HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: charless@sco.COM (charles stross)
Subject: Re: Radio stations
Organization: The Somewhat Contagious Operation, Inc.
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 10:24:16 GMT


In article <l6dnmjINNikl@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM> geoffm@purplehaze.Corp.Sun.COM (Geoff Miller) writes:
>
>In article <39140@skye.dcs.ed.ac.uk> Claudio.Terrorist@ed.ac.uk
>(ObTerrorist) writes:
>
>>Whistlers should be shot right on the spot (I volunteer for the job).
> >Agreed.  The ones I really can't stand are the ones who whistle with
>that horrible warble.  Old men tend to whistle like that.
>
>Geoff

Seconded ... but what about the finger-clickers? Finger-snapping
is almost as bad as whistling. Then there are the desk-drummers.
Worst of all are the officemates-from-hell who do *all three*
activities asynchronously, to different tunes. They always seem to
have a taste in music that makes me want to throw up, too; the
number of times I've been subjected to a rattling, tapping jerk
whistling The Birdie Song in E flat minor ...

On the other hand, there are honourable exceptions. At my last
company -- a weird hotbed of graphics hackers who aren't on
the net -- there were some very strange rituals. For example,
once an hour, on the hour, the C doctor (a bald eccentric,
who was later tear gassed in a karaoke bar) would spin round 
in his chair, sit bolt upright, and begin juggling a set of
luminous green furry dice. The other programmers would take 
this as their cue, spin round in their chairs until they were 
facing into the centre of the room, and whistle the theme tune 
to The Magic Roundabout in chorus until he dropped the dice. Then
everyone would spin back to their workstations and get their
heads down before the Hardware Designer from Hell (who was also
The Boss) started throwing transputers at them.

As Technical Author, it was my job to pick up the dice.

-- 
Charlie Stross aka charless@scol.sco.com ..... UNIX oriented text mangler
WARNING: The opinions voiced in the preceding electronic document are the
product of a warped mind. Take two before meals. Now put the following in
your sigfile: {LineEater Vaccine: Bush CIA Drugs Revolution Perot Murder}
From: ecovingt@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Maiko Covington)
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
Subject: Re: Another Olympic Peeve
Date: 31 Jul 92 19:15:36 GMT


	DEFINITELY agree with Sonja here. I too love to watch
women's gymnastics. But.... I thought the Olympics were supposed to
be a worldwide event? Sure doesn't seem like it! You might as well
think the only countries involved (in women's gym, anyway) are the
US, the Unified Team, and Romania!!! They NEVER show anyone else!!!
This is a major peeve since I used to live in Japan and would like
to see some of the Asian gymnasts perform. China was in 4th place
for the team all around, which isn't shabby at all, but did NBC
deign to show them? NOOO!!!!
	I thought things might get better with the individuals,
since people whose teams aren't contenders for medals might be doing
well anyway. But, no such luck. Last night they showed the top 3
people, and then made special note of the fact that an American was
in 8th place, but didn't bother to show the people in between 3rd
and 8th. At the end of the whole thing, they don't even bother to
show the standings beyond who got medals.

	Maybe NBC is making the coverage especially peevesome to try
and get people to buy the pay per view stuff?

	Maiko  (who cannot afford cable)
From: mhart@blackjack.dt.navy.mil (Michael Hart)
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
Subject: Re: BDI On Board
Date: 31 Jul 92 10:12:23 GMT

In <1992Jul30.171044.638@umbc3.umbc.edu> potler@umbc4.umbc.edu (Laura Potler (GSFC)) writes:

>as i've been getting mail indicating that others would possibly show
>their faces were they invited, let me officially invite the entire
>peeving community. 

Great.  Set a time and place, and I'll tell ya why I can't make it.
:-)

>>will soon come to pass: I'll be finishing my degree RSN (real soon

>this calls for a drink! 

A drink?  _A_ drink, as in one measly, teeny, tiny, lousy, stinking
drink?  I was kinda planning on IV LI teas, with iced vodka shooters
to wet the whistle!             ^^(intravenous)

Friday's in Greenbelt is good for me.  Actually, Friday's anywhere
is good for me :-)

--
|   Michael G. Hart                   mhart@blackjack.dt.navy.mil    |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|     You think _I_ speak for the government or the navy?  HAH!      |
| Aviation, computers, quality improvement, Northern Exposure, money |
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
From: minch@lotka.stanford.edu (Eric Minch)
Subject: Re: Drug testing and welfare
Organization: Stanford University, California, USA
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 17:12:30 GMT

In article <iL8NoB18w165w@mantis.co.uk> mathew <mathew@mantis.co.uk>  
writes:
> Whatever happened to the idea of personal responsibility, anyway?  If  
I drink
> a bottle of bleach, it's my own damn stupid fault.  Surely the same  
principle
> applies if I choose to take dangerous drugs?
> 
No, in this country if you drink a bottle of bleach it's the  
manufacturer's fault for not putting a notice on the bottle saying "Do  
not drink this bleach". Or if there is a notice, it's not big enough.  
So you sue (or your heirs do) and get a million bucks. It's what keeps  
the economy going.

Presumably this is the basis for drug testing welfare recipients. If a  
welfare recipient uses money to buy drugs and then becomes addicted or  
dies, a lawsuit against the government would be in order (since they  
provided the money). By making sure the money is not used for drugs,  
the government is just keeping its insurance premiums down.

See, it's all so simple when you think about it.
--
 
Eric Minch             Any resemblance to the opinions of persons
Epistemic Artisan      or organizations other than myself--living,
Stanford Genetics      dead, or imaginary--is purely fortuitous.
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
From: baldwin@carina.unm.edu (Chris Baldwin)
Subject: Re: Self-serve gas stations
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 92 22:31:06 GMT
Organization: Atheist for the Development of a Better God

In article <8jkm2vp@lynx.unm.edu> hillman@carina.unm.edu (Dan Hillman) writes:
>In article <1992Jul24.192834.23276@spool.cs.wisc.edu> slv@camembert.cs.wisc.edu (Scott L. Vandenberg) writes:
>>PEEVE 1:  "You're all criminals, so pay before pumping the gas".  
>
>What really yanks my crank is when places don't have some sort of sign
>indicating whether one is supposed to pay first, pump first, or make
>a secret sign to the Gasoline Goddess before they'll let you get the
>stuff into your car.
>
>That's right up there with the places that have a special window to go
>up to, only when you do, there's a small sign saying to go inside the
>store. Arrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!

	Sounds like Dan is describing a gas station that is over by his house
that I usually use because is it conveniently located. There are no signs 
telling you whether or not you are supposed to pay first.  Last year, you 
sometimes had to and other times didn't. There was seemingly no rhyme or 
reason to when you had to pay first. On a few occasions, I filled up my truck 
at 2 or 3 in the morning and didn't have to pay first, but they would sometimes 
make you pay first at 1 or 2 in the afternoon. They seems to have decided that 
the paying first thing is the way to go, but it was very confusing for a while. 
This same gas station has a little window that you used to be able to pay at 
without going inside, but there is, last time I was there, a pile of fire wood 
in front of it. Now you must go inside to pay them.

>GiantEconomy-SizedPeeve: People who just stand there while you do
>all the work at the gas station. Sure, doing a good job washing the
>windscreen may be difficult if you're short, but that's no excuse
>for not checking the oil and the tire pressure.
Peeve: Last week some bum^H^H^HHomelessEconomicallyOppressedPerson snuck up
to my truck while I was inside paying and filled up all of the tires with
air. They needed it, but that is beside the point. After filling them up,
to the proper pressure I might add, he then demanded that I pay him for the
service. When I told him to get lost, he proceeded to tell me a heart 
wrenching tale of how his dog was in the pound and he only needed a few
bucks to get him out. After again telling him to get lost, he tryed another
tack about how he had not eaten in weeks, because he was trying to save up
enough money to get the dog out of the pound. Fortunately, at about that 
time, I had finished filling up the truck and I left. A very peevesome
trip to the gas station. I think that this guy was a plant, because except
for him, the trip to the gas station was completely peeve-free. There was
no line to wait in and the salesperson got everything right. 

-- 
Chris Baldwin                |"1984 has past. Forget about Big Brother.Welcome
baldwin@carina.unm.edu       |to the '90s, where the givernments your mother." 
                             |                     --Scatterbrain
"I say that What the Country Needs is a Drieux In Every Pot!"
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
From: jennyb@triton.unm.edu (Jenny Ballmann)
Subject: Diurnal Damage
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 20:37:58 GMT
Organization: Diplomacy 'R' Us
Summary: I'll keep changin'em till someone starts readin'em

In article <1992Jul30.180006.26040@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> bberbeni@nyx.cs.du.edu (Bill Berbenich) writes:
>In <1992Jul30.051003.2323@cs.yale.edu> elliott-bruce@CS.YALE.EDU (Bruce Elliott) writes:
>
>>In article <1992Jul29.165501.1365@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu> sac@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu writes:
>
>>>peeve: waking up after sleeping with some sufficiently protruding body part
>>>resting firmly on the eyelid and having to deal with 20/100 vision through that
>>>eye for most of the day.
>
>>This conjures up some really, um, unusual mental images.
>
>Yes, indeed it does.  Hey, sac, can you also part your hair with your tongue?

He didn't say it was *his* body part, now, did he?

I woke up yesterday feeling like my right hip had been dislocated during
the night.  (it hadn't been)   Why does the body start disintegrating at
such an alarmingly young age of (insert your current age here)? 

Jenny
-- 
The future will be better tomorrow.
                -- Vice President Dan Quayle
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
From: hillman@carina.unm.edu (Dan Hillman)
Subject: Re: Kids N' Stuff
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 92 08:55:30 GMT
Organization: Holy Order of Quadra 950 Lust

In article <1992Jul22.072657.15935@sco.COM> charless@sco.COM (charles stross) writes:
>
>Peeve: My Little Pony and the Care Bears.

About eight years ago, I had the pleasure of accompanying a vice-president
of Hasbro to a production facility about 40 miles north of Canton, China.
In the middle of *nowhere* was a modern factory where tons of peasant
women were assembling My Little Ponys. Imagine tens of tables *covered*
with My Little Ponys in various states of completion; purple ones here,
pink ones over there, green ones way on the end. It was like watching a
demonic clockwork factory run by giggling Chinese women.

Peeve: Although I took pictures, I was using black & white. It's just
not the same. 

Peeve: I didn't know enough Cantonese to ask what these women thought of 
those pastel-colored horrors, but I could just imagine them going home to
their families each night and talking about the weird purple horses.

Peeve/!Peeve: There are women there who do nothing day in and day out
but put the eyes on My Little Ponys. It's depressing as hell, but it
satisfies my ironic streak. 

They also made Cabbage-Patch dolls there. The highlight of the tour was
finding a bald Cabbage Patch head that had been painted with geometric
designs all over on top of a garbage heap.

>!Peeve: Adult toys. (I can hear the groans already ...)

You'll take away my Legos after you pry them from my cold, dead fingers!

-- 
| _   ;/                                                          Dan Hillman
|(")_/   "I'm right and you're not."                   hillman@carina.unm.edu
|~~/                                                 University of New Mexico
|~/                                               Land of Fucking Enchantment
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 19:14:14 EDT
From: Jenni Sheehey <JMS111@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
Subject: Re: Shopping Trip

In article <1992Jul23.191558.20857@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>,
al677@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jerry Cosyn) says:
>
[lots of quality peeving deleted]
>     Mom caught on to the action as she turned past the Nestle's Quick
>display at the far end of the aisle, and, with the swift peace-keeping
>action of the United Nations, jerked the cart out of range of the
>infantry, established a beachhead in front of the baby, and clouted
>Jimmy with a backhanded swipe to the side of his head.  As Jimmy
>cringed and wailed on the floor at her feet, she shook a menacing
>finger under the nose of the girl while issuing a steady and practiced
>stream of threatening invective laced with unimaginative profanity.

This brings forcefully to mind something I heard somewhere (don't
remember where) "A good parent can accomplish with merely a stern look
more than a bad parent can accomplish with blows." I wonder which type
this one was?  =)

Peeve: parents who don't think enough of their children to bother
earning their respect.

ObHoney: Honey, I wouldn't respect you either, if you spent all of your
time screeching at me like a fishwife.  Coffee with that?

                                                 --Jenni
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
From: donb@igor.tamri.com (Don Baldwin)
Subject: Re: Trundling along, looking for the right bandwagon
Organization: TOSHIBA America MRI, South San Francisco, CA
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 92 16:56:05 GMT

In article <23996@castle.ed.ac.uk> fofp@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Holmes) writes:
>Curtis the yapping poodle write:
>>>Old ones:  Heinlein, Elison, Clarke, Kornbluth, Pohl, LeGuin, others.
>
>>Slop-mongers all.
>
>Well, I liked Pohl's Gateway books.

Don't mind Curtis, he's prone to taking positions just to be annoying.
I think Pohl is a wonderful author, as are the others that I mentioned.

Curtis probably just figures that reading a star trek novelization makes
him an authority on science fiction...

>>Dan Simmons writes cheesy horror for people who don't like to admit that
>>they read horror.  Orson Scott Card writes fuzzy fantasies for people who
>>never outgrew their teddy-bears.
>
>Just finished Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. The plot in the
>second book was a little contrived in places, but I enjoyed 'em.

I agree; I REALLY liked Ender's Game.

As for Dan Simmons, he's written a couple horror stories on par with
Stephen King, one head and shoulders above King and some fantastic
science fiction.

>>Steve Perry and Dennis Schmidt I've never heard of, and likely for good
>>reason.
>
>I also liked Schmidt's Kensho books.

Then check out the Perry books; they're also Martial Arts intensive.

>Sod it. I also recommend Stableford's Grainger series and Zelazny's
>first Amber series (do not read the second series, I have trouble even
>believing that Zelazny is writing 'em).

Tell me about it!  The second Amber series is very disappointing.

>>!Peeve: there's at least one genuine SF writer on this group.  But I
>>doubt he'll admit it in public...
>
>!peeve: peer pressure: Just say "no".

Well, I hope that author identifies himself/herself.

I know!  It's Elaine:  she's really Ursula LeGuinn, right? :)
From: banta@blagg.Eng.Sun.COM (242 lbs before cooking)
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
Subject: Re: Drug testing and welfare
Date: 27 Jul 1992 15:41:30 GMT
Organization: Sun, Moon, and Stars
NNTP-Posting-Host: blagg

In article <69kms-b@lynx.unm.edu> baldwin@carina.unm.edu (Chris Baldwin) writes:
>Peeve: Since I disagree with most of the stuff that the government
>spends tax money on, it has been suggested that I should't pay my income tax
>in protest. Unfortunately, I don't make enough money to actually be required
>to pay anything, so the effort is very pointless. However, it looks like I
>will this year, forcing me to decide whether or not I feel strongly enough
>about the whole thing to risk getting tossed in the slammer for income tax
>evasion. It sure was a lot easier to be a political radical when I wasn't
>making any money.

Being a former resident of and follower of the goings on in Santa
Cruz, home of numerous political perpetually indignant, I know several
people who do this.

The trick they use to avoid jail time is to file a tax return, but
enclose a letter stating you don't approve of government practices and
refuse to pay the bottom line.  Make sure you claim a *HUGE* number of
withholding credits on your W2 so you don't put yourself in the moral
dilemma of being due a refund when you want to make a point.

As it has been explained to me, this technically isn't income tax
evasion, but non-payment of taxes.  The IRS gets peeved, sends you all
manner of nasty letters, tacks on penalties, and eventually attaches 
your bank account or salary to get their pound of flesh.

I almost feel ill including this namby-pambyish gobbly gook, but if I
don't I'm sure some cretinous waste of protoplasm will take me to
task:  I'm not a lawyer, what I discuss above is probably a Nasty
Federal Crime, and if you do it, you do it at your own risk.

Your faithful tax-paying drone,
drew
banta@abingdon.sun.com
--
I suppose that if I were a baseball fan I'd get equally peeved at
"RBIs," but the only stick-and-ball-type sport I watch much of is
women's beach volleyball with the sound turned off.
					-- Scott Fisher
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
From: ewing@ibmb8.cs.uiuc.edu (Brandy "Bang" Ewing)
Subject: Those Damned Station ID Things
Summary: I hate them!!!!
Keywords: ARGH
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 21:25:38 GMT

*peeve on*

You know what I HATE?  Those stupid station identification graphics
that they flash on the screen every once in a while.  I have gotten used
to the VH-1 thing they have as well as MTV and USA...theirs are all nicely
put in the corner.

But, our local NBC station has just gone too far.  Now, of course they have
the regular old nbc symbol with the station's call letters.  And, every now
and then they will flash it up there for about 5 or 10 seconds.  I can stand
that.  But, now instead of just having their logo in the center of the bottom
of the screen...our nbc affiliate has decided that's not enough.  Noooo....

Now we have the logo at bottom center....the time at to left...and the temp
at top right.  And of course, these aren't off in the corner like the Tornado
watch symbols..  The are far enough out that they distract from the show.  It
is hard not to notice them.  In my opinion, if I'm watching TV I don't really
care that much about the time (I have a watch) and I sure as hell don't care
about the temperature outside.  Especially in the middle of a show...and I
can read it...they don't have to leave it up for more than 10 seconds.

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

This was especially bad last night.  We were watching the Olympics...and the
people were swimming...  The stupid logo came up...and a swimmer we were
rooting for was up in lane 8...and we couldn't see how they were doing due
to the fact that the time was up there in the corner.  It was very annoying.

*peeve off*

Brandy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Was I like this when I was in college?"
"You were sixteen when you were in college, Sam, you were a MEGANERD!!"

Brandy J. Ewing                     bje27088@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
"Labsitter Extraordinaire"          brandy@ziggy.cs.uiuc.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire, I own  ||   ANYTHING I EVER NEED TO KNOW, I 
    a mansion and a yacht              ||       LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: cs226a030@husky1.stmarys.ca
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
Subject: Re: Drug testing and welfare
Date: 30 Jul 92 21:25:49 GMT
Organization: St. Mary's University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

In article <24285@castle.ed.ac.uk>, fofp@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Holmes) writes:
> 
> 
>>In article <1992Jul27.184207.1@husky1.stmarys.ca> cs226a030@husky1.stmarys.ca writes:
> 
> [....on some forms of adult, consensual sex being illegal in the US..]
> 
>>>Actually, here in Canada, I think both of those are legal. If they aren't,
>>>then "they" DON'T have a right to have those forms of sex. Just because you
>>>*think* that something should be legal, doesn't mean you have a right to do it.
> 
> Now this simply amazes me. How in hell did we ever get into a position
> where we allowed governments to dictate what we can and can't do in our
> own bedrooms?
> 
> Peeve: this applies to Britain too.
> 
> FoFP


Ain't it the truth. This is one of those "legal, but not right" cases I was
thinking of when I made the post about not all laws being good. 

!peeve : Even if it is illegal, who'se going to blow the whistle on you?
Theoretically, anyone who was a witness is as guilty as you ;-)

Mike
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
From: kpollack@zeus.calpoly.edu (Kirk Pollack)
Subject: "Bad Boy Club Stickers"
Summary: what does it mean?
Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 04:10:58 GMT

These little gems feature a caricature of some scowling dickhead that 
some people seem obliged to plaster on the back of their cars.  What does
all this mean?  What am I supposed to think when I see a car, usually
some VW GTI thing or a large 4 X 4 truck displaying one of these.  Does
it mean "Look out for me because I look and act like the guy on the 
decal?" 

I give up.

Perhaps it is some California only thing.
From: booter@Autodesk.COM (Elaine Richards)
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
Subject: Re: peevesome question
Date: 27 Jul 92 19:49:15 GMT
Organization: Autodesk, Inc., Sausalito, CA

In article <1992Jul25.150544.22087@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu> pmmuggli@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (pauline muggli) writes:
>
>i have this question that pops into my mind every time i see an
>add for a lawyer on tv.  
>
>if you were a doctor, would you want to have as a patient a
>person who specializes in medical malpractice?  or a member of
>their immediate family?



Female lawyers are finding it impossible to find an ob/gyn who will
deliver their babies.

No one is puzzled as to why this happens.

Doctors *do* refuse to take in lawyers and lawyers' wives as patients.

I do not blame them one bit.

If a woman smokes, drinks, has a bad genetic history, or just bad luck,
she seems to think that its OK to sue the ob/gyn if the kid is a moron
with fetal alcohol syndrome.  This is especially true with pregnant 
lawyers.

Actually pregnant lawyers are a pain anyway. Lawyers are crabby enough,
but when they get all smug and holy-holy its enough to make a Quaker
violent.

ER
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know when it was that I scratched Fate's car door, but I should have
left a note. --Tim Mefford
From: dab@ism.isc.com (David A. Butterfield)
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
Subject: Re: Drug testing and welfare
Date: 29 Jul 1992 00:36:14 GMT
Organization: x
NNTP-Posting-Host: change

JMS111@psuvm.psu.edu (Jenni Sheehey) writes:
=>When I think the law is wrong, I _break_ it.
=Peeve: People who think that disobedience is better than reform.

Peeve: People who think that obedience is better than doing what's right.

-- 
	  Only resort to the Rules when absolutely necessary.