Re: New photos Posted Today

[dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David Bromage)]

Derick Wuen (cullend@webone.com.au) wrote:

> David Bromage wrote in message ...
> >dirtcircuitvideos (dirtcircuitvideos@bigpond.com) wrote:
> >> Of The Ghan.
> >> To  :  alt.binaries.pictures.rail
> >
> >Once again, why don't you put them on a web page? Posting them as binaries
> >is useless to a lot of people. The web has replaced the need for binaries
> >newsgroups and the number of sites carrying binaries is steadily
> >decreasing.

> newbie to group.... don't understand the problem with alt.binaries, I can
> access quite easily from home machine and my ISP.

> Is problem gateway software on employer machines or poor service from ISP?

Yes and no. Binaries newsgroups are an anarchonism from the days before
WWW. They are very bandwidth intensive and the number of sites carrying
them is decreasing. Some sites do not carry any alt.* newsgroups.

The other problem is that they are often flooded with porn. If Senator
Alston's content regulation Bill is passed, Telstra will have to drop all
binaries newsgroups from its distribution for this reason.

> Seems to me that alt.binaries offer archival service (websites accumulate
> alt.binaries postings) which provide a very useful service after the
> postings have lost some currency.

IIRC, Dejanews and Altavista no longer archive all binaries newsgroups.

> I suggest an alt.binaries.rail.aus NG,

It still has the same problem. Binaries have poor propogation these days,
and even in their heyday the articles were never active for more than a
few days. A web site would be much more useful as images stay there as
long as the webmaster leaves them.

There are plenty of free web sites around (e.g. Tripod, Geocities).

Cheers
David