HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: chaplin@keinstr.uucp (Roger Chaplin)
Subject: Re: Net Shenanigan
Organization: Keithley Instruments, Cleveland, Ohio
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 18:33:53 GMT

Daniel Steven Reinker (dementia@cheshire.oxy.edu) wrote:
: Ok, folks, here's your chance to be involved in a net shenanigan. This
: is one I've been wanting to pull for awhile. I just posted an article on
: rec.classical asking if anyone had heard of the obscure composer
: Huenter Kradaken. The joke, of course, is that there IS no such composer.
: However, I now need people to post giving me information about
: Kradaken. (Feel free to make up whatever bogus information you want to.)
: Make it at least a little believable. The goal is to see how long we
: can go before someone sez "Wait a sec! There's no such composer!"
: Thanks for any help, and please, if you are also a reader of rec.classical,
: don't tip them off.

Okay, I admit it, you got me.  I went off looking for rec.classical.
You're a rascal, Steven!

-- 
Roger Chaplin / Instruments Division Engineering / "Though I'd been lost now I
chaplin@keinstr.uucp / CI$: 76307,3506          / felt I was found when He
#include <disclaimer.h>                        / looked at me with His
#include "disclaimer.h" /* cover all bases */ / forgiving eyes." - Michael Card
From: tonyz@hpwrce.mayfield.hp.com (Tony Zugates)
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: Homemade mace
Date: 5 Jan 93 22:10:07 GMT
Organization: the HP Mtn.View Resp. Cntr.

How about some homebrew NAPALM?

mix gasoline with powered laundry detergent...sticks to anything.


all disclaimers apply, especially here.
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: Pay phone shenanigans
From: cvafy006@vmsb.is.csupomona.edu
Date: 9 Jan 93 21:41:30 PST
Organization: California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Nntp-Posting-User: cvafy006

In article <C0DA5C.JG@world.std.com>, mgm@world.std.com (michael g moncur) writes:
> jajmoore@laplace.uwaterloo.ca (Moses Moore) writes:
> 
>>In article <C0B9nK.B10@world.std.com>, mgm@world.std.com (michael g moncur) writes:
>>>  
>>> If there's a row of pay phones, one fun thing to do is ring them one at a
>>> time.  As soon as one rings, hang up and dial another...  This confuses
>>> people greatly, and usually doesn't even cost you a quarter.
> 
>>I used to do that, but in the Southern Ontario area the pay phones have been replaced with the electronic models (magnetic strip reader, LED display with instructions and cost of long distance calls, etc) and these don't have the old 99-trick for making 
> it ring.  Anyone know of some shennanigans for the new "Millenium" phones?
> 
> By 'making them ring', I was referring to calling from a more distant pay
> phone (presuming that you've written the number down already.)  This works
> on any phone, of course.
> 
>>FYI: the 99-ring trick:
>>At any telephone, dial the number for the phone you're dialing from, but 
>>replace the first two digits with 99.  ie, if the pay phone's # is 560-3254,
>> dial 990-3254.  Then tap the handle for 1/3 second (as if to hang up), and 
>>listen.  If you hear a steady
>> tone, hang up.  Otherwise tap it again.
> 
> Actually, this might not work in all areas...  Does anyone know for sure? 
> The method of making payphones ring in my area (801) or at least parts of
> it, is to replace the first three digits with "939".  I haven't tried "99." 
>  
> However, the method is the same.  I would guess that each local telco has
> "test" prefixes to correspond with the "real" prefixes, but it may vary
> from place to place.
> 
> -- 
> ~`~`michael moncur - mgm@world.std.com / sysop@onlybbs.via.mind.org ~`~`
> 

	OK, there are also a couple of other codes to make the phone ring.  The
first one I know of will work with older pay phones.  Dial 331 and then the
last four digits of the phone number.  The other one is to dial 112 for the
Doctor Test Set, then select ringer test.  Although the ringer test is only 8
rings long--in a high traffic area, someone is bound to answer.  Note:  if the
ringer test completes itself, everything goes back to normal.  If the test is
interrupted, and the the phone gets hung up instead of selecting another test
and allowing it to complete...the phone literally goes dead for a full five
minutes.  If they pick the phone up after they hang up...they get no dial tone,
no tones when buttons are pressed...nothing!  

						Daniel Rouse, Jr.
						Sophomore, Computer Engineering
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: Pay phone shenanigans
From: douellet@csulb.edu (Daniel Ouellette)
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 19:55:53 GMT
Organization: Cal State Long Beach

In article <C0DLBB.LK8@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> bjackson@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Ben Jackson) writes:
>Around here it's the 77-ring trick, although the third digit is not usually
>the same.  Another interesting thing the old switcher would do is tell you
>the number of the phone you were dialing from:  Dial 310-xxx-xxxx, where the
>x's are any digit (no, * and # don't work) and you'd hear the number of
>the phone you were calling from in the voice that does all the phone
>messages.
>
  That's been changed by over a year. 310 is our area code here in S. Cal.
Here's how it works over here though. Pick up any phone and dial '114' and
it will give you the number you are calling from. I noticed that it doesn't
work in the outside the 310 area (maybe even less than that).
-Daniel
-- 
AlienSexFiend*Bauhaus*Curve*DepecheMode*Erasure*FrontLineAssembly*Gruesome- *
*	Daniel Ouellette       | 	 "People need to be schocked"	    *
*   douellet@beach.csulb.edu   |		     -Me	   	    *
Twosome*HumanDrama*JesusJones*KMFDM*LordsOfAcid*MLwtThrillKillKult*NitzerEbb*
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: fmpend01@ulkyvx.louisville.edu
Subject: Re: Homemade mace
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 21:38:13 GMT
Organization: University of Louisville

In article <HKARHUNE.93Jan7012223@hydra.Helsinki.FI>, hkarhune@hydra.Helsinki.FI (Heikki Karhunen) writes:
> In article <69970006@hpwrce.mayfield.hp.com> tonyz@hpwrce.mayfield.hp.com (Tony Zugates) writes:
>>  How about some homebrew NAPALM?
> 
>>  mix gasoline with powered laundry detergent...sticks to anything.
> 
> Hmm... I once saw this movie about Marines in Vietnam... They had this
> little marching song in which the chorus went something like:
> 
> 	"Napalm sticks to kids!"
> 
> Soo..... Let's be careful out there, shall we?
> 
>>  all disclaimers apply, especially here.
> 
> 	Heikki
> --
> /-----------------------------+-----------------------------------------\
> | hkarhune@hydra.helsinki.fi  | There is always a job for a theoretical |
> | Heikki.Karhunen@helsinki.fi | physicist -- at least in theory.        |
> \-----------------------------+-----------------------------------------/
> 


       Forget the laundry detergent. Just disolve
       styrofoam in the gasoline. Works great, but
       this probably moves this thread from alt. shenanigan 	
       to alt. terrorism. : )

       Butch.


	
From: tonyz@hpwrce.mayfield.hp.com (Tony Zugates)
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 15:53:12 GMT
Subject: Re: Snap Crackle Pop
Organization: the HP Mtn.View Resp. Cntr.
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans

Now someone says it is nitrogen triiodide!

WHO CARES!!!!!  MAKE A BUCKETFULL!!!!

SEND SOME TO YOUR MOTHER IN LAW!!!!!










all disclaimers still and will always apply.

Peace On Earth
Purity Of Essence
OPE
"Flouridation of our drinking water, Mandrake!"

Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: chil@fraser.sfu.ca (Keith Lim)
Subject: Re: Net Shenanigan
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 10:15:45 GMT

judd@wilkinson.cs.colorado.edu (Stephen Judd) writes:

>I must admit that I like this joke.  I have some suggestions for those
>participating, though:  You could make this into a real joke.

>What I mean is that at it's current rate the joke will burn itself out
>very quickly. [...]

>I propose that we propagate Kradaken seriously.  For instance, if someone
>would show me how to use musicTeX I would be more than happy to provide
>some of Kradaken's works in postscript.  We could also write detailed
>musical analysis of some of his works.

I am trying to prepare a fairly detailed mini-essay comparing Kradaken
with Bach, commenting heavily on his use of the leading-note as a major
musical element in his work. (It's not coming along too well at the moment
though.)

> We could create an entire
>personality and history for this character, and if it's done right, it
>will not only be believed, but may actually lead to far grander
>situations.  Can you imagine a performance of one of the long lost works of
>Huenter Kradaken?  How about inclusion in a music encyclopedia?

Could become an urban legend, and we would be in at the start of it. (How
exciting; I've never started an UL before.) The only incident I know of where
something like this actually happened was when Philip Jose Farmer wrote
"Venus on the Half Shell", which until he wrote it, was a fictitious work
by Kurt Vonnegut's fictitious author Kilgore Trout. If I remember correctly,
in the hardcover's dust jacket, Farmer appeared (in heavy disguise) as
Trout. BTW, the book was written with the author given as "Kilgore Trout",
I just realise I didn't make that clear. The blurb also said that Trout
had written 103 novels, 324 short stories, or whatever. A short while after
the book was released, some library phoned the publishers, asking how it
was that no one had ever heard of such a prolific author before.

We *could* achieve the same fame for Kradekan, but, yes, this *has* to be
done carefully. Just the sheer number of posts--that fact alone--makes
the whole thing look fishy. Probably difficult to coordinate and orchestrate
everyone's contributions, but some holding back would help. Also, the man's
supposed to be obscure; there shouldn't be so much "known" about him...not
so quickly, anyway.

Despite my grumblings, I think this whole thing is just great!


--        | Simon Fraser University | SFU does not admit to having opinions of
Keith Lim | Burnaby, B.C., V5A 1S6  | its own; any found above are mine only.

At the edge of the final frontier it waits...for Babylon 5 to blow it away.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. "To boldly stay where everyone has stayed before."
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: chaplin@keinstr.uucp (Roger Chaplin)
Subject: Re: Roommate Confusion
Organization: Keithley Instruments, Cleveland, Ohio
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 18:08:42 GMT

Pat White (squirrel@cco.caltech.edu) wrote:
: An old friend told me some stories about his own personal "roommate from hell"
: who had a few odd tricks of his own.  The doors in this dorm all had transoms:
: i.e. openings above the door that allowed ventilation.  They could open all
: the way down, which opened up a space about a foot high by 3 feet wide.
: Anyway, this roommate would drag his bed over to the door, blocking it, open
: up the transom, and when anyone walked by, would throw a brightly colored ball
: out the transom down the hall, and beg, "Get it!!  Oh, please get it for me!"
: Most people, my friend said, would get it for him, but as soon as they tossed
: the ball back in his room, he would immediately throw it out again.  He would
: then beg again, loudly.  He would do this for hours.

: He also had a big punching bag clown, about five feet tall, that he religiously
: took out of the room onto a nearby porch every morning, and returned to the 
: room at night.  When he had to leave on the weekends, he would very seriously
: ask my friend to perform this ritual for him.  When he came home early and
: found that my friend had not done what he'd promised, the roommate would 
: become very, very upset.

: My friend told me his roommate flamed out of school after a few short terms.

If there's any cause and effect here, then I think this qualifies as a
prank rather than a shenanigan.

-- 
Roger Chaplin / Instruments Division Engineering / "Though I'd been lost now I
chaplin@keinstr.uucp / CI$: 76307,3506          / felt I was found when He
#include <disclaimer.h>                        / looked at me with His
#include "disclaimer.h" /* cover all bases */ / forgiving eyes." - Michael Card
From: u912078@daimi.aau.dk (S|ren Erland Vest|)
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: High-School shenanigan: The Book Drop.
Date: 6 Jan 93 17:47:18 GMT
Organization: DAIMI: Computer Science Department, Aarhus University, Denmark

mgm@world.std.com (michael g moncur) writes:

[lots'o'stuff about funny shenanigan deleted]

> 
>Concerns about graduation and short attention spans cut it short,
>unfortunately.  And getting arrested didn't help either, but that's
>another story.

P L E A S E !  Do tell!

>-- 
>~`~`michael moncur - mgm@world.std.com / sysop@onlybbs.via.mind.org ~`~`

Soeren E.
u912078@daimi.aau.dk


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

                            -Guns'n'Roses
From: kfl@access.digex.com (Keith F. Lynch)
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
Subject: Re: Magic Time Ninja Hints Wanted
Date: 10 Jan 1993 19:24:13 GMT
Organization: Express Access Public Access UNIX, Greenbelt, Maryland USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: access.digex.com

In article <1993Jan7.182659.1816@athena.mit.edu> jimhsu@athena.mit.edu (Jimmy M.D. Hsu) writes:
> Anyhow, the object is to introduce a fictitious arcade game
> called "Magic Time Ninja", about YURI, a genderless ninja who
> battles baddies and huge mutant boss creatures and later
> travels in time.

Did it occur to you that some readers of alt.shenanigans actually play
video games, and would immediately realize that you're describing a
*real* game?

Nice try though -- at a second order shenanigan!

(Am I the first to catch it?)

Keith Lynch, kfl@access.digex.com
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: reid@ucs.indiana.edu (Frank Reid)
Subject: Blue-light special
Summary: fake cop car
Keywords: state car, cops, K-Mart
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 22:58:24 GMT

An employee of a southern state's geological survey drives an 
"official" vehicle during his duties.  The basic white car has 
the state seal (Ork! Ork!) on the doors, and a "state-government" 
license plate.  Other drivers, suspicious at first, had little 
trouble discerning that he wasn't a cop.  He went to the house-
wares department at K-Mart and purchased a drinking 'glass' made 
of blue plastic.  He placed it inverted on the dash of the car.  
The effect was profound!  Now when marks start to pass, they spot 
the transparent blue cylinder and immediately drop behind and 
resume legal speed.

--

Frank     reid@ucs.indiana.edu
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: mgm@world.std.com (michael g moncur)
Subject: Re: Shenanigans archive?
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 04:26:37 GMT

dsew@well.sf.ca.us (David R. Sewell) writes:

>At any rate, I'm trying to work up a special e-journal issue on
>Tricksters & virtual/electronic culture, & net pranks is going to
>be one focus.  If anyone has an archive of postings to the group,
>or other relevant stuff, I'd appreciate a copy.

I and the other co-creator of the newsgroup have been saving an archive
of all messages in the group since day 1.  It's rather huge - 14 files of
about 100K apiece.  Unfortunately, we don't have a publicly-accessible FTP
site handy.  However, leave me mail and maybe we could figure out a way.

(unless some kind soul with a few free megabytes on an FTP server was
willing to keep the shenanigan archives there...  offers will be accepted
but not expected.)
-- 
~`~`michael moncur - mgm@world.std.com / sysop@onlybbs.via.mind.org ~`~`

Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: chaplin@keinstr.uucp (Roger Chaplin)
Subject: Newspaper shenanigan
Organization: Keithley Instruments, Cleveland, Ohio
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 18:03:45 GMT

This rec.music.classical shenanigan reminded me of a shenanigan pulled
back in the mid '70's by some of the staff of _The Buchtelite_, the
student newspaper of The University of Akron.

One of sports writers and one of the staff photographers (not me,
thankfully!) over the course of a couple of months produced a series of
articles covering the University's table tennis team (which of course
did not exist).

I was sitting in the press room when the managing editor in his corner
office learned the truth.  Everyone in the press room heard a loud
crash and saw his fist come through the wall.

-- 
Roger Chaplin / Instruments Division Engineering / "Though I'd been lost now I
chaplin@keinstr.uucp / CI$: 76307,3506          / felt I was found when He
#include <disclaimer.h>                        / looked at me with His
#include "disclaimer.h" /* cover all bases */ / forgiving eyes." - Michael Card
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: hc56@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Hannah Cox)
Subject: e-mail list
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 02:57:49 GMT




>how bout just a net sheneniganes mailing list? like if people want to set
>up a time to pull a shennanigan on irc sometime...like the Heunter KRadaken
>channel or something itll be on the list...



	I think that this is a good idea, put me on it.  Besides I have
more time to read and send email (daily) then alt.shenanigans (weekly)


	-bitch


PS  Sorry about deleting the original poster.




Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: cstringe@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Chuck Stringer)
Subject: Re: Net Shenanigan
Organization: Indiana University, University Computing Services
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 20:12:05 GMT

chaplin@keinstr.uucp (Roger Chaplin) writes:
| Daniel Steven Reinker (dementia@cheshire.oxy.edu) wrote:
| : Ok, folks, here's your chance to be involved in a net shenanigan. This
| : is one I've been wanting to pull for awhile. I just posted an article on
| : rec.classical asking if anyone had heard of the obscure composer
| : Huenter Kradaken. The joke, of course, is that there IS no such composer.
| : However, I now need people to post giving me information about
| : Kradaken. (Feel free to make up whatever bogus information you want to.)
| : Make it at least a little believable. The goal is to see how long we
| : can go before someone sez "Wait a sec! There's no such composer!"
| : Thanks for any help, and please, if you are also a reader of rec.classical,
| : don't tip them off.
| 
| Okay, I admit it, you got me.  I went off looking for rec.classical.
| You're a rascal, Steven!
|
Actually, it's rec.music.classical and it seems to be working. Herr Kradaken
has developed quite a life history.

----
Chuck Stringer
E-mail cstringe@ucs.indiana.edu


Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: mgm@world.std.com (michael g moncur)
Subject: Re: Wrong-Number Phone Shenanigan
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 22:16:04 GMT

dpassage@soda.berkeley.edu (David G. Paschich) writes:

>"Hi there!  You've reached the College of Letters and Sciences
>Advising Office.  Our three fine counselors, David, Dean, and Charan
>[my roomies] aren't here right now, but if you leave your name, number
>and question after the tone, we'll get back to you just as soon as we can!"

I experienced this one with a twist.  One day I woke up to find that my
phone line didn't work.  I called the telco (on my other line) and they
explained that there was a line problem, they were working on it, etc. 
The next morning around 10:00, it started to work again.  I was happy
until we started to get all sorts of strange wrong numbers...
 
It turns out that, in fixing the "problem", ma bell had connected me to
the wrong phone line.  For three days I had the phone number which was
supposed to be owned by a local church... 

After exhausting myself explaining the situation to the callers (most of
whom were foreigners, and very confused), I finally left my machine on
with an explanatory message and stopped answering the phone.
 
I had a conversation with a US West employee that was interesting.  I
explained my problem (for about the third time).  He said sorry, but they
were working on it.  In the meantime, I said, what if I wanted to make a
long-distance call?  Would I be billed for it?  "Probably not", he said,
apparently unconcerned.  I don't like to play pranks on churches, so I
refrained from making any such calls...  After about 3 days my phone
number finally came back.  I suppose I could have complained and demanded
they credit my bill for three days, but I didn't bother...

So be careful pulling shenanigans on the telco...  They might pull one on
you.  :)

-- 
~`~`michael moncur - mgm@world.std.com / sysop@onlybbs.via.mind.org ~`~`

Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: bjackson@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Ben Jackson)
Subject: Re: Pay phone shenanigans
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 10:04:22 GMT

In article <C0CppK.Hp2@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu> jajmoore@laplace.uwaterloo.ca (Moses Moore) writes:

>FYI: the 99-ring trick:
>At any telephone, dial the number for the phone you're dialing from, but replace the first two digits with 99.  ie, if the pay phone's # is 560-3254, dial 990-3254.  Then tap the handle for 1/3 second (as if to hang up), and listen.  If you hear a steady tone, hang up.  Otherwise tap it again.

[*please* hit return more often in the future!]

Around here it's the 77-ring trick, although the third digit is not usually
the same.  Another interesting thing the old switcher would do is tell you
the number of the phone you were dialing from:  Dial 310-xxx-xxxx, where the
x's are any digit (no, * and # don't work) and you'd hear the number of
the phone you were calling from in the voice that does all the phone
messages.

--
"The direction of the eye, so misleading...
 The defection of the soul, nauseously quick." -- Pearl Jam, _Garden_
Ben Jackson, ben@ben.com, bjackson@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: u912078@daimi.aau.dk (S|ren Erland Vest|)
Subject: Another 'Net' shenanigan
Organization: DAIMI: Computer Science Department, Aarhus University, Denmark
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 93 18:17:07 GMT

Hi all.

I just had an excellent idea for a shenanigan: Post 'anonymous' to alt.test in
another persons name, being sure to put the e-mail adress in the 'From' Header,
and NOT putting 'ignore' in the subject.

You can then watch their eyes grow big, when their mailbox starts filling up 
with mystery mail from different autorepliers, claiming that they have 
successfully recieved their posting to alt.test....... :)


S

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

                            -Guns'n'Roses
Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: neurotec@triton.unm.edu (Neur0tech)
Subject: Re: Net Shenanigan
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 93 11:10:07 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

how bout just a net sheneniganes mailing list? like if people want to set
up a time to pull a shennanigan on irc sometime...like the Heunter KRadaken
channel or something itll be on the list...



Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans
From: hkarhune@hydra.Helsinki.FI (Heikki Karhunen)
Subject: Re: Homemade mace
Organization: Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Helsinki,
	Finland
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 23:22:23 GMT

In article <69970006@hpwrce.mayfield.hp.com> tonyz@hpwrce.mayfield.hp.com (Tony Zugates) writes:
>  How about some homebrew NAPALM?

>  mix gasoline with powered laundry detergent...sticks to anything.

Hmm... I once saw this movie about Marines in Vietnam... They had this
little marching song in which the chorus went something like:

	"Napalm sticks to kids!"

Soo..... Let's be careful out there, shall we?

>  all disclaimers apply, especially here.

	Heikki
--
/-----------------------------+-----------------------------------------\
| hkarhune@hydra.helsinki.fi  | There is always a job for a theoretical |
| Heikki.Karhunen@helsinki.fi | physicist -- at least in theory.        |
\-----------------------------+-----------------------------------------/


Newsgroups: alt.shenanigans