HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bs@gauss.mitre.org (Robert D. Silverman)
Subject: Re: High Prices of Math Books. I am pissed.
Organization: Research Computer Facility, MITRE Corporation, Bedford, MA
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 19:42:33 GMT

In article <Bzs1Kr.I4v.1@cs.cmu.edu> sjha+@cs.cmu.edu (Somesh Jha) writes:
:
:Hi Folks:
:
:Just wanted to bitch about something. I called McGraw-Hill about
:buying the following book:
:
:Real and Complex Analysis  By W. Rudin
:
:Guess what! the book costs $60.00. Some people informed me that the
:same book in Europe and Asia is available as a paperback and for a
:lot less money. McGraw-Hill informed me that they don't have this
:book in paperback. These price guaging (sic) tactics has (sic) pissed me off
:(not that I can do anything about it). Just wanted to bitch about
:it.
 
Bitch about what? 

(1) These books are difficult to typeset and thus are a lot more expensive
    to print than your average novel. 
(2) They have a small market, so the high setup cost of producing the plates
    to print them must be amortized over a small number of customers.
(3) It requires a lot more expertise to edit these books than your average
    novel.

Why are people always surprised that technical books with a small audience
are expensive?
--
Bob Silverman
These are my opinions and not MITRE's.
Mitre Corporation, Bedford, MA 01730
"You can lead a horse's ass to knowledge, but you can't make him think"
Newsgroups: alt.books.technical
From: mdb@netcom.com (Mark Bisgeier)
Subject: dictionary
Summary: **** Wanted: WEBSTER'S UNABRIDGED (INT'L) 2ND EDITION ****
Keywords: dictionary
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 04:44:55 GMT


I'm looking for a good-condition copy of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
 (International, i.e., Merriam-Webster), Second Edition.

Los Angeles area, hopefully....


-- 

Mark Bisgeier              mdb@netcom.com
       ...Let your mind wander...
From: fmk10@amail.amdahl.com (Furqan Khan)
Newsgroups: alt.books.technical
Subject: NEED A GOOD DATA STRUCTURE BOOK IN C, C++
Date: 29 Dec 92 05:07:50 GMT
Reply-To: fmk10@amail.amdahl.com
Organization: Amdahl Corp.

Can anybody recommend me a good practical data structure book with C or C++
examples. Something that has concepts as well as practical examples for
cut and paste.


Thanks in advance.

Furqan Khan
Xref: sparky alt.books.technical:408 misc.books.technical:1852
From: marc@dumbcat.sf.ca.us (Marco S Hyman)
Newsgroups: alt.books.technical,misc.books.technical
Subject: Re: Why is the ARM hardbound but Stroustrup (2nd Edition) still paperback?
Keywords: ARM  Stroustrup
Date: 1 Jan 93 02:38:24 GMT
Organization: MSH Software, Hayward, CA

In article <1992Dec30.111319.11912@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov> isolar!earle@elroy.JPL.NASA.GOV writes:
 > Also, I think I saw a (green colored) "C++ Answer Book" - did I, or were my
 > eyes deceiving me?  If so, does it apply to the first edition or to the
 > second? 

The Green (softcover) is 

	The C++ Answer Book
	Tony L. Hansen
	Addison-Wesley 1990
	ISBN 0-201-11497-6

The book contains the answers to the questions in The C++ Programming Language
(first edition).  Answers are limited to the language as described in the
first edition of CPL.  To quote from chapter 1 "All solutions have been tested
using compilers based on the AT&T cfront Translator, releases 1.2 and 2.0."

Happy New Year,

// marc
-- 
marc@dumbcat.sf.ca.us -- pacbell!dumbcat!marc
Newsgroups: alt.books.technical,sci.math
From: ilan@leland.Stanford.EDU (ilan vardi)
Subject: Re: High Prices of Math Books. I am pissed.
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 92 22:45:37 GMT

In article <1992Dec24.194233.10811@linus.mitre.org> bs@gauss.mitre.org (Robert D. Silverman) writes:
> 
>Bitch about what? 
>
>(1) These books are difficult to typeset and thus are a lot more expensive
>    to print than your average novel. 
>(2) They have a small market, so the high setup cost of producing the plates
>    to print them must be amortized over a small number of customers.
>(3) It requires a lot more expertise to edit these books than your average
>    novel.
>
>Why are people always surprised that technical books with a small audience
>are expensive?
>--

I agree with this for books of the highest quality, but many > $100
books are not even typeset at high resolution, and publishers are now
able to get technical typists for < $10 page (so a 300 page book
will cost less than $3,000 to typeset). Moreover, many of the authors
are University professors using notes that have already been carefully
looked at by students and so forth, so these costs are not always very
high. 

A good example was given in the last issue of the American Math
Monthly a > $200 book on Codes and Algebraic geometry was reviewed and
it was noted that there were a lot of typos and missing articles (the
authors were Russian).

I would say that books should be kept in the <$50 dollar range except
for some exceptions like collected works, etc.
Xref: sparky alt.books.technical:410 misc.books.technical:1854
From: tim@maths.tcd.ie (Timothy Murphy)
Newsgroups: alt.books.technical,misc.books.technical
Subject: Re: Why is the ARM hardbound but Stroustrup (2nd Edition) still paperback?
Keywords: ARM  Stroustrup
Date: 1 Jan 93 16:18:36 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Maths, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

marc@dumbcat.sf.ca.us (Marco S Hyman) writes:

>	The C++ Answer Book
>	Tony L. Hansen
>	Addison-Wesley 1990
>	ISBN 0-201-11497-6

>The book contains the answers to the questions in The C++ Programming Language
>(first edition).  Answers are limited to the language as described in the
>first edition of CPL.  To quote from chapter 1 "All solutions have been tested
>using compilers based on the AT&T cfront Translator, releases 1.2 and 2.0."

Incidentally, the actual answers (ie code) from this book
is available by FTP from research.att.com [username: netlib]
in the directory c++/answerbook

This amounts to a huge amount of code.

-- 
Timothy Murphy  
e-mail: tim@maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
From: an1060@anon.penet.fi
Newsgroups: alt.books.technical
Subject: SuperStrings
Date: 26 Dec 92 16:54:41 GMT
Organization: Anonymous contact service
X-Anonymously-To: alt.books.technical

X-Anon-To: alt.books.technical



Hello,
 
I have the following 2-volume set for sale:
 
 
SuperString Theory, by Green, Schwarz, & Witten, 1987.
  Vol. 1 (list price $39.50)
  Vol. 2 (list price $54.50)
 
Both volumes are in new condition with their jackets.
 
Asking $85 or best offer (make me an offer)!!!
 
Please respond to:  mantell@ams.sunysb.edu
 
Abe
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help@anon.penet.fi.
Due to the double-blind system, any replies to this message will be anonymized,
and an anonymous id will be allocated automatically. You have been warned.
From: sabrams@desire.wright.edu
Newsgroups: alt.books.technical
Subject: Medical Embryology Text Needed
Date: 24 Dec 92 09:53:28 EST
Organization:  Wright State University 

Second year med student needs a clean copy of review of Medical Embryologyby
Ben Pansk.  Reply by E-Mail to SABRAMS@DESIRE.WRIGHT.EDU
Newsgroups: alt.books.technical
From: cjp8b@dayhoff.med.Virginia.EDU (Chris Penington)
Subject: Re: books/articles on DNS & sendmail
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 07:00:37 GMT

In article <1992Dec24.055554.5291@netcom.com> mesm@netcom.com (Mary E. S. Morris) writes:
>tabata@dcl.co.jp (Super Y.S.T.) writes:
>: I am looking for detailed documents (other than RFC's and manuals come with
>: the system) on the following subjects;
>: 
>: 1) how to set up DNS
>: 
>: 2) how to write/modify sendmail.cf

>O'Reilly's (the Nutshell people) have a book out called DNS and BIND.
>I haven't gotten very far but it appears to be standard nutshell
>quality. They are at ora.com (don't know who to write to there) 

Try nuts@ora.com

Chris

-- 
Chris Penington (cjp8b@virginia.edu)   
Biochemistry Dept., Box 440             I'm not really a physical biochemist
UVa Health Sciences Ctr,                     but I play one in the lab... 
Charlottesville, Va 22908   (804)924-8210   
Xref: sparky alt.books.technical:391 sci.math:17426
From: jk87377@cc.tut.fi (Juhana Kouhia)
Newsgroups: alt.books.technical,sci.math
Subject: Re: High Prices of Math Books. I am pissed.
Date: 26 Dec 92 11:17:31 GMT
Organization: Tampere University of Technology


In article <Bzs1Kr.I4v.1@cs.cmu.edu> sjha+@cs.cmu.edu (Somesh Jha) writes:
>
>Just wanted to bitch about something. I called McGraw-Hill about
>buying the following book:
>
>Real and Complex Analysis  By W. Rudin
>
>Guess what! the book costs $60.00.

Did Santa Claus helped you?


Well, you are still lucky respect us.
The book from local book shop could costs easily about $100 or more.

If I order the book directly from the publisher, I need to pay
the purchase tax in custom; that makes $60 to appear as $74.

Xerox copies (A4 size) are $0.05 per page; with two pages per A4 it
takes $11.3 for 452 pages.
(Though, I do not have plans to copy book(s) -- this was just an
example.)


Juhana Kouhia
Newsgroups: alt.books.technical,misc.books.technical,comp.lang.c++
From: earle@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov (Greg Earle - Gainfully Unemployed)
Subject: Why is the ARM hardbound but Stroustrup (2nd Edition) still paperback?
Followup-To: alt.books.technical,misc.books.technical
Keywords: ARM  Stroustrup
Reply-To: isolar!earle@elroy.JPL.NASA.GOV
Organization: Gainfully unemployed until January 11th
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 11:13:19 GMT

Just out of curiosity ...

Today I was in a Technical Bookstore for the first time in eons (be still, my
beating MasterCard (-: ).

I saw what looked like a current version of the ARM and was somewhat pleasantly
surprised to see that it was hardbound.  I then saw the 2nd Edition Stroustrup
nearby, but - alas! - it was softbound, like its predecessor that sits on my
shelf.  Is this intentional or was it a quirk of the store's stock?  I tend to
prefer my computer books in hardbound if possible, due to high thrash quotient
(and higher probability of "bookshelf swandives" due to my living in earthquake
 territory (-: ).

Also, I think I saw a (green colored) "C++ Answer Book" - did I, or were my
eyes deceiving me?  If so, does it apply to the first edition or to the second?
(I didn't have time to check as the store was closing ... )

Please post followups as I'm sure millions of you know the answers ...

Thanks,

--
	- Greg Earle				| Disclaimer: My opinions, not
	  Itinerant Sun Consultant		| JPL's.  They just let me post
	  isolar!earle@elroy.JPL.NASA.GOV	| through their machines ...
	  (818) 353-8695			|
Xref: sparky alt.msdos.programmer:3046 comp.os.msdos.programmer:11684 comp.lang.c:18993
From: furballs@sequent.com (Paul Penrod)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Date: 29 Dec 92 19:57:05 GMT
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.

In article <1992Dec29.150728.18195@ra.msstate.edu> chambles@whale.st.usm.edu (John William Chambless) writes:
>In article <1992Dec29.120344.13694@netcom.com> erc@netcom.com (Eric Smith) writes:
>>
>>By general purpose, you mean to exclude SQL, APL, Yacc, Awk, etc., right?
>>
>>When programmers invent new programming languages to write application
>>programs, the application programs they have in mind are usually those
>>they have done in the past and/or those they are doing at the time.  For
>>that reason, a really general purpose language has to be invented by
>>hundreds of programmers.  That means it has to evolve over a number of
>>years before it will be really general.  Thus C++ etc.
>
>When you mention a "general purpose" language designed by hundreds 
>of programmers, I think of ADA .... and my reaction is:
>
>AAAAAAARrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh!
>
>Thank you very much, but no, C is just fine for me.
>Really.
>-- 
>* Billy Chambless   University of Southern Mississippi, USA 
>*   chambles@whale.st.usm.edu
>*    

ADA: Another Dumb Adaptation...

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
            Bureaucracy: noun, plural - Bureaucracies.
         The process of turning energy into solid waste.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer
From: raymond@kronos.arc.nasa.gov (Eric A. Raymond)
Subject: Is findfirst/findnext deterministic? (same order each time)?
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 02:04:31 GMT


Are the DOS findfirst/findnext directory functions deterministic.
That is, will they report the files in the same order for a given
disk?

A related question, is the order the files are retrieved based upon
creation order?  That is, if I create files a, b, c in that order,
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer
From: brad@bradley.bradley.edu (Bradley E. Smith)
Subject: Re: bios password problem (how to bypass)
Organization: Bradley University
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 93 03:32:02 GMT

also try removing a piece of hardware (like the floppy cable) and
boot up....some bios will allow you to then get in.
-- 
Bradley Smith			 brad@bradley.edu ---  309-677-2337
Network & Technical Services @ Bradley University, Peoria, IL

"It's amazing how much scrap metal you get from 4 cans of beer"
Xref: sparky alt.msdos.programmer:3050 comp.os.msdos.programmer:11693 comp.lang.c:19002
From: dik@cwi.nl (Dik T. Winter)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Date: 30 Dec 92 03:31:29 GMT
Followup-To: alt.msdos.programmer
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam

In article <1992Dec30.014133.13806@ra.msstate.edu> chambles@whale.st.usm.edu (John William Chambless) writes:
 >  I wasn't so much bashing ADA as the idea of a "general purpose" language.
 > The first attempt at a GPL was COBOL, which turned out to be great for
 > some uses, awful for others.
Ada nor Cobol are "general purpose" languages.  Ada is especially targetted
at embedded systems.  Cobol is a business oriented language (the BO in the
acronym gives an hint).
-- 
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj  amsterdam, nederland
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn  amsterdam, nederland; e-mail: dik@cwi.nl
Xref: sparky alt.msdos.programmer:3026 comp.os.msdos.programmer:11649 comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer:686 comp.lang.c++:18454 comp.lang.c:18919
From: Richard.Kooijman@dnpap.et.tudelft.nl (Richard Kooijman)
Subject: Re: Borland C++ 3.1 vs Microsoft C/C++ 7.0
Organization: Delft University of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 19:49:36 GMT

martens@prl.philips.nl (martens p) writes:

>I have found the Microsoft people in the Netherlands to be *very* helpful
>and knowledgable. I have received minor updates, technical notes and 
>even reprints of useful articles from them, all for free. Maybe you have
>an attitude problem?

No, I haven't contacted Microsoft, but another member of our team.
So, it can't be me.

>>We will would 'like' to settle with that until Borland comes out
>>with another fine product.

>And deal with Borland support?

I yet have to use a Borland product (and I have used and am using
more Borland products than Microsoft products) for which I NEED support.
The Microsoft compilers I have worked with, all have been so
bug ridden that I surely needed not only support but also updates the
day after the original product arrived.



Richard.
--
-- ir Richard Kooijman ------------------- Email: R.Kooijman@ET.TUDelft.NL --
-- Intelligent Network Management Project (INEMA) ---------------------------
-- CARDIT, Delft University of Technology ------------ Tel: (31)-15-786209 --
-- P.O.Box 5031, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands ------ Fax: (31)-15-784898 --
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c
From: malak@grebyn.com (Michael Malak)
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Organization: Grebyn Timesharing
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1992 07:35:17 GMT

In article <1992Dec25.050515.20871@ncsu.edu> bank@lea.csc.ncsu.edu (Belgarath the Sorcerer) writes:
>    I'd like to follow-up on some subsequent Posts on this thread.
>
>2) The "Learn C or C++?" question can ONLY be answered by first
>    asking "OOP or traditional?" If you are and/or want to stay
>
>    a traditional, top-down programmer, go with C. If you want
>    to get into OOP, go with C++.

Asking "OOP or traditional" is like asking "Open end wrench or socket
set".  You use each tool where appropriate, and as I said in my previous
post, you need years of traditional C experience before you can realize
where C++'s OOP can benefit you without miring you too much in
inefficency.  If you read anyone's report of practical experience with
C++, they tell you the hard thing to learn is where _not_ to use OOP.

>
>3) If you are going to go into OOP, DO NOT start off with
>    stuff like Pascal, as one person has suggested. OOP is a
>    completely different mindset than the traditional forms used
>    by Pascal and C. The best language for learning OOP is,
>    of course, Smalltalk. I wouldn't want to DEVELOP anything
>    in Smalltalk, but if I were to start learning OOP, I think
>    that would be the best language to learn the concepts in.

The goal is to develop, not to use the wrench.

>
>4) Even if you're not going into OOP, do NOT take up Pascal as
>    a road to C. Pascal is a language that assumes you know
>    very little and places lots of restrictions and
>    inhibitions on you. If you already are a traditional-style
>    programmer, you don't need the knowledge Pascal will
>    teach you (modularization, declaration, etc). Go on into
>    C and avoid having to unlearn all the limits Pascal will
>    place on you.

Oh?  Have you ever seen C code written by a former FORTRAN programmer?
If so, by how many?  Universally you will find:
   1) Very short, illegible variable and function names, with the
      first character wasted (all integers must start with 'i', don't
      you know)
   2) No use of structures
   3) No linked lists or trees
   4) No whitespace
   5) Lots of illegible "creative" formulas
   6) No comments

As I said in my previous post, the goal a C programmer should have is to
make his program look like Pascal while knowing full well it's just
shorthand for assembly.

>
>5) Picking up Assembler prior to learning C isn't a bad idea.
>    Hardly required, tho.

It's blase attitudes such as that that are responsible for so many
bug-ridden programs.  Besides allowing one to understand what is
really going on, assembly is necessary for tracking down compiler
bugs.  In my opinion, you cannot be a real C programmer without knowing
assembly.

There is just _so_ much involved with learning C fully.  Shortcuts lead
to mediocre proficiency, which leads to disaster in a language as
unforgiving and flexible as C.

Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c
From: maxtal@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (John MAX Skaller)
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Organization: MAXTAL P/L C/- University Computing Centre, Sydney
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 19:59:17 GMT

In article <C003EI.H3u@news.udel.edu> bew@brahms.udel.edu (Ben Williams) writes:
>In article <1992Dec24.230420.4243@sequent.com> furballs@sequent.com (Paul Penrod) writes (among other things in an excellant article):

>write application software.  Has anyone written a general purpose language
>to do what I would think is the most common use of computer programming -
>to write application programs?  And if this/these exist, what are they and
>how do you rate them?  [just curious]
>
	ALGOL.
	PL/1.

Both turned out to be too hard to implement.

-- 
;----------------------------------------------------------------------
        JOHN (MAX) SKALLER,         maxtal@extro.ucc.su.oz.au
	Maxtal Pty Ltd, 6 MacKay St ASHFIELD, NSW 2131, AUSTRALIA
;--------------- SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING SOFTWARE ------------------
Xref: sparky alt.msdos.programmer:3068 comp.os.msdos.programmer:11754
From: rick@vsystem.wimsey.bc.ca (Rick Vandenberg)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Is findfirst/findnext deterministic? (same order each time)?
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 93 10:36:30 PST
Organization: Vandenberg Systems Research, Vancouver BC

pdh@netcom.com (Phil Howard ) writes:

> raymond@kronos.arc.nasa.gov (Eric A. Raymond) writes:
> 
> >Are the DOS findfirst/findnext directory functions deterministic.
> >That is, will they report the files in the same order for a given
> >disk?
> 
> Not unless the files are on there in exactly the same order.  You get
> the files in the order they are in the directory data blocks themselves.
> I am working on a program where I want the files in a more deterministic
> way, and I sort them myself.

To expand on this, if you take directory with no files in it, then add
files a,b,c,d and e, they will be accessed in the order a,b,c,d,e.
Fine.  Now delete file c.  The order is now a,b,d,e.  Now create a new
file f.  The order will be a,b,f,d,e.  This is because creating file f
uses the first free directory entry, which was freed by deleting file c.

Rick

--
Rick Vandenberg             rick@vsystem.wimsey.bc.ca
Vandenberg Systems Research For more information about V-MailServer
204 - 2255 West 5th Ave.    send a blank e-mail to
Vancouver, BC V6K 4K1       vmail-info-request@vsystem.wimsey.bc.ca
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c
From: martens@prl.philips.nl (martens p)
Subject: Re: Borland C++ 3.1 vs Microsoft C/C++ 7.0
Organization: Philips Research Laboratories, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 14:51:48 GMT

In article <richard.724767664@dutepp13> Richard.Kooijman@dnpap.et.tudelft.nl (Richard Kooijman) writes:
>I admit we don't have 6.01 or 6.0A but Microsoft Netherlands wants you
>to specifically point out where the bugs are in the compiler
>otherwise you don't get a update. Go figure, that isn't our job!
>We paid for a compiler but get something with bugs WE have to find!

I have found the Microsoft people in the Netherlands to be *very* helpful
and knowledgable. I have received minor updates, technical notes and 
even reprints of useful articles from them, all for free. Maybe you have
an attitude problem?

>You work with Microsoft, can't you provide us with a C 6.01?

I sure hope Keith has something better to do.

>
>We will would 'like' to settle with that until Borland comes out
>with another fine product.

And deal with Borland support?



Peter

Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c