HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: dternes@duke.cdc.com (David Ternes)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Japanese law monsters
Date: 17 Apr 92 19:09:17 GMT
Article-I.D.: shamash.41263
Reply-To: dternes@mips.COM (David Ternes)
Organization: Advanced Product Development

In article <1992Apr17.150024.16869@acsu.buffalo.edu> v070km6q@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (John B Schutkeker) writes:
>david.lloyd-jones@rose.com (david lloyd-jones) writes...
>
>The list goes on and on.
>
>Sorry, Dave, but those people who don't believe that the Japanese practice
>unfair trade practices have two traits in common -
>
>	1)  They're lucky enough to be in a business where the Japanese
>	    are open.  I mean, who cares about Coke and laundromats when
>	    national industrial might is at stake?
>	2)  They are so closed minded to obviously true facts that you might
>	    as well call them self-delusional.  They blame America first.
>
Sorry, John, but those people who don't believe that the ***** practice
unfair trade practices have two traits in common -

	1)  They're lucky enough to be in a business where the *****
	    are open.  I mean, who cares about xxx and yyy when
	    national industrial might is at stake?
        2)  They are so closed minded to obviously true facts that you might
	    as well call them self-delusional.  They blame ##### first.

Trade laws for any country are so convoluted by special interests that it's
very easy to cite specific examples to prove your point.  Try importing
peanuts into the United States.  Are all of the United States trade laws unfair
because the limit for peanut imports is less than two per capita?  Is Canada
evil because they limit importing beers from the United States in an attempt 
to maintain their breweries?

E. David J. Ternes                                       dternes@udev.cdc.com
Goal: To live either in obscurity or in competance.
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:11965 sci.engr.civil:114
From: hadgraft@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (Roger Hadgraft, Civil staff, ext 4983)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,sci.engr.civil
Subject: Re: Boldly Not Going Where No Man Has Not Gone Before
Date: 9 Apr 92 05:44:45 GMT
Organization: Faculty of Engineering, Monash University

In article <22473@dog.ee.lbl.gov> jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (JOSEPH T CHEW) writes:

>I, too, have heard the story about an architect who planted grass
>instead of laying sidewalks, let people walk where they would, and
>retrofitted sidewalks over the ruts in the lawn.  I recall seeing
>it in print, probably in the San Francisco Chronicle, and the
>alleged experiment site was some large office complex.  Fact or
>folklore? Followup to alt.folklore.urban.

Monash University (ie. here) was created in 1961, and the first Vice-
Chancellor/President did exactly this. There were no permanent paths until 
traffic routes had been determined. Consequently, the paths seem to lead off 
at old angles, but they work. Since then, a lot more buildings have been 
built, and some of the original elegance has been lost. There is still a 
philosophy of letting the foot traffic determine the path locations.

--
Roger Hadgraft, Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering
Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, AUSTRALIA, 3168.
phone: 03 565 4983  fax: 03 565 4944 or 3409 intnl: +61 3 565 ....
e-mail: roger.hadgraft@eng.monash.edu.au
From: webb@richnova.UUCP (Webb Roberts)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Magazine order scam
Keywords: magazine scam
Date: 5 Apr 92 23:48:11 GMT
Reply-To: webb@richnova.UUCP (Webb Roberts)
Organization: Dis.

n8742883@henson.cc.wwu.edu (Perry Pederson) writes:

- 	A tall, about 21 year old male knocked on my door telling me
- that he was running for office, and that he was going around looking
- for votes.  I fell for this line, as I was slightly interested to see
- what this relatively young person was running for.  He rattled off
- some gibberish about needing votes towards some sort of speech award,
- and that the prize would be a trip to Rome, London, or some other such
- exotic place.  Uh-oh, I thought.  This means he wants more than just a
- "vote" from me.
[etc...]

 One of these guys came knocking on my door.  A friend was over,
 and answered the door.  This guy tried the same scam, but his
 prize was to be $1000.  He was going to use the money to <ahem>
 study abroad.  
 
 "Now what would you do with a thousand dollars?" he asked.
 
 "Cocaine," said my friend.
 
Saying the guy was caught off his guard would be an
understatement.

---Webb

Webb Roberts                      25292 Ga Tech Stn.
gt2341c@prism.gatech.edu          Atlanta GA  30332
From: de@moscom.UUCP (David Esan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: other fun mistranslations..
Date: 9 Apr 92 16:50:39 GMT
Reply-To: de@moscom.UUCP (David Esan)
Organization: Moscom Corp., Pittsford, NY

In article <92097.114259ICLNM@ASUACAD.BITNET> ICLNM@ASUACAD.BITNET writes:
>In article <1992Apr5.123053.1@vm2.cis.pitt.edu>, tjw@vm2.cis.pitt.edu says:
>>What's a "lowrider"?  Also, does anyone else have any interesting adjectives
>>like this one?  (Ones that are unusual.  "Pinhead" I already know!).
>>

[And a good answer by Lloyd deleted]

You can get a good view of a lowrider in the movie "Corvette Summer."  Not
only do you get to see the lowriders in action, you get to see that pneumatic
jacks make the lowrider a normal rider and back again.  Not to mention the
maximum speed of 20mph so that all can admire the car.

-- 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -->     David Esan      de@moscom.com  
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: tjw@vm2.cis.pitt.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: The *Real* Monty Hall Puzzle (Re: Ask Marilyn Again)
Date: 14 Apr 92 23:11:51 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Apr13.173132.13315@anasaz>, morris@anasaz (Bob Morris) writes:

> Sometimes, Monty even offered you money to give up all the
> doors, revealed and unrevealed.  Etc., etc...

This is why so many people wore those OUTRAGOUS costumes on:
"Let's make a (dope) Deal!".  As soon as Monty would offer that COLD HARD
CASH, they'd take it and hope that the IRS couldn't figure out their REAL
IDENTITIES.  Then they would SKIP THE COUNTRY which, of course, INCREASED
THE NATIONAL DEBT.  (If it's in CAPITAL LETTERS, IT MUST BE TRUE).

In any case, you're quite right.  Monty never played it straight.  I'd take
the cash and run with it.

MONTY HALL UL:  Monty Hall would often make quick deals at the end of each
show to fill time.  Usually they were silly ones such as "$10 for something
sweet" and a woman would search through her purse for some candy (when all
Monty was really looking for was a KISS).

Well, one time, Monty offered a woman "$5 for every hair pin" she had on her.
To his horror, she pulled out a BOX containing thousands of hair pins (maybe
it was millions, this is an UL you know).  In any case, this deal turned out
to be the really BIG DEAL of the day.

After that, Monty always placed limits on his quick deals.  Chicken!

Terry "I'll trade the ALKASELTZER and the 2 seagulls for that box" Wood
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: hucke@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Matt Hucke)
Subject: Re: Falling bullets on Marilyn's Parade
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 23:11:49 GMT

>In article <14795@optima.cs.arizona.edu> tzf@cs.arizona.edu (Theron Friedman) writes:
>>[Personally I believe MvS is really a pseudonym Isaac Asimov, who needed an
>>outlet so he could write & publish more,more,more. It wouldn't be beyond his
>>sense of humor to dream her up.]

Asimov died this morning of kidney failure.  

-- 
        Real Programmers Don't Eat Quiche.
                      hucke@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
                      Gene Roddenberry 1921-1991
From: warren@nysernet.org (Warren Burstein)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Geronimo!
Date: 14 Apr 92 16:10:06 GMT
Reply-To: warren@nysernet.org
Organization: Mail to News Gateway

mikkelson@breakr.enet.dec.com (snopes) writes:

>I was told we wouldn't have to do any math in this newsgroup.

Not even The Unsolvable Math Problem?

Warren "at least it's not calculus" Burstein
-- 
/|/-\/-\          The entire kitchen is		Jerusalem
 |__/__/_/        still full of strange hamantaschen
 |warren@         And the custodian
/ nysernet.org    is starting to get worried.
From: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au (Phil Kernick)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: CATV monitoring, Tempest screening (was Re: FCC Call letters)
Date: 8 Apr 92 00:09:27 GMT
Organization: University of Adelaide, South Australia

carlf@panix.com (Carl Fink) writes:

>> Now I've always poo-poohed this idea, 
>> but whenever I've done it in the presence of someone employed by the 
>> military, they've always `been shown the equipment in use' by a security 
>> officer.

>  Read SPY CATCHER, by the inventor of the technology.  It's quite real.

In a previous job:
Real, and I have seen it in action.  I must admit that I was amazed at the
results that could be achieved with only one trolly loaded with equipment.
Needless to say, we were told that some of the older equipment would have to
go...


Phil, who doesn't work for the military anymore.

-- 
   _-_|\    Phil Kernick                E-Mail: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au
  /     \   Departmental Engineer       Phone:  +61 8 228 5914
  \_.-*_/   Dept. of Psychology         Fax:    +61 8 224 0464
       v    University of Adelaide      Mail:   GPO Box 498 Adelaide SA 5001
From: russ@bbx.basis.com (Russ Kepler)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Today's conspiracy theory
Date: 8 Apr 92 23:48:18 GMT
Organization: BASIS International, Albuquerque NM

In article <1992Apr8.195601.918@beaver.cs.washington.edu> mckenzie@cs.washington.edu (Neil McKenzie) writes:
>I fear the radioactive threat less than the chemical threat.  At least I
>can detect radioactivity with a Geiger counter.  Toxic chemicals on the
>other hand have lethal doses in the parts per million (or billion) range and
>are thereby practically impossible to detect.

You mind naming a few chemicals the have "lethal doses in the parts
per billion range"?

-- 
Russ Kepler, Basis International Ltd. russ@bbx.basis.com  phone: 505-345-5232
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: hubcap@hubcap.clemson.edu (System Janitor)
Subject: Re: North is UP was Re: AM/PM boundaries
Organization: Clemson University
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 20:13:02 GMT

smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) writes:

>In article <1992Mar30.034933.17042@fivegl.co.nz>, derek@fivegl.co.nz (Derek Tearne) writes:
 * You can get maps with *South* up in New Zealand. Makes sense really!
Yep. A few years ago, when a freind of mine was going back home to China for
a visit, she asked me if there was anything from China I wanted. I asked
her to bring me a world map. Of course, it had China in the center, instead
of the US like all my maps. It was great, until my cat peed on it during a
move :-(.

-Mike
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: amorgan@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Crunchy Frog)
Subject: Re: Ask Marilyn Again
Keywords: Marilyn
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 18:32:55 GMT

In article <1992Apr8.000205.18741@Cadence.COM> 
  vince@cadence.com (Vince Gibboni) writes:
>amorgan@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Crunchy Frog) writes:
>>
>>.. Monty Hall puzzle
>>
>>Please don't start up a thread there, just ask for the 
>>FAQ.  I read rec.puzzles
>>and the Monty Hall thread drives most regulars nuts.
>>
>>BTW - If anyone out there *really* believe they are right, I am willing to
>>bet money on switching being the correct solution.  Lots of money.
>
>
>    Could someone _PLEASE_ explain this one to me. (Perhaps I've just
>    never heard the thing fully specified). Does Monty know which 
>    door the prize is behind ? Will he never intentionally reveal the
>    prize ? If Monty will intentionally avoid revealing the prize
>    then obviously it is better to switch (as there is a 2/3 chance
>    that the prize is behind one of Monty's two doors - and he has
>    ruled one out for you) - but this seems too simple for anyone
>    to argue with. If Monty doesn't know where the prize is, then
>    obviously all doors have an equal chance (as no special pre-selection
>    has been done), and there is no reason to switch (I will, happily
>    bet _lots_ of money on this). So where's the catch ? Why is
>    there an argument ?! Am I missing something ?! 

You aren't.  Most of the rest of the world is.

Monty knows which door holds the goodies.  He tells you beforehand that he
will *always* show you a blank door and he never reveals the prize.  There
are two arguments:

  If you originally picked the right door, switching will always cause you
  to lose.  If you originally picked the wrong one, switching will always
  cause you to win.  Since you have a 66% chance of picking a wrong door
  originally, switching gives you a 66% chance of winning.


  After Monty has opened a door there are two doors left.  One has the prize,
  one doesn't.  Thus the chances are 50/50.

The second argument is *wrong*.  Very, very persuasive, but *wrong*.  Vince
seems to have the right idea, but for anyone who disagrees with me I have
a way for you to take advantage of my gullibility and make *lots* of money.
Write to me for details.

>                       vince@gda.cadence.com

C "Lots and lots of money" Frog
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: berger@atropa (Mike Berger)
Subject: Re: Cable TV cheater spotters (was Re: FCC Call letters)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 15:31:29 GMT

tjw@vm2.cis.pitt.edu writes:
>In article <1992Apr14.005524.17718@iscnvx.lmsc.lockheed.com>,  writes:

>> Ya'll DID know that using active jammers on Police radars is very, very 
>> illegal, didn't you. (Otherwise such devices would long since be on the
>> market, since the technology exists. I saw an article in an electronics
>> magazine about a guy who'd made some jammers anyway.)

>All you have to do (in any little burg or township) is pass a law and
>something becomes illegal.  Not that it's constitutional, but it's illegal.

>"Radar Jammers" (the ones I saw) were not being sold as "Radar Jammers".
>They were being sold as "Ham Radio Transmitters", for the police shared
>a Ham Band on a secondary allocation.  If you were a Ham (Technician class
>at least) then the use of the device was legal from the FCC's viewpoint.
*----
Your posting implies that it is legal for amateur radio operators to
jam police radar.  Of course, that's ridiculous and untrue.

Yes, a properly-licensed amateur radio operator can own and operate a
microwave transmitter.  But intentional interference with another radio
service is illegal, licensed or not.  And most police radar units don't
operate within the amateur radio microwave frequency spectrum.
--
	Mike Berger
	Department of Statistics, University of Illinois
	AT&TNET     217-244-6067
	Internet    berger@atropa.stat.uiuc.edu
From: sham@cs.arizona.edu (Shamim Zvonko Mohamed)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Hoover Dam (was The wacky, flakey State)
Date: 8 Apr 92 23:34:59 GMT
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson

In article <1992Apr8.172537.18867@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> w3wes@edison.gsfc.nasa.gov (William E. Smith) writes:

(About Hoover Dam, aka Boulder Dam:)
>    I seem to recall an UL about some of the construction workers, who died
>while building the dam, being entombed in the massive structure.

Unlikely, since the structure was cast in sections 6" deep. The theory goes
(I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!) that if it were poured in one
go, it would take billions of years (well, a couple of years) to set.  So the
whole thing was done in sections, 6" deep and a few square feet in area. The
sections were distributed in some sort of pseudo-random fashion. (They explain
this - and have pictures! - if you take the tour of the dam.)

-s
(It could have happened, so it MUST have!)
--
  Shamim Mohamed / {uunet,noao,cmcl2..}!arizona!shamim / shamim@cs.arizona.edu
  "Take this cross and garlic; here's a Mezuzah if he's Jewish; a page of the
    Koran if he's a Muslim; and if he's a Zen Buddhist, you're on your own."
 Member of the League for Programming Freedom - write to league@prep.ai.mit.edu
From: mckenzie@cs.washington.edu (Neil McKenzie)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Summary: some ULs not in the FAQ list
Keywords: turkey chicken
Date: 14 Apr 92 18:44:36 GMT
Organization: National Association of Federations

Here are two ULs I have just heard from a friend.  They are not in the
FAQ list (my copy, at least).

1.  Turkeys, when left to themselves in a rainstorm, will drown.
2.  If you tuck a chicken's head under its wing, it will fall asleep due
    to the dark.  If it is not disturbed, it will stay asleep and in time
    will starve to death.

-- 
--Neil McKenzie 	Internet:     mckenzie@june.cs.washington.edu
			UUCP:        ..!uw-beaver!uw-june!mckenzie

To be or not to be -- that is a tautology.
From: unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (resU nwonknU ehT)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Japanese law monsters
Date: 17 Apr 92 17:01:46 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz; Open Access Computing


In article <1992Apr17.150024.16869@acsu.buffalo.edu> v070km6q@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (John B Schutkeker) writes:
}And what about dumping DRAM micro-chips on the market?  And what about

	I realize I just recently posted about how Japan doesn't let 
outsiders into their markets fairly.. people might think this is in some
way contradictory.. ohwell..

	I really don't see what's wrong with "dumping" DRAM chips.  I mean,
hell, YOU MADE THEM, you should be able to sell them for whatever goddamned
price you want to sell them for, even if you are losing money! (There aren't
any laws against being stupid).

	Yes, the argument is that they will undercut their competitors until
the competitors go out of business.. and then they will raise their prices
and have a monopoly.  But if that happens, another company could come in
and have competitive prices.  I mean hell, they can't lose money on the
product *forever*.  Besides, it would seem that a few 'big companies' would
be able to stay in there for a while until the prices settle to something
reasonable.

	Someone will find something illogical/unethical/unfair in this
argument probably..  I hope they do.. It just seems unfair to not let people
charge what they want.

	[Anti-monopoly laws are another thing. It seems that if a company 
becomes a monopoly while being fair, they should be *allowed* to continue
being a monopoly.. hell, it's a free market..  I have no evidence whether or
not Bell was fair or not, but that's the example I have in my head.]
-- 
/unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu GS SIMM mem card & trackball WANTED  Apple II Forever!\
\Mail me:Get INFOCOM GAMES RERELEASED,ULT VI GS done,for UNIX GS&CHEAP CD info/
Organization: Arizona State University
Date: Friday, 17 Apr 1992 08:49:10 MST
From: <ICLNM@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Churchill and French

In article <1992Apr17.030459.1789@PA.dec.com>, mikkelson@thewav.enet.dec.com
(snopes) says:
>he was still crimson with rage.  "Bloody de Gaulle!  He had the impertinence
>to tell me that the French regard him as the reincarnation of Joan of Arc."
>Pause.  "I found it necessary to remind him that we had to burn the first
>one."
>
It isn't about Churchill, but you have reminded me of another story like that.
When ABC was preparing to broadcast the 1972 Olympics from Munich, they were
encountering some resistance from local officials (TV executives being what
they are).  They wanted to use a large, man-made hill for an important vantage
point.  This hill was created after WWII when they re-built Munich.  They
bulldozed all the bombed-out rubble into one place, covered it up, and started
over.  It had become a symbol of their own resilience and can-do attitude, and
they did not want it desecrated with foreign TV equipment.  Finally in
exasperation at ABC's persistence, an official said, "Go build your own hill."
The ABC executive replied, "I don't think there is time to mobilize the Air
Force".
Loyd Means
Phoenix AZ
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:11756 alt.religion.kibology:1533
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.religion.kibology
Subject: Re: Tomato Flavor Chewing Gum
Date: 8 Apr 92 03:45:33 GMT
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations

In article <92098.102143ICLNM@ASUACAD.BITNET> <ICLNM@ASUACAD.BITNET> writes:
>There was a story in the paper this morning (The Arizona Republic) reporting
>that science has isolated the chemical that gives beef its flavor.  They
>predicted that it would be used extensively to flavor soups, vegetable dishes,
>etc.  Now they are working on chicken...

Great!  Then they can isolate what it is that makes dog taste like chicken.
-- 
Ted Frank          + "A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it
1307 E 60 St, #109 +  is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in
U o' C Law Skool   +  color and content according to the circumstances and
Chi, IL 60637      +  the time in which it is used."  --  Holmes
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:11696 alt.folklore.college:1187
From: jf41+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jonathan R. Ferro)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.college
Subject: Re: MIT's "Infinite Corridor"
Date: 7 Apr 92 20:09:36 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.4dsU60u00VokE3JacA
	<1992Apr6.233333.9342@acsu.buffalo.edu>
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

gmkoenig@acsu.buffalo.edu (Gerson V Koenig) writes:
>I remember reading in their literature that it was about the third longest 
>corridor in the world, after ones in the pentagon and the kremlin.

Close, it's actually the third longest corridor NETWORK in the world.
Here's an interesting way to waste time that I understand was actually
performed sometime in the late 60's: Start at any interesting location,
say the door of the CS lounge, put your right hand on the wall, and
start walking keeping your right hand on the wall.  This includes going
through any unlocked, non-exterior door INCLUDING STAIRWELLS, which may
cause you to enter a stairwell on one floor, go up one flight keeping
your hand on the wall, and then exit on the next floor and continue off
to the right.  When you return to the CS lounge about 36 hours later
(the proof that this will happen is left to the reader) go down to the
architecture library and peruse the blueprints of the campus buildings
to find out which walls you didn't touch.  The group that was actually
bored enough to do this (all except the library part) consisted of
around two dozen people who traded off, keeping the crew actually
following the walls at about 6 for the entire time.  Not as frantic as
the NYC subway run, admittedly, but an interesting exercise all the
same.

--
Jon Ferro		MIT Transportation Modelling Research Center (TMRC)
jf41+@andrew.cmu.edu	"We can hack it!"
SGNTR VRS VRSN 3.1B: Strppd nd cmprssd fr qckr trnsmssn! nfct yrs tdy!
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Ask Marilyn?  Not if you want the right answer!
From: hugh@fivegl.co.nz (Hugh Grierson)
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 92 05:46:11 GMT
Reply-To: hugh@fivegl.co.nz (Hugh Grierson)
Organization: Task Management Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand

In article <1992Apr3.042820.12016@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com> billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
>
>Surprisingly, a bullet fired vertically downward - above the terminal velocity
>for the bullet, will (given enough time and distance) slow to its terminal
>velocity. Air drag is a very powerful resisting force.
>

Suprising?  This is intuitively obvious even to the most casual of observers.

>Bill

Hugh "I've always wanted to say that" Grierson


-- 
-Hugh Grierson--hugh@fivegl.co.nz----------Go fast or go home----------------
-Task Management Ltd-Auckland-New Zealand-Ph:+64.9.5206109-Fax:+64.9.5206101-
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban