HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (Ad absurdum per aspera)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
Date: 14 Dec 1992 08:49 PST
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.198
Summary: Civ Eng 101:  Highway Signage with a Staggering Sense of the Obvious
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

>> yellow diamond sign which reads "Rocks". It's sitting right next to - you
>> guessed it - a pile of rocks. 

>I saw a Tunisian road sign in the Sahara desert which said "Sable" (French
>for "sand": French being the popular, albeit unofficial, language there)

San Francisco has a number of signs that say "Hill," almost invariably 
at the top of some asphalt-covered Alp that your car could barely ascend
without a winch.  I've also seen "Steep Grade" on an unpaved road at the 
top of a 10,000-foot mountain in New Mexico, but have to chalk that one 
up to Forest Service whimsy.

Joe "Hysterical Marker Next Right" Chew
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31294 rec.arts.startrek.misc:12711
From: trevor@advent.co.uk (Trevor Pretty)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.startrek.misc
Subject: Re: Mnemonics
Date: 15 Dec 92 16:25:43 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: Advent Imaging Ltd.,Henley,England


>: one I've always used - 
>: 	port, left, and red
>: each have fewer letters in them than
>: 	starboard, right, and green
>: 
>: Anybody else hear this one?  Maybe I invented it myself!


Arrgh.


This is a can of worms:

Whne I sailed in the Sates I was taught the way to know which are the port and which are the starbord bouys when sailing at night was:

Red Right Returning 

i.e. keep the red ligts to the right.

In Europe it is the other way around.

Which way around is Alaska? 
Can I get a job for Exon?
Way am I writing the rubbish?
From: bls@sector7g.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Scearce)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: dead man's hand
Date: 12 Dec 1992 01:49:57 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems
Distribution: world
Reply-To: bls@sector7g.Eng.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: sector7g

As has been posted already, it is the hand that was held by "Wild Bill"
Hickok when he was shot in Deadwood by Jack McCall.  A couple of
corrections to what other posters have said:  Deadwood is in South
Dakota now, but at the time (August 2, 1876), the Dakota territory was
still a few years from being a state.  Bill's hand was the *black* aces
and eights; the fifth card was the two of spades (which is two pair,
not the full house that another poster indicated).

"Wild Brian" Scearce
---
Brian Scearce                                           bls@sector7g.eng.sun.com
              The above does not necessarily represent Sun policy.
                  "You can't fit the truth on a t-shirt, man."
                                 "That'd fit."
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: VOTE ACK: comp.society.folklore unmoderation
From: rhamilt@husc10.harvard.edu (Rowan Hamilton)
Date: 15 Dec 92 09:54:59 GMT
 <1992Dec10.013112.2932@news.columbia.edu> <Bz0zwn.8tu@rice.edu> <3040@israel.nysernet.org>

warren@nysernet.org (Warren Burstein) writes:

>In <Bz0zwn.8tu@rice.edu> cathyf@is.rice.edu (Catherine Anne Foulston) writes:

>>I think you're kidding, but my hidden smiley detector is on the
>>fritz. :-)

>Only amplitude-modulated hidden smileys can be detected with a single
>diode.

How long have you been waiting to use this line?

-- 
Rowan T. Hamilton                         "To dig this is to groove on
hamilton@huhepl.harvard.edu                   hella shit."
hamilton@fnald.fnal.gov                   - casey@wackenhut.com
From: kenh@leps5.phys.psu.edu (Ken Hornstein)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
Date: 12 Dec 1992 19:33:49 GMT
Organization: Penn State, Laboratory for Elementary Particle Science
NNTP-Posting-Host: leps5.phys.psu.edu

In article <hayesstw.142.724058035@risc1.unisa.ac.za> hayesstw@risc1.unisa.ac.za (Steve Hayes) writes:
>There was once a magazine called "Fact". 
>
>They made a special effort to mail it in a town called Intercourse - 
>somewhere in the USA.

Outside of Lancaster, PA, actually.  Also in the same general area is a town
known as "Blue Ball".  (most maps I have seen show both of them).

--Ken
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31412 alt.folklore.computers:17994
From: jaskew@spam.ua.oz (Joseph Askew)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Jackpotting ATM's for $$$$
Summary: Here too
Date: 16 Dec 92 23:04:57 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: Statistics, Pure & Applied Mathematics, University of Adelaide

In article <92340.091128MIWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET> MIWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET writes:

>During the L.A. riots I watched a video taken from a helicopter of about
>six very pissed-off guys rip an ATM out of a wall. They used nothing more
>technological than a crowbar, threw the machine on top of a shopping-cart
>and casually wheeled the thing down the sidewalk.

Here in Adelaide a few years back there was a gang that stole ATM's. They
stole/otherwise acquired a bulldozer and drove it up to the bank wall in
the middle of the night and ripped the machine out. They then put it into
the back of a truck and ran away, having as much time as they liked to
open it in the privacy of their own home. Clever really.


Joseph Askew


-- 
Joseph Askew, Gauche and Proud  Barbarian horns draw out the northern wind;
jaskew@spam.maths.adelaide.edu  Paler than water lies the Thistle Pass;
Disclaimer? Sue, see if I care  Sky swallows up the road to Kokonor;
One China One Korea One Eire32  Moonlight, a thousand miles along the Wall.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.startrek.misc
From: rodenhiser@chem1.chem.dal.ca (RODENHEISER ANDREW)
Subject: Re: Mnemonics
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 00:18:05 GMT

In article <Bz4CME.1uJ@gabriel.keele.ac.uk> csa09@seq1.keele.ac.uk (Paul Singleton) writes:
>From: csa09@seq1.keele.ac.uk (Paul Singleton)
>Subject: Re: Mnemonics
>Date: 11 Dec 92 23:44:37 GMT
>"All Silly Tom Cats"
>
>(something in maths - I forget what ...)
>----
>  __   __    Paul Singleton (Mr)           JANET: paul@uk.ac.keele.cs
> |__) (__    Computer Science Dept.        other: paul@cs.keele.ac.uk
> |  .  __).  Keele University, Newcastle,    tel: +44 (0)782 621111 x7355
>             Staffs ST5 5BG, ENGLAND         fax: +44 (0)782 713082

The "CAST" rule which denotes in which quadrants of the x-y coordinate 
system the various trig functions (all, sine, cosine, tangent) are positive.

S | A
-----
T | C
From: diverson@phys.ksu.edu (David Iverson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: OH NO! Lemurs in Sci. American
Date: 14 Dec 1992 18:36:21 GMT
Organization: Kansas State University
NNTP-Posting-Host: curie.phys.ksu.edu
Keywords: The key to our evolutionary past


As much as I have tried to avoid this damn Lemur thing, here comes my
January Issue of Scientific American with the article title: Lemurs: a key
to our evolutionary past. (or something really close to that) prominently
displayed on the front of the magazine.

Perhaps this thread was some secret, subliminal advertising campaign on the
part of Sci. American.  Or perhaps THEY are trying to soften us up for the
arrival of aliens who look surprisingly like lemurs (or perhaps the lemurs
have been aliens all along).  Anyway, I've started packing my pistol again. 
Better safe than sorry.

David "And here I was spending all my time worrying about Nazi's inside the
Hollow Earth!" Iverson

--
diverson@phys.ksu.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: sasbmt@jjoyce.unx.sas.com (Bruce Tindall)
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
Originator: sasbmt@jjoyce.unx.sas.com
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 23:16:12 GMT
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.


In article <BzGFrq.KK0@monster.apd.saic.com>, tomj@monster.apd.saic.com (Tom Johnson) writes:
>And here in Reston, VA there's a permanent sign labeled "Temporary Road".

The University of North Carolina erected a "temporary" gymnasium with
a wooden indoor track and sheet-metal walls and roof in 1917, called
the "Tin Can."  It stood for about 70 years.

Bruce "it's a long way to Tempperary" Tindall

-- 
Bruce Tindall, Core Testing Mgr., SAS Institute Inc., Cary, N.C. 27513
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jkshapir@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Kivi Shapiro)
Subject: Re: I Live to FAQ!
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 04:00:13 GMT

In article <1992Dec11.134006.18398@husc3.harvard.edu> joltes@husc10.harvard.edu (Richard Joltes) writes:
>jkshapir@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Kivi Shapiro) writes:
> 
>>True!  My girlfriend has _seen_ people doing this.  Sources don't come
>                                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>more reliable.
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>Nominated for AFU motto of the decade!!!

Wow!  But I still prefer "sheesh."

And what does "furrfu" mean?  Nobody's told me yet.

ObUL:  Um...if you accidently swallow a seed, it can get lodged in your
digestive tract (throat, say), and GROW!
-- 
- Kivi                    jkshapiro@descartes.uwaterloo.ca
                          This message is in the public domain.
HI! I'm a signature virus. Copy me into yours and join the fun!
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31367 alt.folklore.college:3314
From: norbert@bigwpi.WPI.EDU (Timothy James)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.college
Subject: Re: Why Not?
Date: 16 Dec 1992 15:57:05 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
NNTP-Posting-Host: bigwpi.wpi.edu

In article <1992Dec14.120722.6507@nntp.nta.no> styri@nta.no writes:
>In article <1992Dec13.232813.28569@nezsdc.icl.co.nz>, derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Derek Tearne) writes:
>|> In article <#4h2xbc@rpi.edu> kasprj@rpi.edu writes:
>|> > I heard that, a few years back, a student at Kyoto University in Japan
>|> >came to an exam in traditional garb of the Tokugawa period and, citing 
>|> >an old but never-repealed bylaw of the university, asked for warm sake 
>|> >and a plate of sashimi to fortify his mind during the test. 

>No, no, no - it was a student in Glasgow who demanded a pint of beer and
>was shown off the premises because he didn't carry his sword.
>

In my home town of Sudbury Mass. there is still a pre-revolutionary
war law that is still in the books that makes it illegal for males
to attend church without their musket...

I always seem to forget mine.....

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy James McInerney    "Randy as a jackrabbit, that's me alright!
(Tim The Lemur)             Whoooooo!"                   -- Joey the Lemur
norbert@wpi.wpi.edu        "I just know that I'm RIGHT!" -- Guinen
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31109 rec.arts.startrek.misc:12620
From: rick@daffodil.tymnet.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.startrek.misc
Subject: Re: Mnemonics
Date: 14 Dec 92 18:23:46 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: BT North America, San Jose, CA

In article <1992Dec13.212433.801@ualr.edu>, deyoung@acs.harding.edu (Joel M. DeYoung) writes:
|> In article <Bz4CME.1uJ@gabriel.keele.ac.uk>, csa09@seq1.keele.ac.uk (Paul Singleton) writes:
|> >"All Silly Tom Cats"
|> >
|> >(something in maths - I forget what ...)
|> 
|>              |
|>              |
|>     Cosine   |    All
|>              |
|>              |
|> -------------+-------------
|>              |
|>              |
|>    Tangent   |   Sine
|>              |
|>              |
|> 
|> It's from Trig.  It represents in which quadrants the following trig values
|> are positive.  Sines are positive in quadrant I and II, cosines in quadrant
|> I and IV, and tangents in quadrants I and III.  I was always taught this as
|> A-C-T-S - had to go counter-clockwise, but it did start in quadrant I.
|> 
|> ========================================================================
|> || Joel M. DeYoung       |                                            ||
|> || <deyoung@harding.edu> |                                            ||
|> ========================================================================

I believe that you have it backwards: Cosine is positive in Quad 4 and Sine
is positive in Quad 2 where Quads are:

                                    2 | 1
                                   ----
                                    3 | 4   .

Thus, the mnemonic is accurate.


-----------------------------
"ad astra per aspera"
From: mcirvin@husc8.harvard.edu (Matt McIrvin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Pluto (was Re: Mnemonics)
Date: 12 Dec 92 23:07:10 GMT

jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (Ad absurdum per aspera) writes:

>Close, in a way.  It was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1929, some
>years after his predecessor Lowell concluded that Neptune was not
>enough to account for small perturbations observed in the orbit
>of Uranus.

And, as it turns out, neither is Pluto-- so its discovery appears to
have been the result of an incredible coincidence; the planet just
happened accidentally to be in the spot predicted.   The planet in
Pluto's position was supposed to have been quite massive, but Pluto
is now known to be smaller than Earth's moon. 

It's still a debated question, I think, whether the numbers that
caused Lowell to postulate "Planet X" were just bad, or if there's
something else lurking out there.

>Pluto is, most of the time, the ninth planet out as well as the 
>ninth planet in order of discovery.  The cartoon of the solar system 
>in a good encyclopedia or a basic astronomy text will show how it's 
>sometimes closer to the sun than Neptune much better than I can tell 
>it in words.

And to answer someone else's earlier question, this is in fact the
case right now, and will be until 1999, when Pluto will once again be
further from the sun than Neptune.
-- 
Matt McIrvin
From: tjw@vms.cis.pitt.edu (TJ Wood)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: PRODIGY New and improved STILL SUCKS, HORRIBLE as before
Date: 18 Dec 92 21:44:17 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Dec18.183303.11757@u.washington.edu>, starfish@stein.u.washington.edu (Sarah Skovronsky) writes:
> [They're coming to get you!  --Sarah]

I surprised that somebody didn't suggest using a data scope to prove this.
Does Joan Tine still read this group? ;-)  I haven't been called a "Corporate
Stooge for IBM/Prodigy/Sears" in a while, so I assume that she doesn't.

Terry "I'm stealing the data from your PC while you are asleep" Wood
-- 
        INTERNET: tjw+@pitt.edu         BITNET: TJW@PITTVMS
"Laugh while you can, Monkey Boy!"                        - Lord "John" Warfin
"There can be only one!"                                  - The Highlander
"There should have been only one. I want my money back!"  - Terry
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: glitto@iastate.edu (Scott M Klabacha)
Subject: Re: Final Exams, and JHB's next book
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 06:46:14 GMT

I had a math teacher in high school who told us about a math class she took
in college.  According to her story, when the professor taught, he tended to
state theorems and just write "proof obvious", without working anything out.
She said that the final exam in the class was long and difficult; so, in the
final moments, realizing that she was running out of time and hadn't finished
the exam, she desperately wrote "proof obvious" on one of the problems she
hadn't proved yet.

Of course, she received full credit.


On an altogether different subject, from the new issue of Comics Buyer's
Guide (#997; December 25, 1992 issue):

   Coming your way in March is _The Baby Train and Other Lusty Urban
Legends_ by Jan Harold Brunvand (W. W. Norton, $20.95).  This is another
collection of urban legends by the acknowledged leader in the field....
   This time, Professor Brunvand...concentrates on "naughty" urban legends:
the title story involves a village with a much higher birthrate than normal;
turns out that a train goes through the village at 5 a.m. and blows its
whistle so loudly that it wakes everyone up and it's too early to go to work
and too late to go back to sleep, so... Others, I believe, are taken from
Reader's Digest anecdotes; Brunvand should get a grant and hire a graduate
student to go through 40 or 50 years' worth of copies of Reader's Digest--I'm
sure a lot of the legends in Brunvand's books have their roots there....
   I have recommended Brunvand's previous books in these pages...and I am
happy to add _The Baby Train_ to the list....I've read the galleys on _Baby
Train_ with considerable enjoyment; it's a good one.

Review by CBG editor Don Thompson.

   gLITTOfERN
glitto@iastate.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.startrek.misc
From: cboerm48@ursa.calvin.edu (Christopher Boerma)
Subject: Re: Mnemonics
Organization: Calvin College
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 23:23:30 GMT

system@codewks.nacjack.gen.nz (Wayne McDougall) writes:

>brownea@cc.uvcc.edu writes:

>> 	"Mother Very Easily Made a Jam Sandwich Using No Peanuts, Mayonaise or
>> Glue" - 
>> 	Mercury
>> 	Venus
>> 	Earth
>> 	Mars
>> 	Jupiter
>> 	Saturn
>> 	Uranus
>> 	Neptune
>> 	Pluto
>> (in some universes)
>> 	Mickey
>> 	Goofy

>Only problem is that this is wrong. Pluto is closer to the sun that Neptune.

Only at a few times in the Pluto year... Most the time, Neptune in closer.

						CtB
--
Oh, I hate tryin' to be witty in these things!	   |
So I'm even going to try. And if you don't like it,|
Tough! 	(Thank you had have a nice day)	         |    cboerm48@calvin.edu
																   |
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,sci.skeptic
From: warren@nysernet.org (Warren Burstein)
Subject: Re: Daytime Stars - Not Donahue or Oprah
Reply-To: warren@nysernet.org
Organization: Mail to News Gateway at Wang Labs
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 08:14:24 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban

In <2933181476.1.p00168@psilink.com> p00168@psilink.com (James F. Tims) writes:

    You know, a physics zero such as I should not have to correct this, since
    real physicists post to this newgroup.  As I understand it, the sky is blue
    because certain elements of the atmosphere glow at their spectral
    frequencies when the energy of the sun activates them ala neon lights.
    Maybe it's just the argon, but I think the nitrogen glows, too.  I can't
    remember...somebody get this right, will ya?

The sun itself is really blue.  Its blue light is why the sky is blue.
The disc of the sun appears yellow due to air pollution.

Warren "physics minus two-fifty" Burstein
-- 
/|/-\/-\       In real life, the Vice President chastises Murphey Brown
 |__/__/_/     for her morals.  Bill Clinton plays the sax on "Arsenio
 |warren@      Hall."  Though "Batman Returns" is fiction, it's not too
/ nysernet.org much stranger than truth - Caryn James, The New York Times
From: Bruce.Tindall@launchpad.unc.edu (Bruce Tindall)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Amusing street names
Date: 20 Dec 92 17:43:03 GMT
Organization: University of North Carolina Extended Bulletin Board Service

BTW, are there any ULs or even (horrors!) facts about how "Great Jones
Street" in New York got its name?  Was there a person referred to as 
"Great Jones," or is the street distinguished from a lesser street
of the same name?  There is a one-block "Great Jones Street" in 
Durham, N.C., too; nothing is on it anymore, but they keep the sign
up anyway.

Bruce "lives on the picturesquely named Wake County Secondary 
Unpaved Road #1716" Tindall
--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
From: system@codewks.nacjack.gen.nz (Wayne McDougall)
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 92 19:00:55 NZST
Organization: The Code Works Limited, PO Box 10 155, Auckland, New Zealand

bigdave@texas.tdd.sj.nec.com (David Sweeney  x2987) writes:

> gfowler@javelin.sim.es.com (Gary Fowler) writes:
> >
> >	Slow
> >  Children at Play
> >
> >Maybe someone should speed those kids up a bit.
> 
> Aww, don't worry about those kids.  They'll be fine--they all have 
> jobs with the government waiting for them when they grow up.  
> 
> Like the sign says:
> 
>                         SLOW
>                      MEN WORKING

Oh, here in NZ is is usually:

			SLOW
		     ROAD  WORKS

Although no one has actually seen a road working, you'll see lots of men
standing around leaning on shovels watching it closely in case it starts.



-- 
  Wayne McDougall, BCNU
  This .sig unintentionally left blank.

Hello! I'm a .SIG Virus. Copy me and spread the fun.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: rcnixon@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (russell.nixon)
Subject: Cats-eyes and some other stuff
Organization: AT&T
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 18:11:53 GMT

Around about 1975 or so, my wife worked for a company called Amerace Corp.
They held the manufacturing rights to a number of interesting products, among
them were "Signal Stats".  These are the "cats eyes" seen with increasing 
frequncy along the roads in US.  I do not know however, who actually holds the
patents.  Signal Stats are plastic and do not retract into the roadway.
Another product they made which has a really interesting name are "Elastic
Stop Nuts".  Ouch!  Amerace also held the copyright on the dies used to 
produce the little plastic boxes for holding cassette tapes.  They made a
bundle on them, $.002 at a time.

Strychnine is *not* one of the degradation product of LSD, or any of the other
ergot alkaloids either.  How do I know?  Well children, back in the bad old
days I wanted to be a chemist.  I had a summer job at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals.
You know, the one where Albert Hoffman worked.  My job was to assist in the 
analysis of the raw materials used in production and assist in writing methods
and procedures for the FDA to use in their analyses (sp? I mean the plural of
analysis).  Many of Sandoz's products used ergot alkaloids as their active
ingredients and I became quite familiar with the ID'ing of them and their 
products as they deteriorated from time, heat, light etc.  All of the products
used various salts of the compounds, not the base product (eg. ergotamine
tartarate, ergotamine hydrochloride etc.)  The base products were all quite
complex, and degraded into all sorts of stuff, but not strychnine.  One of
you net.organic.chemists out there could provide some more complete insight
into this but this is as good as my memory gets.  We're talking 1970 or so,
many synapses have fired their last in the 22 years since then.  I do remember
that the agent used to develop the thin layer chromatography plates for ID'ing
the ergots was based on 90% sulphuric acid.  Very annoying to get on the skin!

Facts!  The very idea!  On A.F.U.! Imagine!

Russ "Cloroform taught me not to wear jewlery in the lab!" Nixon
  Whose opinions are his own.
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31345 alt.folklore.college:3308