[Rod]

Earlier today I wrote (and posted) the post below. Unfortunately that
attempt failed - probably because of the very subject of the post! So,
as it seemed to be bad all day, I am still interested to know the
answer. Apologies if by some magic my original post also makes it here
eventually.

original post

I seem to be getting loads and loads of problems with n.i.n. today -
keeps timing out and failing to connect, etc. I have even (drum roll...)
rebooted my machine today in an effort to avoid/correct problems!

Is this widespread? Or am I suffering on my own? (Or - can I wait while
they sort it out or do I have to go off and find out what is wrong here?
:-) )

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

[Bob Eager]

On Sun, 9 Nov 2008 19:15:28 UTC, Rod wrote:

Earlier today I wrote (and posted) the post below. Unfortunately that
attempt failed - probably because of the very subject of the post! So,
as it seemed to be bad all day, I am still interested to know the
answer. Apologies if by some magic my original post also makes it here
eventually.

original post

I seem to be getting loads and loads of problems with n.i.n. today -
keeps timing out and failing to connect, etc. I have even (drum roll...)
rebooted my machine today in an effort to avoid/correct problems!

Is this widespread? Or am I suffering on my own? (Or - can I wait while
they sort it out or do I have to go off and find out what is wrong here?
:-) )

My newsreader seems to display more detailed information. I had a couple
of failures with n.i.n this afternoon, and the message sent by the
server was:

502 Temporary database problem. Please try again later.

(this is cut and pasted from my newsreader's logfile). Seems OK now.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

[[email protected]]

On Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:15:28 +0000, Rod
wrote:

Earlier today I wrote (and posted) the post below. Unfortunately that
attempt failed - probably because of the very subject of the post! So,
as it seemed to be bad all day, I am still interested to know the
answer. Apologies if by some magic my original post also makes it here
eventually.

original post

I seem to be getting loads and loads of problems with n.i.n. today -
keeps timing out and failing to connect, etc. I have even (drum roll...)
rebooted my machine today in an effort to avoid/correct problems!

Is this widespread? Or am I suffering on my own? (Or - can I wait while
they sort it out or do I have to go off and find out what is wrong here?
:-) )

I use them as well and it has been a bit erratic today .Sometimes it
seems to take a while to connect to the server . I also have Agent set
to send "keep alive" messages every so often and all day I have been
coming back to my PC to find a message saying it has been unable to
connect . It's usual this situation .

[Steve Walker]

Bob Eager wrote:


The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com



For my idle curiousity Bob, does diybanter respect your copyright embargo?

[R D S[_2_]]

IRod wrote:
Earlier today I wrote (and posted) the post below. Unfortunately that
attempt failed - probably because of the very subject of the post! So,
as it seemed to be bad all day, I am still interested to know the
answer. Apologies if by some magic my original post also makes it here
eventually.

original post

I seem to be getting loads and loads of problems with n.i.n. today -
keeps timing out and failing to connect, etc. I have even (drum roll...)
rebooted my machine today in an effort to avoid/correct problems!

Is this widespread? Or am I suffering on my own? (Or - can I wait while
they sort it out or do I have to go off and find out what is wrong here?
:-) )

I couldn't connect earlier so had a look on their website and there was
a notice about maintenance.
The notice has gone now so I guess they are done.

[Bob Eager]

On Sun, 9 Nov 2008 19:50:58 UTC, "Steve Walker"
wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:


The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

For my idle curiousity Bob, does diybanter respect your copyright embargo?

Nope. But at least a few of its denizens probably realise that diybanter
is nothing but a leech.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

[Steve Walker]

Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 9 Nov 2008 19:50:58 UTC, "Steve Walker"
wrote:
Bob Eager wrote:

The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

For my idle curiousity Bob, does diybanter respect your copyright
embargo?

Nope. But at least a few of its denizens probably realise that
diybanter is nothing but a leech.

Shame. Maybe we should organise a mass "sig month" campaign to take
advantage of their discourtesy? Agree a range of amusing slogans to
develop a warm rapport with them....

" There's a whole world outside diybanter - visit www.individual.net and
join usenet! "

" diybanter smells of poo, and it's users are mingers "

" if you like angle-grinders you're a real man, so why are you slumming it
in diybanter? "

" We are coming for you all one by one, diybanter scum. Click your little
Report As Inappropriate button, and learn too late that it cannot save
you... "

" diybanter proudly welcomes it's 1,000th member - Mr G Glitter "

" uk.diy thanks the proprietor of diybanter for stealing our knowledge and
hawking it to stupid people for a fast buck. "

" diybanter, sheltered sanctuary for the weak, stupid & despised of the
internet"

" Take the red pill, diybanter users - the real internet is waiting for you
"

" I am not an "external usenet poster" I am a free man (or woman, cat or
fish as applicable) "

" Warning - if you post a message to uk.diy through this site, it's marked
as coming from DIYbanter.com and automatically blocked or ignored by many
expert members. Visit www.individual.net and start an account today"

" diybanter - even less popular than Saniflo's "

[Rod]

R D S wrote:
IRod wrote:
Earlier today I wrote (and posted) the post below. Unfortunately that
attempt failed - probably because of the very subject of the post! So,
as it seemed to be bad all day, I am still interested to know the
answer. Apologies if by some magic my original post also makes it here
eventually.

original post

I seem to be getting loads and loads of problems with n.i.n. today -
keeps timing out and failing to connect, etc. I have even (drum
roll...) rebooted my machine today in an effort to avoid/correct
problems!

Is this widespread? Or am I suffering on my own? (Or - can I wait
while they sort it out or do I have to go off and find out what is
wrong here? :-) )

I couldn't connect earlier so had a look on their website and there was
a notice about maintenance.
The notice has gone now so I guess they are done.

Thanks all. Still getting the odd hiccup - but much better.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

[Bob Eager]

LOL!

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

[geoff]

In message , Rod
writes
Earlier today I wrote (and posted) the post below. Unfortunately that
attempt failed - probably because of the very subject of the post! So,
as it seemed to be bad all day, I am still interested to know the
answer. Apologies if by some magic my original post also makes it here
eventually.

original post

I seem to be getting loads and loads of problems with n.i.n. today -
keeps timing out and failing to connect, etc. I have even (drum
roll...) rebooted my machine today in an effort to avoid/correct
problems!

Is this widespread? Or am I suffering on my own? (Or - can I wait while
they sort it out or do I have to go off and find out what is wrong
here? :-) )

There have been reports elsewhere regarding problems with the german
server


--
geoff

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
Rod wrote:
Earlier today I wrote (and posted) the post below. Unfortunately that
attempt failed - probably because of the very subject of the post! So,
as it seemed to be bad all day, I am still interested to know the
answer. Apologies if by some magic my original post also makes it here
eventually.

original post

I seem to be getting loads and loads of problems with n.i.n. today -
keeps timing out and failing to connect, etc. I have even (drum roll...)
rebooted my machine today in an effort to avoid/correct problems!

Is this widespread? Or am I suffering on my own? (Or - can I wait while
they sort it out or do I have to go off and find out what is wrong here?
:-) )

Some ISPs are blocking all newsgroup access at some times of the day to
restrict usage. Seems strange given how little data text based ones use -
but this isn't the case with binaries. I've got 3 different news suppliers
here and they're all blocked when this happens. They seem not to be doing
it to all their customers at the same time either - just to confuse.

--
*It was all so different before everything changed.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Rod]

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Rod wrote:
Earlier today I wrote (and posted) the post below. Unfortunately that
attempt failed - probably because of the very subject of the post! So,
as it seemed to be bad all day, I am still interested to know the
answer. Apologies if by some magic my original post also makes it here
eventually.

original post

I seem to be getting loads and loads of problems with n.i.n. today -
keeps timing out and failing to connect, etc. I have even (drum roll...)
rebooted my machine today in an effort to avoid/correct problems!

Is this widespread? Or am I suffering on my own? (Or - can I wait while
they sort it out or do I have to go off and find out what is wrong here?
:-) )

Some ISPs are blocking all newsgroup access at some times of the day to
restrict usage. Seems strange given how little data text based ones use -
but this isn't the case with binaries. I've got 3 different news suppliers
here and they're all blocked when this happens. They seem not to be doing
it to all their customers at the same time either - just to confuse.

How exceedingly odd. My initial thought is that it is some form of
proection against avalanches of spam rather than reducing bandwidth
usage. But I try never to make assumptions regarding the ways of ISPs.

But I have noticed over the past days, maybe weeks, that there have been
much worse propagation delays from other ISPs than I had been used to.
Perhaps down to the same cause. (This is on a "how it feels" basis - no
proper analysis done!)

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

[Dave Liquorice[_2_]]

On 10 Nov 2008 09:47:52 GMT, Huge wrote:

I wonder if they do it by bandwidth? Once port 119 traffic goes over
'x', they traffic shape it? It defintiely isn't by time-of-day.

Probably and it will be different depending on where in their network you
are. Things like iPlayer have given the major ISPs a bit of a headache
regarding the expected capacity per customer. Over selling again, build a
business model and infrastruture based on long term average use per
customer of say 10kbps if that average suddenly leaps up to 1,000kbps you
have a problem...

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
Huge wrote:
On 2008-11-10, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Some ISPs

Tiscali.

Yes - I'm with Pipex which is owned by them. Although if this continues
I'll move when the contract is up. Of course some ISPs have removed news
access entirely. And I'm not going down the Google route.

are blocking all newsgroup access at some times of the day to restrict
usage. Seems strange given how little data text based ones use - but
this isn't the case with binaries.

That's why they do it - because the copyright thieves have spoiled it for
everyone.

I wonder why they don't just remove binary groups from those available?

I've got 3 different news suppliers
here and they're all blocked when this happens.

That's because they reconfigure their routers to drop traffic on port
119. It doesn't matter where it's going. Irritatingly, Tiscali drop
traffic on 8119, too, which NIN also listens on.

Thanks for adding to what I'd read.

They seem not to be doing
it to all their customers at the same time either - just to confuse.

I wonder if they do it by bandwidth? Once port 119 traffic goes over
'x', they traffic shape it? It defintiely isn't by time-of-day.

It is here. But not all the time. Had a week of no access between approx
1800 - 2400 followed by back to normal then another few days of the same.
At the moment it's normal. My email and news progs do auto fetches every
20 minutes while the machine is on. I'm not a heavy user and pretty well
never download large files, etc.

Seems so few use news these days that it's not a problem for most - and
therefore those ISPs won't miss the few customers who change because of
it. Allegedly.

--
*Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Rod]

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
snip

Seems so few use news these days that it's not a problem for most - and
therefore those ISPs won't miss the few customers who change because of
it. Allegedly.

Considering the online population has gone from a (relative) handful to
a large proportion of the country's population, you only need an
incredibly tiny percentage to use Usenet for the actual numbers to grow.
Is it really true that the absolute numbers are so small? (Genuinely
questioning - I don't know.)

Can't help wondering what would have happened if MS had put a halfway
decent newsreader in with Windows. And maybe some autoconfig doodah that
made connection settings automatic (or very nearly so).

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
Rod wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
snip

Seems so few use news these days that it's not a problem for most - and
therefore those ISPs won't miss the few customers who change because of
it. Allegedly.

Considering the online population has gone from a (relative) handful to
a large proportion of the country's population, you only need an
incredibly tiny percentage to use Usenet for the actual numbers to grow.
Is it really true that the absolute numbers are so small? (Genuinely
questioning - I don't know.)

I dunno either. Just reporting what I've seen from those more
knowledgeable than myself.

Can't help wondering what would have happened if MS had put a halfway
decent newsreader in with Windows. And maybe some autoconfig doodah that
made connection settings automatic (or very nearly so).

My guess is MS are very against any free service for the community such as
Usenet.

--
*If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Rod]

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Rod wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
snip
Seems so few use news these days that it's not a problem for most - and
therefore those ISPs won't miss the few customers who change because of
it. Allegedly.

Considering the online population has gone from a (relative) handful to
a large proportion of the country's population, you only need an
incredibly tiny percentage to use Usenet for the actual numbers to grow.
Is it really true that the absolute numbers are so small? (Genuinely
questioning - I don't know.)

I dunno either. Just reporting what I've seen from those more
knowledgeable than myself.

Can't help wondering what would have happened if MS had put a halfway
decent newsreader in with Windows. And maybe some autoconfig doodah that
made connection settings automatic (or very nearly so).

My guess is MS are very against any free service for the community such as
Usenet.

Which makes it all the more ironic that their own newsgroups are much
easier and better read through NNTP than any interface they have dreamt
up for web-type access. But I agree. Probably mostly a case of control
rather than price...

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

[Mike Tomlinson[_2_]]

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes

My guess is MS are very against any free service for the community such as
Usenet.

I'd agree. They can't even be bothered to properly maintain Hotmail and
Messenger.

[Rod]

Mike Tomlinson wrote:
In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes

My guess is MS are very against any free service for the community such as
Usenet.

I'd agree. They can't even be bothered to properly maintain Hotmail and
Messenger.

Any good alternatives for Messenger? A while ago I tried several things
- all were yucky. Partner uses Adium on her Mac - much nicer although it
connects to MSN...

Actually - the optimum would be something that knows whether it needs to
go outside the building or not! We have neat local message software -
but that is PC-only so has fallen into disuse. 'Twould be so nice to use
one application inside or out (automatically detecting which it needed
to do), on Mac or PC. The *only* fancy feature we want is to be able to
send messages when the other is not connected - and pick them up when
next both are connected.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

[dennis@home]

"Mike Tomlinson" wrote in message
...
In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes

My guess is MS are very against any free service for the community such as
Usenet.

I'd agree. They can't even be bothered to properly maintain Hotmail and
Messenger.


That's because they have been replaced with windows live mail.
Try downloading it and use that.

http://get.live.com

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Rod saying
something like:

Any good alternatives for Messenger?

I used Trillium, which gives a front panel for several messaging
services, so you can set any of them up.

[Colin Wilson]

Some ISPs
Tiscali.
Yes - I'm with Pipex which is owned by them. Although if this continues
I'll move when the contract is up.

Exactly the same problem for me with Pipex just under two years ago -
NIN was taking 15-20 mins to download headers for my subscribed
groups, and a single message could take 5 mins to download. They
ignored the support request, and I ditched them less than two months
later.

If you have Sky, and are on an LLU'd exchange* (samknows.com can tell
you) - don't walk away from Tiscali, RUN LIKE FSCK !

* non-LLU'd exchanges use a "bought in" service which isn't that good
apparently.

[Colin Wilson]

The *only* fancy feature we want is to be able to send messages
when the other is not connected - and pick them up when next
both are connected.

Skype does that for free.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
Huge wrote:
Exactly the same problem for me with Pipex just under two years ago -
NIN was taking 15-20 mins to download headers for my subscribed
groups, and a single message could take 5 mins to download. They
ignored the support request, and I ditched them less than two months
later.

Actually, once the traffic shaping cuts in, you can't access any news
server at all. A "telnet news.individual.net 119" hangs indefinitely.

Unfortunately, my Tiscali connection is provided by work. I've been
trying, unsuccessfully, to have the traffic shaping removed for 2 years
now.

Interesting. Only experienced it here a few weeks back. And I'm not one
who only uses it at fixed times of the day or week.

--
*Born free...Taxed to death.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Rod]

Colin Wilson wrote:
The *only* fancy feature we want is to be able to send messages
when the other is not connected - and pick them up when next
both are connected.

Skype does that for free.

Never thought of Skype, will look.

Can't remember why Trillium wasn't acceptable when I last looked - but
will look again, thanks, GC.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

[Mike Tomlinson[_2_]]

In article , Huge
writes

Actually, once the traffic shaping cuts in, you can't access any news server at
all. A "telnet news.individual.net 119" hangs indefinitely.

Unfortunately, my Tiscali connection is provided by work. I've been trying,
unsuccessfully, to have the traffic shaping removed for 2 years now.

Interesting. I use Tiscali and motzarella.org and have not had any
problems. Very, very occasionally (once every *mumble* weeks) the
connection to the server will appear to hang mid-session, but the same
setup (client and server) also hangs very occasionally at work, so I
don't think it's Tiscali. The connection is 24/7 with news being
fetched every 10 minutes.

P2P is a different story. I used to have no problems using it to
collect TV programmes I'd missed, but in the last 2 weeks or so I've
noticed it doesn't work in the evenings (can't find any servers to
connect to.) Try again after 8-ish in the morning and it's ok.

I'll jump when my contract's up, especially as Tiscali has just been
sold to the Evil Empire (aka Murdoch).

[Mike Tomlinson]

In article , dennis@home
writes

That's because they have been replaced with windows live mail.

And that's gonna be an improvement?

BTW: go to MSN UK homepage and try and find an update for Messenger.
You don't get directed to Live!, just go round and round in circles on
some silly charity thing called I'm.

--
(\__/) Bunny says NO to Windows Vista!
(='.'=) http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut00...ista_cost.html
(")_(") http://www.cypherpunks.to/~peter/vista.pdf