PC-DOS 3.3

[Scott Stevens]

On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 23:07:24 +0000
Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Jim Leonard wrote:
> > Jules Richardson wrote:
> >> Google's usenet archive isn't what it once was though, now
> >that they  > obscure email addresses and only let you contact
> >authors through their  > site; if the author's using a
> >spam-trapped address or has changed  > address format (but is
> >still at the same location) then it's next to  > useless.
> > 
> > You can't view them directly, but if you click on Reply To
> > Author it  does get the email to them.
> 
> Even if they've used a munged email address, as most people
> posting to Usenet  do these days? I can't imagine teams of
> Google staff reading every single  message posted daily to
> Usenet and sanitising spam-trapped email addresses for  the
> purpose of their archives.
> 
> And what if you locate someone in a post from ten years back
> who's no longer  on that address? In the past, if the company
> was obvious in the email address,  I'd look up the company name
> and politely contact them to see if the person I  wanted to
> reach was still there but just on a different address. That's no
> 
> longer possible now either...
> 
> What bugs me is that Google have taken a useful archive and
> taken  functionality away from the user. It's either Google
> Groups and not linked to  Usenet, or it's a Usenet interface and
> should have the same functionality.
> 
> What *really* bugs me is that Google may well have the only copy
> of such a  historical archive of data, so it's not like you can
> even take your business  elsewhere to someone who understands
> the historical importance of such an  archive. If there was a
> choice, I'd send a polite email to Google saying why I  thought
> they were muppets, and just go and use someone who gave you
> actual  access to a Usenet archive rather than an abbreviated
> version of one.
> 

The current vogue is to love and admire Google.  Even though
they're gradually becoming the latest band of Madison Aveneuesque
businesspeople.