• Wither Newsgroups?

    From Bill Davy@Bill@XchelSys.co.uk to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Oct 21 14:31:02 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my mobile
    phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Bill
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Jeff Layman@Jeff@invalid.invalid to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Oct 21 15:01:01 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 21/10/2025 14:31, Bill Davy wrote:
    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my mobile phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Which NGs? This one has a select following, and is far from dead.

    Have you tried updating the list of NGs available to Easyusenet recently?
    --
    Jeff
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bill Davy@Bill@XchelSys.co.uk to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Oct 21 15:35:06 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 21/10/2025 15:01, Jeff Layman wrote:
    On 21/10/2025 14:31, Bill Davy wrote:
    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my mobile
    phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Which NGs? This one has a select following, and is far from dead.

    Have you tried updating the list of NGs available to Easyusenet recently?


    I used to use News.Individual.DE / News.Individual.NET but they are
    getting out of the game.

    When I moved laptop, I asked Thunderbird to download the list of
    newsgroups and there were very many, many childish.

    I see the newsgroups are there, but the useful traffic is limited. In
    this newsgroup (uk.rec.gardening) for example, a few threads a week, typically.

    Or am I missing something?
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Oct 21 15:48:10 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 21/10/2025 15:35, Bill Davy wrote:
    On 21/10/2025 15:01, Jeff Layman wrote:
    On 21/10/2025 14:31, Bill Davy wrote:
    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my mobile >>> phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Which NGs? This one has a select following, and is far from dead.

    Have you tried updating the list of NGs available to Easyusenet recently?


    I used to use News.Individual.DE / News.Individual.NET but they are
    getting out of the game.

    When I moved laptop, I asked Thunderbird to download the list of
    newsgroups and there were very many, many childish.

    alt.barney.die.die.die ?

    I see the newsgroups are there, but the useful traffic is limited.-a In
    this newsgroup (uk.rec.gardening) for example, a few threads a week, typically.

    Or am I missing something?

    No. There are simply better web based fora for discussion of specific
    topics.

    This is just like having a chat down the pub really.
    --
    Climate is what you expect but weather is what you get.
    Mark Twain

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Janet@nobody@home.com to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Oct 21 18:19:11 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    In article <nnd$4ff4cfee$735c9cd1@d3bf4872bc3d26ff>,
    Bill@XchelSys.co.uk says...

    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my mobile phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Bill

    There are three or four posters on this usenet group,
    who have been posting here since last century.

    Janet
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From EllisMorgan@ellis@ellis.invalid to uk.rec.gardening on Wed Oct 22 07:39:44 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 21/10/2025 18:19, Janet wrote:
    In article <nnd$4ff4cfee$735c9cd1@d3bf4872bc3d26ff>,
    Bill@XchelSys.co.uk says...

    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my mobile
    phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Bill

    There are three or four posters on this usenet group,
    who have been posting here since last century.

    Janet
    and more of us just lurking, reading and learning
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bob Hobden@hobdens@btinternet.com to uk.rec.gardening on Wed Oct 22 07:49:04 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 21/10/2025 14:31, Bill Davy wrote:
    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my mobile phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Bill

    For example there use to be a brilliant one for us old Landrover drivers called alt.fan.landrover. Learnt so much about maintainance, but they
    all went of to various Forums over quite a short time. I tried some but
    just not the same. Think that has been the cause together with the
    difficulty of getting to Ngs whewn everything else is automatic these days.
    --
    Regards
    Bob Hobden
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From nmm@nmm@wheeler.UUCP (Nick Maclaren) to uk.rec.gardening on Wed Oct 22 10:35:52 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    In article <10d86fa$3vp1s$7@dont-email.me>,
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    On 21/10/2025 15:35, Bill Davy wrote:

    I see the newsgroups are there, but the useful traffic is limited.-a In
    this newsgroup (uk.rec.gardening) for example, a few threads a week,
    typically.

    Or am I missing something?

    No. There are simply better web based fora for discussion of specific >topics.

    Oh, really? I have searched for them and come up blank. No, I am
    NOT interested in ones where I would be entirely explaining the basics
    to newcomers and correcting idiots. I don't expect my queries to be
    answered effectively, because they are ones that I can't answer from
    my books and Web searches, but I have never had any responses beyond
    posting (usually fallacious) simplifications at me.

    If you claim that there are any, please provide links.


    Regards,
    Nick Maclaren.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.rec.gardening on Wed Oct 22 12:44:51 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 22/10/2025 11:35, Nick Maclaren wrote:
    In article <10d86fa$3vp1s$7@dont-email.me>,
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    On 21/10/2025 15:35, Bill Davy wrote:

    I see the newsgroups are there, but the useful traffic is limited.-a In
    this newsgroup (uk.rec.gardening) for example, a few threads a week,
    typically.

    Or am I missing something?

    No. There are simply better web based fora for discussion of specific
    topics.

    Oh, really? I have searched for them and come up blank. No, I am
    NOT interested in ones where I would be entirely explaining the basics
    to newcomers and correcting idiots. I don't expect my queries to be
    answered effectively, because they are ones that I can't answer from
    my books and Web searches, but I have never had any responses beyond
    posting (usually fallacious) simplifications at me.

    If you claim that there are any, please provide links.

    I am not sure about gardening, but in terns of building radio controlled models, www.rcgroups.com is hard to beat. You can upload pictures,
    videos and plans..

    I have stopped posting there because I did post extremely detailed and theoretical stuff which people simply dismissed as 'not what everyone
    else says'
    Which was why I posted it.

    Unfortunately today it's all 'social media' and as such is about ego enhancement, not direct problem solving.


    Regards,
    Nick Maclaren.
    --
    rCLThere are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isnrCOt true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.rCY

    rCoSoren Kierkegaard

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bill Davy@Bill@XchelSys.co.uk to uk.rec.gardening on Thu Oct 23 08:12:12 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 21/10/2025 14:31, Bill Davy wrote:
    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my mobile phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Bill

    Many thanks for all the input. Seems there is nowhere better than here
    in general, but there is just not much traffic.

    It seems to be a bit like recipe books. I gave all almost all of mine
    to the Red Cross recently, in small lots as they said they received far
    too many.

    As a matter of interest which is the best search engine that is run for
    the public interest? I've been using DuckDuckGo quite happily, or are
    search engines another dying breed?

    Bill
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Jeff Layman@Jeff@invalid.invalid to uk.rec.gardening on Thu Oct 23 09:07:32 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 23/10/2025 08:12, Bill Davy wrote:
    On 21/10/2025 14:31, Bill Davy wrote:
    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my mobile
    phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Bill

    Many thanks for all the input. Seems there is nowhere better than here
    in general, but there is just not much traffic.

    It seems to be a bit like recipe books. I gave all almost all of mine
    to the Red Cross recently, in small lots as they said they received far
    too many.

    As a matter of interest which is the best search engine that is run for
    the public interest? I've been using DuckDuckGo quite happily, or are
    search engines another dying breed?

    You pays your money and you takes your choice.

    Well, you don't so much pay as need to understand that your data is
    worth something to the search engine provider - /you/ are the product.
    Many search engines claim to not be anything as nosey as Google or Bing,
    even though they search using those. Then, of course, you generally
    can't use a search engine without using a browser (smartphone users can
    use a search app without going through a browser), so you've got the
    browser to think about as well:
    <https://privacytests.org/>

    And now you can let AI do the searching for you if you want, but watch
    out for hallucinations...

    I tend to use Startpage for most searching, but I've recently been
    looking at Mojeek (<https://www.mojeek.com/>).

    More info than you want here: <https://www.searchenginejournal.com/alternative-search-engines/271409/>

    Anyway, IMHO it's all been downhill since the original Altavista
    disappeared. :-(
    --
    Jeff
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.rec.gardening on Thu Oct 23 09:12:30 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 23/10/2025 08:12, Bill Davy wrote:
    On 21/10/2025 14:31, Bill Davy wrote:
    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my
    mobile phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Bill

    Many thanks for all the input.-a Seems there is nowhere better than here
    in general, but there is just not much traffic.

    It seems to be a bit like recipe books.-a I gave all almost all of mine
    to the Red Cross recently, in small lots as they said they received far
    too many.

    As a matter of interest which is the best search engine that is run for
    the public interest?-a I've been using DuckDuckGo quite happily, or are search engines another dying breed?

    I think the key is less the search engine but more how to achieve
    supremacy over its commercial algorithms

    Bill
    --
    For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and
    wrong.

    H.L.Mencken

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Joy Beeson@jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid to uk.rec.gardening on Fri Oct 24 03:21:26 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On Thu, 23 Oct 2025 08:12:12 +0100, Bill Davy
    <Bill@XchelSys.co.uk> wrote:

    are
    search engines another dying breed?

    They can no longer sift through the millions of
    fill-in-the-blank websites to find the hundreds of good
    ones.
    --
    Joy Beeson
    joy beeson at centurylink dot net
    http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From stephen.hull@stephen.hull@btinternet.com to uk.rec.gardening on Mon Oct 27 18:18:22 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    In message <10d9uou$es6m$1@dont-email.me>
    Bob Hobden <hobdens@btinternet.com> wrote:

    On 21/10/2025 14:31, Bill Davy wrote:
    Where, if anywhere, have they gone? I do not like squinting at my mobile
    phone (still waiting for the large print version).

    Sadly missed.

    Bill

    For example there use to be a brilliant one for us old Landrover drivers >called alt.fan.landrover. Learnt so much about maintainance, but they
    all went of to various Forums over quite a short time. I tried some but
    just not the same. Think that has been the cause together with the
    difficulty of getting to Ngs whewn everything else is automatic these days.

    AFL was a brillaint group, it helped me start my website on Land Rover
    painting over twenty years ago, how time flies.

    Stephen
    --

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2