HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: frank@fnbc.com (Frank Mitchell)
Subject: Re: Gibson's work--possibly titled AGRIPPA
Organization: First National Bank Of Chicago, Chicago IL, USA
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 18:31:18 GMT

In article <C0qx5B.33H@unx.sas.com> sasafw@dobo.unx.sas.com (Fred Welden)  
writes:
> 
> ...[Re:] the concept of a read-one-time work.  It seems to me
> that the same general idea, combined with some of the hypertext tricks
> that Tom Maddox described, could produce a work that changed each time
> you read it--it could be re-read, but never the same text twice.  Now
> THAT, I think, has some interesting possibilities.
> 
> For example, if you went back and re-read the same sex scene too often,
> the characters could start getting the feeling they were being watched,
> and become more inhibited.  Eventually, they might decide just to go out
> to dinner instead.

ooooooooooo EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE eeeeeeeeeeee ooooooooooo ...

Except that the author would either have to think out all the possibilities in  
advance and write them in, or have one HELL of an AI program.  (Well, not  
exactly HAL, but a pretty sophisticated Natural Language Generator and a model  
of the fictional world for it to work from.)

--
Frank Mitchell,	Business Systems Analyst, First National Bank of Chicago
email:frank@fnbc.com (NeXTmail)

"'I am that merry wanderer of the night'?  I am that giggling, dangerous,  
totally bloody psychotic menace to life and limb, more like it."
-- Peaseblossom, _Sandman_ #19
From: neile@stein.u.washington.edu (Neile Graham)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: NEA
Date: 8 Jan 1993 03:08:12 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: stein.u.washington.edu

In article <1if2r7INNp2n@gap.caltech.edu> ojvind@chagall.cns.caltech.edu
(Ojvind Bernander) writes: 

>Supposedly, the National Endowment for the Arts gives out scholarships
>so that budding writers and other artists can quit their jobs for a bit
>and spend all their time creating.  Does anybody know what the rules
>are and where to apply?

The NEA does indeed offer fellowships to writers, but not exactly to
"budding" writers--you have to have a track record of publication to be
eligible.  The grant amount is set at $20,000.  

Please note that there are more precise stipulations about the criteria in
the application booklet, but here's a general idea.  You can apply:

	In Creative Nonfiction if you have to have published at least 
	5 different creative essays in 2 or more publications or a 
	volume of creative essays since Jan. 1, 1983;

	In Fiction if you have published at least 5 different works of
	short fiction in 2 or more publications or a volume of short
	fiction or a novel or novella since Jan. 1, 1983;

	In poetry if you have published a volume of 48 or more pages of
	poetry or 20 or more different poems or pages of poetry in
	five or more publications.  A chapbook can count for part of that.

The application procedure is fairly simple.

You can write for the application booklet at:

	Literature Program, Room 722
	National Endowment for the Arts
	Nancy Hanks Center
	1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
	Washington, DC  20506-0001

The next deadline is March 5, 1993.

Funny coincidence, it's today that I got my rejection letter for the
application I sent in last March.  The jury panelists chose 89 grantees
from a pool of 2,370. 

If you have specific questions I might be able to answer, feel free to
email me.  I've been applying for these things for about 7 years.

--
Neile Graham
neile@u.washington.edu
Seattle, WA, USA
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: lazarus@quack.sac.ca.us (Albert Sze-Wei Wang)
Subject: Getting novels published...
Organization: The Duck Pond public unix: +1 408 249 9630, log in as 'guest'.
Distribution: usa
Date: 10 Jan 1993 21:20:42 UTC

Hi
	Um, this is my first time on this newsgroup and so I don't know if
this topic was ever covered at any point.  I was wondering if anyone out
there knows how to get novels published once you've gotten them written.
Eg. do I send it off to publishers?  Is there a set of procedures or something
I have to do first?  Do I have to know editors here and there?  Anything?

Any help would be deeply appreciated...  I'm kind of a lost soul in this 
whole thing right now.


Albert


-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
	Miles sat quietly, absorbing this most mitigated triumph. 
Elena would have been safe, after all.
	But not happy.  Hunting hawks do not belong in cages, no
matter how much a man covets their grace, no matter how golden
the bars.  They are far more beautiful soaring free.  Heartbreakingly
beautiful.
	He sighed, and rose to go wrestle with his destiny.
				-From "The Warrior's Apprentice"
				 By Lois McMaster Bujold
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Albert Sze-Wei Wang                           lazarus@quack.sac.ca.us
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: sasafw@dobo.unx.sas.com (Fred Welden)
Subject: Gibson's work--possibly titled AGRIPPA
Originator: sasafw@dobo.unx.sas.com
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 19:51:17 GMT
Organization: Dobonia


I recently heard a report on NPR that was somewhat garbled by my
two-year-old singing to my six-month-old in the backseat, but I think
the reporter was describing Penn Gilette reading a software fiction
work entitled AGRIPPA by William Gibson.  Apparently this is a piece
of software that destroys itself as it is read, so that it can only be
experienced once.  

Of course, you could buy several copies, which would no doubt delight
the publishers and Mr. Gibson, and one of the interviewees on this
report pointed out that if the work became popular it would inevitably
be cracked by a software bootlegger to produce stable copies that could
be sold at a premium.

Have any of you seen it?  Heard of it?  Have an opinion?



-- 
--Fred, or another blind 8th-century BC  |  sasafw@dobo.unx.sas.com
        Hellenic poet of the same name.  |
From: zelek@remus.rutgers.edu (Grey Wolf)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: MFA fiction workshops
Date: 4 Jan 93 06:42:13 GMT
Organization: Rutgers University

arc2@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (AMY CHARLES) writes:

>Anyone out there done an MFA program?  If so, where, and what was your take on
>it?  Helpful?  How?  Worth the time and cash?  Thanks -- Amy Charles



   If anyone has info to send about this [except for John December, I have
your file -- Thank you for sending it when you did. :) ], I would love to
see it, too, as I am graduating next year ['94] and intend to at least
apply for admission to an MFA program somewhere; affording it without some
sort of compensation is unrealistic.

Chris [zelek@aramis.rutgers.edu]
From: CT.MMJ@forsythe.stanford.edu (Michelle Jahanpour)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Dangling Participle;is this grammer?
Date: 5 Jan 1993 11:19:32 -0800
Organization: Stanford University
NNTP-Posting-Host: morrow.stanford.edu

Can anyone out there tell me what a "dangling participle" is?  It
sounds really lewd to me!
From: judy_k@cho006.cho.ge.com
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: Rhetorical question
Date: 4 Jan 93 12:07:43 EDT
Distribution: usa
Organization: GE Fanuc Automation, North America

In article <fstuart.921230205341@lab16.eng.auburn.edu>, fstuart@eng.auburn.edu (Frank Stuart) writes:
> In article <6819@npri6.npri.com> eric@npri6.npri.com (Eric Williams) writes:
>>(I'm surprised there's no group devoted to rhetoric... Maybe we
>>don't get it. Maybe *I* don't get it. Oh, well...)
>>
>>Does anyone out there know of a rhetorical term (or maybe a logical
>>one) for a statement that may be interpreted two different ways,
>>with the result being the same basic meaning? For instance, a
>>sign reads:
>>
>>	"No smoking section inside."
> [etc]
> 
> On a related note, what about a term for a statement that has a contrary
> meaning?  For example, there is a sign in a local parking lot that reads:
> 
>                            NO PARKING
>                          PERMIT REQUIRED
> 
> 
> Frank Stuart           |   grep: dead.trees: Permission denied
> fstuart@eng.auburn.edu |   MMMMmmmmm, Soylent Green

Since the responses I've seen so far have been examples rather than an answer
to the question here is another:

A sign on the outside of a bear cage in Cherokee, NC reads:

	BEARS BITE
        HANDS OFF

While it has dual meaning it could be true for either meaning.
I suppose you would call it a dichotomy. A little punctuation 
seems to be the cure (in all of the above?).

---
  Ken Judy  ><>                   My five year old son asked me what does this
  GE Fanuc  Charlottesville, VA   spell? An h, an i and an unside-down i. What?
  judy_k@cho006.cho.GE.COM        Let me see that. Oh. It says, hi! :)
From: cg011@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Mark M Woodward)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Resolution of Paper
Date: 13 Jan 1993 00:20:45 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


Can anyone tell me what the resolution of "paper" or print media is?
I am working on some online documentation, and am trying to get a feel
for the difference between super VGA and paper?? 
Thanks
-- 
Mark Woodward
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: idoy@crux1.cit.cornell.edu (Mike Wilson)
Subject: Re: Dangling Participle;is this grammer?
Organization: Cornell Information Technologies
Date:  7 Jan 93 11:22:37 GMT

CT.MMJ@forsythe.stanford.edu (Michelle Jahanpour) writes:

>Can anyone out there tell me what a "dangling participle" is?  It
>sounds really lewd to me!

Yeah, when someone told me I had a dangling participle, I looked
down there too.

Dangling participles are usually misplaced modifiers; they need
to be near the thing they modify.  Modifiers with -ing and -ed 
need to be pretty close their noun.
	Walking down the street, the moon was beautiful.
"Walking down the street" modifies the actor, who is nowhere to be
found in the sentence.  
	Walking down the street, I noticed that the moon was
	beautiful.
You can master the dangling participle by thinking up a few examples
on your own.

Incidentally, I found a cheap yet wonderful book that outlines the
basics of sound writing. It's called "A New Guide to Better Writing,"
by Rudolf Flesch and A.H. Lass, New York: Warner Books, 1977.  It 
only costs 3.95.  (I found it at the Paper Cutter.)  The book contains
lots of information that other good books like _Elements of Style_
and _Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace_ don't include.

Mike


==========================
Michael Wilson
idoy@crux1.cit.cornell.edu
==========================
From: saslpo@stevens.unx.sas.com (Len Olszewski)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: THE NEXT DECADE?
Date: 10 Jan 93 15:27:33 GMT
Article-I.D.: unx.C0n9Ly.318
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.
Originator: saslpo@stevens.unx.sas.com


In article <19394@mindlink.bc.ca>, Marg_Meikle@mindlink.bc.ca (Marg Meikle) writes:
|> So whaddya think.  If the last decade was the eighties and this is the
|> nineties,  what will we call the next decade?

Back when I was a boy (a few years after the end of the Mesozoic era), 
we used to call the numeral zero a "naught". In that case, the next 
decade might be called the "naughties". You have to admit, it has a ring 
to it.

It's year zero....NAUGHT.

<-------------------------------^------------------------------------->
|Len Olszewski, Technical Writer| "Lady, I was TALKING to the duck.." |
|saslpo@unx.sas.com             |  - Old Punchline                    |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Opinions this ludicrous are mine. Reasonable opinions will cost you.|
<-------------------------------v------------------------------------->
From: elle@kimbark.uchicago.edu (Ellen Keyne Seebacher)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: THE NEXT DECADE?
Date: 8 Jan 93 23:42:03 GMT
Reply-To: elle@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago

In article <19394@mindlink.bc.ca> Marg_Meikle@mindlink.bc.ca 
 (Marg Meikle) writes:
>So whaddya think.  If the last decade was the eighties and this is the
>nineties,  what will we call the next decade?

The _New York Times_ ran an editorial on the subject earlier this week.  
I think they nominated the "Oh-Ohs."

--                    __
Ellen Keyne Seebacher \/             elle@midway.uchicago.edu
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: chandler@wc.novell.com (Mark Chandler)
Subject: First Paid By-Line
Organization: Novell, Inc. - Walnut Creek
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 23:26:27 GMT

I saw my first (hopefully not last) paid by-line today.  It wasn't
anything earth-shattering, just a product review in a regional
bicycling magazine.  While I've been self-publishing a small, somewhat
industry-acclaimed newsletter, this was my first paid piece.  I don't
mean to gloat, but I just wanted to let other misc.writers know that
hard work and persistence (1.5 years) do pay off eventually.



--
Mark Chandler              Novell, Inc.         510/975-4522
chandler@wc.novell.com     Walnut Creek, CA     AOL: Crosswords
===============================================================
   The opinions expressed above are mine, not my employer's.
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: chungkuo@ais.org (Shawn FitzGerald)
Subject: Re: Hypertext Fiction
Organization: UMCC
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 15:36:19 GMT


I've never heard of PC hypertexts (fiction-types) being in FTP land. I
believe Eastgate is publishing one of Judy Malloy's works (I could be
horribly wrong) for the PC. Eastgate can be contacted at
Eastgate@world.std.com.


-- 
----------
Shawn FitzGerald     UMCC (U of M Computing Club)   Michigan
chungkuo@ais.org     "Whether you are quiet and alive, or
quiet and dead makes no difference to Cerebus."
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: bobdev@hprpcd.rose.hp.com (Bob Devereaux)
Subject: Anyone comment on Storyshaper?
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 20:25:04 GMT
Organization: HP - Systems Technology Division
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1.8 PL6]

Gang--

I saw an ad recently for a Mac-only software product called, I think,
StoryShaper.  Robert Coover endorsed it.  It helps plan story structures
& provides variant views of the artifact.

  (1)  Anyone care to comment as to its merits or de-??
  (2)  Anyone have knowledge about whether the Cambridge, MA company
  that produces it plans a PC version??

Thanks.
--
Bob Devereaux
bobdev@hprpcd.rose.hp.com
Roseville, CA
(916) 785-5487
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: adelle@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (adelle.s.Petrocco)
Subject: Re: WritePro, 1st Aid for Writers, WANDAH, SWANDAH
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 06:35:11 GMT

In article <1559@blue.cis.pitt.edu> urcml+@pitt.edu (Mun L Chan) writes:
>Hi everyone,
>
>	I like to know if anyone is familiar/using either of the
>software WritePro and First Aid for Writers.

Save your money on WritePro.  I bought it on a 30-day money
back guarantee.  I was so disappointed, I sent it back and got
my money back.

WritePro is very elementary and it keeps asking you if you're
sure you don't want to change the first paragraph.  I got so
frustrated, I wanted to take an axe to the pc. 

Try reading some good writing books.

Adelle
-- 
Until I design a .sig, I'm Adelle and my email address is
adelle@cbnewsh.att.com and I'm in New Jersey, in the U.S.A
Newsgroups: misc.writing
(Smail3.1.28.1 #7) id m0nAarq-0000kqC; Fri, 8 Jan 93 23: 44 PST
From: chrisc@pro-harold.cts.com (Chris Carstens)
Subject: Re: First Paid By-Line
Organization: The Harold Network -- An Alliance For Creative Communication
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 23:05:13 PST

Congratualtions.  To quote Sam Johnson, "Nobody but a fool would write for
anything but money."
Chris
-----
Chris Carstens
ProLine: chrisc@pro-harold
Internet: chrisc@pro-harold.cts.com
UUCP: crash!pro-harold!chrisc
From: cg011@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Mark M Woodward)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Hypertext Fiction
Date: 9 Jan 93 16:06:56 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


I have been using Hypertext to do some projects at work, and am fascinated
with it as a concept/medium. I have read about hypertext fictions, but alas
all have been in Mac format. Does anyone know where I might ftp a sample
of hypertext fiction for the PC??

Mark Woodward -woodwamm@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
-- 
Mark Woodward
From: BAHRIR@QUCDN.QueensU.CA
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: NEXT DECADE
Date: 10 Jan 93 15:41:09 GMT
Organization: Queen's University at Kingston

Anyone know what people called the first decade of the
20th century?  Weren't they talking about the eighties
and the nineties back in the 19th century -- perhaps
we have a precedent.

Guess back in the year 1000 it was the 'gosh we're still
here!' decade :-)

Ruth Bahri
From: dprezios@ep.ieee.org (D Preziosi)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: MFA fiction workshops
Date: 4 Jan 93 17:50:49 GMT
Reply-To: dprezios@ep.ieee.org
Organization: IEEE, New York, NY

In article 8795@remus.rutgers.edu, zelek@remus.rutgers.edu (Grey Wolf) writes:
> arc2@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (AMY CHARLES) writes:
> 
> >Anyone out there done an MFA program?  If so, where, and what was your take on
> >it?  Helpful?  How?  Worth the time and cash?  Thanks -- Amy Charles
> 
> 
> 
>    If anyone has info to send about this [except for John December, I have
> your file -- Thank you for sending it when you did. :) ], I would love to
> see it, too, as I am graduating next year ['94] and intend to at least
> apply for admission to an MFA program somewhere; affording it without some
> sort of compensation is unrealistic.
> 
> Chris [zelek@aramis.rutgers.edu]


For those looking at MFA programs:
I graduated from the Brooklyn College (CUNY) fiction MFA program in 1991. It's
a two-year deal (if you stick to the schedule) and the price is right (roughly
$900/semester). There are also teaching/adjunct/assistant opportunities. Also,
classes are late afternoon and evening, so if you must hold down a job (as I
did) you can, and still feel like you're a grad student.
*Pros: good give-and-take with (predominantly) NY-based writers, weekly one-on-one
tutorial each semester with published writer; access to info about contests,
fellowships, journals etc. 
*Cons: Short on practical info such as agenting; tendency to favor ``meta-fictionists''
over traditionalists (although this doesn't preclude acceptance into the program);
some pompousness at the top (but it's probably that way everywhere).

Two people I know from the program have had books published since. I had a short
story published, and another classmate won some big grant. It's definitely
worth looking into. The head of the program is Jonathan Baumbach.
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: adelle@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (adelle.s.Petrocco)
Subject: Hypertext Software
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 21:53:52 GMT

Would somebody please tell me what hypertext software is?
I bought Black Magic yesterday thinking that it was a 
way to manage reference notes and then refer to them
while writing.  I tried reading the docs, but now I'm
more confused than ever.

Thanks!

Adelle

-- 
Until I design a .sig, I'm Adelle and my email address is
adelle@cbnewsh.att.com and I'm in New Jersey, in the U.S.A
From: mgcbo@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Charles B. Owen)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: THE NEXT DECADE?
Date: 10 Jan 1993 15:31:07 -0600
Organization: Educational Computing Network
NNTP-Posting-Host: uxa.ecn.bgu.edu

In article <C0n9Ly.318@unx.sas.com> saslpo@stevens.unx.sas.com (Len Olszewski) writes:
>
>In article <19394@mindlink.bc.ca>, Marg_Meikle@mindlink.bc.ca (Marg Meikle) writes:
>|> So whaddya think.  If the last decade was the eighties and this is the
>|> nineties,  what will we call the next decade?
>
>Back when I was a boy (a few years after the end of the Mesozoic era), 
>we used to call the numeral zero a "naught". In that case, the next 
>decade might be called the "naughties". You have to admit, it has a ring 
>to it.
>
>It's year zero....NAUGHT.
>
I prefer AUGHT (Zero).  Then we can say the AUGHTS.  This has a much
less negative ring to it.


-- 
| Charles B. Owen                            Internet: mgcbo@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu |
| Western Illinois University                            Phone: 309-837-4292 |
| 1002 E. Murray                                                             |
| Macomb, IL  61455                                                          |
Newsgroups: misc.writing
(Smail3.1.28.1 #7) id m0n9DpM-00010OC; Tue, 5 Jan 93 04: 56 PST
From: chrisc@pro-harold.cts.com (Chris Carstens)
Subject: Performance art and prose
Organization: The Harold Network -- An Alliance For Creative Communication
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 93 00:03:23 PST

I am soliciting participants in a bit of performance art by computer,
perhaps a transoceanic prose adventure, involving serious questions and the
I-Ching.  This is a serious endeavor -- more poetry than fortune telling. 
Want to know more?  Inquire by E-mail.  

Go Peacefully,
Chris.
-----
Chris Carstens
ProLine: chrisc@pro-harold
Internet: chrisc@pro-harold.cts.com
UUCP: crash!pro-harold!chrisc
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: Marg_Meikle@mindlink.bc.ca (Marg Meikle)
Subject: AHA She Cried and Waved...
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 23:22:19 GMT

My New Year's Eve resolution is to find the origin of this expression:

        "Aha She Cried and Waved her wooden leg aloft."

It's an expression that lots of people (especially  mothers around 70-ish
now) use when they might have said "eureka" or "I found it."  I have looked
all over -- in Victorian Parlour Poems, in books of quotes, slang and
Canadianism (although I think it is probably British but I have no idea why I
think this). At one point it was thought to be from a parody  on Cassabianca
by Clara Denton  but it isn't.

Someone once suggested that the next line was   "...but the villian he still
pursued her. "    and another version:
                Aha she cried in accents wild
                and waved her wooden leg aloft.
                Tis false tis false and with her evil eye
                she swept the garden path.


Any ideas?  I will be ever so grateful.
From: JTCHEW@lbl.gov (Ad absurdum per aspera)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: Help Wanted: Sample Letters to Heads of State
Followup-To: misc.writing
Date: 12 Jan 1993 18:55:20 GMT
Organization: Honest Ernie's Used Ions
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.252.153

> I am looking for such a book that includes some sample letters to King, queen
> and other heads of state. Does anyone have any recommendation?

Try a secretarial handbook, such as the one from McGraw-Hill.  Those are
surprisingly useful books even if you aren't a secretary; they give you
standard advice for all the pesky little things so you can concentrate on
the big things instead.  Some dictionaries may have similar information in
an appendix somewhere.

Good luck,

Joe
"Just another personal opinion from the People's Republic of Berkeley"