HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: karlb@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Karl Buschhaus)
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Answering Machine Shenanigans
Date: 18 Dec 1992 05:29:24 GMT
Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Distribution: USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.4
Keywords: telephone

Here's a pair of shenanigans I recently came up with involving answering
machines. (Others, not mine)

The first is simple, and anyone with Touch-tone(tm) phones can do it.
Without saying anything simply enter your phone number as you would dial
it from the recipients phone.  (Take into account any long distance numbers, 
or dailing 9 to get out of the PBX)  This also serves as an intelligence 
test of your 'friend'.  All they have to do is hold the phone next to the
machine when playing back they're messages.  

Several of my friends have caught on to this and are having fun doing it as
well.

The second one requires a more sophisticated setup.  You must have two lines
available and preferably conference calling ability.  It can be done at two
payphones if you want to invest the money.  I always do it at work.

If your 'friend' has two phone lines, and an answering machine on each.
(In this case it was the parent's line, and the son's line)  Call while
they are not home, and note how long the outgoing message is.  Then hang up,
wait a bit for the machine to reset, and then call again.  Starting with
the time you dialed the first line, wait until the time that the outgoing
message takes, and then hit conference calling and dial the second line.
While the first machine is sending the outgoing message, the second is
ringing.  Then, if you've time it right, when it goes beep, the machine on
the second line picks up and spews forth its greeting onto the first
machines message tape.  I usually place the paired calls on hold at this
point to avoid introducing any noise.  

When the parent's get home and check their messages, they are greeted by
their sons message.  It did not take them long to guess who had pulled this
one on them,  OOOPS.

Even if they don't have two lines and machines, you can still have fun.  
Call their machine and the local weather or dial-a-prayer line.  The
proliferation of voice mail systems beg for exploitation in this manner
as well.  

Have at it.

Karl Buschhaus

karlb@csd4.csd.uwm.edu
From: J.Theodore.Schuerzinger@dartmouth.edu (J. Theodore Schuerzinger)
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: Wow, look at her shenanigan!
Date: 14 Dec 92 14:12:26 GMT
 <Bz7vpv.3FI@news.udel.edu>  <00965089.21A98DA0@vms.csd.mu.edu>
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0b1@newshost.dartmouth.edu

In article <00965089.21A98DA0@vms.csd.mu.edu>
2691deedyj@vms.csd.mu.edu (Jane Deedy) writes:

> In article <Bz7vpv.3FI@news.udel.edu>, pearl@brahms.udel.edu (Jennifer L Martin) writes:
> >In article <1992Dec11.191118.61969@cc.usu.edu> slgsn@cc.usu.edu writes:
> >>I must admit something:
> >>I am a shenanagin!
> >>Amen.
> >>%!!$C
> >
> >Did I miss something or am I just being me?
> >
> You are just being you!

NO!! The original poster is just trying to get people to respond in
droves so that she can pull a shenanigan on alt.shenanigans!


--Ted Schuerzinger
email: .zed@Dartmouth.EDU
"I should have known it would be bad vodka when all the label said was
'Russian Vodka'."
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Jason 'KodaK' Balicki)
Subject: Re: Dialing random numbers
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 05:52:16 GMT

> If I recall correctly,  1-800-PENISES (or something related to male  
>genetalia) is the national number for Orkin Pest Cntrol. 

[missed the origional, sorry]

800 is a given...

ATT-SUCK was for MCI's customer service line AND
MCI-SUCK was for AT&T's operations.

--Jason Balicki
kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: nuke@reed.edu (Bill Newcomb)
Subject: Re: Lawn Ornaments
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 21:07:35 GMT

frye@amcl10.math.stolaf.edu (James E Frye) writes:
>Here's a shenanigan I haven't seen discussed yet:

[great idea]

>Oh, and the final kicker of the shenanigan is to return the elves at the
>end of the summer, thus causing great wonder by the owners as to exactly
>*what* their elf has been doing of late....  Anyway, returning the elf
>also moves this from the realm of pranks (theft) back to a harmless
>shenanigan.

Don't forget to get it a hawaiian shirt and a pair of sunglasses, maybe even
a suitcase with the appropriate stickers (i.e., none of the places the thing
ever wrote from), and leave it thusly dolled up. 

nuke
--
~/.oo
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: mkohlhaa@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (mike)
Subject: Re: door prizes
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 01:15:13 GMT

In article <HIDEG.92Dec16043509@spsd630a.erim.org> hideg@spsd630a.erim.org (Steve Hideg) writes:
>Some years ago, I was at a Christmas party for my
>girlfriend's place of work.
>
>At one point of the festivities, they started awarding the
>ubiquitous door prizes. As everyone had a ticket and was
>eligible for a prize, a hush fell across the entire room as
>each winning number was announced. After a brief pause
>(while people checked their tickets), the people sitting at
>the table of the current winner would erupt with applause.
>
>I keyed on this and simply started applauding after an
>appropriate pause regardless of whether my table actually
>had the winner. This caused some consternation among the
>party goers and the people doing the prize drawing, as they
>could never be sure which applauding table was the
>legitimate one.
>
>
>_________________________
>Steve Hideg  N8HSC
>
>hideg@amadeus.erim.org

Hmmm. Steve, I think that you need to get out more.










-- 
					-- Mike
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| If the above information is incorrect, then I don't even speak for myself.  |
|      mkohlhaa@silver.ucs.indiana.edu | mkohlhaa@amber.ucs.indiana.edu       |
From: slb22@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Seth "the Lesser")
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: Net Shenanigans
Date: 20 Dec 92 20:06:02 GMT
Reply-To: slb22@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Seth "the Lesser")
Organization: Generic American College Kids (G.A.C.K.)
X-Posted-From: cunixb.cc.columbia.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

dchiasson@mta.ca writes:
>
>A good newsgroup to raid is alt.transgendered. They get pretty irate when you
>post something in their group. Their responses are good for a laughor two.
>The takeover is actually in progress as of now. Join in on the fun.
>
>
>							-Rascal

This is an alt.shenanigans.shenanigan -- I went on over there and took a look,
and no one has done anything like what was suggested.  Yet.

I agree, though, I bet they'd get really pissed off if we *did* do it to
them....

(Or is Rascal using a "ca" distribution? I doubt it.)

Seth L. Blumberg          \ Warning: This posting has been determined to cause
slb22@columbia.edu (play)   \ cancer in laboratory animals.  Please make sure
sethb@ctr.columbia.edu (work) \ that no white mice are allowed to read it.  
    > No one I know shares my opinions, least of all Columbia University. <
From: cg071@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (P. J. Geraghty)
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: wrong number fun
Date: 13 Dec 1992 22:05:30 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


I volunteer for a rescue squad which has an emergency phone line
to the station (in addition to the standard 911 system in place).
Sadly, this phone number is remarkably similar to that of a local
hotel (only 1 digit away).  so, people cll and I answer the phone 
"________ Rescue squad emergency dispatcher."  Some of them get the
idea and simply hang up.  Others persist.  I have taken enough
reservations to qualify as a hotel clerk, I think.

No, I'm not going to tell you the phone number, the rescue squad, or
the hotel.  I *will* remind you, though, that prank calls to 911 or
any other emergncy phone numbers will almost certainly get you into 
a whole heap of trouble.  It's amazing what call-tracing abilities 
there are in place which make caller-ID look like the equivalent of
two cans on a string.  Beware!
-- 
P.J. Geraghty                "Maybe you should try Hare Krishna."
5020 Battery Lane          --Kermit the Frog, to the "lost" agent
Bethesda, MD 20814              GW Internet: JX655C@GWUVM.GWU.EDU
(301) 409-0648    Cleveland Freenet: CG071@CCLEVELAND.FREENET.EDU
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: mam@jcnpc.cmhnet.org (Mike A. McAngus)
Subject: Re: Theoretical divergence
Organization: Homebrew Virtual Reality Labs
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 01:39:36 GMT

Brent Jones (bjones@denitqm.uswest.com) wrote:
: How about responding to "What's up?" with "Fidelity is up and obedience
: down on our bayonet belt buckles SIR!" Apparently some old Westpoint
: phrase freshmen had to give in response to "What's up" from an
: upper-classman. A good shenanigan--makes no sense whatsoever in the
: context of a casual greeting. Learned the phrase second-hand, so it
: might not be entirely accurate.

I once worked with a guy who, when asked "What's up?" would grab a pen, drop it
on the floor, look at a couple of seconds and then point in the opposite 
direction.
-- 
Mike A. McAngus	(mam@jcnpc.cmhnet.org) 

Like I really need another time-consuming hobby.
This Posting Exploits Illiterates.
From: slb22@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Seth "the Lesser")
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: Fruit in an Elevator
Date: 20 Dec 92 21:41:24 GMT
Reply-To: slb22@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Seth "the Lesser")
Organization: Generic American College Kids (G.A.C.K.)
X-Posted-From: cunixb.cc.columbia.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

jon@Turing.ORG (Jon Gefaell (KD4CQY)) writes:
>
>        Beyond the cavalier attite which is endemic of our first world
>perspective, there wasn't anything remaining that was anything more than
>a 'you had to be there' kind of slapstick. Not the essence of a good prank,
>or shenanigan (whatever the diference is)

1.) You seem to be implying that there is some kind of moral statement being
made by covering the floor of an elevator in fruit.  I'm not certain whether
to disagree or just laugh until I puke.  On the one hand, yes, there are
people out there who are starving, and it's a waste of a few cases of fruit;
on the other hand, with the Federal government paying farmers not to produce
to capacity because the countries that are starving can't afford to buy grain,
it seems tangential at best to the real issue of world hunger.  And the notion
that it makes a political/social statement is simply absurd; I can easily
envision a dedicated activist filling an elevator with fruit as a political
statement emphasizing our wastefulness.  It is deliberately ambiguous, and if
you can't recognize that, perhaps you should stop pretending to be a human
being and go back to the zoo.

2.) The essence of a good shenanigan *is* "a 'you had to be there' kind of
slapstick."  By the definition on which this newsgroup was founded, a
shenanigan is an activity which is wildly funny to the perpetrators and
possibly to a few, enlightened bystanders, but the general reaction from its
audience should be "What the hell was *that* about?" This is exactly what the
fruit-in-elevator shenanigan aims to do.  It is not intended for the
appreciation of the masses; it is Art in the same sense that Jackson Pollock's
paintings are Art, having been created with Art as a goal (as well as being
funny in a certain sense).

3.) If you **STILL** don't know the difference between a prank and a
shenanigan, there is no hope for you, and your children will probably be born
horribly deformed.  After so much discussion about "this is a prank"/"no it's
a shenanigan," a deranged boll weevil ought to be able to distinguish the two
accurately, much less a supposedly-literate "human being" (and I use that term
against my better judgment, Mr. Noring).

Seth L. Blumberg          \ Warning: This posting has been determined to cause
slb22@columbia.edu (play)   \ cancer in laboratory animals.  Please make sure
sethb@ctr.columbia.edu (work) \ that no white mice are allowed to read it.  
    > No one I know shares my opinions, least of all Columbia University. <
From: kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Jason 'KodaK' Balicki)
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: Pennies
Date: 12 Dec 92 00:56:53 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center

Here's a warning:

One of the guys who lived above me when I lived in a dorm was trying
to penny his roomate in.  It was dead week (week before finals) and
about 3:00 AM.  He'd get about ten in the door and mess up and they
would all hit the floor seemingly right above my head (I had a loft,
and sound carries through tile like you wouldn't belive.)  Well, he
kept doing this and eventualy both my roomate and I got up and beat
the hell out of him.  Like I said, just a warning.

--Jason Balicki
kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: bjones@denitqm.uswest.com (Brent Jones)
Subject: Re: Lawn Ornaments
Followup-To: alt.shenanigans
Organization: U S WEST Information Technologies
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 23:32:20 GMT

In article <1992Dec14.154644.9070@news.stolaf.edu>,
frye@amcl10.math.stolaf.edu (James E Frye) wrote:
> 
[neat plan about taking lawn elves on vacation deleted]
> 
> James

This actually happened in Boulder, Colorado, as documented by the
Boulder Daily Camera. Is this plan a UL of some sort that someone
finally put into action? The plan you detailed is *exactly* what happened
in Boulder. The only addition is that a week after the lawn elf was
returned,
along with his vacation photos, someone stole a bicycle off of the porch
of the nice old couple who owned him. The Camera covered the theft,
theorizing
that it was linked to the elf "kidnapping." The next night someone left a
very expensive mountain bike on the porch of the house, explaining in a
note
that he was one of the elf kidnappers and that although they had nothing to
do
with the bike theft, he didn't want people casting a pall on the whole
shenanigan and thus was giving them his own bike, and his only
transportation.
Nice guy, apparently.

--
Brent Jones, Lead Tech. Editor, U S WEST IT, bjones@denitqm.uswest.com
"of beautiful weeds that cannot hide from the farmer and helplessly have 
to watch the shadow of his simian stoop leave mangled flowers in its wake, 
as the monstrous darkness approaches."--V. Nabokov _Signs and Symbols_
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: bbrown@willamette.edu (Brian Brown)
Subject: Help me with a shennanigan!
Organization: Willamette University, Salem OR
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 19:49:59 GMT

I need your help to perpetrate a shennanigan on one of my friends.  He
sent me the following invitation to Bill Clinton's Inagural Beer Bash, and
convinced the mail system that it was Bill Clinton who sent it.  Of
course, Bill Clinton (bclinton) is a null address.  I know who did it, but
he just acts suspicious and won't admit it.  Therefore, I call upon you
out there in Net Land to write some mail to him, responding to the Beer
Bash.  Say whatever you like -- accept the invitation, decline it,
denounce it for not including minority beverages or whatever.  Use your
creativity.  His address is:

ksmith@willamette.edu

Thank you for your help!!  Here is the invitation (I think it origionally
came from Rush Limbaugh, but I can't confirm that):


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Bill Clinton  (bclinton)
To: bbrown (Brian Brown)
Subject: Beer Bash



                              Inagural Beer Bash


                            Date: January 20, 1993
                              Place: White House

	Come to Hilly and Billy's house for a night of fun and decandence. 
This will the event of the century, celebrating the counter-culture of the
Sixties.  Special guests will include Anita Hill and Gennifer Flowers among
others.  The events of the evening are listed below, so be sure to come and
***B.Y.O.B*** (No wine or champange allowed).


                               Scheduled Events:

7:00 - 9:00:	Walk out to the Mall and pick up a sledgehammer to destroy
		your choice of military equipment.  A wide selection will be
		available.  DON'T miss this event!!!  Gays Welcome!!!!

8:00 - 10:00:	Throw some darts at Clarance Thomas in the West wing.  Many
		dart boards will be available so no one will miss out on the
		fun.  Feminists demonstrations also welcome!!

12:00 - 1:00:	Of course our Beer Bash would not be complete without a
		tribute to our new president and co-president Hillary.  This
		event will have a little twist in which we will INHALE TO THE
		CHEIF.

                       *** Free Parking for VW buses ***


                                   RSVP to:

                                1-800-LIB-ERAL
                                      or
                                1-800-BUSH-OUT

Endorsed by: The Teachers Union of America, Reverend Jackson, Tom Foley, Queer
             Nation and Act Up 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


-- 
-----------------  bbrown@willamette.edu  (Brian W. Brown)  -----------------
Recently, a poll found that 75% of people approve of the way Bill Clinton
   is handling the transition.  All those who think that it's time the
   poll-takers went out and got real jobs, raise your hands.  I thought so.
Organization: The American University - University Computing Center
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 22:55:33 EST
From: Julia E. Hawley <JH8414A@auvm.american.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: wrong number fun

Funny thing....I belong to volunteer Rescue Squad, too!  And we have a similar
phone system....and for some reason, whenever we have a brand new dispatcher,
there is always a hysterical caller that has a drastic emergency in progress...
you get the idea...Do you offer special rates for the hotel rooms?!?
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: bml@netcom.com (Brian Leibowitz)
Subject: The Hubcap Fairy
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 20:23:51 GMT

I pulled this one and highly recommend it.  I was taking my car to the 
junkyard (to much rust to be safe) and kept the hubcaps and spare parts.
When I saw a similar car missing one hubcap, I would stop and put one on.
One car, I left a box of spare parts on the hood.  The only problem is
that I never got to see the reaction.  (I only did this with parked cars.)

bml
                I jest to Oberon and make him smile - Will S.

Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: pearl@brahms.udel.edu (Jennifer L Martin)
Subject: Re: Dialing random numbers
Organization: University of Delaware
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 19:59:19 GMT

In article <1992Dec14.223925.4627@nmsu.edu> dtasman@NMSU.edu (Dan Tasman) writes:
> If I recall correctly,  1-800-PENISES (or something related to male  
>genetalia) is the national number for Orkin Pest Cntrol. 
>

Pest control . . .hhhmmmmm....Actually, that could be quite fitting in
some circumstances . .. .   

jenny


Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: hideg@spsd630a.erim.org (Steve Hideg)
Subject: apartment life
Organization: Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 09:43:13 GMT


When I used to live in an apartment, I was close enough to
the front door of the building to hear the solenoid latch
buzzing as a tenant would let someone in as I reclined on my
couch in my living room. The controls for that door in my
apartment were on the wall directly above the couch.

I would often press the door release button as it was
already buzzing and hold it well beyond what is considered
customary. This would usually get a loud response from the
person entering the building along the lines of, "Alright!
I'm *IN* already."

Sometimes, I would hear someone bounding down the stairs.
Through the peep hole in my apartment door, I would notice
that this person is carrying an armload and would have a
difficult time turning the doorknob of the front door. So, I
would "buzz" him/her out. I'd listen on the intercom, and
I'd often hear "Thank you," to which I would reply in a low
voice on the intercom "S'alright!"



_________________________
Steve Hideg  N8HSC

hideg@amadeus.erim.org
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: u912078@daimi.aau.dk (S|ren Erland Vest|)
Subject: Re: Proposal for a Net shenanigan
Organization: DAIMI: Computer Science Department, Aarhus University, Denmark
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 22:53:51 GMT

wyvern@iastate.edu (Nuno Bettencourt) writes:

>>Spoiled sport! :(
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^      That's "Spoil sport" silly :)
Well, that was what I meant :) What's an 'ed' between frieds?

S

I know, my .sig is wrong:






--
Strapped to the chair at the city's gaschamber,
               why I'm here I can't quite remember

                            -Guns'n'Roses
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: hideg@spsd630a.erim.org (Steve Hideg)
Subject: door prizes
Organization: Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 09:35:09 GMT

Some years ago, I was at a Christmas party for my
girlfriend's place of work.

At one point of the festivities, they started awarding the
ubiquitous door prizes. As everyone had a ticket and was
eligible for a prize, a hush fell across the entire room as
each winning number was announced. After a brief pause
(while people checked their tickets), the people sitting at
the table of the current winner would erupt with applause.

I keyed on this and simply started applauding after an
appropriate pause regardless of whether my table actually
had the winner. This caused some consternation among the
party goers and the people doing the prize drawing, as they
could never be sure which applauding table was the
legitimate one.


_________________________
Steve Hideg  N8HSC

hideg@amadeus.erim.org
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: jon@Turing.ORG (Jon Gefaell (KD4CQY))
Subject: Re: Proposal for a Net shenanigan
Organization: The Turing Project, Public Access Internet Host
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 18:58:19 GMT

In article <shralp.724442824@camelot> shralp@camelot.bradley.edu (Jamie McDonald) writes:
>Robert.T.Warfield@dartmouth.edu (Robert T. Warfield) writes:
>
>>Basicly, I sugest that we choose a really stuffy group, then post
>>articles at right angles to the discussion.
>
>Or, alternatively, we go to something like talk.bizarre and begin a
>very serious discussion... a death-penalty debate or the like.

Yes, the original idea is kind of lame, your twist makes it quite 
interesting... Abortion is another sure fire winner. I love it.



Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: ajb@iti.org (Al Boehnlein)
Subject: Broken water main
Organization: Industrial Technology Institute
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 19:14:59 GMT


While the workmen were digging up the street, I made a toy boat out of paper
and sailed it across the street.  The workmen gave me the 'what a smart ass'
look.

Also while tring on hats the other day, I mentioned to my friend "that the
medication for the head lice was working great, I hardly have any itching
anymore."  The sales clerk never batted an eye, but we thought is was funny.
From: J.Theodore.Schuerzinger@dartmouth.edu (J. Theodore Schuerzinger)
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Kinda like forking
Date: 17 Dec 92 17:50:31 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0b1@newshost.dartmouth.edu

About a month ago somebody set up a bunch of papier-mache dogs on the
Dartmouth green for no apparent reason....

--Ted Schuerzinger
email: .zed@Dartmouth.EDU
"I should have known it would be bad vodka when all the label said was
'Russian Vodka'."
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: pearl@brahms.udel.edu (Jennifer L Martin)
Subject: Re: Wow, look at her shenanigan!
Organization: University of Delaware
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 21:29:54 GMT

In article <1992Dec11.191118.61969@cc.usu.edu> slgsn@cc.usu.edu writes:
>I must admit something:
>I am a shenanagin!
>Amen.
>%!!$C

Did I miss something or am I just being me?