HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bz978@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Charles E Gibbs)
Subject: Re: Buck Rogers (was Re: Psyched for Babylon 5) 
Reply-To: bz978@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Charles E Gibbs)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 15:29:24 GMT


In a previous article, grinstea@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (GRINSTEAD CARL FRANK) says:

>In article <1992Aug14.194229.16018@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> jeffery@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (JEFFERY ERIC ROBERT) writes:
>>>I wait with the same skepticism that I have for DS9 or any other TV SF
>>>series.  Guess I got burned by Buck Rogers as a child.
>>>
>>What do you mean, Buck Rogers was a classic- I loved it and Erin Grey, ooo!
>>
>What do *you* mean, every time I see one of those reruns I cringe.

I kinda liked that show, at least in the beginning anyway.  No masterpiece,
but entertaining.

Charles Gibbs
From: mac7@po.CWRU.Edu (Michael A. Chary)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv
Subject: Re: QL: FAQL update
Date: 13 Aug 92 15:11:37 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)


Like I said, I can understand the need to have Sam overcome for
script purposes, but forgetting that Sam is a martial arts
expert is not "dramatic license," it's sloppy writing. Another
episode that I was watching yesterday, has Sam at a naval college.
He is tackled twice during the course of the episode.  And he
is clocked once by an opponent when Al distracts him.  They
did have Sam fighting in this episode but the author managed to have
Sam overcome somehow without "dramatic license."   
A good example of "dramatic license" is the time travel.
If I wanted to pick on QL, which I don't, I'd start there and
work my way down.
I, also realize that Al is supposed to be half-way intelligent
or "brilliant" if you want, but this "running gag" is not
particularly condusive to this belief.  Al should learn to
shut up.  I do go with the flow of show.  I enjoy the
Quantum Leap imensely, but it has occasional flaws.

And, btw, Macbeth has an evil reputation amongst stage actors.
;)
-- 
"Ipsa scientia potestas est."  
               -Roger Bacon

"The best argument against democracy is a five minute talk with
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: msb@sq.sq.com (Mark Brader)
Subject: Re: An: Homographs
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 92 07:16:39 GMT

> > I friend recently asked me for two homographs (words spelled the same
> > but pronounced differently) where one was an adjective and the other a
> > noun.  He swears there's only one.  I don't believe him ...
> > polish (n) e.g. shoe polish
> > Polish (adj)

These are not homographs!  Spelling is case-sensitive.  This pair is
sometimes given as "the" solution to the question of what word changes its
pronunciation when capitalized, but it is actually far from unique in
this respect also.  In a 1989 posting, Murray Pearce wrote:
| In his 1989 book _Crazy English_, Richard Lederer calls such words
| capitonyms and lists (in addition to polish): concord, job, askew,
| august, begin, colon, degas, herb, levy, lima, mobile, natal, nice,
| ranier [should be "rainier"--msb], ravel, reading, tangier.

> How about lead?
>   Secretariat took the lead, and held it throughout the race.
>   Lead paint is unhealthy.

While this meets the requirements technically, it lacks style.  Many
nouns can be, uh, adjectived in English.  *Both* homographs of "lead"
are fundamentally nouns, but both can be used as adjectives.  By this
I mean that the adjectival meaning is naturally defined entirely in terms
of the noun.

	The lead position was held by the rider whose hat paint contained
	lead.  The rider with lead paint on his hat was in the lead.

I can also construct an example where the adjective is fundamentally a verb:

	Press the record button if you want to make a record.

But for best style, the adjective should be one that is *not* fundamentally
some other part of speech using the same pronunciation.  Someone else has
already posted a fine example of this: invalid.
-- 
Mark Brader		    "Howeb45 9 qad no5 und8ly diturvrd v7 7jis dince
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto	     9 qas 8mtillihemt mot ikkfavpur4d 5esoyrdeful
utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com     abd fill if condif3nce on myd3lf."      -- Cica

This article is in the public domain.
From: torbenm@diku.dk (Torben AEgidius Mogensen)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Digit Replashement Puzzlesh (SPOILER)
Date: 13 Aug 92 16:29:26 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen

rt@ukc.ac.uk (R.W.Thearle) writes:


>Since you've had so much fun with RATE * TIME = DISTANCE; try the following:


>	While at a party, a mathematically-minded drinker was chatting
>	about number puzzles, when he noticed that

>		ALCOHOL + ALCOHOL + ALCOHOL + ... + ALCOHOL = HANGOVER

>	contained precisely 10 different letters, and so might produce
>	a valid sum after consistently replacing each letter with a different
>	decimal digit. The question was - how many drinks were needed before
>	it could be done?

drinks = 27:
		27*3451914=93201678
		   ALCOHOL HANGOVER

drinks = 34:

		27*0896368=30476512
		   ALCOHOL HANGOVER

This solution is lacking, in that one of the numbers start with 0.

I have tested for up to 80 drinks. It is easy to see that no solution
with "proper" numbers (not starting in 0) exist for more drinks.

	Torben Mogensen (torbenm@diku.dk)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: kanad@top.cis.syr.edu (Kanad Chakraborty)
Subject: Re: Rhymes
Organization: Syracuse University, CIS Dept.
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 11:47:25 EDT

In article <1992Aug14.200431.152696@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu> dsbb@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (D. SPENCER BEECHER) writes:
>Can anyone out there rhyme month, hungry, angry or orange?
>
>Anybody know words similarly difficult to rhyme?
>-- 
>                   _ _     _ _     _ _
>  -Spence         [O.O]   )x.x(   )O.O(
>                    O       O      -*-

month rhymes with tenth (well, almost).
hungry and angry rhyme with each other.
orange rhymes with derange.

Kanad
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: keith@cco.caltech.edu (Keith Allan Schneider)
Subject: Re: ducks and foxes
Keywords: ducks, foxes
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 08:54:10 GMT

huh@wccf.mit.edu (GENE SIMON HUH) writes:

>Dear puzzlelovers,

>     I don't think that this one is in the FAQ; please don't flame me too much 
>if it is.  I heard it a while ago on a bus somewhere.

>     A duck is swimming about in a circular pond.  A ravenous fox (who cannot 
>swim) is roaming the edges of the pond, waiting for the duck to come close.  
>The fox can run four times faster than the duck can swim.  In order to escape, 
>the duck must swim to the edge of the pond before flying away.  Assume that 
>the duck can't fly until it has reached the edge of the pond.

>     The question is, can the duck escape?  Why or why not?

A friend (Hyong Lee) and I were bored, so we thought about this for a second.
Let's divide the pond into two sections.  The first, extending 1/4 the
radius from the center, is a zone in which the duck can always keep the
center between it and the fox (it can spiral out, or whatever).  Now, the
duck can travel the circumference of this boundry (1/4 of the radius from
the center) in the same time it will take the fox to travel the circumference
of the pond. 

Now, once the duck crosses this boundry, the fox has the advantage, so she 
must make a mad dash to the side.  The distance from the boundry to the shore
is 3/4 of the radius, and the distance that the fox must travel is pi times
the radius (remember, the duck has kept the center of the pond between it and
the fox).  Since the fox travels 4 times as fast, it will take the fox
pi/3 times longer than the duck to reach the edge.  So, the duck gets away!

Now, some of you may be saying that the duck will never reach the boundry,
still keeping the center of the pond between it and the fox, since the spiral
would only converge to the boundry, as the circumnavigating time of the
duck approached the fox's.  But, since the fox takes pi/3 times as long as
the duck to reach the edge, there is a bit of extra time here for the duck
to play with.

So, if the fox travelled 1 + Pi times as fast as the duck, it would JUST catch
the duck, but in this case, the duck would never reach the break-for-it
boundry.

Oh well, fun puzzle ( I hope we didn't mess up somewhere).

keith
.

e
From: gt2807a@prism.gatech.EDU (Benjamin H. Cowan)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Riddles
Date: 14 Aug 92 17:27:01 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

In article <1992Aug14.162002.28421@Princeton.EDU> shari@room.Princeton.EDU (Shari L. Landes) writes:
>57 H V

57 Heinze Varieties

>1001 A N

1001 Arabian Nights

>8 D a W (In the B S)

8 Days a Week (In the Beatles Song)

>12 D of C
>9 P in the S S

Ben...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benjamin H. Cowan                       || Reply to: gt2807a@prism.gatech.edu
Georgia Tech... Atlanta, Georgia  30332 || 
================================================================================

           "I don't believe there is a man, woman, or child alive
                   that doesn't enjoy a lovely beverage."
                                                        --Dave
From: tvaughan@buphyk.bu.edu (tvaughan)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Win $20! (was Re: rot13 word pairs)
Date: 20 Aug 92 13:27:01 GMT
Organization: Boston University Physics Department

In article <Aug.19.22.58.31.1992.8493@remus.rutgers.edu> clong@remus.rutgers.edu (Chris Long) writes:
>This is related to a contest running in REC (sponsored by me); the
>first person to find a legitimate shift-pair of length 8 or more
>wins $20.  If you find such a pair, contact me and I'll tell you
>how to get in touch with the editor of REC.

I know some dandies using shift-26. 8-)

Tim
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: keith@cco.caltech.edu (Keith Allan Schneider)
Subject: Re: Adam and Eve puzzle
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Distribution: rec
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 09:13:10 GMT

tolman%asylum.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Kenneth Tolman) writes:

>>     A scuba diver surfaced from the water and found himself in front of
>>a cave.  He saw at its entrance the naked bodies of a man and a woman.  
>>Immediately he concluded:  They're Adam and Eve.  WHY?

>Presumably, this guy is looking at either a sculpture or a painting.
>If it is either, there are a few tell tale symbols- such as an apple
>in the guys hand, or a snake, or something else.

>Since the guy is "concluding" it, it means that his mental patterns
>set him up to percieve whatever he percieves as Adam and Eve.  Therefore,
>he could be looking at nearly anything, and it is a product of his 
>previous experience and training.

>Probably, written underneath them is "Adam And Eve", which was the real
>tip-off.

Oh, I figured that it would be due to the lack of belly buttons. :-)

keith


Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: stein@hal.nta.no (Stein Kulseth FBA)
Subject: Re: Maximum Product (was Re: Another math question ...)
Organization: Norwegian Telecom Research
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 10:50:01 GMT

In article <l933pkINN6h6@aludra.usc.edu>, rmurphy@aludra.usc.edu (Bob Murphy) writes:
|> ***************************************************************
|> Here is a shortcut to remembering these solutions.
|> --------------------------------------------------
|> The first number can easily be obtained as follows:
|> Begin with the largest digit.  Subtact 3 to get the next digit.
|> Now successively subtract 2 to get the following digits.
|> 
|> The second number can now be obtained by placing the remaining
|> digits in decreasing order.
|> ***************************************************************
|> 
|> I noticed the pattern emerging before I went all the way up to n=9
|> but I am really not sure why it works.  Can anyone explain?
|> Would this method work in something other than base 10?

The first digits of the two numbers must necessarily be the two largest
digits. Say the numbers are X and Y with respective first digits n and n-1.
Now the next digits in X and Y must be the next two largest digits available.
These second digits contribute to the total product with 
(x2*x + y2*y) * <appropriate base exponent>
where x2 and y2 stands for the 2nd digit of X and Y, and x and y are the
mantissas of X and Y (x is 0.X and y is 0.Y, sort of). Now as
X > Y, this contribution is largest when y2>x2. This reasoning holds for
all subsequent digits, so the algorithm for making these numbers becomes:

a. Place the largest digit at the head of X
b. Place the next largest digit at the head of Y
c. Place the next largest digit at the tail of Y
d. Place the next largest digit at the tail of X
e. go to c.

Works in any base.
-- 
stein.kulseth@nta.no (Norwegian Telecom Research)
   'When murders are committed by mathematics, they can be solved by
   mathematics. Most of them aren't, and this one wasn't'
   - Nick Charles (Dashiell Hammett's "The Thin Man")
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: jil@uts.uucp (Jamie Lubin)
Subject: Re: Riddles
Organization: Bellcore, Piscataway, NJ
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 92 17:38:44 GMT

In article <1992Aug14.172353.17944@news.acns.nwu.edu> mmass@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Michael Massing) writes:
>
>And let me add a few of my own:
>
>13 C in a S

Cards in a Suit

>54 C in a D (with the J)

Cards in a Deck (with the Jokers)

>5 B of M

???

>4 Q in a G

Quarts in a Gallon
From: chris@peregrine.peregrine.com (Chris Cole)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Homographs
Date: 14 Aug 92 06:54:42 GMT
Reply-To: chris@peregrine (Chris Cole)
Organization: Peregrine Systems, Inc.

In article <1992Aug13.204913.5639@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> rad2r@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU (Robert DeLine) writes:
>
>I friend recently asked me for two homographs (words spelled the same
>but pronounced differently) where one was an adjective and the other a
>noun.  He swears there's only one.  I don't believe him, but I've yet to
This puzzle is on the rec.puzzles FAQL (Frequently Asked Questions List).
For an index of the FAQL, send an email letter containing the single line:
send index
to netlib@peregrine.com

The index will be mailed via return email to the address in your
request's "From:" line.  If you are unsure of this address, and cannot
edit this line, then include in your message BEFORE the first "send" line
the line:

return_address <your_return_email_address>

From the FAQL, the answer is:
********
homographs.s
********
Class A:
[...]
bass		{~ fiddle; fishing for ~}
divers		{plural diver; various}
minute		{60 seconds; tiny}
mobile		{movable; wind-blown sculpture}
overage		{too old; surplus}
repent		{regret; creeping}
stingy		{meager; able to sting}
[... many more deleted ...]
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: schnitzi@cs.ucf.edu (Mark Schnitzius)
Subject: Re: Hofstadter:Riddle Sentence
Organization: University of Central Florida
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 14:29:03 GMT

mhz7c@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Mark H. Zollinhofer) writes:

>While I appreciate knowing the content of the sentence:"If you
>can read this, do what it says.", I'm equally interested in
>figuring how it was deciphered (and I'm a sceptic).  Can you
>fill me in on some more details relating to the puzzle, or is
>the whole thing a joke?

Would it help if I said that if you can't read the sentence, you
shouldn't worry about doing what it says?

mark
From: mmass@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Michael Massing)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Riddles
Date: 14 Aug 92 17:23:53 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.1992Aug14.172353.17944
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.


Writes shari@room.Princeton.EDU (Shari L. Landes) in 
 Article <1992Aug14.162002.28421@Princeton.EDU>:

> I couldn't get the others... but try these...
 (on the Initials puzzles)

	Here's a couple of those not answered (Spoilers follow):


^L



>1001 A N

1001 Arabian Nights

> 8 D a W (In the B S)

8 Days a Week (In the Beatles' Song)

>12 D of C

12 Days of Christmas

Still left are:
> 57 H V 
> 9 P in the S S

And let me add a few of my own:

13 C in a S
54 C in a D (with the J)
5 B of M
4 Q in a G

They have published these in _GAMES Magazine_.  There's a whole page of them
in _The Big Book of GAMES_.  Look for it if you liked these puzzles!

--
Mike Massing                              mmass@casbah.acns.nwu.edu
"Scientists tell us that the fastest animal on earth, with a top speed of 120
feet per second, is a cow that has been dropped out of a helicopter.  How
long, traveling at top speed, will it take the cow to travel 360 feet?"
-  DAVE BARRY
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: All opinions expressed here are solely my own.
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: tolman%asylum.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Kenneth Tolman)
Subject: Re: Adam and Eve puzzle
Date: 16 Aug 92 22:45:10 MDT
Organization: University of Utah, CompSci Dept
Distribution: rec

>     A scuba diver surfaced from the water and found himself in front of
>a cave.  He saw at its entrance the naked bodies of a man and a woman.  
>Immediately he concluded:  They're Adam and Eve.  WHY?

Presumably, this guy is looking at either a sculpture or a painting.
If it is either, there are a few tell tale symbols- such as an apple
in the guys hand, or a snake, or something else.

Since the guy is "concluding" it, it means that his mental patterns
set him up to percieve whatever he percieves as Adam and Eve.  Therefore,
he could be looking at nearly anything, and it is a product of his 
previous experience and training.

Probably, written underneath them is "Adam And Eve", which was the real
tip-off.

Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: shari@room.Princeton.EDU (Shari L. Landes)
Subject: Re: Riddles
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 17:29:56 GMT

In article <1992Aug14.213109.16597@awdprime.austin.ibm.com> lhmaddox@netmail.austin.ibm.com writes:
>How about:

>26 L in the A

26 Letters in the Alphabet

Here's some of by own...

48     S in the C U S
100    Y in a C
7      C in a R
29     D in F (in a L Y)
2      E in W   [If you get that, you're doubleplusgood]
4      T Z in the U S
7      R S on the A F
12     N on an A C
3      C on a T L
7      D in a L T N (A)
8      L on a S
200    S of P in a R
88     K on a P
88     C in the S
9      D in an A Z C (with the S C)

That's all for now.... Some of them are American Specific, so some Brits
might have trouble with a couple of them... :-)

Harlan Landes
Gates of Dawn BBS
+1 609 426 1618
-- 
_________________________________________________________________________
          Only the ephemeral is of lasting value--Ionesco
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xref: sparky rec.puzzles:5738 sci.math:10372
From: Tagi@cup.portal.com (Tagi Mordred Nagashiva)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles,sci.math
Subject: More than one 8 x 8 Magick Square?
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 10:53:23 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)

Is there more than one major solution (aside from rotation) for the
8 x 8 Magick Square?  What are the other possibilities?  Is there
a method to generate even-numbered Squares aside from the 4 x 4?

Below is the solution I know of for the 8 x 8.  Alternatives would
be welcomed via email or post.  Thanks!

Tagi

--------------------------------

01 56 48 25 33 24 16 57
63 10 18 39 31 42 50 07
62 11 19 38 30 43 51 06 
04 53 45 28 36 21 13 60
05 52 44 29 37 20 12 61
59 14 22 35 27 46 54 03
58 15 23 34 26 47 55 02
08 49 41 32 40 17 09 64

The one I know about.

-------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: karr@cs.cornell.edu (David Karr)
Subject: Re: Virtual reality puzzle
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 15:10:03 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.081328.13400@ll.mit.edu> shoham@ll.mit.edu (Daniel Shoham) writes:
>Anyway, it is not clear what my recourse should be if I find that I am
>still plugged in, or if I should really care.

I think this may be what Descartes meant by, "I think, therefore I
am."  Or at least it should be approved by some more recent
philosophers, who describe reality in terms of our ability to interact
meaningfully and consistently with it.  If the simulation is as good
as our prior reality in this way, then it is just as "real" as that
other reality.

If I understand Plato's allegory of the cave correctly, he believed
that our "reality" is (or might be) just a shadow of some more
fundamental reality that we never observe--in effect we already ARE in
a VR simulation.

-- David Karr (karr@cs.cornell.edu)
From: vreddy@das.harvard.edu (Venkatesh Reddy)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: How come? puzzles (SPOILER and new one)
Keywords: Does anyone have any?
Date: 12 Aug 92 15:09:05 GMT
Organization: Aiken Computation Lab, Harvard University

In article <1992Aug12.105412.28994@dde.dk>, ct@dde.dk (Claus Tondering) writes:
[...]
|> 
|> 
|> The man has a hiccup, he wants a glass of water to cure it, but instead
|> the barman scares him, which cures his hiccup.
|> 
|> 
|> ---- New one: -----------
|> 
|> A man is pushing his car. He stops in front of a hotel and goes
|> bankrupt. How come?
|> -- 
|> Claus Tondering
|> Dansk Data Elektronik A/S, Herlev, Denmark
|> E-mail: ct@dde.dk

I've heard this one a little harder actually... I heard it like this:

	A man arrives at a hotel and is distressed.


In either case, the spoiler follows...







































He is playing monopoly, and when he arrives at a hotel, he goes bankrupt from 
the rent. (Or is distressed due to the rent he has to pay). Also, in the first
case, his playing piece is the car.
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: tordm@vana (Tord Malmgren)
Subject: Re: Maximum Product (was Re: Another math question ...)
Reply-To: TordM@VanD.PhySto.SE
Organization: Department of Physics, University of Stockholm -- Sweden
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 13:53:16 GMT

In article <1992Aug18.131852.20419@cco.caltech.edu>, keith@cco.caltech.edu (Keith Allan Schneider) writes:

>>>> Given the set of ten digits from 0 to 9: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
>>>> i)   Combine the digits to two numbers x and y and use every
>>>>      digit only once.
>>>> iii) Which are x and y with the maximum product.
[...]
>>I haven't proved this, but it seems "obvious" to me (though I've been wrong
>>before) that you'd get the maximum product by creating the two numbers by
>>taking the largest digit remaining in the pool and putting it at the right
>>side of number A.  Then the right side of number B, and repeat until the
>>digits are gone.  Thus, for the digits 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, my algorithm
>>would produce 97531 and 86420.  Is this correct?

>No.  What you need to do is get the numbers as close to each other as possible.
>For example, 96420*87531 is 11110000 greater than 97531*86420...

 and just for the fun of it, 50123*49876 is less than 96420*87531, but
50123 and 49876 are closer to eachother than 96420 and 87531 are...





---------------+--------------------------------
 Tord Malmgren | InterNet: TordM@VanD.PhySto.SE | These opinions are my own,
               | BITNet  : TordM@SESUF51        | and NOT of this department!
---------------+--------------------------------
 Department of Physics, University of Stockholm
From: warwick@cs.uq.oz.au (Warwick Allison)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Virtual reality puzzle
Date: 20 Aug 92 02:01:18 GMT
Reply-To: warwick@cs.uq.oz.au

tsmaster@media.mit.edu (David LeCompte) writes:

>You simply trundle out to the (real? virtual?) store where you bought
>the virtual system and ask to try out the next model up. I don't believe
>that the company would market a machine that could not be improved upon.
>(Sorry, realism creeping into the puzzle.)


Hey, I vote for this one!



--
Warwick
--
  _-_|\      warwick@cs.uq.oz.au            /Disclaimer:
 /     * <-- Computer Science Department,  /  
 \_.-._/     University of Queensland,    /      void (if removed)
      v      Brisbane, Australia.        /  
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles