HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: allens@yang.earlham.edu (Allen Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Reamur (was: "Normal" body temperature)
Date: 6 Oct 92 18:16:29 GMT
Organization: Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana

In article <1992Oct6.144055.2036@odin.diku.dk>, klaus@diku.dk (Klaus Ole Kristiansen) writes:
> styri@hal.nta.no (YuNoHoo) writes:
> 
>>I guess this is the right place in this thread to insert the view that
>>Fahrenheit is more accurate that Celcius.  :-)
> 
> When I was a child (1960's and 70's), most weather thermometers would
> be marked in both Celcius and Reamur. Was Reamur ever used? When and
> where? I have heard that it is still used for meassuring the temperature
> of wine.
> 
> The conversion for R is much easier than for F, BTW. C = 1.25R

	If one is going to insert discussion about unusual temperature 
scales, how about Rankene? It's the Farenheight version of the (Celcius) 
Kelvin scale. In other words, it's Farenheight with 0 degrees being 
absolute zero.
	-Allen
From: jlpicard@austin.ibm.com (Craig Becker)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: Phony SCIFI on TV and in Movies
Date: 2 Oct 92 17:33:48 GMT
Reply-To: craigb@ot.austin.ibm.com
Organization: IBM Object Technology Products
Originator: jlpicard@woofer.austin.ibm.com


carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick) writes:
> In article <24SEP199212172687@jane.uh.edu>, st17y@jane.uh.edu (Belding, Troy C.) writes:
> >>WRONG! To get an illusion of a large space, yes, but there are physical
> >>objects created there - bullets, klingons, people etc.
> >
> >WRONG!  An interactive electromagnetic force field, with projected wave 
> >modulations in the field to produce sound would seem to be a person, and a 
> >force field could be a bullet or a sword as easily as a rock or tree.
> 
> Er, just what's the difference between a "force field" with high enough
> resolusion (i.e., short enough wavelength) to simulate matter, and matter
> itself?

Dunno, but this sounds a little bit like what Greg Bear called
"false matter" ("fake matter"?) in his novel _An Anvil Of Stars_.
It was a special kind of 'generated' matter that had form and
such, but I think was massless and inertialess. Been awhile since
I read the book, so I've probably got some of the details wrong.
Would be neato stuff if we could make it, tho.

Craig
-- 
-- "You can expect virtually      Craig Becker, Object Technology Products --
--  anything from a people who had      Internet: craigb@ot.austin.ibm.com --
--  nuclear weapons in the early      IBM TR: craigb@woofer.austin.ibm.com --
--  seventeenth century."                           VNET: CRAIGB at AUSVM1 --
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: grante@aquarius.rosemount.com (Grant Edwards)
Subject: Re: oversampling (was Re: using green marker on CDs)
Reply-To: grante@aquarius.rosemount.com (Grant Edwards)
Organization: Rosemount, Inc.
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 21:31:43 GMT

mmaster@parnasus.dell.com (Michael Masterson) writes:
: 
: Oversampling raises the base frequency of the sampling to a much
: higher level than it was before, so that more gradual filters can be
: used to ensure that no out of band digital noise gets mixed in with
: the analog signal.  if you only sample once, then you have to use very
: steep filters, and they're rougher on the end signal than the more
: gently sloped filters that are possible with oversampling.
: 

Do you interpolate between the two samples read off the disk in order
to generate the 7 "extra" samples that you are creating to allow you
to use fewer poles in your output filters?  It wouldn't do any good to
read a sample, write that to the D/A 8 times, then read the next
sample and repeat, since the spectrum of the output signal will the
same, right?

Am I way off the mark here because I'm thinking in traditional 16 bit
D/A converter terms and were actually using single bit delta-sigma
type stuff?

I've been asking people about this for some time and have yet to get a
good description of what oversampling is.

--
Grant Edwards                                 |Yow!  Okay..  I'm going home
Rosemount Inc.                                |to write the ``I HATE RUBIK's
                                              |CUBE HANDBOOK FOR DEAD CAT
grante@aquarius.rosemount.com                 |LOVERS''..
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: rspeirs@javelin.sim.es.com (Ron Speirs)
Subject: Re: jokes?
Keywords: jokes, math, science
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 17:39:36 GMT

In article <BvCKt2.75G@news.cso.uiuc.edu> jhl28500@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jae Hyung Lim) writes:
>
>I'm looking for math and science jokes people might have on hand.  It's both
>for my own enjoyment and for the purpose of annoying friends =).
>So if you've got 'em either mail them to me or post them here (I'd prefer email
>rather than post though.)
>Oh yes if you have puns which are science/math related or if the jokes are 
>heavily dependent on puns they would be more than welcome.  Just send them to
>me, I'll make a good home for them.

Draw this on a piece of paper, then ask what it is:

                                 Fe++
                                  ||
                                  ||
                                  C
                                 / \
                                /   \
                      Fe++=====C     C====Fe++
                               |     |
                               |     |
                      Fe++=====C     C====Fe++
                                \   /
                                 \ /
                                  C
                                  ||
                                  ||
                                 Fe++




The answer:






A Ferrous Wheel


Ron Speirs, Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah

----------==========Political Science is an Oxymoron==========----------
From: scjones@thor.sdrc.com (Larry Jones)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: oversampling (was Re: using green marker on CDs)
Date: 3 Oct 92 19:22:51 GMT

In article <1992Oct1.090308.738@news.columbia.edu>, lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
> In the world of NRZ data such as RS-232 communications as we all use, the
> bits occur at a nominal rate (2400, etc.) but are actually oversampled, 
> typically 16x that rate.

Isn't that actually supersampling rather than oversampling?  Or are
these not well-defined technical terms as I've been led to believe
but just common english descriptions?
----
Larry Jones, SDRC, 2000 Eastman Dr., Milford, OH  45150-2789  513-576-2070
Domain: lawrence.jones@sdrc.com               IBMMAIL: USSDR7DR at IBMMAIL
You know how Einstein got bad grades as a kid?  Well MINE are even WORSE!
-- Calvin
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: vnelson@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Gerald Vernon Nelson)
Subject: Re: using green marker on CDs
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Distribution: y
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 01:52:22 GMT

(Aris Stathakis) writes:

>More than likely the fiber was transporting the digital signals from
>the CD Transport to the DAC (digital-audio-converter).  They say that
>this electrical isolation helps, but I think it's a load of bollocks.
Its a load of bollocks.  Transmitting digitally, through coax,
and into opto-isolators would give you the electrical isolation,
at a cost of about $1.


>Of course, if I could afford such a system i'd buy one anyhow :-)
I wouldn't.  I could buy a new ___________ with the money spent to get
that last .001% of "perfect" sound.  

Vern Nelson
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: ketil@svale.ii.uib.no (Ketil M. Malde)
Subject: Re: o.k. scifi
Reply-To: ketil@ii.uib.no
Organization: student of computer science at the University of Bergen, Norway
	<mtpins.717481310@icaen.uiowa.edu>
	<1992Sep26.120059.14249@news.iastate.edu>
Date: 27 Sep 92 22:23:03

In article <1992Sep26.120059.14249@news.iastate.edu> glitto@iastate.edu (Scott M Klabacha) writes:

   >Are you saying a person is unable to stay under water for more than 
   >30 seconds without coming up for breath?

   No.

   >I used to frequently stay under for up to 2 minutes while swimming.

   I've done the same. In pools; in water that was more than twice the
   temperature of the water involved in the movie and book.

Eh, *twice the temperature* you say?  Exactly what do you mean?? For
one thing, 2*0-3 (deg C) isn't that much of a difference, or were you
thinking in (the more correct?) Kelvins? 

   >While very cold water will shorten this time, 30 seconds is simply not a 
   >problem for someone in decent shape.

   Are you speaking from experience here? Did you ever swim in water that was
   within a degree or two of freezing? Underwater?

Are you saying that you use more oxygen when the water is cold?  Or
that the person involved would freeze to death?

   32 degrees (I wish I had _Sphere_ with me...I have this nagging
   doubt in my mind that the water was even that warm; I'm thinking it
   might have been even colder [and still not frozen] due to the
   pressure). The character in _Sphere_ entered the water to rescue
   another character; the effort nearly proved to be fatal. The
   character in 'The Abyss' made a much more extended trip (more than
   a minute long)...and left the water with no ill effects. It ain't
   right.

The water holds 4 deg C at the *bottom* of the ocean.  At least, it
has its highest density at that temperature.  I suppose volcanoes and
the like could change the temperature somewhat.  Locally.

I would think water would ger *warmer* not colder, due to increased
pressure.  This is just a feeling I have, may be wrong.

I'm not sure a one-minute trip under water is impossible, but it will
depend on the person doing it, and his equipment, of course (Haven't
seen the movie, but I assume wetsuits or similar is out of the
question?)


--
 = Ketil Malde                     In real life:  ketil@ii.uib.no =
 = Nuke the whales!                    Honk if you love unicorns! =
From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: Mailing Magnets
Date: 26 Sep 1992 20:11:48 GMT
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Reply-To: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol1.gps.caltech.edu

In article <1992Sep26.040100.1143@news.iastate.edu>, glitto@iastate.edu (Scott M Klabacha) writes:
>Last week:  spinning grapes; this week:  mailing magnets. 
>
>At least one of those mail order scientific gadget places (like Edmund) sells
>powerful magnets (I'll say 30+ lb. pull to be quite conservative) which you 
>can have sent to you via UPS. They aren't electromagnets (or at least the 
>catalog doesn't say they are), so they're always "on." Is there any special 
>sort of packaging involved here? I mean, just about every time I order 
>computer stuff, it's sent UPS. I would imagine that UPS trucks and warehouses 
>see their fair share of material which would get irrevocably confused by 
>being stored near such a magnet...how are the magnets sent so as to avoid this
>sort of thing? (While I've never been inside a UPS truck, I'm guessing that
>most of the surfaces inside are metal...if those magnets are on, it's got to
>be really fun to separate them from the truck. :-) ) And all the UPS guys I've
>seen lately use electronic pads for signing; a magnet would make their day
>fairly unpleasant.

Well, in the first place, it's normal procedure when storing such magnets to
place a piece of soft iron between the poles.  This results in most of the
magnetic field being within the iron, which, as a useful side effect in this
case, also reduces the likelihood of the magnet interfering with any other
equipment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: saskxm@grovel.unx.sas.com (Kevin Mosman)
Subject: Re: Phony SCIFI on TV and in Movies
Originator: saskxm@grovel.unx.sas.com
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 21:53:53 GMT
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.


In article <1992Sep22.202242.24427@news.columbia.edu>, egl1@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Elizabeth G. Levy) writes:
|> In article <1992Sep22.131131.22390@klaava.Helsinki.FI> cust_ts@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Tero Sand) writes:
|> >
|> >Speaking of holodecks: do you know how much !@#$% energy it takes to
|> >create matter?!!
|>
|> The ST:TNG tech manual or whatever they call the book duck this by
|> saying that the ship carries quantities of generic matter that the
|> replicator draws on.
|>

yeah, and the generic matter is comprised mostly of ... uh ...

ya know, ya never see Wesley or Tasha or the original ship's Dr anymore, ...

 :-)

|>
|> --
|> "I was trying to figure out which of my friends were hedgehogs, and which
|> were foxes...."
|> "Shakespeare wrote _King Lear_, NOT _King Leo_...."



Kevin L Mosman
Austin, Texas
saskxm@unx.sas.com

-- 
Kevin L
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Date: Mon,  5 Oct 1992 14:33:02 -0400 
From: "Andrew C. Plotkin" <ap1i+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: o.k. scifi
	<1ao8ujINN29t@gap.caltech.edu>

On the underwater-swim scene in _Abyss_...

Yes, fine, they can hold their breaths for that long. (I can manage to
hold my breath for 120 seconds if I hyperventilate first.)

The original point was: this is sea-bottom water. That's 4 degrees
Centigrade. (39 Fahrenheit.) How long can you swim, fully immersed in
water at that temperature, wearing only normal clothing? A few minutes
at best, I'd say; anybody know?

--Z


"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: mab@wdl39.wdl.loral.com (Mark A Biggar)
Subject: Re: Diamonds in my floor wax
Organization: Loral Western Development Labs
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 21:15:32 GMT

In article <BvoBEJ.xK@chinet.chi.il.us> koziarz@chinet.chi.il.us (Louis Koziarz) writes:
>Isn't there a liquid that has the same diffractive index as Diamond?
>I know there's one for glass.  Just drop it in, and if it seems to 'disappear',
>you have that material...

Most clear white glass dissapears in pure water.  Diamond does not.  This is
a standrd test for 'brillant' cut diamonds (circular, flat top, pointed bottom)
because it is very easy to glue a glass bottom half to a diamond top half.
That way it passes the 'scratch test', but fails the drop it in water test.
I believe that certain formulas of mineral oil have the same refractive index
as dimond.

--
Mark Biggar
mab@wdl1.wdl.loral.com
From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: Speed of gravity
Date: 2 Oct 1992 19:37:33 GMT
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Reply-To: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol1.gps.caltech.edu

In article <1992Sep30.171546.9136@news.columbia.edu>, slb22@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Seth L. Blumberg) writes:
>But wait a minute...the mass of a black hole is concentrated at the
>singularity, which is necessarily inside the event horizon.  If gravitational
>field propagation takes place at the speed of light, wouldn't that mean we'd
>never "see" the gravitational pull of the black hole?

No, but it does mean that we can't detect changes within the black hole via
gravity waves.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.
From: musjjh@lure.latrobe.edu.au
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: noise cancellation (was Re: using green marker on CDs)SCDOWN
Date: 6 Oct 92 12:22:01 GMT
Organization: VAX Cluster, Computer Centre, La Trobe University

In article <BvG0D1.66J@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk>, dam@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (David Morning) writes:
> 
>>In article <1992Sep25.064612.27012@eng.ufl.edu> george@beta.ee.ufl.edu (George L) writes:
>>>
> There was a sytem used in some cars wich used a microphone to pick up the
> noise, phase reverse it and put it out again thus reducing noise by phase
> cancelling.
> 
> Haven't heard much of it recently though so I'd guess it didn't work too
> well.
> 
> Dave


Several companies in the US and Australia are developing systems like this to
deal with noise in cars and industrial noise on factory floors. They mostly
work quite well, but I understand that the reason why you haven't heard
much of them is that they are all quite expensive as no one has set up for
real mass production yet.

Jason Hellwege					La Trobe Uni, Melbourne, Oz.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,alt.folklore.urban
From: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Subject: Metrication (was Re: "Normal" body temperature)
Reply-To: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Organization: U of Cambridge, England
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 11:49:06 GMT


In article <BZS.92Oct4022156@ussr.std.com>, bzs@ussr.std.com (Barry
Shein) writes:
|> The legend I heard was that he used the hottest day somewhere in Italy
|> for 100 and the coldest day somewhere in Germany for 0.

Seems a trifle difficult: if he was working with the sorts of
primitive equipment one imagines, would he _really_ have assumed its
stability over a 1000km-journey over bad roads by coach?

|> At any rate, if any of these legends are true it does show the
|> inherent superiority of Fahrenheit over Celsius for common use since
|> the former is a scale of human experience (whether body temperature
|> and cold water or days in summer and winter) which is what most people
|> want to gauge when they ask the temperature. I have nothing against
|> scientists and engineers using C, of course, or Kelvin for that
|> matter, but for common usage F seems more sensible.

For common use, you need what you're used to.  For example, I still
talk in inches though my children talk in metric, because of the
principle system in use when we were at our respective schools.  I
`understand' (in the sense of being able to visualise) both imperial
and cgs, mks and SI metric, since that's what I was actually taught
(or have had need to use).  They understand only metric.

|> Even if the legends aren't true the above is true, since the scale of
|> 0..100 fits the various legends so well.
|> 
|> I suppose next they'll be giving us metric time, 10 hours/day, 100
|> min/hr, 10 months/year and all that.

Nah - as I've mentioned before on this group, this was tried in
revolutionary France, and failed dismally (except in its production of
beautiful clocks to fill places like the Fitzwilliam Museam here).
--
Robin (dump Brian Kay) Fairbairns                    rf@cl.cam.ac.uk
U of Cambridge Computer Lab, Pembroke St, Cambridge  CB2 3QG, UK
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: st17y@elroy.uh.edu (Belding, Troy C.)
Subject: Re: ENOUGH ALREADY (was Re: Phony SCIFI on TV and in Movies)
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: University of Houston
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 02:22:00 GMT

In article <29SEP199208325924@rover.uchicago.edu>, frank@rover.uchicago.edu writes...
>In article <1992Sep28.143334.5237@infodev.cam.ac.uk>, rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns) writes...
>>... but it's now degenerated to a slanging match
>>between people who know about star trek (which I've never seen, so
>>that I'm of course biased). ... Can't the
>>authors of this stuff transmigrate their souls, or something?
> 
>	As the one who started this whole thread, I must agree, it's about
>	time we gave it up!

Well, since I started it by asking about Explosions in outer space, 
I really would have to agree that it has gone extremely far away 
from my original question, which went something like the following.

	I keep having people tell me that explosions in space are 
completely inaccurate, as there is no air in space.  Wouldn't 
a spacecraft make its own atmosphere, conducting a shockwave to 
another ship's hull, using the hull as a sounding board?



> 
>   Frank R. Borger - Physicist    __       Internet:  Frank@rover.uchicago.edu
>Michael Reese - Univ. of Chicago |___      Phone : 312-791-8075 fax : 567-7455
>  Center for Radiation Therapy   | |_) _   No man is good enough to govern 
>                                   | \|_)  another man without that other's
>    "Birthplace of Softball"          |_)  consent. - Abraham Lincoln
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'll get a life when it is proven          Troy C. Belding
and substantiated to be better             ST17Y@JETSON.UH.EDU
than what I am currently                   HSSM@MENUDO.UH.EDU
experiencing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: johnr@ee.uts.edu.au (John Reekie)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: oversampling (was Re: using green marker on CDs)
Date: 1 Oct 92 18:02:56 GMT
Organization: University of Technology, Sydney
NNTP-Posting-Host: schutz.ee.uts.edu.au

hedley@metro (Mark Hedley) writes:

Somebody wrote:

>>>|> I've been asking people about this for some time and have yet to get a
>>>|> good description of what oversampling is.
>>> 
>I believe that it is a little more complicated than this, I will try to
>show why.


[Nice explanation deleted}

>             |                      |*        ****        **
>             |   *                  |**      *******     ***
> *       *   *       *              |****  *********** *****
>--***-***-***+***-***-***-- t       +-----|-----|-----|-----|- omega
>             |           *          0     PI    PI          PI
>     *       |                            --    --
>             |                             4     2

>So aliasing of the signal from 20-60kHz etc still occurs, and using this signal
>straight from the DAC is no improvement from having no oversampling.

>What can be done is to use digital filtering to remove the aliasing from
>PI/4 to PI, then pass this filtered signal to the DAC, then the analogue
>filtering is simplified. Using some interpolation scheme between the
>samples is equivalent to digital filtering. The advantage of moving some
>of the filtering into the digital domain is that it is easier to do there.

I'd just like to add that (in the chips I've seen, at least), the
interpolator _is_ a filter.
A typical setup is three FIR (linear-phase) filters,
each performing a 2x interpolation. The filters are 153, 29, and 17
taps in length (the higher the sample rate gets, the easier life is
on the filter, hence the less taps required.)  The linear phase
of the filters is another reason why filtering out the unwanted
components in Mark's picture (rhs) above digitally is better than
leaving it to the analog filters.

BTW, inserting 7 zeroes (or whatever) and then filtering _digitally_
will give the same result as the setup I described
above. But it's much more efficient (*) to i) just generate the
samples at the interpolated points, and ii) do it in three
smaller stages.

Hope this helps

John Reekie

(*) ie takes fewer filter taps.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science