Newsgroup...

If the newsgroup isn't meant to be used any more in favor of the forum, why is there still a button for the newsgroup on the front page here (and why does the banner at the bottom tell us to check it?) Or is it possible to have this forum mirrored to the newsgroup somehow so those of us who prefer the format of a newsreader don't have to suffer?

And I'm still wondering what those of us who don't have the alpha are supposed to post about so that we'll be noticed and get the alpha? The weather here in DC today is hot and muggy, as usual for the summer, and there was a large thunderstorm that trapped someone in an elevator in my building.