XPost: alt.fan.usenet

ANNOUNCEMENT: AMA on May 28, 2021 with the Usenet Big-8 Management Board

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

We (Jason Evans, Rayner Lucas, and Tristan Miller) administer the
original, mainstream discussion hierarchies on Usenet, an online network
that was established in 1980, a decade before the World Wide Web.

We recently reconstituted the Board after a three-year dormancy, and have
been busy restoring and modernizing its infrastructure, as well as
stepping up public outreach efforts to promote Usenet. Drop by to ask us
about the past and future of Usenet and the Big 8, about the technical
and social challenges currently facing the network, and about why people
still converse on Usenet today (and why you should too)!

The AMA thread will be posted at https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/ on
Friday, May 28 2021 starting at 19:00 UTC. Check here for the starting
time in your own time zone: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ converter.html?iso=20210528T190000&p1=1440

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XPost: alt.fan.usenet

On 24/05/21 15.55, Jason Evans wrote:

ANNOUNCEMENT: AMA on May 28, 2021 with the Usenet Big-8 Management Board

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

Nice! I hope with something like this will make people aware of usenet
and more people starting to use usenet again.

--
-alien-
~ Work like you don't need the money. ~
~ Love like you've never been hurt. ~
~ Dance like nobody is looking. ~

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On 2021-05-24, Jason Evans <jsevans@big-8.org> wrote:

ANNOUNCEMENT: AMA on May 28, 2021 with the Usenet Big-8 Management Board

If one wanted proof of the final Death of Usenet (without even a film
at 11), the fact that this ANNOUNCEMENT was crossposted to
alt.fan.usenet and a Followup-To: line wasn't set would suffice.

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

I don't know what the acronym AMA stands for. I've heard of Reddit,
but have never been tempted to use it.

We (Jason Evans, Rayner Lucas, and Tristan Miller) administer the
original, mainstream discussion hierarchies on Usenet, an online network
that was established in 1980, a decade before the World Wide Web.

I've never heard of any of you, but I suppose you can't be worse than
your predecessors from Little Timmy Skirvin onwards.

We recently reconstituted the Board after a three-year dormancy, and have been busy restoring and modernizing its infrastructure, as well as
stepping up public outreach efforts to promote Usenet.

I see that the Web site has changed.

With reference to https://www.big-8.org/wiki/Newsreaders, please note
that the home of the slrn newsreader is https://slrn.info, not http://www.slrn.org, which is about fifteen years out of date, and
also contains unauthorised material.

Drop by to ask us
about the past and future of Usenet and the Big 8, about the technical
and social challenges currently facing the network, and about why people still converse on Usenet today (and why you should too)!

Do you provide a version of this post for people who have a mental age
higher than seven?

The AMA thread will be posted at https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/ on
Friday, May 28 2021 starting at 19:00 UTC. Check here for the starting
time in your own time zone: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ converter.html?iso=20210528T190000&p1=1440

If you want my opinions, I'll provide them in news.groups.

The place to discuss Usenet is Usenet.


--
PJR :-)

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Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

On 2021-05-24, Jason Evans <jsevans@big-8.org> wrote:

ANNOUNCEMENT: AMA on May 28, 2021 with the Usenet Big-8 Management Board

If one wanted proof of the final Death of Usenet (without even a film
at 11), the fact that this ANNOUNCEMENT was crossposted to
alt.fan.usenet and a Followup-To: line wasn't set would suffice.

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be >>holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

I don't know what the acronym AMA stands for. I've heard of Reddit,
but have never been tempted to use it.

American Medical Association

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On 2021-05-27, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

On 2021-05-24, Jason Evans <jsevans@big-8.org> wrote:

ANNOUNCEMENT: AMA on May 28, 2021 with the Usenet Big-8 Management Board

If one wanted proof of the final Death of Usenet (without even a film
at 11), the fact that this ANNOUNCEMENT was crossposted to
alt.fan.usenet and a Followup-To: line wasn't set would suffice.

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be >>>holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

I don't know what the acronym AMA stands for. I've heard of Reddit,
but have never been tempted to use it.

American Medical Association

Australian Marsupial Adventures

Hello Adam! What have you been allowing to happen in this cesspit
during my absence?



--
PJR :-)

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Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

On 2021-05-27, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

On 2021-05-24, Jason Evans <jsevans@big-8.org> wrote:

ANNOUNCEMENT: AMA on May 28, 2021 with the Usenet Big-8 Management Board

If one wanted proof of the final Death of Usenet (without even a film
at 11), the fact that this ANNOUNCEMENT was crossposted to
alt.fan.usenet and a Followup-To: line wasn't set would suffice.

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be >>>>holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

I don't know what the acronym AMA stands for. I've heard of Reddit,
but have never been tempted to use it.

American Medical Association

Australian Marsupial Adventures

Aruba Management Authority

Hello Adam! What have you been allowing to happen in this cesspit
during my absence?

I ran out of spray.

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On 27 May 2021 19:06:01 GMT, Peter J Ross wrote:

With reference to https://www.big-8.org/wiki/Newsreaders, please note
that the home of the slrn newsreader is https://slrn.info, not http://www.slrn.org, which is about fifteen years out of date, and also contains unauthorised material.

I fixed the link. Thanks for the update.

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Greetings.

On 27/05/2021 21.06, Peter J Ross wrote:

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be
holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

I don't know what the acronym AMA stands for.

"AMA" stands for "ask me anything". It's basically a public Q&A session.

I've heard of Reddit, but have never been tempted to use it.

No doubt there are many people on Reddit who have heard of Usenet but
have never been tempted to use it. Maybe some of them should.

FWIW, I don't use Reddit either. I posted there for the first time last
year when a web search led me to a thread by Jason about contacting the then-dormant Board. (I'd also been trying unsuccessfully to contact the
Board, in order to replace an absentee moderator.) This is what led to
the revival of the Board.

If you want my opinions, I'll provide them in news.groups.

The place to discuss Usenet is Usenet.

It sure is, and people on Usenet already know that they can communicate
with the Big-8 Management Board here, and moreover at any time. The
event on Reddit is an outreach activity, though we figured it would help
to advertise it here as well.

Regards,
Tristan

--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

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Greetings.

On 24/05/2021 15.55, Jason Evans wrote:

ANNOUNCEMENT: AMA on May 28, 2021 with the Usenet Big-8 Management Board

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

The AMA is now live: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nn4vp8/were_the_usenet_big8_management_board_ask_us/

Regards,
Tristan

--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

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On 2021-05-28, Tristan Miller <tmiller@big-8.org> wrote:

Greetings.

On 27/05/2021 21.06, Peter J Ross wrote:

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be >>> holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

I don't know what the acronym AMA stands for.

"AMA" stands for "ask me anything". It's basically a public Q&A session.

So it's unmoderated Usenet reproduced on a commercial Web site?

Why?

I've heard of Reddit, but have never been tempted to use it.

No doubt there are many people on Reddit who have heard of Usenet but
have never been tempted to use it. Maybe some of them should.

FWIW, I don't use Reddit either. I posted there for the first time last
year when a web search led me to a thread by Jason about contacting the then-dormant Board. (I'd also been trying unsuccessfully to contact the Board, in order to replace an absentee moderator.) This is what led to
the revival of the Board.

It seems that you're a user of moderated newsgroups. I'm an avoider on principle of moderated newsgroups. Do we have anything in common?

If you want my opinions, I'll provide them in news.groups.

The place to discuss Usenet is Usenet.

It sure is, and people on Usenet already know that they can communicate
with the Big-8 Management Board here, and moreover at any time. The
event on Reddit is an outreach activity, though we figured it would help
to advertise it here as well.

Regards,
Tristan

Are you Jehovah's Witnesses? Your talk of "an outreach activity" and
general air of glowing enthusiasm reminds me of them.




--
PJR :-)

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On 2021-05-27, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

On 2021-05-27, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

On 2021-05-24, Jason Evans <jsevans@big-8.org> wrote:

ANNOUNCEMENT: AMA on May 28, 2021 with the Usenet Big-8 Management Board

If one wanted proof of the final Death of Usenet (without even a film >>>>at 11), the fact that this ANNOUNCEMENT was crossposted to >>>>alt.fan.usenet and a Followup-To: line wasn't set would suffice.

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be >>>>>holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

I don't know what the acronym AMA stands for. I've heard of Reddit,
but have never been tempted to use it.

American Medical Association

Australian Marsupial Adventures

Aruba Management Authority

Agggregated Melonfetishists Anonymous

Hello Adam! What have you been allowing to happen in this cesspit
during my absence?

I ran out of spray.

Do you blame the panic-buyers?

--
PJR :-)

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In article <slrnsb4st9.1grm.pjr@pjr.example.invalid>,
Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

Are you Jehovah's Witnesses? Your talk of "an outreach activity"
and general air of glowing enthusiasm reminds me of them.

Not everyone can muster your special sort of "charm."

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On 2021-05-29, Todd Michel McComb <mccomb@medieval.org> wrote:

In article <slrnsb4st9.1grm.pjr@pjr.example.invalid>,
Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

Are you Jehovah's Witnesses? Your talk of "an outreach activity"
and general air of glowing enthusiasm reminds me of them.

Not everyone can muster your special sort of "charm."

Are you the real Todd McComb or a Sears Todd McComb?

Many years have passed, but the real Todd McComb will never be
forgiven for the damage that he, Russ Allbery and the bloke whose name
nobody can remember did to Usenet.


In case you're the real Todd McComb, I have something to say to you.

You and your gang threw your toys out of the pram when a few people
politely disgreed with your decision to newgroup comp.databases.mysql
when it didn't pass its vote.

You revenged yourself on Usenet by approving Little Timmy Skirvin and
his incompetent gang as your successors, after an election so
fraudulent that Vladimir Putin would have to doff his hat to you in
admiration.

I have no doubt that you're delighted with the moronic wasteland that
has resulted from your infantile actions.

Now fuck off.


(In case you're not the real Todd McComb: Well done! You really had me
going there!)



--
PJR :-)

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In article <slrnsb502n.1grm.pjr@pjr.example.invalid>,
Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

Many years have passed, but the real Todd McComb will never be
forgiven ....

That's nice, and it's good to see you again too. It kinda feels
like old times. When I invited comment a while back -- before these
guys -- it was real quiet....

Anyway, you'll be happy to know that I helped these guys get going.
Will it amount to much? Who knows. Do we need new blood on Usenet?
I'd think even you would agree to that.... (And I don't mean about
trivia like newgroups, which have not exactly been in demand.)

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Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

On 2021-05-27, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

On 2021-05-27, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Peter J Ross <pjr@example.invalid> wrote:

On 2021-05-24, Jason Evans <jsevans@big-8.org> wrote:

ANNOUNCEMENT: AMA on May 28, 2021 with the Usenet Big-8 Management Board

If one wanted proof of the final Death of Usenet (without even a film >>>>>at 11), the fact that this ANNOUNCEMENT was crossposted to >>>>>alt.fan.usenet and a Followup-To: line wasn't set would suffice.

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be >>>>>>holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

I don't know what the acronym AMA stands for. I've heard of Reddit, >>>>>but have never been tempted to use it.

American Medical Association

Australian Marsupial Adventures

Aruba Management Authority

Agggregated Melonfetishists Anonymous

Amsterdam Meat Advantage

Hello Adam! What have you been allowing to happen in this cesspit
during my absence?

I ran out of spray.

Do you blame the panic-buyers?

I was the panic buyer!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Greetings.

On 29/05/2021 19.02, Peter J Ross wrote:

On 2021-05-28, Tristan Miller <tmiller@big-8.org> wrote:

Greetings.

On 27/05/2021 21.06, Peter J Ross wrote:

The Usenet Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announce that it will be >>>> holding an AMA on Reddit this coming Friday!

I don't know what the acronym AMA stands for.

"AMA" stands for "ask me anything". It's basically a public Q&A session.

So it's unmoderated Usenet reproduced on a commercial Web site?

Why?

For the owners, it probably makes money, and for the users, some of them
find it convenient and some of them may not be aware of alternatives.
It's the latter ones we were hoping to reach.

It seems that you're a user of moderated newsgroups. I'm an avoider on principle of moderated newsgroups. Do we have anything in common?

I'm also a user of unmoderated newsgroups, so I suppose we have that in
common.

Regards,
Tristan

--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

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Peter J Ross wrote:

So it's unmoderated Usenet reproduced on a commercial Web site?

Why?

The one-sentence answer to that is "You cannot have a meaningful
discussion without participants."

There was a time when Usenet was the king of discussion facilities.
Before that there were bulletin board systems and mailing lists; after
that there were web-based forums and social media in general.

You can lambast specific individuals for their part in "the death of
Usenet". Fun, isn't it? But the real Usenet killer was technology.
People in general prefer the way that web browsers work. And "people in general" is a synonym for "participants".

So Usenet died. Yeah, here a few of us sit, typing into our
newsreaders, remembering the good 'ole days with great nostalgia. And
sure, there will still be a tiny remnant of Usenet, just as there is a
tiny remnant of FidoNet, and I bet you can even find a few gopher sites.
There will always be a few die-hards, just as there are a few folks
who enjoy running OS/2. More power to them. I'm not going to try to
dictate what people do in their spare time.

But Usenet is about as mainstream these days as OS/2, and a revival is
about as likely for it as OS/2. I'll admit that I enjoy reading the
occasional thread in news.groups; it brings back memories, most good,
some not, but we humans do like to be reminded of the past.

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