Voice from the past

On Sep 9, 5:30*am, Martin Brown
wrote:
On 08/09/2012 21:10, Jan Owen wrote:

It's been a long time, but I thought I'd just drop in here, & see how many of the old gang are still around... *I never intended to leave SAA; but my ISP dropped newsgroups, and I didn't really try hard enough to find alternative ways to get back on board... *I'm just as involved in amateur astronomy as ever; just in somewhat more isolation than when on SAA. *Sure miss those old days...

Hi Jan. Long time no see. Afraid there isn't all that much left here.
Many have drifted off to mail lists where there is better signal to
noise. You can find free or nearly free Usenet servers like AOIE and
Teranews (one time $5 fee) which is what I use for Usenet these days.

A few groups still have useful content if you killfile the kooks,
nutters and adverts for fake Gucci shoes, Solution Manuals etc.

I don't think you can filter on Google groups though - and they are in
fact one of the main perpetrators of spam abuse against usenet

You were lucky to miss the Hipcryme flooding

It is still occurring, only in the form of posts from ChrisB.

On Sunday, September 9, 2012 2:30:06 AM UTC-7, Martin Brown wrote:
On 08/09/2012 21:10, Jan Owen wrote:



It's been a long time, but I thought I'd just drop in here, & see how many of the old gang are still around... I never intended to leave SAA; but my ISP dropped newsgroups, and I didn't really try hard enough to find alternative ways to get back on board... I'm just as involved in amateur astronomy as ever; just in somewhat more isolation than when on SAA. Sure miss those old days...



Hi Jan. Long time no see. Afraid there isn't all that much left here.

Many have drifted off to mail lists where there is better signal to

noise. You can find free or nearly free Usenet servers like AOIE and

Teranews (one time $5 fee) which is what I use for Usenet these days.



A few groups still have useful content if you killfile the kooks,

nutters and adverts for fake Gucci shoes, Solution Manuals etc.



I don't think you can filter on Google groups though - and they are in

fact one of the main perpetrators of spam abuse against usenet



You were lucky to miss the Hipcryme flooding and gratuitous persecution

of Starlord - that was a real low point here.



--

Regards,

Martin Brown

Hi, Martin!

Nice to hear from you...

I didn't really miss the persecution of Starlord. That started before Cox pulled the plug... Last I'm aware of was that he'd had a stroke or something along those lines, and had been hospitalized, then was in a nursing home getting over it... He made a couple posts after that, but they were difficult to translate. Part of his rehabilitation process, I suppose... And then Cox pulled the plug.

I'll have to get the lay of the land again, before I'll feel really back in touch here. I'm active on Yahoo & CN, so I still see & communicate with several of the old gang there...

On Saturday, September 8, 2012 5:54:20 PM UTC-7, Davoud wrote:
Jan Owen:

It's been a long time, but I thought I'd just drop in here, & see how many of

the old gang are still around... I never intended to leave SAA; but my ISP

dropped newsgroups, and I didn't really try hard enough to find alternative

ways to get back on board... I'm just as involved in amateur astronomy as

ever; just in somewhat more isolation than when on SAA. Sure miss those old

days...



Nice to "see" you.



For better or worse, I'm still here, more as a lurker than as poster

these days. I've got the flat-earth/geocentric Solar System/human

fossils-on-Mars psychopaths kill-filed, so I see very little traffic.

The problem is that too many of the good and knowledgable folks cannot

resist responding over and over again to the nut cases as if a rational

explanation were a magical cure for a psychosis.



I also don't post so often any more because if one says something

offensive or controversial such as "My, isn't this a lovely day. I hope

you enjoy it and may all your skies be clear," one will come under

relentless attack and receive elegant mathematical proofs that this not

a lovely day, and, in fact, it is the kind of day that only an idiot

like me could enjoy.



If I post a link to an astrophoto that I have made someone who doesn't

know a filter wheel from a Barlow lens will be quick to inform me that

it is the worst astrophoto that ever could be, even though someone said

the same thing about my last astrophoto. So I don't do that anymore,

either.



In fact, even though climate change is a hoax, and the climate in the

Mid-Atlantic states has not changed in the 6,000-year history of the

Universe, /something/ is taking away my clear nights and I haven't even

made a night-time astrophoto in about a year. I blame the /perceived/

change on gay marriage and women having the right to vote.



I would venture to guess that you will disappear again for your own

good, and continue to remember the good old days.



--

I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that

you will say in your entire life.



usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

Great hearing from you, Davoud!

Yep! Sounds pretty much like I never left... Some of the names have changed, but it seems like the overall complexion hasn't changed that much, other than there seems to be less Astronomy, here than before (though I did just go through a current thread where, as in the past, folks were giving generally good advice to a newcomer, which is as it should be, so there is still some of the good stuff here)...

On Saturday, September 8, 2012 10:20:05 PM UTC-7, Paul Schlyter wrote:
On Sat, 8 Sep 2012 13:10:48 -0700 (PDT), Jan Owen

wrote:

It's been a long time, but I thought I'd just drop in here, & see

how many =

of the old gang are still around... I never intended to leave SAA;

but my =

ISP dropped newsgroups, and I didn't really try hard enough to find

alterna=

tive ways to get back on board... I'm just as involved in amateur

astronom=

y as ever; just in somewhat more isolation than when on SAA. Sure

miss tho=

se old days...



Welcome back, Jan !!

Thanks, Paul!!! Nice to be back!!!

On Saturday, September 8, 2012 5:47:29 PM UTC-7, Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:
Τη ΚυÏ�ιακή, 9 ΣεπτεμβÏ�ίου 2012 12:12:14 Ï€..μ. UTC+3, ο χÏ�ήστης Jan Owen Î*γÏ�αψε:

On Saturday, September 8, 2012 1:12:59 PM UTC-7, Sam Wormley wrote:



On 9/8/12 3:10 PM, Jan Owen wrote:







It's been a long time, but I thought I'd just drop in here, & see how many of the old gang are still around... I never intended to leave SAA; but my ISP dropped newsgroups, and I didn't really try hard enough to find alternative ways to get back on board... I'm just as involved in amateur astronomy as ever; just in somewhat more isolation than when on SAA. Sure miss those old days...























Good to hear from you, Jan!







-Sam







Nice to be here again...







Jan Owen



Hehehe, small world ... Jan is back!!!



Good to hear from you. Tomorrow I will post some really neat delta-Scuti variables and eclipsing binaries.



Anthony.

Thanks! Looking forward to digesting your new post!!!

On Saturday, September 8, 2012 1:12:59 PM UTC-7, Sam Wormley wrote:
On 9/8/12 3:10 PM, Jan Owen wrote:

It's been a long time, but I thought I'd just drop in here, & see how many of the old gang are still around... I never intended to leave SAA; but my ISP dropped newsgroups, and I didn't really try hard enough to find alternative ways to get back on board... I'm just as involved in amateur astronomy as ever; just in somewhat more isolation than when on SAA. Sure miss those old days...





Good to hear from you, Jan!

-Sam

Thanks, Sam!

As always glad to hear from you!!! Glad you're still here!!!

On Sunday, September 9, 2012 3:43:14 PM UTC+2,an anonymous coward wrote:

It is still occurring, only in the form of posts from ChrisB.

While the trolls continue to dominate every thread I see no harm in bringing a little humour to the tedium of their endless repetition. Those who don't care for my humour, or troll teasing agenda, have kill-filed me already. Your anxiety suggests that you are still reading my posts. Why? Do you have a reading compulsion? Why not do some active astronomy? Instead of hanging around here. Hoping to be irritated by me.

On Sunday, September 9, 2012 2:23:33 PM UTC-7, Chris.B wrote:
On Sunday, September 9, 2012 3:43:14 PM UTC+2,an anonymous coward wrote:



It is still occurring, only in the form of posts from ChrisB.



While the trolls continue to dominate every thread I see no harm in bringing a little humour to the tedium of their endless repetition. Those who don't care for my humour, or troll teasing agenda, have kill-filed me already.. Your anxiety suggests that you are still reading my posts. Why? Do you have a reading compulsion? Why not do some active astronomy? Instead of hanging around here. Hoping to be irritated by me.

No anxiety here... I'll do what I please. You do the same! I learned HERE on SAA, LONG ago, to ignore trolls. No need to killfile them...

On Sunday, September 9, 2012 2:23:33 PM UTC-7, Chris.B wrote:
On Sunday, September 9, 2012 3:43:14 PM UTC+2,an anonymous coward wrote:



It is still occurring, only in the form of posts from ChrisB.



While the trolls continue to dominate every thread I see no harm in bringing a little humour to the tedium of their endless repetition. Those who don't care for my humour, or troll teasing agenda, have kill-filed me already.. Your anxiety suggests that you are still reading my posts. Why? Do you have a reading compulsion? Why not do some active astronomy? Instead of hanging around here. Hoping to be irritated by me.

Probably should have mentioned it, but I probably do more active observing today than ever before in the past...

I don't have all the same telescopes as in the old days; some of them are the same, and others have been replaced.

I have a bad back, so over time, I've gotten rid of my over 20" scopes, down to a maximum of 12" once again.

Given my back, and further work to make better use of smaller scopes, my inventory has shrunk somewhat, but the quality continues to average upwards, so viewing is certainly still enjoyable to say the least...

On Saturday, September 8, 2012 3:10:49 PM UTC-5, Jan Owen wrote:
It's been a long time, but I thought I'd just drop in here, & see how many of the old gang are still around... I never intended to leave SAA; but my ISP dropped newsgroups, and I didn't really try hard enough to find alternative ways to get back on board... I'm just as involved in amateur astronomy as ever; just in somewhat more isolation than when on SAA. Sure miss those old days...

JAN!!! Nice to hear from you again! I stop in now and then. I wish more of the old crew would come back. I always liked the simplicity of SAA over all the more organized, compartmentalized, groups.
Marty