The first mention of AIDS on Usenet was in the net.singles group back on December 20, 1982. In it, seven people grasp for information about the disease -- how it's transmitted, how long it takes to start to show symptoms, and what those symptoms could be. It's a window both into the early days of AIDS knowledge and the early days of the Internet, and a fine example of people using 'net-based community groups to acquire information and ask questions.
posted by delfuego on Dec 1, 2002 - 6 comments

Just who is Dean Stark? A legend of usenet? Some kind of monster? Or perhaps the victim of a huge conspiracy? The answer may shock you...
posted by Settle on Mar 13, 2002 - 25 comments

Maybe this idea is just too postmodern. But then a usenet group about a discussion group would never work would it? Best keep using Metatalk then . . .
posted by feelinglistless on Jul 18, 2001 - 16 comments

Jim Ellis, co-creator of usenet died today. He was 45.
posted by rebeccablood on Jun 28, 2001 - 7 comments

These are the coolest people ever. I have been using them for newsreading for about a year now; today my pc got fried, got a new hd and all, I've lost my login/pass, asked them again and got a prompt reply. The service is really good, the severs are fast, faster than att's @home, stuff shows up in matter of minutes. It's things such as these that make you remember, if for a second, that not everything's a part of some big corporate whore-machine.
posted by tiaka on May 3, 2001 - 11 comments

Deja.com sells "Precision Buying Service." So all they've got now, on the hompage at least, are the USENET archives. And I don't think the older ones were added back either. I'm at a loss -- what's their biz plan now? Will they sell the archives as well and have . . . nothing?
posted by jwells on Dec 12, 2000 - 3 comments