Rand Simberg wrote:
On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:32:49 -0500, in a place far, far away, "Terrell
Miller" made the phosphor on my monitor glow
in such a way as to indicate that:

there used to be serious, thought-provoking content here. The hell
happened?!?

As I noted over at s.s.h, earlier, Usenet is dying.

It isn't dead yet, but it is certainly choking on the
troll and psyco far-off-topic posts that push out the
still useful messages made by still thoughtful people.
Recently, good alternative space discussion boards -
easier to use than Google's Usenet access - have
become available that squash the babble, though some
do it with an iron fist in a way that can be a bit unnerving.
(On one board, one off-topic post (as judged by one person
who probably doesn't live in your country even) can get you
banned for life by ISP number.) These are gradually
attracting more and more of the "thoughtful" people. But
I think they will continue to visit Usenet occasionally for
the very reason they hate it sometimes. Unfettered freedom.

- Ed Kyle