[buug] El Blog del Narco

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Zeke Krahlin (ezekielk at goct.net):

> 
> >Only if you use a terrible, worthless NNTP service provider, e.g.,
> >Google Groups ne DejaNews.  Which of course form the basis for most
> >badly informed comments on the subject.
> 
> Definitely, standard news service remains the superior medium.
> Unfortunately, the majority of quality newsgroups have been wiped
> out by spammers, trolls and whatnot.

Again, _not_ when you are using a well-administered news feed, which
accepts cancels from trusted sources.

> I have new server access via my
> dialup service, and all the groups that I posted and read in the
> past, are useless.

You probably need a better news feed.

Most ISPs cannot be bothered to administer NNTP service, let alone
competently, because it is no longer a trendy service, i.e., it's seen
as costing money and expertise without being strongly in demand.

> You'd think forums like Slashdot would have worked this out by
> now...it's certainly not technologically impossible to build a
> web-based forum that resemble the efficiently of your old-school
> text-based BBS forums.

Actually, text-based BBS forums suffered from nearly all of the ills
that I cite, equally as much as 'Web boards' do -- and I speak as a
longtime BBS sysop.

> But I was also thinking in terms of online communities...and where
> one can find reasonably active and large forums where you'd have the
> best chance of like minds reading your posts.

Actually, 'like minds' are part of the problem.  Ideological echo
chambers are a huge waste of time -- and it's difficult to imagine 
anything more stultifying than talking solely to people who share 
my views.  (Of course, you do not agree.)  The reliance on 'handles'
instead of something approaching real-world identities also does little
to elevate the tone of discussion.

In any event, Web forums have all of the cited inherent techological
drawbacks.  Plus, they tend to have very low Web-search rank, plus they
make it gratuitously difficult to preserve an independent copy of one's
postings for reference and archival purposes[1].  Plus they have a
tendency to fold up and disappear, taking all of your work, and all of
your participation, with them when they collapse -- and typically you
end up walking away without even the means to re-establish contact with
the fellow former participants, because your sole means of contact was
via the Web forum (unless you've taken active measures to the contrary,
as I do when I put my real name and real contact information at the
bottom of all Web-media posts).