• Usenet Archaeology

    From Jason Evans@21:1/5 to All on Wed Sep 22 11:32:07 2021
    XPost: alt.folklore.computers

    Hi all,

    I've been engaged in a bit of Usenet Archaeology to find useful, funny,
    and interesting articles from the past. While Usenet has only around 40
    years, the sheer amount of information out there is vast and yet also surprisingly limited since there are big gaps where articles just aren't available.

    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research on the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open for
    suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if possible,
    with the full headers intact.

    x-posted to alt.folklore.computers because of their great, friendly, and knowledgable folks who might be interested and r/usenet on Reddit because
    I know at least some of them would be interested in this also.

    __
    JE

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Mickey@21:1/156 to Jason Evans on Wed Sep 22 20:31:59 2021
    On 22 Sep 2021, Jason Evans said the following...

    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research on the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open for suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if possible, with the full headers intact.

    Sounds interesting, I'll look for it.

    Mick Manning
    -(< centralontarioremote.com:2323 >)-
    -(< Tradewars 2002 @ Port 2002 >)-
    -(< Gopher://centralontarioremote.com:70 >)-

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Central Ontario Remote BBS (21:1/156)
  • From Thomas Koenig@21:1/5 to Jason Evans on Thu Sep 23 20:35:30 2021
    XPost: alt.folklore.computers

    Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> schrieb:
    Hi all,

    I've been engaged in a bit of Usenet Archaeology to find useful, funny,
    and interesting articles from the past. While Usenet has only around 40 years, the sheer amount of information out there is vast and yet also surprisingly limited since there are big gaps where articles just aren't available.

    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research on the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open for
    suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if possible,
    with the full headers intact.

    Hm... if you happen to find the "Usenet Olympics" by Peter da Silva
    by any chance, please repost it. I remember it well, but have been
    unable to find a copy.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Kerr-Mudd, John@21:1/5 to Thomas Koenig on Thu Sep 23 21:46:29 2021
    XPost: alt.folklore.computers

    On Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:35:30 -0000 (UTC)
    Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> wrote:

    Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> schrieb:
    Hi all,

    I've been engaged in a bit of Usenet Archaeology to find useful,
    funny, and interesting articles from the past. While Usenet has
    only around 40 years, the sheer amount of information out there is
    vast and yet also surprisingly limited since there are big gaps
    where articles just aren't available.

    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research
    on the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open
    for suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if possible, with the full headers intact.

    Hm... if you happen to find the "Usenet Olympics" by Peter da Silva
    by any chance, please repost it. I remember it well, but have been
    unable to find a copy.

    Googlefu weak?
    http://uffish.net/attic/weirdness/Usenet-Olympics.html
    --
    Bah, and indeed Humbug.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From John Goerzen@21:1/5 to Jason Evans on Fri Sep 24 03:49:58 2021
    XPost: alt.folklore.computers

    On 2021-09-22, Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research on the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open for
    suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if possible,
    with the full headers intact.

    Thank you, that would be great. Looking at your posts, you seem to be getting full headers with unredacted email addresses out of Google. I'm interested in how you're doing that, too.

    John

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Thomas Koenig@21:1/5 to John on Fri Sep 24 07:51:31 2021
    XPost: alt.folklore.computers

    Kerr-Mudd, John <admin@127.0.0.1> schrieb:
    On Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:35:30 -0000 (UTC)
    Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> wrote:

    Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> schrieb:
    Hi all,

    I've been engaged in a bit of Usenet Archaeology to find useful,
    funny, and interesting articles from the past. While Usenet has
    only around 40 years, the sheer amount of information out there is
    vast and yet also surprisingly limited since there are big gaps
    where articles just aren't available.

    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research
    on the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open
    for suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if
    possible, with the full headers intact.

    Hm... if you happen to find the "Usenet Olympics" by Peter da Silva
    by any chance, please repost it. I remember it well, but have been
    unable to find a copy.

    Googlefu weak?

    Apparenlty :-)

    http://uffish.net/attic/weirdness/Usenet-Olympics.html

    Thanks a lot indeed! Saved for future reference.

    (And it wasn't by Peter da Silva after all, it seems).

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Charlie Gibbs@21:1/5 to Thomas Koenig on Fri Sep 24 17:16:56 2021
    XPost: alt.folklore.computers

    On 2021-09-24, Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> wrote:

    Kerr-Mudd, John <admin@127.0.0.1> schrieb:

    On Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:35:30 -0000 (UTC)
    Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> wrote:

    Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> schrieb:

    Hi all,

    I've been engaged in a bit of Usenet Archaeology to find useful,
    funny, and interesting articles from the past. While Usenet has
    only around 40 years, the sheer amount of information out there is
    vast and yet also surprisingly limited since there are big gaps
    where articles just aren't available.

    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research
    on the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open
    for suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if
    possible, with the full headers intact.

    Hm... if you happen to find the "Usenet Olympics" by Peter da Silva
    by any chance, please repost it. I remember it well, but have been
    unable to find a copy.

    Googlefu weak?

    Apparenlty :-)

    http://uffish.net/attic/weirdness/Usenet-Olympics.html

    Thanks a lot indeed! Saved for future reference.

    (And it wasn't by Peter da Silva after all, it seems).

    Thanks for the memory. It prompted me to dig into my own archives
    (being the pack rat that I am, I have copies of lots of this stuff)
    and I found my own copy. The version posted on the web site is
    missing the first couple of hundred lines. Here they are:

    ========================================================================

    Msg-ID: <1991Oct8.203451.29328@cbfsb.att.com>
    Posted: Tue, 8 Oct 1991 20:34:51
    Org. : AT&T Bell Laboratories
    Person: scott.forbes

    Eric Raymond:
    I'm looking for more material like this. I'm especially interested in >finding the following:
    [...]
    * The complete USENET Olympics series.

    ------------ cut here ------------

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Usenet Olympics -- Opening Ceremonies -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Usenet Sports Programming Network presents:

    \\ \\ \\
    //// //// ////
    \\\\\\ \\\\\\ \\\\\\
    //////// //////// ////////
    (________) (________) (________) The 1991
    \ / \\ \ / \\ \ /
    \ / //// \ / //// \ / Usenet Olympic Games
    \ / \\\\\\ \ / \\\\\\ \ /
    || //////// || //////// ||
    || (________) || (________) ||
    || \ / || \ / ||
    || \ / || \ / ||
    \ / \ /
    || ||
    || ||
    || ||
    || ||

    Brought to you by DuPont Chemical, the makers of napalm.

    [Title sequence: Computer generated athlete-type graphics whiz by
    as Olympic trumpet music blares in the background. Fade slowly to
    a camera shot of USPN studios; the announcer voice-over begins as
    the studio lights come up:]

    Don Pardo:
    USPN presents live coverage of the 1991 Usenet Olympic Games!
    We take you now to Bryant Gumbel at USPN Olympic Headquarters in
    Atlanta, Georgia.

    [Fade in to Bryant sitting at a desk, with an array of TV monitors
    showing the Usenet Olympic logo (five flaming torches) in the
    background.]

    Bryant:
    Thank you, Don, and welcome to the 1991 Usenet Olympic Games.
    USPN is proud to present the ultimate pinnacle of net competition,
    and will be bringing you up-to-the-minute coverage of all the
    major news and events as they happen, where they happen.

    Our staff of reporters and correspondents has been in preparation
    for several months, as have the competitors arriving here today.
    We have participants from over 78 newsgroups in the Olympics, in
    events ranging from synchronized flaming to the marathon.

    Our coverage will begin with the opening ceremonies, which are
    already in progress. We take you now live to Wolf Blitzer,
    standing by at Spafford Stadium.

    [Fade to a 'sky-cam' shot from high above the stadium.]

    Wolf:
    Thanks, Bryant. This is Wolf Blitzer, reporting to you live from
    the opening ceremonies of the Usenet Olympic Games. You're seeing
    the stadium as it appears from the Usenet Blimp, hovering high
    above the ceremonies, and as you can see most of the teams have
    already entered the stadium.

    [Cut to Wolf Blitzer on the reviewing stand; he is wearing a
    flak jacket and carrying a gas mask.]

    We're looking forward to an exciting, event-driven Olympics here
    at Spafford Stadium, and you can feel the anticipation in the air.
    Now entering the stadium is the news.admin team:

    [A group of harried-looking sysadmins walks onto the track, circles
    the stadium as quickly as possible, and takes its place among the
    already assembled teams. The audience applauds lightly.]

    Wolf:
    News.admin isn't an energetic team, but they've got a lot of power
    in some of the voting events. Ah, here comes the alt.flame team:

    [A band of angry-looking college freshmen carring blowtorches enter
    and look around the stadium as if daring anyone to post anything.
    After a tense interval, they settle into place.]

    Wolf:
    As might be expected, alt.flame took home several gold medals in
    the track and flame events last year, and are expected to repeat
    that performance here at the 1991 games. But there are a lot of
    loose cannons among the alt.flamers, and they tend to work against
    each other in the team sports.

    [Several tall, narrow lights appear on the playing field, and the rec.arts.startrek team beams into the stadium. The team is equally
    divided between redshirt Security guards and Starfleet Admirals.]

    Wolf:
    One of the biggest teams in the Usenet Olympics, rec.arts.startrek
    fields competitors in almost every event.

    Bryant cuts in:
    Wolf, haven't there been reports of some bad blood between r.a.st
    and one of the other groups?

    Wolf:
    Yes there have, Bryant, and here comes the "other group" now:

    [The rec.arts.sf-lovers team, brandishing everything from swords
    to lightsabers, enters the stadium. Many of the r.a.st athletes
    put their hands near their phasers, and the r.a.sf-l team responds
    with glares and similar hostility.]

    Wolf:
    You can see there's no love lost between these two teams, Bryant.
    After the fiasco at the Badwill Games, where an apparent r.a.sf-l
    gold medal in Group Reorganizing was wiped out by r.a.st protests,
    there's been nothing but hatred between these two newsgroups.

    And that's the last of the teams entering the stadium. Here comes
    the torch-bearer, preparing to light the five torches in the logo
    and officially open the Usenet Olympics:

    [Kent Paul Dolan enters, carrying a flamethrower set on "medium".
    He jogs about a quarter of the distance around the track, holding
    the nozzle above his head, and then sees the r.a.st team: ]

    Kent:
    YOU!
    You ruined
    my beautiful
    r.a.sf-l
    reorg!

    You're all
    a bunch of
    morons!

    Take this!

    [Kent sets the flamethrower on "eat flaming death" and fires into
    the r.a.st group, toasting several redshirts. The r.a.st team
    responds with phaser fire, temporarily stunning Kent; alt.flame
    and r.a.sf-lovers immediately jump into the fray...]

    Wolf:
    Um, it looks like we've got a commotion on the field...

    [Phasers, swords, lasers and fire lizards duke it out on the field,
    as the r.a.sf assortment plows into r.a.st. Again, several of the
    redshirted Security men are killed, but none of the Admirals are
    even injured. Players from rec.arts.drwho quietly begin stunning
    some of the isolated players with sonic screwdrivers.]

    Wolf [putting on his gas mask]:
    Bryant, it's pandemoneum here; I don't know how much longer we can
    stay on the air...

    [Mutant X-men rejects from rec.arts.comics begin fighting on both
    sides, and the alt.flamers start torching each other. A news.admin
    player quietly begins typing on a nearby portable computer, and
    the rec.arts.startrek.info team vanishes!]

    Kent [recovering]:
    You haven't
    heard the
    last of me!

    [Suddenly a bronze dragon appears in the air above the stadium, and
    begins chewing firestone from its rider's pouch. Simultaneously, a
    Klingon Bird of Prey uncloaks and locks on the nearest target...]

    Wolf:
    We're out of here! [goes off the air]

    [The camera returns to the USPN studios. Scenes of great violence
    and carnage are visible on the monitors behind Bryant.]

    Bryant:
    Once again, violence has disrupted the opening ceremonies of the
    Usenet Olympic Games. This marks the third straight year that the
    games have been marred by pre- and post-event flaming, but it's
    the first time anything has happened this early.

    We'll continue our coverage of the 1991 Usenet Olympic Games with
    the opening track and flame events, the Rambling Post and the
    Controversial Topic. Stay tuned to USPN for exclusive interviews
    and more excitement as we cover the 1991 Usenet Olympics.

    [To be continued...]

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usenet Olympic Games Coverage -- Day 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    --
    /~\ Charlie Gibbs | Life is perverse.
    \ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | It can be beautiful -
    X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | but it won't.
    / \ if you read it the right way. | -- Lily Tomlin

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From J. Clarke@21:1/5 to cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid on Fri Sep 24 18:54:46 2021
    XPost: alt.folklore.computers

    On Fri, 24 Sep 2021 17:16:56 GMT, Charlie Gibbs
    <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:

    On 2021-09-24, Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> wrote:

    Kerr-Mudd, John <admin@127.0.0.1> schrieb:

    On Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:35:30 -0000 (UTC)
    Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> wrote:

    Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> schrieb:

    Hi all,

    I've been engaged in a bit of Usenet Archaeology to find useful,
    funny, and interesting articles from the past. While Usenet has
    only around 40 years, the sheer amount of information out there is
    vast and yet also surprisingly limited since there are big gaps
    where articles just aren't available.

    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research
    on the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open
    for suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if
    possible, with the full headers intact.

    Hm... if you happen to find the "Usenet Olympics" by Peter da Silva
    by any chance, please repost it. I remember it well, but have been
    unable to find a copy.

    Googlefu weak?

    Apparenlty :-)

    http://uffish.net/attic/weirdness/Usenet-Olympics.html

    Thanks a lot indeed! Saved for future reference.

    (And it wasn't by Peter da Silva after all, it seems).

    Thanks for the memory. It prompted me to dig into my own archives
    (being the pack rat that I am, I have copies of lots of this stuff)
    and I found my own copy. The version posted on the web site is
    missing the first couple of hundred lines. Here they are:

    ========================================================================

    Msg-ID: <1991Oct8.203451.29328@cbfsb.att.com>
    Posted: Tue, 8 Oct 1991 20:34:51
    Org. : AT&T Bell Laboratories
    Person: scott.forbes

    Eric Raymond:
    I'm looking for more material like this. I'm especially interested in >>finding the following:
    [...]
    * The complete USENET Olympics series.

    ------------ cut here ------------

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Usenet Olympics -- Opening Ceremonies >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Usenet Sports Programming Network presents:

    \\ \\ \\
    //// //// ////
    \\\\\\ \\\\\\ \\\\\\
    //////// //////// ////////
    (________) (________) (________) The 1991
    \ / \\ \ / \\ \ /
    \ / //// \ / //// \ / Usenet Olympic Games
    \ / \\\\\\ \ / \\\\\\ \ /
    || //////// || //////// ||
    || (________) || (________) ||
    || \ / || \ / ||
    || \ / || \ / ||
    \ / \ /
    || ||
    || ||
    || ||
    || ||

    Brought to you by DuPont Chemical, the makers of napalm.

    [Title sequence: Computer generated athlete-type graphics whiz by
    as Olympic trumpet music blares in the background. Fade slowly to
    a camera shot of USPN studios; the announcer voice-over begins as
    the studio lights come up:]

    Don Pardo:
    USPN presents live coverage of the 1991 Usenet Olympic Games!
    We take you now to Bryant Gumbel at USPN Olympic Headquarters in
    Atlanta, Georgia.

    [Fade in to Bryant sitting at a desk, with an array of TV monitors
    showing the Usenet Olympic logo (five flaming torches) in the
    background.]

    Bryant:
    Thank you, Don, and welcome to the 1991 Usenet Olympic Games.
    USPN is proud to present the ultimate pinnacle of net competition,
    and will be bringing you up-to-the-minute coverage of all the
    major news and events as they happen, where they happen.

    Our staff of reporters and correspondents has been in preparation
    for several months, as have the competitors arriving here today.
    We have participants from over 78 newsgroups in the Olympics, in
    events ranging from synchronized flaming to the marathon.

    Our coverage will begin with the opening ceremonies, which are
    already in progress. We take you now live to Wolf Blitzer,
    standing by at Spafford Stadium.

    [Fade to a 'sky-cam' shot from high above the stadium.]

    Wolf:
    Thanks, Bryant. This is Wolf Blitzer, reporting to you live from
    the opening ceremonies of the Usenet Olympic Games. You're seeing
    the stadium as it appears from the Usenet Blimp, hovering high
    above the ceremonies, and as you can see most of the teams have
    already entered the stadium.

    [Cut to Wolf Blitzer on the reviewing stand; he is wearing a
    flak jacket and carrying a gas mask.]

    We're looking forward to an exciting, event-driven Olympics here
    at Spafford Stadium, and you can feel the anticipation in the air.
    Now entering the stadium is the news.admin team:

    [A group of harried-looking sysadmins walks onto the track, circles
    the stadium as quickly as possible, and takes its place among the
    already assembled teams. The audience applauds lightly.]

    Wolf:
    News.admin isn't an energetic team, but they've got a lot of power
    in some of the voting events. Ah, here comes the alt.flame team:

    [A band of angry-looking college freshmen carring blowtorches enter
    and look around the stadium as if daring anyone to post anything.
    After a tense interval, they settle into place.]

    Wolf:
    As might be expected, alt.flame took home several gold medals in
    the track and flame events last year, and are expected to repeat
    that performance here at the 1991 games. But there are a lot of
    loose cannons among the alt.flamers, and they tend to work against
    each other in the team sports.

    [Several tall, narrow lights appear on the playing field, and the >rec.arts.startrek team beams into the stadium. The team is equally
    divided between redshirt Security guards and Starfleet Admirals.]

    Wolf:
    One of the biggest teams in the Usenet Olympics, rec.arts.startrek
    fields competitors in almost every event.

    Bryant cuts in:
    Wolf, haven't there been reports of some bad blood between r.a.st
    and one of the other groups?

    Wolf:
    Yes there have, Bryant, and here comes the "other group" now:

    [The rec.arts.sf-lovers team, brandishing everything from swords
    to lightsabers, enters the stadium. Many of the r.a.st athletes
    put their hands near their phasers, and the r.a.sf-l team responds
    with glares and similar hostility.]

    Wolf:
    You can see there's no love lost between these two teams, Bryant.
    After the fiasco at the Badwill Games, where an apparent r.a.sf-l
    gold medal in Group Reorganizing was wiped out by r.a.st protests,
    there's been nothing but hatred between these two newsgroups.

    And that's the last of the teams entering the stadium. Here comes
    the torch-bearer, preparing to light the five torches in the logo
    and officially open the Usenet Olympics:

    [Kent Paul Dolan enters, carrying a flamethrower set on "medium".
    He jogs about a quarter of the distance around the track, holding
    the nozzle above his head, and then sees the r.a.st team: ]

    Kent:
    YOU!
    You ruined
    my beautiful
    r.a.sf-l
    reorg!

    You're all
    a bunch of
    morons!

    Take this!

    [Kent sets the flamethrower on "eat flaming death" and fires into
    the r.a.st group, toasting several redshirts. The r.a.st team
    responds with phaser fire, temporarily stunning Kent; alt.flame
    and r.a.sf-lovers immediately jump into the fray...]

    Wolf:
    Um, it looks like we've got a commotion on the field...

    [Phasers, swords, lasers and fire lizards duke it out on the field,
    as the r.a.sf assortment plows into r.a.st. Again, several of the
    redshirted Security men are killed, but none of the Admirals are
    even injured. Players from rec.arts.drwho quietly begin stunning
    some of the isolated players with sonic screwdrivers.]

    Wolf [putting on his gas mask]:
    Bryant, it's pandemoneum here; I don't know how much longer we can
    stay on the air...

    [Mutant X-men rejects from rec.arts.comics begin fighting on both
    sides, and the alt.flamers start torching each other. A news.admin
    player quietly begins typing on a nearby portable computer, and
    the rec.arts.startrek.info team vanishes!]

    Kent [recovering]:
    You haven't
    heard the
    last of me!

    [Suddenly a bronze dragon appears in the air above the stadium, and
    begins chewing firestone from its rider's pouch. Simultaneously, a
    Klingon Bird of Prey uncloaks and locks on the nearest target...]

    Wolf:
    We're out of here! [goes off the air]

    [The camera returns to the USPN studios. Scenes of great violence
    and carnage are visible on the monitors behind Bryant.]

    Bryant:
    Once again, violence has disrupted the opening ceremonies of the
    Usenet Olympic Games. This marks the third straight year that the
    games have been marred by pre- and post-event flaming, but it's
    the first time anything has happened this early.

    We'll continue our coverage of the 1991 Usenet Olympic Games with
    the opening track and flame events, the Rambling Post and the
    Controversial Topic. Stay tuned to USPN for exclusive interviews
    and more excitement as we cover the 1991 Usenet Olympics.

    [To be continued...]

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Usenet Olympic Games Coverage -- Day 1 >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    All of this has me flashing on something that I would have thought was
    science fiction--"Tank biathlon". However it is actually a thing. A
    Russian thing of course.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Branimir Maksimovic@21:1/5 to Charlie Gibbs on Sat Sep 25 00:22:47 2021
    XPost: alt.folklore.computers

    My father forbid me to read SF, as I was on that when I was 11,
    haven't go OUT to PLAY with other kids :P

    --
    7-77-777
    \|/
    ---
    /|\
    On 2021-09-24, Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:
    On 2021-09-24, Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> wrote:

    Kerr-Mudd, John <admin@127.0.0.1> schrieb:

    On Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:35:30 -0000 (UTC)
    Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> wrote:

    Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> schrieb:

    Hi all,

    I've been engaged in a bit of Usenet Archaeology to find useful,
    funny, and interesting articles from the past. While Usenet has
    only around 40 years, the sheer amount of information out there is
    vast and yet also surprisingly limited since there are big gaps
    where articles just aren't available.

    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research
    on the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open
    for suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if
    possible, with the full headers intact.

    Hm... if you happen to find the "U
  • From Kerr-Mudd, John@21:1/5 to J. Clarke on Sat Sep 25 14:12:14 2021
    XPost: alt.folklore.computers

    On Fri, 24 Sep 2021 18:54:46 -0400
    J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> wrote:

    On Fri, 24 Sep 2021 17:16:56 GMT, Charlie Gibbs
    <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:


    []
    Thanks for the memory. It prompted me to dig into my own archives
    (being the pack rat that I am, I have copies of lots of this stuff)
    and I found my own copy. The version posted on the web site is
    missing the first couple of hundred lines. Here they are:

    []

    Thanks for posting that.

    All of this has me flashing on something that I would have thought was science fiction--"Tank biathlon". However it is actually a thing. A
    Russian thing of course.

    But requoting it? Fuurfu.

    --
    Bah, and indeed Humbug.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Kerr-Mudd, John@21:1/5 to Jason Evans on Fri Oct 1 20:37:40 2021
    XPost: alt.folklore.computers

    On Wed, 22 Sep 2021 11:32:07 -0000 (UTC)
    Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:

    Hi all,

    I've been engaged in a bit of Usenet Archaeology to find useful,
    funny, and interesting articles from the past. While Usenet has only
    around 40 years, the sheer amount of information out there is vast
    and yet also surprisingly limited since there are big gaps where
    articles just aren't available.

    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research on
    the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open for suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if
    possible, with the full headers intact.

    There's more to usenet than just the big-8: e.g. UK.* has some historic posters^w posts.

    x-posted to alt.folklore.computers because of their great, friendly,
    and knowledgable folks who might be interested and r/usenet on Reddit
    because I know at least some of them would be interested in this also.

    __
    JE


    --
    Bah, and indeed Humbug.

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  • From John Goerzen@21:1/5 to Jason Evans on Fri Mar 25 01:41:57 2022
    On 2021-09-22, Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research on the big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open for
    suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if possible,
    with the full headers intact.

    Hi Jason,

    Just wondering if this happened to materialize? I would be quite interested in it. I looked and didn't find such a thing there.

    - John

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  • From Jason Evans@21:1/5 to John Goerzen on Tue Apr 5 09:02:20 2022
    John Goerzen wrote:

    On 2021-09-22, Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
    I'm planning on writing a tutorial this week on how I do research on the
    big-8.org website. I'll post a link here and I'm always open for
    suggestions. Results should be posted to alt.usenet.reposts if possible,
    with the full headers intact.

    Hi Jason,

    Just wondering if this happened to materialize? I would be quite
    interested in
    it. I looked and didn't find such a thing there.

    - John

    Hi John,

    I've been terribly busy with some personal changes in the past few months
    and haven't had the time or energy to dedicate to this project. It is
    something that I would like to pick up again in the future.

    Jason

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