• Where is everyone?

    From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Wed May 6 20:26:06 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days -
    unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger

    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Joe@joe@jretrading.com to uk.d-i-y on Wed May 6 20:57:22 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Wed, 6 May 2026 20:26:06 +0100
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days
    - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?

    No, I've checked with two different servers. Too many people in
    hospital after the bank holiday.
    --
    Joe

    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Timatmarford@tim@marford.uk.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 7 08:15:09 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 06/05/2026 20:57, Joe wrote:
    On Wed, 6 May 2026 20:26:06 +0100
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days
    - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?

    No, I've checked with two different servers. Too many people in
    hospital after the bank holiday.

    Busy sorting out their gardens?

    My current d-i-y problem is sorting out an electrical/electronic issue
    with my VW B6 Passat estate!




    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 7 09:23:43 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...
    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andrew@Andrew97d@btinternet.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 7 15:26:35 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 06/05/2026 20:57, Joe wrote:
    On Wed, 6 May 2026 20:26:06 +0100
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days
    - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?

    No, I've checked with two different servers. Too many people in
    hospital after the bank holiday.


    FlyMow toes ??? :-)
    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From John Rumm@see.my.signature@nowhere.null to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 7 17:34:12 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?

    It has been quieter certainly...
    --
    Cheers,

    John.

    /=================================================================\
    | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------|
    | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \=================================================================/
    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From John Rumm@see.my.signature@nowhere.null to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 7 17:35:13 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...
    --
    Cheers,

    John.

    /=================================================================\
    | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------|
    | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \=================================================================/
    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Tim+@timdownieuk@yahoo.co.youkay to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 7 20:00:35 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know
    nothing about Usenet. Sad, but kinda inevitable. We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    Tim
    --
    Please don't feed the trolls
    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Sam Plusnet@not@home.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 7 21:08:28 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days - >>> 74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know nothing about Usenet. Sad, but kinda inevitable. We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK. I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)
    --
    Sam Plusnet
    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Indy Jess John@bathwatchdog@OMITTHISgooglemail.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 7 23:14:50 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?

    I have Eternal September as my news server, and it has had a number of
    days lately when I don't see any new headers and I can't get the bodies
    for the headers I can see.


    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From brian@nospam@b-howie.co.uk to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 8 07:30:19 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    In message <10tif01$2799o$2@dont-email.me>, John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> writes
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few
    days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    The end is nigh.

    UK.USNET stats.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/uk.html

    And the rest.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/

    Brian
    --
    Brian Howie
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From John Rumm@see.my.signature@nowhere.null to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 8 11:12:12 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 08/05/2026 07:30, brian wrote:
    In message <10tif01$2799o$2@dont-email.me>, John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> writes
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days - >>> 74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    The end is nigh.

    UK.USNET stats.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/uk.html

    You can just about see a small step change around Feb 24 when google
    ceased acting as a usenet gateway - but not as sharp as I would have
    expected. (Although that might just be lack of resolution in the chart)


    And the rest.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/

    Yup, not encouraging is it?
    --
    Cheers,

    John.

    /=================================================================\
    | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------|
    | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \=================================================================/
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Timatmarford@tim@marford.uk.com to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 8 11:40:54 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 08/05/2026 11:12, John Rumm wrote:
    On 08/05/2026 07:30, brian wrote:
    In message <10tif01$2799o$2@dont-email.me>, John Rumm
    <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> writes
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few
    days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    The end is nigh.

    UK.USNET stats.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/uk.html

    You can just about see a small step change around Feb 24 when google
    ceased acting as a usenet gateway - but not as sharp as I would have expected. (Although that might just be lack of resolution in the chart)


    And the rest.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/

    Yup, not encouraging is it?

    NIN coming to an end in a year or so.


    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From GB@NOTsomeone@microsoft.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 8 18:06:52 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few
    days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally accurate!)

    Do you want some of mine?





    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Sam Plusnet@not@home.com to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 8 19:02:16 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 08/05/2026 18:06, GB wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few
    days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)

    Do you want some of mine?

    Wealth? (He enquired hopefully)
    --
    Sam Plusnet
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 8 19:29:41 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 08/05/2026 18:06, GB wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few
    days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)

    Do you want some of mine?


    Wealth or kids?
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Indy Jess John@bathwatchdog@OMITTHISgooglemail.com to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 8 19:29:55 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 08/05/2026 19:02, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 08/05/2026 18:06, GB wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know >>>> nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)

    Do you want some of mine?

    Wealth? (He enquired hopefully)

    My guess is Kids

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From nospam@nospam@please.invalid (AnthonyL) to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 8 18:41:27 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Fri, 8 May 2026 11:12:12 +0100, John Rumm
    <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:

    On 08/05/2026 07:30, brian wrote:
    In message <10tif01$2799o$2@dont-email.me>, John Rumm
    <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> writes
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days - >>>> 74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    The end is nigh.

    UK.USNET stats.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/uk.html

    You can just about see a small step change around Feb 24 when google
    ceased acting as a usenet gateway - but not as sharp as I would have >expected. (Although that might just be lack of resolution in the chart)


    And the rest.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/

    Yup, not encouraging is it?


    It would be more tolerable if there was somewhere else sensible to go.
    It's all got diluted with so many platforms littered with inane posts.
    I thought I'd try QUORA as an alternative to Usenet but what a mess.

    uk.legal has been unuseable for years.

    I use(d) DPReview for photography but that wrote its own death
    sentence a couple of years back and hasn't recovered.

    There is so little gravitas or expertise available anywhere, or if
    there is, please say, meanwhile I'm resorting to ChatGPT but even on
    one legal question it merely churned up a post from uk.legal.moderated
    as being THE answer. Worrying.
    --
    AnthonyL

    Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From GB@NOTsomeone@microsoft.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 8 20:03:43 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 08/05/2026 19:02, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 08/05/2026 18:06, GB wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know >>>> nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)

    Do you want some of mine?

    Wealth? (He enquired hopefully)


    There used to be a dowry for taking a girl off the parents' hands. Less
    common now, but we could haggle.
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 9 00:20:31 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Fri, 08 May 2026 18:41:27 GMT
    nospam@please.invalid (AnthonyL) wrote:

    I thought I'd try QUORA as an alternative to Usenet but what a mess.

    That is being kind.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Sam Plusnet@not@home.com to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 9 01:39:58 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 08/05/2026 20:03, GB wrote:
    On 08/05/2026 19:02, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 08/05/2026 18:06, GB wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today
    know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)

    Do you want some of mine?

    Wealth? (He enquired hopefully)


    There used to be a dowry for taking a girl off the parents' hands. Less common now, but we could haggle.

    How employable is this offspring? Good salary?

    I need someone to keep me in the manner I aspire to.
    --
    Sam Plusnet
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 9 03:36:14 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 09/05/2026 00:20, Davey wrote:
    On Fri, 08 May 2026 18:41:27 GMT
    nospam@please.invalid (AnthonyL) wrote:

    I thought I'd try QUORA as an alternative to Usenet but what a mess.

    That is being kind.

    If its not trolls its hard left activists and cancel cunts or political AIs
    --
    Climate is what you expect but weather is what you get.
    Mark Twain

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roland Perry@roland@perry.co.uk to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 9 09:04:06 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    In message <69fe2c73.44488328@news.eternal-september.org>, at 18:41:27
    on Fri, 8 May 2026, AnthonyL <nospam@please.invalid> remarked:

    uk.legal has been unuseable for years.

    But uk.legal.moderated is still thriving (disclaimer: I'm one of the
    mods).
    --
    Roland Perry
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From SH@i.love@spam.com to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 9 10:13:23 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few
    days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April 2027..........
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From nospam@nospam@please.invalid (AnthonyL) to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 9 13:13:26 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sat, 9 May 2026 09:04:06 +0100, Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk>
    wrote:

    In message <69fe2c73.44488328@news.eternal-september.org>, at 18:41:27
    on Fri, 8 May 2026, AnthonyL <nospam@please.invalid> remarked:

    uk.legal has been unuseable for years.

    But uk.legal.moderated is still thriving (disclaimer: I'm one of the
    mods).

    Indeed, well it's in use anyway. It used to restrict posts for legal
    matters often with erudite responses. Now most non-spam posts seem to
    be permitted as a result of the demise of uk.legal.

    And as I said earlier, ChatGPT regurgitates posts from there as if
    they were authoritative.
    --
    AnthonyL

    Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 9 14:35:44 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 09/05/2026 14:13, AnthonyL wrote:
    as I said earlier, ChatGPT regurgitates posts from there as if
    they were authoritative.

    Bandar Logic...

    "We all say it, so it must be true"
    --
    rCLThe urge to save humanity is almost always only a false face for the
    urge to rule it.rCY
    rCo H. L. Mencken

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From John Rumm@see.my.signature@nowhere.null to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 9 16:15:51 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 08/05/2026 19:41, AnthonyL wrote:
    On Fri, 8 May 2026 11:12:12 +0100, John Rumm
    <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:

    On 08/05/2026 07:30, brian wrote:

    And the rest.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/

    Yup, not encouraging is it?


    It would be more tolerable if there was somewhere else sensible to go.
    It's all got diluted with so many platforms littered with inane posts.
    I thought I'd try QUORA as an alternative to Usenet but what a mess.

    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable
    and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...
    --
    Cheers,

    John.

    /=================================================================\
    | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------|
    | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \=================================================================/
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 9 21:50:06 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 09/05/2026 16:15, John Rumm wrote:
    On 08/05/2026 19:41, AnthonyL wrote:
    On Fri, 8 May 2026 11:12:12 +0100, John Rumm
    <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:

    On 08/05/2026 07:30, brian wrote:

    And the rest.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/

    Yup, not encouraging is it?


    It would be more tolerable if there was somewhere else sensible to go.
    It's all got diluted with so many platforms littered with inane posts.
    I thought I'd try QUORA as an alternative to Usenet but what a mess.

    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable
    and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...


    Dunno. On most forums I've visited the software seems totally incapable
    of threading messages properly.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 9 21:56:26 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few
    days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April 2027..........

    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40% income
    tax on most of it anyway.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From RJH@patchmoney@gmx.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun May 10 01:36:27 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 9 May 2026 at 21:56:26 BST, Roger Mills wrote:

    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know >>>> nothing about Usenet. Sad, but kinda inevitable. We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK. I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April 2027..........

    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40% income
    tax on most of it anyway.

    Only if you're a higher rate tax payer* and whatever you draw down takes you over the c.-u50k threshold?

    Although quite a few variations on the theme - having looked into it all recently.

    * 40%+ band has increased from 2.5% in 2015 to 8.5% today (AI).
    --
    Cheers, Rob
    Sheffield, UK
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From SH@i.love@spam.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun May 10 10:02:18 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 09/05/2026 21:56, Roger Mills wrote:
    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know >>>> nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April 2027..........

    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40% income
    tax on most of it anyway.

    well that can be mitigated as pension schemes allow you to take a 25%
    tax free lump sum, you can then take -u50,270 per year before then being
    hit by 40% tax.

    You can actually mitigate a bit more as you could then pay into the
    pensions of your children, they would get 20% tax rebated into their
    pension. Even if you gift over the annual gifting allowance and die
    within 7 years, you've only effectively paid 20% overall tax as that
    original 40% IHT is mitigated by the 20% tax credit the pension account
    holder got.....

    If you have a younger spouse with a smaller pension pot or in a low paid
    part time job, then theres another opportunity ther as although estates
    left to married spouses is free of IHT, they would get a 20% tax credit
    to their pension.

    Also you can invest in qualifying AIM shares. As long as you hold them
    for a minimum of 2 years, the effective IHT tax rate on AIM shares is 20%.
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Theo@theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk to uk.d-i-y on Sun May 10 12:15:34 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 08/05/2026 19:41, AnthonyL wrote:
    On Fri, 8 May 2026 11:12:12 +0100, John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:

    On 08/05/2026 07:30, brian wrote:

    And the rest.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/

    Yup, not encouraging is it?


    It would be more tolerable if there was somewhere else sensible to go.
    It's all got diluted with so many platforms littered with inane posts.
    I thought I'd try QUORA as an alternative to Usenet but what a mess.

    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable
    and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...

    HomeOwnersHub?

    <ducks for cover>



    More seriously, there are two problems, the tech and the people. I've heard some Usenet groups like uk.rec.motorcycles decamp to Facebook but a) it's Facebook, b) it's Facebook, c) actually reading posts is a PITA between all
    the FB junk (and slimy spying), d) it needs people to use it. Too many
    times have people said 'I just made a new group for X on platform Y' and
    it dies because the people don't go there. Build it and they don't come.

    Another challenge is that Usenet is not a single group. I have about 500 groups in my feed - many of them are dormant, but some aren't and
    occasionally others pop into life. If the folks of various groups all decamp to
    different platforms, now I have multiple platforms to keep track of. This scales very badly. Plus they're inherently slower to use - lots of fetching
    of webpages, especially with all the cruft that comes with that (images,
    ads, etc). I skim the whole of my 500 groups in a few minutes (not reading
    all the posts, obviously).

    Plus a lot of 'platforms' are run by a corporate overload who doesn't care about the quality of the discussion, they just want clicks. This is why
    it's so hard to search FB Marketplace, as they would rather you spend ages hunting rather than just showing you want you wanted and leaving.

    I've messed about with Reddit (sometimes good info, but too much noise over signal) and diy.stackexchange.com (assumes everyone is in the USA) - neither really make me want to go back.

    I still think that the tech is easier to fix by somebody building a good
    Usenet web client - now you can compile web versions of desktop apps, maybe something can be converted? But it would probably make Usenet's SNR go
    down, as with Google Groups - and Usenet is not really very good in the face
    of abuse. Plus AI bots are starting to show up and interfere with
    discussions, and that is cause for concern.

    Theo
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Nomen Nescio@nobody@dizum.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun May 10 13:20:00 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sat, 9 May 2026 03:36:14 +0100, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 09/05/2026 00:20, Davey wrote:
    On Fri, 08 May 2026 18:41:27 GMT
    nospam@please.invalid (AnthonyL) wrote:

    I thought I'd try QUORA as an alternative to Usenet but what a mess.

    That is being kind.

    If its not trolls its hard left activists and cancel cunts or
    political AIs



    Blame shifting yukky lover.. pedo illegal immigrant.

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From nospam@nospam@please.invalid (AnthonyL) to uk.d-i-y on Sun May 10 12:44:25 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sat, 9 May 2026 16:15:51 +0100, John Rumm
    <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:

    On 08/05/2026 19:41, AnthonyL wrote:
    On Fri, 8 May 2026 11:12:12 +0100, John Rumm
    <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:

    On 08/05/2026 07:30, brian wrote:

    And the rest.

    Https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/spoolstats/

    Yup, not encouraging is it?


    It would be more tolerable if there was somewhere else sensible to go.
    It's all got diluted with so many platforms littered with inane posts.
    I thought I'd try QUORA as an alternative to Usenet but what a mess.

    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable
    and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...


    Supporters of our League Two football club got fed up of outages and uncontactable mods on the general football boards and have set up,
    with great effect, their (our) own board using

    https://www.proboards.com/create-free-forum

    which I believe did not prove to be too onerous.

    But then that becomes yet another place to go, whereas several/many
    interests can be followed/unfollowed/watched on Usenet.

    Though there is nothing to stop more topics being added to Proboards.
    The fooball board hesitated with subscriptions until the original main
    board became inaccessible and now has grown, within a year, to larger
    and more useful than the longstanding original board.
    --
    AnthonyL

    Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From news20k.noreply@news20k.noreply@threeformcow.myzen.co.uk (#Paul) to uk.d-i-y on Sun May 10 19:20:43 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable
    and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...

    Maybe a usenet server itself? You wouldn't have to peer it with
    any other servers if you didn't want to, and by now they should
    be pretty bulletproof (or at least better than some random web-
    forum suite).

    #Paul
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun May 10 23:25:33 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 10/05/2026 02:36, RJH wrote:
    On 9 May 2026 at 21:56:26 BST, Roger Mills wrote:

    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today know >>>>> nothing about Usenet. Sad, but kinda inevitable. We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK. I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April 2027..........

    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40% income
    tax on most of it anyway.

    Only if you're a higher rate tax payer* and whatever you draw down takes you over the c.-u50k threshold?

    Although quite a few variations on the theme - having looked into it all recently.

    * 40%+ band has increased from 2.5% in 2015 to 8.5% today (AI).

    Yes, but the amount you withdraw is added to your income for tax puposes
    - and may well make you a 40% tax payer unless there's not very much in
    the pension pot or you withdraw it over a number of years. Even so,
    depending on your basic income, the extra income from the pension
    drawdown may reduce the amount of interest you can receive tax-free from
    other investments.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun May 10 23:32:46 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 10/05/2026 10:02, SH wrote:
    On 09/05/2026 21:56, Roger Mills wrote:
    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:


    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40%
    income tax on most of it anyway.

    well that can be mitigated as pension schemes allow you to take a 25%
    tax free lump sum, you can then take -u50,270 per year before then being
    hit by 40% tax.

    But that's -u50k TOTAL income before paying 40%tax - not -u50 from the
    pension fund if you've got other income. If you *haven't* got other
    income, you probably won't want to deplete your pension pot!
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From John Rumm@see.my.signature@nowhere.null to uk.d-i-y on Mon May 11 00:22:38 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 10/05/2026 19:20, #Paul wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable
    and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...

    Maybe a usenet server itself? You wouldn't have to peer it with
    any other servers if you didn't want to, and by now they should
    be pretty bulletproof (or at least better than some random web-
    forum suite).

    Yup that would be doable, but would suffer the same problem as usenet
    proper - it is not that easy to access if you are new to the concept, so
    you are unlikely to get many new users. Something web based would be
    easier to find and use causally. The difficulty is replicating the speed
    and thread management of usenet.
    --
    Cheers,

    John.

    /=================================================================\
    | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------|
    | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \=================================================================/
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From somewhere else@"somewhere else"@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Mon May 11 08:50:49 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?
    I still find this NG to be interesting and useful, but I also now use https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/.
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Mon May 11 13:12:29 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 10/05/2026 19:20, #Paul wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable
    and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...

    Maybe a usenet server itself? You wouldn't have to peer it with
    any other servers if you didn't want to, and by now they should
    be pretty bulletproof (or at least better than some random web-
    forum suite).

    Exactly.

    You can rent a virtual server for relative peanuts and run an NNTP
    server on it and only give away logins to it to the exalted few.

    It is YOUR private moderated (if you choose) server .



    #Paul
    --
    "It is an established fact to 97% confidence limits that left wing conspirators see right wing conspiracies everywhere"

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andrew@Andrew97d@btinternet.com to uk.d-i-y on Mon May 11 19:10:29 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 10/05/2026 23:25, Roger Mills wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 02:36, RJH wrote:
    On 9 May 2026 at 21:56:26 BST, Roger Mills wrote:

    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today >>>>>> know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying >>>>>> generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April 2027.......... >>>
    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40% income >>> tax on most of it anyway.

    Only if you're a higher rate tax payer* and whatever you draw down
    takes you
    over the c.-u50k threshold?

    Although quite a few variations on the theme - having looked into it all
    recently.

    * 40%+ band has increased from 2.5% in 2015 to 8.5% today (AI).

    Yes, but the amount you withdraw is added to your income for tax puposes
    - and may well make you a 40% tax payer unless there's not very much in
    the pension pot or you withdraw it over a number of years. Even so, depending on your basic income, the extra income from the pension
    drawdown may reduce the amount of interest you can receive tax-free from other investments.

    You don't have to 'withdraw' it. 30-year gilts are now yielding over
    5% so annuities are probably the best option for most people who
    really don't want the hassle of managing draw-down (or are just too uninformed).

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andrew@Andrew97d@btinternet.com to uk.d-i-y on Mon May 11 19:15:05 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 10/05/2026 10:02, SH wrote:
    On 09/05/2026 21:56, Roger Mills wrote:
    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today
    know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying
    generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April 2027..........

    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40%
    income tax on most of it anyway.

    well that can be mitigated as pension schemes allow you to take a 25%
    tax free lump sum, you can then take -u50,270 per year before then being
    hit by 40% tax.

    Cough. You need to add your state pension on to your withdrawals to
    test for the -u50,270 limit. It really isn't 'tax free' as a lot of
    stupid people seem to think.

    You can actually mitigate a bit more as you could then pay into the
    pensions of your children, they would get 20% tax rebated into their pension. Even if you gift over the annual gifting allowance and die
    within 7 years, you've only effectively paid 20% overall tax as that original 40% IHT is mitigated by the 20% tax credit the pension account holder got.....

    If you have a younger spouse with a smaller pension pot or in a low paid part time job, then theres another opportunity ther as although estates
    left to married spouses is free of IHT, they would get a 20% tax credit
    to their pension.

    Also you can invest in qualifying AIM shares. As long as you hold them
    for a minimum of 2 years, the effective IHT tax rate on AIM shares is 20%.

    And run a greater risk of total loss on AIM shares. Only a handful are
    good investments.

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Mon May 11 20:05:47 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/05/2026 19:15, Andrew wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 10:02, SH wrote:
    On 09/05/2026 21:56, Roger Mills wrote:
    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last >>>>>>>>> few days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids today >>>>>> know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying >>>>>> generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just
    spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally
    accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April 2027.......... >>>
    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40%
    income tax on most of it anyway.

    well that can be mitigated as pension schemes allow you to take a 25%
    tax free lump sum, you can then take -u50,270 per year before then
    being hit by 40% tax.

    Cough. You need to add your state pension on to your withdrawals to
    test for the -u50,270 limit. It really isn't 'tax free' as a lot of
    stupid people seem to think.

    You can actually mitigate a bit more as you could then pay into the
    pensions of your children, they would get 20% tax rebated into their
    pension. Even if you gift over the annual gifting allowance and die
    within 7 years, you've only effectively paid 20% overall tax as that
    original 40% IHT is mitigated by the 20% tax credit the pension
    account holder got.....

    If you have a younger spouse with a smaller pension pot or in a low
    paid part time job, then theres another opportunity ther as although
    estates left to married spouses is free of IHT, they would get a 20%
    tax credit to their pension.

    Also you can invest in qualifying AIM shares. As long as you hold them
    for a minimum of 2 years, the effective IHT tax rate on AIM shares is
    20%.

    And run a greater risk of total loss on AIM shares. Only a handful are
    good investments.

    You can invest in funds that don't deliver interest, but capital gain.
    Of course in a SIPP that is no help as anything taken out is classed as 'income'.
    If you have a SIPP take as much out as you can for low tax and invest in
    a straight capital gain pot.
    --
    Renewable energy: Expensive solutions that don't work to a problem that doesn't exist instituted by self legalising protection rackets that
    don't protect, masquerading as public servants who don't serve the public.


    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From RJH@patchmoney@gmx.com to uk.d-i-y on Tue May 12 10:16:19 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11 May 2026 at 19:15:05 BST, Andrew wrote:

    well that can be mitigated as pension schemes allow you to take a 25%
    tax free lump sum, you can then take -u50,270 per year before then being
    hit by 40% tax.

    Cough. You need to add your state pension on to your withdrawals to
    test for the -u50,270 limit. It really isn't 'tax free' as a lot of
    stupid people seem to think.

    Why isn't the 25% tax free?

    I follow that the remainder is taxed, but I'm wondering what makes me so stupid?
    --
    Cheers, Rob
    Sheffield, UK
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Theo@theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk to uk.d-i-y on Tue May 12 13:09:47 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 19:20, #Paul wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable
    and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...

    Maybe a usenet server itself? You wouldn't have to peer it with
    any other servers if you didn't want to, and by now they should
    be pretty bulletproof (or at least better than some random web-
    forum suite).

    Exactly.

    You can rent a virtual server for relative peanuts and run an NNTP
    server on it and only give away logins to it to the exalted few.

    It is YOUR private moderated (if you choose) server .

    That can be done. But what benefits does it get you over public servers?
    If you want moderation, moderated groups can be created on public servers. Meanwhile running your own server, you then become responsible for handling abuse by your users.

    ISTM it just makes work for little benefit, and also massively reduces the audience.

    If you want to have a private group for the 'exalted few', what would
    motivate them to stay and contribute? And why NNTP, over say an email list?

    Also, I understand NNTP servers [primarily INN] are not 'pretty bulletproof' and need some handholding, because so few people run them.

    Theo
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From David Wade@g4ugm@dave.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Tue May 12 13:26:34 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 12/05/2026 11:16, RJH wrote:
    On 11 May 2026 at 19:15:05 BST, Andrew wrote:

    well that can be mitigated as pension schemes allow you to take a 25%
    tax free lump sum, you can then take -u50,270 per year before then being >>> hit by 40% tax.

    Cough. You need to add your state pension on to your withdrawals to
    test for the -u50,270 limit. It really isn't 'tax free' as a lot of
    stupid people seem to think.

    Why isn't the 25% tax free?

    I follow that the remainder is taxed, but I'm wondering what makes me so stupid?

    The 25% is tax free, its your state pension that is taxed, so if you are drawing your state pension, can't take -u50k from a private pension, you
    need to include your state pension...

    Dave
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From SH@i.love@spam.com to uk.d-i-y on Tue May 12 21:06:01 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/05/2026 19:10, Andrew wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 23:25, Roger Mills wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 02:36, RJH wrote:
    On 9 May 2026 at 21:56:26 BST, Roger Mills wrote:

    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids
    today know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying >>>>>>> generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just >>>>>> spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally >>>>>> accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April
    2027..........

    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40%
    income
    tax on most of it anyway.

    Only if you're a higher rate tax payer* and whatever you draw down
    takes you
    over the c.-u50k threshold?

    Although quite a few variations on the theme - having looked into it all >>> recently.

    * 40%+ band has increased from 2.5% in 2015 to 8.5% today (AI).

    Yes, but the amount you withdraw is added to your income for tax
    puposes - and may well make you a 40% tax payer unless there's not
    very much in the pension pot or you withdraw it over a number of
    years. Even so, depending on your basic income, the extra income from
    the pension drawdown may reduce the amount of interest you can receive
    tax-free from other investments.

    You don't have to 'withdraw' it. 30-year gilts are now yielding over
    5% so annuities are probably the best option for most people who
    really don't want the hassle of managing draw-down (or are just too uninformed).


    Its all very well investing money into a gilt giving you over 5% now....
    that yield does not go up with inflation over the next 30 years......
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Cursitor Doom@cd@notformail.com to uk.d-i-y on Wed May 13 18:17:18 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Tue, 12 May 2026 21:06:01 +0100, SH <i.love@spam.com> wrote:

    On 11/05/2026 19:10, Andrew wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 23:25, Roger Mills wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 02:36, RJH wrote:
    On 9 May 2026 at 21:56:26 BST, Roger Mills wrote:

    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids
    today know
    nothing about Usenet.a Sad, but kinda inevitable.a We are a dying >>>>>>>> generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just >>>>>>> spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally >>>>>>> accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April
    2027..........

    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40%
    income
    tax on most of it anyway.

    Only if you're a higher rate tax payer* and whatever you draw down
    takes you
    over the c.u50k threshold?

    Although quite a few variations on the theme - having looked into it all >>>> recently.

    * 40%+ band has increased from 2.5% in 2015 to 8.5% today (AI).

    Yes, but the amount you withdraw is added to your income for tax
    puposes - and may well make you a 40% tax payer unless there's not
    very much in the pension pot or you withdraw it over a number of
    years. Even so, depending on your basic income, the extra income from
    the pension drawdown may reduce the amount of interest you can receive
    tax-free from other investments.

    You don't have to 'withdraw' it. 30-year gilts are now yielding over
    5% so annuities are probably the best option for most people who
    really don't want the hassle of managing draw-down (or are just too
    uninformed).


    Its all very well investing money into a gilt giving you over 5% now.... >that yield does not go up with inflation over the next 30 years......

    Correct. The interest is fixed at that rate for the term. However,
    there is the possibility of capital gain if long rates decline in
    future, making 5% paper more attractive in comparison.
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From ARW@adamwadsworth@blueyonder.co.uk to uk.d-i-y on Wed May 13 20:28:21 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?


    Its a while since I posted but I could tell you a few stories since I
    last posted here.

    Some are electrical/work based, some are van based, and there are of
    course the apprentices.

    Not much changes.

    But it might get more usenet posts if you want.


    Shall we start with the apprentice shitting himself on purpose?

    Adam

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Tim+@timdownieuk@yahoo.co.youkay to uk.d-i-y on Wed May 13 20:48:42 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    ARW <adamwadsworth@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days -
    unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?


    Its a while since I posted but I could tell you a few stories since I
    last posted here.

    Some are electrical/work based, some are van based, and there are of
    course the apprentices.

    Not much changes.

    But it might get more usenet posts if you want.


    Shall we start with the apprentice shitting himself on purpose?

    Adam



    Yes please. ;-)

    Tim
    --
    Please don't feed the trolls
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Tricky Dicky@tricky.dicky@sky.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 14 13:38:30 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    ARW <adamwadsworth@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days -
    unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?


    Its a while since I posted but I could tell you a few stories since I
    last posted here.

    Some are electrical/work based, some are van based, and there are of
    course the apprentices.

    Not much changes.

    But it might get more usenet posts if you want.


    Shall we start with the apprentice shitting himself on purpose?

    Adam



    Please do

    Richard


    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From John Rumm@see.my.signature@nowhere.null to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 14 16:09:36 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/05/2026 13:12, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 19:20, #Paul wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable
    and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...

    Maybe a usenet server itself? You wouldn't have to peer it with
    any other servers if you didn't want to, and by now they should
    be pretty bulletproof (or at least better than some random web-
    forum suite).

    Exactly.

    You can rent a virtual server for relative peanuts and run an NNTP
    server on it and only give away logins to it to the exalted few.

    It is YOUR private moderated (if you choose) server .

    Yes could be done, but I am not sure it addresses the main looming problems:

    1 Decline of user visibility of usenet in general
    2 Decline of USENET traffic in general
    3 The slow death of available free news servers
    4 The need for a way to draw new people into the conversation.

    1 - ISPs no longer bundle or even talk about usenet - so there is little
    to prompt new people to even try it (and thinking back to AOL and the
    origin of the phrase "Eternal September" - it debatable if you want to encourage a subset of "everyone" to try it rather than just a subset of
    some set of self selecting "DIY fans").

    2 - linked to 1 and the attention captured elsewhere by forums and web
    based options, having ongoing access to usenet once there is no longer
    enough traffic to make it worthwhile, seems rather pointless.

    3 - This is in some ways easy to fix - but without a connection to the
    outside world, it becomes an ever depleting pool of (mostly) grumpy old
    men talking about how it used to be!

    4 - it needs to be something easy to find and easy to access.


    Currently the group's most visible asset is the wiki - it i easy to
    access, turns up on search queries, and gets masses of visits from many
    who have probably never accessed the group directly.

    We could add a prominent link to that to directs people to our own forum (either self hosted, or on some other platform). However that does bring
    with it potential for extra work and cost etc. It would be nice if the
    current archive of usenet posts could be imported into the platform -
    easy enough if usenet based, but possibly more complex for other platforms.
    --
    Cheers,

    John.

    /=================================================================\
    | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------|
    | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \=================================================================/
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Spike@aero.spike@mail.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 14 16:02:25 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:

    [rCa]

    Yes could be done, but I am not sure it addresses the main looming problems:

    1 Decline of user visibility of usenet in general
    2 Decline of USENET traffic in general
    3 The slow death of available free news servers
    4 The need for a way to draw new people into the conversation.

    1 - ISPs no longer bundle or even talk about usenet - so there is little
    to prompt new people to even try it (and thinking back to AOL and the
    origin of the phrase "Eternal September" - it debatable if you want to encourage a subset of "everyone" to try it rather than just a subset of
    some set of self selecting "DIY fans").

    2 - linked to 1 and the attention captured elsewhere by forums and web
    based options, having ongoing access to usenet once there is no longer enough traffic to make it worthwhile, seems rather pointless.

    3 - This is in some ways easy to fix - but without a connection to the outside world, it becomes an ever depleting pool of (mostly) grumpy old
    men talking about how it used to be!

    4 - it needs to be something easy to find and easy to access.


    Currently the group's most visible asset is the wiki - it i easy to
    access, turns up on search queries, and gets masses of visits from many
    who have probably never accessed the group directly.

    We could add a prominent link to that to directs people to our own forum (either self hosted, or on some other platform). However that does bring with it potential for extra work and cost etc. It would be nice if the current archive of usenet posts could be imported into the platform -
    easy enough if usenet based, but possibly more complex for other platforms.

    JFTR a cheap-as-chips supplier of Usenet access is

    <https://www.newsdemon.com/usenet-access>

    Been around since 2001.

    Click on GBP and then PAYG. Current cheapest offer is:

    50 GB
    Metered Account
    -u2.40
    -u0.05/GB -+ Auto-renews when used

    50GB of Usenet text-only access will doubtless see one out. Could be worth
    a punt for a test session ready for when NIN goes and the free-access
    suppliers conk out.

    (Thanks to Joe for originally posting the link)
    --
    Spike
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andrew@Andrew97d@btinternet.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 14 17:16:25 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 12/05/2026 21:06, SH wrote:
    On 11/05/2026 19:10, Andrew wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 23:25, Roger Mills wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 02:36, RJH wrote:
    On 9 May 2026 at 21:56:26 BST, Roger Mills wrote:

    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few >>>>>>>>>>> days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids
    today know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying >>>>>>>> generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just >>>>>>> spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally >>>>>>> accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April
    2027..........

    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40%
    income
    tax on most of it anyway.

    Only if you're a higher rate tax payer* and whatever you draw down
    takes you
    over the c.-u50k threshold?

    Although quite a few variations on the theme - having looked into it
    all
    recently.

    * 40%+ band has increased from 2.5% in 2015 to 8.5% today (AI).

    Yes, but the amount you withdraw is added to your income for tax
    puposes - and may well make you a 40% tax payer unless there's not
    very much in the pension pot or you withdraw it over a number of
    years. Even so, depending on your basic income, the extra income from
    the pension drawdown may reduce the amount of interest you can
    receive tax-free from other investments.

    You don't have to 'withdraw' it. 30-year gilts are now yielding over
    5% so annuities are probably the best option for most people who
    really don't want the hassle of managing draw-down (or are just too
    uninformed).


    Its all very well investing money into a gilt giving you over 5% now.... that yield does not go up with inflation over the next 30 years......

    I didn't mean buying gilts directly (but there is nothing to stop you),
    I meant that now that 10 and 30 year gilts have returned to (sort-of)
    normal rates (>5%) then annuity rates from a pension provider are
    worth considering, including RPI linked annuities and those with a
    3% annual uplift.

    Remember global stock markets went nowhere from the mid 1950's until
    Reagan and Thatcher got into power. That was quite a long time, and
    for anyone reaching retirement and assuming that they could use
    draw-down to ride the never-ending global stock market boom, beware.

    The vast majority of people approaching retirement really don't have
    the ability to handle draw-down. Many more are susceptible to scammers. Annuities are the best option for this group. Combined with the
    *PI-linked state pension it should suit their needs, but naturally
    it all depends on inflation. With the USA national debt now exceeding
    GDP and the UK and some EU countries not far behind, a period of
    long slow burn inflation or a shorter period of hyper-inflation
    (remember 1974 to 1978 where it was up to 25% per year) is bad news
    for fixed annuities and also tends to result in nasty corrections to
    equities (like 1974 and other periods).

    However inflation is the only way that western indebted governments
    can get rid of the debt and Labour goverments love it.

    Forget 'growth', the West is ex-growth. Growth will only occur when
    the population distributions are tilted in favour of the under 30's.

    The latest 'suggestions' from the Resolution Foundation should send
    a shiver up the spine of older people who have made the effort to
    build up decent private pensions and ISA's.
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andrew@Andrew97d@btinternet.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 14 17:21:55 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/05/2026 20:05, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 11/05/2026 19:15, Andrew wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 10:02, SH wrote:
    On 09/05/2026 21:56, Roger Mills wrote:
    On 09/05/2026 10:13, SH wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:08, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 21:00, Tim+ wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    On 07/05/2026 09:23, Andy Burns wrote:
    Roger Mills wrote:

    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last >>>>>>>>>> few days -
    74 posts in past week, down a bit compared to usual ...

    Especially compared to the 6k+/month at its height...


    Usenet groups are dying. Only kept going by old fogeys. Kids
    today know
    nothing about Usenet.-a Sad, but kinda inevitable.-a We are a dying >>>>>>> generation, literally.

    I blame it on us wealthy pensioners not bothering to DIY, but just >>>>>> spending the kid's inheritance on a buying a new one.

    (OK.-a I'm neither wealthy nor have kids - but the rest is totally >>>>>> accurate!)



    Pensioners going SKIing is really common now.....

    (SKI = Spending Kids Inheritance)

    Main driver is the 40% IHT on pension savings from April
    2027..........

    Yes, but if you withdraw it now, you're likely to have to pay 40%
    income tax on most of it anyway.

    well that can be mitigated as pension schemes allow you to take a 25%
    tax free lump sum, you can then take -u50,270 per year before then
    being hit by 40% tax.

    Cough. You need to add your state pension on to your withdrawals to
    test for the -u50,270 limit. It really isn't 'tax free' as a lot of
    stupid people seem to think.

    You can actually mitigate a bit more as you could then pay into the
    pensions of your children, they would get 20% tax rebated into their
    pension. Even if you gift over the annual gifting allowance and die
    within 7 years, you've only effectively paid 20% overall tax as that
    original 40% IHT is mitigated by the 20% tax credit the pension
    account holder got.....

    If you have a younger spouse with a smaller pension pot or in a low
    paid part time job, then theres another opportunity ther as although
    estates left to married spouses is free of IHT, they would get a 20%
    tax credit to their pension.

    Also you can invest in qualifying AIM shares. As long as you hold
    them for a minimum of 2 years, the effective IHT tax rate on AIM
    shares is 20%.

    And run a greater risk of total loss on AIM shares. Only a handful are
    good investments.

    You can invest in funds that don't deliver interest, but capital gain.
    Of course in a SIPP that is no help as anything taken out is classed as 'income'.
    If you have a SIPP take as much out as you can for low tax and invest in
    a straight capital gain pot.



    Beware of many ACC funds. I believe you still have to pay income
    tax on the interest accrued within the fund, even if it was not paid
    to you.

    Check out the latest 'suggestions' from the Resolution Foundation.
    They (and the Limp Dems + Water Melon Party *) are keen to make
    CGT the same as your highest tax rate (and *NO* allowance for
    inflation).

    (*) Cut a water melon in half. Nice Shiny Green on the outside,
    and blood red on the inside.
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andrew@Andrew97d@btinternet.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 14 17:23:58 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 13/05/2026 20:28, ARW wrote:
    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days
    - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?


    Its a while since I posted but I could tell you a few stories since I
    last posted here.

    Some are electrical/work based, some are van based, and there are of
    course the apprentices.

    Not much changes.

    But it might get more usenet posts if you want.


    Shall we start with the apprentice shitting himself on purpose?

    Adam


    In your van, or on a customers cream carpet ?
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 14 20:35:43 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 13/05/2026 20:28, ARW wrote:
    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days
    - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?


    Its a while since I posted but I could tell you a few stories since I
    last posted here.

    Some are electrical/work based, some are van based, and there are of
    course the apprentices.

    Not much changes.

    But it might get more usenet posts if you want.


    Shall we start with the apprentice shitting himself on purpose?

    Adam


    Why not?
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From somewhere else@"somewhere else"@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 14 20:48:42 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    John Rumm wrote:
    On 11/05/2026 13:12, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 19:20, #Paul wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable
    and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...

    Maybe a usenet server itself? You wouldn't have to peer it with
    any other servers if you didn't want to, and by now they should
    be pretty bulletproof (or at least better than some random web-
    forum suite).

    Exactly.

    You can rent a virtual server for relative peanuts and run an NNTP
    server on it and only give away logins to it to the exalted few.

    It is YOUR private moderated (if you choose) server .

    Yes could be done, but I am not sure it addresses the main looming
    problems:

    1 Decline of user visibility of usenet in general
    2 Decline of USENET traffic in general
    3 The slow death of available free news servers
    4 The need for a way to draw new people into the conversation.

    1 - ISPs no longer bundle or even talk about usenet - so there is little
    to prompt new people to even try it (and thinking back to AOL and the
    origin of the phrase "Eternal September" - it debatable if you want to encourage a subset of "everyone" to try it rather than just a subset of
    some set of self selecting "DIY fans").

    2 - linked to 1 and the attention captured elsewhere by forums and web
    based options, having ongoing access to usenet once there is no longer enough traffic to make it worthwhile, seems rather pointless.

    3 - This is in some ways easy to fix - but without a connection to the outside world, it becomes an ever depleting pool of (mostly) grumpy old
    men talking about how it used to be!

    4 - it needs to be something easy to find and easy to access.


    Currently the group's most visible asset is the wiki - it i easy to
    access, turns up on search queries, and gets masses of visits from many
    who have probably never accessed the group directly.

    We could add a prominent link to that to directs people to our own forum (either self hosted, or on some other platform). However that does bring with it potential for extra work and cost etc. It would be nice if the current archive of usenet posts could be imported into the platform -
    easy enough if usenet based, but possibly more complex for other platforms.



    A while back I suggested looking at ukworkshop.co.uk but nobody
    responded so I'll try again.
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 14 20:57:25 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Sparky wrote:

    A while back I suggested looking at ukworkshop.co.uk but nobody
    responded so I'll try again.

    I did go and look, got distracted as I'd not heard of "Gather" before
    and it sounded potentially good, but it seems it's a source for
    discussions with a distinctly USA flavour (guns, deer-hunting, gold
    refining etc).

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From somewhere else@"somewhere else"@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Thu May 14 22:27:08 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Andy Burns wrote:
    Sparky wrote:

    A while back I suggested looking at ukworkshop.co.uk but nobody
    responded so I'll try again.

    I did go and look, got distracted as I'd not heard of "Gather" before
    and it sounded potentially good, but it seems it's a source for
    discussions with a distinctly USA flavour (guns, deer-hunting, gold
    refining etc).

    I think you may have gone to the wrong place ... try again. (I've no
    idea what you mean by "gather" in this context)
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From SH@i.love@spam.com to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 15 09:42:00 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 13/05/2026 20:28, ARW wrote:
    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days
    - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?


    Its a while since I posted but I could tell you a few stories since I
    last posted here.

    Some are electrical/work based, some are van based, and there are of
    course the apprentices.

    Not much changes.

    But it might get more usenet posts if you want.


    Shall we start with the apprentice shitting himself on purpose?

    Adam




    We need to get to the bottom of this!

    :-D
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Chris J Dixon@chris@cdixon.me.uk to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 15 09:49:32 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    SH wrote:

    On 13/05/2026 20:28, ARW wrote:
    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days
    - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?


    Its a while since I posted but I could tell you a few stories since I
    last posted here.

    Some are electrical/work based, some are van based, and there are of
    course the apprentices.

    Not much changes.

    But it might get more usenet posts if you want.


    Shall we start with the apprentice shitting himself on purpose?

    We need to get to the bottom of this!

    Indeed! Not just going through the motions.

    Chris
    --
    Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
    chris@cdixon.me.uk @ChrisJDixon1

    Plant amazing Acers.
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 15 10:05:22 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Sparky wrote:

    I think you may have gone to the wrong place ... try again. (I've no
    idea what you mean by "gather" in this context)

    gather seems to be a form of syndication between web forums, there was a banner at the top of the forum page, saying it was not available on
    gather. I got distracted into looking at that, more than looking at the actual ukworkshop forum itself ...

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 15 10:13:42 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Andy Burns wrote:

    gather seems to be a form of syndication between web forums

    e.g. here is that ukworkshop forum, accessed via gather

    <https://gather.forum/ukworkshop-co>
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From somewhere else@"somewhere else"@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 15 10:23:26 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Andy Burns wrote:
    Andy Burns wrote:

    gather seems to be a form of syndication between web forums

    e.g. here is that ukworkshop forum, accessed via gather

    <https://gather.forum/ukworkshop-co>
    That's interesting - it's a slightly cleaner interface than going
    straight to ukworkshop.co.uk (which has quite a good signal:noise ratio)
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From SH@i.love@spam.com to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 15 11:49:05 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 15/05/2026 09:49, Chris J Dixon wrote:
    SH wrote:

    On 13/05/2026 20:28, ARW wrote:
    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days
    - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?


    Its a while since I posted but I could tell you a few stories since I
    last posted here.

    Some are electrical/work based, some are van based, and there are of
    course the apprentices.

    Not much changes.

    But it might get more usenet posts if you want.


    Shall we start with the apprentice shitting himself on purpose?

    We need to get to the bottom of this!

    Indeed! Not just going through the motions.

    Chris

    Knowing Adam, he 's literally gone and scared the 5h1t out of his apprentice....

    Who else would cause a rapid unscheduled defecation in a person? :-D

    (c) Elon MUSK who coined RUD as in Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly of his rockets
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Tricky Dicky@tricky.dicky@sky.com to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 15 10:52:43 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    SH <i.love@spam.com> wrote:
    On 15/05/2026 09:49, Chris J Dixon wrote:
    SH wrote:

    On 13/05/2026 20:28, ARW wrote:
    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days >>>>> - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?


    Its a while since I posted but I could tell you a few stories since I
    last posted here.

    Some are electrical/work based, some are van based, and there are of
    course the apprentices.

    Not much changes.

    But it might get more usenet posts if you want.


    Shall we start with the apprentice shitting himself on purpose?

    We need to get to the bottom of this!

    Indeed! Not just going through the motions.

    Chris

    Knowing Adam, he 's literally gone and scared the 5h1t out of his apprentice....

    Who else would cause a rapid unscheduled defecation in a person? :-D

    (c) Elon MUSK who coined RUD as in Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly of his rockets


    I like that. RUD for the next time I get the trots.

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 15 14:20:29 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 15/05/2026 11:52, Tricky Dicky wrote:
    SH <i.love@spam.com> wrote:
    On 15/05/2026 09:49, Chris J Dixon wrote:
    SH wrote:

    On 13/05/2026 20:28, ARW wrote:
    On 06/05/2026 20:26, Roger Mills wrote:
    Posts in this NG appear to have all but dried up in the last few days >>>>>> - unless my news server is just not showing them for some reason?


    Its a while since I posted but I could tell you a few stories since I >>>>> last posted here.

    Some are electrical/work based, some are van based, and there are of >>>>> course the apprentices.

    Not much changes.

    But it might get more usenet posts if you want.


    Shall we start with the apprentice shitting himself on purpose?

    We need to get to the bottom of this!

    Indeed! Not just going through the motions.

    Chris

    Knowing Adam, he 's literally gone and scared the 5h1t out of his
    apprentice....

    Who else would cause a rapid unscheduled defecation in a person? :-D

    (c) Elon MUSK who coined RUD as in Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly of his
    rockets


    I like that. RUD for the next time I get the trots.

    Either that or "the world fell out of your bottom".
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Theo@theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk to uk.d-i-y on Fri May 15 16:08:57 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    SH <i.love@spam.com> wrote:
    Who else would cause a rapid unscheduled defecation in a person? :-D

    (c) Elon MUSK who coined RUD as in Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly of his rockets

    He didn't, it's been US-military-speak for decades. https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/10022/who-coined-the-phrase-rapid-unscheduled-disassembly
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From wasbit@wasbit@invalid.com to uk.d-i-y on Sat May 16 09:31:17 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 14/05/2026 20:48, Sparky wrote:
    John Rumm wrote:
    On 11/05/2026 13:12, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 10/05/2026 19:20, #Paul wrote:
    John Rumm <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
    In the DIY spirit, is there any decent forum software that is useable >>>>> and a bit usenet like? We could always host it ourselves...

    Maybe a usenet server itself? You wouldn't have to peer it with
    any other servers if you didn't want to, and by now they should
    be pretty bulletproof (or at least better than some random web-
    forum suite).

    Exactly.

    You can rent a virtual server for relative peanuts and run an NNTP
    server on it and only give away logins to it to the exalted few.

    It is YOUR private moderated (if you choose) server .

    Yes could be done, but I am not sure it addresses the main looming
    problems:

    1 Decline of user visibility of usenet in general
    2 Decline of USENET traffic in general
    3 The slow death of available free news servers
    4 The need for a way to draw new people into the conversation.

    1 - ISPs no longer bundle or even talk about usenet - so there is
    little to prompt new people to even try it (and thinking back to AOL
    and the origin of the phrase "Eternal September" - it debatable if you
    want to encourage a subset of "everyone" to try it rather than just a
    subset of some set of self selecting "DIY fans").

    2 - linked to 1 and the attention captured elsewhere by forums and web
    based options, having ongoing access to usenet once there is no longer
    enough traffic to make it worthwhile, seems rather pointless.

    3 - This is in some ways easy to fix - but without a connection to the
    outside world, it becomes an ever depleting pool of (mostly) grumpy
    old men talking about how it used to be!

    4 - it needs to be something easy to find and easy to access.


    Currently the group's most visible asset is the wiki - it i easy to
    access, turns up on search queries, and gets masses of visits from
    many who have probably never accessed the group directly.

    We could add a prominent link to that to directs people to our own
    forum (either self hosted, or on some other platform). However that
    does bring with it potential for extra work and cost etc. It would be
    nice if the current archive of usenet posts could be imported into the
    platform - easy enough if usenet based, but possibly more complex for
    other platforms.



    A while back I suggested looking at ukworkshop.co.uk but nobody
    responded so I'll try again.

    Sorry, either missed it or forgot to reply.
    I read ukworkshop every day.
    --
    Regards
    wasbit
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2