Bill, I agree with you on this. And no, I'm not suggesting that
everyone use Google Groups. I only use it because it's the most
convenient way for me to access Usenet at work behind the various
service restrictions here. At home I use MT-NewsWatcher on OS X.

My objection to posts like Dave Hinz's above is not so much that he's
spreading misinformation, but that he jumped into this discussion
thread with no advice on Boston area aluminum weldors. He could plainly
see the title of my post, and if he was not interested or too lazy to
type a keystroke to see what I was replying to, he should have moved on
without comment. I asked a simple on-topic question and was not looking
for a discussion on the best newsreader, quoting habits, top-posting,
etc.

Furthermore, a quick Google query on "Dave Hinz" shows that he likes to
derail good discussions with this kind of behavior in all different
usenet groups, just to re-read his own opinions. It seems he's even got
something of a usenet celebrity troll status for being the world's
stupidest self-appointed netcop.

-Adam (13-year usenet veteran)