Yes, I can still download binary files but part of the problem is the huge number of images and their tendency to be spread out over many sources. I used to use Free Agent and with a few clicks I could download a fairly large number of images (from a variety of groups and all in what amounted to one location). But you're right about the number of images in other places. I don't have the convenience I once had though. But change sometimes means doing things in a different way.
I could sign up for a news service that would supply access to the various groups but sometimes it's a little pricey (maybe not by itself but when you add it to all the other things you pay $10 a month, $5 dollars a month, $30 a month, etc. it adds up). And there is often a cap on how much you can download each month. So I'd have to look again and see if it would be worth it to me. I've looked in the past and don't remember being bowled over.
It used to be access to a news server came with an Internet account but many ISPs don't supply that anymore especially if they're a small company like the one I use.
And, yes, Usenet is still in existence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet#Usenet_traffic_today Some of this information will explain why so many ISPs don't provide access to Usenet anymore (if they ever did). The amount of traffic - a sad amount of it spam - has grown in volume that it isn't always feasible for a company to supply it. But I also suspect that many of the newer users online (including senior citizens) may not even be aware of Usenet much less have any interest in it. Especially since there are so many other options for them to spew, oops, I mean share their point of view in the many, many forums on the Web. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September
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Date: 2010-09-17 11:06 pm (UTC)I could sign up for a news service that would supply access to the various groups but sometimes it's a little pricey (maybe not by itself but when you add it to all the other things you pay $10 a month, $5 dollars a month, $30 a month, etc. it adds up). And there is often a cap on how much you can download each month. So I'd have to look again and see if it would be worth it to me. I've looked in the past and don't remember being bowled over.
It used to be access to a news server came with an Internet account but many ISPs don't supply that anymore especially if they're a small company like the one I use.
And, yes, Usenet is still in existence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet#Usenet_traffic_today
Some of this information will explain why so many ISPs don't provide access to Usenet anymore (if they ever did). The amount of traffic - a sad amount of it spam - has grown in volume that it isn't always feasible for a company to supply it. But I also suspect that many of the newer users online (including senior citizens) may not even be aware of Usenet much less have any interest in it. Especially since there are so many other options for them to spew, oops, I mean share their point of view in the many, many forums on the Web.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September