Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
settings or done something else just as bad.

I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?

TIA
sf

sf wrote:
> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
> settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
> has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>
> TIA
> sf

I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.

On May 18, 11:11*am, sf > wrote:
> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> moment? *I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> minutes so far. *Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> but did on retry. *Does anyone know what's going on? *I hate to talk
> to them because they act like it's my fault. *They assume I've changed
> settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
> has put them offline? *We fight them in our own way, but can you
> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>
> TIA
> sf

You're not alone. After umpteen messages that "480 authentication" was
required, I finally got to Comcast and learned that "the server that
authenticates is currently down".

Never thought I'd be posting from Google!

Felice

On May 18, 7:01*pm, Felice > wrote:
> On May 18, 11:11*am, sf > wrote:
>
> > Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> > moment? *I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> > minutes so far. *Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> > but did on retry. *Does anyone know what's going on? *I hate to talk
> > to them because they act like it's my fault. *They assume I've changed
> > settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> > I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
> > has put them offline? *We fight them in our own way, but can you
> > imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>
> > TIA
> > sf
>
> You're not alone. After umpteen messages that "480 authentication" was
> required, I finally got to Comcast and learned that "the server that
> authenticates is currently down".
>
> Never thought I'd be posting from Google!
>
> Felice


Ditto here! Haven't been able to connect to Usenet via OE (Comcast)
all day. I HATE having to use Google, but here I am...

Mary (a.k.a. MareCat--since I can't figure out how to get my username
to show up)

Goomba wrote:

> sf wrote:
>> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
>> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
>> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
>> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
>> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
>> settings or done something else just as bad.
>>
>> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
>> has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
>> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>>
>> TIA
>> sf
>
> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.

For the record, my primary is http://news.individual.net (10 euros (about
$14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.

Two other good freebies are http://news.motzarella.org and
http://news.datemas.de -- but the only GG-killer I know of is the one in
my sig. (For datemas, ignore the "temporarily suspended" note.)


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
NEW --> Now evaluating a GG-free news feed: http://usenet4all.se

Blinky the Shark wrote:
> Goomba wrote:

>> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
>> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
>> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>
> For the record, my primary is http://news.individual.net (10 euros (about
> $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
> excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
> in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>
Yes, I signed up with individual.net
So far so good!

On May 19, 2:47 am, Goomba > wrote:
> Blinky the Shark wrote:
> > Goomba wrote:
> >> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
> >> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
> >> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>
> > For the record, my primary ishttp://news.individual.net(10 euros (about
> > $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
> > excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
> > in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>
> Yes, I signed up with individual.net
> So far so good!


I raised hell with comcast. They seem to have no idea what usenet is
and I keep telling them what the problem is and they feign ignorance.

I'm not going to pay a month of comcast. **** the bozos! They couldn't
even find giganew's phone number.

Comast constructed the tallest building in Philadelphia and in fact
all of Pennsylvania. I hope if falls over!

Andy

On May 19, 4:02 am, wrote:
> On May 19, 2:47 am, Goomba > wrote:
>
> > Blinky the Shark wrote:
> > > Goomba wrote:
> > >> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
> > >> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
> > >> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>
> > > For the record, my primary ishttp://news.individual.net(10euros (about
> > > $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
> > > excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
> > > in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>
> > Yes, I signed up with individual.net
> > So far so good!
>
> I raised hell with comcast. They seem to have no idea what usenet is
> and I keep telling them what the problem is and they feign ignorance.
>
> I'm not going to pay a month of comcast. **** the bozos! They couldn't
> even find giganew's phone number.
>
> Comast constructed the tallest building in Philadelphia and in fact
> all of Pennsylvania. I hope if falls over!
>
> Andy

And goodle groups are about as awkward as shitting in the woods with
tree bark for, you know.

Andy

On May 18, 7:01 pm, Felice > wrote:
> On May 18, 11:11 am, sf > wrote:
>
> > Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> > moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> > minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> > but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
> > to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
> > settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> > I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
> > has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
> > imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>
> > TIA
> > sf
>
> You're not alone. After umpteen messages that "480 authentication" was
> required, I finally got to Comcast and learned that "the server that
> authenticates is currently down".
>
> Never thought I'd be posting from Google!
>
> Felice

Not to go without notice that while on hold they try try to sell you
every product. Like they can't fix usenet but they'll sell the hell
out of digital phone and digital TV without blinking an eye?

And I was a charter member way back when.

The BUMS!!!

Andy
Whadda I know?

"sf" > wrote in message
...
>
> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
> settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
> has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>
> TIA
> sf

I have read in another NG that there have been problems with Comcast over
the past few days-that they are not admitting to (rather blaming the user).

"Kswck" > wrote in message
...
>
> "sf" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
>> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
>> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
>> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
>> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
>> settings or done something else just as bad.
>>
>> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
>> has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
>> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>>
>> TIA
>> sf
>
> I have read in another NG that there have been problems with Comcast over
> the past few days-that they are not admitting to (rather blaming the
> user).
>

Usenet, HTML. All they have said that it is YOUR fault and they do not
support NG's.

On May 18, 11:11 am, sf > wrote:
> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
> settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
> has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>
> TIAhttp://groups.google.com/group/rec.food.cooking/browse_thread/thread/17d24e27c13cf5bb/ce1c08fcad0d0fa8?lnk=raot
Comcast and Usenet problem - rec.food.cooking | Google Groups
> sf

I traceroute from

http://network-tools.com/default.asp...ws.comcast.net
And after the 8th hop:

216.196.96.61 g3-16.gw2.dca.giganews.com

the rest of four hops timeout before it quits.

Rotate servers is what I'd do if I knew what I was doing.

On May 19, 8:10 am, wrote:
> On May 18, 11:11 am, sf > wrote:> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> > moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> > minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> > but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
> > to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
> > settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> > I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
> > has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
> > imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>
> > TIAhttp://groups.google.com/group/rec.food.cooking/browse_thread/thread/...
>
> Comcast and Usenet problem - rec.food.cooking | Google Groups
>
> > sf
>
> I traceroute from
>
> http://network-tools.com/default.asp...ws.comcast.net
> And after the 8th hop:
>
> 216.196.96.61 g3-16.gw2.dca.giganews.com
>
> the rest of four hops timeout before it quits.
>
> Rotate servers is what I'd do if I knew what I was doing.



AND call your comcast company tech support and demand a month credit.
I did and they said but you can surf, to which I replied I spend most
of my internet time on usenet. They gave me credit for the month!

Stick it to 'em!!! Do it!!! They're the lazy BUMS!!! We're not.

Andy
P.S. I hate goodle usenet!!!

> wrote in message
...
> On May 19, 2:47 am, Goomba > wrote:
>> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>> > Goomba wrote:
>> >> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
>> >> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
>> >> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>>
>> > For the record, my primary ishttp://news.individual.net(10 euros (about
>> > $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
>> > excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server
>> > shown
>> > in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>>
>> Yes, I signed up with individual.net
>> So far so good!
>
>
> I raised hell with comcast. They seem to have no idea what usenet is
> and I keep telling them what the problem is and they feign ignorance.
>
> I'm not going to pay a month of comcast. **** the bozos! They couldn't
> even find giganew's phone number.
>
> Comast constructed the tallest building in Philadelphia and in fact
> all of Pennsylvania. I hope if falls over!
>
> Andy

It's quite a lovely building.

On May 19, 9:03 am, "dejablues" > wrote:
> > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> > On May 19, 2:47 am, Goomba > wrote:
> >> Blinky the Shark wrote:
> >> > Goomba wrote:
> >> >> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
> >> >> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
> >> >> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>
> >> > For the record, my primary ishttp://news.individual.net(10euros (about
> >> > $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
> >> > excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server
> >> > shown
> >> > in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>
> >> Yes, I signed up with individual.net
> >> So far so good!
>
> > I raised hell with comcast. They seem to have no idea what usenet is
> > and I keep telling them what the problem is and they feign ignorance.
>
> > I'm not going to pay a month of comcast. **** the bozos! They couldn't
> > even find giganew's phone number.
>
> > Comast constructed the tallest building in Philadelphia and in fact
> > all of Pennsylvania. I hope if falls over!
>
> > Andy
>
> It's quite a lovely building.

When it opens, (should be finished this month) I intend to visit it
(the tallest building in all of Pennsylvania, now) with a camera and
find the highest observation deck and take all around photos if I can.

I might have to buy 500 shares of stock to get "upstairs!"

But I'll call the front desk first.

Andy

On Mon 19 May 2008 07:24:53a, told us...

> On May 19, 9:03 am, "dejablues" > wrote:
>> > wrote in message
>>
>> ..
>> .
>>
>>
>>
>> > On May 19, 2:47 am, Goomba > wrote:
>> >> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>> >> > Goomba wrote:
>> >> >> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't
>> >> >> get to usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue
>> >> >> from Blinky and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>>
>> >> > For the record, my primary ishttp://news.individual.net(10euros
>> >> > (about $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that.
>> >> > It's excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free
>> >> > server shown in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect
>> >> > that it seems okay.
>>
>> >> Yes, I signed up with individual.net
>> >> So far so good!
>>
>> > I raised hell with comcast. They seem to have no idea what usenet is
>> > and I keep telling them what the problem is and they feign ignorance.
>>
>> > I'm not going to pay a month of comcast. **** the bozos! They
>> > couldn't even find giganew's phone number.
>>
>> > Comast constructed the tallest building in Philadelphia and in fact
>> > all of Pennsylvania. I hope if falls over!
>>
>> > Andy
>>
>> It's quite a lovely building.
>
> When it opens, (should be finished this month) I intend to visit it
> (the tallest building in all of Pennsylvania, now) with a camera and
> find the highest observation deck and take all around photos if I can.
>
> I might have to buy 500 shares of stock to get "upstairs!"
>
> But I'll call the front desk first.
>
> Andy

That's assuming they'll let you in the front door.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Monday, 05(V)/19(XIX)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
Today is: Victoria Day (Sovereign's birthday)
Countdown till Memorial Day
6dys 16hrs 20mins
-------------------------------------------
In the not too distant future, next
Sunday A.D....
-------------------------------------------

On May 19, 10:42 am, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:
> On Mon 19 May 2008 07:24:53a, told us...
>
>
>
> > On May 19, 9:03 am, "dejablues" > wrote:
> >> > wrote in message
>
> ..
> >> .
>
> >> > On May 19, 2:47 am, Goomba > wrote:
> >> >> Blinky the Shark wrote:
> >> >> > Goomba wrote:
> >> >> >> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't
> >> >> >> get to usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue
> >> >> >> from Blinky and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>
> >> >> > For the record, my primary ishttp://news.individual.net(10euros
> >> >> > (about $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that.
> >> >> > It's excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free
> >> >> > server shown in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect
> >> >> > that it seems okay.
>
> >> >> Yes, I signed up with individual.net
> >> >> So far so good!
>
> >> > I raised hell with comcast. They seem to have no idea what usenet is
> >> > and I keep telling them what the problem is and they feign ignorance.
>
> >> > I'm not going to pay a month of comcast. **** the bozos! They
> >> > couldn't even find giganew's phone number.
>
> >> > Comast constructed the tallest building in Philadelphia and in fact
> >> > all of Pennsylvania. I hope if falls over!
>
> >> > Andy
>
> >> It's quite a lovely building.
>
> > When it opens, (should be finished this month) I intend to visit it
> > (the tallest building in all of Pennsylvania, now) with a camera and
> > find the highest observation deck and take all around photos if I can.
>
> > I might have to buy 500 shares of stock to get "upstairs!"
>
> > But I'll call the front desk first.
>
> > Andy
>
> That's assuming they'll let you in the front door.

I'm not just a customer, I'm an owner with voting rights. They can't
refuse me, I don't think.

Plus, I'm a pretty dapper/suave guy when I wanna be.

Andy
Snake/Fox Charmer

Blinky the Shark wrote:

> For the record, my primary is http://news.individual.net (10 euros (about
> $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
> excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
> in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>
> Two other good freebies are http://news.motzarella.org and
> http://news.datemas.de -- but the only GG-killer I know of is the one in
> my sig. (For datemas, ignore the "temporarily suspended" note.)
>
>

I use astraweb. If you don't do binaries, it's $10 for life.

--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

> wrote in message
...
> On May 19, 9:03 am, "dejablues" > wrote:
>> > wrote in message
>>
>> ...
>>
>>
>>
>> > On May 19, 2:47 am, Goomba > wrote:
>> >> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>> >> > Goomba wrote:
>> >> >> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get
>> >> >> to
>> >> >> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from
>> >> >> Blinky
>> >> >> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>>
>> >> > For the record, my primary ishttp://news.individual.net(10euros
>> >> > (about
>> >> > $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
>> >> > excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server
>> >> > shown
>> >> > in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems
>> >> > okay.
>>
>> >> Yes, I signed up with individual.net
>> >> So far so good!
>>
>> > I raised hell with comcast. They seem to have no idea what usenet is
>> > and I keep telling them what the problem is and they feign ignorance.
>>
>> > I'm not going to pay a month of comcast. **** the bozos! They couldn't
>> > even find giganew's phone number.
>>
>> > Comast constructed the tallest building in Philadelphia and in fact
>> > all of Pennsylvania. I hope if falls over!
>>
>> > Andy
>>
>> It's quite a lovely building.
>
> When it opens, (should be finished this month) I intend to visit it
> (the tallest building in all of Pennsylvania, now) with a camera and
> find the highest observation deck and take all around photos if I can.
>
> I might have to buy 500 shares of stock to get "upstairs!"
>
> But I'll call the front desk first.
>
> Andy

We passed it last month walking from the train station to the Franlkin
Institute and it looked like it was open!

"sf" > wrote

> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
> settings or done something else just as bad.

Can you imagine me? New pc and all, trying to figure out WHY can't
I get to newsgroups??? What did I screw up? It was working fine
yesterday!!

Talk about bad timing.

nancy

wrote:
> On May 19, 2:47 am, Goomba > wrote:
>> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>>> Goomba wrote:
>>>> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
>>>> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
>>>> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>>> For the record, my primary ishttp://news.individual.net(10 euros (about
>>> $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
>>> excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
>>> in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>> Yes, I signed up with individual.net
>> So far so good!
>
>
> I raised hell with comcast. They seem to have no idea what usenet is
> and I keep telling them what the problem is and they feign ignorance.
>
> I'm not going to pay a month of comcast. **** the bozos! They couldn't
> even find giganew's phone number.
>
> Comast constructed the tallest building in Philadelphia and in fact
> all of Pennsylvania. I hope if falls over!
>
> Andy

The problem with comcast is they seem to run everything on the cheap and
none of their support people are empowered to do anything and just run
you through their little canned sequence. And it seems like they must
have one person working in their operations center over in West Chester
because of how long it takes them to do anything.. I just switched to
motzarella.org and it seems to be working fine so far.

Janet Wilder wrote:

> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>
>> For the record, my primary is http://news.individual.net (10 euros (about
>> $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
>> excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
>> in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>>
>> Two other good freebies are http://news.motzarella.org and
>> http://news.datemas.de -- but the only GG-killer I know of is the one in
>> my sig. (For datemas, ignore the "temporarily suspended" note.)
>>
>>
>
> I use astraweb. If you don't do binaries, it's $10 for life.

How's it for spam filtering?


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
NEW --> Now evaluating a GG-free news feed: http://usenet4all.se

Blinky the Shark wrote:
> Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>>
>>> For the record, my primary is http://news.individual.net (10 euros (about
>>> $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
>>> excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
>>> in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>>>
>>> Two other good freebies are http://news.motzarella.org and
>>> http://news.datemas.de -- but the only GG-killer I know of is the one in
>>> my sig. (For datemas, ignore the "temporarily suspended" note.)
>>>
>>>
>> I use astraweb. If you don't do binaries, it's $10 for life.
>
> How's it for spam filtering?
>
>
I set my own filters in my newsreader. I never heard of a news server
that filters it for you????

Texas Janet
--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

In article
>,
sf > wrote:

> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
> settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
> has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?

It was a problem with Comcast. If you logged into the Comcast web portal
and went into the support forums, there's a forum for Usenet and this
complaint was voiced by people all over the United States. The problem
is fixed now though, at least it is for me.

Janet Wilder wrote:

> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>> Janet Wilder wrote:
>>
>>> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>>>
>>>> For the record, my primary is http://news.individual.net (10 euros (about
>>>> $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
>>>> excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
>>>> in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>>>>
>>>> Two other good freebies are http://news.motzarella.org and
>>>> http://news.datemas.de -- but the only GG-killer I know of is the one in
>>>> my sig. (For datemas, ignore the "temporarily suspended" note.)
>>>>
>>>>
>>> I use astraweb. If you don't do binaries, it's $10 for life.
>>
>> How's it for spam filtering?
>>
>>
> I set my own filters in my newsreader. I never heard of a news server
> that filters it for you????

Some do, and are good at it. You still have to do some of your own; for
instance I only know of one that filters Google Gropers. But if the
server is doing its filterng job there's far, far less that you have to do
locally. motzarella, above, comes to mind. Of course, with TB you're
pretty limited with what kind of filtering you can do locally.

--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
NEW --> Now evaluating a GG-free news feed: http://usenet4all.se

Nancy Young wrote:

>
> "sf" > wrote
>
>> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
>> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
>> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
>> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
>> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
>> settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> Can you imagine me? New pc and all, trying to figure out WHY can't
> I get to newsgroups??? What did I screw up? It was working fine
> yesterday!!
>
> Talk about bad timing.

My main feeds are reliable, but I still have several more set up. There's
no reason to limit yourself to just one news feed; there's no reason not
to have a backup, just in case. Especially if your main feed is flaky.


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
NEW --> Now evaluating a GG-free news feed: http://usenet4all.se

In article
>,
wrote:

> On May 19, 2:47 am, Goomba > wrote:
> > Blinky the Shark wrote:
> > > Goomba wrote:
> > >> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
> > >> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
> > >> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
> >
> > > For the record, my primary ishttp://news.individual.net(10 euros (about
> > > $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
> > > excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
> > > in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
> >
> > Yes, I signed up with individual.net
> > So far so good!
>
>
> I raised hell with comcast. They seem to have no idea what usenet is
> and I keep telling them what the problem is and they feign ignorance.

I don't know if my calls go to a different call center, but from here in
Silly Valley, I made three calls while things were broken. All three
times, the person knew what Usenet was, and knew it was down. During the
second call I asked for, and was *told* I'd receive, a nice credit. I'll
be checking the bill when it shows up.

I chewed them out not only for not being competent to fix the problem in
a timely way, but also because they had *no idea* of when it might be
fixed.

Then I asked why *anyone* would pay money for telephone service with
this kind of reliability.

Isaac

On Sun, 18 May 2008 19:51:16 -0700, Blinky the Shark
> wrote:

>Goomba wrote:
>
>> sf wrote:
>>> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
>>> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
>>> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
>>> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
>>> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
>>> settings or done something else just as bad.
>>>
>>> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
>>> has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
>>> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>>>
>>> TIA
>>> sf
>>
>> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
>> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
>> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>
>For the record, my primary is http://news.individual.net (10 euros (about
>$14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
>excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
>in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>
>Two other good freebies are http://news.motzarella.org and
>http://news.datemas.de -- but the only GG-killer I know of is the one in
>my sig. (For datemas, ignore the "temporarily suspended" note.)

I'm back online with comcast now... honestly, I can't complain about
the service. I was just wondering if I was the only one. I've been
on comcast internet for about 4 years and they have been unusually
reliable.

I was with Earthlink though their growing period and experienced more
than a couple problems, but one they upgraded their servers they were
fine for me. DD came to live with us a couple of years after college
graduation and found a job with google. They required high speed
internet (cable type high speed) so we switched our internet provider
over to comcast.

Honestly, if you're not downloading big programs (or a gamer), I'm
still not convinced that using a tabbed browser isn't the best way to
surf the net economically and with no frustration. All you do is go
to one (graphics rich) site, start downloading it and move on to
another one. That strategy worked perfectly for me back in the day.

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On Mon, 19 May 2008 02:47:13 -0400, Goomba > wrote:

>Blinky the Shark wrote:
>> Goomba wrote:
>
>>> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
>>> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
>>> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>>
>> For the record, my primary is http://news.individual.net (10 euros (about
>> $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
>> excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
>> in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>>
>Yes, I signed up with individual.net
>So far so good!

but you can't get binaries - so you can't get alt.binaries.f**d... the
food picture place.

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wrote:

> On Sun, 18 May 2008 19:51:16 -0700, Blinky the Shark
> > wrote:
>
>>Goomba wrote:
>>
>>> sf wrote:
>>>> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
>>>> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
>>>> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
>>>> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
>>>> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
>>>> settings or done something else just as bad.
>>>>
>>>> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
>>>> has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
>>>> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>>>>
>>>> TIA
>>>> sf
>>>
>>> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
>>> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
>>> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>>
>>For the record, my primary is http://news.individual.net (10 euros (about
>>$14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
>>excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
>>in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>>
>>Two other good freebies are http://news.motzarella.org and
>>http://news.datemas.de -- but the only GG-killer I know of is the one in
>>my sig. (For datemas, ignore the "temporarily suspended" note.)
>
> I'm back online with comcast now... honestly, I can't complain about
> the service. I was just wondering if I was the only one. I've been
> on comcast internet for about 4 years and they have been unusually
> reliable.
>
> I was with Earthlink though their growing period and experienced more
> than a couple problems, but one they upgraded their servers they were
> fine for me. DD came to live with us a couple of years after college
> graduation and found a job with google. They required high speed
> internet (cable type high speed) so we switched our internet provider
> over to comcast.

I've been with EL since...uh, I think 1998. Perfectly happy with them.

> Honestly, if you're not downloading big programs (or a gamer), I'm still
> not convinced that using a tabbed browser isn't the best way to surf the
> net economically and with no frustration. All you do is go to one
> (graphics rich) site, start downloading it and move on to another one.
> That strategy worked perfectly for me back in the day.

I couldn't live without tabbed browsing.


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
NEW --> Now evaluating a GG-free news feed: http://usenet4all.se

On Mon, 19 May 2008 20:04:23 -0700, isw > wrote:

>I chewed them out not only for not being competent to fix the problem in
>a timely way, but also because they had *no idea* of when it might be
>fixed.
>
>Then I asked why *anyone* would pay money for telephone service with
>this kind of reliability.

If you were getting email and the web, the problem probably wasn't
just comcast. I think they took the heat though. They subcontract
with Giganews for Usenet. Giganews is a giant, so if something went
wrong between two giants, I can't be sure it was human error.

At least the *kid* I was dealing with had the honesty to admit upfront
that she didn't know what Usenet was. Sure, *we* scoff at that... but
the truth is that Usenet is dying. A bazillion unknown people access
rfc once or twice through a web site (many exist) or some sort of
"group", but not directly by Usenet. Are you one of them?

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On Mon 19 May 2008 10:30:21p, Blinky the Shark told us...

> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 18 May 2008 19:51:16 -0700, Blinky the Shark
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>Goomba wrote:
>>>
>>>> sf wrote:
>>>>> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
>>>>> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
>>>>> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
>>>>> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
>>>>> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've
changed
>>>>> settings or done something else just as bad.
>>>>>
>>>>> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
>>>>> has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
>>>>> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>>>>>
>>>>> TIA
>>>>> sf
>>>>
>>>> I get so fed up with giganews and comcast sometimes! I couldn't get to
>>>> usenet this morning either (still can't) so I took the cue from Blinky
>>>> and just signed up for the usenet provider he uses.
>>>
>>>For the record, my primary is http://news.individual.net (10 euros
(about
>>>$14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. It's
>>>excellent. I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server
shown
>>>in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay.
>>>
>>>Two other good freebies are http://news.motzarella.org and
>>>http://news.datemas.de -- but the only GG-killer I know of is the one in
>>>my sig. (For datemas, ignore the "temporarily suspended" note.)
>>
>> I'm back online with comcast now... honestly, I can't complain about
>> the service. I was just wondering if I was the only one. I've been
>> on comcast internet for about 4 years and they have been unusually
>> reliable.
>>
>> I was with Earthlink though their growing period and experienced more
>> than a couple problems, but one they upgraded their servers they were
>> fine for me. DD came to live with us a couple of years after college
>> graduation and found a job with google. They required high speed
>> internet (cable type high speed) so we switched our internet provider
over
>> to comcast.
>
> I've been with EL since...uh, I think 1998. Perfectly happy with them.

We've had Cox for Internet, cable, and phone for the past year and a half.
In that length of time it's literally been perfect.

>> Honestly, if you're not downloading big programs (or a gamer), I'm still
>> not convinced that using a tabbed browser isn't the best way to surf the
>> net economically and with no frustration. All you do is go to one
>> (graphics rich) site, start downloading it and move on to another one.
>> That strategy worked perfectly for me back in the day.
>
> I couldn't live without tabbed browsing.

Me either.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Monday, 05(V)/19(XIX)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
Today is: Victoria Day (Sovereign's birthday)
Countdown till Memorial Day
6dys 1hrs 20mins
-------------------------------------------
Energizer Bunny Arrested! Charged with
battery.
-------------------------------------------

On Sun, 18 May 2008 16:01:25 -0700 (PDT), Felice >
wrote:

>On May 18, 11:11*am, sf > wrote:
>>snip
>>Does anyone know what's going on?
>>snip
>
>You're not alone. After umpteen messages that "480 authentication" was
>required, I finally got to Comcast and learned that "the server that
>authenticates is currently down".
>
>Never thought I'd be posting from Google!
>
HEH.... I must have been on the cutting edge because I got a #502
message and the kid that told me a server was down didn't specify it
was the server that authenticates (she just said "a server"). NOW it
all makes sense. Thanks Felice!!!


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On Mon, 19 May 2008 02:05:03 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

>Not to go without notice that while on hold they try try to sell you
>every product. Like they can't fix usenet but they'll sell the hell
>out of digital phone and digital TV without blinking an eye?
>
>And I was a charter member way back when.
>
>The BUMS!!!


You should try Live Chat with Comcast, Andy..... there's no upselling
there.

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On Mon, 19 May 2008 05:30:57 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

>AND call your comcast company tech support and demand a month credit.
>I did and they said but you can surf, to which I replied I spend most
>of my internet time on usenet. They gave me credit for the month!
>
>Stick it to 'em!!! Do it!!! They're the lazy BUMS!!! We're not.

Oooh great! I'll sic hubby on that tomorrow. He's good for that kind
of stuff.

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On Mon, 19 May 2008 19:58:21 -0700, Blinky the Shark
> wrote:

> Especially if your main feed is flaky.

The thing is.... it's very reliable.


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On Mon, 19 May 2008 22:11:31 -0400, Stan Horwitz >
wrote:

>In article
>,
> sf > wrote:
>
>> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
>> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
>> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
>> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
>> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
>> settings or done something else just as bad.
>>
>> I wonder if GigaNews is fighting an onslaught of SPAM messages which
>> has put them offline? We fight them in our own way, but can you
>> imagine how much cr*p they have to filter out?
>
>It was a problem with Comcast. If you logged into the Comcast web portal
>and went into the support forums, there's a forum for Usenet and this
>complaint was voiced by people all over the United States. The problem
>is fixed now though, at least it is for me.

Someone with a fake return email also emailed my those sentiments, but
when I looked at the forum url there were only two posts that applied
to this particular problem. I wish they'd rearrange their threads to
more clearly indicate what year the post is from. I didn't even see
an option to put the newest first.

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sf said...

> On Mon, 19 May 2008 05:30:57 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
>
>>AND call your comcast company tech support and demand a month credit.
>>I did and they said but you can surf, to which I replied I spend most
>>of my internet time on usenet. They gave me credit for the month!
>>
>>Stick it to 'em!!! Do it!!! They're the lazy BUMS!!! We're not.
>
> Oooh great! I'll sic hubby on that tomorrow. He's good for that kind
> of stuff.


Oh brother, did I catch hell for that post from Comcast!!! They didn't like
the idea of everyone asking for credit for the outage and sent me a spam
alert and blocked that email address. Might've cost them a few cents.

I was only kidding!!!

Can't wait to see my next Comcast bill. LOL!!!

Andy

Andy said...

> sf said...
>
>> On Mon, 19 May 2008 05:30:57 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
>>
>>>AND call your comcast company tech support and demand a month credit.
>>>I did and they said but you can surf, to which I replied I spend most
>>>of my internet time on usenet. They gave me credit for the month!
>>>
>>>Stick it to 'em!!! Do it!!! They're the lazy BUMS!!! We're not.
>>
>> Oooh great! I'll sic hubby on that tomorrow. He's good for that kind
>> of stuff.
>
>
> Oh brother, did I catch hell for that post from Comcast!!! They didn't
> like the idea of everyone asking for credit for the outage and sent me a
> spam alert and blocked that email address. Might've cost them a few
> cents.
>
> I was only kidding!!!
>
> Can't wait to see my next Comcast bill. LOL!!!
>
> Andy


Not to worry. I gave Comcast a legally advised piece of mind. They wanna
play the court game, I got freedom of speech on my side!

Andy
No Dope

Nancy Young wrote:

> "sf" > wrote
>
> > Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> > moment? *I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> > minutes so far. *Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> > but did on retry. *Does anyone know what's going on? *I hate to talk
> > to them because they act like it's my fault. *They assume I've changed
> > settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> Can you imagine me? *New pc and all, trying to figure out WHY can't
> I get to newsgroups??? *What did I screw up? *It was working fine
> yesterday!! *
>
> Talk about bad timing.



Well, I was *this* close to getting Comcast broadband so this thread
is *very* relevant, lol...


--
Best
Greg