Re: OT History of usenet

"Alan S" <loralgtweightandcarbs@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:3103g35b8so7oojagiigji8o8b1fh8nh0n@xxxxxxxxxx
On Tue, 2 Oct 2007 07:10:05 +1000, "hemyd"
<myd!!!hen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Alan S" <loralgtweightandcarbs@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:12n1g3h7m4sb2tjg1u48rjgij8pam7thej@xxxxxxxxxx
On Mon, 1 Oct 2007 09:19:05 +0000 (UTC), gsm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
(Geoffrey S. Mendelson) wrote:

Alan S wrote:
Thanks Ratty and all the others. How does it work then that
I can go via my ISP, who no longer provides a news service,
to the German provider which does?

This is the Internet after all. You access the server in Germany, who
is free to allow connections from anyone they let, or not as the case
may be. NNTP, the protocol, you use allows for authorization and many
server operators don't use it, allowing anyone to access their servers.

Some use it only for posting, so you can read all you want but pay them
for posting.

In the old days, "netnews" as it was called was batched and sent low
priority using the same mechanism as email. This is called a "news feed"
and today is only used by large servers. It was considered a public
service to do so. Most of Silicon Valley was served by Apple.

I still read and post my news from my private news server, but I
transfer
the news using NNTP, so it looks to the server as if I was just reading
it
online.

The old 80/20 rule applies to Usenet, 80% of the articles posted are
small
text messages usually under 8k bytes in length. However 80% of the
data is concentrated in less than 20% of the groups where files
containing
programs, photographs, movies, ebooks etc are posted.

If a server ignores these groups, called "binary groups" because they
contain so many binary files instead of text files, then you can have a
full feed for around 300 megabytes a day, which is to a large server
almost nothing.

Anyone downloading a TV show a day uses that much bandwidth.

There is a legal incentive to ignore those groups, because many of the
binary groups contain files of questionable legality somewhere in the
world. Avoiding them avoids the problems that may occur.

Google attempted to hijack the whole netnews process by renaming them
"Google Groups", but many people never go near Google at all. Since
everything you post here is read by Google (and a zillion other people)
there is no security or privacy and there never was.

Long before Google data mined their groups, people were doing it for
fun, profit and nefarious reasons. Some people poured their hearts out
on newsgroups thinking they were a private list. They posted everything
over the years such as family members, personal events, income,
location,
etc.

Imagine the shock when they upset someone with their posts and said
that they could not be found. At least one person gathered the data
from the archives (on DejaNews and other places before Google bought
them)
and published a full "resume" of the person. The only thing missing was
address and phone number and most people in large cites could be found
by looking at the phone book collection in any library.

The first time this came to the attention of people who did not pay
the attention they should was during the first Gulf War. An
Israeli/American
posted his dairy (this was long before the web or 'blogs) to
soc.culture.jewish
or soc.culture.israel (I don't remember which).

He wrote some very personal things and they showed up on the front page
of the Wall Street Journal.

Geoff.

Thank you for that clear explanation. And also thanks to
Ozgirl and Ratty.

Always something new to learn:-)


Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
d&e, metformin 1500mg, ezetrol 10mg
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.
--
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

I've heard two comments about the Internet in general, Alan - "using the
internet is like working in a fish bowl" and "security on the internet?
There is none - live with it". Although I do know there may be exceptions
(I
use the company secure Intranet at work), in general it's best if you
understand that other people could remotely see what you're doing if they
wanted to badly enough. I can easily take any email or post, which may be
on
an internal bulletin board, and forward it or copy it to a non-internal
newsgroup or person. Accidentally or deliberately. All it takes is a few
clicks.

Henry Mydlarz.

Thanks for the explanation Henry, but I may have been
ambiguous. I've always presumed that anything I wrote on the
net or the web is open for all to see if they choose to.


Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
d&e, metformin 1500mg, ezetrol 10mg
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.
--
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

I certainly wasn't aiming the comments at you, Alan - I dare say you are
quite astute when it comes to all things Internet. Email and newsgroups can
be daunting for the newbie. They can send an email to the wrong person; to a
newsgroup instead of an individual; to an individual instead of a newsgroup;
to a bad email address; send an email copying dozens of other email
addresses; forward chain emails; etc. etc. Just some examples of privacy
possibly being compromised. I dare say some diabetics, for reasons of
employment, may not want to publicise themselves on the Internet.

Henry.

(I guess I should confine this to OT in msd.....)


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT History of usenet
    ... I can go via my ISP, who no longer provides a news service, ... This is the Internet after all. ... server operators don't use it, allowing anyone to access their servers. ... "Google Groups", but many people never go near Google at all. ...
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  • Re: OT History of usenet
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  • Re: OT History of usenet
    ... I can go via my ISP, who no longer provides a news service, ... to the German provider which does? ... server operators don't use it, allowing anyone to access their servers. ... "Google Groups", but many people never go near Google at all. ...
    (misc.health.diabetes)