HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mechalas@expert.cc.purdue.edu (John Mechalas)
Subject: A little Wednesday excitement
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 18:49:10 GMT

Standard disclaimers apply.....

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

It was another boring Wednesday night, and I was sitting in my room
watching television (in the hopes that I would be entertained) when the
phone rang.

   "Hello?"

   A girl's voice came over the line.

   "Can I speak to Ben, please?"

   I live by myself, and my name definitely is not Ben.  It was probably
a wrong number.  Of course, it was also a dull evening, even for Indiana.

   "I'm sorry, he's not in right now.  Can I take a message?"

   "Do you know what time he'll be back?" she responded.

   "I think he said he'd be home around 10:00."

   Silence on the other end...a confused silence.  I had a live one.

   "Is this Steve?"

   My name isn't Steve, either.  This was definitely a wrong number.

   "Yes, it is.  Do you want to leave a message for Ben?"

   "Well...he said he would be home tonight and asked me to call him..."
she said in a slightly irritated voice.

   I must have sounded a lot more like Steve than I had thought.

   I replied, "Well, he went out with Karen about an hour ago, and said
that he would be back at 10:00."

   A shocked voice now:  "Who's Karen?!"

   "The girl he went out with."  (I've seen _Fletch_ several times).

   "I know that!  I mean....who is she?"  (She must have seen _Fletch_,
too....Or is that _Fletch Too_?  Whatever..)

   "I don't know her last name.  Look, do you want me to leave a 
message for Ben?"

   "Yes...please do.  Tell him to call me when he gets home."

   She was sounding pretty irate at this point, and I could hear her temper
flaring.  Now would be a good time to call an end to the charade.

   "I sure will.  Is this Jennifer?"

   She exploded this time.  "WHO'S JENNIFER?!"

   Apparently she wasn't.

   "Well...he's going out with Jennifer at 10:00.  I thought you were
her.  Sorry...it was an honest mistake."

   "Ben's the one that's made the mistake!  Tell him that ALICE called
him and the she's VERY UPSET and that I would LIKE HIM to CALL ME as
SOON AS HE GETS HOME."

   I smiled and said, "Okay, I will...but Becky isn't going to like this..."

   "BECKY?!?!?"

   "*click*"




-- 
John Mechalas                     \  If you think my opinions are Purdue's, then
mechalas@expert.cc.purdue.edu      \      you vastly overestimate my importance.
Purdue University Computing Center  \            Help put a ban on censorship :)
General Consulting                   \                     #include disclaimer.h
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: chaplin@keinstr.uucp (Roger Chaplin)
Subject: Re: Net Shenanigans
Organization: Keithley Instruments, Cleveland, Ohio
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 14:21:16 GMT

Chuck Stringer (cstringe@silver.ucs.indiana.edu) wrote:

: If you want to annoy a group, post to rec.motorcycles and ask what
: 'DoD' stands for. It's a secret group they have and they hate
: references to it on the net.

Questions posted by the naive concerning the DoD are what lots of
rec.motorcycles readers LIVE for.

Ask away.

-- 
Roger Chaplin / Instruments Division Engineering
chaplin@keinstr.uucp / CI$: 76307,3506
DoD #0574 -- presently bikeless :-(
just LOVED my '78 GS550; just sorta liked my '81 CB900C, but hey, it was a ride
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans,rec.humor
From: kmurphy@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Kevin Murphy)
Subject: Re: A little Wednesday excitement
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 02:07:46 GMT

In article <C1BGL0.2y2@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> mechalas@expert.cc.purdue.edu (John Mechalas) writes:
>In article <C1BEo8.KCt@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> kmurphy@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Kevin Murphy) writes:
>>
>>John, I hate to say this, but you must lead an extremely boring
>>life.  Not only are we in the same state, and same city, we are
>>also on the same CAMPUS, and I've never been as bored as all of
>
>Actually, Kevin, I rather think that you are taking these posts more
>seriously than they are intended.  After all, the newsgroups
>are rec.humor and alt.shenanigans ...
>

John, looks like I caught you with a shenanigan, I was
being sarcastic...

-- 

Kevin J. Murphy                              Life is what happens while
kmurphy@sage.cc.purdue.edu                   you're making other plans.
Purdue University Computer Technology                            -JL
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: hideg@spsd630a.erim.org (Steve Hideg)
Subject: Garage door openers
Organization: Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Distribution: us
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 18:13:37 GMT

A couple of Christmases ago, I went outside to shovel the snow off my driveway.
I noticed that my garage door was opened approximately 2 feet. Now, when I 
installed my garage door opener, I left it on the default code setting as 
delivered from the factory. I went outside and noticed that one of my neighbors
was installing an opener on his garage door. No doubt he still had it on the 
default setting and had opened my door along with his.

I decided to shut my opener off with the vacation switch. Then, I put one of
our transmitters in my pocket and proceeded to shovel my driveway.

The fellow was busy setting the limit switches on his opener (so it won't slice
an errant child in half, but will close all the way without driving the door 
into the pavement).

This was the PERFECT opportunity. As he kept opening and closing his door to 
adjust it, I would press my transmitter's button to halt his door near the end 
of its travel. This probably gave him the impression that his adjustments were 
screwed up. I'm sure it took him longer to set up his opener than it should 
have.

_________________________
Steve Hideg  N8HSC

hideg@amadeus.erim.org
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans,rec.humor
From: mechalas@expert.cc.purdue.edu (John Mechalas)
Subject: Re: A little Wednesday excitement
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 17:00:35 GMT

In article <C1BEo8.KCt@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> kmurphy@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Kevin Murphy) writes:
>
>John, I hate to say this, but you must lead an extremely boring
>life.  Not only are we in the same state, and same city, we are
>also on the same CAMPUS, and I've never been as bored as all of
>your postings that say how bored you are.  I can always find
>something exciting to do!  Anyway, maybe you should go to Spitzer
>Court (Cary Quad) and run a few laps naked in the Nude Olympics,
>maybe that would bring some excitement into your boring life.
>
>Deepest regards,
>
>Kevin

Actually, Kevin, I rather think that you are taking these posts more
seriously than they are intended.  After all, the newsgroups
are rec.humor and alt.shenanigans ...

Deeper regards,
Me

-- 
John Mechalas                     \  If you think my opinions are Purdue's, then
mechalas@expert.cc.purdue.edu      \      you vastly overestimate my importance.
Purdue University Computing Center  \            Help put a ban on censorship :)
General Consulting                   \                     #include disclaimer.h
Newsgroups: alt.magick
From: esi102@cch.coventry.ac.uk (The Magician)
Subject: Tarot
Organization: Coventry University
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 19:27:58 GMT

Hello ... 

I was just wondering if there is a document somewhere on the  net  giving
the  divinational  meanings of the Tarot deck. I own the Merlin deck, but
the book with it does not go much into this, only  into  the  images  and
meditational meanings. 

Please E-mail it to me, or post an FTP site addres.

Thank you in advance.

Tim.
esi102@cck.cov.ac.uk
'Dreams fade, but nightmares last forever'
From: jbbell@nyx.cs.du.edu (Rev. J. B. Bell, Ms.D.=)
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: Re: THE DIVINE MASTERS
Summary: Uh-huh.
Date: 26 Jan 93 21:57:02 GMT
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.

More proof that the amount of all-caps words in a posting is inversely
proportional to its content.

                          --Rev. J. B. Bell, Ms.D.
--
                          1 block to Bryn Mawr!
I need a roommate to share a 2 BR, full bath, spacious apt.  $380/mo.,
$380 DD, no utils.  Nonsmoker, no drugs, but alcohol OK.  Sorry, no
pets.  Tolerance of paganism & queerness a must.  (215) 527-5774.
From: Thyagi@cup.portal.com (Thyagi Morgoth NagaSiva)
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: Re: Alchemy
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 19:34:33 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: world
  <74128@cup.portal.com> <C19Fr2.45z@acsu.buffalo.edu>

93!01.22 e.v.

Because I love a good debate, and because I can, I'm gonna do you one
further...  :>


Peggy Brown writes:

It seems Tagi, that you've already decided its IMPOSSIBLE.  With 
that preconceived idea you'll never get anywhere with alchemy.

...

Ah, so you admit it.  You have made a judgement.  Well, I 
disagree.  I think skepticism is sufficient protection and that 
starting an investigation with a judgement already made will 
limit what you will find.


Response:

At some point it becomes reasonable to make a judgement.  The
question is, when?  I'll provide you with an example of reasoning
I follow:
  



I asked Lorenzo this:

...What does what
you posted say (one way or the other) about the possibility of the
physical transmutation for any metal into gold?


Here is what Lorenzo said:

I was trying to keep the thinking clear about what could be going on
in terms of the physics we know. What makes gold appear to be gold is
its electronic properties. However, those properties are determined by
the number of protons in the nucleus. What that means is that unless
you find a way to change the number of protons in lead by three, or in
mercury by one, you are not going to get gold from them.

Gold is a pretty stable element. In terms of the physics we know
today, there is no *chemical* way to transform any element into any
other element. You could do it with an accelerator or neutron source,
or cosmic rays, but even then only in minute quantities.

To cut to the punch line, there is no physical process known to modern
physics or chemistry that can transmute elements, except in minute
quantities. And certainly none available to the ancient alchemist.

your friendly neighborhood nuclear physicist,
Lorenzo


Response:

This was my assumption also - that our present understanding,
based on quite a LOT of experiment with purely physical processes
(i.e. no psychic/psychological/spiritual/whatever influence of which 
we are aware) is that such a physical transmutation is not possible
with present or past physical technology.

Please at least provide a theory which substantiates it, and
if possible provide some evidence that these claims might be in
any way literally true.  Thank you.


[PS, thanks to Lorenzo for letting me post this from email.]


Thyagi Morgoth NagaSiva
Thyagi@HouseOfkaOs.Abyss.com
From: wce@hogbbs.scol.pa.us (Bill Eichman)
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: Re: ritual in lucid dreams
Keywords: Re: ritual in lucid dreams
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 93 16:43:24 EST
Organization: The Heart of Gold BBS, Lemont PA

tucker@maestro.mitre.org (William Tucker) writes:

> noticed how the object looks. For example try drawing something from 
> memory versus from a model. If you want to increase your visualization
> abilities, increase your skills at observing objects. Pick up a pencil,
> look at it examine the color of it, the color and grain of the eraser,
> is the tip sharp or dull, is there a pattern to the wear on the tip,
> who made the pencil, what color is the wood............and so on.

Very good advice. Practice _observation_ as part of your visualisation 
exercises. Look at a physical o0bject, and reconstruct it as a 3-d image 
with your faculty of 'imagination'.

There are, actually, dozens of 'little tricks' like this that can speed 
up and improve success at visualization. Almost all of them have been 
written down in the various books that discuss the nitty-gritty of 
magickal training. A little basic reading will give the beginning 
practicioner all the exercises and tricks that they could need.

Later, Bill
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject:  Dracula 
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 16:08:28 -0600

Are you familiar with David (Rusty) Geller, last known to be in the vincinity of
Berkley?  David is amoung other things a self proclaimed expert on the big D. as
well as vampires in general.  RSVP


Newsgroups: alt.magick
From: locklin@titan.ucs.umass.edu (SCOTT C LOCKLIN)
Subject: Re: Masonic Practices??
Organization: Campus Crusade for Cthulhu
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 00:20:02 GMT
X-Posted-From: titan.ucs.umass.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

In article <1993Jan24.215455.11774@fuug.fi> an4484@anon.penet.fi writes:
>Date Entered: 01-24-93 03:46
>
>
>My understanding (as much I guess as an outsider could have) of Masonic
>practices would be that they descend from the Knights Templar of around
>the time of the middle ages. Their purpose inbeing was to be the guardians
>of the Holy Grail.

That is one theory I have heard. Read an entire book on the theory (sorry, 
forgot the title)

>Funny though....I was talking to a Witch whose grandfather was a Mason and
>it seems their beliefs are a little more elaborate than that. It seems that
>the whole idea behind Masonry is that Christ as a man was married or at
>least had sexual relations with Mary Magdelan which produced offspring.
>The Masons  then have one purpose....to defend these descendants of Christ
>down through the ages.
>
>And the reason for the secrecy is that the whole premise of the Christian
>religion is the fact that Jesus was the Son of God....hence the need for
>secrecy. The Witch (who had evidently gleaned this info from her grandfathers
>diaries seemed to resent this, in that this means the Masons are basically
>defending a lie...namely, Christ as the celibate Son of God who never married
>as that might make certain Christian practices/beliefs untenable.
>
>Any comments on this?

Hmmmm.
She could have just as easily gotten these theories from any number of 
popular books. The R.A.Wilson "Historical Illuminatus" books say something 
along these lines (The descendants of Jesus being the "Widow's Son" of
masonic lore as well as the ancestors of the Merovingian kings). There are 
also several books on "lost books of the bible" that say similar things. 
Seems a bit unlikely to be a doctrine that is known about by the "rank and 
file" masons, as these can be members of any religion; xtain or otherwise.

-Scott
From: djh4535@summa.tamu.edu (HARRIS, DUANE J)
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: what is going on here
Date: 22 Jan 1993 00:52 CST
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: summa.tamu.edu
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    



i guess this group no longer exits  huh
From: jjas@acs.nntp-read.bu.edu (Jason Stephenson)
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: Re: You prefer white or black magic?
Date: 24 Jan 93 16:55:23 GMT
	<93023.223954HCM100@psuvm.psu.edu>
Organization: Boston University Information Technology Boston, MA USA
In-reply-to: HCM100@psuvm.psu.edu's message of 24 Jan 93 03:39:54 GMT

Don't flame me, Jack.  I can't purge the crosspost when I follow up on
a previous post.  You should flame the original poster, not me.

        --Jason Son of Stephen
		"fides in arcanis"
Newsgroups: alt.magick
From: locklin@titan.ucs.umass.edu (SCOTT C LOCKLIN)
Subject: Alchemy/Elements/Chickens
Organization: Campus Crusade for Cthulhu
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 00:07:13 GMT
X-Posted-From: titan.ucs.umass.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu


In article <1993Jan25.172632.25904@ohm.york.ac.uk> jkn@ohm.york.ac.uk (John Nicoll) writes:
>On the general subject of transmutation of elements:
>Wasn't there a (French, I think) experimentor who
>(relatively recently) has made claims that living

Kevran or Kervan I think. I have the reference kicking about somewhere. Bother
me by e-mail and I will find it for you.
Apparently the chickens were getting special low-calcium diets, but received 
lots of potassium (which is only one proton & one electron difference on the
average). The weight of the calcium in the chicken bones & chicken eggs was 
supposed to be much less than the calcium that was available to the chicken.
I have never read the actual article (supposedly the experiment won some 
awards in japan; a dubious honor that is not easily checked. The same source
alledged that this work was nominated for the nobel prize.)

>organisms can transmutate such? Specifically, from
>what I remember, he fed chickens carefully controlled
>diets containing insufficient amounts of calcium
>to produce eggshells. The implications of the
>`research' was that the chickens could (and did)
>turn an allied element into the required calcium.

I dunno much about alkali metal chemistry, but I am of the opinion that the
potassium could form some compounds similar to the calcium compounds in
eggshells. There are other possible problems with the thesis as well (energy
conservation for example).

I should probobly read the paper before passing judgement, but this info
has been around for at least 10 years (possible more like 30), so if there
were anything to it, I would imagine that there would have been a followup.

-Scott






































Newsgroups: alt.magick
From: tucker@mitre.org (William Tucker)
Subject: Doping Mercury
Keywords: Doping Mercury
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA, USA
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 00:16:42 GMT


You cal@otter.hpl.hp.com (Colin Low) wrote:

 [with reference to opinions as to whether it might be possible to carry out
 transmution of mercury into gold]

 The chemical behaviour of elements is determined by their electron shells.
 Mercury and gold are adjacent on the periodic table, and despite the huge
 difference in properties they differ by only one (1) electron, and because
 the nucleus is in one is more positive than the other, by a difference in 
 energy levels etc........

 [ stuff deleted ]


I (William Tucker) tucker@maestro.mitre.org think that:

There's a tremendous difference in energy required for addition of a 
proton or nuetron, versus the amount expended to add an electron. This 
has to do with the bonding forces required for holding an electron versus
holding a nuetron or proton in the atom, conduction electrons are usually
fairly "loose" and in the outher electron shells. Doping consists of 
actually adding elements to silicon that have a propensity to gain 
electrons or loose them to achieve a more "stable" structure under the 
duress of an electrical current. This doping occurs by deposition thru
the heating of the dopant and silane (silicon gas) up to high temperatures
and depositing them on the silicon substrate (pure silicon wafer). That's 
what I remember although it's been ~10 years since I've studied semi-
conductor physics. This isn't a refutation only a discussion, I don't 
know what's possible by non-ordinary methods. A maybe is a powerful
tool, belief a crutch, let the universe prove or disprove itself.

As an aside but related, Leadbetter talks about the structure of the
atom on a treatsie he did on the chakras that was interesting. Yogananda
speaks of the creation of "physical things" from shear mind "force" in
his book Autobiography of a Yogi, as do a couple of people in the original
"I AM" books put out by G.W. Ballard. and of the same genre those books
put out by Baird Spaulding, suspect perhaps but interesting. An american
doctor of mediicine Ralph Ballantine (1984) discussed the transumutation 
of matter by living organisims in his book "Holistic Living or something
or another" :-) that seemed interesting although, somewhat ill thought 
out (no mention of the fact that matter is breathed in as well as 
ingested). Ciao.

Wm T.

.standard disclaimer


Newsgroups: alt.magick
From: ba@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (B.A. Davis-Howe)
Subject: Re: Ritual without a Framework
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 21:44:57 GMT

Thyagi@cup.portal.com (Thyagi Morgoth NagaSiva) quotes:

>"Of the Invocation

>"...The secret of success in invocation... is an exceedingly simple

>"[Noted:] There is the general metaphysical antithesis that Magick
>is the Art of the Will-to-Live, Mysticism of the Will-to-Die; but -
>'Truth comes bubbling to my brim; Life and Death are one to Him!'"
> 

>Aleister Crowley, _Magick_ [Parts I, II, and III of _Book Four_],
>published by Arkana Books, 1989, pages 251-2.  Bracketed comments
>are my own.

Argh!  I suppose it had to happen...a whole long section of Crowley that I
agreed with.  *sigh*

Enjoy the journey!
                      --Br'anArthur
                                      Queer, Peculiar, and Wyrd! :-)

******************************************************************************
"We are secretly replacing the fine quartz crystals this medicine pouch maker
usually uses with Folgers crystals.  Let's see what happens...."
                                      --DACCrowell
From: Marshall.Hoegfeldt@f31.n282.z1.tdkt.kksys.com (Marshall Hoegfeldt)
Sender: FredGate@tdkt.kksys.com
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: Alchemy
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 16:05:20 -0600

I actually kknow a person who has in real life transmutted one metal into
another!  He turned Lead into silver!  But he cheated...he used an atomic
accelerator and the process cost much more than the silve was worth.  But at
least he now has the bragging rights!



Newsgroups: alt.magick
From: scarrobi@shearson.com (Steve Carrobis)
Subject: Re: Smart drugs
Reply-To: scarrobi@shearson.com
Organization: Lehman Brothers, Inc.
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 22:49:42 GMT

In article 18305@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu, bwhite@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (William E. White ) writes:
> In article <1993Jan20.184144.6464@noao.edu> forgach@noao.edu (Suzanne Forgach) writes:
> >From article <1993Jan14.161238.10974@blaze.cs.jhu.edu>, by mgross@server.cs.jhu.edu (Matthew B. Gross):
> >> I take phenylalanine about every day, and it really sharpens my awareness,
> >> but I'd like to find something which could help me in the long-term.
> 
> Try tyrosine, it's one step closer to what you're trying to get (or you could
> just take L-DOPA, or eat a lot of broad beans.)
            ^^^^^^^

do u mean L-DOPO ... thats a chemical which blocks neurotransmitters ... ii i am not 
mistaken. used in the 70's i believe... for seizures or something. been a long time
since health class.


---
Steve C. 

 ==> A wise man once told me - There ARE NO Wise Men !
                             - Just fools who think they are.
---------------------------------------------------------------		
 I understand you need someone to do work.
 I don't do work, but, I know this guy who does.
    -Vladimir Taltos
---------------------------------------------------------------