HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: gfowler@javelin.sim.es.com (Gary Fowler)
Subject: Publishers Clearing-House UL?
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 14:22:25 GMT

This morning, the guy I car-pool with told me a story that smells like
an UL.  A bag of unopened Publishers Clearing-House Sweepstakes entries was
found illegally dumped.  All the entries had one thing in common.  They didn't
order any magazines.  He said he saw it on the news, but i'm still suspicious.
Can anyone prove or debunk this one?

Gary "I knew I should have ordered TV Guide" Fowler
From: de@moscom.com (David Esan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Junk E-mail
Date: 15 Oct 92 17:45:56 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: Moscom Corp., Pittsford NY

In article <bobk.719087448@slinky.NSD.3Com.COM> bobk@ESD.3Com.COM (Bob Konigsberg) writes:
>For the curious, they took the names from people who posted to
>the PC/MS-DOS and MS-Windows newsgroups.

I never posted there, and I got email.
-- 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -->     David Esan      de@moscom.com  
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: slb3y@cc.usu.edu (Punk Rocketeer)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Dunn been Diced
Date: 8 Oct 92 09:28:01 MDT
Organization: Omega:  The Final Solution

> In article <1992Oct7.083220.2587@news.columbia.edu>
lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
>>Nora Dunn did the same. Dunn was fired, but O'Connor came back, although not
>>likely again.
> 
In article <1992Oct7.135350.2167@midway.uchicago.edu>,
thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Citecheck Hell) writes:
> Was Nora Dunn fired for that?  Or did she just leave?

     According to SNL executives, Dunn's leaving the show was not a
direct result of her Diceman boycott.  Source:  last spring's College
Bowl questions.  The questioners were instructed to include that
disclaimer after that particular question had been finished.
-- 
Patrick S. Clark | "We are not in the Eighth Dimension.
Email is life!   |  We are over New Jersey.  All is not lost."
Usual disclaimer | --Unidentified red Lectroid announcer
From: diverson@phys.ksu.edu (David Iverson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Number of Angels on the Head of a Pin?
Date: 9 Oct 1992 17:26:36 GMT
Organization: Kansas State University
NNTP-Posting-Host: dirac.phys.ksu.edu

In <1992Oct9.141045.19053@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> mchance@nyx.cs.du.edu (Michael Chance) writes:

>A friend of mine and I were discussing imponderables the other day,
>and the topic of the old medieval arguments about the number of angels
>that can dance on the head of a pin came up.  He said that the Vatican
>actually accept a number (like 489 or some such) during the
>Renaissance, based on arguments presented to the Pope.  Anyone have
>the real story, or is this another one for the AFU FAQ file?

>Michael A. Chance


Oh, boy!  I can't speak of mideval history.  But this has lots of modern day
relevance.  There is a new technique where scientists take a
Scanning-Tunneling Electron Microscope and very precisesly remove one atom
at a time from the surface of a material.  So IBM has done things like
written it's logo 6 atoms high by 30 long or something.  One researcher
evidently designed a pixel representation of an angel and then set about
inscribing them on the head of a pin.  Evidently he got something like 10
million on the pin, but then someone dropped it!!!!!  Supposedly they've
made another.  Sounds too good to be true, but I remember the source was
Scientific American (hell, it's got science and America in the name and it's
printed material, how could it possibly be wrong?!?)  I kind of like leaving
this as a UL but maybe I (or someone else) will dredge up the source.

-Diversion

--
diverson@phys.ksu.edu
From: cromar@math.rutgers.edu (Scott Cromar)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Trolling for Newbies (was Garbled anecdotes)
Date: 9 Oct 92 14:26:27 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

davol@plasmameiko.co.uk (David Wilson) writes:
> cromar@math.rutgers.edu (Scott Cromar) writes:
> >davol@twinheadmeiko.co.uk (David Wilson) writes:
: >cromar@math.rutgers.edu writes:
: > ObUL:  Churchill's first words were "In the morning I'll be sober, and
: > you'll still be overdone."
 
> >: The way I heard this one was: 
> >...
> >: "Madam, you are ugly. But in the morning I'll be sober."

> >Whaddya think?  I think I caught this one cold.

> Excuse me. Can someone tell me what's going on here ?

Well, seeing as how you ended up on my hook, I suppose it's my
responsibility to explain the situation to you.  I tried to send this
by email, but I can't reach there from here.

You may have noticed nonsequiturs and garbled quotes at the end of
several postings.  People put these rather warped and garbled versions
of old familiar tales on the end as a sort of insider's joke.  Every
now and again, someone who is unfamiliar with the game will bite and
post a well-meaning correction to the story, and end up reposting a
story that has been told many times on afu.

I hope you're seeing a pattern here.

Some people call this game "trolling for newbies," especially at the
beginning of each new school year.  As far as I know, there are no
formal rules, but I'm sure someone will make some up.

--Scott "Besides, I'm sure it was Disraeli.  Or was that Gladstone?"
Cromar
From: phil@iagu.itd.adelaide.edu.au (Phil Kernick)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Canadian pennies
Date: 8 Oct 92 06:16:44 GMT
Reply-To: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au
Organization: Psychology Department, University of Adelaide
NNTP-Posting-Host: iagu.itd.adelaide.edu.au


In article <1992Oct5.202744.8609@honte.uleth.ca>, std_fleming@hg.uleth.ca (John Fleming) writes:
> 
>   A while ago I was told that it costs the Royal Canadian Mint (which is
> supported, in part, by -my- tax money) four cents to mint a penny.  Has anyone
> else encountered this rumour, and if so, is it true?  Thank you.

To the best of my knowledge this is not a rumour - at least, not in
Australia.  Recently the government stopped issuing 1c and 2c pieces because
it was costing them more to produce them than their face value.

Now our minimum unit of portable currency is 5c (by this I mean that you can
still write a cheque for $10.01 but you cannot give someone $10.01 in cash).
Legislation has been passed requiring vendors to round final prices to the
nearest 5c multiple.


Regards,
Phil.

--
   _-_|\    Phil Kernick                        "Sleep all day,
  /     \   University of Adelaide               Party all night,
  \_.-*_/   E-Mail: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au    It's fun to be a
       v    Phone:  +61 8 228 5914               Vampire!"
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: DEVILBISS@OCTAVE.LARC.NASA.GOV (Zaphod Beeblebrox)
Subject: Re: Publishers Clearing-House UL?
Reply-To: DEVILBISS@OCTAVE.LARC.NASA.GOV (Zaphod Beeblebrox)
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA USA
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 15:48:20 GMT

> This morning, the guy I car-pool with told me a story that smells like
>an UL.  A bag of unopened Publishers Clearing-House Sweepstakes entries was
>found illegally dumped.  All the entries had one thing in common.  They didn't
>order any magazines.  He said he saw it on the news, but i'm still suspicious.
>Can anyone prove or debunk this one?

>Gary "I knew I should have ordered TV Guide" Fowler

I saw the same thing on the news this morning.  They showed boxes of entry forms 
that were found along side the road by some garbage men.  An interview with a number 
of these garbage men indicated that this kind of thing is not at all uncommon.  The all 
said that no magazines were ordered on any of the dumped entry forms.

        If we were not crazy, we would go insane.
        If we could not laugh, we would go insane!     J. Buffett
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: torsten@cwis.unomaha.edu (Torsten Wesley Adair)
Subject: Re: Flavored Condoms
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 20:23:42 GMT

datri@egsner.cirr.com  writes:
> I've come to the conclusion that "posh" exists only to spawn UL's, and
> that nobody ever actually uses it.

Is "posh" the past tense of "pish"?

	Torsten at Omaha
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:25282 alt.tasteless:11068
From: dab@ism.isc.com (Dave Butterfield)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.tasteless
Subject: Re: Radar Cars (was: stupid cop tricks & t)
Date: 9 Oct 92 19:59:21 GMT
Followup-To: alt.tasteless
Organization: x
NNTP-Posting-Host: change

jmethot@vicorp.com (John Methot) writes:
>Did y'all see the 60 Minutes a while back
>about the CT cops with the brain and testicle cancer blamed on radar?
>I believe the CT legislature banned some forms of radar units
>after this story aired.

Why didn't they just use female cops to operate the machines?

-- 
"Home base for Lufthansa is Germany, which puts
 all of Europe right in our back yard." -- Advertisement heard on the radio
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Hey! Check out this Frequently Asked Questions List or be FAQ'd!
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 18:38:46 GMT

starfish@stein.u.washington.edu (Sarah Skovronsky) writes:
: tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com (Terry Carroll) writes:
: 
: >In article <26718@dog.ee.lbl.gov>, twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (TWChan@lbl.gov) 
: >writes:
: >>   - Poinsettia salad
: 
: >Please spell this as "Pointsetta" in future editions of the FAQ.  I need some 
: >nitpicking thing to correct.
: 
: Acquire a dictionary, Terry.  POINSETTIA, according to the American Heritage
: Dictionary, Second College Edition.  One of MY pet peeves is the mispronun-
: ciation (as well as misspelling) "pointsetta."

Hey, he said he wanted some nitpicking thing to correct. If it is not spelled
incorrectly, then he cannot correct it. In other words, it looks like he was
requesting that it be spelled incorrectly.

Sheesh. 

Bill
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jogle@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim))
Subject: Re: Old Food, was Re: nail in Coca-Cola
Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro NM
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 92 16:55:39 GMT

Was there a reason for cross-posting this to alt.games.torg?

Anyway, we used to stick glasses and plates to the underside of the
tables in the school cafeteria with mashed potatoes.  Some of those
tables were removed because they couldn't get the dishes off!


-- 
Kansas Jim (Jim Ogle, TORG guru)                               /|
jogle@aoc.nrao.edu (NRAO-VLBA, Socorro New Mexico)           o| |-
"I'd be apathetic if I cared."                              /| \|
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: fielden@spot.Colorado.EDU (j.a. fielden)
Subject: Re: Male Pregnancies
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 16:45:31 GMT

In article <1992Oct16.140307.317@NeoSoft.com> arielle@NeoSoft.com (Stephanie da Silva) writes:
>In article <1bk7loINNhpu@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> rxh6@po.CWRU.Edu (Randall Holt) writes:
>> 
>> I admit that it's much more likely that an expectant mother get away
>> with hiding the truth from others than from herself, seeing as how cessation
>> of cyclic monthly inconveniences is one of the few, if not only, advantages 
>> to pregnancy. 
>
>I know a lady who didn't know she was pregnant until she was into her fifth
>month.  She was heavy to begin with and when I asked her about it, she said 
>her periods were wildly erratic, so she didn't start to suspect anything 
>until she had missed her fourth.  Her erratic periods were also why she 
>didn't use any birth control as she thought she was unable to get pregnant.
>(She was very young -- 18 or 19).
>
>Having had two children of my own, I find it real difficult to fathom how 
>anyone could be pregnant and not know as all sorts of strange things happen 
>to not only one's body, but one's mind as well.
>

 According to the mother of a good friend she was about 5 months along with her 
3rd child(my friend) before she knew she was pregnant. She had periods every 
month, no nausea or other symptoms. Supposedly she knew she was pregnant 
when she started feeling the baby kick.  

I do know of the opposite case where a woman insisted she was pregnant,
the doctor said she wasn't and it turned out she was. It took three seperate
trips over several weeks before a pregnancy test came back positive.
(No she didn't become pregnant later because the ultra-sound placed the
fetus age at the earlier date).

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: starfish@stein.u.washington.edu (Sarah Skovronsky)
Subject: Re: Oranjelo
Organization: University of Washington
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 20:26:07 GMT

pwhitman@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Philip N Whitman) writes:

>In article <1992Oct8.182108.14613@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> pwhitman@magnus.ac
>s.ohio-state.edu (Philip N Whitman) writes:
>As I was saying, I met this guy in my Boy Scout troop in 5th grade, whose
>name was Gordon Lawrence.  Later on I met his older brother named Fabian,
>and later still I met another brother older than both of them, and his
>name was Evan.  That was when I found out the full story: that they were
>merely the last three of seven children, named (in order of visitation)
>Alan, Brian, Caren (I think), Dian, Evan, Fabian and Gordon.  After that
>I felt kind of sorry for Fabian, stuck being the 6th kid who had to get
>the weird name just so it'd conform to the pattern his parents had set up.

They couldn't just have named him Frank or something?

-- 
                                   Please note new address
**********************************vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv*************
*            Sarah Skovronsky     starfish@u.washington.edu            *
* "Sample my FIST, you community theater reject!"  --TV's Frank, MST3K *
**********fnord!********furrfu!********hi-keeba!********meep!***********

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: rogers@rosencrantz.osf.org (Andrew Rogers)
Subject: Re: Collected Musical Factoids (was Re: Kirk vs. Picard)
Organization: HICAM/OSD
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 22:10:28 GMT

In article <1992Oct7.083220.2587@news.columbia.edu> lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
>It appears that Rhino Records has re-released the Rutles album on CD. There are
>allegedly additional songs not used in All You Need is Cash, that excellent
>parody (pre-dates This is Spinal Tap by a number of years) of the original
>documentary All You Need is Love.

Not quite.  The CD does contain six additional tracks - Blue Suede Schubert,
Get Up And Go, Goose Step Mama, and three others whose titles I don't recall
off the top of my head - but all were used in the movie; they just weren't on
the original LP release.

AWR
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: "Normal" body temperature
From: derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Derek Tearne)
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 03:40:13 GMT
Organization: Fujitsu New Zealand

In article <1992Oct13.120717.20747@nntp.nta.no> styri@nta.no writes:
>In article <1992Oct13.033512.21199@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au>, Veltyen writes:
>>
>>	22.0 C +/- 1.0 C is classic control temps
>>	22.0 C +/- 0.1 C for clean room conditions
>>	( these are from memory and approximate.)
>
>Sure, I remember my dad told me about a friend who came back to Norway from
>Kansas University and tried to repeat one of the `room temp' experiments.
>Just didn't work properly until he realized that the above does not apply
>here...

My chemistry teacher told me that Nylon is named after New York and London.
The story goes that the experimentors in New York got a different result
from the scientists in London due to the difference in Lab temperatures.

Neither group would have discovered nylon in isolation as the lab temps
would be wrong for the part of the process.

I believed this implicitly then but now I wonder. 

I also seem to recall that SI standard temperatue was 18 degrees Celsius.


-- 
Derek Tearne. -- derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz --  Fujitsu/ICL New Zealand -- 
Some of the more aware dinosaurs were worried about the environmental
consequences of an accident with the new Iridium enriched fusion reactor.  
"If it goes off only the cockroaches and mammals will survive..." they said.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com
Subject: Re: Dead pet UL?
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 16:43:24 GMT

In article <1992Oct7.185737.10786@cs.sfu.ca>, jamie@cs.sfu.ca (Jamie Andrews) writes...
>     Heard this from a friend who *insisted* that it happened to
>her co-worker's cousin.  Seemed like such a classic format for a
>UL that I had to check it out here.  Anyone heard it?

Ah yes, the dead rabbit UL again.  The FAQ says it's in Brunvand's book
"Curses! Broiled Again!" under the cute title "The Hare Drier".

>     The kicker:  neighbour responds "But the rabbit died two
>weeks ago."

This should have tipped off your friend:  What would the condition of a
rabbit be, after having been dead and buried for 2 weeks?!?! (ick!)

-Mike
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: pv@gagme.chi.il.us (Paul Vader)
Subject: Sexual euphemism in the FAQ
Originator: pv@gagme
Organization: Inline Software Creations
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 17:04:51 GMT

"Sign of the Six-legged Aardvark"? Isn't that a Sherlock Holmes story? PV
-- 
Paul Vader           Systems Analyst, semi-lurker, Rollerblader,
pv@gagme.chi.il.us   ex-Zen poet, FOAF, and bleeding-heart liberal
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: billmcc@seanews.akita.com (Bill McCormick)
Subject: Re: Philadelphia Experiment
Organization: SEANEWS - Seattle Public Access News & Mail
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 05:28:15 GMT

In article <1992Oct14.012954.19934@yang.earlham.edu> allens@yang.earlham.edu (Allen Smith) writes:
>> Thus, anyone who finds the FAQ unavailable has a 96% chance of being
>> a lazy whiner who can't take the time to look for one.
>	Good idea to include that phrase about 96%; we don't have it 
>around here, for instance (VMS: search/wildcard *FAQ* (*=wildcard)) didn't 
>turn up anything. Are you quite sure that the percentage is as low as 4%? 
>Anyone else without it, with a full search?

Don't you know that 81.6% of statistics are made up?

ObUL: The "Skoal Bandit" driver once made a snuff film.
-- 
SEANEWS  []  Seattle News + Mail  []  Public Access  []  +1 206 937 9529
E-mail for PGP key.   MD5 (no sigs) is: 8e253e95133365a292261c7d0da58bcb
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Is the electric chair an Edison publicity stunt?
From: andrewb@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Andrew Bevin)
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 00:31:05 GMT
Organization: Fujitsu New Zealand

In article <1992Oct5.235347.22768@athena.cs.uga.edu> jordan@castor (USENET's Chuck) writes:
>In article <1992Oct4.145826.16139@midway.uchicago.edu> pynq@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>>However, with lethal injection, the problem now appears to be solved.
>>It appears that with lethal injection, you really do just "fade away".
>
>Sorry to inject some fiction into this newsgroup, but:
>
>There was an interesting short story in an old old OMNI magazine (Bob
>Guccione's Science Magazine...hmmm) about a man who had committed crimes
>against the state, so he kept getting executed until he confessed.  The
>society had found a way to save one's consciousness right as he died and
>transfer it to a new body.
>

I remember that story, you got the authors view of what would happen to 
you if you had the ability to die by every type of execution.

Personally I think you would really just fade away if drugged.

You get to experience your birth, shouldn't you also get to experience 
your death.

Not that you really get a chance to remember it later.



-- 
Andrew Bevin      			                     andrewb@icl.co.nz
SDC, Fujitsu New Zealand                      ## I do not speak for Fujitsu! ##
Auckland, New Zealand   
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: trif@bike.rad.washington.edu (To Run In Fear)
Subject: Re: Canadian pennies
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle WA
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 05:07:25 GMT

In article <1992Oct9.195406.27430@unislc.uucp> dw@unislc.uucp (Dan Wright) writes:
   bill nelson wrote:
   : (Phil Kernick) writes:
   : : Australia.  Recently the government stopped issuing 1c and 2c pieces because
   : : it was costing them more to produce them than their face value.
   : : Now our minimum unit of portable currency is 5c (by this I mean that you can
   : : still write a cheque for $10.01 but you cannot give someone $10.01 in cash).
   : : Legislation has been passed requiring vendors to round final prices to the
   : : nearest 5c multiple.
   : 
   : Why don't people just start cutting the coins into wedges, like they used to
   : do with coins here?  Cut the coin into fifths and you have "bits" worth a
   : penny each.  

   Can you imagine the U.S. government passing legislation requiring retailers
   to round prices to the nearest 5 cents?  It seems like an impractical way
   to handle the situation.  This Austrialian phenomenon is really surprising,
   and qualifies as "news of the weird".  The government here would begin
   minting pennies out of less expensive stuff (steel, even wood?)  or, as
   bill nelson pointed out, might issue 5 cent pieces designed to be cut into
   fifths; having channels or perforations.

     -- Dan Wright

Ever wonder what happened to all those Susan B. Anthony dollars and 2 dollar
bills?  They got shipped overseas to be used by people serving in the military.
My mother teaches in one of the DoD schools in Germany, and every time she
comes back for a visit, she has a few in her wallet, and it really confuses
sales clerks when she tries to pay for stuff with them.  They have also done
away with pennies except at the post office (as of the last time I was there).
Clerks round everything to the nearest 5 cents, though you do still have the
option of paying using pennies, if say, something is $1.08, and you want to
save yourself the 2 cents.  That is if you *have* any pennies.  The supposed
reason for this is that it was costing the government way too much to ship
tons of pennies around.

ObUL:  It has been reported here ("I heard that...") that Princess Di had
to undergo some sort of required examination to verify her virginity before
she and Chuck got married.  Sounds bogus to me, but there is one person who
adamantly insists that it is true (no documentation, though).  Any facts or
fiction on this?

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com
Subject: Re: Mink boners
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 01:20:07 GMT

In article <1992Oct13.221835.1507@unislc.uucp>, dw@unislc.uucp (Dan Wright) writes...
>Daniel F Boyd wrote (among other things):
>: 12.  Do you know of any stories about animals and penises
>:      (around the penis, in the penis, affected by the
>:      penis, etc.)?
> 

[surveyor with mink penis bone]

>I don't believe a boned penis would be selected for and would become
>a popular trait in any animal, especially since The Deflatable Penis
>has already been refined so.  Were penises to stick out like tent poles
>all day and night they would be prone to damage.  They would make easy
>targets in a fight, and might catch and break on something while the
>animal was running.  I can see it now:

[ouch!]

>If minks do indeed have skeletal material in their wieners, other
>weasel-like animals should also have vestiges of the trait,
>and the story should be more common.

I have an Encyclopedia of Science and Technology that has an article on
Copulatory Organs, and describes in a dry scientific method the various
organs on various males.  The last paragraph reads as follows:

"This organ is variously modified morphologically.  Among certain mammals
such as rodents, bats, whales, some carnivores, and lower primates, a penis
bone, the os priapi or baculum (Figure 2 [yes, drawings of bones]), occurs,
increasing the rigidity of the penis."

-Mike "Should I mention the spines some animals have?" Moroney
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban