HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ceram@csv.warwick.ac.uk (Mr J W Bottomley)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Glad I Don't Drive
Date: 14 Dec 1992 10:10:06 -0000
Organization: Computing Services, University of Warwick, UK
Distribution: uk
NNTP-Posting-Host: clover.csv.warwick.ac.uk

In article <Bz1v05.HJK@cck.coventry.ac.uk> gdg019@cch.coventry.ac.uk (Ridley McIntyre) writes:
>I'm glad I don't drive. If I did, this newsgroup would be worth reading.

You have trn at your site. Ever heard of threads?

I'm glad yo don't post here more often. Is the group worth reading.
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jim Bottomley: ceram@uk.ac.warwick.csv  ;  apj003@uk.ac.cov.cck
146 Earlsdon Avenue North, Earlsdon, Coventry, UK  +44 203 673784
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: pho@mserv1.dl.ac.uk (P.Owens,C20,3492)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Transport subsidies - Was: Car Parking
Date: 15 Dec 1992 17:12:45 GMT
Organization: Daresbury Laboratory, UK
Distribution: world
Reply-To: pho@mserv1.dl.ac.uk
NNTP-Posting-Host: nnsx.dl.ac.uk

fofp@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Holmes) writes:

>pho@mserv1.dl.ac.uk (P.Owens,C20,3492) writes:
>
>>If your going to start talking about efficiency now then it must
>>be cheaper for the government bureacracy to collect a pound in
>>taxes than it is to collect a pound from a toll booth.
>
>Maybe, but we now have the technology to do much of the collection
>electronically while the cars are moving.
>
>If they can photograph your license plate to give you a fine for
>speeding, they can do it to charge you for using the road.

This sounds even more expensive to me. Lets see...

You have to collect and process the film.
Employ someone to look at it and read the number.
Do some detective work to find the owner/user of the car.
	(Should toll road owners have access to the police national computer?)
    (Do you send bills to rental companies?)
Post a bill.
Post a final reminder.
Post a bill to the driver of the car when you get the reply from
the owner saying she lent to a freind that day :-)
Pay bank charges for cashing the cheque.

I reckon it'd cost more to administer than to build the road in the first place.

---
Pete Owens
P.Owens@daresbury.ac.uk
From: mathew <mathew@mantis.co.uk>
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Record shops (LPs)
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 13:33:23 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Mantis Consultants, Cambridge. UK.

pky@fmg.bt.co.uk (Pete Young) writes:
> mathew (mathew@mantis.co.uk) wrote:
> : Oh, do be serious.  If people wanted to buy records, the manufacturers woul
> : make them.  
> 
> If you really believe this, then I have a bridge that you might like to buy.

Oh, come on.  You seriously expect me to believe that there's some vast
conspiracy to deprive you of the chance to buy vinyl records?  And that every
record manufacturer, from huge corporates like EMI to tiny independents like
Mute, has secretly signed some blood covenant to force you to buy CDs?  What
next, orbital mind-control lasers?

Face it -- nobody sells LPs because nobody buys them.  99% of people think
cassettes or CDs are better for one reason or another.  I know you'd rather
pretend that you're in the majority and that there's some vast conspiracy,
but it isn't true.  Go on, admit it, your idea of a good medium for
distributing music is radically different to that of most other people.  It
doesn't hurt to say so.

> The reason that vinyl has virtually disappeared is that the manufacturers
> could
> (1) Charge significantly more money to sell something that costs
> significantly less to produce
> (2) Make vast additional sums of money by re-releasing the entire 
> back-catalogue (which has already paid for itself) at further exhorbitant
> price
> (3) Use the excessive price of CD to drive up the costs (to the record-buying
> public) of the remaining media (compact cassettes).
[...]
> And guess what? It's about to happen all over again with DCC!

(1) won't work.  DCC costs more to make than CD.

(2) won't work.  There's no motivation to replace your CDs with DCC; you can
    just tape them yourself.

(3) might work, but so far DCC is the same price as CD.


mathew
From: rob@liciren.li.co.uk (Rob Clive)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Immobilising a diesel
Keywords: diesel
Date: 17 Dec 92 12:03:45 GMT
Organization: Lucas Powertrain Systems, Electronic Control Group, UK

In article <1992Dec16.120721.4698@aisb.ed.ac.uk> Eddie Rooney writes:
>Is there an easy way of immobilizing a diesel engine, in the same way as you might
>remove the rotor arm on a petrol engine, or disconnect the coil?  Any ideas
>appreciated.

The analogy to disconnecting the coil is to disconnect the Engine Shut
Off (ESO) valve.  This of course suffers from the same disadvantage -
the car can still be hot wired.  I wouldn't recommend removing the rotor
arm.  You might find it difficult to get it back into the pump again
unless you can line it up to the required 2-3 micron tolerance :-).  The
big problem with diesels is that with the exception of the ESO valve
they can run quite happily without electrical power.  I believe it is
possible to buy an immobiliser which basically cuts off the fuel using a
locked valve.  Not sure where you could get one from though.  Hope this
helps.
----------
Rob Clive.			           Most nets:	rob@liciren.li.co.uk
Lucas Powertrain Systems, Cirencester		UUCP:	...!uknet!lucifer!rob
Gloucestershire, GL7 1QG, UK.				      Now read on....
From: bsstrs@gdr.bath.ac.uk (T R Stickland)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Record shops (LPs)
Date: 17 Dec 92 16:09:33 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bath, UK

In the referenced article, mathew@mantis.co.uk (mathew) writes:
>
>Face it -- nobody sells LPs because nobody buys them.

How do you buy something when you walk into a shop and theres its not
in there?

Anyway, the point was _why_ people bought what they did, not what they
bought.

In various areas (including "real" hi-fi (that is equipment that is high
fidelity, not what the Dixons salesthing calls "hi-fi")) there is a
specialist market that represents a SMALLER proportion of sales than
the LP proportion of the market.

-- 
# Tim Stickland # bsstrs@gdr.bath.ac.uk # A politician uses science like a    #
# School of Biology, Univ. of Bath,     # drunk uses a lamp post -            #
# Bath, BA2 7AY, U.K. # TEL +44 (0)225  # more for support than illumination. #
# 826826 x5864 # FAX +44 (0)225 826779  #  ('Wildcat', Donald Rooum)          #
From: fofp@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Holmes)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Transport subsidies - Was: Car Parking
Date: 16 Dec 92 10:18:58 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

pho@mserv1.dl.ac.uk (P.Owens,C20,3492) writes:

{...on the expense of a camera system potentially used for a toll
road..]

well ok, it'd be pricey. I gave it as a (maybe) dumb example. There are
better ways of collecting tolls electronically and some of them are
already being used.

FoFP
From: garyo@apricot.co.uk (Gary Osborne)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Orwell ?
Date: 16 Dec 92 16:40:12 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Apricot Computers Limited


Hi there,

I am interested in the Orwell language, can anyone direct me to a copy that
runs on Unix (any) or DOS please. This will be used for non-profit-making 
research.

Cheers all,

Gary Osborne.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet: garyo@apricot.co.uk                 | Apricot Computers Limited
UUCP:     garyo@apricot.uucp                  | Research and Development 
Tel: +44 21 472 3002  Fax: +44 21 471 2935    | 90, Vincent Drive
                                              | Edgbaston
If all else fails from US, try:               | Birmingham.  B15 2SP
          apricot!garyo@relay.EU.net          | United Kingdom
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: tjo@its.bt.co.uk (Tim Oldham)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Any New CD for 9.49 (Was: Re: Record shops (LPs))
Date: 18 Dec 92 12:51:57 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: BT Group Computing Services, Birmingham, UK

I've said this before, but I'll say it again. There's no need to pay
more than 9.49 for any new CD that's currently in any label's catalogue.
That's the price that MAP charge for mail order. Any quantity. Includes
P&P. Talk to them on 0705 230495.

I've no connection with them except as a satisfied customer.

	Tim.
-- 
Tim Oldham, BT Group Computing Services.       tjo@its.bt.co.uk
``Sounds good to me''
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Transport subsidies - Was: Car Parking
Date: 18 Dec 92 11:59:57 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <11340@baird.cs.strath.ac.uk> sproven@cs.strath.ac.uk (Simon B Proven IE91) writes:
>Or have a separate (far, far cheaper and safer) toll cycleway system...
>
>In a free market, there would be demand from cyclists for such.

No, that feels obvious but it's not actually (necessarily) true.  We
argue it fairly regularly in the rec.bicycles.* groups.  If bicycles
are to be seen as a real alternative serious transportation medium, not
just as toys, then it must be possible to get from A to B, for all A
and all B, with the same degree of perceived (by the cyclists)
convenience as is offered to cars.  In essence, then, everywhere there
is a road you'd need a cycleway.

In many areas, including many of the most interesting ones -- i.e. for
relatively short, 2-5 mile, trips around town, where the utility value
of cycling is high -- existing land use patterns mean that this could
not happen.  Many cyclists, therefore (including me, obviously, or I
wouldn't bother to point this out) feel that the sensible approach
has to be to educate motorists to appreciate that cyclists have an
equal right to the roads, and that getting (enough) motorists onto
bicycles also benefits the motorists when they do have to (or choose
to) drive.  Suggesting cyclepaths as a general solution tends to
undermine that argument.

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!uknet!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
From: Alan.Holmes@brunel.ac.uk (Alan J Holmes)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Video taping TV programs
Date: 14 Dec 92 14:58:32 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Brunel University, West London, UK

In article <Bz3rrB.Ltt@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk> dam@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (David Morning) writes:
>Alan.Holmes@brunel.ac.uk (Alan J Holmes) writes:
>
>>In article <1992Dec10.094802.11245@cs.hw.ac.uk> adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt) writes:
>
>>>BBC can hardly complain as their own magazine, Radio Times, come complete with
>
>>I didn't think the Radio Times was owned by the BBC, I thought it was
>>a private enterprise magazine which at one time was the only magazine
>>permitted to publish the times of BBC programmes.
>
>No, it's owned and published by BBC Publications. Guess who that is?

I've just checked the small print at the bottom of the last page
of the Radio Times and yes, you are quite right, the magazine is
owned by BBC Enterprises.  You learn something new every day!

Regards

Alan Holmes
From: mathew <mathew@mantis.co.uk>
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Transport subsidies - Was: Car Parking
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 16:59:15 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Mantis Consultants, Cambridge. UK.

Alan.Holmes@brunel.ac.uk (Alan J Holmes) writes:
> I'd have an electric car tommorrow (or perhaps even today) if I could
> find one with a reasonable range (say 200 miles) and an on board
> charger for use when I was away from a source of mains power.

General Motors and Renault have both produced perfectly workable electric
cars, with a reasonably long range, good acceleration and fast charging. 
Oddly enough, they have decided that there's no demand for such cars, and
have therefore not put them into production.  I wonder why?


mathew
-- 
Lung cancer and arteriosclerosis.
For people who like to smoke.
From: eset08@castle.ed.ac.uk (J Strobridge)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Transport subsidies - Was: Car Parking
Date: 14 Dec 92 20:15:39 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University



As a matter of curiosity does anyone know how much it costs for govt to
collect taxes?   I would guess it's a reasonably high percentage of our
tax bill.

And surely Toll Road users would pay their toll directly to the owners of
the Toll Road - the govt wouldn't come into this one?   

So far as making all roads toll roads - this isn't necessary either.  
The real problem is upkeep and maintaining a good distribution network. 
If you *want* cars to come into your area you charge a low toll or even
make an area free of tolls, if that's what's needed.   Maybe you reckon
the extra cash that, say traders in the shops would get, or carparks by
the sea would get, or any other income generating situation that
happened to be around would be sufficient then a no-toll area might be
quite easy to sustain.

Folk after all will and already do spend their money on a balance between
the service they expect and the service they get.   They just don't get
much of a choice in many cases.    


jill
From: mathew <mathew@mantis.co.uk>
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Record shops (LPs)
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 17:03:13 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Mantis Consultants, Cambridge. UK.

snail@lsl.co.uk writes:
> In article <6q3TVB17w165w@mantis.co.uk>, mathew@mantis.co.uk (mathew) writes:
> > The profit on selling 100 LPs is larger than the profit on selling 10 CDs. 
> > If the customers really wanted LPs, there's no way the industry would be ab
> > to railroad them into buying CDs.
> 
> How? Cds are cheaper to manufacture. The cases are pressed plastic (chaep)
> and they are light weight (so cheaper to transport) and smaller (so you can
> move more) and they cost about 2 to 3 times the price of an LP.

Pressed plastic with colour paper insert is cheaper than a cardboard
or paper sleeve?  Since when?

Light weight?  Hmm, I'm going to go home and weigh some CDs...

> And you say the profit margin is greater on an LP.

No, I say that it's not less than 1/10th of the profit on a CD.


mathew
-- 
Lung cancer and arteriosclerosis.
For people who like to smoke.
From: benha@castle.ed.ac.uk (Ben Hambidge)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Mailing lists from hell
Date: 14 Dec 92 14:37:54 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

In article <Bz948z.Fxs@fulcrum.co.uk> igb@fulcrum.co.uk (Ian G Batten) writes:
>In article <29507@castle.ed.ac.uk> benha@castle.ed.ac.uk (Ben Hambidge) writes:
>> Well, no, not very helpful, but I think I'm right in saying these
>> companies are breaking the law. A stern official letter mentioning the
>
>You're wrong.  The Mail Preference thingie has no legal status.
>
>ian

Oh, OK fair enough. But as their lists are stored on a computer,
wouldn't there be some way round it using the Data Protection Act. Can
you demand removal of your info on a machine that deosn't _need_ it?

Ben   <benha@castle.ed.ac.uk>
From: rap@nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com (Richard Porter)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Going by Underground
Date: 14 Dec 1992 16:45:46 GMT
Organization: BNR Europe Limited
NNTP-Posting-Host: nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com

In article <Bz94vL.52w@exnet.co.uk> dhd@exnet.co.uk (Damon Hart-Davis) writes:

>It is usually a safe assumption (particularly if you are making a
>connection or a meeting) that getting from anywhere to anywhere on the
>Tube takes at least 45 minutes.  If you don't change trains knock of
>5--10 minutes.

A good rule of thumb is 2 minutes per station plus about 10 minutes for
getting down to the platform and back and waiting. Waiting time is longer
in the early morning or late evening. It takes longer to get down to
tube platforms than surface or cut-and-cover ones.

>If the station is the next one down the line... walk.

That's good advice in central London but there are some long runs elsewhere,
and some river crossings with no pedestrian alternative. Don't be misled
by the Underground diagram - it is not a map. Two stations might look some
distance apart on the diagram and yet be almost next to each other, so it's
useful to check with the A-Z.

Tim Oldham writes:

>Olympia is awful to get to. I hate the place. God only knows why anybody
>puts on exhibitions there.

BETT'93 has moved there from the Barbican. Still, there are plenty of buses
from High Street Kensington so you don't need to wait for the train to/from
Kensington Olympia.
From: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Going by Underground
Date: 15 Dec 92 12:38:31 GMT
Organization: U of Cambridge Computer Lab, UK

In article <1gidnqINNisd@bnsgd245.bnr.co.uk>, rap@nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com (Richard Porter) writes:
|> [...]
|>                                                          Don't be misled
|> by the Underground diagram - it is not a map. [...]

It certainly is.  It is rather better at topology than topography, but
it's sure as hell a map...
--
Robin (Campaign for Real Radio 3) Fairbairns       rf@cl.cam.ac.uk
U of Cambridge Computer Lab, Pembroke St, Cambridge  CB2 3QG, UK
"They had twelve years to lay in wait for us" - Bush supporter on Nov 4
From: rap@nnsgs50.tcom.stc.co.uk (Richard Porter)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Record shops (LPs)
Date: 18 Dec 1992 09:33:07 GMT
Organization: BNR Europe Limited
Distribution: uk
NNTP-Posting-Host: nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com

In article <3VRXVB31w165w@mantis.co.uk> mathew <mathew@mantis.co.uk> writes:

>Pressed plastic with colour paper insert is cheaper than a cardboard
>or paper sleeve?  Since when?

>Light weight?  Hmm, I'm going to go home and weigh some CDs...

If you buy an imported US CD you're likely to get a plastic case with a paper
insert inside a cardboard box about three times the size. In fact the box is
the same height and half the width of an LP sleeve so you can stack CDs in
LP racks. Only the Americans would think of anything quite so daft and
wasteful.
From: mathew <mathew@mantis.co.uk>
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Record shops (LPs)
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 14:12:24 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Mantis Consultants, Cambridge. UK.

snail@lsl.co.uk writes:
> Can anyone tell me what the follwoing phrases mean when applied to CD players
> I think it's all marketing bullshit, but I can't make my mind up until someon
> actually tells me what the follwoing phrases mean.
> 
> Phrase 1) Multi bit sampling CD player

This is the conventional method of decoding CD data.  You read 16 bits off
the CD, shove them through a D/A converter, and pass that on to the analogue
stage.

If used to refer to something supposedly different from a normal CD player,
the phrase may be attempting to refer to oversampling, or to other techniques
such as quadratic interpolation (which is what my CD player does...)

> Phrase 2) 1-bit sampling CD player

Also known as Bitstream.  You read the bits off and convert them to a
frequency modulated stream of bits at very high speed.  This is then
converted back to analogue sound.  Basically, it's a way of using FM as an
alternative to trying to build a fast one-step 16-bit D/A.

If you want more than that, I'll have to go away and check the details.

The other thing to check with a CD player is that it has *twin* D/A or
Bitstream conversion systems.  Cheaper players often share one D/A between
left and right, which leads to phase problems.


mathew
-- 
Lung cancer and arteriosclerosis.
For people who like to smoke.
From: ah@dunaad.co.uk (Alan Hunter)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Yet more anti-libertarian argRe: Transport subsidies - Was: Car Parking
Date: 19 Dec 92 07:29:08 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Johnson Hunter Limited

In article <1992Dec17.162105.10894@vax.oxford.ac.uk> wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:

>Taxation is broadly speaking a means of transferring money from those
>who have too much of it to those who do not have enough. 

No, Taxation is an institutionalised way for the powerful to take money
from the less powerful (by instintionalised I mean less bloody and
uncertain thatn using force). It probably always has been expressed as
"For your own good", but this stuff about transferring wealth from the
rich to the poor is a modern thing that the powerful adopted cos it sounded
good at elections and cost very little. 

Taxation is one of the most important monopolies that the government owns.
The only one more useful is the right to use force (armed services,
police etc).

Alan


-- 
Alan Hunter
Johnson Hunter Ltd
Isle of Islay, Scotland
A.Hunter@dunaad.co.uk          fax: +44-496-2336         voice: +44-496-2286
From: rob@liciren.li.co.uk (Rob Clive)
Newsgroups: uk.misc
Subject: Re: Record shops (LPs)
Date: 17 Dec 92 12:14:01 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Lucas Powertrain Systems, Electronic Control Group, UK

In article <ciNVVB18w165w@mantis.co.uk> mathew@mantis.co.uk (mathew) writes:
>
>> The reason that vinyl has virtually disappeared is that the manufacturers
>> could
>> (1) Charge significantly more money to sell something that costs
>> significantly less to produce
>> (2) Make vast additional sums of money by re-releasing the entire 
>> back-catalogue (which has already paid for itself) at further exhorbitant
>> price
>> (3) Use the excessive price of CD to drive up the costs (to the record-buying
>> public) of the remaining media (compact cassettes).
>[...]
>> And guess what? It's about to happen all over again with DCC!
>
>(1) won't work.  DCC costs more to make than CD.

I would guess about the same as (admittedly high quality) cassette.


>(2) won't work.  There's no motivation to replace your CDs with DCC; you can
>    just tape them yourself.

Don't think so.  Ever heard of Serial Copy Management?  The record
industry *insisted* that copy protection hardware be built into every
DCC.  After all, if you've got one gold mine (CD) why spoil the chances
of another one (DCC).  So all those blank DCC tapes people buy will
*really* be for recording bird song :-)


>(3) might work, but so far DCC is the same price as CD.

And will probably stay that way.


BTW has anyone noticed what the average length of a CD recording is?
Given that the maximum possible length of a CD is about 80 minutes it
seems a rip off to purchase ones that have only 40 - 45 minutes on them.
We seem to be paying out not only for the support of the record company
but also for a lot of nothing.  Does anyone else think the same?
----------
Rob Clive.			           Most nets:	rob@liciren.li.co.uk
Lucas Powertrain Systems, Cirencester		UUCP:	...!uknet!lucifer!rob
Gloucestershire, GL7 1QG, UK.				      Now read on....
Newsgroups: uk.misc