RIP, SHWI? (at least on Google?)

[David Tenner]

When I tried to access this group from Google, I got the following message:

"Banned Content Warning
The group you are attempting to view (soc.history.what-if) has been
identified as containing spam, malware, or other malicious content. Content
in this group is now limited to view-only mode for those with access.
Group owners can request an appeal after they have taken steps to clean up
potentially offensive content in the forum. For more information about
content policies on Google Groups see our Help Center article on abuse and
our Terms of Service"

When I proceeded on to the group, it said, "No topics are available in this
group."

So it seems that Google has decided to punish SHWI users for its own failure
to deal with the spam that has frequently been reported for abuse.

Of course I can still use the group through Usenet servers (most of them
charge, but there are some free ones like nntp.aioe.org) and my free
newsreader (Xnews).

However, I do most of my alternate history posting nowadays at
alternatehistory.com https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/ and suggest that
others do likewise if the situation here does not improve. Registration is
simple and free, posts show up quickly, and the moderators in general do not
seeem to have abused their power to ban people (well, at least they never
banned me...)

[Dimensional Traveler]

Post by David Tenner
"Banned Content Warning
The group you are attempting to view (soc.history.what-if) has been
identified as containing spam, malware, or other malicious content. Content
in this group is now limited to view-only mode for those with access.
Group owners can request an appeal after they have taken steps to clean up
potentially offensive content in the forum. For more information about
content policies on Google Groups see our Help Center article on abuse and
our Terms of Service"
When I proceeded on to the group, it said, "No topics are available in this
group."
So it seems that Google has decided to punish SHWI users for its own failure
to deal with the spam that has frequently been reported for abuse.
Of course I can still use the group through Usenet servers (most of them
charge, but there are some free ones like nntp.aioe.org) and my free
newsreader (Xnews).
However, I do most of my alternate history posting nowadays at
alternatehistory.com https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/ and suggest that
others do likewise if the situation here does not improve. Registration is
simple and free, posts show up quickly, and the moderators in general do not
seeem to have abused their power to ban people (well, at least they never
banned me...)

I use news.eternal.september.org and haven't had any problems. They are
free as well.

[David Tenner]

Post by Dimensional Traveler

Post by David Tenner
"Banned Content Warning
The group you are attempting to view (soc.history.what-if) has been
identified as containing spam, malware, or other malicious content.
Content in this group is now limited to view-only mode for those with
access. Group owners can request an appeal after they have taken steps
to clean up potentially offensive content in the forum. For more
information about content policies on Google Groups see our Help Center
article on abuse and our Terms of Service"
When I proceeded on to the group, it said, "No topics are available in
this group."
So it seems that Google has decided to punish SHWI users for its own
failure to deal with the spam that has frequently been reported for
abuse.
Of course I can still use the group through Usenet servers (most of
them charge, but there are some free ones like nntp.aioe.org) and my
free newsreader (Xnews).
However, I do most of my alternate history posting nowadays at
alternatehistory.com https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/ and
suggest that others do likewise if the situation here does not improve.
Registration is simple and free, posts show up quickly, and the
moderators in general do not seeem to have abused their power to ban
people (well, at least they never banned me...)

I use news.eternal.september.org and haven't had any problems. They are
free as well.

Even if everyone who previously used Google now uses a news server (free or
otherwise) to access the group, the absence of the Google *archive* for the
group would be unfortunate.

[The Horny Goat]

On Wed, 25 Apr 2018 00:32:56 +0000 (UTC), David Tenner

Post by David Tenner
Even if everyone who previously used Google now uses a news server (free or
otherwise) to access the group, the absence of the Google *archive* for the
group would be unfortunate.

Excellent point - it's due to that archive I established my first
posting here was the first week of April 1994. Was away for 5-6 years
(which coincided with the heyday of the sainted Alyson) but have been
back continuously well before the turn of the century. Stayed with
Fidonet long after it's best due date!

[pyotr filipivich]

Post by David Tenner
However, I do most of my alternate history posting nowadays at
alternatehistory.com https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/

Which, unfortunately, is still neither Usenet, nor "newsgroups".

Post by David Tenner
and suggest that
others do likewise if the situation here does not improve. Registration is
simple and free, posts show up quickly, and the moderators in general do not
seeem to have abused their power to ban people (well, at least they never
banned me...)

[SolomonW]

Post by David Tenner
"Banned Content Warning
The group you are attempting to view (soc.history.what-if) has been
identified as containing spam, malware, or other malicious content. Content
in this group is now limited to view-only mode for those with access.
Group owners can request an appeal after they have taken steps to clean up
potentially offensive content in the forum. For more information about
content policies on Google Groups see our Help Center article on abuse and
our Terms of Service"
When I proceeded on to the group, it said, "No topics are available in this
group."
So it seems that Google has decided to punish SHWI users for its own failure
to deal with the spam that has frequently been reported for abuse.
Of course I can still use the group through Usenet servers (most of them
charge, but there are some free ones like nntp.aioe.org) and my free
newsreader (Xnews).
However, I do most of my alternate history posting nowadays at
alternatehistory.com https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/ and suggest that
others do likewise if the situation here does not improve. Registration is
simple and free, posts show up quickly, and the moderators in general do not
seeem to have abused their power to ban people (well, at least they never
banned me...)

I am not sure what is happening here but I read this comment in
sci.physics.relativity

Message-ID: <636edc1f-48e5-4469-995c-***@googlegroups.com>


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

At some point soon, Google Groups will flag this newsgroup as being mostly
spam, and all Google Groups access will be terminated. They have already
done this with alt.sci.physics.

Rather that Google Groups actually detecting spam before posting, they rely
on reports to kill the group entirely.

So when this happens, I will be gone from here, and I will not be able to
report spam. Not a big deal for anyone here. Just thought I'd let you
know, the abusers are removing my rights and access.

David A. Smith

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[The Horny Goat]

On Tue, 24 Apr 2018 10:37:27 -0500, David Tenner

Post by David Tenner
"Banned Content Warning
The group you are attempting to view (soc.history.what-if) has been
identified as containing spam, malware, or other malicious content. Content
in this group is now limited to view-only mode for those with access.
Group owners can request an appeal after they have taken steps to clean up
potentially offensive content in the forum. For more information about
content policies on Google Groups see our Help Center article on abuse and
our Terms of Service"
When I proceeded on to the group, it said, "No topics are available in this
group."

Interesting. What did they object to? The spammers seeking sexual
encounters?

I can't imagine what else it would be.

I use Agent and before reading the NG go through the headers and mark
all the spam heads 'read' before reading here.

[Pete Barrett]

Post by The Horny Goat

"Banned Content Warning The group you are attempting to view
(soc.history.what-if) has been identified as containing spam, malware,
or other malicious content. Content in this group is now limited to
view-only mode for those with access. Group owners can request an appeal
after they have taken steps to clean up potentially offensive content in
the forum. For more information about content policies on Google Groups
see our Help Center article on abuse and our Terms of Service"
When I proceeded on to the group, it said, "No topics are available in
this group."

Interesting. What did they object to? The spammers seeking sexual
encounters?
I can't imagine what else it would be.
I use Agent and before reading the NG go through the headers and mark
all the spam heads 'read' before reading here.

One thing I've noticed today (accessing through aioe) is that there
doesn't seem to be any of that posted since yesterday. I wonder if that
spamming was being done _through_ Google Groups? If it was, and shutting
Google Groups access to s.h.w-i has stopped it, then I suppose those of
us who remain may have something to thank them for!

But it won't be good if it prevents legitimate posters from posting.

[Robert Woodward]

Post by Pete Barrett

Post by The Horny Goat

"Banned Content Warning The group you are attempting to view
(soc.history.what-if) has been identified as containing spam, malware,
or other malicious content. Content in this group is now limited to
view-only mode for those with access. Group owners can request an appeal
after they have taken steps to clean up potentially offensive content in
the forum. For more information about content policies on Google Groups
see our Help Center article on abuse and our Terms of Service"
When I proceeded on to the group, it said, "No topics are available in
this group."

Interesting. What did they object to? The spammers seeking sexual
encounters?
I can't imagine what else it would be.
I use Agent and before reading the NG go through the headers and mark
all the spam heads 'read' before reading here.

One thing I've noticed today (accessing through aioe) is that there
doesn't seem to be any of that posted since yesterday. I wonder if that
spamming was being done _through_ Google Groups? If it was, and shutting
Google Groups access to s.h.w-i has stopped it, then I suppose those of
us who remain may have something to thank them for!

I did some sample checking and every spam posting that I checked was
posted via Google Groups.

Post by Pete Barrett
But it won't be good if it prevents legitimate posters from posting.

As I see it, whoever in Google is responsible for Google Groups is too
lazy to do their job properly. I dislike that attitude intensely; you
might even say that I am prejudiced, even extremely so.

[a425couple]

Post by David Tenner
"Banned Content Warning
The group you are attempting to view (soc.history.what-if) has been
identified as containing spam, malware, or other malicious content. Content
in this group is now limited to view-only mode for those with access.

It sure seems to me, that there you have a reasonable
answer / solution.

Someone (or something) was flooding (with sex spam) the
what-if newsgroup by using "Google groups".
So, they (at least for a while) stopped the sending,
but not the viewing.

Sure not ideal for those using Google groups.

[David Tenner]

Post by a425couple

Post by David Tenner
"Banned Content Warning
The group you are attempting to view (soc.history.what-if) has been
identified as containing spam, malware, or other malicious content.
Content in this group is now limited to view-only mode for those with
access.

It sure seems to me, that there you have a reasonable
answer / solution.
Someone (or something) was flooding (with sex spam) the
what-if newsgroup by using "Google groups".
So, they (at least for a while) stopped the sending,
but not the viewing.
Sure not ideal for those using Google groups.

No, my point is that they *stopped the viewing as well.* Go to
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/soc.history.what-if and read their
notice and click on "contnue to the group" and you will get *an empty page*
except for the notice "No topics are available in this group." It is true
that if you enter a search term, you will get headers. But that is all you
will get--not the text of the messages. (I am not complaining that you cannot
*reply* to the messages, but that you cannot *see* them.) If you click on a
header it will just repeat the page of headers.

If all they had done was to stop the sending-via-Google, I would have no
complaints; there are various news servers (including some free ones) that
can be used for sending, and there are free newsreaders available. But they
are *not* making the messages sent to SHWI available--not even for reading
only, cotrary to what they claim.

In other words, the whole Google SHWI archive is gone. And there really is no
replacement for it. http://soc.history.what-if.narkive.com/ is useful but
only goes back to about 2004, and will only give you one page for a search
term you type.

[Pete Barrett]

Post by David Tenner

"Banned Content Warning The group you are attempting to view
(soc.history.what-if) has been identified as containing spam, malware,
or other malicious content. Content in this group is now limited to
view-only mode for those with access.

It sure seems to me, that there you have a reasonable answer /
solution.
Someone (or something) was flooding (with sex spam) the what-if
newsgroup by using "Google groups".
So, they (at least for a while) stopped the sending, but not the
viewing.
Sure not ideal for those using Google groups.

No, my point is that they *stopped the viewing as well.* Go to
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/soc.history.what-if and read
their notice and click on "contnue to the group" and you will get *an
empty page* except for the notice "No topics are available in this
group." It is true that if you enter a search term, you will get
headers. But that is all you will get--not the text of the messages. (I
am not complaining that you cannot *reply* to the messages, but that you
cannot *see* them.) If you click on a header it will just repeat the
page of headers.
If all they had done was to stop the sending-via-Google, I would have no
complaints; there are various news servers (including some free ones)
that can be used for sending, and there are free newsreaders available.
But they are *not* making the messages sent to SHWI available--not even
for reading only, cotrary to what they claim.
In other words, the whole Google SHWI archive is gone. And there really
is no replacement for it. http://soc.history.what-if.narkive.com/ is
useful but only goes back to about 2004, and will only give you one page
for a search term you type.

alt.history.what-if is still available on Google. I suppose we could
repair to that.

As I recall, it was infested with spam and other unpleasant stuff, which,
looking at the Google archive, is still there, though not in the same
amounts.

Unfortunately, aioe doesn't seem to allow posting to it (probably for a
good reason), and the only posts I can see on it are posted via Google,
which is maybe not so good.

[David Tenner]

Post by Pete Barrett
alt.history.what-if is still available on Google. I suppose we could
repair to that.
As I recall, it was infested with spam and other unpleasant stuff, which,
looking at the Google archive, is still there, though not in the same
amounts.
Unfortunately, aioe doesn't seem to allow posting to it (probably for a
good reason), and the only posts I can see on it are posted via Google,
which is maybe not so good.

I just succesffully posted a test message to alt.history.whay-if with aioe
(and my Xnews newsreader). There were only two other posts there... (That's
because all other posts in the group were from late 2017 at the latest, and
aioe only goes back a few months.)

But there is no real point to posting to alt.history.wht-if. As I said, I
have no problem *posting* to SHWI. My only complaint is that it is no longer
possible to *read* posts there in the Google archive.

[Pete Barrett]

Post by David Tenner

Post by Pete Barrett
alt.history.what-if is still available on Google. I suppose we could
repair to that.
As I recall, it was infested with spam and other unpleasant stuff, which,
looking at the Google archive, is still there, though not in the same
amounts.
Unfortunately, aioe doesn't seem to allow posting to it (probably for a
good reason), and the only posts I can see on it are posted via Google,
which is maybe not so good.

I just succesffully posted a test message to alt.history.whay-if with
aioe (and my Xnews newsreader). There were only two other posts
there... (That's because all other posts in the group were from late
2017 at the latest, and aioe only goes back a few months.)
But there is no real point to posting to alt.history.wht-if. As I said,
I have no problem *posting* to SHWI. My only complaint is that it is no
longer possible to *read* posts there in the Google archive.

But there are others who've dropped out since Google pulled the plug (I'm
assuming you haven't posted to s.h.w-i from Google Groups). Migrating to
a.h.w-i may help them.

I don't know why Pan refused to let me crosspost to a.h.w-i, even with
followups set. Possibly some setting in Pan itself. I've just posted a
reply (via aioe) to your test in a.h.w-i, and will post one via Google at
some point.

I note that the spammer has just turned their attentions to s.h.m, now
that Google won't let them post to s.h.w-i. Hmmph.