Dear Verizon Online Customer,

As a Verizon Newsgroup service user, we wanted to let you know about some
important changes that we will soon be making to our Newsgroup service.

On June 24, 2008, we will be modifying our Newsgroup offerings to only offer
groups in the Big-8 Newsgroup hierarchies, which are listed below. The
0.verizon.* newsgroup hierarchy will also continue to be available. Users
will not be able to post or download from any other newsgroups using our
Newsgroup service.

comp.*
humanities.*
misc.*
news.*
rec.*
sci.*
soc.*
talk.*

More details regarding the Big 8 newsgroup hierarchies is available at:
http://www.big-8.org/.

This change will not affect your Internet access service. If you would like
to subscribe to newsgroups other than those we offer, you will need to
subscribe to a separate commercial news service. Please note that your use
of any such service is still subject to our Terms of Service and Acceptable
Use Policy.

There are no changes required to your software, but you will need to
unsubscribe from all Newsgroups other than the Big 8 hierarchies and the
0.verizon.* hierarchy noted above. The following link explains how to
subscribe and unsubscribe in Outlook Express:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/171190

IMPORTANT: If you continue to subscribe to unsupported newsgroups, you may
experience poor computer performance and slow throughput speeds. Failure to
unsubscribe may also interfere with the functioning of the Verizon network
or use of the network by other Verizon users, which is a violation of our
Acceptable Use Policy.

We appreciate your business and look forward to continuing to serve you in
the future.

Sincerely,


Verizon Online

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!

Hi Ray

Looks like your other option is to subscribe to a commercial Newsgroup
provider. I do as my ISP's Newsgroup postings are poor and disappear after
a few days.

Let's do this democratically - see how many people object and let's go with
the majority position.

I have no objection to you posting to RGO. My understanding is that no
pictures are posted to RGO as some people are still using slow dial up
options. Most people can see the size of the posting and can choose whether
to view or not. In fact, having all the photos and discussion together would
probably work better anyway.

If this option is chosen, perhaps we should place some voluntary limits on
the size of photos posted so everyone can view even if they don't have fast
Internet connections.

John


"Ray B" wrote in message
news:S4W5k.6520$Mu.6482@trndny07...
Dear Verizon Online Customer,

As a Verizon Newsgroup service user, we wanted to let you know about some
important changes that we will soon be making to our Newsgroup service.

A couple of comments:

1) Who uses dialup these days? Folks really should join the present as we
move to the future.

2) Might a "rec.gardens.orchids.photos" group pass muster?

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"John Varigos" wrote in message
m...
Hi Ray

Looks like your other option is to subscribe to a commercial Newsgroup
provider. I do as my ISP's Newsgroup postings are poor and disappear
after a few days.

Let's do this democratically - see how many people object and let's go
with the majority position.

I have no objection to you posting to RGO. My understanding is that no
pictures are posted to RGO as some people are still using slow dial up
options. Most people can see the size of the posting and can choose
whether to view or not. In fact, having all the photos and discussion
together would probably work better anyway.

If this option is chosen, perhaps we should place some voluntary limits on
the size of photos posted so everyone can view even if they don't have
fast Internet connections.

John


"Ray B" wrote in message
news:S4W5k.6520$Mu.6482@trndny07...
Dear Verizon Online Customer,

As a Verizon Newsgroup service user, we wanted to let you know about some
important changes that we will soon be making to our Newsgroup service.

Not everyone has high speed available.

Ray B wrote:
| A couple of comments:
|
| 1) Who uses dialup these days? Folks really should join the present
| as we move to the future.
|
| 2) Might a "rec.gardens.orchids.photos" group pass muster?
|
|

Ping Kye. He set up abpo to begin with. Maybe he can do something under the
rec. group. John, do you have a valid email addie for him? He posted here
recently. Does the *binaries* thing have something to do with it? Is there a
bandwidth limit to the rec groups? If not, why would Mick Fournier have been
so livid whenever someone posted a picture at rgo? Aside from the fact that
he is, in general, a grinch, of course.

I don't object at all tp pictures on rgo. But maybe we need more
information. I imagine that other ISPs will follow suit eventually. There
have been articles lately about efforts by some ISPs to charge for
time/downloads over a certain limit. Apparently this is due to the
prevalence of movie downloads, interactive games, etc. Most of us would not
be affected by that, but I suppose some would.

I don't know enough about the vagaries of setting up the usenet groups to
figure it all out. Just threw out a few questions above.

Diana

"Ray B" wrote in message
newsOX5k.7676$LN.1133@trndny03...
A couple of comments:

1) Who uses dialup these days? Folks really should join the present as
we move to the future.

2) Might a "rec.gardens.orchids.photos" group pass muster?

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"John Varigos" wrote in message
m...
Hi Ray

Looks like your other option is to subscribe to a commercial Newsgroup
provider. I do as my ISP's Newsgroup postings are poor and disappear
after a few days.

Let's do this democratically - see how many people object and let's go
with the majority position.

I have no objection to you posting to RGO. My understanding is that no
pictures are posted to RGO as some people are still using slow dial up
options. Most people can see the size of the posting and can choose
whether to view or not. In fact, having all the photos and discussion
together would probably work better anyway.

If this option is chosen, perhaps we should place some voluntary limits
on the size of photos posted so everyone can view even if they don't have
fast Internet connections.

John


"Ray B" wrote in message
news:S4W5k.6520$Mu.6482@trndny07...
Dear Verizon Online Customer,

As a Verizon Newsgroup service user, we wanted to let you know about
some important changes that we will soon be making to our Newsgroup
service.

more awkward, i know, but how about putting them on your website (non
public if you like) and just posting the link? that way there's no dial
up issue, and we can still see them.

--j_a

Yeah, but that would eliminate the *group*. I think the camaraderie is a big
part of what we do. No?

Diana

"unknown" wrote in message
...
more awkward, i know, but how about putting them on your website (non
public if you like) and just posting the link? that way there's no dial
up issue, and we can still see them.

--j_a

On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:33:38 -0700, Ray B wrote
(in article S4W5k.6520$Mu.6482@trndny07):


I pay for Giganews, but appreciate the squeeze that others are in.

I think the suggestion of starting a new photo group within one of the
"Big 8" titles is reasonable if its possible. Where do you find out about the
limits on a binary group?

The idea of posting to a website, and posting the URL to RGO is a
possibility, but I suspect a lot of folks would be unwilling/unable to
establish their own websites, and that would make commentary pretty
cumbersome.

So let's have some more information and ideas from you young squirts who know
computing inside and out.

Tom

No the group could still see the link and comment on that post. After the
first viewing the picture is gone anyway. The link would be kept alive in
all replies to the original post.

Just my 2 cents.

K
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
...
Yeah, but that would eliminate the *group*. I think the camaraderie is a
big part of what we do. No?

Diana

"unknown" wrote in message
...
more awkward, i know, but how about putting them on your website (non
public if you like) and just posting the link? that way there's no dial
up issue, and we can still see them.

--j_a

That certainly is option #1, as I do keep a fairly extensive collection of
shots online, but some just won't click a link if they cannot see the image
right away!

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"unknown" wrote in message
...
more awkward, i know, but how about putting them on your website (non
public if you like) and just posting the link? that way there's no dial
up issue, and we can still see them.

--j_a

My understanding is that this is not a bandwidth issue, but the binaries
groups are mostly going away as a move to deflect liability for the posting
of porn that is easily accessible to their subscribers - young and old. So
technically, adding a binaries group under the "rec" header is nothing more
than a way to defeat that policy.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"tbell" wrote in message
.com...
On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:33:38 -0700, Ray B wrote
(in article S4W5k.6520$Mu.6482@trndny07):


I pay for Giganews, but appreciate the squeeze that others are in.

I think the suggestion of starting a new photo group within one of the
"Big 8" titles is reasonable if its possible. Where do you find out about
the
limits on a binary group?

The idea of posting to a website, and posting the URL to RGO is a
possibility, but I suspect a lot of folks would be unwilling/unable to
establish their own websites, and that would make commentary pretty
cumbersome.

So let's have some more information and ideas from you young squirts who
know
computing inside and out.

Tom

I have always thought RGO would flow better if you could post pictures to
it. Besides Mick, the problem is a lot of the news servers strip binaries
posted to non binaries groups. I do not know many do it, but I think it is
currently a fair percent and growing. A year and a half ago my ISP stopped
all newsgroup service. My ISP which is the local phone company is the only
option for DSL in the county and in addition the phone company makes it
very hard for other companies to even offer dialup across its lines.
Switching ISP was not an option. I tried various free news server options
and was not happy with any. I ended paying for the service and have been
very happy with the service. They bill my credit card once a year so I only
get ****ed once a year. All and all I think news groups are a thing of the
past, unless you want to download music, movies, porn, or orchid stuff. At
some point the RGO and ABPO community may have to migrate to another type of
host.

Pat

Ray, you can thank Andrew Cuomo in NY for this problem. He bullied the ISPs
until they caved.

Here's a thought: What if we, in this discussion, go ahead and post OPs to
rgo, and include photos? See what happens. Maybe they'll get stripped, maybe
not.

I'll post one later, and be the first to brave the wrath of Fournier, who
somehow manages to pop up any time someone defies the rules!

Diana

"Pat Brennan" wrote in message
ng.com...
I have always thought RGO would flow better if you could post pictures to
it. Besides Mick, the problem is a lot of the news servers strip binaries
posted to non binaries groups. I do not know many do it, but I think it is
currently a fair percent and growing. A year and a half ago my ISP stopped
all newsgroup service. My ISP which is the local phone company is the only
option for DSL in the county and in addition the phone company makes it
very hard for other companies to even offer dialup across its lines.
Switching ISP was not an option. I tried various free news server options
and was not happy with any. I ended paying for the service and have been
very happy with the service. They bill my credit card once a year so I
only get ****ed once a year. All and all I think news groups are a thing
of the past, unless you want to download music, movies, porn, or orchid
stuff. At some point the RGO and ABPO community may have to migrate to
another type of host.

Pat

I looked around and found this page of newsgroup providers.
http://www.exit109.com/~jeremy/news/...providers.html

I thought they were cheaper than this, but I guess my idea of pricing has to
move into the 21st Century. Now that I understand people pay annually I'll
try to stay on topic, LOL!

K Barrett

"Pat Brennan" wrote in message
ng.com...
I have always thought RGO would flow better if you could post pictures to
it. Besides Mick, the problem is a lot of the news servers strip binaries
posted to non binaries groups. I do not know many do it, but I think it is
currently a fair percent and growing. A year and a half ago my ISP stopped
all newsgroup service. My ISP which is the local phone company is the only
option for DSL in the county and in addition the phone company makes it
very hard for other companies to even offer dialup across its lines.
Switching ISP was not an option. I tried various free news server options
and was not happy with any. I ended paying for the service and have been
very happy with the service. They bill my credit card once a year so I
only get ****ed once a year. All and all I think news groups are a thing
of the past, unless you want to download music, movies, porn, or orchid
stuff. At some point the RGO and ABPO community may have to migrate to
another type of host.

Pat

You can easily create a Google group and you can post images to them now, a
friend just created one that I joined and you can either follow it on the
group site or receive new posts in email. I am reading mine in gmail on the
web to keep it separate from my regular email, but you can use any email
address. The image appears as a thumbnail in the message and when you click
View you get it full sized. I've always hated web based groups but must say
this works quite well.

tbell wrote:
| On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:33:38 -0700, Ray B wrote
| (in article S4W5k.6520$Mu.6482@trndny07):
|
|
| I pay for Giganews, but appreciate the squeeze that others are in.
|
| I think the suggestion of starting a new photo group within one of the
| "Big 8" titles is reasonable if its possible. Where do you find out
| about the limits on a binary group?
|
| The idea of posting to a website, and posting the URL to RGO is a
| possibility, but I suspect a lot of folks would be unwilling/unable to
| establish their own websites, and that would make commentary pretty
| cumbersome.
|
| So let's have some more information and ideas from you young squirts
| who know computing inside and out.
|
| Tom