HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: vkochend@nyx.cs.du.edu (Vance Kochenderfer)
Subject: Re: Phone Calls at 2/3 the Speed of Light
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 21:55:17 GMT

In article <1993Jan21.215638.14265@nezsdc.icl.co.nz> hugh@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Hugh Grierson) writes:
>
>ObUL: COBOL was written as a joke.
>
>Hugh "get it?" Grierson
>-- 

I thought she made a bet with Heinlein that she could start a religion...

Vance "COBOLogy = kibology ?" Kochenderfer
Virginia Tech                    |  "Get me out of these ropes and into a
vkochend@nyx.cs.du.edu           |   good belt of Scotch"    -Nick Danger
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Bambi meets Godzilla.
From: joltes@husc10.harvard.edu (Richard Joltes)
Date: 26 Jan 93 14:26:37 EST
Organization: Harvard University Science Center
Keywords: bambi cute roadkill

If anyone wants to know the producer/director/artist/key grip/best boy/makeup
artist/clothes designer for Bambi/etc in "Bambi Meets Godzilla" they're all
the same person, but I can't recall his name.  I have a copy of the flick on
video at home, though, so if anyone's terminally curious I can run through it
tonight and post The Answer tomorrow...

And yes, the movie is only about 2 minutes in length.  It doesn't take up the
whole tape (but Hardware Wars, Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind, Porklips Now,
and the rest of the "shorts" do...).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dick "everyone's a critic" Joltes			joltes@husc.harvard.edu
Hardware & Networking Manager, Computer Services 	joltes@husc.bitnet 
Harvard University Science Center

"Mind you, not as bad as the night Archie Pettigrew ate some
sheep's testicles for a bet...God, that bloody sheep kicked him..."
From: de@moscom.com (David Esan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Darkie (was Re: Peter Norton, son of Betty Crocker)
Date: 25 Jan 93 20:25:46 GMT
Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY

In article <H.eg.u7wV9mdQjys@harvee.billerica.ma.us> scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us writes:
+In <1993Jan21.001628.18209@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu+, Jonathan Papai writes:
++rct@fulcrum.co.uk (Richard Taylor) writes:
+++In article <1993Jan14.045705.22337@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu+ PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai) writes:
++++
++++ObUL: T. Cows have only upper teeth in the front of their mouths.
++++
+++
+++You've obviously never met my Grandma.
++
++Is your Grandma is a cow with both upper and lower teeth in front?
+(sorry-someone has to say it)
+
+and how voracious is she?

And does she have split hooves?


-- 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -->     David Esan      de@moscom.com  
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jane@soave.swdc.stratus.com (Jane Beckman)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Cuttin' the Rug
Date: 27 Jan 93 02:39:01 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc., San Jose, CA

>> Supposedly, when an authentic Oriental rug is crafted in whatever little
>> village they make them in, the threads are too 'new' looking and rug that
>> looks too new won't sell.  I've always heard that new rugs are put out on
>> the sidewalks or the street to get some wear and look more like what 
>> customers expect to buy.
>> 
>The story I had (from a rug vendor in Tehran in the late Seventies) was that  
>they did this to tighten up all the little knots that hold the threads in  
>place, and that the newest innovation in this process was to throw the rug in  
>the street so that passing cars could *really* tighten the sucker up.

Well, I've got the latest "no shit" innovation on this line.
I just got the new Spiegel catalog, and low and behold, you
can now buy threadbare "pre-aged" oriental rugs.  Spiegel
doesn't even make any bones about the fact that these
"stonewashed" rugs are new rugs that have been abraded to the
bone to make them look old.  If you ask me, yuppies don't have
enough to do with their money.

I'll age in my own rugs, thank you.


--
  Jilara   [jane@swdc.stratus.com]

"Every now and then, a big rock falls out of the sky, and everyone has 
a *very bad* day."  --from the PBS "Dinosaurs" special.
From: tjw@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Kimo Sabe
Date: 28 Jan 93 21:57:08 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <9166@news.duke.edu>, dkelly@bio4.acpub.duke.edu (Diane Kelly) writes:

        There was a long article in SMITHSONIAN magazine hunting for the origin
        of the term Kemo Sabe, some time in the late 1970s or early 1980s.  The
        details are fuzzy, but among other things I recall are the suggestions
        that the term came from the name of a summer camp attended by the
        daughter of the writer of the "Lone Ranger" radio serial -- camp
        Kee-Mo-Sa-Bee.  But the article went on to shoot down this hypothesis. 
        I don't remember what the final verdict was, but anyone sufficiently
        curious could track down the issue.

A "Far Side" cartoon I saw once explained that "Kemo Sabe" as Appachie for
"The Hind End of a Horse".

Terry "Cowabunga D00DS!" Wood
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Subject: John Denver (Re: Snipers at Stalingrad)
Reply-To: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Organization: ACUSON, Mountain View, CA
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 17:23:01 GMT

In article <1993Jan20.212531.13607@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai) writes:
>In sci.military, conversation turned to snipers at Stalingrad,
>with no mention of exploding dogs:
>
>In article <C15y9p.K44@law7.DaytonOH.NCR.COM>,z_kupkams@ccsvax.sfasu.edu writes:
>
>>    Also, John Denver ( Yes the Singer ) was a sniper in Vietnam, and I believe
>>that he had 70+ confirmed kills. 80 to 100 does sound reasonable for
>>Stalingrad.
>>
>>[mod note -- I asked Michael for confirmation of this, and he replied that
>>he had read it in a non-military publication.  Can any other readers out there
>>verify that John Denver was a U.S. Army sniper?
>>  Steve]
>
>How about it AFU.  This sounds too good to be true.


I doubt it.  I guess it would help to have a target date.  He wrote and
recorded a lot of stuff in the last few years of the '60s and
constantly through th '70s.  I guess that leaves the question of what
he was doing in the early '60s.

Can someone older tell me when the US started sending troops to Viet
Nam?  1963?


Drew "led a sheltered life in the '60s" Lawson
-- 
Drew Lawson                      If you're not part of the solution,
lawson@acuson.com                you're part of the precipitate
From: egilmour@ac.dal.ca
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: 54-40
Date: 26 Jan 93 22:01:26 -0400
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

X-NEWS: dal1 alt.folklore.urban: 58536Relay-Version: VMS News - V6.0 10/3/90 VAX/VMS V5.5; site ac.dal.ca
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.music.misc
Subject: 54-40..what does their name mean?
From: stevep@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca (Steve Portigal)
Date: 25 Jan 93 20:37:56 GMT
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu


 I just always figured 54-40 was just some stupid band name (although
a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.

So what the hell does it mean?

Steve
-- 
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Steve Portigal  University of Guelph  Guelph, Ontario      |
|  stevep@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca (519) 824-4120 x 3580      |
|  "Oh Andy Capp, you wife-beating drunk!" - Homer Simpson    | 
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Subject: Re: The revivification of Cindy
Reply-To: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Organization: ACUSON, Mountain View, CA
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 17:20:01 GMT

In article <1993Jan22.034240.29569@news.columbia.edu> lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:

>>lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
>>
>>  +I think it's more like "Diodes of Our Lives"
>>  +
>>  +cj "All My Diodes" l
>
>Maybe it was Santa Rectifier? Or The Young and the Rectifierless? or Rectifying
>or maybe General Rectifier? One Semiconductor to Live?

Wasn't one of those on just before the Gallium Gourmet?


Drew "better a semiconductor than no cunductor at all" Lawson
-- 
Drew Lawson                      If you're not part of the solution,
lawson@acuson.com                you're part of the precipitate
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:34659 alt.discordia:761 alt.slack:3882 alt.california:2384
From: megazone@coal.WPI.EDU (MegaZone)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.discordia,alt.slack,alt.california
Subject: Re: Mike Cooper was Jesus' name (was Re: Late breaking potential UL!)
Date: 23 Jan 1993 23:49:13 GMT
Organization: WPI Discordian Society, Undocumented Cabal
NNTP-Posting-Host: coal.wpi.edu

In article <1993Jan23.033345.12681@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> kkoller@nyx.cs.du.edu (Capt. Sarcastic) writes:
>>old episodes of I Love Lucy, and the signal pulses off into Deep
>>Space--how many light years must it travel before it can no longer
>>evoke laughter?
>Nine, as in "Deep Space Nine Inch Nails."

Thank you... That's an awesome image. "Join as next week as Trent angsts his
way through another depressing episode!"

(Hey, NIN is fantastic...)

###############################################################################
# I have one prejudice, and that is against stupidity.  Use your mind, think! #
#Email megazone@wpi.wpi.edu  Moderator, WPI anime FTP site 130.215.24.1 /anime#
###############################################################################
From: stirling@ozrout.uucp (Stirling Westrup)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: A Tip for the Groom (was: Tip Waitress, Not Cows
Date: 21 Jan 93 05:39:24 GMT
Organization: Andre P. Ozrout

fehr@ms.uky.edu (Jeff Davis) writes
>There's a surprisingly strong correlation between stunt marriages (getting
>married while sky diving etc) and an early divorce. Maybe not so surprising.
>Also a positive correlation between getting married after due deliberation
>and not getting a divorce. A slight dip for those couples who played house
>prior to marriage -- divorce rates for those couples approached the
>divorce rate for all marriages. 
>
I was told that the slight dip had to do with there being two categories of
folks who lived together before getting married:

Category 1:  Lived together for a while, it worked fine.  Couple decides to
get married and make it official.  Marriage lasts a good long time.

Category 2:  Lived together for a while, and the relationship starts to
show signs of strain.  The couple try several things to keep the
relationship together, and finally get married as a last-ditch attemp.
Divorce usually follows a year or so later.

So the secret is to be in Category 1, not 2.

Stirling "Will Eat for Food" Westrup

-- 
||    BUNGEE SIDEWAYS!                              o   )))
||                                                 /-- ///
|P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\_  \\\      __ -_
||    stirling@ozrout.uucp                                 ((( (_)T(_)
From: michaeln@cs.uq.oz.au (Bunweasel)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Darkie (was Re: Peter Norton, son of B
Date: 21 Jan 93 08:26:56 GMT
Reply-To: michaeln@cs.uq.oz.au
Organization: Department of Computer Science, The University of Queensland

In article 19544@husc3.harvard.edu, rocher@husc8.harvard.edu (Jean-Marc Rocher) writes:
>In article <2015@spam.ua.oz> jaskew@spam.ua.oz (Joseph Askew) writes:
>>In article <1993Jan14.045705.22337@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai) writes:
>>>slb3y@cc.usu.edu (Punk Rocketeer) writes:
>>>>In article <1993Jan12.232816.29950@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>,
>>>>PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai) writes:

>>>>> ObUL: One can buy 'Darkie' toothpaste in parts of Asia, that
>>>>> has a picture of a black fellow on the tube.

>>This is indeed true! I remarked on it once to a friend and she went
>> [...]
>>I tried to brush my teeth with it once - never again. You are better
>>off using drain cleaner.

>	According to the Boston Globe (from within the last two weeks) the
>company which manufactured Darkie (can't remember the name, but it's a company
>which markets similar products in the states) changed the drawing on the tube
>to an "ethnically ambiguous" person, and changed the name of the toothpaste
>to Darlie, after receiving numerous complaints (and rightfully so)

This too is true, but I would dispute that it's actually bad toothpaste.
I was using it for months and still have a full set of pearlies. Didn't
find it nearly as revolting as some of the blue-and-pink translucent
stripey muck that's around these days - you may as well brush your teeth
with that most icky US institution, Goober-Grape (spew! and you thought
Vegemite was bad). 

-Bunweasel



Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: stame@emunix.emich.edu (Stewart Tame)
Subject: Re: Bambi meets Godzilla.
Keywords: bambi cute roadkill
Organization: Eastern Michigan University
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 16:17:10 GMT

In article <1993Jan25.220201.16899@nezsdc.icl.co.nz> derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Derek Tearne) writes:
>The well known film 'Bambi meets Godzilla' just came up in conversation.
>
>You know, the one were Bambi just prances around pronking and saying hi to
>all the cute animals and then getting squashed underfoot by Godzilla.
>
>We were just wondering if it ever really existed.  Who were the producers
>etc. and how much did it gross (out?). 

Of course it exists.  I've seen it numerous times.  Dunno how much money
it's made but it was so cheaply done that I'd imagine it wouldn't be hard
to make a profit from it.  The producer, animator, etc. was . . . um . . .
Marv Newland I think.  I'm embarrassed to admit I'm not sure of the name
considering it's used as a running gag . . . 

		-- Stewart "classic movie!" Tame

****************************************************************************
 I understand it's obligatory to mention Kibo somewhere in one's postings.
****************************************************************************
		Email:  stame@emunix.emich.edu
****************************************************************************
Disclaimer:  Not only do my opinions represent those of Eastern Michigan
University, but also those of Dan Quayle, Richard Nixon, Frank Zappa,
Pee-wee Herman, Bart Simpson, Tipper Gore, Murphy Brown, Maggie Thatcher,
and the Easter Bunny.
From: hleaves@gems.vcu.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: starting a car takes more gas that idling
Date: 22 Jan 93 01:08:43 GMT
Organization: Medical College of Virginia

People have always told me that it takes more gas to start a car than to leave
it running. That, suppposedly, is why you shouldn't turn off your engine for a
brief stop. I can believe that this is true for a very brief idling period, but
not for any longer times. What would be considered the crossover point, where
it is better to stop your engine than leave it running? (considering gas
consumption only, not including engine wear from starting)

-- 
*******************************************************************************
** Hugh L. Eaves                      ** Internet: hleaves@ruby.vcu.edu      **
** Medical College of Virginia        ** Bitnet: hleaves@vcuruby             **
** Department of Human Genetics       ** Voice: (804) 371-8754               **
***************** All non-incendiary communication welcome! *******************
From: linden@positive.Eng.Sun.COM (Peter van der Linden)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Johnny Carson
Date: 26 Jan 1993 21:11:33 GMT
Organization: Sun
NNTP-Posting-Host: positive

_Newsweek_:

  About as far as Carson ever went was to ogle a starlet's cleavage and
  crack: 

How hilarious that the journalist/copy editor managed to get that 
entire phrase into print!    If you need this explaining to you, 
tough.

-- 

The four Prefix brothers: Yocto, Zepto, Atto, and Femto
From: infidel@cislabs.pitt.edu (todd j. derr)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: AFU EAST
Date: 25 Jan 93 01:52:58 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: university of pittsburgh cis

In article <H.eg.nrva2uxE15Y@harvee.billerica.ma.us> scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us writes:
>i will be in pittsburgh sometime in july or august.  any chance you could 
>delay it till then?

ahh, what the heck, we'll just have another one when the time is
ripe...  AFU day should be every day!

todd "but unfortunately I don't have that much news time anymore" derr

ObUL: Fb. If you skip all of your classes, you get a 4.0.


Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: nolan@lurch.twg.com (Nolan Hinshaw)
Subject: Re: Pizza Brain
Reply-To: nolan@twg.com
Organization: Somewhere West of Nowhere
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 20:37:08 GMT


In article <1993Jan24.151406.4488@rose.com>, bill.dehaan@rose.com (bill dehaan) writes:
[story of a high school student's lesson in KOH activity deleted]

This story reminds me of how "Hotrocks" Gould got his name. He was in high
school Chem lab working with fuming HNO3, sans lab apron! Fortunately the lab
was directly across the hall from the men's gym, the weather was fine, the lab
door was open, and the instructor was alert. Instructor grabs Hotrox by the
nape, hauls him across the hall, and into the shower, with loss of only the
front of his clothes and a bit of body hair.
From: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us (S. Mudgett aka little gator)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: gators 'r us
Subject: Re: doggie doodoo
	<1993Jan19.121027.15751@nntp.nta.no> <C16q3q.EK9@rahul.net>
Reply-To: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
X-Software: HERMES GUS 1.10 Rev. Dec 23 1992
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 09:43:10 -0400
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In <C16q3q.EK9@rahul.net>, Phil Gustafson writes:
>
>Phil "Ancestor named Bengta" Gustafson
has anyone on the net ever had an ancestor with an unusual name?
(5 of my 8 great-grandfathers were named john.)
-- 
-- little gator aka s. mudgett     email: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
-- friend of a gator is a friend of mine
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: phil@rahul.net (Phil Gustafson)
Subject: Re: Drug on the market
Organization: Famed Parquet Floor
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 01:05:30 GMT

In article <1993Jan23.161432.22170@samba.oit.unc.edu> Bruce.Tindall@launchpad.unc.edu (Bruce Tindall) writes:
>Someone asked yesterday about the phrase "drug on the market."  It means
>something that is unpopular, not selling well, Zoe Baird, etc.  The Oxford
>English Dictionary is uncertain whether it's related to the word "drug" 
>(as in "medicine") or not.  It could mean a product which, like a
>notoriously ineffective patent medicine or a bad-tasting medicine,
>is unpopular; or it could be that in this phrase the alternative
>spelling of "drogue" as "d-r-u-g" is being used.  
>
A resonable speculation.  Back when we hunted whales from open boats,
a "drogue", pronounced "drug" was a plank or bucket at the end of the
whale line, the rope fastened to the poor mammal by one or two harpoons.

The plan was to tire the beast out with minimal risk to man and boat.

Phil "90% dna-compatible with whales" Gustafson
-- 
|play: phil@rahul.net
|work: (Under Construction)              | Phil Gustafson 408-286-1749      |
|         Opinions outside attributed material are mine alone.              |
|        Satirical matter is not necessarily identified as such.            |
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: chrisp@cs.uwa.oz.au (Chris Pudney)
Subject: Re: starting a car takes more gas that idling
Organization: Dept. Computer Science, University of Western Australia.
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 08:14:06 GMT

G'day,

In <1993Jan21.210843.269@gems.vcu.edu> hleaves@gems.vcu.edu writes:

>People have always told me that it takes more gas to start a car than to leave
>it running. That, suppposedly, is why you shouldn't turn off your engine for a
>brief stop. I can believe that this is true for a very brief idling period, but
>not for any longer times. What would be considered the crossover point, where
>it is better to stop your engine than leave it running? (considering gas
>consumption only, not including engine wear from starting)

The Royal Automobile Club's fuel economy guide suggests that it's 30 seconds. 

Chris "Your mileage may vary" Pudney.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Events (was The horse's butt -- err -- mouth)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 01:46:02 GMT

nolan@twg.com (Nolan Hinshaw) writes:
: 
: In article <C18H54.LEo@rahul.net>, phil@rahul.net (Phil Gustafson) writes:
: [blah blah blah - sounds like an old two-stroke Saab on overrun]
: 
: |>we have trouble hiding the events from Nolan Hinshaw.  New blood is
: 
: Hey! Bust it, Watcher! I got this nifty new industrial supply catalog on my
: desk, and it has LOTS of nifty implements of torture listed in it, INCLUDING
: diode adjusters. I know how to use 'em all!

Sounds like fun. Are you going to bring some to demonstrate? Who will be
allowed to volunteer as subjects?

Bill "Whips and leather and chains! Oh! My!" Nelson

Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:34433 alt.discordia:717 alt.slack:3802
From: dsegard@nyx.cs.du.edu (Daniel Segard)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.discordia,alt.slack
Subject: Re: Jesus' name (was Re: Late breaking potential UL!)
Date: 21 Jan 93 16:23:24 GMT
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.


 > The correct name is of course Yehoshua ben Yosef,

      No evidence exists for the YOD HEY SHEEN VAV AYIN spelling though
that
was the spelling of the name of the guy that fought the battle of Jericho.
YOD SHEEN VAV AYIN appears to have been the way the name was spelled though
frequently the AYIN was dropped in the Aramaic texts.  Hence it would
appear that Yeshua not Yehoshua is the correct spelling of the name.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher)
Subject: Re: Jesus' Birthday
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 02:39:49 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

>>>Well, he was born on Easter, so we'd have to look it up and find out 
>>>whether it fell in March or April that year.
>>No - Easter was set as the date of his resurrection. It has nothing to do
>>with the supposed birth date. 
> Uh, somebody didn't recognize the joke.

Well, that makes two of us. What was the joke meant to be?






R.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: johnson@emx.cc.utexas.edu (Karen Johnson Morgan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: coriolis effect and Foucalt pendulums (and the UN)
Date: 26 Jan 93 22:36:20 GMT
Organization: U. Texas Center for Space Research
NNTP-Posting-Host: emx.cc.utexas.edu

In article <1993Jan20.202654.9683@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com> billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
+
+The electromagnet does not have anything to do with the path the pendulum
+follows....
+The only
+reason it is there is to overcome the bearing and air friction that would
+otherwise cause the swing to die down.


Oh!! So that's why the one in my office building stops occasionally!

Karen "I thought the Earth had stopped spinning" Morgan


-- 
        karen@louise.ae.utexas.edu   -or-   johnson@emx.utexas.edu
Organization: Junior, Math/Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA