HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: andrick@sun.rhrk.uni-kl.de (Ulf Andrick [Biologie])
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.science,sci.bio,soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Are the Moties us?
Date: 12 Sep 92 20:49:24 GMT
Organization: University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

jac54@cas.org () writes:
: 
: 	Can anybody on the German educational system?  I recall that it
: 	had more layers than the English.  How are pupils assigned to
: 	the schools?  My experience with the Germans is that they were
: 	generally better educated than their British contemporaries
: 	and the Americans were a real embarassment.
: 
The German educational system is not so much differentiated,
and I have my doubts if this is really important for a good
education at all. 

In West Germany after 4 years of primary education starting at the
age of 6, the great sorting takes place. There are three types
of secondary schools: Hauptschule (`main school'), Realschule
(perhaps something like secondary modern school) and Gymnasium
(grammar school). Many people feel that it is too early to
decide the whole future of a child at the age of ten. Those
who do not attend grammar schools will have difficulties to
switch to an academical education later. So, in social
democratically governed Bundeslaender (states), there are all
kinds of experiments with more or less integrated or
comprehensive schools. In Rhineland-Palatinate, where I live,
comprehensive schools don't play an important role, yet, 
because of a long conservative reign. The consequence is that the 
relative majority of pupils attends the grammar schools, as
the parents usually don't want to spoil their children's
future. 

There is a recommendation of the primary school whether a
pupil is apt to attend a grammar school or not. I don't know
how exactly that decision is taken, but apparently, it allows
a majority to visit grammar schools. Additionally, the parents
are not bound to follow this recommendation any more since a change
in government. In Baden-Wuerttemberg and the Free State of
Bavaria with their ultra-conservative governments, the
recommendation is probably still binding.

In the five new Bundeslaender, there was only one type of
secondary school, and despite the tendency to turn everything
upside down in the former GDR, they have not changed that
so far, as far as I know.

Altogether, education falls into the cultural sovereignty of
the Bundeslaender and thus is different in different parts of
Germany, but there is a general tendency away from the traditional
three-level educational system.

I post this, because someone asked for information about
Germany and I can give some, but I don't know
if it is really relevant for the discussion. I also wonder
if the discussion is relevant to all the newsgroups in the
header, but I don't know where it really belongs.

--
Ulf R. Andrick                                andrick@rhrk.uni-kl.de
FB Biologie - Tierphysiologie
Universitaet                             Was du nicht selber weiszt, 
D-W 6750 Kaiserslautern       das muszt du dir erklaeren (Tegtmeier)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: advax@reg.triumf.ca (A.Daviel)
Subject: Re: All the Weyrs of Pern
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: TRIUMF: Tri-University Meson Facility
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 00:48:00 GMT

>In article <1992Sep10.041033.10024@serval.net.wsu.edu>, msmith@beta.tricity.wsu.edu (Mark Smith) writes:
>> In article <d7nny2h.dani@netcom.com> dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) writes:
>>>jml12@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Jonathan M Lennox):
>>>>>As weak an understanding of science as McCaffrey's own is also an
>>>>>advantage. [...]  Her computers, for example,
>>>>>are either artificial superintelligences or pc's running DOS.
>>>
>>>>  I think it was decided on alt.fan.pern that the AIVAS was a VMS
>>>>machine...not even DOS requires you to explicitly say "RUN".
>>>>

In defence of VMS...

You don't have to say "RUN" if you install your task "properly" in DCL, the 
command language interpreter. DCL will accept unique abbreviations for 
commands, prompt for missing parameters, and other neat stuff so that it's 
actually much *more* friendly than DOS (or unix csh) Also, you can hook into
existing commands so that you could type "SHOW DISHWASHER" (or "sh dish")
instead of "DISHWASHER -SHOW" or whatever. 



 Andrew Daviel, Vancouver, Canada
From: kipper@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kip Ingram)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: _Dune_ Mailing List
Date: 14 Sep 92 13:42:08 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

Dune Fans:

   I have created a "Dune" mailing list.  Anything related to Frank Herbert's
Dune series is fair game for this discussion group.  If you're interested in
joining, please send a request to kipper@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu.  I'll add you to
the mailing list.  To post messages to the list, send mail to
dune@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu.  I don't think you have to be a member to post; you
just won't receive any mail from the list unless you join.

Take care,
Kip Ingram
From: ca572@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Mark L. Stackpole)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: The Doomsday Book
Date: 10 Sep 1992 19:58:12 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


Connie Willis has had only only collection published: _Fire 
Watch_ (Bluejay 1985). This contains one of the nastiest feminist
stories ever written "All My Darling Daughters". It also has her
two nebula award winners "A Letter for the Clearys" & th
title story. She is way overdue for another collection!
From: mcb@derrida.postmodern.com (Am I Not Your Girl?)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: SNOW CRASH by Neal Stephenson
Date: 9 Sep 92 23:59:03 GMT
Organization: Postmodern Consulting, San Francisco, California USA

In the referenced article, williams@herky.cs.uiowa.edu (Kent Williams) writes:
> If you're into the c'punk thing, "SNOW CRASH" slays.  It's a sort of a
> mystery shoot-em-up in real and virtual reality, and pushes some of
> the same buttons as Gibson's stuff, but the characters aren't as
> obsessed with their own coolness.

But, wasn't that what made Gibson's works so much fun?

--
Michael C. Berch  
mcb@postmodern.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: betsyp@apollo.hp.com (Betsy Perry)
Subject: Re: Lovecraft: Influenced by "King in Yellow"
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 14:38:57 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Chelmsford, MA
Keywords: Lovecraft, R.W. Chambers, King in Yellow

In article <1992Sep5.141005.22712@samba.oit.unc.edu> Kurt.Bond@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Kurt Bond) writes:
>
>Some other authors use elements from Chambers in their work. Lawrence
>Watt-Evans first four books were a fantasy series inspired by "The King
>in Yellow", for instance.  I've never been able to figure out if the
>`Hastur' in M.Z. Bradley's Darkover novel is related to that of Chambers
>or Bierce.

Bradley has copped to heavy Chambers influence in her teens;
remember, Darkover grew out of her fantasy world.  "Hastur"
is by no means the only carryover -- notice that "Camilla"
and "Cassilda" are recurring female names.

I'd love to hear more about Hastur in Bierce: which Bierce?
I'm only familiar with *An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge*
and *The Devil's Dictionary*.  What else do you recommend?
-- 
Betsy Hanes Perry   (note P in userid)     betsyp@apollo.hp.com
Hewlett-Packard Company
"It seems to us that the readers who want fiction to be like life are
considerably outnumbered by those who would like life to be like fiction."
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: clc@kepler.unh.edu (Christian L Claiborn)
Subject: Re: Ya can't keep 'em down!
Keywords: Heinlein, Conspiracies, JFK, Armenians, Atlantis
Organization: University of New Hampshire  -  Durham, NH
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 18:40:31 GMT

In article <1992Sep13.033838.17785@organpipe.uug.arizona.edu> dave@cs.arizona.edu (Dave Schaumann) writes:
>In article <1992Sep11.180129.15008@nmsu.edu>, wimcdaid@nmsu (Liam McDaid) writes:
>>	I would like to know what the opinions are on 
>>Heinlein's (oh, Jesus, not again!) short stories.  To preempt the
>>Heinlein (is God/is scum) flamefest, I'd like to attempt to lay 
>>down some ground rules:
>>
>>	I'm only interested in his stuff BEFORE Stranger. [...]
>>	An emphasis on his "Future History" stuff would be
>>appreciated.
>
>Get _The Past Through Tomorrow_.
>

_Man Who Sold the Moon_.

I like one of those stories.  Can't remember which.  It was delightfully 
anti-feminist.
						clc
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Christian Longshore Claiborn | clc@kepler.unh.edu | Friend of the Great     |
| Chuck Woolery's Protege      | clc@gloin.unh.edu  | Eater of Souls          |
| Future UNH Sysadmin          | clc@bifur.unh.edu  | Ask about group rates!  |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|"It was all very well to say 'Drink Me,' but the wise little Alice wasn't    |
| going to do THAT in a hurry."  -- The Reverend Charles Dodgson              |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: arthurc@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (Arthur Chandler)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Hubbard stories ?
Date: 14 Sep 92 01:54:16 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: California State University, Sacramento


   I did read one really fine Hubbard fantasy.  It's hard to find, but
worth searching for.  It's called *Slaves of Sleep*, and works a clever
variation on the wimp/superstud story.  Anybody else out there ever read
this book?
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: David Gemmel
From: news@massey.ac.nz (USENET News System)
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 03:04:12 GMT
Organization: School of Maths and Info Sciences, Massey University, NZ.

In article <1992Sep8.231308.23523@menudo.uh.edu> barrus@oak.egr.uh.edu (Karl L. Barrus) writes:
>Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
>Path: cc-server4.massey.ac.nz!comp.vuw.ac.nz!uunet!cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!menudo.uh.edu!usenet
>From: barrus@oak.egr.uh.edu (Karl L. Barrus)
>Subject: Re: David Gemmel
>Message-ID: <1992Sep8.231308.23523@menudo.uh.edu>
>Sender: usenet@menudo.uh.edu (USENET News System)
>Nntp-Posting-Host: oak.egr.uh.edu
>Organization: University of Houston
>Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 23:13:08 GMT
>Lines: 18

>>cwes1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (Clare West) writes:
>>I guess he doesn't have a very high profile in America or else readers
>>of this group think him beneath them.

>>ecmtwhk@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Thomas Koenig)
>>Probably the "Iain Banks" syndrome - unless somebody actually brings out
>>the books in the US, hardly anybody on the net is going to take notice...

>I can at least verify that Gemmel isn't published in the Houston area...or  
>I'm having extremely bad luck finding his novels or the bookstores here  
>just don't stock his work.  After reading the praised heaped upon him, I'm  
>about ready to special order one or two.  Any suggestions/recommendations?
>--
>/-----------------------------------\
>| Karl L. Barrus                    |
>| barrus@tree.egr.uh.edu (NeXTMail) |
>| elee7h5@jetson.uh.edu             |
>\-----------------------------------/
Get "Legend" - it combines the first 3 Drenai (sp?) books in chronological 
order plus it includes a previously unpublished short story about how Druss 
became the Legend.

Brenden
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: u9161910@cs.uow.edu.au (Gareth William Omeara)
Subject: Re: Dreamer Fithp
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Wollongong University, Australia
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 04:01:59 GMT

On a lighter note...

	Imagine what weird and wonderful plots would have come
from such a group if Philip K. Dick had been in one while he was
alive.Sure,they probably would have never come true , but who cares?
they would have fun to read about.Imagine the headlines on the
papers: "Government prepares for invasion by communist FBI from
Pluto with telepathic powers".

	Ah well,it's a nice thought.

Gareth.
u9161910@wraith.cs.uow.edu.au
From: REBECCA@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu (Rebecca Drayer)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Looking for Short Story
Date: 14 Sep 92 22:21:32 GMT
Organization: Yale University

I'm looking for the title of a short story that was published in Isaac Asimov's
Science Fiction Magazine some time ago.  It was about a boy who could kill
people with his mind by somehow giving them cancer.  (He did it to a
busdriver who was rude to him).  I seem to recall that the format of the
story was the kid narrating it to some unseen entity who kept prompting him.
Does anyone remember this story and who wrote it?
 
 
*************************************************************************
Rebecca A. Drayer, EMT        |    Rebecca@Yalevm.Ycc.Yale.edu
P.O. Box 6349 Yale Station    |    Computing Assistant
New Haven, CT 06520           |    Silliman College, Yale University
*************************************************************************
From: daynem@byron.u.washington.edu (Dayne Miller)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Help on Upcoming? Robert Jordan book
Date: 8 Sep 92 21:44:32 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In article <lao22jINNirf@aludra.usc.edu> rmcgover@aludra.usc.edu (Rob McGovern) writes:
>Does anyone out there know when Robert Jordan is going to release the
>sequal to _The Dragon Reborn_ ?  Or at least when it is going to be
>out on paperback?  Any information would be usefull and appreciated.
>Thanks ahead of time.  
>

The sequel to Robert Jordan's _The Dragon Reborn_ has an official release date
in early November, but will probably be in some bookstores as early as the 
2nd week of October, or possibly even earlier. It is entitled _The Shadow
Rising_, and will be the fourth installment of Jordan's epic cycle _The Wheel
of Time_ (there will be six books in all). Directly preceeding the release of
_The Shadow Rising_, _The Dragon Reborn_ will become available in paperback.
_Shadow_, however, will not be available in paperback for a full year, when 
volume #5 of the cycle hits the stands.

   Hope this was helpful...

   -Dayne Miller
      daynem@u.washington.edu
From: swf@teradata.com (Stanley Friesen)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: COVINGTON CROSS
Date: 10 Sep 92 00:05:06 GMT
Reply-To: swf@tdat.teradata.com (Stanley Friesen)
Organization: NCR Teradata Database Business Unit

In article <92241.163715DSF105@psuvm.psu.edu> DSF105@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
|
|    Even more fundamentally, however, the characters
|seemed to know far more about their place in history
|than ANYONE would, now or then.  There seemed to be
|this politically-correct insistence to portray the
|women as women of the 1990s.  I have no qualms about
|fiction forsaking portraylas of women as helpless, but
|don't make them into seers of the future. . . one
|woman said to the other something about being "a
|prisoner of their times."  I'm sorry, but no one--
|men OR women--had a concept of social issues that
|wouldn't arise until 500-700 years later.

Even worse, it is possible to have *authentically* strong women in
a medieval setting -  without playing PC games.

Anyone who thinks Eleanor of Aquitaine was weak and helpless is a
hopeless moron.

Or Empress Matilda (the Queen Mother during King Stephen's reign).

Or the countess (whose name I forget) who ran a castle's defense agains
a major siege, and successfully at that.  (She was only forced to surrender
when the enemies captured her husband and used him as a hostage).

So - no need to go modern to get away from the wimpy female.
-- 
sarima@teradata.com			(formerly tdatirv!sarima)
  or
Stanley.Friesen@ElSegundoCA.ncr.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: daynem@byron.u.washington.edu (Dayne Miller)
Subject: Dreamer Fithp, and an apology
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 22:20:25 GMT

I owe an apology to several highly-esteemed gentlemen. I recently wrote that
in a "Threat Team" composed of SF writers, the following should be true:

>If so, who is (or should be) on it? I'd guess Niven, Pournelle, David Brin, 
>Orson Scott Card, Asimov (were he still alive), Carl Sagan (maybe the only
>true scientist of the group), Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, and a few others

I quickly received a fair amount of mail, most of it along this line:

>>only that Benford's PhD is in physics, and he publishes a hell of a lot
>>of high-density-math papers I can't read, for someone whom your sentence
>>structure implies you may not consider to be a "true scientist...."  

>>Brin's PhD is in Physics, concentrated in astronomy, and *he* publishes 
>>more academic work in esoteric journals than he does SF, so *HE* might
>>be a tad surprised to be referred to as someone who's not a "true
>>scientist"...
>>Pournelle's graduate degrees are in psychology and history, but his undergrad
>>degree majors were engineering and math, and you'll find a lot of patents
>>with his name in them (all assigned to the U.S. gumming/NASA, since he 
>>worked at Canaveral at the time).  Niven's undergrad work included math,
>>engineering, and physics majors, and he's done graduate work in math; 
>>what degree level, i don't know.  
 
>>Card and Bear are the only two you mention who don't have techie-oriented
>>graduate degrees (at least, as far as I know; I remember Greg saying once,
>>at a party, that he was working on an MS in astrophysics.)  
 
>>be careful of that "true scientists" guff; someone might send a copy of
>>your maunderings to the people you're discussing!    
 
   I in no way meant to imply that the gentlemen in question were not scien-
tifically capable or qualified, or that they had no "official" connection
with an science-related organizations. What I *meant*, and failed miserably
to confer, was that Carl Sagan is the only one of the aforementioned authors
known to the "layperson" as a scientist FIRST, and a SF writer SECOND. I was 
aware of (most) of the qualifications and vocations of the other authors, but
would suspect that to the average part-time SF reader they are perceived pri-
marily as authors only.

  The SF field is lucky to have such a talented group as contributors, both 
those I mentioned and many who I did not. Once again I apologize for any 
offense given to the authors included in my posting and all of their friends
and fans. No slight was intended, and I hope that there continues to be a 
strong influx of scientists into the SF field.

  -Dayne Miller
     daynem@u.washington.edu
 
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: robertm@alumni.cs.colorado.edu (MONTGOMERY ROBERT PH)
Subject: Williamson story ?
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 03:07:32 GMT

Would someone please tell me in which book I can find
Jack Williamson's "The Moon Girl"?

Thanks,

Rob

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: Mr_b
Subject: Re: eric frank russell
Organization: LMSC
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 92 18:29:43 GMT

>My favorite EFR book is 'Wasp'.

My favorite EFR phrase concerning someone intent on climbing the
organizational ladder (an approximate quote):

'The only thing between him and the top of the ladder, was the ladder.'
From: sdh5@po.CWRU.Edu (Scott D. Hurley)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Remembrance (Was: Something rotten in the human Genome)
Date: 5 Sep 1992 22:05:29 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu


Ahem.  I know that this might be slightly off the topic, but. . .

I've been working on a multispecies organism concept that goes
something like this:
	A combined biomechanical (a la Met-Car) and organic form
	of life that follows nanotech reengineered genetic scheme
	and patterning.  In the transformation massive amounts of
	information in the genetic code of the individual is 
	rewritten to encompase not only a "new" physical form,
	but also translates the entire identity of the individual
	into the "empty" genetic spaces, along with a considerable
	amount of other knowledge and information.  This method 
	of storing memory allows the new lifeform the capacity
	to absorb massive amounts of damage (i.e. up to and
	including the annihilation of most of its physical 
	structure) and yet regenerate (given the proper raw
	materials) into a fully-realized version of itself per
	the last genetic-"memory identity" update.  This 
	goes beyond the simple form of cloning, and allows an
	idependent lifeform, seperate from the rest of its kind
	or any form of civilization to reform into a completely
	functional member of its "species", including a complete
	knowledge of all of its civilization's technology, culture
	and what-not.  Obviously, this also allows for a type
	of limited immortality, and even resurrection.  It also
	makes for a VERY formidable opponent in the evolutionary
	scheme of things . . .

So, what do you think?  Is it a good idea, complete psuedo-science,
or something in between?  All RELEVANT comments are welcome, either
here or via e-mail.

Thanks ahead,

Scott D. Hurley
-- 
"You've changed the past Louise, and you know Damn Well we can't
 change the past--we change with it!" - - Coventry in 'Millenium'
"In any universe where time travel is possible . . . eventually
 there will arise a history without time travel." --Larry Niven
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: clc@kepler.unh.edu (Christian L Claiborn)
Subject: Re: Piers Anthony
Organization: University of New Hampshire  -  Durham, NH
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 01:16:26 GMT

In article <190gq5INN8ek@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> dpn2@po.CWRU.Edu (Damien P. Neil) writes:
>
>In a previous article, mweinste@pearl.tufts.edu () says:
>>Is anyone out there a Piers Anthony fan?  I prefer his fantasy to his
      <A lot of things I'd rather not think about deleted.>
>Are you serious, or just joking?

Pray for the sanctity of rec.arts.sf.written that he was.  Pray that it was
all a dream.  Pray that we're not being invaded by a bunch of fans of a 
second-rate hack who's stooped to punning for money.

					clc

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Christian Longshore Claiborn | clc@kepler.unh.edu | Friend of the Great     |
| Chuck Woolery's Protege      | clc@gloin.unh.edu  | Eater of Souls          |
| Future UNH Sysadmin          | clc@bifur.unh.edu  | Ask about group rates!  |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|"It was all very well to say 'Drink Me,' but the wise little Alice wasn't    |
| going to do THAT in a hurry."  -- The Reverend Charles Dodgson              |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: plutchak@pilsner.geo.brown.edu (Joel Plutchak)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Gormenghast (Minor spoilers(?))
Date: 9 Sep 1992 14:32:48 GMT
Organization: Brown University Planetary Geology
NNTP-Posting-Host: pilsner.geo.brown.edu

In article <1992Sep6.022804.7359@ac.dal.ca> hyde@ac.dal.ca writes:
>	Gormenghast as a whole  is by no means escape literature...

   This brings to mind a question I've had ever since starting the
books (I'm between books two and three right now).  Why is it
considered SF/fantasy?  The edition I bought was filed in the
SF section of the bookstore, but nowhere on the books was any
indication that they aren't "mainstream" fiction.  After getting
no more than a few chapters into the first book, I mentally filed
them much closer to, say, Dickens, than to Arthur Clarke, Marion
Zimmer Bradley, etc.  It seems even more ridiculous when you
consider that books like _Jurassic Park_ are considered mainstream
fiction.  What's the deal?
--
Joel Plutchak, Research Programmer/Analyst
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written