HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: joe@erix.ericsson.se (Joe Armstrong)
Subject: What should I do with my red/green/blue/white wires?
Nntp-Posting-User: joe
Organization: Ellemtel Telecom Systems Labs, Stockholm, Sweden
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 11:37:37 GMT


I recently purchased a Tandy ET-3000 cordless telephone 
this was supplied with a standard BT jack for use in the UK.

When dissected this has red/green/blue/white wires,
my plug here in Sweden has red/yellow/black/white wires. Various random
permutations of the wires cannot persuade the phone to work. :-(

Could somebody tell me what to do with my wires? (serious responses only!)

Failing that does anybody know what the  red/green/blue/white wires are for?

	Joe

(e-mail reply please I don't often read this group)
From: arpepper@math.uwaterloo.ca (Adrian Pepper)
Subject: Re: British phones in France
Organization: University of Waterloo Math Faculty Computing Facility, Ontario.
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 23:55:26 GMT

In article <1isfqlINNaq8@morrow.stanford.edu> berne@nova3.stanford.edu (Jean-Francois Berne) writes:
>
>Say, has anybody in England thought of inventing the fabulous mixing faucet?
What?  And risk an epidemic of Legionnaires' disease?  This is
something a reasonably well-educated Englishman said was a concern
about the concept.  Whatever the actual reasons, there seems to be some
sort of scientific superstition at work.

>I am tired everytime I travel to UK to find in my bathroom one faucet for cold
>water and one faucet for hot water. Even in good hotels.

Adrian Pepper.
arpepper@math.uwaterloo.ca
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: a-kevinp@microsoft.com (Kevin Purcell)
Subject: Re: British Imperial Weights and Measures
Date: 08 Jan 93 17:59:44 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corp.

In article <1igsm5INNsvt@grapevine.EBay.Sun.COM> smckinty@sunicnc.France.Sun.COM wrote:
> In article <1ig303INN3m6@early-bird.think.com>, sandee@Think.COM (Daan Sandee) writes:
> 
> > In the '70s, when the metrication fever struck in Britain, plywood was sold
> > there in units of 30 cm (exactly), whereas on the Continent, of course,
> > they used (still do, I think) units of 30.48 cm.
> > 
> 
> 
> In one of my local DIY stores (in France) they sell laminated chipboard
> in pieces 50cm x 1.83 metres.  50cm wide, 6 feet long. 
> 
> 
> Then there are car tyres, which in Europe are still sold with the
> width of the tread in mm and the wheel size in inches, e.g. 185 R 14
> (I think Michelin do/did make one variety which is all metric). What does
> the US do?
> 
> Steve

These silly numbers are because they just converted imperial measures to metric measures

For example in architecture people still talk about "three foot doors", they
are 3 foot wide, but they're spected in the catalogs as 282mm (or whatever).

The weirdest mixed measurements I came across were at SERC Daresbury Lab in
Cheshire (I worked at the SRS). They had coaxial cables with BNC plugs on
each end. These came in several lengths and were specified as 
6 foot plus/minus 1 nano second.

I realised then that the SERC had finally lost it.

Kevin Purcell N7WIM/G8UDP (Seattle, WA)          a-kevinp@microsoft.com
"I speak only for myself"
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:18294 soc.culture.french:9459
From: olinga@sol.cs.uni-sb.de (Guy Francois Olinga)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.french
Subject: Re: British phones in France
Followup-To: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.french
Date: 7 Jan 1993 14:20:26 GMT
Organization: Universitaet des Saarlandes,Rechenzentrum
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.cs.uni-sb.de
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

Jeremy Henderson (jeremy@castle.ed.ac.uk) wrote:
: Does anyone know if a British phone will work in France. If not, are
: adaptors available, or will I have to buy a new one?

J' ai le meme probleme avec un telephone allemand. J' aimerais
savoir, si la fiche est la meme. Ou alors il faudra y operer
des modifications pour qu' il fonctionne en France.

----

Guy F. Olinga   Technische Fakultaet
		Fachbereich Informatik
		Universitaet des Saarlandes-RFA

		email: olinga@sol.cs.uni-sb.de
		       olinga@minisun.cs.uni-sb.de
		Tel.: +49 681 398049 (abends)
From: gdb15@grebe.cl.cam.ac.uk (Guy Barry)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Silly Bible semi-pedantry [was: Re: Happy Christmas!]
Date: 8 Jan 93 12:06:02 GMT
Reply-To: gdb15@cl.cam.ac.uk
Organization: U of Cambridge Computer Lab, UK

In article <1993Jan8.114307.19012@dcs.qmw.ac.uk> mmh@dcs.qmw.ac.uk (Matthew Huntbach) writes:

>No, not my first. When things get a bit slack on s.c.b or
>uk.politics, I go off and do a bit of Prod-bashing on
>soc.religion.christian. Great fun - almost as much fun as
>defending the Prods in NI in s.c.celtic.

Well I never...  So you take opposing points of view on different
groups?  Does that mean there's a group somewhere where you spend your
time jeering at the Liberals, or defending the impoverished north
against the affluent south?

--
Guy Barry, University of Cambridge | Phone: +44 (0)223 334757 
Computer Laboratory                | Fax: +44 (0)223 334678
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street  | JANET: Guy.Barry@uk.ac.cam.cl 
Cambridge CB2 3QG, England, UK     | Internet: Guy.Barry@cl.cam.ac.uk
From: ian@sun.com (Ian Griffin)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: American humo(u)r (was Re: Studying Me
Date: 12 Jan 1993 16:41:56 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Distribution: world
Reply-To: ian.griffin@sun.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: marmite.west.sun.com

In article 1iuq7jINNom@nereus.East.Sun.COM, curt@nereus.East.Sun.COM (Curt Harpold-Sun-Vienna VA-Systems Engineer) writes:

> >Do many others reading this in the USA hear gunfire from their homes?
> 
> I do, several times a week.  But then again, I live on Capitol Hill in 
> Washington, D.C., currently known as "Murder Capitol of the U.S.".
> 

'Scuse me, but the dubious distinction of "Murder Capitol USA" 
has recently been claimed by the small town of East Palo Alto, Ca.
This in fact has the highest per capita rates for 1992.  

What's uncanny about statistics like this is that an area like East Palo Alto
is literally less than a five minute drive across Hwy 101 from Palo Alto,
home of Stanford University, half-million dollar houses, expensive 
shopping malls etc.  The ability to distinguish a "good" from a "bad"
area is something that most visitors to the USA must learn quickly.
There are frequent stories in the newsmedia about out of towners
getting caught on the wrong side of the tracks and coming to grief.  
In San Francisco every summer tourists decide to walk from downtown to
Golden Gate Park and wander into a housing project.  

The novel "Bonfire of the Vanities" has a central theme of the 
bond trader Shermon McCoy getting into trouble when he takes a wrong turn
off the freeway.

Is scenario unique to the USA?

Ian.
---
From: sue@netcom.com (Sue Miller)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: American humo(u)r (was Re: Studying Meteorology in the UK)
Date: 8 Jan 93 23:41:30 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)

In article <1993Jan8.193559.19125@infodev.cam.ac.uk> gdb15@cl.cam.ac.uk writes:
>In article <1993Jan8.185131.14712@netcom.com> sue@netcom.com (Sue Miller) writes:
>>In article <1993Jan7.202113.2123@ttinews.tti.com> jackson@soldev.tti.com (Dick Jackson) writes:
>>>
>>>Daan, that was a joke! Not only a very puny joke, but a very old one, I'm
>>>surprised you didn't recognise it (but then again the concept of a joke
>>>is still catching hold in the US, isn't it?).
>>>
>>>I have heard that particular joke used in a Mash episode, but again it was
>>>plagiarism.  I would hazard that the original should be credited to either
>>>Groucho Marx or Jimmy Durante (both excellent joke makers but who did have
>>>off days).
>
>>Funny you should mention Americans being humor-impaired in the
>>same context as 1) an American joke  2) an American 'comedy-drama'
>>3) two American comedians.  
>>
>>I love this group.
>
>Purely deliberate, I'd have thought -- the implication being "If
>Americans can't recognize old American jokes, how can they have a
>sense of humour?"
>

I'm sure it was.  I'm complaining that it was weak - please try again.  
If Americans don't have a sense of humor, then there can be no old American 
jokes for them to recognize.

I want you to realize that I am not holding up the American sense of humor
as a thing of wonder and delight.  I just don't like badly-crafted
slurs.  :-)

P.S. I have something of a suspicion that Dick Jackson has been in the
US longer than I've been alive.  I wonder if this is true?  
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: wolfi@opal.cs.tu-berlin.de (Wolfgang Schwanke)
Subject: Re: Eastern hemisphere electrical power
Organization: Techn. University of Berlin, Germany
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 22:32:41 GMT

ewadams@netcom.com (Ernest Adams) writes:

>Somebody wrote:
>
>>Underpowered and over here.
>
>Generally I'm not in favor of trying to make the Old World more like the
>New, but in this case I'll make an exception. Non-lethal line voltage
>just makes better sense than 220 volts. It's like putting that smelly
>stuff in natural gas: you don't *have* to do it, but it gives the
>innocent victim of a breakdown better odds of surviving.
>
>(It also means our power cords can be discreet little things, not enormous
>cobra-hooded snakes that make a little radio look like an arc welder...
>but that's an aesthetic consideration.)

The contrary is true. When you have a given amount of energy to transport,
the product of voltage times amperage is constant. If your voltage is high,
your amperage can be low and thus the wire thinner.

I remember a calculation at school: a long distance line using 220 Volts
instead of a couple of 100.000 would have to be over 3 meters in diameter and
use up all the copper reserves in the world.

Now what has this to do with s.c.b.? :)

Wolfgang


--
* Wolfgang Schwanke * Technische Universitaet Berlin * Germany * wolfi on irc *
* email: wolfi@cs.tu-berlin.de       *      wolfaefg@w250zrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de *

   Everybody needs a little love sometime; stop hacking and fall in love!
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: ewadams@netcom.com (Ernest Adams)
Subject: Eastern hemisphere electrical power
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 07:13:08 GMT

Somebody wrote:

>Underpowered and over here.

Generally I'm not in favor of trying to make the Old World more like the
New, but in this case I'll make an exception. Non-lethal line voltage
just makes better sense than 220 volts. It's like putting that smelly
stuff in natural gas: you don't *have* to do it, but it gives the
innocent victim of a breakdown better odds of surviving.

(It also means our power cords can be discreet little things, not enormous
cobra-hooded snakes that make a little radio look like an arc welder...
but that's an aesthetic consideration.)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Need Info: Cambridge Comp. Sci. program
From: nhansen@vax1.mankato.msus.edu
Date: 7 Jan 93 09:47:06 -0600
Organization: Mankato State University

Attention: Anyone with information at Cambridge.

	I would like information about your computer science department.
Could you tell me who is in charge, what classes are offered, what they
have for a summer program in Computer Science or other disciplines?

	You can contact me directly at:

	Nancy Hansen
	Mankato State University
	Box 225
	Mankato, MN 56001

	or through internet:

	NHANSEN@VAX1.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU


Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:18435 soc.culture.jewish:24875
Organization: Queen's University at Kingston
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 18:05:24 EST
From: Andy <2893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: Channel Islands/Nazis
 <1993Jan8.181648.11177@vax.oxford.ac.uk> <C0LC3J.HyC@newcastle.ac.uk>
 <C0LuMx.I0J@dscomsa.desy.de> <93009.1730022893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA>

In article <93009.1730022893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA>, Andy
<2893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA> says:
>
>In article <C0LuMx.I0J@dscomsa.desy.de>, hallam@zeus02.desy.de (Phill
>Hallam-Baker) says:
>>
>>In article <C0LC3J.HyC@newcastle.ac.uk>, w.p.coyne@newcastle.ac.uk writes:
>>
>>|>wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:
>>|>
>>|>>In article <1993Jan8.001325.23995@nuscc.nus.sg>, hiscrp@nuscc.nus.sg (C R
>>|>Pennell) writes:
>>|>>>
>>|>>> The BBC world Service had an item on the news yesterday (Thurs) about
>>|>>> newspaper reports on material which had just come out on the cooperation
>>|>>> between the local elite in Jersey and Guernsey in the Nazi roundup of
>>JEws
>>|>>> when the Channel Islands were occupied during WWII. Unfortunately, I
>only
>>|>>> picked up the last 2/3 of the report, and I didn't catch the name of the
>>|>>> newspaper which printed the story. Please would someone post more
>>details.
>>|>>The Guardian certainly did. You'll probably also find that most of the
>rest
>>|>of
>>|>>the papers did, with appropriate headlines. `War Criminals in the Channel
>>|>>Islands' (Daily Telegraph). `My wartime nightmare: how collaborators
>killed
>>|>my
>>|>>mother' (Daily Mail). `A Jew in Jersey: Distraught Islander tells all'
>>|>>(Today). `Jerry Jersey Jew shock' (Mirror). `Huns Hunted' (Sun).
>>|>
>>|>   Why is this story only released now.  I realise the documents were
>>|>secret but there was no law preventing the papers in the last few
>>|>decades from interviewing survivers and asking them about colaboration.
>>
>>Oh come on now! The memory of Winston Churchill is attacked on the grounds
>>that
>>he should have given in. This is the moment that the govt choses to release
>>these records. Come on man where on earth are your cynicism glands!
>>
>>The other side of the story is the manner in which the NAZIs intimidated the
>>officials. If you were faced with a list of thirty names and asked to chose
>>which twenty were to be shot if you refused to do everything you were told
>>without question you might find that your actions would have been very
>>similar.

>>Phill Hallam-Baker
>
>My reading was that there was one official who refused to comply. I think
>your being a bit too soft on these folks, why couldn't they have just said
>"There are no Jews in Guernsey" ?
>--Andy
>
>>
>>--
>>
>>Phill Hallam-Baker
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: jwk@sequent.com (John "F. Leghorn" Kramer)
Subject: Re: Truly English?
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 12:42:10 GMT

>When I were a lad, I was taught that there were three circumstances when it
>was formally proper to call oneself "we".  The monarch, a newspaper editor,
>and... I forget.  Anyone know the third?
>

How about lunatic British Prime Ministers with Napoleonic tendencies?
From: aledm@grant.ncd.com (Aled Morris)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: British Imperial Weights and Measures
Date: 4 Jan 93 16:58:14 GMT
Organization: Network Computing Devices, Mt. View, CA, USA

In article <1993Jan3.112639.9382@pierrot.comlab.ox.ac.uk>, 
>I bought some marine ply last week; it came from a piece whose standard width /
>was quoted in milimetres, and whose cut length was measured in inches.  I    /
>used to think that this sort of thing was just an urban legend.             / g

Yes, and tyres are measured strangely on both sides of the atlantic.  I just
bought a new 205/55R15.  Thats 205mm width, 55mm profile to fit a 15inch wheel.
Ho hum.

Aled
From: jmunro@wyse.wyse.com (Jim Munro x2497)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Martini
Date: 12 Jan 93 20:45:53 GMT
Organization: Wyse Technologies San Jose, Ca

In article <1993Jan12.020120.10139@ttinews.tti.com> jackson@soldev.tti.com (Dick Jackson) writes:
>
>Sorry to say the little trick mentioned above re. the tablesppon of scotch
>left me confused. Is the idea to add the scotch to the 3 to 1 mixture?
>Or is something else implied?
>

Surely, adding a tablespoon of Scotch will improve anything... there's no trick.


Jim Munro
From: mckeonj@ul.ie
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: British Imperial Weights and Measures
Date: 5 Jan 93 10:16:17 GMT
Organization: University of Limerick, Ireland

In article <Bzq4uz.51E@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk>, dam@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (David Morning) writes:
> Priced per litre, sold by the gallon. Petrol consumption is given as miles
> per gallon.
> 
> Confusing huh?
Not really, especially when you can buy by value, i.e. :
"Give us ten quid's worth of the best, guv."
This allows me to add other costs, tax, insurance, maintenance,
and come up with a meaningful 'miles per pound' or the more
depressing 'pounds per mile'.
Which reminds me of my physics lecturer, G. Spencer Harry, and
his 'pounds per cubic fortnight' jibe at the British Imperial
system.
-- 
"Ich am of Irlonde" (medieval fragment used by Yeats)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
John McKeon, Material Science Dept. University of Limerick, Ireland
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: hiscrp@nuscc.nus.sg (C R Pennell)
Subject: Re: American humo(u)r (was Re: Studying Me
Organization: National University of Singapore
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 22:31:18 GMT

ian@sun.com (Ian Griffin) writes:
: The ability to distinguish a "good" from a "bad"
: area is something that most visitors to the USA must learn quickly.
: There are frequent stories in the newsmedia about out of towners
: getting caught on the wrong side of the tracks and coming to grief.  
: In San Francisco every summer tourists decide to walk from downtown to
: Golden Gate Park and wander into a housing project.  
: 
: The novel "Bonfire of the Vanities" has a central theme of the 
: bond trader Shermon McCoy getting into trouble when he takes a wrong turn
: off the freeway.
: 
: Is scenario unique to the USA?

No, in 1973 or therabouts, visiting Belfast for the first time,
accompanied by a N.I. friend we took a wrong turning and found we were
walking straigt across the Peace Line, and we felt we couldn't turn back
too easily, so we carried on. Ended up in or near Sandy Row, as far as I
remember, picking up some pretty weird looks from the soldiers.	

And then there was the fly-over at the top of Place des Cannons/place
des Martyrs in Beirut. just next to the green line. Occasionally people
got fed up with the traffic crawl, and decided to risk it, and
occasionally they got home early. Mind you Beirut was full of bad areas.

So, Beirut and Belfast. The USA is not alone!

Richard
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: sue@netcom.com (Sue Miller)
Subject: Re: Happy Christmas!
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 18:33:10 GMT

wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:
> [ a lot of stuff deleted ]
>quotation, even in a foreign language. Of course anyone with a bible handy will
>be able to tell me that this sentence has no connection with anything in the OT
>and I will have egg on my face.

They say raw egg is good for the complexion.  I myself prefer to eat
eggs, particularly nice free range eggs.  Fried (over hard) or scrambled.
All we ever seem to get over here are pale imitation eggs from battery
hens.


Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: evansg@uproar.enet.dec.com (Gwyn Evans)
Subject: VNS: Tue  5-Jan-1993
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 10:23:01 GMT


<><><><><><><><>  T h e   V O G O N   N e w s   S e r v i c e  <><><><><><><><>

 Edition : 2739              Tuesday  5-Jan-1993            Circulation :  7329

        VNS MAIN NEWS .....................................   50 Lines

VNS MAIN NEWS:                                    [Tom Povey, VNS UK News Desk]
==============                                    [Reading, England           ]

    Here is the News at 07:00 GMT on Tuesday 5-January-1993
    -------------------------------------------------------

    UK News
    -------
    FT-SE = 2861.5
    Exchange Rate for UK pound = $ 1.5010  = Dm 2.4583

    The Transport Minister has insisted that the governments plans to
    privatise British Rail are continuing despite the announcement at the
    weekend that certain mainline services will continue to receive
    subsidies.

    The NUM leader, Arthur Scargill, has called for a one day general strike
    to focus public attention on the pit closure programme. Trade Union
    leaders will meet today to discuss the call for an action which is now
    illegal.

    A BMA survey says that many family doctors and other health workers are
    unaware of the new legislation that comes into force on 1st April and
    that affects social service health care.

    European News
    -------------

    Serb leaders in Bosnia are to meet today to decide whether they are
    prepared to make concessions resulting from the peace conference in
    Geneva. The conference has now adjurned until Sunday.

    World News
    ----------

    The UN Secretary General has convened a meeting of the war lords in
    Somalia in an attempt to re-form some kind of government.


    {News courtesy of the BBC}


    Local Weather
    -------------

    A wet start but drying up later. Staying cloudy but warmer. High 6C/43F.

    Local News
    ----------

    Reading Football Club drew their FA Cup 3rd round tie at Manchester City
    on Saturday. The replay is next week in Reading. The winners could play
    Swinden Town in the 4th round.


<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><>   VNS Edition : 2739     Tuesday  5-Jan-1993   <><><><><><><><>
+======================================================================+
| Gwyn Evans  | evansg@uproar.enet.dec.com |  Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK  |
| DESISCo - Digital Equipment Service Industries Solutions Company Ltd |
|  Views expressed and statements made are mine and not those of DEC   |
+======================================================================+
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: david@postman.gr.osf.org (David George)
Subject: Bank of England
Keywords: Francfort/Franc fort
Organization: OSF RI Grenoble
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 10:30:44 GMT

According  to the French economic press the "Franc fort" policy is about
to come to an end in France with the Franc being dumped out of the EMS
much like the pound in the autumn.  France has used all it's currency
reserves and is borrowing from the Bundesbank.

As this seems to indicate a near win situation for the speculators again.
Would be unethical for the Bank of England to recover some of the 950m.
lost in the autumn by betting against a fall in the Franc.  With the 30 Billion
in its coffers it could surely trigger this fall all on its own and make a
killing ?

What do you think, the French and Germans did nothing to help the pound so why
not take advantage of the situation now ?

David.
From: Adrian.Waterworth@newcastle.ac.uk (Adrian Waterworth)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Truly English?
Date: 8 Jan 93 08:31:53 GMT
Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU

mingos@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:

>Coundn't find a more appropriate newsgroup to discuss this in, so I'm sorry if
>this is a bit off the beat.

> A few years ago, Margaret Thatcher became a grandmother.  She came out of her
>house and proudly announced 

> 		"We are a grandmother"

> Now, this was clearly the intended message (ie was not a slip of the tongue), 
>and was clearly done for effect, as was usual with her.  What I'd like to know
>is, could this in any way be regarded a correct use of the english language? 
>What was the implied meaning - that the child, as her grandchild, was part of 
>our common heritage?  It just seemed really pompous, and has bugged me ever
>since.

	Such turns of phrase have always tended to be associated with
and used by the monarchy (particularly the reigning monarch). Hence it
is often described as "the Royal 'We'".

	Pompous? Absolutely. However, from a personal point of view, I
always thought that it was just a pure and simple case of dear old
Battie Maggie entertaining power-crazed delusions of grandeur.

	You never know, if she had been left in power, she might have
been coming out with "And Margaret moved upon the face of the waters"
by now.
				Ade.

		\----------------------------------------/
		 |  Adrian.Waterworth@newcastle.ac.uk	|
		/ ---------------------------------------\