HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: IBM in the UK - History?
Date: 6 Nov 1992 00:06:28 GMT
Organization: Department of Redundancy Department
Reply-To: TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.12.117


On behalf of an an individual who received the following from an
industry insider who has requested anonymity, I am posting the 
following:

    Informed sources are reporting that IBM's mainframe business is
    crumbling faster than anyone thought possible, as companies
    rightsize to workstations and servers.

    It is reported that IBM did not sell any mainframes at all in
    Britain in 1992.   Zero.    None.   They sold a bunch of mini's
    some service/support, and a few PS/2's but no heavy metal. Does 
    anyone have any evidence one way or the other on this report?


Terry "Incomplete British Museum?" Chan
--
Energy and Environment Division   | Internet:  TWChan@lbl.gov
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory      | 
Berkeley, California  USA  94720  | Carpe Per Diem
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Legal Tender
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 07:18:04 GMT

jordan@castor (USENET's Chuck) writes:
: In article <1992Nov8.081454.21693@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com> billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
: 
: Not that I doubt the voracity of your source, Bill, but just because you
: can think of a number of reasons why somebody wouldn't want to get cash
: doesn't convince me that this is legal.  As for there being nothing in the
: law that says it must be accepted, then how about the "legal tender for all
: debts, public and private..." bit?

It is just as I stated - legal, but not mandatory.

: 	I would think that if you make some sort of barter deal with someone,
: and then decide that you want to pay him tens and twenties instead of the
: nice big barrel of cling peaches that you'd promised him, he has a right to
: refuse cash.  But if you sign an agreement that your rent is "one hundred
: fifty DOLLARS," the whole idea of having a national currency (as I understand
: it) is that your landlord is bound by law to accept that currency.

Maybe, if you pay in person. However, what if you have to mail the payment?
It would protect both you, and the landlord, if you paid by check or money
order - both being readily convertable into cash or other goods. I have seen
a number of billings that state that you can only pay by check or money
order. Whether such statements are legal or not could be better answered
on alt.legal. By the way, I believe that the State of Oregon requires mailed
payments to be by "check or money order only." They state that the person is
to not send cash.

What if the landlord has 200 tenents, and all of them paid in cash? The
landlord then has to pact this multiple thousands of dollars to the bank.
That could be rather stressful, in some parts of the country. 

What if you put the cash into an envelope and put it through the mailslot
in the landlord's door? Then, someone breaks in and (in the process of
burglarizing the appartment)  finds the payment and takes it. All of a
sudden, the landlord is out your payment - unless his insurance covers
the loss. I am assuming that you can prove that there is no question that
you made the payment.  Now, if you had paid by check, the loss would not
have occurred. This is one example of why a landlord might refuse cash
payments.

Bill
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: schneid@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Mike Schneider)
Subject: Toilet paper: over or under?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 07:44:06 GMT


Knowing this newsgroup, this is probably a FAQ, but I'll go ahead
with it anyway...

What's the deal?  When you put toilet paper on the roll, is 
the loose end supposed to go over the top of the roll or come
from under the roll?

ObUL: virtually 50% of all AFU readers surveyed prefer the
over the top method, while the other person preferred the
underneath method.

-- 
!!! Mike Schneider *** schneid@jerry.stat.uiuc.edu !!!
!!!     Assistant Manager of Systems Services      !!!
!!!            Department of Statistics            !!!
!!!   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign   !!!
From: mcirvin@husc8.harvard.edu (Mcirvin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Legal Tender
Date: 7 Nov 92 20:42:35 GMT

davew@willow03.cray.com (Dave Wagner) writes:

>What do those words "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and
>private" really mean?  (i.e from a '...we don't accept bills larger than x'
>point of view).

And what was meant by the possibly legendary statement I once heard
that "U.S. coins are not legal tender"?  Is it somehow more legitimate
to refuse pennies than to refuse $100 bills?
-- 
Matt McIrvin
From: sab@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: RE: Junkies/crack addicts don't try to share the fun?
Date: 12 Nov 92 13:30:21 -0500

>billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:

>jah@mits.mdata.fi (Jani A. Heinonen) writes:
>:
>:    Yep, I also greatly enjoy Pb(C2H5)4 for breakfast.
>
>If you can find leaded gasoline. It is rare or non-existant, in most
>states.
>
>Bill
Leaded gasoline is not hard to find - check out the local airport and
the fuel supply for non-jet aircraft.

Steve 'Is that why prop planes aren't lighter than air?' Bloom

Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:27932 alt.conspiracy:12079
From: jdahl@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Jared Dahl)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.conspiracy
Subject: Re: Trilateral commission
Date: 9 Nov 92 23:11:13 GMT
Organization: IBM Rochester
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM

In article <1992Nov7.100836.9396@midway.uchicago.edu>, thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Mmmm... Purple) writes:
|> In article <1dg42dINNjji@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> aq817@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steve Crocker) writes:
|> ><begin repost>
|> >
|> >The Following material is excerpted from Lyndon LaRouche's forward
|> >to the EIR Special Report, The Trilaterial Conspiracy Against the U.S.
|> >Constitution: Fact or Fiction, published September 30, 1985 by Executive
|> >Intelligence Review (the LaRouche affiliated news service).
|> 
|> Lyndon LaRouche?  He did almost as well as Andre Marrou in the presidential
|> election, didn't he?  But you don't hear about him any more since they
|> stuck him in the same prison cell as Jim Bakker.  
|> 
|> Ted "now, if they only stuck him in the same prison cell as Jim Baker" Frank

Yeah, right here in Rochester, MN!  Whoever said "the cold keeps
out the scum" was wrong!

-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
| Jared Dahl             | "My heart is human, my blood is boiling, | 
| Systems Programmer     |  my brain IBM"                           |
| IBM - Rochester, MN    |              -- STYX,  "Mr. Roboto"      |
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Opinions expressed are mine, not IBM's.
From: rperkins@astro.as.arizona.edu (Rachel J. Perkins)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Frozen Waste
Date: 9 Nov 92 05:08:34 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

In article <ralf.721264056@fester> ralf@ioscc.neosoft.com writes:
>So what was the problem?  Imagine having groceries delivered right to
>your living room..... it's time to invite the in-laws over for an
>early Thanksgiving dinner!  And remember, frozen airliner waste is
>a lot like cheese and pussy -- the stinkier, the better!


how charming. just what i wanted to read on this newsgroup. take it to 
alt.sick.fucks, will you?

rachel "try washing, you might not need antibiotics" perkins

--
		-just give me what for,
	rachel perkins =  rperkins@astro.as.arizona.edu
      "Chastity..the most unnatural of all the sexual perversions...."
					-Aldous Huxley
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: tjones@access.digex.com (Tom Jones)
Subject: Re: Oxygenated fuel harmful?
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 18:06:55 GMT

The word from the media in DC (I think the Washington Post and at least
one local TV newscast) is that use of oxygenated fuels "can" result in
lower gas mileage and/or performance.  I do remember some years ago that
some Albuquerque residents were very upset when the regulations hit
them, claiming that it hurt their cars.

The AAA (American Automobile Association) World Magazine I got
yesterday states that "specially *marketed* fuels don't make a
difference in your engine," referring to the special environmental
blends that some stations advertise. [emphasis added]

I do notice that my 1984 pickup runs a bit rougher than it did a month
ago (before the fuel change here) but that's just as likely a result of
the cold weather.

-tom jones
From: linden@positive.Eng.Sun.COM (Trelford Pinkerton)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: U.S. Constitution
Keywords: dorkus dweeb
Date: 6 Nov 92 21:30:47 GMT
Organization: The Bishop Sandwich Band
NNTP-Posting-Host: positive

Plucky little Tim McBrayer (tmcbraye@thor.ece.uc.edu) asks:
> Really, there were originally 12; I saw the document at the National Archives
> in Washington, D.C. about 2 weeks ago.  Ten of the 12 were adopted to form
> our current Bill of Rights.  Of course, I can't remember the last amendment.

Why, surely.  The first amendment proposed for the Constitution, but not adopted
was this humdinger of a tongue-twister:

"After the first enumeration required by the first Article of the Constitution,
there shall be one Representative for every thirty thousand,
until the number shall amount to one hundred,
    after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress,
    that there shall be
        not less than one hundred Representatives,
        nor less than one Representative for every forty thousand persons,
until the number of Representatives shall amount to two hundred,
    after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress,
    that there shall not be
        less than two hundred Representatives,
        nor more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons."

Yea verily shall the righteous smite the writers of prolix text, yea
even until their eyeballs are ground into paste like twinkies.  This 
amendment probably won't ever be passed, as it has been superseded by events.

ObUL: California is one of the few states without a "Washington County", and
      this is the cause of the big chip on its shoulder. 

I was told we woldn't have to do constitutional law in this newsgroup.
But it was Ted Frank who told me.   Maybe he was just establishing a monopoly.

Trelford Pinkerton
--
   Inventor of the Lambada-Calculus.
From: jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (Ad absurdum per aspera)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: HIt by lightning - Yeah, sure
Date: 11 Nov 92 18:26:00 GMT
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.198
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

>> So how many folks that read this newgroup have been hit? 

I've never been hit -- just a near miss.  And a friend "participated in
an unsuccessful attempt to establish a leader" while walking around
outside with a weather balloon in his hand, ignoring repeated and
vehement imprecations over the walkie-talkie to get his keister back
in the balloon hangar.  Both incidents occurred at a thunderstorm
lab, so the experience probly isn't too applicable to the population
at large.  

As in most things, blind fate plays a role.  Just this summer, a 
professor at the college that runs the place was struck and killed by 
lightning -- ironically, not while working at the lab, just going from 
one building to another down on campus.

I suspect that certain practices greatly increase one's risk of being
hit by lightning -- the canonical lightning-fatality story in the papers
has to do with a golfer who tried to play just one more hole instead of
sitting it out in the rain shelter.  A few of the touring pros have been
hit or scared by lightning -- Gary Player, I think, has been hit twice.

>Well, haven't stumbled across the odds of being struck by lightning yet

This could no doubt be found in one of Martin Uman's books such as
_Understanding Lightning_ (don't have them at hand).

>but I did find that, the number of accidental deaths from electric current 
>has fallen steadily since 1970 when there were 1,140 deaths to 1988 when 
>there were 714.

This may be due to the proliferation of the Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter
in kitchens, bathrooms, etc., plus perhaps the solid-state revolution -- 
there's less reason to open up one's appliances and less chance of finding
high-voltage, high-current components therein.

>13,576 [injuries] associated with pet supplies and equipment.

Horses, probably.  Horses are homicidal psychopaths and it wouldn't
surprise me to find that they are carnivorous as well.

Joe "Where does 70 kA flow?  Anywhere it wants to" Chew
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Nickles (was Canadian pennies)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 07:33:56 GMT

pynq@quads.uchicago.edu (George Jetson) writes:
: In article <MNSSBLJ8@cc.swarthmore.edu> sstockw1@cc.swarthmore.edu (Sarah Stockwell) writes:
: 
: I merely pointed out that the US dime, which has a long and distiguished
: history of circulation, and is not viewed as a goofy coin by any means,
: meets, essentially, those criteria.
: 
: Of course, the Susie B meets them as well.  But I have never understood
: people's dislike of the Susie B.  I think they are cool, and I expect
: that people who cannot distinguish between them and quarters are
: probably the same people who never figured out how to record on their VCRs.

Or are blind or have poor vision or are in a rush or are in dim light. They
could at least have made them hexagonal or octagonal, so you could tell the
difference by feel.

Bill
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.computers
From: jbore@cosmos.shearson.com (Joe Bore)
Subject: Re: Jackpotting ATM's for $$$$
Organization: Lehman Brothers
	<1992Nov9.102502.60520@cc.usu.edu> <1992Nov10.053324.12701@infopro.com>
	<1992Nov10.134955.9152@hubcap.clemson.edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 14:57:28 GMT

one day i was curious as to how much money was stored in your average
full atm, so i spotted a guy filling one up and asked him.  Besides
his obvious reservations about telling me any info he said that the
average atm has at least $75,000 dollars and bigger ones can go up to
$150,000!

personally i found that to be quite a shock!  has anyone else heard
such similar info???


jb



--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Bore						|	         LEHMAN
jbore@shearson.com | ...!uunet!shearson.com!jbore	|	       BROTHERS
(212)464-3431, Beeper:  (212)396-4248			|	       -------- 
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:27896 alt.folklore.science:3977
From: cliffw@sequent.com (Cliff White)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: Philadelphia Experiment
Keywords: phillidelphia experiment cream cheese
Date: 10 Nov 92 00:02:37 GMT
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.

In article <9NOV199210360473@csa3.lbl.gov> jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (Ad absurdum per aspera) writes:
>>I've recently been hearing vague mutterings about something called the
>>Philadelphia Experiment. 
>
>The people who believe in it are indeed given to vague muttering.
>A useful trick is to gradually move out of their field of vision
>to determine whether they are addressing *you* rather than the
>fire hydrant, absent friends, or so forth.  
>
The basic story comes from a book, written by Charles Berlitz
His basic source, as i recall was a fella who admitted to various
periods of residence in various mental institutions. Berlitz believed
this consititued proof, since the goverment obviously locked the guy
up and scrambled his brains because he knew too much.   
He also spends most of a chapter proving that the US Navy did,
*in fact*, repair and service destroyers in the Philadelphia Navy Yard during
World War II...The book is full of amazingly well documented stuff
like that..:) 
Berlitz claims the purpose of the prject was to make the ship
'invisible' visually. He is kinda vague on how you achieve optical
invisibilty with magnets, but thats life...

>Various stories have it that a destroyer was subjected to an
>ultrahigh magnetojargonic field and thereby (cloaked) (twisted
>through the space-time continuum and deposited in another place)
>(sterilized of all life forms).  In other words, technoid hocus-
>pocus of the same caliber found in the lesser episodes of Star Trek, 
>only instead of punting the football of plausibility by setting it 
>in the 23rd century, they claim it was done in 1943.
>
>I never even succeeded in watching the entire movie, possibly
>because of excessive sobriety.
>
>Joe "The Trilateral Commission pays me to spread this disinformation
>because the technology was adapted from the flying saucer at Wright-
>Patterson Air F... HEY! STOP TH7834qR)%^


-- 
cliffw

'When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro'- HST
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:28632 alt.conspiracy:12203 alt.politics.perot:5512
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.conspiracy,alt.politics.perot
Subject: Re: Tomorrow's Conspiracy Theory, brought to you today.
Date: 15 Nov 92 16:24:40 GMT
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations

In article <1992Nov15.090042.11113@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com> billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
>If I recall correctly - the electorial college members are not bound to vote
>any one way. They are free to vote for whomever they wish.  

I heard that Perot is going to buy the votes of everyone in the electoral
college and rule by dictatorship.  

Ted "I wonder what he's going to do to Congressman Bobby Rush" Frank
-- 
ted frank                     | thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu 
standard disclaimers          | void where prohibited
the university of chicago law school, chicago, illinois 60637
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jfurr@nyx.cs.du.edu (Mr. Furr)
Subject: Re: Airport security
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.
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 13:01:34 GMT

In article <BxHC64.9w0@rahul.net> phil@rahul.net (Phil Gustafson) writes:
>Rather some years ago, I was in a great hurry to get on a plane at Santa
>Ana airport, later called Orange County and even later called John Wayne.
>
>The beeper kept going off. I gave up my keys, I gave up my Swiss Army
>Knife, I gave up my pocket change, and the damned beeper still went off.
>It turned out that the offending object was a foil package of ketchup
>I had snarfed at a fast-food outlet.
>
>I made the plane, barely.  But watch out, Santa Anans, for perfidious
>mustard smugglers.
>

The thing you really want to watch out for, Phil, is when they get you at
the gates and you've got a zucchini wrapped in aluminum foil stuck down
your trousers.  Happens to me all the time, sadly.

Joel "But ours goes to eleven" Furr
jfurr@vtssi.vt.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Careful with that Gun, Eugene!
From: smith+@cs.cmu.edu (Sean Smith)
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 15:09:21 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon
Summary: a great story---seeds of an UL?

The following little gem is from a suburban Pittsburgh newspaper (I forget
the name).  It appeared within the last month, and is attributed to the
Associated Press.  

I didn't steal it from Cl$r$-f$ck$ng-n$t.  I stole it the old-fashioned way:
typing it in from the actual physical clipping.  (Available on request.)

  THREE GUNS, THREE BULLET WOUNDS
  Man Shot While Cleaning Guns

  PRINCETON, W.Va.---A man accidentally shot himself in the right foot while
  cleaning each of three handguns, police said Saturday.

  The 38-year-old man was drinking beer Wednesday when he decided to clean his
  guns, according to a report filed by Mercer County Sheriff's Deputy
  L.R. Catron.

  His .32 caliber handgun went off, but it ``didn't hurt'' so he finished
  cleaning the .32, then begain cleaning his .380 caliber pistol, which also
  went off, said the report, which didn't name the man.

  That bullet ``stung a little, but not too bad,'' Catron quoted the man as
  saying.

  The man finished cleaning the .380 and then pulled out his .357 caliber
  pistol, only to shoot himself a third time.

  The man finally called an ambulance.  Catron said the man told him the .357
  ``really hurt because the bullet was a hollow point.''

  A dispatcher at the sheriff's office Saturday confirmed the man had been
  taken to Princeton Community Hospital, but she didn't know his name.


--Sean ``that's what an Ivy League education does for you'' Smith

******************************************************************************
                         sean.smith@cs.cmu.edu
                     carnegie mellon computer science

          posting from PITTSBURGH, the center of the AFUniverse!
******************************************************************************
From: jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (Ad absurdum per aspera)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Nonsparking tools (was: sparking the zucchini and the family dog)
Date: 13 Nov 1992 09:53 PST
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.198
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

>> Fact:  all wrenches are mostly steel for strength reasons.
> I've seen a bronze non-sparking wrench for working on oxygen systems.

I've also heard that oil-well control teams use nonsparking tools made
of metals other than steel, for the obvious reason.

Joe "Please inform the widow that his last words were, 'Oh, s***!'" Chew
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.tasteless
From: tld@moon.base.bellcore.com (Terry Davidson)
Subject: Re: Frozen Waste
Reply-To: tld@cosmos.bellcore.com
Organization: Bellcore
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 22:01:58 GMT

In article <1992Nov9.191404.2275@u.washington.edu>, stevep@wrq.com (Steve Poole) writes:
|> In article <1992Nov7.144913.14868@midway.uchicago.edu>, thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Mmmm... Purple) writes:
|> > 
|> > Chicago Tribune, 11/7/92, p.16
|> > 
|> > SEATTLE (Reuters) - A stinking basketball-sized chunk of frozen waste that
|> > 	smashed through the roof of a suburban Seattle home came from a
|> > 	United Airlines DC-10 flying overhead [...]
|> > 	The FAA said such incidents occur occasionally...
|> > 	Leroy and Gerri Cinnamon were watching a football game on television 
|> > 	in their living room when the block of bluish ice smashed through
|> > 	their roof and ceiling and shattered on the floor.
|> > 	The Cinnamons summoned firefighters and a hazardous materials
|> > 	response team [note to PvdL: idea for new reality-based TV show?]
|> > 	to their home.
....

        Guess one could say they got hit by an ICBM .....

-- 
*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* # include disclaimer.lib   //* All standard disclaimers apply *//
* My wife let's me think my opinions are my own.  Bellcore doesn't care
* either way, and doesn't claim them anyway...
*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* Terry Davidson - tld@cosmos.bellcore.com / tld@cosmos.bae.bellcore.com      *
*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------*
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.conspiracy