dclaryjr

I figure with the over 50 crowd, I probably have some company here. I was a die-hard Usenet fanatic for years (first post in '89)--spending hours a night rec.bicycles racing, rec.sport.golf, and several others. I slammed web based forums as being for people who didn't know or understand what a real newsreader was. But after years of filling up my copy of Agent with a gazillion filters in an attempt to avoid the spammers and trolls, I've just about given up. I'm glad I found this site--lots of good, on topic, discussion, and some entertaining off-topic banter that doesn't get into personal attacks. I feel I've found a home!!

DnvrFox

Yep - I go back on USENET to 1998 and before USENET, when we just dialed in by phone to a particular BB.

rec.bicycles.rides
rec.bicycles.technical (or something like that)
rec.bicycle.misc

Have argued with Jobst Brandt, and seen a zillion spammers who got their jollies off of unmoderated forums.

I'll check Google groups and see if I can find my first post.

Here is my first post on rec.bicycles.ride

First "big" ride Denver Fox d...@csn.net rec bicycles misc rec bicycles rides rec bicycles soc
There are some really good training suggestions on https://www.ridetherockies.com
under "training" K. Vern Faulkner wrote in message <368a7f3...@news.victoria.tc.
ca>... crash (2goodd...@msn.com) wrote: I'm about to enter my first 300 mile ...
Dec 30 1998 by Denver Fox - 14 messages - 11 authors

and my first post on rec.bicycles.misc

sports drinks and cramps ... ride I have a hard time tolerating gatorade. My MD says mix a pinch of
Bicarb of Soda, a pinch of salt and a little sugar, put it in you bottle of H2O,
and it will do the same as Gatorade, without the sickeningly sweet taste. Anyone
ever try this? Check out our Colorado rental condo at https://www.sni.net/~dfox.
Jun 5 1999 by DnvrFox - 18 messages - 11 authors

zacster

I haven't been on usenet in about 5 years, and I never did anything bike related on it. Once I started using web forums, Usenet seemed so clunky.

Tom Bombadil

I can't remember if I first used USENET in '87 or '89, but it was around that time period. Mainly in the baseball, college football, music, and audiophile groups. Quit using it around 2005. Never accessed the bicycling groups.

BluesDawg

Years ago I loved to read rec.bicycles.tech to get bike repair tips and to see Jobst Brandt argue with everyone about everything. I downloaded many a song from the binary groups.

Can't say that I miss the days of monkeying with Free Agent. Forums are so much easier.

buddyp

I used to use usenet when it was still mainly carried over uucp. I was dftsrv!robots!nnjkg back then, for folks that remember bang paths. The first newsgroup I read was rec.music.gdead. The oldest post I could find was from 1990 but I'm pretty sure I was usenetting long before that. Perhaps thats prehistory for usenet?

Around 1995 I ran what was the largest newsfeed in the world at that time. It saturated several T3s, which was the fattest pipe you could buy back then. I kinda lost interest in usenet after that

Robert Foster

I will not admit to it. I don't even know what FTP is or stands for.

JBHoren

1988 -- a work-account, in Israel (R&D center for a Silicon Valley start-up); late-night UUCP. Continued work-accounts in Israel, until 1995, when I went to work at Tel-Aviv University. My domain remains in Israel -- horen.org.il, even though I returned to the US in June 2004.

My earliest USENET newsgroups were ones oriented toward UNIX systems administration, and there were the requisite SUNOS and related newsgroups. IIRC, I only stopped reading USENET news when I returned Stateside.

Who remembers UUNET?

Artkansas 

I got started on CompuServe. I mostly hung around the 3DStudio and classic car forums back then. I still have a copy of the email from Lee Holman telling me how to set up my falcon for heavy duty racing. When I quit CompuServe, the person signing me out couldn't believe how low my number was. But it was time for the real Internet.

I sometimes showed up on rec.bicycle.misc as well. The flames aren't quite so strong here on bikeforums. That's why I stayed.

Crank57

Yeah, I was a Compuserve junkie as well. Think my number was 725 or something like that.

Beverly

I was on Usenet back in the late 90's. I read the bike newsgroups but seldom participated. I stuck to other groups related to computers and diet. Usenet was where I first met the Historian.

There were always trolls but the groups seemed to get over run by them in the last few years. I much prefer forums such as this one.

Trsnrtr

I also started on Usenet in May of 1990 when I scored an internet account at a local college. My son also ran a Fidonet node from our house. All night long, you could hear modem connect noises coming from the basement.

RonH

I got out of usenet and listserv in the mid-90s. Not even sure if I remember how it works.

Glades2

I never used it, but, others in the office did - it would take two or three days for a message to be delivered, especially if it was to another country...

How times have changed - granted, my birth certificate was signed with an inkwell pen, so, way too much change in my own lifetime...

I miss the old days...

BengeBoy 

Back in usenet's heyday I was using Prodigy instead....

DnvrFox

It's still there. You can access it through Google Groups.

gear

I did usenet. I also used archie and gopher at one time.

Ken Brown

I miss usenet. My ISP stopped carrying it in January, 2006; at least that is my last message in rec.bicycles.rides. I haven't had the heart to delete my copy of Free Agent. My first saved message is October 1, 1996, a ride report by Marc Medrick in the Hudson River valley.

I heard about this forum because of a post by Dnvrfox on rec.bicycles.rides.

BlazingPedals

I used to participate in alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent, but that was in the days before a couple of trolls took it over. I occasionally go back to see if things have gotten any better, but they never will. I haven't posted there in untold years. The main troll has taken up residence like a boulder in the middle of the road, spewing his brand of philosophy in response to any poster, and in monologues if there's nobody else posting; and nothing short of death will dislodge him.

Moderated forums are definitely a Good Thing(tm)!

RonH

Don't use google except to access the online work calendar.
I belong to a few Yahoo groups. Is that usenet?

DnvrFox

Nope.

Here is a link to rec.bicycles.misc

https://groups.google.com/group/rec.b...pics?hl=en&lnk

It is mostly spam and some guy who calls himself Ed Dolan the Great and who totally dominates the board with his never-ending drivel. Lots of condom ads, also.

It is a shame.

I suppose you could substitute tech, rides, etc., for misc and get into the groups that way. Don't know - I haven't tried it.

All USENET groups were assumed by Google.

dclaryjr

"Assumed" implies some kind of ownership. They archive and provide a pathway for the newserver-challenged individuals to post, but they don't have any control over it. You can say, however, that they assumed the old "Deja News" service.

DnvrFox

Whatever. Is that important to know?

dclaryjr

Yep, I was in ARBR as well (of Texas P-38 Squadron fame). The aforementioned troll has also established a foot hold in rec.bicycles.misc -- one of the last groups I still monitor but rarely post.

LarryMelman

Yes. To even make that statement shows that you don't understand how Usenet works.

To throw in my two cents, Usenet was a great place to be back when you had to be somewhat computer literate to use it. It was very self-policing in that respect. In about 1995-96, when AOL opened an interface for its users, every housewife and nimrod out there jumped in and it all fell apart.