At what point do the amateur astronomers here give up?

There is so little astronomy being posted to this group that I am
starting to wonder if there is any point continuing to post here.

Although the number of hits per day on my web site continues to climb
the percentage of hits that come via Google groups has declined quite
steeply in recent weeks. Perhaps amateur astronomers are moving away
from the unmoderated mess that Google groups has become?

Martin Nicholson
Daventry, UK

In message
,
ukastronomy writes
There is so little astronomy being posted to this group that I am
starting to wonder if there is any point continuing to post here.

Although the number of hits per day on my web site continues to climb
the percentage of hits that come via Google groups has declined quite
steeply in recent weeks. Perhaps amateur astronomers are moving away
from the unmoderated mess that Google groups has become?

Martin Nicholson
Daventry, UK
Well, for a start it's usenet, not google groups - that's just a (very
poor IMO) method of accessing usenet. With a proper news server and
client you can set up appropriate kill-files so you don't see the spam -
I only see 1 or 2 spam postings per day on this newsgroup at the most,
more often only on-topic postings are received. I'd agree that there's
not been a lot of activity recently - but then the weather's been
generally very poor for observing so maybe that's got something to do
with it?

Will
--
e-mail news dot will at lancre dot net
'98 300Tdi Defender 110 CSW, 1/12th NB Sometimes
PGP Fingerprint E089 1736 A023 9E5C AFA3 0B40 E5DC D80A 9E1F D521
Public key can be obtained from ldap://certserver.pgp.com

In article , Will Wilkinson
writes
In message
,
ukastronomy writes
There is so little astronomy being posted to this group that I am
starting to wonder if there is any point continuing to post here.

Although the number of hits per day on my web site continues to climb
the percentage of hits that come via Google groups has declined quite
steeply in recent weeks. Perhaps amateur astronomers are moving away
from the unmoderated mess that Google groups has become?

Martin Nicholson
Daventry, UK
Well, for a start it's usenet, not google groups - that's just a (very
poor IMO) method of accessing usenet. With a proper news server and
client you can set up appropriate kill-files so you don't see the spam
- I only see 1 or 2 spam postings per day on this newsgroup at the
most, more often only on-topic postings are received. I'd agree that
there's not been a lot of activity recently - but then the weather's
been generally very poor for observing so maybe that's got something to
do with it?

I agree with you Will... Using a proper client like Turnpike to read
Usenet is invaluable... and it doesn't take a lot to learn how to
kill-file.

The only other reason that I can think of, apart from poor weather
depressing activity, is that there could be some good forums that are
taking people's attention away from Usenet.

Best wishes,
--
Wendy Tinley

http://www.theigloo.co.uk/

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:04:54 +0100, Wendy Tinley wrote:
In article , Will Wilkinson
writes
In message
,
ukastronomy writes
There is so little astronomy being posted to this group that I am
starting to wonder if there is any point continuing to post here.

snip

Well, for a start it's usenet, not google groups - that's just a (very
poor IMO) method of accessing usenet. With a proper news server and
client you can set up appropriate kill-files so you don't see the spam

snippety snip

I agree with you Will... Using a proper client like Turnpike to read
Usenet is invaluable... and it doesn't take a lot to learn how to
kill-file.

The only other reason that I can think of, apart from poor weather
depressing activity, is that there could be some good forums that are
taking people's attention away from Usenet.

This ng has never attracted much in the way of on topic posts.
Although it seems to have avoided most of the nutters that other astro
ng's get. maybe because of the low volumes?

AFAICS the dedicated forums are the main seat of activity these days.

Pete

--
.................................................. .........................
.. never trust a man who, when left alone ...... Pete Lynch .
.. in a room with a tea cosy ...... Marlow, England .
.. doesn't try it on (Billy Connolly) .....................................

Pe
This ng has never attracted much in the way of on topic posts.
Although it seems to have avoided most of the nutters that other astro
ng's get. maybe because of the low volumes?

AFAICS the dedicated forums are the main seat of activity these days.

Pete


Such as?
mikej

"Mike James" wrote in message
. uk...
Pe
This ng has never attracted much in the way of on topic posts.
Although it seems to have avoided most of the nutters that other astro
ng's get. maybe because of the low volumes?

AFAICS the dedicated forums are the main seat of activity these days.

Pete


Such as?
mikej

http://forum.skyatnightmagazine.com/
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/

ukastronomy wrote in news:ab7fabea-
:

There is so little astronomy being posted to this group that I am
starting to wonder if there is any point continuing to post here.

Although the number of hits per day on my web site continues to climb
the percentage of hits that come via Google groups has declined quite
steeply in recent weeks. Perhaps amateur astronomers are moving away
from the unmoderated mess that Google groups has become?

Newsgroups have been around for a good few years, and as long as I can
remember, there has always been someone trying to either organise them or
attract people away from them to a "better format", such as a website or
online forum.

And yet newsgroups are still around... funny that!

For many of us, newsgroups are still a source of useful and interesting
information.

I dip into the group every so often, and thanks to my news-reader I can
simply start reading from where I left off last time.

As others have pointed out, Google Groups is fine if you are trying to
*search* for a specific posting; but for just following discussion, you
cannot beat a traditional news-reader, which can be used to easily filter
out stuff you don't want to see, and highlight stuff you want to read.

I don't see half the stuff I see people complaining about - in fact, the
only time I become aware of it is when people complain about it.

--
Chris
Minstrel's Hall of Filk - http://www.filklore.com/
Filklore Music Store - http://www.filklore.co.uk/
To contact me, please use form at http://www.filklore.com/contact.phtml

In message , Chris Malme
writes
ukastronomy wrote in news:ab7fabea-
:

There is so little astronomy being posted to this group that I am
starting to wonder if there is any point continuing to post here.

Although the number of hits per day on my web site continues to climb
the percentage of hits that come via Google groups has declined quite
steeply in recent weeks. Perhaps amateur astronomers are moving away
from the unmoderated mess that Google groups has become?

Newsgroups have been around for a good few years,

That's a bit of an understatement they predate the Internet.

B

--
Brian Howie

Brian Howie wrote in news:hRyZrtBY$eEIFw++@b-
howie.demon.co.uk:

In message , Chris Malme
writes
ukastronomy wrote in news:ab7fabea-
:

There is so little astronomy being posted to this group that I am
starting to wonder if there is any point continuing to post here.

Although the number of hits per day on my web site continues to climb
the percentage of hits that come via Google groups has declined quite
steeply in recent weeks. Perhaps amateur astronomers are moving away
from the unmoderated mess that Google groups has become?

Newsgroups have been around for a good few years,

That's a bit of an understatement they predate the Internet.

As do I, and - I suspect - you too.

Oh for the good old Fidonet Echo days!

--
Chris
Minstrel's Hall of Filk - http://www.filklore.com/
Filklore Music Store - http://www.filklore.co.uk/
To contact me, please use form at http://www.filklore.com/contact.phtml

"Chris Malme" wrote in message
...
Brian Howie wrote in news:hRyZrtBY$eEIFw++@b-
howie.demon.co.uk:


Oh for the good old Fidonet Echo days!

Ah yes....

I was 2:2503/503