why is Google Groups and Usenet down for the last two days (June 28, 2011)?

Question

Google Groups and Usenet are not receiving posts for the last 48 hours as of 28.6.2011

Answer 1

http://eternal-september.org/



Free Usenet access, but only through a news reader.

Answer 2

I've seen it go down before but never for this long.



Google groups is just a gateway to Usenet as well as Google's own groups. Usenet is still working fine.



To the person who posted regarding "centralization", Usenet is NOT down, and you can access Usenet via any Usenet gateway or server. Google never "took over" Usenet. You can use alternative services, such as Giganews, to access Usenet. Your ISP may also have a Usenet server. However, in some cases the services may require a fee.

Answer 3

If the Usenet server that you are connecting to is having a problem, it might look like Usenet is down from your perspective. But Usenet is similar to the web in that it is not comprised of only one server. If you go to CNN.com and it's down, then you can just go over to FoxNews.com, right? You can do the same thing with Usenet. If one server is down, go to another one.



If you have to pay to get access to another Usenet server, you could buy a small number of data-transfer "blocks" so that you can use the server until your original one comes back online. You could even just sign-up for a free trial account.



I just checked Google Groups, and it seems to be working. I see some fresh posts in the Android Developers newsgroup.

Answer 4

Google Groups is down for whatever reason. I'll take a wild guess and say DoS attack. Usenet is probably unaffected but my guess is that so many people post on Usenet through Google Groups these days that it seems that all the newsgroups are down. Well, this is starting to get interesting.

Answer 5

As has been said, Google Groups is not Usenet. Usenet is not down, and you can find plenty of Usenet servers. They will all require "newsreader" software, which can be free and is not hard to use at all (some people even use Outlook [YUCK!]). Usenet will be a better experience for you if you use proper servers and software instead of Google.

Answer 6

Yes, it's still down as of 8:00 am EDT US time. I haven't been able to find any explanation on the Web. USENET itself is still up and running for those of us who use real USENET servers (like eternal-september). I've contacted a few of my newsgroup friends who I know use Google Groups to let them know of the outage. One thought that everyone in alt.horror was dead. I've heard some reasons why people use Google instead of a dedicated news server, but I still don't get it. Oh well. I hope, for the sake of my friends, that it's back up soon.

Answer 7

Yes, it's still down today 29/06/2011.



The question is whether it is simply because google is incompetent - having a service as simple as nntp down for 5 days would be pretty extreme incompetence - or whether they are trying, secretly, to disconnect google groups from usenet and renege on the promise to look after the connection that they made when they took over Dejanews.

Answer 8

Not sure, have seen same problem since June 25 2011, the system hiccup'ed and then went down solid. WTF, its part of a *lot* of people's lives to get daily feeds on information and conversation with like minded folks. I've been using USENET News for a number of years, since about 1989 or so and was shocked when Google took it over, bought it out, or whatever and started Google Groups. It basically has gone downhill since. Centralized is not the answer, distributed is the answer.

Answer 9

They are updating the archives finally today (seen some dated 2011jun27 as of just now). Duke University stopped serving usenet, and this may have caused a "loss of supply".



[EDIT: Archive updated in a single "pulse" yesterday, but only barely got into 2011jun27 on some newsfeeds.]

Answer 10

It is important to go to the bathroom asap while your expecting but when you cant its ok. Im currently 29 weeks so i know what your going through. I asked my ob about it and she said to eat or drink something sweet. OJ is a good way to get the baby up and moving around. Also the position you are laying in somtimes makes the baby feel relaxed and they fall asleep. Just push or slightly tap your belly to get him/her up and moving if your worried. At this point in your pregnancy I wouldnt worry too much if the baby is quiet. After all they tend to move more when we're trying to sleep. But always if your maternal instinct kicks in and you feel that something is really wrong then always call your ob and ask questions. Hope this helps. Good luck on the rest of your pregnancy.

Answer 11

If you want good support for Usenet, check out https://www.altopia.com/ . $6 per month.

Answer 12

It's not an answer, but a related question... WHY is Google silent about it? In its Google apps page they pretend all is well in Google Groups.

I miss my cyber friends....

Answer 13

am i the last person to hear that google groups is closing? is this incorrect? i help run a sports group and all of our members are on their listserve. it'll be a huge pain to migrate everyone. does anyone who about this?