HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart)
Subject: Re: Xerox of GMAT score OK for admission?
Organization: AT&T
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 15:12:24 GMT

In article <9QK2!654H@linac.fnal.gov> matt@severian.chi.il.us (Matt Crawford) writes:
>>Ken Gacioch writes:
>> KG> Xerox is based here in
>> KG> Rochester, NY, and spends multi dineri to try to keep from losing
>> KG> its rights to its trademark.
>
>>matt@severian.chi.il.us (Matt Crawford) replies:
>> MC> Ah, but that's *their* worry, and not mine.
>
>Dave Aronson:
>>...until they sue you!
>
>While we all know that anyone may sue anyone (why isn't there a
>separate object form for "anyone"?  "Anyome"??) at any time, I defy
>you to name the grounds on which Xerox might plausibly expect to
>*win* such a suit.

For instance, if you had a business that sold another brand of
copier and in your ad that they "xeroxed" the best of any brand,
you would be correct in your usage and run the risk of being sued
by Xerox and losing.  That's pretty obvious if you spend a minute
to think about it.
>
>And to the guy who said to look it up again -- I never looked it up
>the first time, but now I have and Webster's says "trademark -- used
>for a xerographic copier."

My dictionary is a little less than five years old and lists the verb,
"xerox" as the second definition.  

GMS
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart)
Subject: Re: RESULTS FOR TAI STANDARD INTELLIGENCE TEST
Organization: AT&T
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 16:14:36 GMT

In article <1992Nov05.204245.27156@bnr.ca> "Rodney Adams" <RADAMS@BNR.CA> writes:
>In article <1992Nov5.031100.27122@ncsu.edu>, scott@bogus.network.address
>
>|>Conclusion
>|>----------
>|>
>|>radams appears to be the most intelligent poster to
>|>rec.org.mensa, followed by ehp and eager.
>
>Here, my reaction was more like, "Well, f*ck me!", but I would never
>drop my sense of decorum to the point where I would openly respond
>in such a manner.
>
>On the down side, this might mean that my posts will now be critically
>scrutinized by those wishing to find some fault with my writing.  As
>if I didn't have enough pressure as it is....  Gee, thanks, Scott!

[ analysis of flaws in proposed measuring system deleted for brevity ]

I'm not sure if I've been giving some folks more or less credit than
they deserve, and I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but I don't
see anyone posting anything about the point that an arbitrary scoring
system has been proposed that seemed to be intended to be analagous to
IQ testing.  

The obvious next step would be, hypothetically, to keep statistics to
see how this indicator predicted some measure of success in the target
application, such as "academic success" or "job performance" or, here,
the enjoyment or persuasiveness of posted articles on the net.

As with any other test, the value is whether the results meet the
needs of the users of the test.

It's really no more complicated than that.

GMS
From: mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Transportation to RG's
Date: 12 Nov 92 20:08:05 GMT
Followup-To: rec.org.mensa

In article <10Nov92175800@miracle.com>, jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley)
wrote:
> 
> 
>  Our New England RG is getting tons of calls from in-state and out of
>  state Mensa members looking for transportation...  what's happened?
>  Has everyone sold their cars in this economy?
> 
>  Question Two: How do other chapters handle this RG transportation
>  issue?  Do you have a separate person on the RG planning committee
>  whose sole task is to co-ordinate transportation or is this task
>  dumped on the RG Registrar?

Los Angeles Mensa had a transportation coordinator for their Highland
Springs RG last year (the only year I've been there, so I don't know what
they've done previously).  My welcome packet contained a form to request or
offer transportation assistance.  Since the nearest airport was 40 or so
miles away, I asked for a ride, and one was arranged.  

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Now that I have a reader that can do .sigs, I can't think of a witty |
|one to put here, so I won't.  All normal disclaimers apply.          |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: edp@math.zk3.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Voting Analysis
Date: 13 Nov 92 14:23:53 GMT
Reply-To: edp@math.zk3.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

In article <1992Nov12.231737.22932@eagercon.com>, eager@eagercon.com
(Michael J. Eager) writes:

>Eric has postulated and "proved" his case under very narrow and specific
>circumstances, none of which I believe exist.

The circumstances all exist; I know people who refuse to vote because
they object to the candidates, and I know people who have received that
message, and I know people who refuse to vote for ethical reasons.


                                -- edp (Eric Postpischil)
                                "Always mount a scratch monkey."
                                edp@rusure.enet.dec.com
From: ksdavis@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Karleenus Schwartz Davis)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Why manhole covers are round
Date: 7 Nov 92 21:43:44 GMT
Organization: Indiana University

WARNING!-  I am of the movie generation, not the comic generation, so
forgive my narrow focus on Superman as a movie character.  -WARNING!

gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart) writes:
>
>And of course 4) because if a bomb was under the street and Superman
>had to protect all the people from the stuff the blew out of the
>hole, he could use lots of stuff that's round to plug it up, like
>giant tree trunks and really fat people.
>
>Then why would not all street utility covers be round?

Because clearly the most accessible place to put a bomb is in a
manhole, silly.  Those other holes on the street are simply not
cinematically suitable.

You forgot that when Superman grabs the manhole cover and throws it
out of the way to make room for the really fat person, a circle is the
most aerodynamic shape, and therefore most visually interesting for the
moviegoer. 

-sz
From: matt@severian.chi.il.us (Matt Crawford)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Xerox of GMAT score OK for admission?
Date: 8 Nov 92 02:16:07 GMT
Organization: The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny

>>I defy
>>you to name the grounds on which Xerox might plausibly expect to
>>*win* such a suit.

gilbert.m.stewart:
>For instance, if you had a business that sold another brand of
>copier and [said] in your ad that they "xeroxed" the best ...
>you would ... run the risk of being sued by Xerox and losing.
>That's pretty obvious ...

Obvious, perhaps.  But even more obvious to me is the fact that I
have no such business.  Should I have made that explicit?
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: jimt@carson.u.washington.edu (James Thompson)
Subject: Re: IQ Test Creation Question
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 04:07:59 GMT

In article <1992Nov7.151640.18918@cbnewse.cb.att.com> gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart) writes:
>In article <4125@bcstec.ca.boeing.com> stein@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Halden Stein) writes:
>>I understand how someone with an IQ greater than mine can develop
>>test items to judge my abilities. Who creates the test for someone
>>such as Marylin Vos Savant (highest IQ at the moment)? It seems that
>>the test creators would need to have higher IQs than the test takers.
>
>I am told that MVS spent quite a lot of time studying various IQ tests
>to improve her eventual score.  Assuming this is true, and, based upon
>her written material, while not a dunce, she does not seem particularly
>gifted at least verbally, it would not matter in her case how smart
>the test makers were, since her goal would be to anticipate their
>particular expectations, "right" or "wrong".
>
>In any case, I disagree with your assumption.
>
>GMS

I have to disagree with the assumption as well -- otherwise, the smartest
people in the world would be wasting their time by writing intelligence tests.
However, I asked a question similar to this a couple months ago, and nobody
picked it up.  Again:  How DO people test the intelligence (in a meaningful
way) of those who are more intelligent than them?

Jim
From: jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Mensa Japan
Date: Mon, 09 Nov 92 18:45:19 EDT
Organization: Miracle Computer Consultants

clong@remus.rutgers.edu (Chris Long) writes:
>
>I saw a note recently that they were axed for not following some
>regulations.  Does anyone know what they did?
>-- 
>Chris Long, 265 Old York Rd., Bridgewater, NJ  08807-2618

From what I've heard, they didn't violate any rules, etc.; it's
just that they didn't do anything.  (For the entire nation of
Japan, there were only something like 110 Mensa members!)

I guess, the idea of belonging to a high IQ society was just
plain incompatible with Japan's Group-Think mentality.  (Before
the self rightous and Politically Correct come swarming down upon
me with flames for this last statement, I have a little itty bit of
understanding of Japanese culture.  There is a saying that's purely
Japanese that explains where I'm coming from: "The nail that sticks
out gets hit first with the hammer.")

Now that I've said that, flame away o-most-holyier-that-thou Politicallty
Persons!  ;^)

                                           -John


 ==========================================================================
       John Cooley              Zappa as a waste management engineer: 
                                  "Hey, there, Brother!  Whatcha
    jcooley@miracle.com            doing with that Cosmic Debris?"
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: eager@eagercon.com (Michael J. Eager)
Subject: Re: Clinton Propaganda Group.
Reply-To: eager@eagercon.com
Organization: Eager Consulting
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 02:37:13 GMT

In article h@lynx.unm.edu, mdiehl@triton.unm.edu (J. Michael Diehl) writes:
>How's this for propaganda?  The Clinton/Gore campaign just introduced a 
>(moderated) newsgroup to usenet!  Hey kids wanna witness some REAL propaganda?
>try alt.politics.democrats.clinton!   It's moderated so that only views that 
>they want published will be published....Is this what usenet is for?  I don't 
>think so.
>
>Comments?


I don't know anything about a moderated group, but there is an 
alt.politics.clinton which is not moderated.  It is possible that there was
the other group created but that the NEWGROUP message was only distributed
localy, so it never reached here.  Or it might be that you have mis-read something.

Did you see a new group or did somebody tell you about it?


---
Michael J. Eager		Michael.Eager@eagercon.com
Eager Consulting		(415) 325-8077 
1960 Park Boulevard, Palo Alto, CA 94306-1141
From: moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: t: I was wrong about Scott A. Tai
Date: 11 Nov 92 00:11:28 GMT
Article-I.D.: engage.1992Nov11.002552.9305
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

In article <1992Oct28.014455.3810@ncsu.edu>, scott@tailab.org (Scott Tai) writes...
> 
>chorley@vms.ocom.okstate.edu writes:
>: I was wrong about Scott Tai: the name is not a trekkie pun after all.
>: Scott Andrew Tai, or S.A.T. for short, is the product of someone's warped 
>: sense of humour:
>: 	If the person/cipher exists, I invite it to come out of the 
>: electronic closet and allow us to send e-mail to it.
> 
>One has only to dare!  It's mensa@nyx.cs.du.edu.

OK.  I dare the person(s) who posts as Scott Andrew Tai to reveal their true
name, and the true username that they post from, which should be local
to the taco.cc.ncsu.edu newsserver they forge from, and reachable via mail.

I Double dare.

-Mike
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: chisnall@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz (The Technicolour Throw-up)
Subject: Re: More usefull dialogue about Canadian activities and other topics.
Organization: Computer Science,University of Canterbury,New Zealand
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 09:37:36 GMT

From article <mike_steiner-301092144549@192.35.50.131>, by mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner):
> You received a reply from someone who is not a Mensan, and who had a
> humorous signature.  I replied to that signature with a humorous message. 
> That, in turn, elicited a flame.

Well here's a funny thing mike - people's taste in humour vary quite a lot.
You replied to Steve's signature with a message you thought funny.   I
personally thought it wasn't terribly funny.  Many people in this group no
doubt also thought it funny (like you) and no doubt there were many others
(like myself) who didn't think it funny.  When I saw your reply I was a
little puzzled as to it.  It didn't look funny to me so, given your history
of flaming, I took it that, for reasons unknown, you had decided to flame
Steve.  Apparently, as you now explain, it wasn't a flame - but thats what it
looked like to me (and probably to many others as well).  Does it not strike
you as possible that Steve may perhaps have a different sense of humour from
you and, like me, had come to the conclusion that you had flamed him and that
he therefore replied in kind?

--
Just my two rubber ningis worth.
Name: Michael Chisnall  (chisnall@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz)
I'm not a .signature virus and nor do I play one on tv.
Will be .signature virus for food.
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: rr@chem.ucsd.edu (Roxanne Rohmann)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Transportation to RG's
Date: 11 Nov 1992 17:34:00 GMT
Organization: Chemistry Dept, UC San Diego
NNTP-Posting-Host: chedccf0.ucsd.edu

In article <10Nov92175800@miracle.com> jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley) writes:
 > 
 >  Our New England RG is getting tons of calls from in-state and out of
 >  state Mensa members looking for transportation...  what's happened?
 >  Has everyone sold their cars in this economy?
 > 
 >  Question Two: How do other chapters handle this RG transportation
 >  issue?  Do you have a separate person on the RG planning committee
 >  whose sole task is to co-ordinate transportation or is this task
 >  dumped on the RG Registrar?
 > 
This question really took me by surprise.  Here in San Diego, we
have always felt that transportation is up to the individual.
The most we do is publish public transportation choices from the
airport to the hotel in the preliminary packages we send to those
people who are pre-registered.

I always figured our RG volunteers had quite enough to do just
dealing with food and the hotel and programs and such stuff 
without having to worry about carting people around and finding
them roommates.

In re-reading, this sounds cold, but really, volunteers do 
wear out.  Shouldn't people be able to take care of themselves?

   ---Roxanne Rohmann, San Diego Mensa 
   

 >                                          - John
 > 
 > 
 >  ==========================================================================
 >        John Cooley              Zappa as a waste management engineer: 
 >                                   "Hey, there, Brother!  Whatcha
 >     jcooley@miracle.com            doing with that Cosmic Debris?"  


Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: ivaliote@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Matthew Ivaliotes)
Subject: Mensa's Rules of Order
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 17:10:14 GMT

I have an extreme interest in trying to create more `intelligent' ways of
running things, from governments to businesses to non-profit agencies.  I
have had wuite a bit of experience with Robert's Rules, and even though my
level of expertise is quite high, I find them to be cumbersome, overly
complicated, and inefficient.  Would any Mensans be interested in developing 
a replacement for Robert's Rules, something that might return some sanity to
the idea of deliberative assembly?  Just curious what we'd come up with.

Matt I.
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: edp@math.zk3.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Subject: Re: Boycotting the Vote
Reply-To: edp@math.zk3.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 15:05:27 GMT

In article <mike_steiner-211092120408@192.35.50.131>,
mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner) writes:

>> >Then vote for "none of the above" as a write-in.  that gives the message
>> >that you don't want anyone to exercise those powers.
>> 
>> "None of the above" will be counted as an invalid ballot; it will not be
>> reported.  No message is conveyed.
>
>It will?  The World Almanac has listings of how many people voted for which
>candidates in the last presidential election; "none of the above" was
>listed as having received votes.  My copy is at home, so I don't have
>access to it here; otherwise I'd quote from it.

I will quote from it; the World Almanac says "None of the above         
(Nevada option)".  What you suggest does not happen in other states.


                                -- edp (Eric Postpischil)
                                "Always mount a scratch monkey."
                                edp@rusure.enet.dec.com
From: skh4161@mvs.draper.com (Kjeld Hvatum)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Astrology: Scientific Research
Date: 9 Nov 92 12:15:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: ccfvx3.01GQYES6BNF68Y5NJI
Organization: Draper Laboratory


>From: "Michael J. Eager" <eager@eagercon.com>
>Message-ID: <1992Nov9.074936.11584@eagercon.com>
>...
>When two events are correlated to a high degree, the general assumption
>is that there is some relationship.  But correlation does not tell you
>what the relationship is.  One may cause the other, or they may both
>be caused by come third, independent, event.  Or both may be related
>through some long sequence of rather independent events.

One more thing...
when you look at a given set of data, you also have to consider how it
got your attention.  Was the relationship picked from among 1,000,000
different data combinations which someone wanted to have show a
correlation?  All you need are 1,000 things to compare.  From among
those things the odds are you'll find something with a "very high
probability" of not being a coincidence (maybe 99.9999 percent sure),
but it will still be a coincidence.

In my opinion, this sort of misguided hunting for coincidences is what
astrology is all about.  Kind of like the "astrological" coincidence of
finding two people with the same birthday in a room of only about 25
people.  Too much imagination, and too little understanding of
probability and its application to the real world.
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: crossgl@infonode.ingr.com (Gordon Cross)
Subject: Re: Going to the Concinnati RG?
Organization: Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL.
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 16:27:02 GMT

In article <1dpq1vINN68q@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> bl275@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Dan Diaz) writes:

>Im interested in hearing from anyone planning to attend the Cincinnati RG
>in December.

I'll be there.  What do you want to know?
-- 

Gordon Cross          UUCP:     uunet!ingr!infonode!crossgl   "all opinions are
111 Westminister Way  INTERNET: crossgl@infonode.ingr.com    mine and not those
Madison, AL 35758     MA BELL:  (205) 730-3760               of my employer."
From: jimt@carson.u.washington.edu (James Thompson)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: IQ Test Creation Question
Date: 13 Nov 92 01:04:33 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov13.010433.13435
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In article <H3N5TB1w164w@jwt.UUCP> bbs-phaedrus@jwt.UUCP writes:

>... (and yes, I am a Mensan and have rarely scored 
>less than 4 sigma on these standardized pieces of trash).
>

Was that 4 sigma above or 4 sigma below mean?

>As to the less intelligent testing the intelligent, I find my patience well 
>tested by discussions in this newsgroup.

Agreed.

>
> --Larry Wink

Jim Thompson
From: jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Xerox of GMAT score OK for admission?
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 16:53:21 EDT
Organization: Miracle Computer Consultants

rr@chem.ucsd.edu (Roxanne Rohmann) writes:
>In article jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley) writes:
> > 
> >  My question is: "Is it OK to xerox a friend's GMAT score to get into
> >  Mensa ?"
> >                                 - John Cooley
> >                                   The Troublemaking LocSec of Boston Mensa
>
>I seem to recall that something really close to that happened
>out there in your neck of the woods already... A LocSec and a 
>brother, wasn't it?
>
>   ---Roxanne Rohmann
>      (former LocSec) San Diego Mensa
>


Is it *my* fault that the GMAT people got me and my brother's GMAT
scored mixed up?  Instead of trying to correct their messed up
beaureaucy, we thought the most prudent thing to do would be to
correct it ourselves!  ;^)

(And if you believe this, put your hands on top of your monitor and
 say to yourself three times: "I AM HEALED!" and if you feel OK, send
 you donations to....

                                     - St. John's Network Ministry


 ==========================================================================
       John Cooley              Zappa as a waste management engineer: 
                                  "Hey, there, Brother!  Whatcha
    jcooley@miracle.com            doing with that Cosmic Debris?"

Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: hollombe@polymath.tti.com (The Polymath)
Subject: Re: IQ Test Creation Question
Organization: The Cat Factory
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 19:28:28 GMT

In article <4125@bcstec.ca.boeing.com> stein@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Halden Stein) writes:
}I understand how someone with an IQ greater than mine can develop
}test items to judge my abilities. Who creates the test for someone
}such as Marylin Vos Savant (highest IQ at the moment)? It seems that
}the test creators would need to have higher IQs than the test takers.

I question your basic assumption.  By analogy, while not an Olympic class
marksman myself, I'm certainly qualified to judge such a competition and
even to train Olympic competitors.

You don't have to be a genius to measure genius.

The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, M.A., CDP, aka: hollombe@polymath.tti.com)
Head Robot Wrangler at Citicorp
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.   (310) 450-9111, x2483
Santa Monica, CA  90405
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa