HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: aaron@space.ualberta.ca (Aaron Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Books Database
Reply-To: aaron@space.ualberta.ca
Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 05:10:56 GMT

JBrandt@AAA.UOregon.EDU (Jay Brandt) writes:
: In article <6wvnx5j.aahz@netcom.com>, aahz@netcom.com (Mean Green Dancing
: Machine) writes:
: > Heh.  Just wait 'til you're tempted into putting all your book titles
: > into a database.....
: > -- 
: 
: <Ping!> Jason flickers in biefly next to MGDM. "We tried that once about
: five years ago, and gave up on it as a lost cause. Not enough man-hours
: available for data entry, and at the time not enough shelf space to get
: them all out of boxes and organized in some fashion. Now it's even worse!
: More books - less space!"
: 
: "Perhaps when we get into bigger accommodations?" he says wistfully. "I
: could trade soemone good food and crash space for their data entry work,
: and they would get to browse through a really ecclectic library. Perhaps
: I'll try to set that up with someone after the next move. Gotta split!
: Still have a system install and several orders for networking supplies to
: fill." 

Alfvaen looks at Jason speculatively as he mentions the possible offer.  "If
only I were free..." he sighs.  "Jason, I'd >love< to do that sometime.  I
love putting things into databases, and I did it quite successfully with my
own collection, and yours is only about twice as big...if you didn't mind me
not doing short stories within books(if you have many anthologies and the like,
it would onlt take me a few weeks of dedicated labour.  I think--I didn't
really time mine, because it was mostly sporadic, but it didn't take me too
long to put it all in originally, and in fact I had to do it twice because the
majority of my files became corrupted at one point--yes, I know, I hadn't
really figured out how useful backups can be, at that point...

"Tell you what, Jason, if you and Pegasus move to Edmonton anytime and still
don't have this done, I volunteer to do it.  Sometime--I might be working at
that time...but eventually it would get done.  Whaddaya say?"

--
---Alfvaen(Canadian SF Quasi-Activist)
"Don't fight it--it's over your head."  --King Crimson
Current Album--Pink Floyd:Dark Side of The Moon
Current Read--Robert Heinlein:The Past Through Tomorrow
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: lydick@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Speaker-to-Minerals)
Subject: Re: Books Database
Reply-To: lydick@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 09:51:03 GMT

In article <BuHnHz.4xK@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, trumpins@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu (Barbara Trumpinski) writes:
>StM says:
>
>>Me, I've found a simple solution to the problem.  One of which I suspect Kitten
>>would approve:  When the number of books I own gets to around 300 or so, I make
>>a trip to one or more local libraries (the SF goes to the Caltech science
>>fiction club library; everything else goes to the Pasadena public library),
>>present them with LOTS of books, and let some librarian worry about cataloging
>>them (or selling them in order to raise money to buy other books, as the case
>>may be).
>
>kitten grins...."you are right....although when i clear out books
>(something i don't do often...it causes me physical pain to lose a
>book...and when i go to visit my ex-husband i also visit all the books
>he kept custody of when we split up....) i donate them to the
>community radio station rummage sale..."

Well, when I give the books to the library, I always make the person to whom I
give the books promise that they won't sell any of them unless they already
have the title.  Now, I realize that the person with whom I'm dealing at the
time almost certainly doesn't have the authority to make such an agreement, but
I expect that the fact I've donated a stack of books big enough for me to hide
behind (and I'm not all that small :-) will lead said person to convey my
wishes to a person with the necessary authority.  Suffice it to say that I've
*NEVER* gone to the PPL looking for a book that I've donated, only to find that
it's not in the catalog.

So, I've never lost a book this way.  I may have to travel a mile or so to get
to it, and then I may have to wait a week or two for whomever's got it to
finish reading it and return it, but so far, *EVERY* time I've gone to the
library to get one of my former books, I've gotten it.  In the meantime,
judging from the card in the front, at least half a dozen (could be 1.5 dozen,
2.5 dozen, etc., depending on how many times they've had to replace the card)
people have enjoyed the book.

That *DOES*, however, leave me with a bit of a moral dilemma.  By donating
these books to a library, I'm denying the author the royalties on the sale of
on additional copy of his book.  Does anybody out there know that the royalties
typically are?  If I can find that out, then I can donate the book to the
library and send the author a check for the royalties he would've received had
the library *BOUGHT* a copy of the book.  This is an especially attractive idea
since I suspect that most authors would keep such a check as a souvenir instead
of cashing it :-).
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: mbr2@quads.uchicago.edu (Curious Of All Natures)
Subject: Philosophy of Gifts
Reply-To: mbr2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: Universtiy of Chicago
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 18:27:35 GMT

Jack-
	I'm just gonna have to expound on my philosophy of gifts.  The
challenge I set myself when giving a gift or token is to find
something symbolic of me, of them, or of "us" - whichever is called
for in the situation.  Examples from my life:

I've got a pine-scent pillow (5in. x 5in.) in a chest pocket of a
jacket I wear a lot.  The scent rubs off on my shirts.  It reminded my
girlfriend (from a prior era of my life) of me.  I gave her a 1in. x
3in. size pillow that smelled just like it, symbolizing me to her.

On another occasion she gave me a sphere of polished layered rock.
The last layer, at one of the poles, had the same outline as a
"Cat's-eye" icon that I'd drawn to symbolize myself on the localtalk
network here at the U of Chicago.

A future gift to another friend of mine will be a pictorial-book
entitled "Cats and their Women".  It's rather symbolic of our mutual
shared lives with and love of cats.  

This is why I can't possibly make a suggestion to you, Jack.  Only you
know your relationship with whomever it is deeply enough to find
something in the spirit I'd recommend.  As you can see from the above
examples, no great expense is required.  But if you have a wider
budget a great deal more symbolic expression is possible.  It's
possible to get lost in the $, though.  If she really wants a tv and
you got her a big one, she'd probably be the happier for it, but the
from-youness of it would fade pretty quickly.  

Of course, this makes the gifting process much harder.  Often I can't
discover the right kind of symbolic item and settle for finding
something they want or would want if only they knew about it.  It
takes a lot more effort and creativity to get a successful symbolic
gift... but the effort and creativity will shine through and it's
always appreciated.


-Matt Ryan, askmaster,
mb-ryan@uchicago.edu                Curious Of All Natures
==================================  ====================================
If I'm dreaming, never let me wake. You'll never see the end of the road
If I'm awake, never let me sleep.   When you're traveling with me.
               -old chinese fellow                        -Crowded House     
==================================  ====================================
From: JDK116@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: An old friend finds his way back...
Date: 9 Sep 92 22:38:01 GMT
Organization: Penn State University

A rather non-descript figure stands in the doorway a few moments upon entering.
 It seems to just stand there and take in the atmosphere of The Place, then
moves twords the bar, the figuers dark robes swirling as they hide its
identity.

At the bar, Mike, the bartender, hands the newcomer a cup of Hot Sake--as if he
 expected this customer to order such a drink. The dark one takes the cup and h
eads to The Line.

 Upon findinding his way to the anointed mark he takes a sip of his drink, allo
wing the warmth to spread through him. Much as the warmth from this place has
in the past comforted him. A few of the more curious of the patrons have
taken notice to this brooding figure. But, not worried if anyone notices, he
raises his cup and proclaims,

     "This is a unique place. A place to find comfort and friends. A place
      that is in contunial change but remains the same. This is a home for
      the wayward spirit. A place that I lost once, and now have found
      again. This is a place I love!"

The speaker tilts his head back, consuming his chosen poison (as most would
call hot sake such). In doing so the hood that has hence obscured his features
falls back and reveles his identity. A very pale, almost white, skinned
elven creature, with silky long white hair and black eyes is revealed.

He cocks his arm and makes the required throw....***CRASH!!!***

He turns to face those of the crowd that have graced his meager self with their
 attention. "Greetings ALL!!!  Jack's Back!!!"

Jack looks about and finds a few familiar faces...and nods to them. "Hey,
is HoloMuck still up? Can somone provide me with the telnet connection code?
I've a feeling my place has gotten a bit dusty, if it's still standing..."


                              J. Jack Frost
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: pope@physics.su.OZ.AU (The Nightstalker)
Subject: Re: Congratulations SEA ! re: In which SEA finds a job
Organization: School of Physics, University of Sydney, Australia
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 00:50:33 GMT

"My newsfeed as always sucks, but here goes.  *Hug*  Congrats Sea!"


--
The Nightstalker.....




"Planet Bog - pools of toxic chemicals
bubble under a choking atmosphere
of poisonous gases.  But aside from
that, it's not much like Earth."
        - Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes)


Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: trumpins@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu (Barbara Trumpinski)
Subject: Re: When packrats move . . .
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 01:38:36 GMT

kitten hollers after jason and pegasus..."don't forget to send your
birthdays, favorite drinks, and your wedding anniversary date to nick
chopper.... he is really busy...but i know that he is keeping up with
the birthday list....his e-mail is ge.ljb@forsythe.stanford.edu or
booky@forsythe.stanford.edu ...."


--
***************************************************************************
conan the librarian a.k.a. kitten           /\ /\  barbara ann 
"my life's a soap opera, isn't yours?"      {=.=}
                                              ~   trumpins@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu 
"perhaps _any_ universe becomes real in proportion 
to the number of people who believe in it and spend time there." s. robinson
From: rmarsh@waikato.ac.nz
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Home again home again jiggity jig.
Date: 12 Sep 92 01:51:27 +1200
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

  Stumpy opens his eyes and shrugs his shoulders the way one does when
donning a familiar coat. "Oy, but it's good to be back. Australia was
great, but there's no place like home. Mike, I'm picking up DM's tab
tonight, I figure I owe him that much in addition to the books I promised
him. I've got them by the way, DM. They should hit the mail next week."
  He looks around the bar, taking in the scene from his own perspective
again. "This place is filling up. I guess the Northern Hemisphere schools
are back to work again huh? But that doesn't explain the sudden appearance
of an unusual number of Australians... ...and if my conversations with some
of DM and Shonias' friends are anything to go by there may yet be more,
right Sue?" ;)
  "I think I need this glass recharged Mike, port if you will." The big
bartender tops up the glass and Stumpy carries it to the chalk line.

  "Well, come in and welcome in to all and sundry and the sun-dried. Meet
drink and be airy - for the sun-dried, mostly drink."

He drains the glass and pitches it into the middle of the parabolic hearth.

  "That includes you Feather, you're coming in loud and clear. There's 
shoulder space right here should you need it."

-- 
Robert 'Stumpy' Marsh | 95 Fairfield Rd | I can't reply to E-Mail, but 
rmarsh@waikato.ac.nz  | Hamilton        | don't let that stop you sending.
+64 7 855 4406        | New Zealand     |
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: trumpins@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu (Barbara Trumpinski)
Subject: Re: When packrats move . . .
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 01:36:29 GMT

[   ]  jason and pegasus come in...

>"Hi Mike. I'd like to introduce my wife, Laurie. Our friends also call her
>Pegasus. We want to propose a toast."

[   ]  moving toast and tale deleted for bandwidth

>"Well, if you'll excuse us, I think we're going to get cleaned up and go
>over to Lady Sally's for a nice long soak in the grotto. Get to know each
>other again and talk about whatever comes up, as it were."

kitten looks around...."i guess the hot tub is under repair and will
be back when binkley comes back....so the grotto at lady sally's is
indeed an acceptable substitution....for now.  welcome pegasus..."

>Pegasus chuckles and grabs Jason from behind, saying "Only talk? We'll see
>about that! Lets go soak our heads. See ya folks!" She smiles broadly and
>hauls him out the door.

kitten giggles as she watches poor jason being dragged away by his love...

--
***************************************************************************
conan the librarian a.k.a. kitten           /\ /\  barbara ann 
"my life's a soap opera, isn't yours?"      {=.=}
                                              ~   trumpins@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu 
"perhaps _any_ universe becomes real in proportion 
to the number of people who believe in it and spend time there." s. robinson
From: carole@peregrine.Sun.COM (Carole Parker)
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Re: Good Morning, Friends!
Date: 7 Sep 1992 01:36:43 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca.
NNTP-Posting-Host: peregrine

>Current Name: The same one I've always had, Carole Irene Parker

>Alter Ego: RenFaire: Rachel MicIain.  SCA: Can I forget her, please?

>Birth Date: June 22, 1955

>Birthplace: Los Angeles, California

>Residence: Mtn. View, California

>Sex: I think it's lots of fun, and I enjoy it.

>Gender: Female

>Marital Status: Single

>Offspring: None

>Siblings: Three brothers who don't look like me.  One older, one younger.

>Blood type: A positive

>Hair: Debatable red.  Some define as strawberry red/blond, some have called
it auburn in the wrong light, some have (harumph!) called it blond.  Not the
obvious red everyone is used to.  More like a molten gold color.  I *like*
my hair and wouldn't change the color, wave or curl that I have given to me
my genetics and nature!

>Eyes: Blue

>Height: 5'9" (Can someone please convert to metrics for me?)

>Music Preferences: Just about everything except for hard core country
western (my baby just left me and I'm so sad and blue and I don't know what
to do....boo hoo hoo...), and hard screaming metalic/rock where you can't
understand what the singer is singing even with a good sound system, but
all you can tell is that it's *loud*.

>Pet Peeves: True stupidity.  As long as a person really tries, I'm willing
to give them the benefit of the doubt.

>Least Favourite Activities: Hurting someone unnecessarily.

>Most Favourite Activities: I'm a hedonist.  Use your imagination. ;-)

>Quotes that can be attributed to me: You'll have to ask Jilara, Alaric,
FlowerCat or Mandelbear for this one.

>Hobbies: Embroidery, hiking in nearby parks, bicycle riding every now and
again, reading SF&F, costuming, attending cons, meeting new people, and
*dancing* whenever I can.

>Political affiliation: Bleeding heart liberal Democrat.

>Allergies: Minor skin allergies.  Easy to avoid products that I react to.
Can't use BenGay.

>Occupation: Technical Editor/Writer

>Favourite Foods: Spicy/hot is great, fresh is enjoyed, and sweet gets me
into weight trouble.  I'm known for my green salads at parties -- ask
FlowerCat.

>What I regret most: Too many things to list here.

>Parting words: Usually along the lines of "Until later."  I'm very
opinionated and tend to scare some people away.  Not because I try to
but because they don't know how to deal with me.


I found myself. See? I'm right here! Until later--

Carole Parker
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: keulen@possum.csu.murdoch.edu.au (Mike van Keulen)
Subject: Re: BIO Sheet - Jason
Organization: Murdoch University
Date: 15 Sep 92 03:23:14 GMT

JBrandt@AAA.UOregon.EDU (Jay Brandt) writes:


><Ping!> A small stack of papers flutters to rest at one end of the Bar. 
>It's a Bio Sheet from Jason. Mike passes it around for all to read.

Hey!  Deja-vu!  Didn't I see this already?  Or have we got two Jasons by
powerbook?  :-)

Splash!

--
***************************** Michael van Keulen *************************** 
* Snail: School of BES - Biology         e-mail: keulen@murdoch.edu.au     *
*        Murdoch University              phone:  ++ 61 (09) 360-2843 (work)*
*        Murdoch WA 6150  AUSTRALIA              ++ 61 (09) 417-3902 (home)*
*************************** "To Love is to _LIVE_!" ************************
From: mdm@SPARC2.PRIME.COM (Michael D. McAfee)
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: east is east, west is west
Date: 10 Sep 92 20:40:51 GMT



		The dark elf enters Callahan's and notices a critter
	runing around the tables.  "Oh, cool!  An ocelot!"  He reaches
	down to scritch it behind the ears.

		He then listens to the discussion on cardinal directions.
	"Should we bother with eastmost and westmost points?  I mean,
	no matter where you are, there's something to the east and
	something to the west.  But you can't get any more north or
	south than at the poles.  Eastmost and westmost are probably
	meaningless on a global scale.

		"So I nominate myself as eastmost Callhanian on the
	North American continent (unless there's anyone more east than
	Boston)."

		The elf suddenly has that sinking feeling that he's just
	let another silly thread loose in the place.

	Michael, the Chaotic
	disclaimer:  someday, this post will be used as a model of how
			opinions are not shared between posters and
			employers
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: dasher@well.sf.ca.us (D Anton Sherwood)
Subject: Re: Libertarianism
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 21:56:28 GMT

In article <1992Sep6.161655.18391@cco.caltech.edu> lydick@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU writes:
>In article <122420117@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM>, daq@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Doug Quarnstrom) writes:
>>
>>Some more than others.  It is a common tactic of the american war
>>machine to arrange things so that the poor fight and die to protect
>>everyone.  Most notable are cases in the civil war where there
>>was a draft, and people were allowed to pay $300 not to be
>>drafted.  In VietNam, this was accomplished through college deferement.
>
>Actually, what you're saying isn't that some reeive more of the benefits of
>that defense than others, but that some bear more of the cost than others.

Well, a cost is just a negative benefit.

I note that both of the wars cited were of dubious benefit to the people
at large, never mind the draftees.
-- 
Anton Sherwood *\\* dasher@well.sf.ca.us *\\* +1 415 664 2229
Libertarian candidate for California Assembly, 12th district
Opinions mine, but available for lease at easy terms.
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: kiran@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (Kiran Wagle)
Subject: Re: libertarianism
Organization: Indiana University
Distribution: alt
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 09:12:55 GMT

aahz@netcom.com (Mean Green Dancing Machine) writes:

>Much as I dislike it on one level, I understand in my gut why the public
>cries out for more regulation.  The obscene spectre lurking in our
>imagination is fear of ignorance -- fear of the incompetent doctor,
>lawyer, engineer, plumber,.....

And most of all, fear of the incompetent consumer.

Fear that 'the public' is simply not qualified to take care of itself.

-- 
Kiran Wagle <kiran@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu>
From: brumby@nella11.cc.monash.edu.au (Stephen McNamara)
Subject: Re: Greetings
Keywords: Snakebite (snakebite? Eeek!)
Organization: Monash University, Melb., Australia.
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 02:13:31 GMT

   The brumby looks up from the fireplace with a start, and for a few
moments looks a little more alert.

u906451@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au (Agamemnon) writes:
>ajm@wag.caltech.edu (Abner J. Mintz) writes:
     ^^^ (Am I the only one who thinks this is apt? :-)
>>Abner sneaks in (between plane flights) to welcome the new vict(oops) 'member'.
>The difference between vict(oops) 'member' is slight. :)
>>Hmmm.  Named Damien, from Tasmania.  It's a Tasmanian Devil!  =8)
>No, I am not a marsupial about a foot and half long, 6 inches high and the 
>shoulders, coloured black and white and has the strength in my jaws to crack
>the bones of carrion. :)

   "Well, it seems that I am no longer the southern-most patron of the bar.
It would be interesting to know who occupies the other cardinal points
though."


-- 
     The Silver Brumby of          brumby@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au
      the Silicon Plains

      The grass is always greener on the other side of the network.
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: uribe@jarthur.claremont.edu (Lydia Uribe)
Subject: Re: east is east, and west is west
Organization: Claremont Shelter for Maladjusted Singers
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 00:50:57 GMT

In article <9209102039.AA01460@sparc2.Prime.COM> mdm@sparc2.Prime.COM (Michael D. McAfee) writes:
>
>		"So I nominate myself as eastmost Callhanian on the
>	North American continent (unless there's anyone more east than
>	Boston)."

Soprano looks up and grins.  "Sorry, Michael -- from June through August,
I'm in Little Deer Isle, Maine, which is about 2.5 degrees farther east.
Now, anybody in Nova Scotia? ;-)"

>	Michael, the Chaotic

				Soprano

"You're more than beginning -- you're learning to fly;
 You feel like you're falling, but it passes in time...."
			"From Me to You", Janis Ian
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Soprano (Lydia M. Uribe)                      uribe@jarthur.claremont.edu |
| Claremont, CA                                  uribe@hmcvax.claremont.edu |
|           Cats, quilts and diving -- what more could anyone ask?          |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+