HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tonyg@spock.retix.com (Tony "Salty Dog" Goulding)
Subject: Re: mortgages for non-residents
Organization: Retix, Santa Monica CA
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 17:40:09 GMT

In article <1992Aug27.234641.8151@tfs.com> meir@tfs.com (Meir Zaid) writes:
>I believe what the seler's agent told you is generally true.  Non US
>residents are required to put 25% down.  I don't know about special cases
>like first time home buyer programs.  But the lenders should be able to
>tell you if you are qualified, and you don't have to spend a dollar before
>you are approved for the loan.  If you can put 25% down than I don't think
>you have a problem.
I was a first time buyer (with my prospective wife at the time) and on
an H-1 visa.  Had no probs getting a mortgage with 10% down (didn't
really need that from some places, but the rate was more favorable for a
Jumbo).  Now, the mortgage was joint and my fiancee American - that
might have made a difference...

-- 
Tony [All views expressed are mine - if anyone is to blame its me]
==================================================================
"What a waste it is to lose one's mind.  Or not to have a mind is
being very wasteful.  How true that is" Vice President Dan Quayle
From: hansg@risken.vd.volvo.se (Hans Granqvist)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: PARALYZER CS tear gas
Date: 31 Aug 92 06:18:19 GMT

lstowell@pyrnova.mis.pyramid.com (Lon Stowell) writes:

|In article <hansg.714899391@risken> hansg@risken.vd.volvo.se (Hans Granqvist) writes:
|>
|>oops, excuse me, "ignore" tear gas? right, like some dope dealer
|>ignores being shot by the police, or what?
|>
|    No, like military trained soldiers ignore CS or CN tear
|    gas...and are trained in how to do so.   

|    It is inherently obvious you've never had this training or are
|    aware it exists.  It does, it is possible.....

No, I have never trained myself into ignoring tear gas. I have,
however, done my time in the army, as every male Swede has. And let me
tell you, buddy, that you lot must have some type of tear
gas (I'm not a chemist so I cannot say what type was tested on us) if
one simply can choose to ignore it.

|    As stated before, if you tear gas a military veteran all you are
|    gonna do is annoy them even further.   
|    And as far as your "shot" statement,,,in case you've never
|    personally observed same, human beings are incredibly tough
|    and difficult to kill.  A small caliber bullet wound on an
|    annoyed individual is NOT a suitable defense.  

Yeah, what are you anyway? The Night Killer? Have got much experience in
wounding humans with guns, have you? 

|    If you have any friends or acquaintances in either the police or
|    military veteran camps, you might want to ask them about just
|    how useless small arms and/or gas can be against a motivated and
|    annoyed attacker.  

start of story :-) 

Picture this: James is very annoyed because he got fired (no pun
intended) from his work as an animal doctor yesterday. 
He once fought in Vietnam and thought
that would make him not lose his job. 

He gets really annoyed so he goes
home and fetches his pistol. He then goes rampage and shoots at
everything. Remember he is an annoyed vet (pun intended). 

The police tries
to tear gas him, but since he is _very_ annoyed, he chooses not to
bother with it. The police then tries to shoot him, since they get
rather annoyed with him too. But since James is both _very_ annoyed and
_very_ motivated (god knows where he gets his motivation) he chooses to
evade the bullets for some time, then gets bored, then does not bother,
stands still and lets the bullets thump into his body. So what if he
gets more fragmented than a disk running System 7? So what if his heart
lies in the gutter twenty feet away? Since he has chosen to ignore the
bullets, they won't hurt him!

end of story :-) 


Really, I do not think it is possible to _learn_ to ignore tear gas.
Some people may possibly have a better or worse defense against it, but,
I doubt it can be avoided.

As for guns and small calibres, of course, if you shoot somebody you had
better point your weapon well if you are using a gun with small bullets
(I am no gun phreak, so I do not know what is the notation of calibres
in US measurements). When using a larger calibre, you can allow yourself
to shake more when pointing. 

 
--
Hans Granqvist, Volvo, Gothenburg, Sweden.
From: lstowell@pyrnova.mis.pyramid.com (Lon Stowell)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: How to get UPS to pay up AND what's a good alternative
Date: 31 Aug 92 20:36:43 GMT
Reply-To: lstowell@pyrnova.pyramid.com (Lon Stowell)
Organization: Pyramid Technology Corp., Mountain View, CA
Originator: daemon@sword.eng.pyramid.com

In article <1992Aug31.160132.7562@holos0.uucp> lbr@holos0.uucp (Len Reed) writes:
>
>Gee, I don't really see how you can blame this on FEDEX.  Sure, they messed
>up, but how can anyone not know that you have to insure valuable equipment
>when shipping it by *any* carrier.  What kind of moron puts $30,000 worth
>of sensitive equipment in a box and ships it uninsured?


   It USED to be that it would be almost heresy to expect FED-EX
   to damage any shipment in any way.  For years, they carried some
   pretty delicate stuff.  Sadly, this no longer appears to be the
   case.  

   And, well, er, I guess a recent experience with FED-EX trashing
   a pretty expensive (but not overly fragile) plasma display on a
   piece of test equipment could qualify me as a "moron".....but
   then I was unaware that apparently FED-EX has been hiring "airline
   quality" package handlers recently. >:-)   
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: artc@iplmail.orl.mmc.com (Art Chang)
Subject: Re: HELP->looking for a GOOD fax/phone auto switch
Organization: Martin Marietta
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 19:26:21 GMT

In article <1992Sep3.014604.24834@iplmail.orl.mmc.com>, artc@iplmail.orl.mmc.com (Art Chang) writes:
|> 
|> Hello:
|> 
|> 	I am looking for a GOOD fax/phone auto switch
|> 	box, and I have been told most of the auto switches
|> 	work only 50% of times...... :-(
|> 	Do ya'll know of any "GOOD" switches out there???
|> 	need this real soon -> so how about give me a hand
|> 	on this one.....
|> 
|> 
|> 	thanks
|> 	Art
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:15802 misc.consumers.house:11499
From: wb@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (werner.baumgartner)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.consumers.house
Subject: Rental Unit Wear and Tear
Date: 28 Aug 92 19:27:40 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T

I've been following the "return the security deposit ?" thread for a while and
thought I'd throw in my two cents. I am a Landlord and have read the various
documents relative to the topic in my state of NJ. Most of it is based upon
the premise that a Tenant is renting the "space" in the apartment and must care
for the materials therin in the normally accepted manner.

For example:
	cigarette burn in carpet - tenant responsible
	dirt or stains in carpet - tenant responsible
	wear of fibers in carpet - landlord responsible
	fading of color in carpet - landlord responsible

	cracked tile in bathroom - tenant responsible
	grout fails in bathroom - landlord responsible

	writing/dirt/grease on walls - tenant responsible
	faded color of paint - landlord responsible

	grease/food on stove - tenant responsible
	gas line rusted through - landlord responsible

	spouse throws lamp through wall -tenant responsible

Catch 22: If the tenant fails to report a condition which leads to more
	serious damages, the tenant is responsible for the damage.

	Example: Tenant notices 1 inch piece of grout has fallen out
	of tile wall, yet continues to use the shower without notifying
	the landlord. 3 weeks later 8 tiles fall off the soggy mess of
	sheetrock behind them and the apartment below has a water stain
	on the ceiling. - tenant responsible

Seems pretty resonable to me. If you rent, keep the place clean and report
any damages/problems immediately (in writing).
						Werner B.
From: Brian.E.Hannon@dartmouth.edu (Brian E. Hannon)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Radioactivity and Superstition; was: Re: Are Your Light 
 Bulbs Radioactive?
Date: 30 Aug 92 22:16:00 GMT
 <1992Aug26.195524.25813@athena.cs.uga.edu> 
 <l9ns6oINNmol@utkcs2.cs.utk.edu> <BtMI3G.M8E@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>  
 <1992Aug27.132533.5307@ornl.gov>
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

In article <1992Aug27.132533.5307@ornl.gov>
de5@ORNL.GOV (Dave Sill) writes:

> I didn't before, and I do now.  It's amazing what a little information can do. 
> All the pro-nuke overreactions with their condescending tones didn't really help
> address the fears of the original poster(s) in this thread.  I, personally, was
> pretty confident that the threat was insignificant, but when I saw people jumping
> all over other people for being concerned, I had to step in and defend them.


I can't believe I'm continuing this worn out thread, but I have to step
in and defend the folks you are slandering now.  The original post
suggested that we should all boycott GE because of the minute amount of
Americium that is in flourescent bulbs.  This post and the few that
followed it suggested extreme, irrational actions with no basis in fact
or reason.  Not only should knowledgeable folks be condescending, but
they should jump all over the original posters whose hysterical ideas
about their children ingesting a lightbulb led to a call to boycott GE.
 It is this kind of stupidity that takes any sort of credibility away
from their statements, and they should be treated as the sniveling
children that they are.  If they're going to open their mouths so wide
as to urge a boycott of GE, they had better know what they're talking
about first!

Bri
From: timlee@public.btr.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Service charge on returned check....
Date: 30 Aug 92 20:21:23 GMT
Distribution: usa

tamu@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Todd Henderson) writes:
|schwartz@nynexst.com (S. H. Schwartz) writes:
|
|>Charges for unsuccessful deposits are the standard in NY, NJ and Mass. for
|>as long as I can remember.  $4 - 10 is the usual fee range.
|
|I've always wondered how banks can get away with this considering, as the
|first postered indicated, the person depositing the check has no way of 
|knowing it might not go thru!  If they pass a charge along to the other
|bank who then passes it along to the individual, I could see that, but
|why should I get charged for trying to deposit a check?
|
|I think banks are getting way out of hand in this country!

The reason why banks (and S&Ls and even credit unions) get away with
this kind of stuff is that consumers generally don't shop around for
banking services.  Look around the banks in your local area -- it is
likely that the largest ones have the highest fees and worst deposit
interest rates (it's generally true around where I live, with the
exception of a few small banks that appear to cater to the upscale
looking for personalized service).  Yet people still put their money
in them.  Perverse, isn't it?  Unfortunately, those who do shop around
have a harder time, since only a few banks and S&Ls cater to the price
conscious consumer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Lee                 timlee@btr.com  ...!decwrl!btr!timlee
This message comes with no warranty, not even an implied warranty of
fitness for any particular purpose.
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:15688 sci.energy:4141 sci.environment:10882 sci.med:16452 sci.physics:13606 talk.environment:3400
From: mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington)
Newsgroups: pdx.consumer,misc.consumers,sci.energy,sci.environment,sci.med,sci.physics,talk.environment
Subject: Radioactivity and Superstition; was: Re: Are Your Light Bulbs Radioactive?
Date: 26 Aug 92 19:55:24 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens

All this talk about children ingesting smoke detectors points up one thing:
Much of the otherwise educated populace views radioactivity in a
superstitious way, with numinous awe, as if it were witchcraft.

A child's environment is _full_ of things that are dangerous if ingested.
Yet somehow people become morbidly fascinated with the radioactive sources
in smoke detectors, as if they were somehow A Class Apart, because they
work by means of Invisible Mysterious Rays.

Folks, radioactivity is a part of nature.  We have never lived in a world
without it.  Like electricity, chemicals, etc., it can be dangerous in
large amounts, but that doesn't mean it should (or can) be eliminated
totally.


-- 
+ Michael Covington - Artificial Intelligence Programs - U of Georgia - USA 
+ Unless otherwise noted, these are private opinions, not official statements.
+ VOTE NO GEORGIA LOTTERY - don't tie education to an unpredictable income.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.food.drink,ba.food
From: cjackson@adobe.com (Curtis Jackson)
Subject: The coffeemaker I bought
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 07:02:42 GMT

On the recommendation of several people, I picked up the Braun 800
at Price Club for $60. I have yet to take it out of the box, however,
because I don't have any of the cone-shaped no. 4 filters it needs
and it was too late at night when I bought it to get some.

I'll let you guys know how it works, but, again, it came highly
recommended and I am quite sure it will beat the hell out of my
old Mr. Coffee. Now I need to find a source for that Melita bean
roaster someone mentioned....
-- 
Curtis Jackson		cjackson@mv.us.adobe.com	(415) 962 4905
Adobe Systems, 1585 Charleston Rd., POB 7900, Mountain View, CA 94039-7900
  "They that can give up an essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
   safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin (1759)
From: tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: How to get UPS to pay up AND what's a good alternative
Date: 4 Sep 92 20:00:38 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana


In article <Bu2FGo.200@vcd.hp.com> johne@vcd.hp.com (John Eaton) writes:
>Khan (tmkk@uiuc.edu) wrote:
>: 
>: responsible for the package while it's in their posession. Supopse you
>: loaned me your $30,000 projection TV set, and while it was in my
>: posession I dropped it, damaging it beyond repair. Would you accept an
>: answer like "sorry, chump, you should have insured it" from me? THE HELL
>: YOU WOULD. You'd be on my back to pay up the $30,000 I owed you for
>: damaging your equipment, and you'd be right.
>: 
>----------------------------------------------
>A better analogy would be:
>
>Suppose I was moving across town and asked all my big strong buddies to 
>show up for a U-Haul party. If one of them dropped my TV and broke it would
>he be responsible?

That depends: do I have a contract with this person, giving him
consideration (money) in exchange for transporting my property safely
and without damage? Unless I am mistaken, this is the contract I have
with UPS or FedEx. Nobody has yet presented any evidence which would
contradict this view, but if someone does, I'll be very happy to read
it.
Newsgroups: pdx.consumer,misc.consumers,sci.energy,sci.environment,sci.med,sci.physics,talk.environment
From: hardie@herald.usask.ca (Peter Hardie,4805)
Subject: Re: Are Your Light Bulbs Radioactive?
Originator: hardie@herald.usask.ca
Reply-To: hardie@herald.usask.ca
Organization: University of Saskatchewan
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 19:19:56 GMT

From article <1992Aug26.171638.4066@sctc.com>, by beede@sctc.com (Mike Beede):
>>     [....] Normally
>>     they learn early-on that the class of objects to be hammered
>>     does not usually include foods. [....]
> 
> Like veal, chicken, Swiss steak, coconuts, cracker crumbs, and cracked
> ice?  I would imagine a more realistic scenario to be 1) big kid
> mashes smoke detector with hammer 2) big kid chucks it somewhere 3)
> little kid finds it, chows it down.

Another doom and gloom scenario that gets even more improbable than those
that preceded it. Even if we could figure out the (im)probability of this
scenario, nobody has yet stated whether the typical 0.9uCi of Am-241 in a
smoke detector is even a health hazard (assuming that a child could find
the quarter microgram in the first place). I suspect that we have an almost
zero probability of a child eating something that won't harm them anyway.

Pete hardie@herald.usask.ca
*MY* opinions - so there!
From: mjc+@cs.cmu.edu (Monica Cellio)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Auto Insurance Question
Date: 4 Sep 92 17:51:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: NL.mjc.715629090
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon

>Unfortunately my wife and I have had 3 accidents in the past 3 years.  

As others have pointed out, your mistake was reporting those accidents in
the first place.  With a deductible of $250 you only saved $450 on the 
lot of them.

>Some folks have told me
>that accident #1 described above should not be included since it really was
>unavoidable. (act of god, similiar to tree falling on car)

No, you skidded on ice.  What this means to the police and insurance 
companies is that you did not take proper precautions for the conditions
under which you were driving.  While it could be argued that by this
reasoning it's your fault if a tree falls on your car because you shouldn't
have parked there, it's a fact of life that collisions get evaluated more
strictly than comprehensive claims -- as well they should, I might add.
With a collision, you're putting other people's property and lives at 
risk.

I'm not being heartless, by the way.  I hydroplaned in a light drizzle and
some standing water I didn't know was there, and spent three years feeling
the effects of it.  Shit happens.

> How long will these accidents be considered by insurance companies when rating
> our policy.  

Typically 3 years, sometimes 3.5.  Each insurance company decides this on 
its own.

>Should I even tell a company about accident #1, instead claim
>it was vandalism. 

Read the fine print on any policy on the subject of perjury.  This would
be a particularly bad move as (1) you've posted about the accident and
(2) it's already listed with CLUE.
From: carl@Cayman.COM (Carl Heinzl)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: How to get UPS to pay up AND what's a good alternative
Date: 26 Aug 92 17:17:37 GMT
Organization: Cayman Systems Inc., Cambridge, MA
bcc: carl


I have run into a problem with UPS that has been going on for several
months now.  Basically, I shipped a monitor to Ohio (from Cambridge,
Mass.)  the UPS dropped and cracked.  It was insured for $500 (it was
a used workstation monitor and $500 was exactly the cost of another
used unit).

I just found out that my claim was voided for insufficient backup
paperwork (this came from some drone name Laurie) and that the issue
was sent back to our "account representative" (I sent the package out
here from where I work on August 17th.  He failed to contact me
to inform me of any of this.

I have called UPS here several times in the past couple of days and he
(Andy Pendleton) has not returned my calls as of today.  I have just
left an urgent message not only for him, but for the supervisor (Mike
Folley) as well.  At this point I'm pissed.  How much longer should I
give these slime balls.

I'm tempted to file in small claims court if I don't hear from them
within the next 24 hours.  Does anyone have any idea how I can squeeze
them harder.  I just ordered a complaint form from the BBB.  Anything
else that I can do?  At this point I'm boiling so much I would really
like to inflict some pain.

I am also stuck needing a reliable source of shipping/receiving
computer merchandise.  What is as good and as cheap as UPS???

-Carl-
--
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:16154 rec.video:10931 sci.electronics:15231 sci.misc:1575
From: kachun@astro.as.arizona.edu (Ka Chun Yu)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.video,sci.electronics,sci.misc
Subject: Re: VCR Maintenance Advice Wanted. Head Cleaners Any Good?
Date: 4 Sep 92 18:28:05 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

In article <Bu2545.BC7@news.cso.uiuc.edu> tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan) writes:
>
>In article <2AA6BA13.14151@news.service.uci.edu> gkwan@balboa.eng.uci.edu (Greg Kwan) writes:
>>
>>When cleaning audio or video heads, only go in the direction of the
>>tape travel; perpendicular cleaning can ruin the head. I also agree
>>with only using foam covered Q-tips on VCR's.
>
>A video repair tech I know and respect uses a small square cut from a deerskin
>chamois on the end of a wooden tongue depressor to clean video heads. He
>wets it down with the usual (freon-based?) video head cleaning fluid.

You should be able to buy chamois-tipped cleaners as well as the freon cleaner
at any decent electronics supply store.  (Includes Radio Shack too!)


--
*Ka Chun Yu                 * "Deputy dog dog a ding dang depa depa deputy     *
*kachun@as.arizona.edu      *  dog dog a ding dang depa depa . . ."            *
*                           *                         --"Don't Let's Start"    *
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: haseka@aix.rpi.edu (Atilla A Hasekioglu)
Subject: multimedia
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 20:56:50 GMT

I wrote before:

I am looking for a multimedia software that compresses images and has mailing 
options. This should be in Xwindows. I have images in many formats.
I would like to be able to change their formats and have printouts. I also
would like to be able to view them. The software I am looking for should
have all these options. I also would like to have the option to decompress and
view the image from where it is sent by mail, so this will be a two sided
software that can be used both by the sender and receiver  side.
  If anybody can help me,I will very much appreciate it.



I found the multimedia software I was looking for from a colleague, if
anybody is interested.It is very useful. It is for SUN and performs the
compression in JPEG. It has file conversion facilities in GIF, PPM,PGM,
TIFF, SUN raster, XBM, XWD, FAX G3 formats. It has also an option to
change from these formats to PS format and you can later print it.
It also mails the compressed image by email. At the other end the receiver
can make necessary format changes and view the image. My colleague says
he is very happy with this product, and it is indeed very useful.
For the interested you can find this software from :
IBS
1223 Peoples Ave.
Troy, NY 12180
Tel : 518 276 4770
Fax: 518 276 6380

 The name of the software is MultiMailv1.0.
From: bdl@cruiser.uucp (Bob Lombard)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Columbia House CD Club
Keywords: Customer Service Number ?
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 07:52:51 PDT
Distribution: usa
Organization: what? me organized? no way!

I recently made the _mistake_ of re-joining the columbia house CD club.
I left it several years ago due to poor ( nay, truly bad !) service.
They have already started to screw up royally. In less than three months
yet!

SO.. Does anyone have a customer service phone number ?  I remember
seeing one here in the past, but I cant find it now.  Anyone else having
service problems with these turkeys ?

Please email responses to bdl@cruiser.uucp,  I don't recieve this group
at present..

thanks in advance.


*****************************************************************
* Bob Lombard ||  bdl@cruiser.uucp  || 418 Village Center Drive *
*             ||                    || Encinitas, Ca. 92024     *
*  |~~|_                                                        *
*  |    :           "If it ain't green and it ain't old,        *
*  '0-0-''..../\..   .. it ain't my truck                       *
*****************************************************************