AOl to discontinue newsgroup access

Ken Moon Webberville, TX

Ii went over to dslextreme.com and have had no problems with news groups or email. Seems like the spam has gotten smaller also or it may be they have not refound me since I moved. Looks like the price for dslextreme.com has gone down since I signed up..

This posting is written from the perspective of AOL ("We apologize for this inconvenience.") but the subject line contains a typo and the return address is not an 'official' AOL business email address. It is, therefore, almost certainly not a direct posting to this newsgroup by AOL.

Its authenticity is open to question.

Hey pmarks ... where did you first encounter this bit of 'news'? What is your source for this announcement?

Bill

Here is a link to CNET's article about AOL and newsgroups.

Another good reason not to use AOL

I just use a computer to get done what I want to do and find the easiest way to get to this newsgroup is through google. That way you don't need anything but to go to the interenet and then google. The address below is bookmarked. It's that easy.

:> The AOL Newsgroup service will be discontinued in early 2005. :> : This posting is written from the perspective of AOL ("We apologize for : this inconvenience.")

No, it's written from the perspective of an AOL customer, who has been (correctly) informed that AOL is discontinuing all newgroup feeds.

but the subject line contains a typo and the return : address is not an 'official' AOL business email address.

And yours is a real email address?

It is, therefore, : almost certainly not a direct posting to this newsgroup by AOL.

Right -- it's by a customer of theirs.

: Its authenticity is open to question.

Not if you check around the Web.

: Bill

-- Andy

I've been using newsguy.com for many years. You read the newsgroups in your web browser with the newsguy format. It is much better than any news reader that I've tried. Unfortunately, it does cost about $35.00 a year. I consider that money well spent.

Fred Holder

I've been using newsguy for many years too. I didn't even know they had that capability.

I just took a look at their Web interface. If that's better than any newsreader that you've tried you've tried some pretty miserable excuses for newsreaders.

What made its authenticity open to question was the fact that it was not posted directly by AOL. That doesn't mean that the person (you) who posted it is telling a lie, but it does mean that, from my perspective, a single posting unauthorized by AOL is not sufficient to vilify AOL. Now that it has been confirmed, vilify at will ... I bailed out of AOL several YEARS ago. I really don't know how anyone can stand that cluttered interface with the CONSTANT downloads (improvements ... yeah, right). I missed AOL chat groups for a few weeks. But I got over it and life went on.

Had I personally cared a whit about AOL, I'd have confirmed what you were stating. But I don't, so I didn't. Instead, I pointed out that the official-sounding posting was not, in fact, official.

As for the matter of my address: so long as there is even a single newsgroup email address harvester bot working you will never see my correct email address on a newsgroup posting again. I quit posting that information some 6-7 years ago and my spam plummeted almost overnight.

Anyone who wants my email address can have it. All they have to do is post here asking for it and give me a decent reason why I should give it to them. If they have provided a functional email address and if I agree with them that their reason for having my email address is valid, I will then email them with my address.

Bill