Continuing the trend for ISPs to offer less service for more money, Verizon announced on their website that they're no longer going to be carrying Usenet groups beyond the "Big Eight" hierarchies. They didn't really explain why.

Apparently they're using Little CuCuomo's attempt to fight kiddie porn to justify their reduction of services. They're dropping the entire "alt" hierarchy and others such as the regional "ne" one. This represents something like 90% of Usenet. Couldn't they just filter the offending newsgroups?

I'm still on the fence about whether it was a good idea to drop Comcast and go to FiOS. Comcast had Usenet retention of several months. Verizon only gave you a week or so. With FiOS it takes over a minute to reconnect when my machine comes out of Hibernate mode; with Comcast it was instant. Comcast offers free McAfee protection; Verizon offers you a teaser trial download for a $5 monthy charge.

Steve Boursy was one of the most annoying people on Earth, even if pretty much totally unknown outside the rarified confines of early-1990's Usenet newsgroups, such as ne.general, where he forever ranted against - and often threatened - other posters over the issue of rent control (back when Boston and Cambridge still had it). Tim, once one of his chief enemies, reports he died earlier this year:

... I never expected to care if I saw or heard from Steve again. He wasn't my friend, and for a long time he was my enemy; but now, I am saddened. For better or for worse, he was a Legend, and he deserved better than this.

More from somebody who says she worked with him.