As if mucking up email wasn't bad enough, newsgroups provide a way for people to send messages to computers across the world all too easily.
I recently got an irate piece of e-mail from someone arguing that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteed his right to post off-topic messages in newsgroups.
He was posting and mailing from Canada.
I'm a regular reader of rec.sport.fencing. What I hate is the people who post articles with the subject line, "Fencing."
Posted to rec.sport.fencing:
I am wondering how to get on a fencing newsgroup.
Posted to a newsgroup:
Everyone is talking about these 'newsreaders.' Can someone tell me what they are and where I can get one?
Posted in alt.games.tombraider:
please do not send anymore messages to me. I beleve these were sent to me by mistake.
I have had to delete over 3,000 messages.
thank you
My list server is one of those that you subscribe to by sending a message to some mail bot with the word "subscribe" in the body.
Occasionally (and I've been on other mailing lists that have seen this happen), a user will send a subscribe message, and whenever a message goes to the list, he/she/it will reply to it, saying, "STOP SPAMMING ME!!!! STOP SPAMMING ME!!! I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY OF YOUR MAIL!!! STOP SENDING ME MAIL!!! I'M GOING TO SUE YOU!!!! YOU BETTER STOP SENDING ME YOUR ****ING WORTHLESS MAIL!!!! WHO ARE ALL YOU ****ING PEOPLE AND WHERE DID YOU GET MY ****ING ADDRESS?!!?!?!?!?!?!!????!!?!?!"
After letting the other subscribers flame him/her/it for a while, I unsubscribe it manually and do some Procmail magic to make sure it never subscribes again.
It's even funnier to see this happen on Usenet. I saw this one message from a user who apparently thought that a "newsgroup" was some private entity that existed only on his own computer. I don't remember the exact text, but it included the line, "Quit sending to my newsgroup!"
Posted to a newsgroup:
When I came to the NG, it showed that there were lots o unread mail. When I opened the group, it showed 4 items. Is it me? OR Is it AOL? Perhaps the entire internet, even. just curious!