HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: nardy@llnl.gov (Dominic P. Nardy)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: CD player for car
Date: 27 Aug 92 19:38:33 GMT
Followup-To: misc.consumers
Organization: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory

In article <1992Aug26.233559.10752@eng.umd.edu>, georgec@eng.umd.edu
(George B. Clark) wrote:
> 
> Better than having a CD player for the car, and more convenient, is
> to instead record your favorite songs on CD to a metal cassette tape.
> This is what I do. I have an Alpine tape deck in my car, and cassettes
> recorded in this manner sound great.

Better yet IMHO..... Why not buy a decent radio w/cd input for your car or
truck and buy a portable cd player.  Now you can have portability and
versatility.  Play cassette tapes and cd's in your car or while out for a
stroll.

Dom
From: shoroff@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Bart Simpson)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Car rentals (was Re: Terrible Experience With Alamo)
Date: 27 Aug 92 21:10:17 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Univ of Texas at Austin

In article <1992Aug24.175110.26107%jim.uucp@wupost.wustl.edu> mike%jim.uucp@wupost.wustl.edu (Mike Suter) writes:
 >>>>  When I rented a car at Alamo a few months ago,
 >>>>the person there pushed me very hard to buy 
 >>>>insurance even though I used my visa gold card,
 >>>>which as I understood, covered that.
 >
 >>>No, secondary coverage covers what  your own car  insurance  does  not
 >>>cover.   Most  credit card insurnace  policies   work as follows: Many
 >>>personal car insurance policies cover rental cars.   If yours does not
 >>>or  if you do not  have a car  insurance   policy then the credit card
 >>>insurance becomes your primary insurance.
 >
 >What about liability?  For instance, my insurance company (State Farm)
 >recently dropped all coverage for business-related rentals on my personal
 >policy.  This would be fine if I used my AT&T Universal card, which
 >has rental insurance, but I do not believe this or any of these credit
 >card policies cover liability, just rental car damage.  Is this true?
 >

I'm fairly certain that all the car rental companies are *required* to 
carry liability insurance on the cars, so whenever you rent the 
liability insurance comes without asking for it. Its only about the 
CDW/LDW stuff(often limited to $3000 ? ) that the agents try to stuff
you with B.S. Of course the agents shaft you by making you feel that
your entire lifesavings  and assets are at stake if you dont buy their
insurance but that's another story.

Srihari

-- 
|A very creative .sig has been ordered.                                      |
|			Will take 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Wanna get in touch?                                                         | 
|If you're    -serious: 512 371 7409   -miserly: shoroff@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu  |
|                 -nuts   : 4413 Speedway #207; Austin, TX 78751          |
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.electronics
From: ioguo@mars.lerc.nasa.gov (OA Guo)
Subject: Re: halogen lamps
Summary: failure modes
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center
Date: 26 Aug 1992 09:57 EDT  

In article <17ehsaINNiv0@gossip.pyramid.com>, romain@pyramid.com writes...
>In case anyone is interested, here are two theories about halogen
>lamp failure I received via e-mail which seem worth repeating.
> 
>Mike G. Hoffberg <hoffberg@phebos.aps.anl.gov> suggested that
>corroded metal contacts heated faster than the ceramic ends of the
>bulbs.  Differing coefficients of thermal expansion between the metal
>and the ceramic accelerated microfracturing of the bulb, leading to
>the ultimate failure of the bulb.
> 
>Peter Z. Simpson <pzs@ficus.webo.dg.com> speculated that the poor
>quality of the lamp contacts and mounting arrangement could not
>compensate for thermal expansion and contraction, causing arcing,
>further deteriorating the contacts and aggravating heating
>problems.
> 
>There seems to be general agreement that consumer lamps are cheaply
>manufactured.  Some people felt they were getting good value for
>the dollar and liked the color of the light, while many others felt
>frustrated by declining performance over time.  "Quality construction"
>and "consumer halogen lamps" seem to be mutually exclusive.
> 
>Thanks for the responses.
> 
>Romain

	This is another follow-up, in case some of you are interested.
	Quartz Halogen Lamps (yes, there are Glass Halogen also) are very 
	delicate items.  And, it always pays to shop for the best quality.
	Look for the BRAND names, don't buy it cheap.  Normally, the Quartz
	Halogen Lamps fill with gas at 4-5 atomsphere in room temperature.
	During the operation, the surface temperature of the lamp is around
	800 degree C, that means the inside pressure is around 16-20
	atomsphere.  Most likely failures are leaks around the lead wires,
	filament sag, oxidization of contact between lead wire and filament,
	envelop cracks and impurity of the filling gas.

	Hope this help.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
OA Guo                        |My statement does not reflect NASA's point of
NASA - Lewis Research Center  |view.  Nor should NASA's statements reflect
Cleveland, Ohio               |my point of view.
From: asa@STL-09SIMA.ARMY.MIL (Will Martin on 9000)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re:  Endorsing checks for deposit via ink stamp?
Date: 1 Sep 92 18:37:23 GMT

>From: ChazL@county.lmt.mn.org (Chaz Larson)
>On the subject of unendorsed checks:
>One month, while writing all my bill checks, I accidentally made my car 
>insurance check out to my local electric company, then mailed it off.  I 
>noticed it when reconciling that statement, when I found two checks made out 
>to East Central Electric; one was endorsed by American Family Insurance, and 
>my bank paid it without any problem.  Somewhat disturbing.

A similar thing happened to me once. I had paid my electric bill at
the courtesy window at my neighborhood bank, giving them the bill and
a check made out to "Union Electric Co." (our local utility); they stamped
the bill "paid" and gave me the stub. This was in plenty of time before the
bill was due.

Comes the next month, and I get my electric bill. It shows no payment for
the previous month and a "past due" notice. At the time, I worked one block 
from the electric company customer-service office, so I take my stamped
bill stub and the new bill over there. They insist that the stamped stub
is no proof that I paid. 

I call the bank where I had paid. It turns out they knew about the problem;
they had sent a whole batch of electric-company payments to the *gas*
company instead! What was even more astounding to me was that the gas
company took the checks and deposited them, and they cleared the bank 
as valid "Laclede Gas Company" deposits even though the checks were made
out to "Union Electric Co."! When my cancelled check came back to me, I
could see that it was processed without endorsement to the gas company's
account. So much for expecting a bank to even look at the payee name on 
a check deposited by a major customer! (These are two entirely separate
entities here, by the way; I know that some localities have a combined
gas-and-electic utility, but here in St. Louis they are independent
private companies.)

Everything did eventually get worked out. The neighborhood bank which did
the mis-routing of payments took care of things and the money eventually
got transferred from the gas company to the electric company and the bills
credited. The only thing about the whole mess that really ticked me off was
the way the electric company refused to stand behind its authorized
bill-collecting agent, that neighborhood bank. The fact I had a stamped
"paid" stub should have been enough for them to have apologized to me,
credited my account with the payment I had made, and left me out of the
loop thereafter, and they should have done the investigation as to what
happened to the payment themselves.

Regards, Will
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,talk.environment,sci.energy,sci.environment
From: jpc@philabs.philips.com (John P. Curcio)
Subject: Re: Parking lot fender bender
Organization: Philips Laboratories, Briarcliff Manor, NY.
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 20:29:48 GMT

In article <92239.160756AORHK@ASUACAD.BITNET> <AORHK@ASUACAD.BITNET> writes:

[accident scenario deleted]

>           If anyone has successfully won a claim under similar circumstances
>           please drop me a note as to how it was accomplished.
>           Thanks....


Since minor damage was done to each car, it may be possible for your
insurance company to fix the other car, while the other person's
insurance pays to fix yours.  In New York State, there is a minimum of
$600 before the insurance companies can hit you with a chargable
accident.  Therefore, you are happy, the other party is happy, and the
insurance companies won't get any richer off of you.  See what the
rules are in your state.

-JPC

-- 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
John P. Curcio                  Go Bruins!                 Philips Laboratories
jpc@philabs.philips.com                                    345 Scarborough Road
(914) 945-6442                                       Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.environment,talk.environment
From: de5@ORNL.GOV (Dave Sill)
Subject: Re: Radioactivity and Superstition; was: Re: Are Your Light Bulbs Radioactive?
Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge, TN
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 12:56:33 GMT

In article <1992Aug26.230055.28405@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>, crb7q@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Cameron Randale Bass) writes:
>Dave Sill wrote:
>>They *are* different.  You can't see, smell, taste, hear, or feel
>>radioactivity.  This isn't true of most physical phenomena people deal with,
>>including chemicals and electricity.  It's hardly surprising that it's treated
>>differently.
>
>    No different than toadstools as far as injestion goes.  In fact,
>    some of *them* taste pretty good.  This issue is only treated differently
>    because of blind hysteria rather than an evaluation of the true risks.

Some chemical threats exhibit some of the properties of nuclear threats.  That
doesn't mean the two should be treated with the same level of caution.  The
"blind hysteria" you refer to stems from a lack information, understanding, and
experience with nuclear processes compared to the more tradtional threats of
electrical, mechanical, biological, and chemical processes.  Responding
hysterically won't help.  I suggest calm, polite presentation of the facts. 

-- 
Dave Sill (de5@ornl.gov)	   For every Bill Joy there is a Kirk McKusick.
Martin Marietta Energy Systems     For every Bill Gates there is a Richard
Workstation Support                Stallman.                     --Paul Graham
From: shirriff@sprite.berkeley.edu (Ken Shirriff)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Keeping ants away
Date: 1 Sep 1992 21:31:00 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
NNTP-Posting-Host: hijack.berkeley.edu
Keywords: ants

In article <4882@rosie.NeXT.COM> afitz@next.com (Alex Fitz) writes:
>Does anyone know of an effective, environmentally safe way to keep ants  
>from coming in your house?

Caulk, and lots of it.  Seal up wherever the ants are coming from, where they
enter the house, where they get into the kitchen, etc.

Ken Shirriff			shirriff@sprite.Berkeley.EDU
From: mike%jim.uucp@wupost.wustl.edu (Mike Suter)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Personal protection (was Re: PARALYZER CS tear gas)
Date: 1 Sep 92 17:01:20 GMT
Organization: BITS, St. Louis, MO

Since tear/pepper/etc gas seems to be less effective than advertising
claims, what are other alternatives?

Stun guns are large enough to be a nuisance to carry for some, but do
they work--do they cause temporary paralysis to the attacker?

Mike
-- 
mike%jim.uucp@wupost.wustl.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: markr@mot.com (Mark)
Subject: Re: Florida disaster raise auto or home insurance rates?
Reply-To: markr@mcil.comm.mot.com
Organization: MCIL
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 14:10:47 GMT

In article <9208312234.AA04488@tyrell.CFSMO.Honeywell.COM> ottoh3@CFSMO.Honeywell.COM (Otto Heuer #3) writes:
>
>The person in the office next to mine was mentioning today how he was
>expecting his car and home insurance rates to rise quite a bit due to 
>the damage done in Florida this past week (several billions of dollars
>in claims filed).
>
>My question:  can they really do this (raise rates (in Minnesota in my
>case) becase they get stuck with a hefty bill in Florida)?

Isn't the purpose of Insurance companies to spread the risk around
a large number of people ?

>Should I start looking for an insurance company that doesn't serve
>the Florida area (and therefore wasn't (and won't be in the future)
>effected by disasters in other states?

Most competitive insurance companies try to serve as many customers
as possible, that means as many states as possible. (except for auto
insurance where certain states have laws which prevent the ins. co. from
making a reasonable return)
                                                                 
mark


Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.food.drink,ba.food
From: dan@BofA.com (Dan Brockman)
Subject: Re: Looking for a *great* coffeemaker
Organization: Bank of America, Capital Products, RMTG #5906
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 92 16:45:26 GMT

In article <1992Aug25.180247.17358@cs.sfu.ca> shell@cs.sfu.ca (Barry Shell) writes:
>OK in the never-ending quest for an even fresher cup of coffee, I
>planted a bean about 6 years ago. Got flowers this year, but no
>beans. Anybody know how coffee is polinated? One thing I am learning

Next time plant two beans.

-- 
 --------------------------------------------------------------
 Daniel Brockman             tel 415-953-0406, fax 415-622-2892
 Bank of America, Dept 5906, 555 Calif St
 San Francisco 94104 USA    email uunet!odinba!dan dan@BofA.COM
From: greg@irl.ise.ufl.edu (Greg O'Rear)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Keeping ants away
Keywords: ants
Date: 1 Sep 92 19:32:12 GMT
Reply-To: greg@ise.ufl.edu (Greg O'Rear)
Organization: Industrial Research Lab - Univ. of Florida

afitz@next.com (Alex Fitz) writes:

>Does anyone know of an effective, environmentally safe way to keep ants  
>from coming in your house?

Well, Marilyn Whirlwind from Northern Exposure recommends "Don't leave food
around" :-)
--
Greg O'Rear
Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Florida
orear@ise.ufl.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.travel,bit.listserv.travel-l
From: jmichael@nosc.mil (James A. Michael)
Subject: Re: Camp stoves
Summary: It's Just White Gas
Organization: Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, CA
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 21:11:36 GMT



Eric T. Meyer      (u4400@wvnvm.bitnet) writes:

>Our old propane camp stove died recently (actually, the regulator died
>and the repair would have cost more than a new stove - don't you love it
>when they force you to buy new rather than repair?)  At the store this
>evening, we saw a Coleman Dual Fuel Campstove, which claims it can run
>on either Coleman cooking gas or unleaded automobile fuel, thus saving
>megabucks over propane.  Is this dangerous?  Doesn't car fuel have stuff
>in it that I don't want in my food?  I thought propane was supposed to
>be clean burning, so I am a bit leery of this stove, although the cost
>savings in cooking fuel would be tremendous if it is safe.  (The stove
>costs about the same as a propane one.)  Any ideas out there?
>|

I assume that the Coleman Dual Fuel Campstove is similar to the old 
Colemans, which you put Coleman fuel into and then presurized the tank by 
pumping it full of air (being sure to hold your thumb over the hole in the 
end of the pump stem so that the air wouldn't leak out).  I first camped 
with a friend of mine about 35 years ago, and his parents had such a stove.  
It apparently was a little known fact that you didn't have to buy the fuel 
from Coleman, if you used "white gas".  It turns out that "white gas" is 
just gasoline without the lead, which was somewhat uncommon at that time 
(you had to go look for it).  I don't think using unleaded gasoline would 
be any more dangerous than using the Coleman fuel, and unless you were 
using the stove to grill something (I assume you're going to use pots and 
pans and such), I wouldn't worry about any of the other car fuel stuff.  A 
few years after unleaded gasoline became common, another friend, who also 
had one of the old Coleman stoves, insisted on buying the Coleman fuel, 
even though it was about double the price of unleaded gasoline.  I believe 
that Coleman was making a lot of $ on the fuel at that time, but I guess 
they have changed their approach if they are now using this "dual fuel 
capability" as a feature.  Good luck and caveat emptor.


                                  Jim Michael
Addresses:
ARPA: jmichael@cod.NOSC.MIL           (preferred)
UUCP: {ihnp4,ucbvax,dcdwest,seismo}!sdcsvax!nosc!cod!jmichael
AT&T: (619) 553-2416    (work)
      (619) 223-9405    (home)


Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: hinz@picard.med.ge.com (David Hinz Mfg 4-6987)
Subject: Re: Undercoating and Paint Protection?
Organization: GE Medical Systems, Magnetic Resonance
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 09:17:00 GMT

Thuy-An Hartman (thuyan@brahms.udel.edu) wrote:
: For all that are watching this continuing saga, the
: MX-3 is on it's way and will be here Friday.
: 
: It is going to be red (and I mean RED!).  So, my questions are:
: 
: 2. And what is this undercoating non-sense they are trying to sell me?
:    How much should that cost, what does it do and do I want it?

Only if you don't want your car to rust out in a year or two.
It protects the bottom of your car from getting chipped by rocks, etc. and
also helps to deaden road noise.  If you're planning on keeping the car,
by all means get it.  I'm amazed that it's an option, rather than a factory-
done thing, in fact.

--

Dave Hinz  -  Opinions expressed are mine, not my employer's.  Obviously.
SAAB - Because you get what you pay for.
hinzd@picard.med.ge.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: terry@thisbe.Eng.Sandy.Novell.COM (Terry Lambert)
Subject: Re: Are Your Light Bulbs Radioactive?
Organization: Novell NPD -- Sandy, UT
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 20:54:05 GMT

In article <l9neiiINNmol@utkcs2.cs.utk.edu> de5@ORNL.GOV (Dave Sill) writes:
>[Followups directed to misc.consumers.]
>
>In article <1992Aug25.201850.28784@gateway.novell.com>, terry@thisbe.Eng.Sandy.Novell.COM (Terry Lambert) writes:
>>
>>	Most smoke detectors use curium, and tend to have a much longer
>>"useful life" as a result.  The half life on Promethium is about 2 1/2
>>years...  That means the life of the bulb is [limited] to ~2 years...
>
>Wrong.  The half-life is important, but it's not what determines the useful
>life of the product.  What matters is how long there will be sufficient
>Promethium (really sufficient radioactivity--it could as well come from a
>decay product as from Pr) to perform the required function.  For example,
>if they put 64 times as much Pr in the bulb as necessary, it'll be 6
>half-lives before there isn't enough Pr left.

	As a seller of light bulbs, it would be to you benefit to put as
little as possible, thus guaranteeing a market for your bulbs more frequently
than every n years, where:

	    <actual production> - <saturation production>
	n = ---------------------------------------------
	    <breakage replacement>

Of course, if your light bulbs died in other ways, such that the average
life expectancy was still low enough to make you economically viable as
a light bulb manufacturer, you wouldn't need to do this.  How many votes
on a light bulb manufacturer hedging his bets in case, through a "faulty"
production run, long-lasting bulbs were manufactured?

8-) for the humor impaired, before he jumps down my throat.


					Terry Lambert
					terry_lambert@gateway.novell.com
					terry@icarus.weber.edu

---
Disclaimer:  Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of
my present or previous employers.
From: lbr@holos0.uucp (Len Reed)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Undercoating and Paint Protection?
Date: 31 Aug 92 15:59:08 GMT
Organization: Holos Software, Inc.

In article <1292@ncrclm.ClemsonSC.NCR.COM> lsnow@ncrclm.ClemsonSC.NCR.COM (Linda Snow) writes:
>
>It probably does have factory undercoating and the sales-sleaze is trying
>to sell dealer undercoating on top of it.  I've been told factory
>undercoating is perfectly reliable these days and it's a waste of money
>to go for aftermarket undercoating.

Consumer Reports noted that some forms of undercoating will void the
manufacturer's warrenty.  Now, I'd think that a mfgr would have trouble
not paying if an authorized dealer (as oppossed to Joe's rustproofing)
put the undercoating on, but in any event, don't get it.

Dealer protection packages are pure profit; when I was shopping for cars
last months most salesman admitted as much up front when I frowned
at the $200-$800 add-ons on the window stickers.  Only one of numerous
schemes car dealers use.

-Len
From: klb@stiatl.salestech.com (Kathy Ball)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Keeping ants away
Keywords: ants
Date: 2 Sep 92 12:56:23 GMT
Organization: Sales Technologies, Inc.

afitz@next.com (Alex Fitz) writes:

>Does anyone know of an effective, environmentally safe way to keep ants  
>from coming in your house?

We were recently invaded by ants (there were hunnerds of the little
buggers!), and since we have a cat we weren't too excited about
sprays or foggers.  Instead, we got those little ant bait things
(sorry I can't remember the name) that you place around the floor
and even on counters or in cupboards if necessary.  They seem to
be working very well - haven't seen an ant in weeks.

If you don't know what little ant bait things I'm talking about,
they're smaller versions of the roach bait things - the ants
are attracted to the bait and take it back home where other
ants are also zapped by it.

We had been through a can and a half of some Black Flag spray,
but like I said, using it around the cat made me nervous and
it didn't seem to be working anyway.

Just my two bits.

Kathy 
--------------

-- 
Kathy Ball                                             uupsi!stiatl!klb
Sales Technologies, Inc	                              klb@salestech.com
3399 Peachtree Rd, NE
Atlanta, GA  30326                               voice:  (404) 841-4159
From: ray.normandeau@factory.com (Ray Normandeau) 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: RE: EPILADY OR REMINGTON
Date: 2 Sep 92 10:37:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Invention Factory's BBS - New York City, NY - 212-274-1243v.32bis
Reply-To: ray.normandeau@factory.com (Ray Normandeau) 

-> From: icedance@milton.u.washington.edu (Ann Schmidt)
writes:
-> I guess I'm the only one who likes these machines.  I had an
-> Epilady and used it for years until it died, then had to go back to
-> razors because all my money is going in to my house :(
F W Woolworth in Brooklyn NY had a lot of them at closeout price of
$6.50 early this year. You may wish to check out FWW in your area.

As a professional product demonstrator I demoed the Eplilady at
Bloomingdales NYC when they first came out. I only did this for a few
days, but I learned that acceptance varied by indiividual.
We cleaned rotating coil with alchohol between volunteers.
Some women liked them and bought, and some did not.
Basaically it is an electric tweeezer that yanks out several hair at a
time.

This is something that no one should buy unless they can try one out
first.
                                             
Newsgroups: misc.consumers