Unusual number of messages being deleted on this news group??

I thought I saw an unusually high number of messages on this news
being deleted yesterday. Then when I went onto my OZ ISP's own
news group I saw complaints that about 50% on the posts on my ISP's
news groups were being deleted, i.e. about 6 out of 12.

I wonder if anyone on this news group noticed many posts being deleted
yesterday? Because, if not, the deletion might have been confined to my
ISP.

Nev.

"Nev." <nev@nowhere.org> wrote in message
news:45735d50$0$16552$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.a u...
>I thought I saw an unusually high number of messages on this news
> being deleted yesterday. Then when I went onto my OZ ISP's own
> news group I saw complaints that about 50% on the posts on my ISP's
> news groups were being deleted, i.e. about 6 out of 12.
>
> I wonder if anyone on this news group noticed many posts being deleted
> yesterday? Because, if not, the deletion might have been confined to my
> ISP.
>
> Nev.
>
>

I don't know if they are being deleted, but I have noticed that there are
very few new messages -- so, it could be...

My server is news.cox-internet.com. It will soon be SuddenLink, but so far
that setting shows no newsgroups.

MaryL

"MaryL" <stancole1@yahoo.comTAKE-OUT-THE-LITTER> wrote in message
news:ajJch.28000$1w6.26027@newsfe16.lga...
>
> "Nev." <nev@nowhere.org> wrote in message
> news:45735d50$0$16552$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.a u...
>>I thought I saw an unusually high number of messages on this news
>> being deleted yesterday. Then when I went onto my OZ ISP's own
>> news group I saw complaints that about 50% on the posts on my ISP's
>> news groups were being deleted, i.e. about 6 out of 12.
>>
>> I wonder if anyone on this news group noticed many posts being deleted
>> yesterday? Because, if not, the deletion might have been confined to my
>> ISP.
>>
>> Nev.
>>
>>
>
> I don't know if they are being deleted, but I have noticed that there are
> very few new messages -- so, it could be...
>
> My server is news.cox-internet.com. It will soon be SuddenLink, but so
> far that setting shows no newsgroups.
>
> MaryL
>
>

Correction: Actually, clicking on news.suddenlink.net still shows "the
server could not be found" (not "no newsgroup," although it ends up the
same).

MaryL

In alt.support.diabetes on Mon, 4 Dec 2006 09:27:07 +1000 in Msg.#
<45735d50$0$16552$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au> , "Nev." <nev@nowhere.org>
wrote:

> I thought I saw an unusually high number of messages on this news
> being deleted yesterday. Then when I went onto my OZ ISP's own
> news group I saw complaints that about 50% on the posts on my ISP's
> news groups were being deleted, i.e. about 6 out of 12.
>
> I wonder if anyone on this news group noticed many posts being deleted
> yesterday? Because, if not, the deletion might have been confined to my
> ISP.

Why would your server be deleting messages?

--
Donna B : ^> shallotpeel <*> Yahoo Messenger: shallotpeel

"I don't think you *can* dig yourself off a planet." - Douglas Adams
[3/11/52-5/11/01, tHHGttG] Episode 8

Nev. <nev@nowhere.org> wrote:
> I thought I saw an unusually high number of messages on this news
> being deleted yesterday. Then when I went onto my OZ ISP's own
> news group I saw complaints that about 50% on the posts on my ISP's
> news groups were being deleted, i.e. about 6 out of 12.

> I wonder if anyone on this news group noticed many posts being deleted
> yesterday? Because, if not, the deletion might have been confined to my
> ISP.

I sometimes look across at newsgroups when I come to a natural break
in computer work. I'll note the number of messages unread, and I'll
only take a look if there's a good collection. Sometimes I look and
see that the number of unread messages has gone down. The only
explanation is that some messages have been posted and then later
cancelled.

My guess is that this is a poster thinking the better of a post. I
have on a few occasions noticed a posting which I thought I might
reply to later, if nobody else stepped in. Then when I look later it's
gone, not only from my server but google archives. So some folk here
do sometimes post and then retract.

--
Chris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

On 4 Dec 2006 01:54:50 GMT, Chris Malcolm
<cam@holyrood.ed.ac.uk> wrote:

>My guess is that this is a poster thinking the better of a post. I
>have on a few occasions noticed a posting which I thought I might
>reply to later, if nobody else stepped in. Then when I look later it's
>gone, not only from my server but google archives. So some folk here
>do sometimes post and then retract.

I've never bothered to find out how.

So, how?
Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
d&e, metformin 1000mg, ezetrol 10mg
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.
--
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Pompeii, Amalfi, Bari

"Chris Malcolm" <cam@holyrood.ed.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:4thdfaF149kpvU1@mid.individual.net...
> Nev. <nev@nowhere.org> wrote:
>> I thought I saw an unusually high number of messages on this news
>> being deleted yesterday. Then when I went onto my OZ ISP's own
>> news group I saw complaints that about 50% on the posts on my ISP's
>> news groups were being deleted, i.e. about 6 out of 12.
>
>> I wonder if anyone on this news group noticed many posts being deleted
>> yesterday? Because, if not, the deletion might have been confined to my
>> ISP.
>
> I sometimes look across at newsgroups when I come to a natural break
> in computer work. I'll note the number of messages unread, and I'll
> only take a look if there's a good collection. Sometimes I look and
> see that the number of unread messages has gone down. The only
> explanation is that some messages have been posted and then later
> cancelled.


If a message is cross-posted, when you read it on one newsgroup, it will
show up as read in other newsgroups. This could explain what you describe.
However, it does not explain why messages disappear from a server, as
described below.

> My guess is that this is a poster thinking the better of a post. I
> have on a few occasions noticed a posting which I thought I might
> reply to later, if nobody else stepped in. Then when I look later it's
> gone, not only from my server but google archives. So some folk here
> do sometimes post and then retract.

There definitely is a method to recall messages. However, I was under the
impression that the method doesn't necessarily work on all servers. I am
surprised that messages are yanked from Google archives. Outlook Express
doesn't have an obvious way to recall messages. I don't know if other common
readers have a way to recall message. However, I doubt that users try to
recall messages.

Jeff


> --
> Chris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk DoD #205
> IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
> [http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]
>

"Chris Malcolm" <cam@holyrood.ed.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:4thdfaF149kpvU1@mid.individual.net...
> Nev. <nev@nowhere.org> wrote:
>> I thought I saw an unusually high number of messages on this news
>> being deleted yesterday. Then when I went onto my OZ ISP's own
>> news group I saw complaints that about 50% on the posts on my ISP's
>> news groups were being deleted, i.e. about 6 out of 12.
>
>> I wonder if anyone on this news group noticed many posts being deleted
>> yesterday? Because, if not, the deletion might have been confined to my
>> ISP.
>
> I sometimes look across at newsgroups when I come to a natural break
> in computer work. I'll note the number of messages unread, and I'll
> only take a look if there's a good collection. Sometimes I look and
> see that the number of unread messages has gone down. The only
> explanation is that some messages have been posted and then later
> cancelled.
>
> My guess is that this is a poster thinking the better of a post. I
> have on a few occasions noticed a posting which I thought I might
> reply to later, if nobody else stepped in. Then when I look later it's
> gone, not only from my server but google archives. So some folk here
> do sometimes post and then retract.
>
> --
> Chris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk DoD #205
> IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
> [http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]
>

Some of my own messages never did appear. My "guess" is that I may have
inadvertently used the same title as an old thread and that my server then
attaches it to the old thread. Just a guess, but I don't have any other
explanation.

MaryL

In alt.support.diabetes on Mon, 04 Dec 2006 13:11:04 +1100 in Msg.#
<4t07n2lbje8l13g7of5k7u0b1fjf403gng@4ax.com>, Alan S
<loralgtweightandcarbs@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 4 Dec 2006 01:54:50 GMT, Chris Malcolm
> <cam@holyrood.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> >My guess is that this is a poster thinking the better of a post. I
> >have on a few occasions noticed a posting which I thought I might
> >reply to later, if nobody else stepped in. Then when I look later it's
> >gone, not only from my server but google archives. So some folk here
> >do sometimes post and then retract.
>
> I've never bothered to find out how.
>
> So, how?

In the US, at least, many Usenet servers do not allow one to cancel a
posting.

But, if you can cancel one, you post a cancel message. With Agent how to do
so is right there on the Agent menu.

However, even if a message is cancelled by the poster, if that is allowed,
typically it's already been propagated out into the world & it's impossible
to get back every copy of it.

--
Donna B : ^> shallotpeel <*> Yahoo Messenger: shallotpeel

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -
Douglas Adams [3/11/52-5/11/01, tHHGttG]

In alt.support.diabetes on Sun, 3 Dec 2006 20:22:19 -0600 in Msg.#
<IDLch.5455$8H6.3088@newsfe22.lga>, "MaryL"
<stancole1@yahoo.comTAKE-OUT-THE-LITTER> wrote:

> Some of my own messages never did appear. My "guess" is that I may have
> inadvertently used the same title as an old thread and that my server then
> attaches it to the old thread. Just a guess, but I don't have any other
> explanation.

Even if your reader and/or server caused a post to be improperly threaded,
it would still have a unique Message-ID number & should exist. If it didn't
post, it might be stuck in the ether somewhere, like your own outbox, or
stuck in your server's equivalent. Every once in awhile you'll have a huge
flush of sorts when some major server has been holding posts in its cheeks
like a chipmunk & finally a tech kicks it in the right spot for it to give
them up, all dates, etc. akimbo.

--
Donna B : ^> shallotpeel <*> Yahoo Messenger: shallotpeel

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -
Douglas Adams [3/11/52-5/11/01, tHHGttG]

In alt.support.diabetes on Mon, 04 Dec 2006 02:16:40 GMT in Msg.#
<cyLch.6617$ql2.675@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.n et>, "Jeff"
<jeff@hotmail.com> wrote:

> There definitely is a method to recall messages. However, I was under the
> impression that the method doesn't necessarily work on all servers.

Right you are.

> I am
> surprised that messages are yanked from Google archives.

They choose to be considerate & honor 'no archive' headers. They also have a
method for people to go through on their site to remove their own posts -
after they have been posted.

--
Donna B : ^> shallotpeel <*> Yahoo Messenger: shallotpeel

"I was hitchhiking around Europe in 1971, when I was 18, with this copy of
'A Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe.' At one point I found myself lying in the
middle of a field, a little bit drunk, when it occurred to me that somebody
should write a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It didn't occur to me that
it might actually be me years later." - Douglas Adams [3/11/52-5/11/01,
tHHGttG] Interview

"Donna B" <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:gj47n25pt7fv21p4rm5j7jbguj0vdh1p6a@4ax.com...
> In alt.support.diabetes on Sun, 3 Dec 2006 20:22:19 -0600 in Msg.#
> <IDLch.5455$8H6.3088@newsfe22.lga>, "MaryL"
> <stancole1@yahoo.comTAKE-OUT-THE-LITTER> wrote:
>
>> Some of my own messages never did appear. My "guess" is that I may have
>> inadvertently used the same title as an old thread and that my server
>> then
>> attaches it to the old thread. Just a guess, but I don't have any other
>> explanation.
>
> Even if your reader and/or server caused a post to be improperly threaded,
> it would still have a unique Message-ID number & should exist. If it
> didn't
> post, it might be stuck in the ether somewhere, like your own outbox, or
> stuck in your server's equivalent. Every once in awhile you'll have a huge
> flush of sorts when some major server has been holding posts in its cheeks
> like a chipmunk & finally a tech kicks it in the right spot for it to give
> them up, all dates, etc. akimbo.
>
> --
> Donna B : ^> shallotpeel <*> Yahoo Messenger: shallotpeel
>
>

Actually, they do exist. I checked in google a couple of times when they
did not show up in my newsgroups, and I found them there -- but they never
did show up on my server (news.cox-internet.com). Fortunately, that has
been rare.

MaryL

Alan S wrote:
>> gone, not only from my server but google archives. So some folk here
>> do sometimes post and then retract.

In Thunderbird, sometimes I forget to hit "reply" before trying to reply.

So, I select text to snip out, so as not to waste other people's
bandwidth and screen space, and I hit "delete."

Thunderbird replies, "You may not cancel a message you did not write."

However, if it is my message, Thunderbird will compose and send a Cancel
message. It is SO easy to get around the safety check (by pretending to
be the person who posted the message) that many servers refused to honor
the Cancel messages.

--
Wes Groleau

Even if you do learn to speak correct English,
whom are you going to speak it to?
-- Clarence Darrow

On Mon, 04 Dec 2006 04:01:56 GMT, Wes Groleau
<groleau+news@freeshell.org> wrote:

>Alan S wrote:
>>> gone, not only from my server but google archives. So some folk here
>>> do sometimes post and then retract.
>
>In Thunderbird, sometimes I forget to hit "reply" before trying to reply.
>
>So, I select text to snip out, so as not to waste other people's
>bandwidth and screen space, and I hit "delete."
>
>Thunderbird replies, "You may not cancel a message you did not write."
>
>However, if it is my message, Thunderbird will compose and send a Cancel
>message. It is SO easy to get around the safety check (by pretending to
>be the person who posted the message) that many servers refused to honor
>the Cancel messages.

Thx Wes and Donna.

Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
d&e, metformin 1000mg, ezetrol 10mg
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.
--
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Pompeii, Amalfi, Bari

Nev. wrote:
> I thought I saw an unusually high number of messages on this news
> being deleted yesterday.

Hey, it wasn't easy but my hard work is paying off! Although, if you
noticed there are a few of the tougher weeds still here that I couldn't
manage to completely uproot.

Kurt

In alt.support.diabetes on Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:19:40 +1100 in Msg.#
<ee87n2df3301p2nsupnattednqrjl0tf84@4ax.com>, Alan S
<loralgtweightandcarbs@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, 04 Dec 2006 04:01:56 GMT, Wes Groleau
> <groleau+news@freeshell.org> wrote:
> >... It is SO easy to get around the safety check (by pretending to
> >be the person who posted the message) that many servers refused to honor
> >the Cancel messages.
>
> Thx Wes and Donna.

Yes, Wes goes on to explain why so many servers clamped down on user cancels
- M or M = Mischief or Malice.

--
Donna B : ^> shallotpeel <*> Yahoo Messenger: shallotpeel

Alan S <loralgtweightandcarbs@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 4 Dec 2006 01:54:50 GMT, Chris Malcolm
> <cam@holyrood.ed.ac.uk> wrote:

>>My guess is that this is a poster thinking the better of a post. I
>>have on a few occasions noticed a posting which I thought I might
>>reply to later, if nobody else stepped in. Then when I look later it's
>>gone, not only from my server but google archives. So some folk here
>>do sometimes post and then retract.

> I've never bothered to find out how.

> So, how?

How depends on whether your newsreader permits you to post "cancel"
messages, and if so by what method. How well it works depends on
whether your local newsreader honours them, and past that what
proportion of others do. Despite the warnings often given, I suspect
most do. With respect to its archives Google does, and Google also
separately allows you to request the deletion of a post from its old
archives. In the latter case Google doesn't actually delete it, it
just hides it.

--
Chris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

"Donna B" <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:trq6n2pspp72sshlbifnv763ubpv91nv6q@4ax.com...

> Why would your server be deleting messages?

I've seen a bunch of posts on every newsgroup I go to all by the same person
and all seem OT to the newsgroup. I didn't bother to read them because they
all seemed to be whiny and political given the subject matter. These are
probably what were deleted.

--
See my webpage:
http://mysite.verizon.net/juliebove/index.htm

In alt.support.diabetes on Mon, 04 Dec 2006 09:05:16 GMT in Msg.#
<gxRch.1552$bW2.704@trndny04>, "Julie Bove" <juliebove@verizon.net> wrote:

> "Donna B" <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:trq6n2pspp72sshlbifnv763ubpv91nv6q@4ax.com...
>
> > Why would your server be deleting messages?
>
> I've seen a bunch of posts on every newsgroup I go to all by the same person
> and all seem OT to the newsgroup. I didn't bother to read them because they
> all seemed to be whiny and political given the subject matter. These are
> probably what were deleted.

Typically posts aren't deleted. That was the reason for my question. Usually
it's something other than that posts have been deleted, something in
someone's settings that is preventing them from seeing their own posts at
times, some access methods that involve marking read where threads are
getting marked read where the user isn't realizing it, ... there are a
million ways including posts that get stuck in the ether for a time on
*some* servers, but not all.

The way Usenet works it's next to impossible to get rid of posts. Once they
are propagated, they are out there.

There have been numerous posts all over recently that are crossposted
inappropriately & OT everywhere & might fall into TOS about flooding for
servers that even use flooding restrictions, specifically many of them were
from or about someone or something MI5*, but they had nothing to do with the
British spy show, MI-5. I initiated a kill filter or two for it as soon as
they began to show up. Everyone should!! <G>

--
DonnaB : ^> shallotpeel <*> Yahoo Messenger: shallotpeel

"Julie Bove" <juliebove@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:gxRch.1552$bW2.704@trndny04...
>
>
>
> "Donna B" <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:trq6n2pspp72sshlbifnv763ubpv91nv6q@4ax.com...
>
>> Why would your server be deleting messages?
>
> I've seen a bunch of posts on every newsgroup I go to all by the same
> person
> and all seem OT to the newsgroup. I didn't bother to read them because
> they
> all seemed to be whiny and political given the subject matter. These are
> probably what were deleted.
>
> --
> See my webpage:
> http://mysite.verizon.net/juliebove/index.htm
>
>

I don't think this would be the explanation except in moderated newsgroups.
Most of the NGs I read are unmoderated, yet I have been seeing similar
remarks about messages disappearing (or never appearing at all, as I
described).

MaryL

LOL

--
Cheri
Kurt wrote in message
<1165207342.892763.38250@l12g2000cwl.googlegroups. com>...
>
>Nev. wrote:
>> I thought I saw an unusually high number of messages on this news
>> being deleted yesterday.
>
>Hey, it wasn't easy but my hard work is paying off! Although, if you
>noticed there are a few of the tougher weeds still here that I couldn't
>manage to completely uproot.
>
>Kurt

"Donna B" <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:qvp7n2d5jbr2lhs512b4pg66oodaksplph@4ax.com...
<snip>

> There have been numerous posts all over recently that are crossposted
> inappropriately & OT everywhere & might fall into TOS about flooding for
> servers that even use flooding restrictions, specifically many of them
were
> from or about someone or something MI5*, but they had nothing to do with
the
> British spy show, MI-5. I initiated a kill filter or two for it as soon as
> they began to show up. Everyone should!! <G>

That's the one I was thinking of. I didn't have to use the KF because those
posts seem to have stopped now.

--
See my webpage:
http://mysite.verizon.net/juliebove/index.htm

MaryL wrote:
> "Julie Bove" <juliebove@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:gxRch.1552$bW2.704@trndny04...
>
>>
>> "Donna B" <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:trq6n2pspp72sshlbifnv763ubpv91nv6q@4ax.com...
>>
>>
>>> Why would your server be deleting messages?
>>>
>> I've seen a bunch of posts on every newsgroup I go to all by the same
>> person
>> and all seem OT to the newsgroup. I didn't bother to read them because
>> they
>> all seemed to be whiny and political given the subject matter. These are
>> probably what were deleted.
>>
>> --
>> See my webpage:
>> http://mysite.verizon.net/juliebove/index.htm
>>
>>
>>
>
> I don't think this would be the explanation except in moderated newsgroups.
> Most of the NGs I read are unmoderated, yet I have been seeing similar
> remarks about messages disappearing (or never appearing at all, as I
> described).
>
> MaryL
>
Are they /deleted/ or /disappearing/? Different news servers are set up
differently... I read news from work, and here at work this news group
has an expiration policy for most groups set to one week.

--
T2 dx May 2005 with A1c 10.1
1000 mg Metformin 2x day
1000 mg Fish Oil (Omega 3) 2x day
500 mg Niacin 1x day
last A1c: 5.0 (Oct 2006)

"Donna B" <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:trq6n2pspp72sshlbifnv763ubpv91nv6q@4ax.com...
> In alt.support.diabetes on Mon, 4 Dec 2006 09:27:07 +1000 in Msg.#
> <45735d50$0$16552$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au> , "Nev." <nev@nowhere.org>
> wrote:
>
> > I thought I saw an unusually high number of messages on this news
> > being deleted yesterday. Then when I went onto my OZ ISP's own
> > news group I saw complaints that about 50% on the posts on my ISP's
> > news groups were being deleted, i.e. about 6 out of 12.
> >
> > I wonder if anyone on this news group noticed many posts being deleted
> > yesterday? Because, if not, the deletion might have been confined to my
> > ISP.
>
> Why would your server be deleting messages?
>
> --
> Donna B : ^> shallotpeel <*> Yahoo Messenger: shallotpeel
>
My server deletes old posts when it runs short of space to store them.

In alt.support.diabetes on Mon, 4 Dec 2006 16:20:48 -0600 in Msg.#
<3b1dh.22$SV1.15@bignews1.bellsouth.net>, "Robert Miles"
<robertmiles@bellsouthNOSPAM.net> wrote:

> "Donna B" <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:trq6n2pspp72sshlbifnv763ubpv91nv6q@4ax.com...
> > Why would your server be deleting messages?

> My server deletes old posts when it runs short of space to store them.

Oh, yeah, some ISPs who still provide their own servers have retention
that's as little as 3 days!!

But, that's not really messages being *deleted* per se. That's a natural
function, that all servers have some retention factor. 10 days or more is
excellent, but unfortunately some servers can't handle that.

--
DonnaB : ^> shallotpeel <*> Yahoo Messenger: shallotpeel

"Works of art are of an infinite loneliness & with nothing so little to be
reached as with criticism. Only love can grasp & hold & be just toward
them." - Rainer Maria Rilke LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET

Donna B <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote:
> In alt.support.diabetes on Mon, 4 Dec 2006 16:20:48 -0600 in Msg.#
> <3b1dh.22$SV1.15@bignews1.bellsouth.net>, "Robert Miles"
> <robertmiles@bellsouthNOSPAM.net> wrote:

>> "Donna B" <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:trq6n2pspp72sshlbifnv763ubpv91nv6q@4ax.com...
>> > Why would your server be deleting messages?

>> My server deletes old posts when it runs short of space to store them.

> Oh, yeah, some ISPs who still provide their own servers have retention
> that's as little as 3 days!!

> But, that's not really messages being *deleted* per se. That's a natural
> function, that all servers have some retention factor. 10 days or more is
> excellent, but unfortunately some servers can't handle that.

The retention factor can be specific to groups, e.g. some servers will
keep the main sci newsgroups for much longer than the alt
newsgroups. But in these days when large disc capacity is much cheaper
than it used to be, some have get very relaxed about newsgroup expiry
times. The two I mostly use now keep posts for at least several
months.

--
Chris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

In article <4tkqitF14ppcfU1@mid.individual.net>,
Chris Malcolm <cam@holyrood.ed.ac.uk> wrote:

> Donna B <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote:
> > In alt.support.diabetes on Mon, 4 Dec 2006 16:20:48 -0600 in Msg.#
> > <3b1dh.22$SV1.15@bignews1.bellsouth.net>, "Robert Miles"
> > <robertmiles@bellsouthNOSPAM.net> wrote:
>
> >> "Donna B" <shallotpeel@comcast.net> wrote in message
> >> news:trq6n2pspp72sshlbifnv763ubpv91nv6q@4ax.com...
> >> > Why would your server be deleting messages?
>
> >> My server deletes old posts when it runs short of space to store them.
>
> > Oh, yeah, some ISPs who still provide their own servers have retention
> > that's as little as 3 days!!
>
> > But, that's not really messages being *deleted* per se. That's a natural
> > function, that all servers have some retention factor. 10 days or more is
> > excellent, but unfortunately some servers can't handle that.
>
> The retention factor can be specific to groups, e.g. some servers will
> keep the main sci newsgroups for much longer than the alt
> newsgroups. But in these days when large disc capacity is much cheaper
> than it used to be, some have get very relaxed about newsgroup expiry
> times. The two I mostly use now keep posts for at least several
> months.

Another factor is load. A server might have a maximum number of articles
it can handle. And it *will* have finite disk space. So, if some group
is inundated with articles (or if somebody posts a lot of multi-part
binaries to a non-binary group), this can push other articles off the
server earlier than might have otherwise been the case.

--
"and the snark alert level has reached "fuschia""
---zig zigalo homes in on the meat of the matter

In alt.support.diabetes on Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:41:45 -0500 in Msg.#
<afaber-B98F40.11414505122006@reader2.panix.com>, Alice Faber
<afaber@panix.com> wrote:

> In article <4tkqitF14ppcfU1@mid.individual.net>,
> Chris Malcolm <cam@holyrood.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> > > Oh, yeah, some ISPs who still provide their own servers have retention
> > > that's as little as 3 days!!
> >
> > > But, that's not really messages being *deleted* per se. That's a natural
> > > function, that all servers have some retention factor. 10 days or more is
> > > excellent, but unfortunately some servers can't handle that.
> >
> > The retention factor can be specific to groups, e.g. some servers will
> > keep the main sci newsgroups for much longer than the alt
> > newsgroups. But in these days when large disc capacity is much cheaper
> > than it used to be, some have get very relaxed about newsgroup expiry
> > times. The two I mostly use now keep posts for at least several
> > months.
>
> Another factor is load. A server might have a maximum number of articles
> it can handle. And it *will* have finite disk space. So, if some group
> is inundated with articles (or if somebody posts a lot of multi-part
> binaries to a non-binary group), this can push other articles off the
> server earlier than might have otherwise been the case.

Load is the reason that some ISPs now use shorter retention times. <G>

Look, it's a circle!!!

--
DonnaB : ^> shallotpeel <*> Yahoo Messenger: shallotpeel

"Writing saved me from the sin & inconvenience of violence." - Alice Walker