41–50 of 75 posts
That bit about total anonymity is just not true. Usually you would use your organization's news server (because every ISP/university had one), so you could be easily located. Plus, it was part of the netiquette to post using your real name / well known identity. Thinking of the 90s internet makes me all sentimental.
For reference, I spent a lot of time on usenet back in the '90s, using "tin" as my newsreader. I even helped created a newsgroup in the "big 8" heirarchy. There were a lot of fantastic things about those days but I don't think we can ever get them back easily, too much was dependent on the community being small.
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I take it you're missing the 90s? (Alas, most of my Usenet usage was between 1994 and 2003.)
It's not possible to get Usenet from the 90s, as it simply isn't archived. 80s is archived via Internet Archive and you can get 10 years worth from 2003 via Usenet king GigaNews. Google Groups has the 90s, but it's locked behind a 'Googlewall'.
This is my search engine for Usenet, currently only for the 1980s but I hope to have 2003 onwards searchable soon. I have about 2TB of news from 2003 which just needs indexing and uploading. http://www.dejadejadeja.com/10years/ My goal is to give people an alternative to 'Google Groups'. It's built on PHP and MySQL.
Where are you getting the newer Usenet archive from? Thanks for turning me on to the Archive.org's 'UTZoo archive', sadly it is only 1981-1991 and incomplete. What a shame. :(
When I get a 4TB drive (soon I hope) I'll make the 2003 stuff searchable.
Don't get me going about FidoNet[0] either... there are still good usenet servers out there[1]. Update added a link for those who are unfamiliar with FidoNet [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FidoNet [1] http://www.eternal-september.org/
I've been on easynews on and off for quite some time. It's got some good web tools. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easynews
Usenet, or something very much like it, with a markup language (to allow for rich content), a paired messaging protocol (to allow for directly contacting individuals in chat / private message mode), and associated content distribution (images, video) could, I've felt for years, displace virtually all of existing social media. The primary missing elements are filtering (as noted) and a distributed search capability.
That paired messaging protocol we used was called email. Filtering was pretty sophisticated using scorefiles and killfiles. You didn't have rich media because the Usenet was about exchange of thoughts and knowledge, but people were pretty opinionated about formatting to make reading your posts pleasant for everyone.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That paired messaging protocol we used was called email. Filtering was pretty sophisticated using scorefiles and killfiles. You didn't have rich media because the Usenet was about exchange of thoughts and knowledge, but people were pretty opinionated about formatting to make reading your posts pleasant for everyone.
Oh, I was there, and I'm aware of this. The rich media thing: it's useful. A minimal markup (such as markdown) would likely be sufficient. The ability to be able to emphasize and strongly emphasize text, create bullets and numbered lists, indicate (multiple levels) of quotes, hyperlinks. There's not much that Markdown itself doesn't provide. A small amount of chrome for the masses would be nice. For the most part my…
I remember forté agent and thunderbird doing it about ten years ago, and I recall being annoyed that markdown differed :)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh, I was there, and I'm aware of this. The rich media thing: it's useful. A minimal markup (such as markdown) would likely be sufficient. The ability to be able to emphasize and strongly emphasize text, create bullets and numbered lists, indicate (multiple levels) of quotes, hyperlinks. There's not much that Markdown itself doesn't provide. A small amount of chrome for the masses would be nice. For the most part my…
haven't newsreaders supported highlights of stuff like _underline_ /italics/, bold , multiple level of quoted stuff, bullet points etc since about forever? I remember forté agent and thunderbird doing it about ten years ago, and I recall being annoyed that markdown differed :)
Formalizing a basic level such as markdown would be a big win.
Usenet isn't going to make a comeback, it's a relic of a different sort of internet than the one that exists today. Though something similar may end up existing in the future, it will likely have a lot of new features (like karma or trust networking or some such) that make the spam and trolling problems tractable. For reference, I spent a lot of time on usenet back in the '90s, using "tin" as my newsreader. I even he…
Part of the reason that places like reddit and HN are still working is because, I believe, they follow that same attitude from the usenet days. It's more about the discussions and cross-pollination of thoughts (whether you agree or not). Most importantly, it helps to break through that filter bubble that looms over us all.
While I feel privileged to have seen the world pre and post internet, I'm excited to see how we will be communicating in the next 20 years.
As I get older it seems harder to keep an open mind (yes, I can be very sentimental when it comes to old computer tech, BBS The Documentary is my ideal nerd porn) but I have to keep reminding myself that many great things aren't recognized as such until after the fact.
If I'm honest with myself, I think I've read and participated in some of the most thought provoking and hilarious on-line discussion from the early 2000's onwards.
I'll stop blabbering now.