pshurely there's

spam. verb. (intransitive)

>> Presumably it originates from this sketch? I wonder if Monty Python
>> coined other words or usages?
> <https://www.howtogeek.com/773383/what-is-spam-and-why-do-we-call-it-that/>

Did someone post this url on aue around september? (no, it's from
wikipedia)

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/history-advertising-no-195-canter-siegels-green-card-spam/1441026

"May 3"
"#OnThisDay in 1978 the first spam email was sent. Gary Thuerk, sent a
message promoting the DECSYSTEM-20 computer."

On Tue, 31 Oct 2023 22:18:11 +1100, Peter Moylan
<peter@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:

>On 31/10/23 21:51, Anton Shepelev wrote:
>
>> 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The
>> spammers have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by
>> posting about 20 000 messages per day.
>
>ObAUE: spam is a noun, not an acronym, so it shouldn't be upper-cased.

Not an acronym, and not even any other kind of abbreviation.

But I believe the product SPAM *is* uppercased.

Peter T. Daniels:

> Are all stooges so naive? Or do they merely pay no
> attention whatsoever to international news and electronic
> security?

No idea what problem you foresee from using a Russian
service, but I for one have not an inkling whether
novabbs.org or i2pn2.org are located in Russia. I don't
think they are, though...

--
() ascii ribbon campaign -- against html e-mail
/\ www.asciiribbon.org -- against proprietary attachments

On Tue, 31 Oct 2023 09:26:13 -0700, Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com>
wrote:

>On Tue, 31 Oct 2023 22:18:11 +1100, Peter Moylan
><peter@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:
>
>>On 31/10/23 21:51, Anton Shepelev wrote:
>>
>>> 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The
>>> spammers have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by
>>> posting about 20 000 messages per day.
>>
>>ObAUE: spam is a noun, not an acronym, so it shouldn't be upper-cased.
>
>
>Not an acronym, and not even any other kind of abbreviation.
>
>But I believe the product SPAM *is* uppercased.

Thinking about that some more, should acronyms always be uppercased? I
don't think so.

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 12:31:00 PM UTC-4, Ken Blake wrote:
> On Tue, 31 Oct 2023 09:26:13 -0700, Ken Blake <K...@invalid.news.com>
> wrote:
> >On Tue, 31 Oct 2023 22:18:11 +1100, Peter Moylan
> ><pe...@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:
> >>On 31/10/23 21:51, Anton Shepelev wrote:

> >>> 99.9% of SPAM of all in Usenet originates from GG. The
> >>> spammers have overwhelmed some groups, e.g. comp.lang.c, by
> >>> posting about 20 000 messages per day.
> >>ObAUE: spam is a noun, not an acronym, so it shouldn't be upper-cased.
> >Not an acronym, and not even any other kind of abbreviation.
> >But I believe the product SPAM *is* uppercased.
>
> Thinking about that some more, should acronyms always be uppercased? I
> don't think so.

In England they are not: Aids, Unesco.