I just saw a message post somewhere online saying that AOL won't be carrying newsgroups anymore. I think they will be discontinuing them in Feb. This is so sad & stupid. Here the links to the articles posted online about it:

http://www.betanews.com/article/AOL_Pul ... 1106664611

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,17 ... X1K0000594

Some of us like me & a certain folkslinger were accessing them thru AOL.

You can get alt.music.guthrie & other newsgroups thru Google & can subscribe to them & read them & write to them from there.

Arlo's newsgroup on Google is here:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt ... =subscribe

AOL was never newsgroup-friendly, I recently found out. I pay $4.95 per month for Usenet now, but at least my postings go through, and I can get everyone else's.

It's hard to be friendly when you're an empire. I said good-bye to AOL myself (after the next billing period I'm gone), not because of the news group thing, but because their service seems to suck more and more especially to Mac users, not to mention the price. It's no wonder AOL is pitching their service all over the TV now as millions of people discover that there is life after AOL. And frankly the after life is much friendlier than even I imagined.

Arlo, I'm surprised you've still been on AOL at all.... I thought you'd moved over to broadband awhile ago. Although while being on the road, AOL can be a good thing to keep.... I did while I travelled the country several years ago... just so I could log in to get mail and upload photos along the way... from motel rooms.

Anyway, I left AOL (I'm a PC user) over 2 years ago. Between the cost, the limitations, etc... I just decided I didn't want to work for them anymore.

But, for those of us who liked our screen names, we can keep them for AIM.... it costs 2.95 a month per account. My oldest, Eric... away at college and I kept our names so we can talk on AIM without losing our screen names.

And yes, Arlo... it is friendlier than AOL.... AOL got too intrusive.

As for newsgroups, I never went to them by AOL anyway.... I used DejaNews.... but I heard they no longer exist.... and I generally only read posts here and don't subscribe to any newsgroups anywhere. I'm curious about them, tho... so maybe I will look into them.

It's hard to find a broad or a band here in this part of Massachusetts so it's no wonder we can't get broadband. The only high speed that's available is through Direct TV which is way too high (as far as price is concerned) and their definition of speed is pretty funny.

terrie, don't understand why you'd pay ANYTHING for an AIM screenname... they're free! When AOL dumped me couple of years ago (long story, and being off AOL was the happy ending) I lost my Lunetune AOL address, but still have to this day that same AIM name, along with a few others - as I learned from my kids that the best way to 'avoid' some folks was to just keep generating new names!
Even if it's convenient, can't see the point in paying those bastards anything to get what everyone gets for free...

as for you arlo, have you tried two tin cans and some butchers string? Might improve your bandwidth....

eating more hamburgers = bigger band width

Hi Arlo! Glad I started this topic. It brought you out of the wood work.

I'm still on AOL on their $14.95 a month BYOA deal where you can use another ISP to to access them for only $14.95 a month. The only reason I kept them was they had numbers all over the place, you had message boards on there, they had newsgroups which were easier to read in AOL than Outlook Express, they have good diabetes chatrooms & if you're on a trip somewhere that doesn't have local numbers for the internet you can still get on the internet thru a 1-800 number for an extra charge. Now the only incentive I have to keep them is the diabetes chatrooms & the 1-800 number access & they have a number for Princeton, WV so I can get online when I got to KY. What isp are ya switching to? I use a $6.50 a month isp to access the internet & AOL...

Deja News was bought up by Google & changed their name to Google groups. If you need a newsgroups acct to use with Outlook Express there is a free one from Germany. I have an acct with them. DirectTv is too high on broadband here too. They don't have cable net here in the hinterlands or even cable tv. We're in the dark ages lol...

Hey adg, I can't get broadband where I live either, (a semi-rural area about 45 mins north of where you played in Bris last June), unless I swap from my local server who I'm very happy with, to one of the humungus (big) phone companies, Telstra, which the govt sold half of already and is aiming to sell off the rest and privatize the whole thing . Maybe we should start a movement!! The Demand Broadband Massacree! I don't feel left out now!!! (Maybe we could try that tin-can string thing!)

I don't understand how, if you lost your Lunetune AOL name, you can still have it on AIM. I can't take that chance. I didn't "create" the AIM name while I was still with AOL; I just signed into AIM using my AOL screen-name. If my AOL screen-name is gone, then so is my AIM name because they told me the two were tied together. So, I continue to pay the $2.95 so Eric and I can keep our names. Too much of a MAJOR hassle for him, especially, to have to change his name. I'd rather just pay the "extortion" than take the chance losing those names.

And since he rarely phones home anymore, I rely on AIM to know what he's up to (he's always logged on and has an "away message" that usually keeps me up-to-date, although that's certainly not his intent!).

According to The Blunderite Dictionary, "AOL" is defined as "Arlo on line". I guess you can't believe everything you read.

Arnie, for what it's worth,Lunetune moniker or no Lunetune moniker, I still think that you're looneytunes!

Hey Cheryl - I have AOL along with Broadband and I only pay $9.95 a month. Not sure if its a regional thing, but you better check them out
and see if you can get them to lower your monthly payment.

I get told all the time, especially by my daughter who HAD to have
AOL when we started this computer thing, to get rid of it. Now everything I do online is connected with my screen name and AOL, and I get tired
just thinking about changing everything. Yikes....

Linda

I'm dropping my AOL service too. AOL is useless to me, except that I want to communicate with a few friends on AIM....

When you completely drop AOL, you're allowed to keep ONE screen name for free... if you want to keep all screen names, they do charge you.

So if all you need is your main screen name, don't be afraid to drop AOL... if they will ever let go of you! They will tempt you with months of free service, though. It's harder to drop AOL than it is to lose 'that last five pounds' because they have extremely well-trained representatives... I do have to say, though, that I was happy to talk to a representative who is actually here in the US... Oklahoma, as a matter of fact... and I think I talked him into going to WoodyFest this summer!

The only reason I am keeping them is they have good diabetes chatrooms you can't get on the regular internet, message boards on my cousin Jason the singer that you can't get on the regular internet & numbers all over the place so I can get online on trips & they have a 1-800 number so you can get online in areas that have no local internet numbers. If if weren't for that, I'd be gone from there with Arlo...

understand that I was a 'charter' member of AOL, BEFORE it was AOL... when it was still an Apple-Only community no less!
But once the internet exploded, they lost their footing, and any blunderite can manuver their way to the same (if not better) information than what AOL packages today.
As for the fee to 'keep' your screennames on AIM, I can't make you do anything, but if you're willing to send them 2.95 a month for basically doing NOTHING, would you also send ME a few bucks every month as well? I learned how to do Absolutely Nothin' from the master (todd) and would put your money to better use (for me anyway).
My advice: it takes 2 minutes to setup a new screen name, wait a few minutes for the confirm in your email inbox, and then reply to confirm it.
You then send your darling son an IM at his OLD screen name advising him to add your new one to his buddy list... another 1 minute spent.
Next you and son reverse roles and repeat the process.
At the end of the 10 - 20 minutes this may take, you'll both have TWO new screen names, dedicated to each other at the moment since no other buddies will have these names (yet), and you can then decide whether to stop paying AOHELL or not...

And Wyld, I want you as my agent!

finally, just staying on topic, yes Deja News is gone, replaced by the Google 'beta' Groups - which took all of a couple of clicks to find and read the Alt.Music.Guthrie list without even having to subscribe... so again, no reason to be on AOL these days.

now i gotta go start stringing more tin cans... i see a new business venture on the horizon... the BlunderNet!