HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mgm@clipper.ingr.com (Mike Marfell)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: A Confirmed UFO Coverup
Date: 23 Jul 92 22:28:11 GMT
Organization: Intergraph Advanced Processor Division - Palo Alto, CA

> |>	Can this be found somewhere on a BBS-downloadable ASCII text file?
> |>(Is ASCII text file redundant?)
> |It would be if there were no other way of encoding text. There is another
> |standard, EBCDIC  (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) which
> |is used by a few computers on the net. I have been told that this is a good
> |reason to use ASCII mode for ftp'ing text files. It does not seem to be
> |popular. There must be a conspiracy in here somewhere?

> |Your 'c' excercise for today is to write a EBCDIC to ASCII translator.
> main() { system("dd conv=ascii"); }
> Did I win? Yes? Yes? ;-)
> Jos aka jos@and.nl

      oooooooooK, where's the cover up?      
-- 
            "Just a little knowledge can be dangerous"  ....Burmashave

Mike Marfell                                      mgm@clipper.ingr.com
From: chenowet@rd1632.Dayton.NCR.COM (Steve Chenoweth)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: Autistic children and Prime Time live
Date: 30 Jul 92 13:19:33 GMT
Reply-To: chenowet@rd1632.Dayton.NCR.com (Steve Chenoweth)
Organization: NCR Technology & Development, Dayton, Ohio

In article <1992Jul28.171405.13204@twisto.eng.hou.compaq.com> mccreary@sword.eng.hou.compaq.com (Ed McCreary) writes:
>
>I caught the tail end of a segment on Prime Time (ABC) last week
>on communicating with autistic children.  The researchers would
>hold the hands of the children while they would hunt & peck at
>a keyboard.  It occured to me that they may be acting as human
>quija (sp?) boards and was even more convinced when I saw one
>story being written by a five year old girl.  It seemed way beyond
>anything a healthy five years old could do, let alone one who
>was cut off from normal means of communication all of her life.
>Has anyone else heard of this?  How do they know the parents weren't
>pushing the children's hands to where they want them to go?

I saw this, too, and it did sound too good to be true.  I saw nothing 
indicating really objective tests had been done to rule out what you
say.  And, wouldn't these be easy to do?  For example, shade the
adult's eyes so they could see the typewriter keyboard but not the
stimulus the autistic child was supposed to respond to.  If the child's
"reality connection" took a sudden nosedive, then we'd know.




-- 
Steve.Chenoweth@Dayton.NCR.com
From: pensyl@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: ex (Human flammability)
Date: 27 Jul 92 09:36:45 EST

OOPS! Apologies for forgetting subject:
SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION:
> Has this been simulated with a watermelon?
> JP
From: swf@teradata.com (Stanley Friesen)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: test that proves obes
Date: 30 Jul 92 19:46:35 GMT
Reply-To: swf@tdat.teradata.com (Stanley Friesen)
Distribution: sci
Organization: NCR Teradata Database Business Unit

In article <mcirvin.712513357@husc8> mcirvin@husc8.harvard.edu (Mcirvin) writes:
|
|Let me add another example... For years I had a recurring dream in
|which, in various otherwise ordinary situations, I would discover
|that I had the ability to levitate about three feet off the ground.

Hey, I have the same dream!  It seems I keep discovering how easy it is
to levitate :-)  Unfortunately I always seem to forget how when I wake up.

|These days, when I dream about levitating, I usually just enjoy it.
|Perhaps my brain is getting mushy.
|
Yep, it does feel nice, no tired feet to deal with :-)


-- 
sarima@teradata.com			(formerly tdatirv!sarima)
  or
Stanley.Friesen@ElSegundoCA.ncr.com
From: heumann@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (John Heumann)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 15:14:11 GMT
Subject: Re: Re: Human Parthenogenesis? (Was: Questions from an interested party)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Loveland, CO
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic

In sci.skeptic, John_-_Winston@cup.portal.com writes:

>    Did you know that in less than one and ten thousand births 
>    on Earth the female has not been firtilized by a male?

This statement is clearly true since:
     a) No restriction to human births is made.
     b) Zero happens to be a number "less than one in ten thousand".
From: lippard@skyblu.ccit.arizona.edu (James J. Lippard)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Weekly World News (was Re: Human Parthenogenesis?)
Date: 26 Jul 92 02:48:00 GMT
Distribution: world,local
Organization: University of Arizona
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1992Jul25.193400.14718@rosevax.rosemount.com>, grante@aquarius.rosemount.com (Grant Edwards) writes...
>Ah, but the tabloids have PICTURES!  John will never be able to
>compete with the darling pictures of Nessie's baby, or the flying
>saucer sitting on the flight deck of the Nimitz that the Weekly World
>News had.  Or is it the World Weekly News?  Either way it's a great
>paper.

The Weekly World News--they have a "source" for every story.  I think
readers must make some of this stuff and send it in for laughs--like
the "former Siamese twins" who want to be reconnected (photo shows
pair of adult twins standing next to each other; baby photo shows
them sitting together, touching, but no visible evidence of any physical
connection), or the "girl with four arms" pictured in about three
photos, where it's fairly obvious that there is simply someone else
hiding behind her (though one of the photos was particularly well done--
a full body shot of the girl sitting on a stool where you can see through
its legs).  Some sci.skeptic folks should make some contributions and
see if any get printed.

Jim Lippard              Lippard@CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU
Dept. of Philosophy      Lippard@ARIZVMS.BITNET
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
From: jeh@raster.kodak.com (Ed Hanway)
Subject: Re: Testing for "Auras"
Organization: Eastman Kodak Company, EIPC / SISD
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 92 16:39:02 GMT

warren@nysernet.org (Warren Burstein) writes:
: I don't see how one can test if a person sees "auras" or not.  Unlike
: the claim that someone can sense magnetism, where we all know how to
: test if something is magnetic, how can one tell if the person is
: seeing the "aura" or just claiming to?

If the claim is just some vague feeling that the "seer" has about a person,
(good vibes?) then it's untestable.  Not only that, the power would be of no use
to anyone even if it did exist.

However, if the seer claims to get some kind of information from the aura that
couldn't be discerned otherwise (such as being able to discern between a person
and a mannikin under conditions that a normal person couldn't), then it's both
testable and useful.

--
Ed Hanway --- jeh@raster.kodak.com
This message is packed as full as practicable by modern automated equipment.
Contents may settle during shipment.
From: kring@efes.physik.uni-kl.de (Thomas Kettenring)
Subject: Re: Another thought problem.
Organization: FB Physik, Universitaet Kaiserslautern, Germany
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 10:32:42 GMT

In article <GERRY.92Jul30104409@onion.cmu.edu>, gerry@cmu.edu (Gerry Roston) writes:
>
>   CSYSPCN@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (CSYSPCN) says: [..]
>   >Suppose we have a cannonball, suspended over an infinit plain, by
>   >a lightyear long piece of wire.  You cut the wire at the top, speed
>   >of light limitations say that the cannon ball can't know that the top
>   >has been cut for a year, so it can't start to fall for at least a year.
>
>   >So the question is: What holds the cannon ball up during that time.
>
>   >Answer: Ignorance!
>
>Sorry, wrong answer.
>
>Gravity acts on each particle in the wire, so the minute it is cut,
>the entire system will start to accelerate downwards.  

The minute it is cut?  In which frame of reference?  Simultaneousness depends
on your velocity, you know.  Sorry, the wrong answer is yours, as you don't
understand relativity.

-- 
--------------thomas kettenring, 2 dan, kaiserslautern, germany---------------
Do you ask a Napoleon why it has to be Moscow, of all places?  Do you ask a
Mondrian why one has to paint only in the rectangularly framed primary colours
Red, Blue, and Yellow?  Ah, how all questions are ruined in view of a persuas-
ively recited system of madness! And is there a mortar keeping those systems
together firmer than real or supposed enemies?  -  Robert Gernhardt
From: kachun@astro.as.arizona.edu (Ka Chun Yu)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: Weakly World News
Date: 26 Jul 92 23:23:27 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

In article <Bs0JnM.Bu3@news.larc.nasa.gov> claudio@nmsb.larc.nasa.gov (Claudio Egalon) writes:
>
> One day I bought the Weekly World News just to have some fun 
>with it. Well it turned out that there was two articles (in the same 
>edition) about extraterrestrial beings. One of them said that the ET's 
>were conspiring with the US and Soviet Union to end to Cold War 
>(nice guys!). Another one said that the soviets had captured a flying 
>saucer and was going to use the ET technology to defeat Americans! 
>Which one should I believe??? Neither one I bet!

According to the Weekly World News, there are aliens and UFOs EVERYWHERE!
There was the guy who invented a special camera that picked out aliens from
normal human beings in a crowd shot.  The aliens had "auras" around their
heads and from a sample shot, it looks like space aliens make up at least
10% of our population.

Don't forget the WWN's features on the flying saucer landing zones in Mexico,
the Bermuda Triangle, and dozens of other locales on the planet.

The most famous alien has probably been the one in US Secret Service custody.
(They showed photographs of him being hustled about by guys in suits and 
dark sunglasses.)  He met with Ross Perot according to a WWN cover article
several weeks back.  Is he still in the Witness Protection Program?  (Seems
that he's been threatened by other members of his species for revealing too
much to the Earthlings.)

Being a regular reader of talk.origins, I nominate that someone recap Ted
Holden's posts and send them into the WWN.  (Maybe Ted should do it himself.)
The WWN loves dinosaurs ("Dinosaurs found on Mars!") so maybe they'll print
a "felt-effect of gravity" article.


--
*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"    *
From: laroche@widder.harvard.edu (Sylvain Laroche)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: Testing for "Auras"
Keywords: test, laboratory, auras
Date: 22 Jul 92 21:26:28 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Math, Harvard Univ.

In article <2301@israel.nysernet.org> warren@nysernet.org writes:
>I don't see how one can test if a person sees "auras" or not.  Unlike
>the claim that someone can sense magnetism, where we all know how to
>test if something is magnetic, how can one tell if the person is
>seeing the "aura" or just claiming to?
>-- 
> |warren@      by a TROLLEY-CAR..
>/ nysernet.org 

How about having the person try to determine where a subject is
standing, of several possible positions behind a wall just high
enough to hide the subject.  The subject's aura should be 
visible above the top of the wall.

SL
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Subject: A prediction
Reply-To: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 19:07:55 GMT

I predict that next Tuesday, most major newspapers in the United States of
America will carry stories about a gruesome double murder at 92 Second Street
in Fall River, Massachusetts.  The prime suspect will never be convicted of
murder, and the murder weapon will never be found.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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: sci.skeptic
From: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Subject: Re: The Search for Noah's Ark
Reply-To: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Organization: ACUSON, Mountain View, CA
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 21:18:51 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.192652.2650@hilbert.cyprs.rain.com> max@hilbert.cyprs.rain.com (Max Webb) writes:
>In article <1992Jul20.230347.8366@acuson.com> lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson) writes:
>
>code:
>>Science claims to explain, not to know.  Many people loose track of
>>that.  I accept (for example) the theory and description of
>>evolutionary origin of species.  I just choose to believe that it
>>didn't happen that way.  Yes, it COULD have, which is why I have no
>>problem with the science.

>cleartext: "Don't confuse me with the facts. I'm not interested."

>Remember the character Winston in _1984_? By the end of the book,
>he has achieved the same kind of victory over his brain that you
>have achieved over yours (of course, he had the benefit of a brutal
>indoctrination program - your unaided victory is so much more admirable).
>He was also very proud and happy.

Sorry, there is no code.  I cannot tell from your path what profession
you are likely to be in.  One of the basic principles of the Scientific
Method is that anything can be questioned.  It is not profitable to
constantly question everything, but nothing is absolute.  The method
admits that science does not "know" anything but the observations.  The
results are the best explanation of the data collected.  This doesn't
mean that they are right or wrong.  They are just the current views.

As far as facts go, there is no evidence that humans DID evolve from
other primates, only that they COULD HAVE.  As science, this is fine.
Likewise, there is no evidence that Noah DID NOT make an arc.  Since
there is no evidence that he did, it would be poor science to say that
hi did.

There is a great deal more to life than what science can demonstrate.
There is no scientific evidence that chocolate tastes good or that
women are beautiful, but I'm not waiting for science to tell me that it
is acceptable to have these views.

As for your "cleartext," I have no problem with the facts.  I simply do
not place the same interpretation on them that you do.

As for mind control, yours seems to be firmly in the grip of those who
hold that all truth is quantifiable and value neutral.  Who
indoctrinated you?

-- 
Drew Lawson                      If you're not part of the solution,
lawson@acuson.com                you're part of the precipitate
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
From: vnelson@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Gerald Vernon Nelson)
Subject: Re: Alzheimer's Disease
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 23:59:20 GMT


>In previous artricles Carl J. Lydick writes

>Well, if a computer system overwrites memory when it's not supposed to, that's
>generally considered a bug.  Besides, with Alzheimer's, it tends to be the
>recent memories that aren't handled properly.

Alzheimers seem to cause problems with retrieving data from long and short
term memory.  

Saw a T.V. program on alzheimers.
The interviewer was showing this fellow pictures and asking him
what it was a picture of.  "Its on the tip of my tongue!"
The man said, "It lives in the jungle, in Africa."

It was a picture of a Rhinoceros.

Anyways just wanted to give that example.  The name of the objects the man
could not recall, were all names you would learn in childhood.
Thus, his long term memory was shot.  Kind of sad, otherwise
he appeared to be a healthy and intelligent gentleman.

Vern Nelson
Xref: sparky sci.skeptic:13468 alt.paranormal:1996
From: gpkatch@alcor.concordia.ca (Gary Katch)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic,alt.paranormal
Subject: Re: PSI - summary of book review
Date: 31 Jul 92 15:09:00 GMT
  "boyken@herky.cs.uiowa.edu (Karl Boyken)
  29 Jul 92 21:47:36 GMT
  sci.skeptic,alt.paranormal"
  <1992Jul29.214736.4576@news.uiowa.edu>
Followup-To: sci.skeptic
Organization: Concordia University
X-Mailing-Address: Computing Services C-1012
  1455 De Maisonneuve West
  Montreal (Quebec) H3G 1M8
X-Phone-Numbers: voice (514) 848-7632
  fax (514) 848-7622
Originator: gpkatch@alcor

Karl Boyken writes [*]:
>In article <1992Jul29.204138.3043@blaze.cs.jhu.edu>,
>arromdee@jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu (Ken Arromdee) writes:
>> Every culture probably knows some "paranormal
>> phenomena", but not every culture knows the concept of scientific proof.
>
>Which proves that people can get along fine without the concept of scientific
>proof.
 
Sure they'll get along.  But will they progress?  Will their
knowledge increase?  Will their "belief systems" (as Karl is
fond of saying) describe how our world works?

If you are happy merely to get along, then choose any belief
system you like which doesn't suddenly end your life.  If you
want to know more about everything, try science.

-- gk
From: swf@teradata.com (Stanley Friesen)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: The Other Rifles on the Scene (JFK)
Date: 22 Jul 92 21:58:19 GMT
Reply-To: swf@tdat.teradata.com (Stanley Friesen)
Organization: NCR Teradata Database Business Unit

In article <21JUL199216245904@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov> scdorcy@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov (JAMES DORCEY) writes:
|In article <1992Jul21.071429.556@augean.eleceng.adelaide.edu.AU>, 
|
|To my knowledge, there is no "official" explanation of other rifles 
|because "officially" didn't exist.  The "official" line is that the M-C was 
|initially misidentified as a Mauser ...
|
|I still find the mis-identification thing far-fetched.  It would be kind of 
|like mistaking my bolt-action .22LR Marlin for my custom, bolt-action .300 
|Winchester Magnum or vice-versa.
|
Well, that depends on how much experience the officer had had with various
sorts of firearms.

Personally, I would be hard pressed to differentiate between the .22 Marlin
and the .300 Winchester, since to me any bolt action gun is pretty much
the same as any other bolt action gun.

So, if the officer who first found the weapon had never seen either type,
or had only seen one of the two, a misidentification is perfectly reasonable.
[Now, how reasonable it is for a police officer to have little experience
with rifles is a different question].
-- 
sarima@teradata.com			(formerly tdatirv!sarima)
  or
Stanley.Friesen@ElSegundoCA.ncr.com
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
From: mab@wdl39.wdl.loral.com (Mark A Biggar)
Subject: Re: Garlic - the wonder herb ??
Keywords: garlic
Organization: Loral Western Development Labs
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 18:43:00 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.010838.4885@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> pciszek@nyx.cs.du.edu (Paul Ciszek) writes:
>lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson) writes:
>>In article <9220123.25217@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU> fjh@munta.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Fergus James HENDERSON) writes:
>>>Is there any evidence that garlic has any beneficial effects other than the
>>>placebo effect?
>>Well, it does gave beneficial effect on pizza. ;-)
>While living in New York, I learned that a pizza topped with fresh minced
>garlic (none of this powdered ersatz, mind you) would ease many of the
>symptoms of a head cold, but I suppose that is just the placebo effect.

I don't know, I drove through Gilroy, CA (garlic capital of the world, be sure
to come to the anual garlic festval this weekend) last saturday and my sinuses
opened up (and my eyes watered and the paint peeled off my car,... oh you want
benificial stuff).  Gilroy is the only city in the country where you can
marinade a steak by hanging it out on a closeline.

--
Mark Biggar
mab@wdl1.wdl.loral.com

Newsgroups: sci.skeptic,alt.paranormal
From: rutkows@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Chris Rutkowski)
Subject: Re: Testing for "Auras"
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 15:28:22 GMT

In <schumach.711764729@convex.convex.com> schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher) writes:

>In <1992Jul21.141826.24840@ccu.umanitoba.ca> rutkows@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Chris Rutkowski) writes:
>>>I am not "seeing auras" right now?  The question is, just what information
>>>does this person claim to be able to derive from the aura?

>>This is exactly what we hope to test.  So far, the person has been
>>fairly vague about the claims.

>Vague claims lead to vague tests and vague results, which your subject
>will use as "scientific" evidence in support of his claims. Don't get 
>sucked into this unless you get your subject to agree to very specific
>criteria before you start.

"Sucked in" is hardly an objective approach to the subject, but rest
assured that my background in methodology and experimental design will
be used to devise a "real" test.  It remains to be seen if the subject
will agree to the conditions.

-- 
Chris Rutkowski - rutkows@ccu.umanitoba.ca
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
University of Manitoba - Winnipeg, Canada
From: briggs@jed.atmo.arizona.edu (William Briggs)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: Testing for "Auras"
Keywords: test, laboratory, auras
Date: 21 Jul 92 17:33:06 GMT
Organization: Department of Atmospheric Physics


     Saw James Randi do this in a unique way.  He first had the "auraist" 
look at the auras of a bunch of test subjects, to determine the particular
qualities of them and so she could identify them later.

     He then had the subjects stand behind six feet partitions (high enough
to just block the person's head--but not high enough to block the aura).
All ten subjects then stood behind the partition and the auraist was allowed
to again identify the auras that were projecting over the top.

     Randi had the auraist turn her back and the test subjects departed the
room (and then, just for silliness, they "washed" the area of auras by
illuminating it with a spotlight).  After a period, a certain random number
of subjects came back in and stood behind random (numbered) partitions.

     The auraist, to prove her abilities, had agreed beforehand, in 
writing, that she would be able to tell (without a mistake) which partition
had a person behind them.  She guessed that all ten had people behind them.
In fact (i believe) only three did.

     You may use something of the same method.  Although a simpler way may
be to have only one partition, constructed in a doorway.  Have ten or so
willing subjects on hand and let the auraist identify, and in writing, 
each subjects aura.  Make sure they agree that each aura is unique.  If not
go through subjects until they agree that the test pool of ten auras is unique.

     The have each of the subjects parade in front of the partition, standing
still for a certain length of time, and move on.  The auraist must be
able to identify *each* of the subects by number in order to pass.

     Allow the auraist a thorough look at the test place beforehand.  Let
them identify whether or not there are any "residual" auras by the 
partition when noone is behind it.  Perhaps they may claim that a certain\
time must expire before the person's aura trail dissipates.  Prehaps people
merely in the vicinity may cause and aura.  Perhaps a strong auraed person may
wipe out any signal from a weak auraed person.  *IMPORTANT*  have all
these objections noted beforehand!

     Please notify the net of your results.  Should be fun!

     

     matt briggs
From: Ken.Stuckas@iphase.UUCP (Ken Stuckas)
Sender: FredGate@iphase.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: july 4, 1992 - global
Date: 20 Jul 92  16:19:00 EST

Holy smoke, John...have you talked to your shrink lately?  You need to tell him to cut the dose!

 * Origin: Aether (1:112/2020)

Newsgroups: sci.skeptic