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Newzbin2 Closes For Good
AlphaWolf_HK writes "Newzbin2, one of the most recognized index sites for usenet, has closed for good. A statement reads: 'It is with regret that we announce the closure of Newzbin2. A combination of several factors has made this the only option. For a long time we have struggled with poor indexing of Usenet, poor numbers of reports caused by the majority of our editors dropping out & no-one replacing them. Our servers have been unstable and crashing on a regular basis meaning the NZBs & NFOs are unavailable for long periods and we don't have the money to replace them. To make things worse all our payment providers dropped out or started running scared. The MPA sued Paypal and are going at our innocent payment provider Kthxbai Ltd in the UK. Our other payment provider has understandably lost their nerve. Result? We have no more payment providers to offer & no realistic means of taking money (no, Bitcoin isn't credible as it's just too hard for 90% of people).'"
Reminds me of a tech certification exam, where sometimes the right answer is the overkill one.
1. Which of the following is a form of censorship*:
A) Noam Chomsky complaining to Larry King during his primetime show that a conservative conspiracy prevents him from having access to mainstream medias.
B) The Muslims of the Handschar units using mass murder as a way to eradicate the communist resistance against nazis in former Yugoslavia in the 40s.
C) Spencer Tracy winning an Oscar for his role in Inherit the Wind, a movie that makes fun of 44% of the American population (those who totally reject the Theory of Evolution, as opposed to the 39% accepting the Theory as long as it includes a mention of God being somehow involved and the 10% rejecting God's role altogether).
D) The Hamas launching 2,256 rockets at Israel in 2012, to an average cost of $800 per rocket, while complaining in complacent liberal medias that the Palestinian people is starving.
*While each and every one of these situations is biased towards a specific position, only one qualifies as censorship.
lucm, indeed.
Why not?
* In has a distribution model that's suited for extremely slow lines, and less suited for regular ones
* It has virtually no spam protection. This has been an issue for a long time.
* It's not extensible, it will not improve in these areas.
Other than being a single go-to place, what does Usenet really have over a good web forum these days? It's only nostalgia keeping it going. As long as it's archived (and Google's doing that, although their archiving in this area leaves a lot to be desired), little of value is lost. A few communities will have to move, that's about it.
xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.