HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mhr@hpuerca.atl.hp.com (Mike Reaser)
Subject: Re: End of Millenium Hysteria (was Re: Oct. 28: The Rapture)
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 21:55:48 GMT
Organization: a stone mountain of Kudzu

In <1992Oct13.204230.11241@rchland.ibm.com> jdahl@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Jared Dahl) writes:

>    Didn't this exact same thing happen 1000 years ago?

>    I remember reading historical accounts of upheaval
>that occurred at the end of the 1st millenium.  I have
>even heard opinions that the Mayan civilization collapsed
>out of similar anxiety.  

WOW!  The Mayan's went hysterical over the Christian calendar 500 years
before direct contact with Christian Europeans!

How did this happen?  Chariots of the Gods?


=======================================================================
 Mike Reaser, Hewlett-Packard N. Amer. Response Center - Atlanta
 Internet:  mhr@hpuerca.atl.hp.com
 NBCS: B4 f w g+ k s-               I barely speak for myself, so
 #include <standard.disclaimer>       don't make me speak for HP
=======================================================================
From: PCT601%SIRIUS.UKC.AC.UK@ib.rl.ac.uk (Robryche)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Menstrual cycles
Date: 12 Oct 1992 06:58:30 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

Subject: Re: Women in groups
From: johnston@fys.ruu.nl (Helen Johnston)
>Being one of three sisters, I can also vouch personally for the effect.
>When you have four women in the house menstruating at once, you
>certainly go through sanitary napkins in a REAL hurry! And last time
>this subject came up on the net, someone posted that her very irregular
>cycle was stabilised by her roommate being on the Pill, which is VERY
>interesting, considering that the Pill prevents ovulation and
>(presumably) alters the pheromone cycle substantially.
>
>--
>Helen Johnston       | Astronomye is an harde thynge and yvel forto knowe.
>johnston@fys.ruu.nl  |      -- William Langland, Piers the Plowman

But the pill doesnt prevent menstruation, (oh that it did). It does however
make it lighter and less painful. And since it goes for 21 days on the pill and
seven days off, it is obviously going to be more regular. Presuming the same
smell or pheremones or whatever are being sent out, this person had no choice
but to become more regular in step with the person taking the pill.

*****    _  |  __  __/   ____/   /   /  *
****    /  _'     /     /       /   /  **
***    __ |      /     /       __  /  ***
**    /   /     /     /       /   /  ****
*  __/ __/ ______/ ______/ __/ __/  *****

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: rchao@well.sf.ca.us (Robert Chao)
Subject: Re: nail in Coca-Cola
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 05:30:11 GMT


What beverages are most likely to dissolve things or do weird things to
eggs? Can't you use lemon juice to clean off old pennies?
I mean, aren't citrus juices acidic, a lot?
-- 
Robert Chao
Oakland, California
From: wadswort@babss.UUCP (John H. Wadsworth)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: McDonalds Urban Legends
Date: 15 Oct 92 17:16:06 GMT
Organization: Bell Atlantic Business Systems Service Branford, Ct.

>>The first rumor claimed that McDonalds stopped using the hollow, straw-like
>>coffee stirrers because addicts were using them to snort cocaine (in lieu
>>of a fresh,rolled $100 bill, I guess.)  The replacement, which is a long
>>paddle-like stick, isn't much better - the rumor claims it can be used like 
>>a small spoon similar to the kind favored by some snorters.

I don't remember Mc D's ever using the common tiny straw as a coffee 
stirrers but they did have tiny spoons. These were exactly like the
tiny "coke spoons". I remember because my friend and I got a good laugh
when they announced the solution was to fill in the hollowed out part
of the spoon. "what will they do when they figure out people are using
their straws too? Fill in the middle of the straw ?" :-)
From: rxh6@po.CWRU.Edu (Randall Holt)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Yeast
Date: 13 Oct 1992 20:24:31 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: thor.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, dignan@husc10.harvard.edu (Thomas Dignan) begs to know;
 
>        Can one use yeast from a vaginal yeast infection to raise bread 
>or to ferment beer? It was recently suggested to me that there is a 
>distinct marketing possiblity behind products made this way.
 
There're a lot of home-brewers around, clubs, magazines,
Net-nodes, etc, and the vaginal yeast brew is a long-running joke. Since
malt extract makes such an excellent growth media for bugs of all sorts, 
contamination is the constant home-brewers nemesis. The time-worn joke, 
is that one knows one has a difficult contamination problem when one has to
sterilize the bottles with Gyne-lotrimin (ObUL I hear you can sterilize
your bottles in the microwave).
 
But, in reality, the specific strains of yeast which make for good beer are
very different from most naturally occuring yeasties and bread yeasts. They
have to be more tolerant to EtOH, CO2 and pressure, but not too tolerant.
As a homebrewer, I can attest to the availability of hundreds of different
strains of yeast for brewing beer. Such as ale yeast and lager yeast. Other 
types include yeast that impart particular flavors by way of aromatics and
esters to the batch. 
 
Ale yeast ferments at the bottom of the barrel and lager yeast ferments at the
top. I'm not sure if there is any similar relationship to yeast strains found
in body cavities. Please, though, let us know how your experiments go.
 
While this tired joke has been around for a while, I've never really heard
of anyone doing it. Try cross-posting to rec.crafts.homebrew. 
 
ObUL - I hear Coors is coming out with a new brew, Killians Redhead.
-- 
Randall W. Holt - rxh6@cwru.po.edu     |   
Dept. Radiology MetroHealth Hosp.      | 	- Bibo ergo sum
Dept. Biomedical Engineering, CWRU     |    	
(216) 778-8296                         |
From: troberts@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: human energy field lecture
Date: 15 Oct 92 19:37:55 GMT
Organization: Georgetown University

Newsgroups: au.general,dc.general
Subject: Lecture - 10-20-92
From: <GHADSAL@auvm.american.edu>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 13:13:13 EDT
Organization: The American University - University Computing Center


              ====***====
==========================================

       The American University
     College of Arts & Sciences

  Department of Health and Fitness
      1992-1993 Lecture Series

==========================================
              ====***====


The Human Energy Field: The Interface
                        between Body and Soul


Presented by

             Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D.
             Assistant Professor
             Department of Health and Fitness
             The American University


======>      October 20, 1992
             4:30 - 5:30 PM
             Kettler-Palmer Lounge
             Sports and Convocations Center
             The American University


Abstract:  Current research reqarding the
           human energy field and its
           relationship to physical,
           mental, emotional and spiritual
           aspects of well-being will be
           explored.  In addition to
           discussing issues presented at
           the second annual conference of
           the International Society for
           Subliminal Energy and Energy
           Medicine (ISSEEM), a video
           regarding research conducted at
           the Menninger Clinic in Topeka,
           Kansas will be shown.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jlysagh@hubcap.clemson.edu (james joseph lysaght)
Subject: Re: McDonalds Urban Legends
Organization: Clemson University
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 16:54:31 GMT

gregn@coombs.anu.edu.au (Gregory Newton) writes:

>rob@msc.cornell.edu (Rob Vaughn) writes:

>	I used to have a friend in high school who worked for McPukes.
>	some of his stories of what he did involved:

>		flies in burgers
>		spit in just about anything
>		patties dropped on the floor then used
>		the list of chemicals in the ingredients of the gerkins

I worked Kentucky Fried Chicken once.  That was about the same.  We had
a guy working for us who was allergic to something in the 11 herbs and
spices so his nose ran perpetually at work.  It frequently dripped in
the chicken.  I have seen people drop the chicken on the floor and throw
it back on the tray and serve it.  A girl cut her hand and dripped blood
in the salad while cutting the lettuce... they used it anyway, even with
the blood.  It seems pretty standard that if you work for a restaraunt
you wont want to eat there anymore.  I have heard the same kind of
stories about McD's, Burger King, Dairy Queen, and more.  My wife worked
for Shoneys and she said they did not wash the dishes.  When they got
busy during the lunch or dinner hour they would not waste time washing
the dishes, the waitresses would just rinse them off real quick and
re-use them.  Of course, everyone behaves properly when the health
department is in, they don't want to loose their jobs!

Jim
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: snopes%club33@stlth.enet.dec.com (snopes)
Subject: Re: Please Help
Organization: Just put everything on the floor; I can find it.
Date:  8 OCT 92 08:35:41    


In article <1300004@hpwrce.mayfield.hp.com>, 
  kingsley@hpwrce.mayfield.hp.com (Kingsley Morse) writes...

>Please answer these 9 questions and return.

Okay, I answered them, and now I'm back.  What next?   Or did you mean I was
supposed to answer them, then press <RETURN>?

- snopes

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|"[Disney's machine] has placed a Mickey Mouse hat on every little developing |
| personality in America.  As capitalism, it is a work of genius; as culture, |
| it is mostly a horror."   --   Richard Schickel, "The Disney Version"       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  David P. Mikkelson   Digital Equipment Corporation   Culver City, CA  USA  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: rob@lynx.msc.cornell.edu.UUCP (Rob Vaughn,302 Thurston Hall,50637,2730428)
Subject: Re: Blue Star sighting far from home
Originator: rob@snoopy.msc.cornell.edu
Organization: Cornell-Materials-Science-Center
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 18:39:34 GMT

From article <1992Oct13.022941.1139@mwk.uucp>, by gleason@mwk.uucp:
> 
>   I'm over in Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates, installing
> some equipment. Reading the local paper during a break, and 
> there, on page three, like running into an old friend when I'm 
> far from home, I see...
> 
>   "Mystery Message on LSD hits shops too:
> 	"Dubai police investigating source of the fax"
> 
>   A number of stationery shops here have also reported receiving 
> a fax warning that tatto stickers bearing the brand "Blue Star" 
> are allegedely laced with LSD.
> 
>   The principal of a school here had earlier issued a circular 
> warning students and parents against buying the stickers after 
> receiving a similar warning through the fax.
> 
>   The manager of a stationery shop said that he had received 
> the same fax message, but had not reported the matter to the 
> police. He said he had asked his employees to post the message 
> on the bulletin board as a precautionary measure. 
> 
>   When asked for comment, CID Police officers said that the 
> Dubai police is investigating the source of the mysterious fax 
> message.
> 
>   Gulf News learned that many persons have contacted the CID 
> to inquire whether the message had come from the government 
> authorities.
> 
>   The Education Ministry's private education department said 
> that it has not been officially notified about the matter.
> 
> (reproduced without permission)
> 
> Lee K. "Rock the Casbah" Gleason
> gleason@mwk.uucp
-- 

Rob Vaughn, Fugitive Systems Guy
Mat. Sci. Center Computing, Cornell University
rob@msc.cornell.edu - rob@crnlmsc2.bitnet
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:25400 alt.folklore.science:3711
From: seawasp@vm2.cis.pitt.edu (Sea Wasp)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: "Normal" body temperature
Date: 11 Oct 92 15:34:09 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Originator: seawasp@unixd1.cis.pitt.edu

In article <1992Oct8.004405.21216@nezsdc.icl.co.nz> derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Derek Tearne) writes:
>>If you want to get comfortable with Celsius, just use the following
>>non-numeric conversions:
>>   degrees C      Meaning
>>    -40           -40 Fahrenheit                      -40 F -- BFC
						(Ball-Freezing Cold)

>>    -30           Your car won't start		-22 F
			(Only if you have a rather wimpy car. My Diesel Rabbit
		handles this just fine.)

>>    -20           Very cold				-4 F
			(not THAT cold. REALLY cold doesn't begin until -10.
			  Windchill factor can be a bitch, though.)

>>    -10           Cold				+14 F
			(It's cold, yeah. But tolerable without wind)

>>      0           Freezing				+32 F
			("Freezing" for water -- i.e., ice forms. Not
			  very cold though.)

>>     10           Cool				+50 F
			(Just slightly chilly -- long pants and a longsleeved
			 shirt make it nice and comfy. Maybe a sweater for
			 warm-weather types, and a windbreaker if there is
			 a breeze)

>>     20           Room temperature			+68 F
			(Well, CLASSIC Room Temperature is 72 degrees F, 
			 actually, or about 22.22 C)

>>     30           Hot					+86 F
			(Depending on humidity, this can be just warm or
			 it can be SCORCHINGLY hot)

>>     40           Very hot				+104 F
			(Unless the humidity is near-0, this is blasting
			 heat. Fatal. Lie around, do nothing, turn the
			 air conditioner up and pray the power stays on.)


       100	    Literal Boiling			+212 F
			(At sea level, water boils.)

>Good list - Could someone put the Fahrenheit on the right for fully 
>metricated.

	Done!

>
>Derek "How long is a rod, perch or chain" Tearne

	No one uses those except lawyers and surveyors these days,
and those only because a lot of old deeds were written in those
terms.

	However, the more common non-metric units still in use:

	inch: 2.54 CM
	Foot: 12 inches
	Yard: 3 feet (about 3 inches, or 7.6cm, short of a meter)
	Mile: 5,280 feet (about 1.6 KM)

	Ounce(solid): about 28 grams
	Pound: 16 ounces, or about .45 kg
	Ton: 2,000 lbs

	Quart: just a little less than one liter
	Gallon: 4 quarts
	Cup: 4 fluid ounces
	Pint: 2 cups
	Quart: 2 pints or 4 cups

					Sea Wasp
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: snopes%club33@stlth.enet.dec.com (snopes)
Subject: Re: Headless cheerleaders and other bits & pieces
Organization: Just put everything on the floor; I can find it.
Date:  8 OCT 92 08:15:00    


In article <1992Oct7.140033.1627@HQ.Ileaf.COM>, 
  hal@HQ.Ileaf.COM (Hal Wadleigh) writes...

>BTW, it's a real bitch to walk along the edge of a road at night with a 
>flashlight looking for the missing pieces.

But perhaps not as bad as discovering them by accident?

  - snopes

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|"[Disney's machine] has placed a Mickey Mouse hat on every little developing |
| personality in America.  As capitalism, it is a work of genius; as culture, |
| it is mostly a horror."   --   Richard Schickel, "The Disney Version"       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  David P. Mikkelson   Digital Equipment Corporation   Culver City, CA  USA  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:25805 soc.women:17764
From: baba@Tymnet.com (Duane Hentrich)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,soc.women
Subject: Re: Oscillators (Was: Re: Women in groups)
Date: 15 Oct 92 22:26:19 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: BT North America, San Jose CA.

|> pynq@quads.uchicago.edu (George Jetson) writes:
|> : In article <1992Oct12.230913.19059@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> bhv@areaplg2.corp.mot.com (Bronis Vidugiris) writes:
|> : 
|> : >I tend to think of it as a simple case of 'injection locking' - a technical
|> : >term for how two oscillators, running at the same frequency, will tend to
|> : >oscillate at the same frequency given any means of coupling.  Rather than
|> : 
|> : I don't get it.  If the oscillators are (already) running at the same
|> : frequency, why do you need coupling to make them run at the same
|> : frequency?

I think that we must look at frequency versus phase. Most women experience
the menstrual cycle at the same frequency, ~1 cycle(hertz) per month(25-32 
days). The effect of "syncing" requires not only that the frequencies match 
but that the cycles also be in phase, meaning that, for two or more women, 
the onset of menses or ovulation would coincide each cycle.

This is what I have always understood the effect of menstrual cycle
matching means. I would suggest that Bronis used the word frequency
one too many times in the above quote and should have substituted
phase for the second usage.

-- 
d'baba Duane M. Hentrich	baba@Tymnet.Com

We have yet to learn that the thing uttered in words is not therefore affirmed. It must affirm itself, or no forms of logic or of oath can give it evidence. 
The sentence must also contain its own apology for being spoken. - R.W.Emerson
From: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us (S. Mudgett aka little gator)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: nail in Coca-Cola
Date: 9 Oct 92 12:55:00 GMT
	<1992Oct6.213528.24791@newsgate.sps.mot.com>
	<Bvq0oA.8En@well.sf.ca.us> <1992Oct7.000000.21267@u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
Distribution: usa
Organization: gators 'r us
X-Software: HERMES GUS 1.03 Rev. Apr 14 1992


>In first grade, when Mr. Pelander was teaching us about the importance of
>brushing one's teeth on a daily basis, he opened a bottle of Coke, tied a
>string from one nail to another, and suspended the nail in the Coke (using
>the other nail as a cross-piece to keep the nail suspended.
my husband, while working for a trucking company which moved heavy machinery,
heard from a coworker that kellogg's sugar frosting solution(like they put on
 frosted flakes, called "sugar frosted flakes" in the olden days) will,
if spilled on a truck, strip the paint off.  there was a paintless patch on
one of the trucks to "prove" it.

little "but he didn't say anything about lard frosted flakes" gator
-- 
-- little gator aka s. mudgett     email: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
-- friend of a gator is a friend of mine
From: jeq@i88.isc.com (Jonathan E. Quist)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Dead pet UL?
Date: 8 Oct 92 16:52:06 GMT
Organization: INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation, Naperville, IL

In article <1992Oct8.155017.19413@engage.pko.dec.com> moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com writes:
>In article <1992Oct7.185737.10786@cs.sfu.ca>, jamie@cs.sfu.ca (Jamie Andrews) writes...
>>     Heard this from a friend who *insisted* that it happened to
>>her co-worker's cousin.  Seemed like such a classic format for a
>>UL that I had to check it out here.  Anyone heard it?
>
>Ah yes, the dead rabbit UL again.  The FAQ says it's in Brunvand's book
>"Curses! Broiled Again!" under the cute title "The Hare Drier".
>
>>     The kicker:  neighbour responds "But the rabbit died two
>>weeks ago."
>
>This should have tipped off your friend:  What would the condition of a
>rabbit be, after having been dead and buried for 2 weeks?!?! (ick!)

Well, the cw's cousin must have shampooed the rabbit with some of
that Hare Restorer with Permanent Wave we've been hearing about...
-- 
Jonathan E. Quist                              INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
jeq@i88.isc.com  '71 CL450-K4 "Gleep", DoD #094        Naperville, IL
        There are many things a person should experience in a lifetime.
       Among them are an infant's first cry, and an infant's first laugh.
From: smith+@cs.cmu.edu (Sean Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Oscillators (Was: Re: Women in groups)
Keywords: variation
Date: 15 Oct 92 18:55:42 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon


A few years back, I heard a variation on the women-in-groups story
as a genuine FOAFtale.

Said FOAF lived in a dorm room with three or four other women, each of whom
was on the Pill, locking their cycle.  Each locked cycle was out of phase
with the others.   But FOAF was not on the Pill, so her cycle was free to 
adjust to others...except the presence of several regular out-of-phase
choices made her body quite confused!

(Now that I think about it, it occurs to me that the friend who was telling
me this had occasionally been an ``item'' with said FOAF.  Perhaps said FOAF
had some other motives in telling my friend this story...)

--Sean ``or was it Churchill?'' Smith

******************************************************************************
                         sean.smith@cs.cmu.edu
                     carnegie mellon computer science

          posting from PITTSBURGH, the center of the AFUniverse!
******************************************************************************
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: peterm@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Peter Mardahl)
Subject: Male Pregnancies
Summary: basically a request for more info from someone who knows more
Organization: University of California, at Berkeley
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 01:58:11 GMT


I've heard stories circulating that men can be artifically
impregnated.

The story goes that some guy thought it would be neat to bear
a child.  Some <unknown> hospital obligingly surgically implanted
a fertilized egg somewhere in his abdomen, and later delivered
the fetus by "Caesarian". 

The whole story seems rather dubious to me because the man's immune
system should immediately kill the "invader".

But several people I've asked have heard the same story.

Does anyone know more details about this?
(Sorry if this is in the FAQ.  I don't HAVE the FAQ so don't tell me
to refer to it.)

Peter "I prefer the natural way" Mardahl
peterm@cory.berkeley.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: mchance@nyx.cs.du.edu (Michael Chance)
Subject: Number of Angels on the Head of a Pin?
Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci.
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 14:10:45 GMT

A friend of mine and I were discussing imponderables the other day,
and the topic of the old medieval arguments about the number of angels
that can dance on the head of a pin came up.  He said that the Vatican
actually accept a number (like 489 or some such) during the
Renaissance, based on arguments presented to the Pope.  Anyone have
the real story, or is this another one for the AFU FAQ file?

Michael A. Chance
--
Michael A. Chance          St. Louis, Missouri, USA    "At play in the fields
Work: mc3078@sw1sta.sbc.com                             of St. Vidicon"
Play: bq434@cleveland.freenet.edu
      mchance@nyx.cs.du.edu
From: DSTEPHEN@cmsa.gmr.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Giant Gerbil Alert
Date: 8 Oct 92 17:23:11 GMT
Organization: GM Research Labs

PBS's "Nature" series ran a three part special, "Realms of the Russian Bear",
about wildlife in the former Soviet Union this week (at least in Detroit).
The highlight for me came in the second part, on central asia, which featured
and extensive clip of a monitor lizard hunting the "giant gerbil."  The
narrator, who had a great Boris Badenov Russian accent, solemnly informed us
that the giant gerbil is three times larger than the gerbil commonly kept as
a pet.

From the film clip the giant gerbil is an impressive beast.  I suspect that it
could give an unsuspecting emergency room technician a nasty bite.  I think
someone ought to put a word of caution out to interested parties about this.
Does anyone have Richard Gere's e-mail address?
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban