• Re: Is this the end of SLJ?

    From Spiros Bousbouras@21:1/5 to J Stressman on Mon Oct 23 14:20:55 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    [ Crossposting to news.admin.net-abuse.usenet ]

    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 04:33:17 -0700 (PDT)
    J Stressman <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 5:46:33 PM UTC-4, Jim Breen wrote:
    Any ideas on how to stop the flood of Thai spam?

    Who has the moderation ability in this group to actually delete spam? If
    one of us normally reports it, it will hide it from the person who reports it, but not anyone else in the room. Google might look into it further, but there's no guarantee anything else will happen.

    Someone with moderation ability should be able to actually delete these messages from the group, but without Google taking action to actually block these accounts, it would seem to require constant moderation to clear out
    the spam.

    First things first : usenet is *** not *** googlegroups. googlegroups simply provides a web interface to usenet.

    sci.lang.japan is unmoderated. Even with a moderated newsgroup , after a message gets approved by the moderator , it gets transmitted to many servers around the world. Each server has its own filtering policies and only the administrator of that particular server can delete messages , for whatever reason. The original approving moderator no longer can affect the decision.

    The right place to discuss usenet spam is news.admin.net-abuse.usenet and indeed there have been dozens of posts on the issue in the last few weeks. I note that sci.lang.japan is not the worst hit group.

    But many people also raise the issue on some of the affected groups , either because they don't know of the existence of news.admin.net-abuse.usenet or because they are reluctant to venture beyond their usual usenet hang-outs.
    This is a poor state of affairs because it means that the same discussions
    get repeated again and again on many different groups (and it's off-topic for most of them) and the transmission of useful information happens a lot more slowly than it could otherwise.

    I will summarise here the conclusions for the residents of sci.lang.japan ; regular readers of news.admin.net-abuse.usenet won't learn anything new.

    googlegroups seems to be abandonware and reports of spam using the
    googlegroups facility have at most as a result to hide the spam from the user who did the reporting when they are logged in to their Google account ; but there don't seem to be in operation any googlegroups filters which get
    trained by the reporting so that they prevent any new spam from being
    injected. So reporting the spam through googlegroups is mostly a waste of
    time. I don't expect this will change.

    The only solution for people who use googlegroups to access usenet (or sci.lang.japan in particular) is to switch to using a newsreader. Advice on that can be had from news.software.readers .Most newsreaders offer filtering facilities and using those it should be easy to remove most of the spam. But even without using those , some servers already filter most of the spam. For example news.i2pn2.org (but it occasionally goes too far ; for example it
    has filtered the opening post of this thread).

    Whether sci.lang.japan is going to die depends on various factors. The
    group doesn't get many legitimate posts anyway. From the few it gets , my estimate is that around 40% of the posters use googlegroups. If they are willing to do the extra effort now and switch to using a newsreader , the
    group will continue to do no worse (and possibly no better) than it does
    now. If they can't be bothered to switch to using a newsreader , they may eventually simply get fed up and stop using the group altogether. Even then
    , sci.lang.japan won't die but it will be worse off. Naturally , I hope they will choose the first option.

    https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9792297?hl=en

    I've reported literally thousands of the spam messages in this group lately, and I don't think it's accomplished much of anything. I'm open to ideas.

    Many people over the years have. They have all said that it's a waste of
    time.

    --
    If you plan on watching this stoned, go ahead, it'll be magnificent.
    https://www.imdb.com/review/rw9362053/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon Oct 23 14:41:20 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    In article <KFko=[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    [ Crossposting to news.admin.net-abuse.usenet ]

    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 04:33:17 -0700 (PDT)
    J Stressman <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 5:46:33 PM UTC-4, Jim Breen wrote:
    Any ideas on how to stop the flood of Thai spam?

    Who has the moderation ability in this group to actually delete spam? If
    one of us normally reports it, it will hide it from the person who reports >> it, but not anyone else in the room. Google might look into it further, but >> there's no guarantee anything else will happen.

    Someone with moderation ability should be able to actually delete these
    messages from the group, but without Google taking action to actually block >> these accounts, it would seem to require constant moderation to clear out
    the spam.

    First things first : usenet is *** not *** googlegroups. googlegroups simply >provides a web interface to usenet.

    sci.lang.japan is unmoderated. Even with a moderated newsgroup , after a >message gets approved by the moderator , it gets transmitted to many servers >around the world. Each server has its own filtering policies and only the >administrator of that particular server can delete messages , for whatever >reason. The original approving moderator no longer can affect the decision.

    The right place to discuss usenet spam is news.admin.net-abuse.usenet and >indeed there have been dozens of posts on the issue in the last few weeks. I >note that sci.lang.japan is not the worst hit group.

    But many people also raise the issue on some of the affected groups , either >because they don't know of the existence of news.admin.net-abuse.usenet or >because they are reluctant to venture beyond their usual usenet hang-outs. >This is a poor state of affairs because it means that the same discussions >get repeated again and again on many different groups (and it's off-topic for >most of them) and the transmission of useful information happens a lot more >slowly than it could otherwise.

    I will summarise here the conclusions for the residents of sci.lang.japan ; >regular readers of news.admin.net-abuse.usenet won't learn anything new.

    googlegroups seems to be abandonware and reports of spam using the >googlegroups facility have at most as a result to hide the spam from the user >who did the reporting when they are logged in to their Google account ; but >there don't seem to be in operation any googlegroups filters which get >trained by the reporting so that they prevent any new spam from being >injected. So reporting the spam through googlegroups is mostly a waste of >time. I don't expect this will change.

    The only solution for people who use googlegroups to access usenet (or >sci.lang.japan in particular) is to switch to using a newsreader. Advice on >that can be had from news.software.readers .Most newsreaders offer filtering >facilities and using those it should be easy to remove most of the spam. But >even without using those , some servers already filter most of the spam. For >example news.i2pn2.org (but it occasionally goes too far ; for example it >has filtered the opening post of this thread).

    Whether sci.lang.japan is going to die depends on various factors. The >group doesn't get many legitimate posts anyway. From the few it gets , my >estimate is that around 40% of the posters use googlegroups. If they are >willing to do the extra effort now and switch to using a newsreader , the >group will continue to do no worse (and possibly no better) than it does
    now. If they can't be bothered to switch to using a newsreader , they may >eventually simply get fed up and stop using the group altogether. Even then
    , sci.lang.japan won't die but it will be worse off. Naturally , I hope they >will choose the first option.

    https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9792297?hl=en

    I've reported literally thousands of the spam messages in this group lately, >> and I don't think it's accomplished much of anything. I'm open to ideas.

    Many people over the years have. They have all said that it's a waste of >time.


    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    --
    If you plan on watching this stoned, go ahead, it'll be magnificent.
    https://www.imdb.com/review/rw9362053/


    --
    Member - Liberal International This is [email protected] Ici [email protected]
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; unsubscribe from Google Groups to be seen When pride is the most valuable thing, then the life will be misery. -unknown Beware https://mindspring.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon Oct 23 14:55:43 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:41:20 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    I'm not sure what you're asking. If the question is whether the spam on >sci.lang.japan is as bad as it is on comp.arch or comp.lang.c , I
    don't know. Try the groups through a server which doesn't seem to filter
    the spam (news.cyber23.de doesn't seem to do so) and with your own filters >off and you can form your own opinion.

    I am blocking GG on my server so I might have to use GG :-(
    --
    Member - Liberal International This is [email protected] Ici [email protected]
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; unsubscribe from Google Groups to be seen When pride is the most valuable thing, then the life will be misery. -unknown Beware https://mindspring.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Spiros Bousbouras@21:1/5 to The Doctor on Mon Oct 23 14:49:15 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:41:20 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    I'm not sure what you're asking. If the question is whether the spam on sci.lang.japan is as bad as it is on comp.arch or comp.lang.c , I
    don't know. Try the groups through a server which doesn't seem to filter
    the spam (news.cyber23.de doesn't seem to do so) and with your own filters
    off and you can form your own opinion.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Spiros Bousbouras@21:1/5 to The Doctor on Mon Oct 23 15:05:11 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:55:43 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:41:20 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    I'm not sure what you're asking. If the question is whether the spam on >sci.lang.japan is as bad as it is on comp.arch or comp.lang.c , I
    don't know. Try the groups through a server which doesn't seem to filter >the spam (news.cyber23.de doesn't seem to do so) and with your own filters >off and you can form your own opinion.

    I am blocking GG on my server so I might have to use GG :-(

    So don't use your server , use news.cyber23.de .If you have w3m installed then a quick way is

    w3m -o nntpserver=news.cyber23.de news:sci.lang.japan

    .You can switch to different groups from within w3m .If you prefer lynx ,
    you can do

    lynx news://news.cyber23.de/sci.lang.japan

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Richard Harnden@21:1/5 to Spiros Bousbouras on Mon Oct 23 18:55:32 2023
    On 23/10/2023 15:20, Spiros Bousbouras wrote:
    [ Crossposting to news.admin.net-abuse.usenet ]

    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 04:33:17 -0700 (PDT)
    J Stressman <[email protected]> wrote:.

    https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9792297?hl=en


    That has a "Was this article helpful (y/n)?" at the bottom.

    Say "no" and use the feedback form to explain to GG what usenet is.

    Maybe it'll get someone at Google's attention. (Probably just get
    ignored like everything else)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Richard Harnden@21:1/5 to The Doctor on Mon Oct 23 18:36:00 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    On 23/10/2023 15:41, The Doctor wrote:

    Is this [sci.lang.japan] like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    From a quick look: Yes - basically adverts for 'slots' gambling sites.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From llp@21:1/5 to All on Mon Oct 23 21:37:21 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    Spiros Bousbouras a pr�sent� l'�nonc� suivant :
    [ Crossposting to news.admin.net-abuse.usenet ]


    I will summarise here the conclusions for the residents of sci.lang.japan ; regular readers of news.admin.net-abuse.usenet won't learn anything new.

    googlegroups seems to be abandonware and reports of spam using the googlegroups facility have at most as a result to hide the spam from the user who did the reporting when they are logged in to their Google account ; but there don't seem to be in operation any googlegroups filters which get trained by the reporting so that they prevent any new spam from being injected. So reporting the spam through googlegroups is mostly a waste of time. I don't expect this will change.

    The only solution for people who use googlegroups to access usenet (or sci.lang.japan in particular) is to switch to using a newsreader. Advice on that can be had from news.software.readers .Most newsreaders offer filtering facilities and using those it should be easy to remove most of the spam. But even without using those , some servers already filter most of the spam. For example news.i2pn2.org (but it occasionally goes too far ; for example it has filtered the opening post of this thread).

    Whether sci.lang.japan is going to die depends on various factors. The group doesn't get many legitimate posts anyway. From the few it gets , my estimate is that around 40% of the posters use googlegroups. If they are willing to do the extra effort now and switch to using a newsreader , the group will continue to do no worse (and possibly no better) than it does
    now. If they can't be bothered to switch to using a newsreader , they may eventually simply get fed up and stop using the group altogether. Even then
    , sci.lang.japan won't die but it will be worse off. Naturally , I hope they will choose the first option.

    https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9792297?hl=en

    I've reported literally thousands of the spam messages in this group lately, >> and I don't think it's accomplished much of anything. I'm open to ideas.

    Many people over the years have. They have all said that it's a waste of time.

    Use a server with a clean sci.lang.japan.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon Oct 23 21:52:27 2023
    In article <uh6c2n$39o5f$[email protected]>,
    Richard Harnden <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 23/10/2023 15:20, Spiros Bousbouras wrote:
    [ Crossposting to news.admin.net-abuse.usenet ]

    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 04:33:17 -0700 (PDT)
    J Stressman <[email protected]> wrote:.

    https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9792297?hl=en


    That has a "Was this article helpful (y/n)?" at the bottom.

    Say "no" and use the feedback form to explain to GG what usenet is.

    Maybe it'll get someone at Google's attention. (Probably just get
    ignored like everything else)

    Just hoping?
    --
    Member - Liberal International This is [email protected] Ici [email protected]
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; unsubscribe from Google Groups to be seen When pride is the most valuable thing, then the life will be misery. -unknown Beware https://mindspring.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to Adam W. on Tue Oct 24 03:06:25 2023
    On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:11:19 -0000 (UTC), [email protected]d (Adam W.) wrote:
    In news.admin.net-abuse.usenet The Doctor <[email protected]> wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    If it's Thai then probably like pl.soc.polityka. It's getting spammed in >large amounts in some Asian language. Spamassassin on E-S (propagated with >NoCeMs) catches many such posts, but some still get through. I took a look
    at sci.lang.japan and it looks similar to what's on pl.soc.polityka.
    The rule to remove these messages should be simple (just detect some >characters from that alphabet in subject, that's one thing these posts
    have in common) and some posters already do it on their side. I'll play
    with it on my server. I'll check if these posts have References or not. If >not, then I'll probably make a rule to exclude posts with References from
    the filter (to avoid killing a post if a legitimate poster responds to a
    spam -- it's not advisable, but shouldn't be punishable).
    Note to Google Groups users from SLJ: you should consider installing a >newsreader (a program for reading Usenet) and getting access to one of >newsservers (many are free, run by volunteers, and some even don't require >any registration). Then at least you'll be able to filter these messages
    with a rule in the newsreader program (if they're not already filtered on
    the server you choose). If you don't find a suitable server, let us know
    in this thread (many newsadmins read the group this message was
    crossposted to).
    I have a feeling that Google Groups will be killed one day anyway (to the >great relief of many newsadmins), like many other Google products before >them.

    by now, most newsgroup subscribers have set their favorite newsreader
    to automatically filter out all googlespam & pointless x-posted junk,
    but for those not using a newsreader with scoring features to demote/
    delete googlespam and x-posts, 40tude Dialog is easy to setup and use.
    40tude Dialog version 2.0.15.84 (4d2b38.exe, 3.8 MB) is an "oldie but goodie"(dialog.exe, 7 Feb 2005) but it works great on Windows 11/7/XP
    and works especially well with Omnimix using Tor for maximum security: https://download.freedownloadmanager.org/Windows-PC/40tude-Dialog/FREE.html https://www.danner-net.de/om.htm
    https://www.torproject.org/

    scoring is easy: to filter "googlegroups" and "x-post" spam, connect
    to your favorite newsserver using Omnimix w/Tor on "localhost", user
    and password "omnimix"; get grouplist, subscribe to any newsgroup(s),
    retrieve 100s of headers, set "Scoring and actions" syntax to demote googlegroups to -9999, xpost to -9998, and set colors to darken them:

    [*]
    -9999 Message-ID googlegroups.com
    -9999 References googlegroups.com
    !setcolor(olive;gray) Message-ID googlegroups.com
    !setcolor(gray;olive) References googlegroups.com
    !ignore Message-ID googlegroups.com
    -9998 Xpost %>2
    !setcolor(purple;maroon) Xpost %>2

    then in "Group" menu, click "Apply scoring and actions on selected groups"; 40tude Dialog "Help"[F1], "Scoring/Actions Syntax" explains how this works: >Scoring and actions is one of Dialog's most powerful features. The syntax
    and actually most of the code is from Jurgen Haible's excellent local mail- >and newsserver Hamster.
    What is Scoring?
    Scoring is the process of assigning a number between -9999 and +9999 to a >message by applying scoring rules to the message. A scoring rule usually >analyzes one header field of the message and if it this header field matches >a certain text, a score value is assigned. For example, you can create a >scoring rule that assign the highest score value +9999 to all messages that >have your email address in the From header field, so that your messages >always receive a score of +9999.
    The score value is shown in the header list in green for positive scores
    and in red for negative scores:
    Note that the list of headers can be sorted by score (with or without >threading), so scoring can be used to visually organize and separate >important from unimportant messages...."
    [end quote]

    adding additional scoring rules may be desirable in some newsgroups,
    but simply ignoring articles/threads by pressing "i" probably works
    better for most users, and keeps the "filters.dat" file compact and
    simple; "googlespam" has been flooding many 100s of busy newsgroups,
    so simply using "!delete" instead of "!ignore" all googlegroups.com
    articles is surest way to eliminate it altogether, but scoring them
    "-9999" is more fun, and shows how much googlespam is being demoted

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to Adam W. on Tue Oct 24 00:29:04 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    In article <uh7237$hfd$5$[email protected]>,
    Adam W. <[email protected]d> wrote:
    In news.admin.net-abuse.usenet The Doctor <[email protected]> wrote:

    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    If it's Thai then probably like pl.soc.polityka. It's getting spammed in >large amounts in some Asian language. Spamassassin on E-S (propagated with >NoCeMs) catches many such posts, but some still get through. I took a look
    at sci.lang.japan and it looks similar to what's on pl.soc.polityka.

    The rule to remove these messages should be simple (just detect some >characters from that alphabet in subject, that's one thing these posts
    have in common) and some posters already do it on their side. I'll play
    with it on my server. I'll check if these posts have References or not. If >not, then I'll probably make a rule to exclude posts with References from
    the filter (to avoid killing a post if a legitimate poster responds to a
    spam -- it's not advisable, but shouldn't be punishable).

    Note to Google Groups users from SLJ: you should consider installing a >newsreader (a program for reading Usenet) and getting access to one of >newsservers (many are free, run by volunteers, and some even don't require >any registration). Then at least you'll be able to filter these messages
    with a rule in the newsreader program (if they're not already filtered on
    the server you choose). If you don't find a suitable server, let us know
    in this thread (many newsadmins read the group this message was
    crossposted to).

    I have a feeling that Google Groups will be killed one day anyway (to the >great relief of many newsadmins), like many other Google products before >them.

    It is headin that way!
    --
    Member - Liberal International This is [email protected] Ici [email protected]
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; unsubscribe from Google Groups to be seen When pride is the most valuable thing, then the life will be misery. -unknown Beware https://mindspring.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Adam W.@21:1/5 to The Doctor on Tue Oct 24 00:11:19 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    In news.admin.net-abuse.usenet The Doctor <[email protected]> wrote:

    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    If it's Thai then probably like pl.soc.polityka. It's getting spammed in
    large amounts in some Asian language. Spamassassin on E-S (propagated with NoCeMs) catches many such posts, but some still get through. I took a look
    at sci.lang.japan and it looks similar to what's on pl.soc.polityka.

    The rule to remove these messages should be simple (just detect some
    characters from that alphabet in subject, that's one thing these posts
    have in common) and some posters already do it on their side. I'll play
    with it on my server. I'll check if these posts have References or not. If
    not, then I'll probably make a rule to exclude posts with References from
    the filter (to avoid killing a post if a legitimate poster responds to a
    spam -- it's not advisable, but shouldn't be punishable).

    Note to Google Groups users from SLJ: you should consider installing a newsreader (a program for reading Usenet) and getting access to one of newsservers (many are free, run by volunteers, and some even don't require
    any registration). Then at least you'll be able to filter these messages
    with a rule in the newsreader program (if they're not already filtered on
    the server you choose). If you don't find a suitable server, let us know
    in this thread (many newsadmins read the group this message was
    crossposted to).

    I have a feeling that Google Groups will be killed one day anyway (to the
    great relief of many newsadmins), like many other Google products before
    them.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Wasabi@21:1/5 to Adam W. on Tue Oct 24 02:33:10 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    [email protected]d (Adam W.) wrote:

    Note to Google Groups users from SLJ: you should consider
    installing a
    newsreader (a program for reading Usenet) and getting access to one
    of
    newsservers (many are free, run by volunteers, and some even don't
    require
    any registration). Then at least you'll be able to filter these
    messages
    with a rule in the newsreader program (if they're not already
    filtered on
    the server you choose)

    eternal-september.org is free and seems to be successfully filtering
    the spam - I've seen none of the spam being referred to on slj.
    (Just a shame there's almost no real traffic these days either!)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Spiros Bousbouras@21:1/5 to Adam W. on Tue Oct 24 03:08:38 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:11:19 -0000 (UTC) [email protected]d (Adam W.) wrote:
    Note to Google Groups users from SLJ: you should consider installing a newsreader (a program for reading Usenet) and getting access to one of newsservers (many are free, run by volunteers, and some even don't require any registration). Then at least you'll be able to filter these messages
    with a rule in the newsreader program (if they're not already filtered on
    the server you choose). If you don't find a suitable server, let us know
    in this thread (many newsadmins read the group this message was
    crossposted to).

    Even simpler , they should save the thread "Free News Servers Listing" from April 2023 on news.admin.peering .

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to Wasabi on Tue Oct 24 05:47:22 2023
    On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 02:33:10 -0000 (UTC), Wasabi <[email protected]d> wrote:
    [email protected]d (Adam W.) wrote:
    Note to Google Groups users from SLJ: you should consider
    installing a
    newsreader (a program for reading Usenet) and getting access to one
    of
    newsservers (many are free, run by volunteers, and some even don't
    require
    any registration). Then at least you'll be able to filter these
    messages
    with a rule in the newsreader program (if they're not already
    filtered on
    the server you choose)

    eternal-september.org is free and seems to be successfully filtering
    the spam - I've seen none of the spam being referred to on slj.
    (Just a shame there's almost no real traffic these days either!)

    at this writing, nearly *nine thousand* (8757) googlegroups.com posts/replies have flooded the <sci.lang.japan> newsgroup since 1 October 2023 and counting; by stark contrast, only *twenty one* (21) non-googlegroups.com posts since 20 March 2023, with only *one* (1) article since 1 October 2023... one all month?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Spiros Bousbouras@21:1/5 to Richard Harnden on Tue Oct 24 03:23:37 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 18:55:32 +0100
    Richard Harnden <[email protected]d> wrote:
    On 23/10/2023 15:20, Spiros Bousbouras wrote:
    [ Crossposting to news.admin.net-abuse.usenet ]

    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 04:33:17 -0700 (PDT)
    J Stressman <[email protected]> wrote:.

    https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9792297?hl=en

    The link has things like "To locate a group that you don't own" and also

    If you're the owner of a group that has been marked as spam or has a lot
    spam content, you might want to delete the whole group. You can't restore
    a group after you delete it.

    .This suggests that the page is intended for the googlegroups message boards rather than the googlegroups interface to usenet. The last piece of advice is so ludicrous that it suggests that Google also considers its own message
    boards abandonware.

    That has a "Was this article helpful (y/n)?" at the bottom.

    Say "no" and use the feedback form to explain to GG what usenet is.

    Maybe it'll get someone at Google's attention. (Probably just get
    ignored like everything else)

    --
    Some people say there is a God. Some say there is no God. Personally ,
    I feel the truth lies probably somewhere between these two extremes.
    J.B. Morton

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to Spiros Bousbouras on Tue Oct 24 06:32:42 2023
    On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 03:23:37 -0000 (UTC), Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 18:55:32 +0100
    Richard Harnden <[email protected]d> wrote:
    On 23/10/2023 15:20, Spiros Bousbouras wrote:
    [ Crossposting to news.admin.net-abuse.usenet ]
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 04:33:17 -0700 (PDT)
    J Stressman <[email protected]> wrote:.
    https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9792297?hl=en
    The link has things like "To locate a group that you don't own" and also
    If you're the owner of a group that has been marked as spam or has a lot
    spam content, you might want to delete the whole group. You can't restore
    a group after you delete it.
    .This suggests that the page is intended for the googlegroups message boards >rather than the googlegroups interface to usenet. The last piece of advice is >so ludicrous that it suggests that Google also considers its own message >boards abandonware.
    snip
    --
    Some people say there is a God. Some say there is no God. Personally ,
    I feel the truth lies probably somewhere between these two extremes.
    J.B. Morton

    off topic but... if "God" is what makes existence, then "God" must be more than existence, so it follows that "God" may not really exist...why would it need to?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to Spiros Bousbouras on Tue Oct 24 06:17:35 2023
    On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 03:08:38 -0000 (UTC), Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:11:19 -0000 (UTC) >[email protected]d (Adam W.) wrote:
    Note to Google Groups users from SLJ: you should consider installing a
    newsreader (a program for reading Usenet) and getting access to one of
    newsservers (many are free, run by volunteers, and some even don't require >> any registration). Then at least you'll be able to filter these messages
    with a rule in the newsreader program (if they're not already filtered on
    the server you choose). If you don't find a suitable server, let us know
    in this thread (many newsadmins read the group this message was
    crossposted to).

    Even simpler , they should save the thread "Free News Servers Listing" from >April 2023 on news.admin.peering .

    (30 articles in the thread) . . .

    From: Syber Shock <[email protected]>
    Newsgroups: alt.privacy.anon-server,news.admin.peering,rocksolid.shared.general Subject: Free News Servers Listing
    Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2023 03:59:49 -0500
    Message-ID: <58bf2fd3797762301411b3ba2b4ad265$[email protected]>
    A list of free news server providers now lives at: >https://sybershock.com/#usenet
    Peer operators and usenetizens: if there are more that may be added to
    the list please post them here or send to the sysop email on the site
    or in this message header.
    I would like to find and list every free NNTP host possible. This
    should include local niche sites that don't feed yet do allow public
    access.
    [end quote]

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Richard Kettlewell@21:1/5 to Adam W. on Tue Oct 24 18:06:49 2023
    [email protected]d (Adam W.) writes:
    The Doctor <[email protected]> wrote:

    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    If it's Thai then probably like pl.soc.polityka. It's getting spammed in large amounts in some Asian language. Spamassassin on E-S (propagated with NoCeMs) catches many such posts, but some still get through. I took a look
    at sci.lang.japan and it looks similar to what's on pl.soc.polityka.

    The rule to remove these messages should be simple (just detect some characters from that alphabet in subject, that's one thing these posts
    have in common) and some posters already do it on their side. I'll play
    with it on my server.

    It needs RFC2047-decoding if you’re doing it in a server-side filter,
    which is annoying but doable.

    There’s a _lot_ of other spam left in comp.lang.c even after eliminating
    the Thai-characters messages though. I’ve not yet identified enough commonality to kill it.

    I have a feeling that Google Groups will be killed one day anyway (to the great relief of many newsadmins), like many other Google products before them.

    Google products do tend to get withdrawn...

    --
    https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Lou Bert@21:1/5 to Richard Kettlewell on Tue Oct 24 22:41:02 2023
    On 24.10.2023 19:06, Richard Kettlewell wrote:

    There’s a _lot_ of other spam left in comp.lang.c even after eliminating
    the Thai-characters messages though. I’ve not yet identified enough
    commonality to kill it.

    HTH, e.g., in the subject line:

    (1)

    จจ่าย "to pay"
    ทางเข้า "access; get in"
    ฟรีเครดิต "free credit"
    สล็อต "slots", i.e. "slot machines", for gam(bl)ing ชื่อเกม "game/play name"

    (2)

    Some emojis used in the subject line, such as:
    ✳️ ✅ ➡️ 👉 👑 🏰

    (3)

    Among the most relevant words used in the subject line as well as
    in the text body:

    indonesia; kamboja; macau; 777; 888; casino; slots; sports; login;
    premium; slot freebet; badakslot; gigabet; daftar; situs; toto;
    lotto; maxwin; max win; jackpot; jackpot games; hyperspins;
    anti blokir; tanpa deposit; terbaru; terpercaya; gacor; klikfifa;
    bandar; sinar; ufa356; ufa666; u200d; betfli; populer; wahana

    (4)

    Yet way better to put "ignore" on the start-figures of the used ISP
    numbers (under "NNTP-Posting-Host" and/or in the "Injection-Info"),
    such as:

    "103.138.1"
    "2a0e:a942:"
    "2a0d:5600:"
    "47.185.2"
    "45.114."
    "96.9." (in Phnom Penh)
    "103.55.3" (in Djakarta)

    LB
    --
    Similar spam on SL (sci.lang), too. I.e., the same extent
    (volume: hundreds of posts daily).

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Tue Oct 24 19:30:04 2023
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Richard Kettlewell <[email protected]d> wrote: >[email protected]d (Adam W.) writes:
    The Doctor <[email protected]> wrote:

    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    If it's Thai then probably like pl.soc.polityka. It's getting spammed in
    large amounts in some Asian language. Spamassassin on E-S (propagated with >> NoCeMs) catches many such posts, but some still get through. I took a look >> at sci.lang.japan and it looks similar to what's on pl.soc.polityka.

    The rule to remove these messages should be simple (just detect some
    characters from that alphabet in subject, that's one thing these posts
    have in common) and some posters already do it on their side. I'll play
    with it on my server.

    It needs RFC2047-decoding if you’re doing it in a server-side filter,
    which is annoying but doable.

    There’s a _lot_ of other spam left in comp.lang.c even after eliminating >the Thai-characters messages though. I’ve not yet identified enough >commonality to kill it.

    I have a feeling that Google Groups will be killed one day anyway (to the
    great relief of many newsadmins), like many other Google products before
    them.

    Google products do tend to get withdrawn...


    Google+ is more successful than Google Groups!

    --
    https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/


    --
    Member - Liberal International This is [email protected] Ici [email protected]
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; unsubscribe from Google Groups to be seen When pride is the most valuable thing, then the life will be misery. -unknown Beware https://mindspring.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Richard Kettlewell@21:1/5 to Lou Bert on Wed Oct 25 11:37:57 2023
    Lou Bert <[email protected]d> writes:
    On 24.10.2023 19:06, Richard Kettlewell wrote:
    There’s a _lot_ of other spam left in comp.lang.c even after eliminating >>the Thai-characters messages though. I’ve not yet identified enough >>commonality to kill it.

    HTH, e.g., in the subject line:

    (1)

    จจ่าย "to pay"
    ทางเข้า "access; get in"
    ฟรีเครดิต "free credit"
    สล็อต "slots", i.e. "slot machines", for gam(bl)ing ชื่อเกม "game/play name"

    I blocked everything in Thai, which seems to be the most productive rule
    in my spam filter by a long way.

    (2)

    Some emojis used in the subject line, such as:
    ✳️ ✅ ➡️ 👉 👑 🏰

    (3)

    Among the most relevant words used in the subject line as well as
    in the text body:

    [...examples deleted because my spam filter blocsk them l-)...]

    I block a number of keywords but I’m not blocking English-language words
    or integers, due to the obvious risk of false positives.

    (4)

    Yet way better to put "ignore" on the start-figures of the used ISP
    numbers (under "NNTP-Posting-Host" and/or in the "Injection-Info"),
    such as:

    "103.138.1"
    "2a0e:a942:"
    "2a0d:5600:"
    "47.185.2"
    "45.114."
    "96.9." (in Phnom Penh)
    "103.55.3" (in Djakarta)

    The source addresses and posting accounts are very dynamic. I’m dubious
    about blocking whole networks, again due to the false positive risk.

    --
    https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From candycanearter07@21:1/5 to The Doctor on Tue Oct 24 17:00:50 2023
    On 10/24/23 14:30, The Doctor wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Richard Kettlewell <[email protected]d> wrote:
    [email protected]d (Adam W.) writes:
    I have a feeling that Google Groups will be killed one day anyway (to the >>> great relief of many newsadmins), like many other Google products before >>> them.

    Google products do tend to get withdrawn...


    Google+ is more successful than Google Groups!


    At least people know Google+, even if as a punch line.
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scott Dorsey@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Wed Oct 25 17:09:12 2023
    XPost: sci.lang.japan

    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:41:20 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    I'm not sure what you're asking. If the question is whether the spam on >sci.lang.japan is as bad as it is on comp.arch or comp.lang.c , I
    don't know. Try the groups through a server which doesn't seem to filter
    the spam (news.cyber23.de doesn't seem to do so) and with your own filters >off and you can form your own opinion.

    It is similar spam injected in a similar way. Much like the spam on comp.os.vms and on comp.protocols.time.ntp. It is more or less a universal problem across usenet. Many sites sites just dump all Google postings or
    dump anything with "UTF-8" in a malformed subject line.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to Scott Dorsey on Wed Oct 25 20:09:36 2023
    On 25 Oct 2023 17:09:12 -0000, [email protected] (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:41:20 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?
    I'm not sure what you're asking. If the question is whether the spam on >>sci.lang.japan is as bad as it is on comp.arch or comp.lang.c , I
    don't know. Try the groups through a server which doesn't seem to filter >>the spam (news.cyber23.de doesn't seem to do so) and with your own filters >>off and you can form your own opinion.

    It is similar spam injected in a similar way. Much like the spam on >comp.os.vms and on comp.protocols.time.ntp. It is more or less a universal >problem across usenet. Many sites sites just dump all Google postings or >dump anything with "UTF-8" in a malformed subject line.
    --scott

    plus ones . . . particularly the part about "dump all Google postings"
    ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to All on Thu Oct 26 00:03:39 2023
    In article <[email protected]>, D <J@M> wrote:
    On 25 Oct 2023 17:09:12 -0000, [email protected] (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:41:20 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?
    I'm not sure what you're asking. If the question is whether the spam on >>>sci.lang.japan is as bad as it is on comp.arch or comp.lang.c , I >>>don't know. Try the groups through a server which doesn't seem to filter >>>the spam (news.cyber23.de doesn't seem to do so) and with your own filters >>>off and you can form your own opinion.

    It is similar spam injected in a similar way. Much like the spam on >>comp.os.vms and on comp.protocols.time.ntp. It is more or less a universal >>problem across usenet. Many sites sites just dump all Google postings or >>dump anything with "UTF-8" in a malformed subject line.
    --scott

    plus ones . . . particularly the part about "dump all Google postings"
    ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^


    I do that!
    --
    Member - Liberal International This is [email protected] Ici [email protected]
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; unsubscribe from Google Groups to be seen When we want to believe on our own terms, divisions will abound. -unknown https://mindspring.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to The Doctor on Thu Oct 26 03:27:17 2023
    On Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:03:39 -0000 (UTC), [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>, D <J@M> wrote:
    On 25 Oct 2023 17:09:12 -0000, [email protected] (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:41:20 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?
    I'm not sure what you're asking. If the question is whether the spam on >>>>sci.lang.japan is as bad as it is on comp.arch or comp.lang.c , I >>>>don't know. Try the groups through a server which doesn't seem to filter >>>>the spam (news.cyber23.de doesn't seem to do so) and with your own filters >>>>off and you can form your own opinion.
    It is similar spam injected in a similar way. Much like the spam on >>>comp.os.vms and on comp.protocols.time.ntp. It is more or less a universal >>>problem across usenet. Many sites sites just dump all Google postings or >>>dump anything with "UTF-8" in a malformed subject line.
    --scott

    plus ones . . . particularly the part about "dump all Google postings"

    I do that!
    --
    Member - Liberal International This is [email protected] Ici [email protected]
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising!
    Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; unsubscribe from Google Groups to be seen
    When we want to believe on our own terms, divisions will abound. -unknown https://mindspring.com

    (using Tor Browser 13.0.1)
    https://mindspring.com
    Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead
    Tor Browser detected an issue and did not continue to mindspring.com. The website
    is either misconfigured or your computer clock is set to the wrong time.
    What can you do about it?
    Your computer clock is set to Oct 25, 2023. Make sure your computer is set to the
    correct date, time, and time zone in your system settings, and then refresh >mindspring.com.
    If your clock is already set to the right time, the website is likely misconfigured,
    and there is nothing you can do to resolve the issue. You can notify the website's
    administrator about the problem.
    Learn more... >https://support.mozilla.org/1/firefox/115.4.0/WINNT/en-US/time-errors
    Go Back(Recommended) Advanced...
    mindspring.com uses an invalid security certificate.
    The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate has expired. >Error code: SEC_ERROR_EXPIRED_ISSUER_CERTIFICATE
    View Certificate
    Certificate
    php8.earthlink.serverguy.cloud
    Validity
    Not Before Wed, 24 Feb 2021 08:06:13 GMT
    Not After Tue, 25 May 2021 08:06:13 GMT
    Go Back(Recommended) Accept the Risk and Continue...
    502 Bad Gateway
    Microsoft-Azure-Application-Gateway/v2
    (bridges didn't work either, tried) . . . https://web.archive.org/web/19961219135430/https://mindspring.com/
    Welcome to MindSpring Enterprises. MindSpring is an Internet service provider based in Atlanta, GA.
    We are dedicated to providing superior service to our customers.
    (c) 1996 MindSpring Enterprises, Inc.
    1430 West Peachtree St. NW, Suite 400
    Atlanta, GA 30309
    [end quoted excerpts]

    glad you've ixnayed the unequivocally detestable ghoul goo groups...
    if only the google admins would do the right thing and pull the plug

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Adam W.@21:1/5 to Lou Bert on Thu Oct 26 02:05:55 2023
    Lou Bert <[email protected]d> wrote:

    HTH, e.g., in the subject line:

    I'm testing filtering based on existence of Thai characters in the
    subject. I'll see how it works.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Lou Bert@21:1/5 to Adam W. on Thu Oct 26 06:20:37 2023
    On 26.10.2023 04:05, Adam W. wrote:

    I'm testing filtering based on existence of Thai characters in the
    subject. I'll see how it works.

    But add several of the most relevant words (in Malayan and Indo-
    nesian as well as in English) in the subject and from line.

    Almost all of them from the jargon of the gam(bl)ing world
    and that of the sports punters (cf. incl. "rugby, cricket, sailing,
    swimming, fencing" & the like. Along with the spelling "futsal" for "football").

    And the misspellings "jonh", "oktaviani", "natasya" in the from line.
    (The latter presumable created by the spammer's own brain out of
    "natalie" and "asya".) Worth adding further misspellings if
    systematically used instead of the correct spellings.

    Plus some of the most frequent occurring emojis in the subject line.
    Useful the including of these figures 303, 55, 77, 88, 99 in both lines.
    (Esp. 88 seems to be part of various Indonesian and Malaysian names for
    gaming / slot machine schemes.)

    Thus a newsreader won't download over 90% of the crap (if the "ignore" selected).

    Lou

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric M@21:1/5 to All on Thu Oct 26 07:52:37 2023
    Le 26/10/2023 à 04:05, [email protected]d
    (Adam W.) a écrit :

    I'm testing filtering based on existence of Thai characters in the
    subject. I'll see how it works.

    This is a good idea but will there still be legitimate posters on GG
    according to the fact that you can't even read groups properly there as everything is spam ?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to Adam W. on Thu Oct 26 11:28:48 2023
    In article <uhchi3$csr$4$[email protected]>,
    Adam W. <[email protected]d> wrote:
    Lou Bert <[email protected]d> wrote:

    HTH, e.g., in the subject line:

    I'm testing filtering based on existence of Thai characters in the
    subject. I'll see how it works.

    There could be a solution to this mess!
    --
    Member - Liberal International This is [email protected] Ici [email protected]
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; unsubscribe from Google Groups to be seen When we want to believe on our own terms, divisions will abound. -unknown https://mindspring.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to Eric M on Thu Oct 26 17:52:02 2023
    On Thu, 26 Oct 23 07:52:37 +0000, Eric M <[email protected]> wrote:
    Le 26/10/2023 a 04:05, [email protected]d
    (Adam W.) a ecrit :

    I'm testing filtering based on existence of Thai characters in the
    subject. I'll see how it works.

    This is a good idea but will there still be legitimate posters on GG >according to the fact that you can't even read groups properly there as >everything is spam ?

    anyone using googlegroups is a captive user, including the conspicuously unresponsive google admins . . . they're caught in the system from which
    there is no escape; googlespam is atrociously horrible and getting worse

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From candycanearter07@21:1/5 to Lou Bert on Thu Oct 26 10:25:28 2023
    On 10/25/23 23:20, Lou Bert wrote:
    On 26.10.2023 04:05, Adam W. wrote:

    I'm testing filtering based on existence of Thai characters in the
    subject. I'll see how it works.

    But add several of the most relevant words (in Malayan and Indo-
    nesian as well as in English) in the subject and from line.

    Almost all of them from the jargon of the gam(bl)ing world
    and that of the sports punters (cf. incl. "rugby, cricket, sailing,
    swimming, fencing" & the like. Along with the spelling "futsal" for "football").

    And the misspellings "jonh", "oktaviani", "natasya" in the from line.
    (The latter presumable created by the spammer's own brain out of
    "natalie" and "asya".) Worth adding further misspellings if
    systematically used instead of the correct spellings.

    Plus some of the most frequent occurring emojis in the subject line.
    Useful the including of these figures 303, 55, 77, 88, 99 in both lines. (Esp. 88 seems to be part of various Indonesian and Malaysian names for gaming / slot machine schemes.)

    Thus a newsreader won't download over 90% of the crap (if the "ignore" selected).

    Lou

    Be careful not to get any legitimate users, tho
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Spiros Bousbouras@21:1/5 to Eric M on Thu Oct 26 16:06:03 2023
    On Thu, 26 Oct 23 07:52:37 +0000
    Eric M <[email protected]> wrote:
    Le 26/10/2023 à 04:05, [email protected]d
    (Adam W.) a écrit :

    I'm testing filtering based on existence of Thai characters in the
    subject. I'll see how it works.

    This is a good idea but will there still be legitimate posters on GG according to the fact that you can't even read groups properly there as everything is spam ?

    Not all groups get spam. For example comp.os.cpm is completely clean and
    has several users posting from googlegroups ; comp.lang.forth is similar (it has a bit of spam). But even with comp.lang.fortran which gets a lot of
    spam , there are persistent users posting (and presumably also reading) from googlegroups. See for example <[email protected]> which asked a question , received a reply and the opening poster was patient enough to wade through all the spam , find the reply and post <[email protected]> .There is also <[email protected]> which gives hope
    that some people are seeing the light.

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  • From Adam W.@21:1/5 to Spiros Bousbouras on Thu Oct 26 16:19:42 2023
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:

    Not all groups get spam. For example comp.os.cpm is completely clean and has several users posting from googlegroups

    Yes, and people immediately noticed when filters started removing
    legitimate articles (I already reposted them locally, didn't distribute
    them of course).

    There's a thread on pl.sci.elektronika (in Polish) about my server
    deleting "posts from gmail". Let's try Google Translate (I love how it translated the server name to "cloudka")...

    https://www-grupy-egospodarka-pl.translate.goog/Gmailowcy-sa-na-cenzurowanym,t,633610,8.html?_x_tr_sl=pl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=pl&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    So they definitely want it, notice it, and use it.

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  • From Adam W.@21:1/5 to Eric M on Thu Oct 26 16:10:18 2023
    Eric M <[email protected]> wrote:

    This is a good idea but will there still be legitimate posters on GG according to the fact that you can't even read groups properly there as everything is spam ?

    Some groups get spammed, some don't (or very rarely). I don't know what
    the key is.

    Looking at hierarchies I carry:

    - pl.*: only pl.soc.polityka is attacked by this Thai spam

    - alt.*: only alt.chinese.text (but I don't carry certain binary groups,
    so maybe spam is there too)

    - comp.*: I see mostly comp.protocols.dicom, comp.lang.c,
    comp.cad.cadence, comp.lang.fortran, comp.lang.c++

    - rec.*: rec.arts.tv, sometimes rec.sports.golf and occasionally other
    groups

    - sci.*: mostly sci.crypt, sometimes sci.lang, what's interesting I can't
    see sci.lang.japan anymore

    - soc.*: only soc.culture.punjab

    It's based on my 1 GiB buffer, with the oldest article from today (7:30 AM CEST), and what my filter catches (I will change it later today slightly
    to catch more).

    Class SPAM for groups matching "chmurka.spam.*"
    Buffer SPAM1, size: 1.00 GBytes, position: 400 MBytes 2.39 cycles
    Newest: 2023-10-26 18:06:03, 0 days, 0:00:52 ago
    Oldest: 2023-10-26 7:30:03, 0 days, 10:36:52 ago

    I might add new buffers to increase the size (I have some space for it, I
    just didn't expect that volume)...

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  • From Eric M@21:1/5 to All on Thu Oct 26 17:12:49 2023
    Le 26/10/2023 à 18:06, Spiros Bousbouras a écrit :

    Not all groups get spam. For example comp.os.cpm is completely clean and has several users posting from googlegroups ; comp.lang.forth is similar (it has a bit of spam). But even with comp.lang.fortran which gets a lot of spam , there are persistent users posting (and presumably also reading) from googlegroups.

    Ok, so maybe delete all Google posts only on some groups, like comp.arch, comp.lang.c or sci.lang.japan ? So that people can read them at least.
    Maybe you're doing it already and I'm reinventing the wheel, I don't know
    :)

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  • From Jakob Bohm@21:1/5 to Adam W. on Fri Oct 27 17:31:24 2023
    On 2023-10-26 18:10, Adam W. wrote:
    Eric M <[email protected]> wrote:

    This is a good idea but will there still be legitimate posters on GG
    according to the fact that you can't even read groups properly there as
    everything is spam ?

    Some groups get spammed, some don't (or very rarely). I don't know what
    the key is.

    Looking at hierarchies I carry:

    - pl.*: only pl.soc.polityka is attacked by this Thai spam

    - alt.*: only alt.chinese.text (but I don't carry certain binary groups,
    so maybe spam is there too)

    - comp.*: I see mostly comp.protocols.dicom, comp.lang.c,
    comp.cad.cadence, comp.lang.fortran, comp.lang.c++


    What happened to the onslaught in comp.protocols.time.ntp, which has
    recently switched to latinized subject lines.

    All in all, this looks like a targeted attack with spammers either
    uninterested in getting readers or tricked into participating in the
    attack


    Enjoy

    Jakob
    --
    Jakob Bohm, CIO, Partner, WiseMo A/S. https://www.wisemo.com
    Transformervej 29, 2860 Søborg, Denmark. Direct +45 31 13 16 10
    This public discussion message is non-binding and may contain errors.
    WiseMo - Remote Service Management for PCs, Phones and Embedded

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  • From Frank Slootweg@21:1/5 to Adam W. on Fri Oct 27 15:48:49 2023
    Adam W. <[email protected]d> wrote:
    [...]
    Some groups get spammed, some don't (or very rarely). I don't know what
    the key is.

    Looking at hierarchies I carry:

    - pl.*: only pl.soc.polityka is attacked by this Thai spam

    - alt.*: only alt.chinese.text (but I don't carry certain binary groups,
    so maybe spam is there too)

    - comp.*: I see mostly comp.protocols.dicom, comp.lang.c,
    comp.cad.cadence, comp.lang.fortran, comp.lang.c++

    - rec.*: rec.arts.tv, sometimes rec.sports.golf and occasionally other
    groups

    It seems that comp.mobile.android is also spammed/attacked.

    I'm only lurking here (nanau, etc.) but have gmail.com addresses
    filtered in comp.mobile.android and my 'newsreader' (Hamster) filter log
    has lots of posts with long UTF-8 Subject: or/and From: headers.

    Just one example:

    Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2023 05:03:11 -0700 (PDT)
    Message-ID: <[email protected]>

    - sci.*: mostly sci.crypt, sometimes sci.lang, what's interesting I can't
    see sci.lang.japan anymore

    - soc.*: only soc.culture.punjab

    HTH.

    [...]

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  • From Lutz Beck@21:1/5 to Jakob Bohm on Fri Oct 27 21:29:58 2023
    On 27.10.2023 17:31, Jakob Bohm wrote:

    What happened to the onslaught in comp.protocols.time.ntp, which has
    recently switched to latinized subject lines.

    Probably, it meant a simple replacing Thai subject lines putting
    instead ones with ads in Indonesian and in Malaysian. But all of
    them referring to the same obsessive field: lottery, gaming, gambling
    stuff (especially to slot machines and "wheel-of-fortune"-kind of
    schemes). As well as betting/punting in several sports, esp.
    football (soccer) championships. Hence UFA (i.e., UEFA) and FIFA,
    contained in the long lists of ad wordings.

    All in all, this looks like a targeted attack with spammers eithe >uninterested in getting readers or tricked into participating in the
    attack

    "Neither nor." Esp. since newsgroups with no relevance outside of
    the Usenet are attacked with the crap, where other ones, heavily
    loaded with daily political and religiou propaganda as well as
    mad polemics are ignored by such deranged spammers.

    The usual and relevant fruit of some cerebral trouble has nothing
    to do with the Usenet (its purpose and "survival throes"), nor
    with the real advertisements (for certain areas of activity/business)
    nor with the rules, norms and logical intricacies of people who as
    providers keep i.e. don't want to giv up such media and do the
    maintenance thereof. But, of course, it is quite difficult to
    detect this type of spam authorship in order to separate it
    from possible kinds of "sabotage" actions by people "with agendas",
    to which such free fora as still is this Usenet "must be" destroyed.

    Lutz

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  • From Scott Dorsey@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sun Oct 29 00:04:12 2023
    Jakob Bohm <[email protected]d> wrote:

    What happened to the onslaught in comp.protocols.time.ntp, which has
    recently switched to latinized subject lines.

    That's a different spammer. It's Bhasa Indonesia, advertising some
    sort of online gambling service.

    All in all, this looks like a targeted attack with spammers either >uninterested in getting readers or tricked into participating in the
    attack

    They have no interest in getting direct readers, they are only interested
    in poisoning the Google search engine so that google searches find their postings on Google Groups.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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  • From Spiros Bousbouras@21:1/5 to Scott Dorsey on Sun Oct 29 02:36:40 2023
    On 29 Oct 2023 00:04:12 -0000
    [email protected] (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
    Jakob Bohm <[email protected]d> wrote:
    All in all, this looks like a targeted attack with spammers either >uninterested in getting readers or tricked into participating in the
    attack

    They have no interest in getting direct readers, they are only interested
    in poisoning the Google search engine so that google searches find their postings on Google Groups.

    I wonder if the spammers have any hope of achieving this. I would imagine
    that Google cares about their search results being influenced even though it doesn't care about usenet so Google must have measures in place against this sort of thing. Perhaps the spammers care about influencing other search
    engines (which they believe or hope to be less sophisticated) since some websites reproduce in HTML form usenet content.

    --
    vlaho.ninja/menu

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sun Oct 29 11:53:14 2023
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 29 Oct 2023 00:04:12 -0000
    [email protected] (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
    Jakob Bohm <[email protected]d> wrote:
    All in all, this looks like a targeted attack with spammers either
    uninterested in getting readers or tricked into participating in the
    attack

    They have no interest in getting direct readers, they are only interested
    in poisoning the Google search engine so that google searches find their
    postings on Google Groups.

    I wonder if the spammers have any hope of achieving this. I would imagine >that Google cares about their search results being influenced even though it >doesn't care about usenet so Google must have measures in place against this >sort of thing. Perhaps the spammers care about influencing other search >engines (which they believe or hope to be less sophisticated) since some >websites reproduce in HTML form usenet content.


    As if Google cares!!

    https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7122352592692658177/?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7122352592692658177%2C7122915621796818945%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd%5Fcomment%3A%287122915621796818945%2Curn%3Ali%
    3Aactivity%3A7122352592692658177%29
    --
    vlaho.ninja/menu


    --
    Member - Liberal International This is [email protected] Ici [email protected]
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; unsubscribe from Google Groups to be seen Those who are spreading confusion are not spreading truth. -unknown https://mindspring.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scott Dorsey@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sun Oct 29 13:27:08 2023
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 29 Oct 2023 00:04:12 -0000
    [email protected] (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
    Jakob Bohm <[email protected]d> wrote:
    All in all, this looks like a targeted attack with spammers either
    uninterested in getting readers or tricked into participating in the
    attack

    They have no interest in getting direct readers, they are only interested
    in poisoning the Google search engine so that google searches find their
    postings on Google Groups.

    I wonder if the spammers have any hope of achieving this. I would imagine >that Google cares about their search results being influenced even though it >doesn't care about usenet so Google must have measures in place against this >sort of thing. Perhaps the spammers care about influencing other search >engines (which they believe or hope to be less sophisticated) since some >websites reproduce in HTML form usenet content.

    So far I don't think it's working very well, at least a google search on
    "Black Magic In Karnatika" failed to find any of it. Have not tried other engines.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to Scott Dorsey on Mon Oct 30 00:53:33 2023
    In article <uhlmjc$bh1$[email protected]>,
    Scott Dorsey <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 29 Oct 2023 00:04:12 -0000
    [email protected] (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
    Jakob Bohm <[email protected]d> wrote:
    All in all, this looks like a targeted attack with spammers either
    uninterested in getting readers or tricked into participating in the
    attack

    They have no interest in getting direct readers, they are only interested >>> in poisoning the Google search engine so that google searches find their >>> postings on Google Groups.

    I wonder if the spammers have any hope of achieving this. I would imagine >>that Google cares about their search results being influenced even though it >>doesn't care about usenet so Google must have measures in place against this >>sort of thing. Perhaps the spammers care about influencing other search >>engines (which they believe or hope to be less sophisticated) since some >>websites reproduce in HTML form usenet content.

    So far I don't think it's working very well, at least a google search on >"Black Magic In Karnatika" failed to find any of it. Have not tried other >engines.
    --scott

    Google GRoups disgrace themselves by not regulating spammers!

    https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7122352592692658177/?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7122352592692658177%2C7122915621796818945%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd%5Fcomment%3A%287122915621796818945%2Curn%3Ali%
    3Aactivity%3A7122352592692658177%29
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."


    --
    Member - Liberal International This is [email protected] Ici [email protected]
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; unsubscribe from Google Groups to be seen Those who are spreading confusion are not spreading truth. -unknown https://mindspring.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Andrew@21:1/5 to Scott Dorsey on Tue Oct 31 10:04:34 2023
    Scott Dorsey wrote:
    Jakob Bohm <[email protected]d> wrote:

    What happened to the onslaught in comp.protocols.time.ntp, which has
    recently switched to latinized subject lines.

    That's a different spammer. It's Bhasa Indonesia, advertising some
    sort of online gambling service.

    All in all, this looks like a targeted attack with spammers either
    uninterested in getting readers or tricked into participating in the
    attack

    They have no interest in getting direct readers, they are only interested
    in poisoning the Google search engine so that google searches find their postings on Google Groups.
    --scott


    Are newsgroups also being used to train AI?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From HenHanna@21:1/5 to Scott Dorsey on Sun Jun 30 13:17:09 2024
    XPost: sci.lang.japan, news.groups

    On 10/25/2023 10:09 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:41:20 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    I'm not sure what you're asking. If the question is whether the spam on
    sci.lang.japan is as bad as it is on comp.arch or comp.lang.c , I
    don't know. Try the groups through a server which doesn't seem to filter
    the spam (news.cyber23.de doesn't seem to do so) and with your own filters >> off and you can form your own opinion.

    It is similar spam injected in a similar way. Much like the spam on comp.os.vms and on comp.protocols.time.ntp. It is more or less a universal problem across usenet. Many sites sites just dump all Google postings or dump anything with "UTF-8" in a malformed subject line.
    --scott


    so you think Spam was the main factor (that destroyed SLJ)?

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  • From Scott Dorsey@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon Jul 1 00:24:20 2024
    XPost: sci.lang.japan, news.groups

    In article <v5seg5$m194$[email protected]>,
    HenHanna <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 10/25/2023 10:09 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:41:20 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    I'm not sure what you're asking. If the question is whether the spam on
    sci.lang.japan is as bad as it is on comp.arch or comp.lang.c , I
    don't know. Try the groups through a server which doesn't seem to filter >>> the spam (news.cyber23.de doesn't seem to do so) and with your own filters >>> off and you can form your own opinion.

    It is similar spam injected in a similar way. Much like the spam on
    comp.os.vms and on comp.protocols.time.ntp. It is more or less a universal >> problem across usenet. Many sites sites just dump all Google postings or
    dump anything with "UTF-8" in a malformed subject line.

    so you think Spam was the main factor (that destroyed SLJ)?

    I didn't see spam being a problem in technical groups because they had so
    few Google Groups users that everybody just dropped all Google postings
    in the past decade anyway, and of course all the spam came through Google.

    Whether it was a problem in s.l.j or how it was a problem or whether
    Google being dropped off usenet voluntarily affected s.l.j I have no idea
    about because I never read the group.

    But currently there is no connection between Google Groups and Usenet and
    there is very little spam. Many groups that were inundated with spam and
    had a small number of Google users are doing well today.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From HenHanna@21:1/5 to Scott Dorsey on Fri Jul 19 14:49:39 2024
    XPost: sci.lang.japan, news.groups, soc.culture.japan

    On 6/30/2024 5:24 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    In article <v5seg5$m194$[email protected]>,
    HenHanna <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 10/25/2023 10:09 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Spiros Bousbouras <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:41:20 -0000 (UTC)
    [email protected] (The Doctor) wrote:
    Is this like comp.arch or comp.lang.c?

    I'm not sure what you're asking. If the question is whether the spam on >>>> sci.lang.japan is as bad as it is on comp.arch or comp.lang.c , I
    don't know. Try the groups through a server which doesn't seem to filter >>>> the spam (news.cyber23.de doesn't seem to do so) and with your own filters
    off and you can form your own opinion.

    It is similar spam injected in a similar way. Much like the spam on
    comp.os.vms and on comp.protocols.time.ntp. It is more or less a universal >>> problem across usenet. Many sites sites just dump all Google postings or >>> dump anything with "UTF-8" in a malformed subject line.

    so you think Spam was the main factor (that destroyed SLJ)?

    I didn't see spam being a problem in technical groups because they had so
    few Google Groups users that everybody just dropped all Google postings
    in the past decade anyway, and of course all the spam came through Google.

    Whether it was a problem in s.l.j or how it was a problem or whether
    Google being dropped off usenet voluntarily affected s.l.j I have no idea about because I never read the group.

    But currently there is no connection between Google Groups and Usenet and there is very little spam. Many groups that were inundated with spam and
    had a small number of Google users are doing well today.
    --scott



    so you think Spam was the main factor (that destroyed SLJ)?

    from my experience from GG... it seems that Spammers
    tended to avoid NG Groups that were actually occupied (and used)

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