From: justisaur@yahoo.com   
      
   On 12/17/2023 6:59 AM, Richard Silk wrote:   
   > I just got this notification in my browser window:   
   >   
   > Effective February 15, 2024, Google Groups will no longer support new Usenet   
   content. Posting and subscribing will be disallowed, and new content from   
   Usenet peers will not appear. Viewing and searching of historical data will   
   still be supported as it    
   is done today.   
   >   
   > Now, to be clear, "Google Groups" is only *one* way of accessing alt.dreams   
   (or alt.anything, for that matter) as it is, fundamentally, a USENET function   
   of the *backbone* of the Internet.  As to what the notice means by "will no   
   longer support new    
   Usenet content" is slightly ambiguous, but the *worst case scenario* is that   
   it *may* preclude posting in alt.dreams (or alt.anything) as has been done in   
   the past.   
   >   
   > Even my old "Outlook Express" email program back on my Windows XP system has   
   USENET functionality to it.  I will start looking into that and see if I can   
   *recall* how to fish out *free* USENET access.   
      
   news.eternal-september.org   
      
   I'm using Thunderbird to access it.  I've read of it appearing to send   
   and losing the post.  I haven't had that yet and some people report it's   
   never happened to them, but sometimes it fails to post once and pops up   
   a 'lost connection' error, then works clicking the send button again   
   'getting messages' right before sending seems to avoid that.  One time   
   it did nothing when clicking send and I had to close and restart it   
   before it would send.   
      
   Forte' Agent is the gold standard for windows, but it's a one time fee   
   of $30.  I'll do that if Thunderbird turns out to be too annoying.   
   There's other ones for linux and mac that seem well loved that are free.   
      
   On the plus side of going back to a newsreader it's a lot easier to keep   
   up on multiple groups than it was in GG.   
      
   If you need to access it via web there's some web server-clients, but   
   they cost between $5-$10 a month and seem to target people who like to   
   download binaries.  There's a couple free web clients, but I haven't   
   figured out how to get an account and actually post, and it appears they   
   haven't been supported for upward of 8 years.  I'm still investigating,   
   if I find anything that works I'll try to remember to post here.   
      
      
   --   
   -Justisaur   
      
     ø-ø   
   (\_/)\   
     `-'\ `--.___,   
      ¶¬'\( ,_.-'   
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)