I rather think that the node referred to was the node Abigail just wrote - since Abigail knows what people do to somewhat abruptly presented opinions ;-)

Personally I find usenet's signal/noise much worse than perlmonks - to-mah-to / to-may-to.

I know what he was referring to.. WRT Usenet, I'll let this quote speak for me:

Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea — massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it.
— Gene Spafford

Makeshifts last the longest.