America's #1 USENET Provider
The NewsDemon Blog
Prince Declares Internet Dead
July 9th, 2010
Is it time to shut the Internet and Usenet down? Prince thinks so. Explaining why he’s giving his new album away free to readers of the Daily Mirror this weekend, Prince tells the paper that the web, on which some prominent media corporations have bet the farm, is now obsolete.
“The internet’s completely over,” he explained. “I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.
He added: “The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”
Of all people to respond, Mr. G or Kenny G, says that if the Internet is dead, “then I must be dead too, ’cause I use it all the time,” adding with a laugh, “Maybe I’ve got a sixth sense, and I can only see dead people. I don’t know.” Unlike Prince, Kenny G said the Internet is vital to promoting his work.
Prince was an early adopter of internet-release platforms, making a number of records available through his music club subscription service, which was shut down in 2006 after five years. Since then, Prince has been a fierce opponent of content sharing, even threatening to sue a woman who put up a YouTube video of her baby dancing to one of his songs in 2007.
He’s surely fighting a lone battle against the internet, shutting his own website down and threatening to sue every legal an illegal download service out of existence. The singer-songwriter will give away his new album 20Ten with copies of The Mirror and Daily Record on July 10. The album will not be available to download.
Text Based Messages Skyrocket In US
April 21st, 2010
Upward trending since the beginning of Usenet, text based messaging has now eclipsed even the phone itself as to become the most frequent form of communication among US teenagers. Even more surprising is that girls send more than twice as many messages as boys, according to a new study.
The study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the University of Michigan released Tuesday found that the average adolescent sends or receives 50 or more messages a day, or 1,500 texts per month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month. Much to the dismay of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, daily text messaging among American teens has shot up in the past 18 months, from 38% of teen’s texting friends daily in February of 2008 to 54% of teens texting daily in September 2009. Texting has gotten so prolific; there are even competitions now to see who can text the fastest: the LG Mobile Worldcup. This should not come as a big surprise if you simply look at the amount of communication on many throughout history on Usenet newsgroups.
However, although 71 percent of parents with teenagers aged 12 to 17 years old say they know how to and do text, kids still perceive their elders as being out of the texting loop.
Although some of the popularity of texting can be chalked up to generational trends, teens interviewed in the Pew study also cited practical and economic reasons for their enthusiasm. With some of the same initial draws to subscribing to and sharing on newsgroups, texting is quieter and easier than a phone call for brief messages, and many teenagers are on cellphone plans that limit minutes for calls but that allows unlimited texts.
Young Adults Online More Than Ever
January 21st, 2010
According to a survey released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, American youths are spending far more time consuming media on a daily basis than just five years ago. Young people now devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to daily media use, or about 53 hours a week according to the findings being discussed on a variety of USENET newsgroups.
According to the study posted on to soc newsgroups, America’s 8- 18-year-olds have increased their consumption of digital media over the past 5 years by one hour and 17 minutes a day. The 7 1/2 hour daily total is up from 6 hours and 21 minutes five years ago.. Total media consumption taking multitasking into account was up from 8 hours 33 minutes.
And when children go to their rooms, media still surrounds them, with 71 percent saying they have a TV in their bedroom and 50 percent saying they have a video game player, the researchers report. Live TV viewing comprises 59%, or 2 hours and 39 minutes a day, of young viewer’s video time with 41%, 1 hour and 50 minutes, coming from time-shifted programming, DVDs, online, or mobile. Other trends: About two-thirds of young people say the TV is usually on during meals, and just under half say the TV is left on, most of the time, in their home, even if no one is watching. ”What surprised me the most is the sheer amount of media content coming into their lives each day,” said Kaiser’s Vicky Rideout, who directed the study. “When you step back and look at the big picture, it’s a little overwhelming.” The huge increase since 2004 can be attributed to the transformation of the cellphone into a content delivery device and social networks such as USENET, Facebook and Twitter.
“The increase in media use is driven in large part by ready access to mobile devices like cell phones and iPods. Over the past five years, there has been a huge increase in ownership among 8-18-year-olds: from 39 to 66 percent for cell phones, and from 18 to 76 percent for iPods and other MP3 players,” read the report.
A few years ago, the same researchers thought that teens and tweens were consuming about as much media as humanly possible in the hours available. But somehow, young people have found a way to pack in even more. The study cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship between media use and grades. However, the survey did find that about half of heavy media users, defined as consuming more than 16 hours of media a day, usually got grades of mostly Cs or lower, compared to less than a quarter of light users, defined as less than three hours of media a day. Black and Hispanic children, who as a group perform poorer in school than whites, spend far more time with media than white kids, consuming an additional 4.5 hours a day on average, for a total of about 13 hours of media exposure.
Study authors didn’t determine whether so much use is either positive or negative overall, but do say the new stats should be useful information for parents, health professionals and policy makers as they make decisions about kids media use and the content they’re receiving. “Anything that occupies this much space in kids’ lives is something we really need to pay attention to,” Richard added. “The bottom line is that all these advances in media technologies are making it even easier for young people to spend more and more time with media,” said foundation Vice President Victoria Rideout, the report’s author. “It’s more important than ever that researchers, policy-makers and parents stay on top of the impact it’s having on their lives.” One form of media teenagers aren’t hooked on? Print newspapers. Most youth surveyed said they spent only 38 minutes a day reading a print publication.
Twitter Threat Treated As Terrorism
January 18th, 2010
Newsgroups hosts one of the longest running online discussion systems on the planet. As much trash talk newsgroups may have generated, not a single case has ever led to someone being banned for life from every flying again. But that’s what happened when 26 year old Paul Chambers posted a message on Twitter on Friday intended to be an ill-fated joke. It wasn’t long after stating on the popular social network “I’m blowing the airport sky high” that authorities arrested and interrogated him under the Terrorism Act.
The post was meant as merely a joke spiced up with some pent up anger but authorities didn’t take to kindly to his sense of humor. On January 13, Paul was arrested on terrorism charges. When he tried to explain the situation to the officers that had come to arrest him, they didn’t seem to even know what Twitter was “I had to explain Twitter to them in its entirety because they’d never heard of it” stated Paul. He faces a charge of conspiring to create a bomb hoax, a charge he flatly denies. “I’m the most mild-mannered guy you could imagine.”
Since then, they’ve confiscated his laptop, iPhone and home computer while also banning him for life from the airport he had joked about. Furthermore, he has been suspended from his place of work and even his twitter account has been deleted. There have been Twitter-related arrests in the U.S., where there are more than 6 million users of the social-networking site. Two men were arrested last October for tweeting police locations during the G-20 conference in Pittsburgh.
After 30 years of existence, USENET Newsgroups may work the same as Twitter and have had similar posts that may have reached the masses, but never did it generate such a harsh legal backlash for a supposed joke. It leaves to question if these new sites and the direction of social networks as a whole are really a move forward comparative to networks that are proudly uncensored such as USENET newsgroups.
Newsgroups: Top Searches In 2009
November 30th, 2009
First out of the veritable search engine gates this year, Bing has posted its top searches for 2009. Each year, the big three give us a reveal on what most of us have been looking for all year long.
Here are 2009 top search results from Bing:
1) Michael Jackson - No surprise that the death of the one glove entertainment goliath topped the list.
2) Twitter – The USENET inspired service gained a curious look by many this year – few REAL people joined.
3) Swine Flu – Achoo.
4) Stock Market – Achoo.
5) Farrah Fawcett – Charlie lost an angel this year.
6) Patrick Swayze – Although Ghost and Dirty Dancing brought him fame, he earned the online world respect early with Road House.
7) Cash for Clunkers – A government incentive program to encourage US citizens to purchase foreign cars.
8) Jon and Kate Gosselin – Talk of divorce clogged both the interwebs as well as many USENET newsgroups for the reality television couple with 100 kids.
9) Billy Mays – But wait, there’s one more:
10) Jaycee Dugard – Kidnapped as a child, Jaycee was discovered alive after 18 years from her disappearance, also with a child.
The search trends tend to coincide with the popularity of these topics on newsgroups. Each of these top 10 either have a dedicated newsgroup to the matter or at the very least – a newsgroup related to the topic.
According to Bing, other searches were prominent this year:
“Not surprisingly, we saw a lot of folks using Bing for quick access to favorite sites like Facebook, MSN, Youtube and Craigslist. We also saw a lot of more complex searches such as product related queries in which people used Bing to help decide what MP3 player to buy and travel searches to help find the best deals on a tropical vacation.”
Separate from “Top Trending Topics”, the most popular searches is a general category of search terms that gained the most interest. Top Trending Topics is another list compiled by Bing which mostly covers celebrities. This year, the top three were Megan Fox, Robert Pattinson and holding in at number one – Perez Hilton.
Google has its own trends section will allow users to see real time results on popular searches. Yahoo and Google both are expected to have their own 2009 top 10 searches coming out soon. The Bing results are only gathered from US results and do not include a UK edition. To find out more, many Microsoft and search engine newsgroups provide discussion groups on the matter.
UPDATE:
Google and Yahoo have both released their top 10 results. In each, Michael Jackson takes hold of the charts in each. However, looking closely at the rest is where all the similarities apparently end:
- michael jackson
- tuenti
- sanalika
- new moon
- lady gaga
- windows 7
- dantri.com.vn
- torpedo gratis
Yahoo
1) Michael Jackson
2) The Twilight Saga
3) WWE
4) Megan Fox
5) Britney Spears
6) Naruto
7) American Idol
8) Kim Kardashian
9) NASCAR
10) Runescape
Newsgroup Spotlight: Nobel Prize Categories
October 15th, 2009
As many in the United States discussed Barack Obama for winning the Nobel Prize for Peace, there are other notable awards that were handed out for other categories. Multiple awards were given to groups and individuals that had been responsible for some amazing achievements.
All of these fields that these people had won in share at least one thing in common; dedicated discussion newsgroups on USENET. Thousands over time have contributed, shared and/or discussed the same topics that continue to this day for the same common goal: advancement in knowledge and application.
It wouldn’t be surprising if each of these awarded individuals had some sort of background with USENET. As the premier and prominent online source for communication and sharing ideas, it’s very possible that one, if not some, used USENET as a resource.
Here are the other winners of the Nobel Prize this year:
In the Physiology and Medicine category, the award had gone to Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak, a group responsible for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and an enzyme.
In Physics, Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith shared one half of the award for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor - as the other half went to Charles K. Kao for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication, which could lead to astonishing speeds in data transmission.
In the ever changing world of Chemistry, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath shared the award for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome, which are complexes of RNA and protein that are found in all cells.
In the Economics front, it was Elinor Ostrom for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons and Oliver E. Williamson for his analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm that won them the rights to share the prize equally.
Lastly, in the world of Literature, Herta Müller from Germany won who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.
The achievements each of them have been able to make have been due to the same elements that can be found on USENET: research, discovery and knowledge. With these at our disposal, future advancements are not only possible, but likely.
As many in the United States discussed Barack Obama for winning the Nobel Prize for Peace, there are other notable awards that were handed out for other categories. Six awards in all were given to groups and individuals that had been responsible for some amazing achievements.
All of these fields that these people had won in share something in common; dedicated discussion newsgroups on USENET. Thousands over time have contributed, shared or discussed the same topics that continue to this day for the same common goal: advancement in knowledge and application.
It wouldn’t be surprising if each of these awarded individuals had some sort of background with USENET. As the premier and prominent online source for communication and sharing ideas, it’s very possible that one, if not some, used USENET as a resource.
Here are the other winners of the Nobel Prize this year:
In the Physiology and Medicine category, the award had gone to Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak, a group responsible for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and an enzyme.
In Physics, Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith shared one half of the award for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor - as the other half went to Charles K. Kao for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication, which could lead to astonishing speeds in data transmission.
In the ever changing world of Chemistry, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath shared the award for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome, which are complexes of RNA and protein that are found in all cells.
In the Economics front, it was Elinor Ostrom for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons and Oliver E. Williamson for his analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm that won them the rights to share the prize equally.
Lastly, in the world of Literature, Herta Müller from Germany won who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.
The achievements each of them have been able to make have been due to the same elements that can be found on USENET: research, discovery and knowledge. With these at our disposal, future advancements are not only possible, but likely.
Banned Books Week Announced On Newsgroups
September 26th, 2009
On many arts and literature newsgroups, the main topic of discussion this week is all about the ALA’s Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event which celebrates the freedom to read and the importance of the United States First Amendment. Always held during the last week of September, BBW highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship. This form and attempt of censorship is something very familiar as well with many newsgroups on USENET.
Launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, BBW was created primarily by bookstores and libraries, headed by The American Library Association.
More than a thousand books have been challenged since then. People have challenged books that they say are too offensive for one reason or another: sex, violence, profanity, slang, racial or religion for the most part. Their targets range from books that explore the latest problems to classic and beloved works of American literature.
Some of the mainstream titles that have been banned are:
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
- Forever – Judy Blume
- The Catcher In The Rye – J.D. Salinger
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling
- In The Night Kitchen – Maurice Sendak
- Beloved – Toni Morrison
Others include: “To Kill a Mockingbird.” “Charlotte’s Web.” “The Sun Also Rises.” “As I Lay Dying.” “Kim.” “Winnie-the-Pooh.”
Over the years, groups and communities have taken it upon themselves to determine what books are worthy of being stacked on library shelves and what should be kept from the public. Many libraries and bookstores have answered back that access to such works, no matter what their content, is one of the precious traditions that should be defended.
In response, The American Library Association’s designated an annual Banned Books Week – now in its 28th year – to answer this cause. Many books challenged by communities as being inappropriate for public dissemination or that were targeted for banning have survived because of BBW as it brings librarians, teachers, booksellers and the media to rally and create public opposition to such moves.
Much like the freedoms of USENET, intellectual freedom, while not an explicit freedom guaranteed by the United States First Amendment, sits at the heart of our democracy; it is the freedom to access information and express ideas—even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular. Banned Books Week stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.
Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event which celebrates the freedom to read and the importance of the United States First Amendment. Always held during the last week of September, BBW highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship. This form and attempt of censorship is something very familiar as well with many newsgroups on USENET.
Launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, BBW was created primarily by bookstores and libraries, headed by The American Library Association.
More than a thousand books have been challenged since then. People have challenged books that they say are too offensive for one reason or another: sex, violence, profanity, slang, racial or religion for the most part. Their targets range from books that explore the latest problems to classic and beloved works of American literature.
Some of the mainstream titles that have been banned are:
· Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
· Forever – Judy Blume
· The Catcher In The Rye – J.D. Salinger
· Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling
· In The Night Kitchen – Maurice Sendak
· Beloved – Toni Morrison
Others include: “To Kill a Mockingbird.” “Charlotte’s Web.” “The Sun Also Rises.” “As I Lay Dying.” “Kim.” “Winnie-the-Pooh.”
Over the years, groups and communities have taken it upon themselves to determine what books are worthy of being stacked on library shelves and what should be kept from the public. Many libraries and bookstores have answered back that access to such works, no matter what their content, is one of the precious traditions that should be defended.
In response, The American Library Association’s designated an annual Banned Books Week – now in its 28th year – to answer this cause. Many books challenged by communities as being inappropriate for public dissemination or that were targeted for banning have survived because of BBW as it brings librarians, teachers, booksellers and the media to rally and create public opposition to such moves.
Much like the freedoms of USENET, intellectual freedom, while not an explicit freedom guaranteed by the United States First Amendment, sits at the heart of our democracy; it is the freedom to access information and express ideas—even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular. Banned Books Week stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.
Newsgroup Spotlight: Environment and Ecology Newsgroups
September 23rd, 2009
Our global environment is currently facing obstacles that have a higher possibility than ever to seriously disrupt a sustainable future. For a time now, USENET has been home to a place where you can discover how to maintain or improve your quality of life while reducing your harmful impact on the earth.
Climate change is all over the news and it seems like everyone is “going green.” May are now taking action, too. Luckily, many of the steps we can take to stop climate change can make our lives better. With environment and ecology newsgroups, they help get the masses educated and get hooked on sustainability.
With many of these newsgroups, it has continues to unite people in an effort to make real and lasting changes in their communities that will protect the environment for years to come.
From energy related newsgroups to earth sciences, these newsgroups teach each other how to be responsible caretakers of the planet. Living green, through education and action.
Many of these newsgroups are based on discussions around research and science. The USENET newsgroups focuses on the challenges that climate change, resource degradation, and population growth pose for meeting human needs in the 21st century.
Because of it based on science and technology, they are able to often provide innovative solutions to problems that can make a sustainable future a reality.
Internet Hijacks 61st Emmy’s
September 21st, 2009
Last night for the 61st Annual Emmy Awards, host Neil Patrick Harris did a skit as Dr. Horrible, his online blog persona, proclaiming the death of television and forecasting the future of internet entertainment. Didn’t that already happen 10 years ago?
Entertainment newsgroups postings discuss how Emmy host Harris made and showed a quick skit starring his character Doctor Horrible from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. The sketch guest-starred actor Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer and a couple of other cast members from the online blog.
If you haven’t seen Neil Patrick Harris and his Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, it just won its own Emmy as an Outstanding Special Class: Short-format Live-Action Entertainment Program Emmy Award.
From Howser to Dr. Horrible, Neil Patrick Harris, who is also a cast member on “How I Met Your Mother,” opened up with a song begging viewers to stick with the show, and made several references throughout to the challenges facing broadcast television.
He earned kudos from critics, and from people appearing on the show. Harris successfully hosted the award show last year and was hoping for an even better show this year. He delivered.
Harris made a few good points that have been active considerations from TV broadcasters as more of its audience have been migrating online and away from the TV tube.
Here in its entirety, is the clip from the awards show:
Newsgroup Spotlight: Student Resource Newsgroups
September 16th, 2009
An individual’s prosperity, happiness and impact on the future is mostly dictated by education in this day and age. Educating the minds of the young provide the future we hope to behold.
The importance of this has been a reminder during our efforts to give back to our community. With the free USENET access and our new Student discount offer, we hope to provide more with the resources USENET provides in continuing education.
From teachers and students alike, USENET newsgroups have been formed to contribute towards education through research and debate on current issues, structures and expectations at all levels of education.
Many new students throughout time have found that College newsgroups have provided them with a forum in which they have been able to formulate answers to expand their knowledge. Financial aid newsgroups to admission newsgroups have made many lives easier by taking out a lot of the guess work and generally being better prepared with moving forward with their educational path.
Whatever school a person may attend, many graduate school newsgroups exist to assist. Many of these newsgroups are filled with like minded individuals on either the same path or have the experience to help.
Education is a fundamental building block of a modern-day vision of success. With newsgroups dedicated to education as a tool, it can unlock volumes of knowledge to explore and discover.
