HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: rji@trellis.cs.nott.ac.uk (Rob Ingram)
Subject: Re: Virtuality
Organization: Communications Research Group
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 10:40:36 GMT

In article <1992Nov19.001024.4063@wvnvms.wvnet.edu>, un040367@wvnvms.wvnet.edu writes:
|> Did anybody else get to play Virtuality, if so what did you think of it? I mean
|> the one that is touring various malls now. I got to play it a couple times in
|> West Virginia and enjoyed myself. The only things that seem to put a damper on
|> the fun were a few technical problems with the gear (out of focus headgear,
|> only 3 min. worth of playing time, etc.-which could be easily taken care of
|> with a little patience on the presenters side).

I think that although the W-Industries blurb says that the HMD's can be
adjusted for individuals I think that they knew they would never have time
to properly adjust the optics for each player (especially after cleaning and
all) and so went more for a confuguration that would work for most people. So
if you get a badly trained assistant, and add to this the generally pathetic
quality of HMD display technology you end up with a pretty bad view and probably
a migraine.

|> It was s nice electronic buzz
|> for me---oh the radiation I love it! Anybody else know of anyother Virtual
|> games floating around publicly? 

You don't say which you played. W-Industries have a pterodactyl game, which
seems to be the most widespread in the States, and also a sit down flight sim
and a fantasy fighting/adventure type game. Maybe others too.


			Rob.

-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
|                       | Rob Ingram                                          |
|  By request.          | University of Nottingham                            |
|  Englands Finest.     | Department of Computer Science                      |
|                       | Nottingham, UK.                                     |
|_______________________|_____________________________________________________|
|                       |      "Women: Can't live with 'em, can't get them    |
|  rji@cs.nott.ac.uk    |       to dress in skimpy leather Nazi outfits"      |
|_______________________|_____________________________________________________|
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: tolman%asylum.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Kenneth Tolman)
Subject: Re: New senses and Geordi's Eyes
Date: 22 Nov 92 21:12:02 MST
Organization: University of Utah, CompSci Dept

>     But who's to say that grafting a dog's nose onto your face won't
>gradually enhance the smelling capacity of the brain?  The brain is
>continually maturing.  Those with handicaps have their other senses
>enhanced as the brain learns to cope.  Just because eyes, today, are
>our "best" sense doesn't mean something else can't well be.

  These sense enhancements are not genetically transmitted.  We currently
do not employ our own noses to full functionality, so it is doubtful we
would use a dog's nose any more than we use our own.

>     Say start a colony of people with dog noses.  Let them reproduce,
>it shouldn't take more than 3 generations before you've got some real
>hefty smell-sense growing in the brain. 

???  Evolution occurs because it is a selective process, and occurs over
millions of years.  60 years of non selection is not going to get you
anything new, except a small amount of genetic drift which would have
occured anyway without the dog noses.

[Korea anecdote]
>     "Sensitive and accurate" is based on the brain, so therefore if
>you enhance your senses externally, your brain should be able to cope.

  This is probably not true.  Your brain, like it or not, has limits.
Probably we can push the limits further than people do today, but one
would not require any special technology to do this.  Future technology
which samples from a broader range of signals from the environment will
undoubtably have a lot of preprocessing to filter out interesting
signals.  Thus the actual informational load may be quite similar to what
we percieve today.

>     It'd be good to mention the differences between male and female
>here, too.  Women see many more colors than men do: is this due to mental
>or sensory differences?  If you stuck owl eyes in your sockets, would
>you even be able to handle the input?  Perhaps patients would go through
>weeks or months of psychotic perception and would want to kill themselves
>in order to get rid of "the pain" of the input.
>
>     [It could be like trying to run a 12 Mhz 286 at 20 Mhz..  It's
>just not rated for the speed and will eventually fry.  So what bandwidth
>is the brain rated at?]

The brain does not go into pain on signal overload, it merely ignores most
of it.  It is easy to obtain a huge amount of information load at this
moment, go to a carnaval, go to a store that sells TV's with many on
at once, and so forth.  After a while you will learn to pick out the
information which is of interest.  Your whole life is really an information
overflow in which you ignore most of it.  You are not fried walking down
the street are you?  Do you notice the colors of every article of person
you walk by?  How about the locations of pieces of trash?  Hooking a person
up to a "super eye" would merely make them confused for a while until they
began to pick out information they could make sense of. 


Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: steve@lanl.gov (Steve Smith)
Subject: Re: Updated AMiX information
Organization: Los Alamos National Lab
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 00:53:14 GMT

In article <DRW.92Nov5164608@taylor.mit.edu> drw@taylor.mit.edu (Dale R.  
Worley) writes:
> What volume of business has been done through AMiX in the last month?
> How many customer look at it in a day?
> 
> And why doesn't AMiX have an Internet connection yet?

Anybody out there have more information on AMiX.  Conceptually, it is
excellent.  I would like to see offered commercial printing/imaging
services and stock photo services in a competitive and easy to reach
environment.

I think the internet connection holdup is related to commercial
use restrictions.  Time to hammer some of those down.  Maybe
we can start by forcing the issue on Public Institutions obtaining
Commercial Services.  Rules are clear about commercial to commercial,
not so clear on Commercial to Public.  E-mail help services
are an existing example.

Steve Smith
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: tolman%asylum.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Kenneth Tolman)
Subject: Re: Virtuality
Date: 19 Nov 92 11:02:45 MST
Organization: University of Utah, CompSci Dept

Did anybody else get to play Virtuality, if so what did you think of it? I mean
>the one that is touring various malls now. I got to play it a couple times in
>West Virginia and enjoyed myself. The only things that seem to put a damper on
>the fun were a few technical problems with the gear (out of focus headgear,
>only 3 min. worth of playing time, etc.-which could be easily taken care of
>with a little patience on the presenters side).

I played it in the "underground" at Berkeley.  No one else was playing, so
the guy gave me and this other dude a lot of time (10 minutes I think plus
some extra beginning time)

I thought it was good, but not great.  It was too easy, and the controls
were not tied to the human as well as they should be.  (I would aim at 
someone, but my virtual arm would not be in the right place at all)

There was nothing that exciting either, probably because the other guy
I was playing sucked, and I would just drive across and blow him away again
and again before he even moved.  I was careful to try to shoot the
pterydactls, but never was able to find them before they grabbed me.

But the "VR" effect was decent, and the graphics were adequate, so it
was fun to play.  Future versions should be better I hope!
From: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
Subject: Re: Updated AMiX information
Date: 22 Nov 1992 06:14:43 GMT
Organization: Msen, Inc. -- Ann Arbor, Michigan
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.msen.com
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

Steve Smith (steve@lanl.gov) wrote:
: 
: Anybody out there have more information on AMiX.  Conceptually, it is
: excellent.  I would like to see offered commercial printing/imaging
: services and stock photo services in a competitive and easy to reach
: environment.

From what I've seen of Amix's current price structure, it would not be
feasible to do a stock photo service (eg with photo CD) on that system.
Their per-megabyte charge is way too high, and the transactions costs
would just kill you.
 
: I think the internet connection holdup is related to commercial
: use restrictions.  Time to hammer some of those down.  Maybe
: we can start by forcing the issue on Public Institutions obtaining
: Commercial Services.  Rules are clear about commercial to commercial,
: not so clear on Commercial to Public.  E-mail help services
: are an existing example.

The internet connection holdup would seem more to be a problem of
the commercial internet having snuck up on Amix without them noticing
that there would be 12 million possible paying customers if they only
knew how to tap them.  The commercial internet question itself seems
to be pretty well settled; of those 12 million or so mailboxes, more than
half are reachable via paths which are completely free of any acceptable
use policy.  And so long as the 'commercial to public' paths go, it would
seem that so long as you are aware of the NSFnet and take care to describe
what you are doing in a context of 'in support of research and education'
that a well thought out business should be able to function there.

  Edward Vielmetti, vice president for research, Msen Inc. emv@Msen.com
        Msen Inc., 628 Brooks, Ann Arbor MI  48103 +1 313 998 GLOB
From: v067rcyf@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (AARDVARK)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
Subject: my Virtuality (tm) article
Date: 17 Nov 92 20:08:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

i posted what i thought
was a nifty (i love that word)
article about the Virtuality (tm)
unit and its makeup
if anyone's seen it, please
let me know
since i haven't run across
it yet...
i think it only got posted to
sci.virtual-worlds

if you find it, please cross-post
to all these cyberpunk
groups (except chatsubo)

thanx

-----------------------------------------aardvark
Newsgroups: alt.cyberspace
From: joebg@IASTATE.EDU (umbra)
Subject: Re: Macintosh VR
Reply-To: joebg@IASTATE.EDU (umbra)
Organization: Iowa State University
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 20:46:38 GMT

In article <BxI98H.7st@news.iastate.edu>, argent@iastate.edu (Christopher L
Jorgensen) writes:
> -- 


excuse my friend he's mute

--

joebg (UMBRA)
Black as Midnight Black as Pitch Blacker than the Foulest Witch

-BLIX
From: werner@soe.berkeley.edu (John Werner)
Newsgroups: alt.transgendered
Subject: Re: Wrong Surgery
Followup-To: alt.transgendered
Date: 22 Nov 1992 00:16:54 GMT
Organization: UC Berkeley School of Education
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.32.157.31

In article <1992Nov21.035006.15773@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>, Iona Carter wrote:

>     1) Tell me parents, seek reassignment. The would shatter their lives.
>     2) Dissappear, seek SRS. This would also shatter their lives.

I'm sure you've heard this before, but it's _your_ life and your decision. 
Not theirs.  They way you say "shatter their lives" makes it sounds like it
would be your fault.  I disagree.  If they can't cope with you being
yourself, it is their fault, not yours.  I'm not saying you should pick
option #1 or #2, just that maybe you're assigning (hypothetical) blame in
the wrong place.

--
John Werner                         werner@soe.berkeley.edu
UC Berkeley School of Education     510-642-9651
Newsgroups: alt.transgendered
From: ah340@yfn.ysu.edu (Michelle Fiera)
Subject: Re: Tough questions.
Reply-To: ah340@yfn.ysu.edu (Michelle Fiera)
Organization: St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, OH
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 16:40:16 GMT


In a previous article, hackbod@xanth.CS.ORST.EDU (Dianne Hackborn) says:

>I've come out to most of my good friends from High School.  So far,
>the absolute worst responses I've had was one who said "I don't know
>if I can handle this, but our friendship is important enough for me to
>try" and My Mormon Friend who said "I have to let you know that I
>don't approve of this, but you should do whatever you feel is best."

I think (or at least hope) that most of my friends will react this
way, but I'm worried particularly about the more religious ones...

>a friend who said that she wasn't planning on going to our school
>reunion... but if I went she would definately go...

I dream of going to my HS reunion as a woman, and seeing the looks on
everyones faces.   Hopefully by then it will be possible :)

>and my only male friend [Matt] from High School, who at one point told
>me he thought this was "kind of neat" and that he was looking forward
>to it.

Who tend to take it better males or females?  Do the women take it
better becaue they already understand what it is to feel like a woman?

*hugs*
Michelle

-- 
"So beautiful - damsel in distress | Michelle Ann Fiera    |"Gender is not a 
 not exactly natural - stunning    | ah340@yfn.ysu.edu     | state of body -
 none the less" -Suzanne Vega      | ap.6592@cupid.sai.com | it's a state of 
		"As Girls Go"      |                       | mind"    
Newsgroups: alt.transgendered
From: ac94691@dunix.drake.edu (The Dark Kitty)
Subject: Re: Wrong Surgery
Organization: Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, USA
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 19:08:21 GMT

In article <1efsogINNfsf@flop.ENGR.ORST.EDU> hackbod@xanth.CS.ORST.EDU (Dianne Hackborn) writes:
>OhMyGod!!!  Not even TWO WEEKS ago, I heard about something almost
>EXACTLY like this happening to to another person!!!!  I swear, these
>SRS places are just OUT OF CONTROL!!

Gee doesn't sound like an URBAN LEGEND does it???????  I mean not that
I'd mind that much if it happened to me.  I wouldn't have to pay for
it and being female genetalia wise would be pretty cool.

>i think that EVERYONE who
>is aware of what is going on should write letters to their Governor,
>Congress-critters, State Representatives, Dog Catcher, Attourney
>General, Lawyer and System Administrator and request that these
>unstable people be stopped!!!!!!!

You forgot about the ASCPA, Avon ladies, TupperWare ladies, and of
course Ann Landers...

>fantasies will then turn into fantasies about being raped and, within
>a couple of years, you will end up a prostite in Nevada and be
>completely satisfied with that as your perfect place in life.
>
>Oh, and did I mention that within a month you will need DDD cup bras?
>

Fantasies about being forced to have sex with big strong men?  I already
have those and I've never had any surgery...that I know of.  Hmmmmm.....

And, by the way, if you ask for DDD cup bras at Sears they'll give you
two kiddie swimming pools and a strap.

Sheila Christine


Newsgroups: alt.transgendered
From: scg@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Kelly Martin)
Subject: Re: Tough questions.
Reply-To: scg@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Organization: Gender Anarchists United
	<Bxs1tq.8AM@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 22:19:45 GMT

Michelle Fiera <ap.6443@cupid.sai.com> writes:

>Right, I mean my genitals do provide me with pleasure now, but
>they're not in sync with my general being.  It's a lot like owning a
>Yugo, while yes it does drive - it's not the kind of car I want to
>drive.  :)

Too bad you can't go to a used car dealer and trade them in on a new
model... :)

>Hmm...  I see a vicious cycle coming on.  People who want the surgery
>lie to their councilors so they can get the surgery done, which in
>turn reinforces these councilors stereotypes of a "typical" TS.  

It's not so much that I would lie but that I would craft my answers
and statements to be convincing.  The problem I have is that my case
is atypical (adult onset) and in order to fit the mold (of childhood
onset) I would have to fabricate stuff.  I won't do that, and it might
cause me problems.

Hopefully I'll be lucky enough to get a counselor who will listen to
me and not try to tell me I'm not because I don't meet her ideas of
what a TS is supposed to be....
--
Intolerance is not a lion.  It's a weasel.
	-- Dean Kaflowitz (decay@cbnewsj.cb.att.com), talk.abortion
Newsgroups: alt.transgendered
From: micki@netcom.com (Michelle Stone)
Subject: Re: Troubled
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 08:44:45 GMT

ipacs@solomon.technet.sg (IPACS PTE LTD) writes:

>All this happened 2 months ago when a series of coincidences and mistakes 
>lead to my present problem. I was scheduled for an elective operation for 
>the ligation of varicocele in my left testis. I was admitted and the blood 
>test etc was carried out. It so happened that another patient was going for 
>a sex ressignment surgery was next to me. It was interesting talking to him 
>as I learnt quite a lot of the way a transexual feel. Then I was given this 
>wrist tag with my name on it (I didn't check as I assume it should be 
>right). In actual fact there was a mix up, one thing that could have 

... stuff deleted

>up, calling some name. I didn't really answer then I just opened my eyes 
>and nodded, then went back to sleep again. That afternoon, I woke up and 
>felt some pain in my groin area and asked for some pain killers. I didn't 

... should I say it here?



>of varicocele would only take half an hour or less. I noticed that something 
>was wrong when I looked around and found that the patients around me were 
>all ladies. I asked the nurse who told me the after such operation - (she 

.... or here?

... more stuff deleted

>next to me. You could imagine what went on in my head - initially I was 
>really furious and demanded to see to surgeon. When the surgeon came some
>time later, he explained for the mistake - the other patient also had a 
>small varicocele on the same side which was ligated. By then my temper had 

... interesting

>died down and I accepted that what was done had been done, the surgeon told 

... I believe it don't you?

... more stuff deleted
> 

>Now I am really confused as I didn't really mind being a male and never 
>thought of becoming a female until now. A stent is placed in my artificial 
>vagina to keep it patent and I was told that I won't need it if I chose to 
>become a male. I am not taking any estrogen, but still my voice is changing 

... okay, we have found the dead give away lie.

>slightly and I noticed loss in facial hair.

... only to be repeated.
> 

Cute fantasy.

-- 
Michelle Stone     micki@netcom.com

By the way.  I find myself to be a recent addition to the 
unemployment statistic.  I am a software manager.  If  you know
of an opportunity, please let me know!

Newsgroups: alt.transgendered
From: rhm3@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Angela)
Subject: Re: Tough questions.
Reply-To: rhm3@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Angela)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 06:18:33 GMT

>> 
>> I kind of resemble that remark.  I've never found men very physically
>> attractive, I've always found women more physically attractive and still
>> do.  What I do find attractive is the idea of being with a man as a woman,
>> more than any specific man himself. [...]

I've been having the same feelings.  Right now I only find men attractive in
the abstract, perhaps as a signal that I would be accepted as GG.  I don't
look at a guy and say "He's cute," or "I'd like to be with him."  Of course
I've only been dealing with these feelings for a couple of weeks, so things
could change.  :)

>  Now, when I see a woman, the intrest I seem to feel is
>mostly how closely she represents what i'd like to look/be like. 

Absolutely.  I have a few pictures on my wall of swimsuit models.  I suppose
it would remove any suspicion that I wasn't "normal."  But, I don't want
to be with the women in the pictures, I want to _be_ them.

The last couple of weeks have been both exhilirating and very confusing.
I have repressed my femme side for a long time, but it feels so _good_ to
be able to talk about my feelings.

I have what may be a dumb question.  Has anyone noticed if their attraction
to men increased after they started hormones?  Just curious.

*Hugs* to all that want them,
From: karsten@ultrax.alf.dec.com (Kimberly Karsten)
Subject: support groups
Reply-To: karsten@ultrax.alf.dec.com (Kimberly Karsten)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 15:27:52 GMT


--
-Hi, all

  I am not sure of the protocal on the news services but would it be
possible to get a list of support groups. I know that when I was dealing
with my issues around gender I had a real hard time locating a support
group.


Kimberly

/*   Kimberly A Karsten, karsten@decatl.alf.dec.com | The heck with the brass
 *   Digital Equipment Corporation                  | ring go for the Gold
 *   5555 Windward Parkway west                     |
 *   Alpharetta, GA. 30201-7407    USA              |
 * The options express are mine and mine alone!
 */
Newsgroups: alt.transgendered
From: rhm3@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Angela)
Subject: Re: Tough questions.
Reply-To: rhm3@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Angela)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 05:33:16 GMT

In article <1992Nov16.202741.1@vmsb.is.csupomona.edu> cvadratv@vmsb.is.csupomona.edu writes:
>
>>>>completely distinct from my gender identity. All
>>>>these discussions really are great!  I hadn't talked to anyone about
>>>>any of these feelings until about a week and a half ago, and I've
>>>>already learned so much about myself..
>
>Yes it was a relief to find people who actually understand whats going on in my
>life.
>
>>>psychologists (well mine at least) feel that I should be attracted to
>>>men and not women if i'm a m->f TS.  I'm bi with a leaning to women.
>>>I guess that would make me a lesbian traped in a man's body?!
>> 
>> I kind of resemble that remark.  I've never found men very physically
>> attractive, I've always found women more physically attractive and still
>> do.  What I do find attractive is the idea of being with a man as a woman,
>> more than any specific man himself. [...]
>
>As my interest/acceptiance of being TS has grown, my attraction to men has
>increased as well. Some men are attractive enough to me to be distracting.
>(It's so annoying to trying to pay attention in class but be distracted by a
>cute teacher. <Grin>  Now, when I see a woman, the intrest I seem to feel is
>mostly how closely she represents what i'd like to look/be like. 
>
>The confusing part is, earlier, I didn't show any real interest in men, and a
>subdued attraction to women.
>
>Diane.
>


Newsgroups: alt.transgendered
From: haker@yar.cs.wisc.edu (Mike Haker)
Newsgroups: alt.transgendered
Subject: Re: Tough questions.
Date: 16 Nov 92 03:41:18 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Anthropology dept.

In article <Bxs1tq.8AM@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> Michelle Fiera <ap.6443@cupid.sai.com> writes:
>
>This makes 3 of us.  The recent conflict going through my head has
>been whether or not the fact that I'm ocassionally sexually aroused
>while wearing women's clothes means I'm therefore not a TS.  I've 
>finally determined that who or what I get sexually aroused by is
>completely distinct from my gender identity. All
>these discussions really are great!  I hadn't talked to anyone about
>any of these feelings until about a week and a half ago, and I've
>already learned so much about myself..

I guess I'm number 4.  Another conflict I have with the current psychological
perspective is not just that gender identity is not linked to sexual
arousal, but that sexual orientation is not linked to sexual identity.  
While this is obvious to the non-TS (its called homosexuality), the
psychologists (well mine at least) feel that I should be attracted to
men and not women if i'm a m->f TS.  I'm bi with a leaning to women.
I guess that would make me a lesbian traped in a man's body?!

P.S.  I am so glad this group was formed.  While i'm personally comfortable
with myself, and not to terribly afraid of it having repercussions on
my career goals (i'm not using an anonymous service), I have had no one
to openly discuss feelings and experiences with.  Thank you all.


Michael/Michelle H
Newsgroups: alt.transgendered