Message from Dean Hart

Dean would like everyone to know he hasn't abandoned us. He's just having a little trouble getting his ISP to carry MWSM.

Forwarded from Dean: **

Well, still no MWSM on my damn news server! And I don't expect there will be anytime soon, judging from the way things went today with my broadband cable supplier. Yeah, that's right. I took your advice and called COX CABLE. Yeah, that went REAL well.

THREE FREAKING HOURS ON THE PHONE WITH COX TODAY!!!

No one there had ANY clue about newsgroups. Eventually, I told them I just wanted an email address that would get me through to the newsgroups administrator.

I think they just made up email addresses and gave them to me to get me off of the phone--TWICE!

Both were invalid. Finally, on the third call, I refused to get off the phone until an email would go through. They actually kept telling me it was a problem with my email program. No chance they were giving out rotten email addresses.

Finally, after going through two supervisors on the phone, and getting a third, and after another half hour, I got an email address that went through. Gee, they managed to find an email address that actually worked after giving me about seven that didn't. (But that mailing will probably bounce back too, just this one is going to take an hour or so before doing the bounce.)

What a bunch of clowns at Cox Cable! At one point they told me they had nothing to do with any of the newsgroups on their servers. They said I had to contact AGENT FORTE because I was using AGENT's newsreading program, so it was AGENT's problem not COX's. I laughed at that one. Then I took about a half-hour explaining the workings of USENET to them. Then they told me that I had to contact the creators of MWSM, because only the creators of MWSM would be able to get the newsgroup listed for me. IDIOTS! IDIOTS!!!

I told Cox, that's like them saying, "If you want to watch CBS, you have to call CBS. We have nothing to do with CBS!"

IDIOTS!!

I told you it was going to be like that.

Anyway, I thought you might like to read the email I finally was able to send. Here's you go...

Dean

P.S. You have my permission to send this to anyone I know on the old MWS. Or even post it, I don't care. I HATE COX CABLE! At least then anyone who cares would know why I've disappeared again. Ah, never mind...no one cares that I'm MIA. But I REALLY hate COX! (Well, except for mine, of course. I'm sort of attached to that one.)

-- Original Message -- Subject: A Small Newsgroups Problem Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 13:10:33 -0800 From: Dean Hart (Email Removed) To: (Email Removed)

Dear Newsgroups Administrator:

I got the above email address from a Cox Customer Service Rep, so I hope this email finds the right place. And I hope you can help me.

I am a professional writer who has used your broadband cable for years, and in particular, for years I have made use of your newsgroups. Especially the newsgroup misc.writing.screenplays. MWS is a forum of professional screenwriters, directors and agents, and I have participated on this forum for years. The forum is still there, still listed in your newsgroups, so no problem there. The problem is, in the last year or so MWS had become overrun with spam and non professional anarchists. (Not your problem, either, I know, but please keep reading.)

So the professionals on the MWS newsgroup got together and petitioned the MISC newsgroups hierarchy for the formation of a new newsgroup: misc.writing.screenplays.moderated. The new newsgroup of MWSM was voted upon, and after the review period, the new newsgroup of MWSM (misc.writing.screenplays.moderated) was formed. MWSM is now in full effect and active--In fact, it's been up and active for weeks. Most all of my other professional associates have been able to access that newsgroup since it hit the newsgroup servers weeks ago. But I can't.

And THAT is my problem.

You fine people at Cox have still not added the MWSM newsgroup to your newsgroups server. I refresh my list almost daily, and it still is not there.

So I would GREATLY appreciate it if you could (and would) add misc.writing.screenplays.moderated to your server. I certainly realize that the ALT newsgroups hierarchy is established differently than the MISC hierarchy, and I know that over at ALT, I could probably easily find something like alt.mooseantlers.sexualpositions or even alt.hamsters.colon.exploration, but do you think you could maybe find room to squeeze in one more MISC that actually serves a valid function and purpose? I know I would greatly appreciate it, and I'm certain there are at least a few others on the Cox server that would as well.

I know this request probably will rate very low on your folks' list of priorities, but if someone would try and add misc.writing.screenplays.moderated, or at the very least, drop me a line and say, "Hey, that ain't gonna happen because we have way too many ALT newsgroups with words like NAKED, KOALA BEARS, BRITTANY or TOILETS in their titles, to have any room for something silly like SCREENWRITING." I would be most thankful for either of those considerations.

But just to warn you...

In the event of not hearing back from you guys, I plan on subscribing to alt.rectum.frisbees and begin forwarding to you every post I find there on a daily basis. So I'm hoping we can come to an arrangement agreeable to all concerned.

I'm very much looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Michael Dean Hart Las Vegas, Nevada

P.S. I know your company's name is COX, but could you PLEASE add just one more newsgroup that doesn't contain a sexual connotation?

-- Dena Jo

Email goes to denajo2 at the dot com variation of the Yahoo domain.