HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tad@ssc.wa.com (Tad Cook)
Subject: Re: Modem tax revisited
Organization: very little
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 05:29:52 GMT

In article <BrLvHI.3sH@news.cso.uiuc.edu> jvmg9796@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Doc) writes:
>Just seen on comp.dcom.modems, an advisory supposedly taken off
>CompuServ that says that the FCC is thinking again if imposing a modem
>tax.  =Supposedly= CIS managment is asking users to write to the FCC,
>etc etc etc.....the post even said that the original 1987 proposal
>was circulated in a very 'shergold-like manner' (their words, not mine)
>after it was defeated, but now 'may be back for real..'
>
>I am very leery of this...has anyone else heard anything about this? 
>Any CIS members reading?  Or is this just someone's cute attempt to
>drag this UL out of the closet again?
>

There never was a modem tax proposal.  What happened a few years
ago was that the FCC, in order to encourage their growth, exempted
data communications networks from access charges for the points
where they tie into the local telephone network.  So AT&T and
MCI have to pay your local telco to terminate calls, Compuserve
is exempt.  When the exemption ran out, that was when Compuserve
raised a big stink.  The FCC backed down, and now local
phone ratepayers subsidize Compuserve's connection to the local
phone network.

Now the FCC is looking at some advanced network services, and
is figuring out who will pay for what.  And guess what?
Now Compuserve wants to be able to use these new ONA services,
and figures that they wont have to pay for them as long as
they can get enough users riled up when they characterize
this as some sort of "modem tax."

Before yelling at the FCC, realize that in order to file comments,
you must have an NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) to
reference.  Otherwise they have no idea what rulemaking to
file your comments with.  Get a copy of any NPRM and READ
it so you have some idea what you are talking about.  Otherwise
it goes into the round file with all of the thousands of
letters yelling about the mythical proposal to ban religous
broadcasting.


-- 
 Tad Cook     |  Phone:  206-527-4089  (home)     |   MCI Mail: 3288544   
 Seattle, WA  |  Packet: KT7H @ N7DUO.WA.USA.NA   |   3288544@mcimail.com 
              |  Internet: tad@ssc.wa.com        or...sumax!ole!ssc!tad
From: cah@cs.bham.ac.uk (Ceri Hopkins)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: "Eat the rich"
Date: 22 Jul 92 11:48:55 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham, UK

>>>>> On 21 Jul 92 22:58:46 GMT, gfritz@sage.cc.purdue.edu ("Happy Fun Ball") said:

> a knife and fork instead.  Underneath is the phrase "Eat the rich".
...

> My question (if you haven't guessed yet) is where did this originate?  I can't
> think of a more appropriate group to post this on, either.   If you think of a
> good place, then by all means cross-post for me.

There was also the great graffito in the lift (elevator) of the Covent
Garden tube (subway) station which read "Eat Shit Rich Scum". This was
written in marker pen on the wall of the lift and to my knowledge
remained there for at least two years with no apparent attempt to
remove it. I think they've replaced the lifts now. Does anyone else
remember this?

Ceri
--
Ceri Hopkins                                    
School of Computer Science                        C.A.Hopkins@Cs.Bham.Ac.Uk
University of Birmingham			  Tel. +44-21-414-4766
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: richg@hatch.socal.com (Rich Greenberg)
Subject: Re: cumbers in commercials
Organization: Hatch Usenet and E-mail.  Playa del Rey, CA
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 19:11:18 GMT

In article <Bs7FLI.F5M@news.udel.edu> derf@ravel.udel.edu (the Greatful Fred) writes:
>	How many people took paricular notice of the car commercials
>	all deciding to change the commercials?  Starting a little over a 
>	year ago,the no longer tell you how many cylinders a car has, but rather
>	the number of valves.  Since there are two valves per cylinder, this 
>	gives you no new information, but it is a larger number, so sounds
>	better.

No, its somewhat valid.  A lot of engines have 4 valves/cylinder, and a 
few have 6.

-- 
                
Rich Greenberg - N6LRT - 310-649-0238 - richg@hatch.socal.com
From: jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (JOSEPH T CHEW)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Physics as well as history written by victors
Date: 22 Jul 92 21:19:57 GMT
Reply-To: jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.198
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4

I'll see your "legislating the value of pi" and raise you one!

Here in Physics Today, July 1992, p. 36, we have an article on Fritz
Houtermans written by Iosif B. Khriplovich.  Tidbit: "After the war,
physics research in Germany was severely hindered by restrictions 
imposed by the Allied Control Commission.  These restrictions went 
so far as to decree an upper limit of 1x10^9 ohms on resistances."

Joe "But I thought the Resistance was on our side" Chew
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jcraig@access.digex.com (Joseph N. Craig)
Subject: Re: Custard/Silver Spoon Synergy
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 16:00:22 GMT

hucke@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Matt Hucke) writes:

>In article <1992Jul22.201352.2018@ipsa.reuter.com> pki@ipsa.reuter.com (Phil King) writes:
>>My mother-in-law was teaching me how to make custard the other day, and
>>she claimed that it was essential that a rubber spoon be used.  Any one
>>else ever heard of this?  Is there a pseudo-scientific explanation for
>>why this should be so?

>Well, you could use your hand, but a spoon is usually cleaner.
>-- 
>  "It begins here--an army--to bring sense to a world plagued by worse than
>   thieves and murderers. This will be a good life... good enough."
>             Bruce Wayne, "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns"
>hucke@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu             _V_a_l_h_a_l_l_a BBS, 217-352-3682, WWIV4.21, 14.4k


A number of years ago, Jearl Walker's Amateur Scientist column in Scientific
American looked at 'the physics of cooking.'  I seem to recall that custards, 
Hollandaise sauce, and souffles were mentioned.  

 
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: gsh@iti.org (Greg Halbrook)
Subject: Re: A non-UL, but stupid, question
Organization: Industrial Technology Institute
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 20:47:53 GMT

jerryg@ssd.intel.com (Jerry Gaiser) writes:

>In article <1992Jul24.000427.14879@dartvax.dartmouth.edu> Robyn.C.Reed@dartmouth.edu (Robyn C. Reed) writes:
>>How long do posters stay posted in this newsgroup?  In other words, how
>>long can I not read a.f.u before I miss a thread, or significant
>>portion thereof, entirely?
>>
>Well, I resigned my positions with Intel the first of April and started this 
>contracting job at the end of June, and basically the same threads were running 
>at both ends. All the Terries and all the snopes and PvL, who I haven't seen 
>since I've returned. Is Elvis missing again too?

I unsubscribed to this group a year ago, mainly because I was sick of seeing
every other post being someones lame attempt to insert a joke (and the "middle
names" were starting to nauseate me).  Upon my return what do I see?  The same
exact threads that were here a year ago!
--
					Greg.
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:19972 sci.electronics:13518
From: pt@geovision.gvc.com (Paul Tomblin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,sci.electronics
Subject: Re: SHOCKING STORIES
Date: 28 Jul 92 13:07:52 GMT
Reply-To: pt@geovision.gvc.com
Organization: Not officially GeoVision Systems Inc., Ottawa, Ontario

adams@chuck.dallas.sgi.com (Chuck Adams) writes:

>a technician went out front of one of the antennas to do some work.
>someone came in and turned on the transmitter (in the MegaWatt power range).
>this technician was in front for some time period, unfortunately too long
>and as a result he later died from being internally heated from the
>radiation, not unlike being in a microwave oven.

On military ships (and probably others), there is a "man aloft" key.
Anybody going to work up near the radars removes and takes it with them.
Removing the key shuts off the radars and radio transmitters.  If you don't
take the key with you, you're liable to get cooked.

Surely they must have something similar on the DEW/Pinetree lines and other
land based radar installations?

(I know - "Stop calling me Shirley")

BTW - Chuck, do you think you could make that signature a _little_ bit
longer?  We still have some bandwidth left....

-- 
Paul Tomblin, pt@geovision.gvc.com or {uunet,revcan}!geovision!pt
(This is not an official opinion of GeoVision Systems Inc.)
"I just posted from babbage.museum.london.uk, and BOY ARE MY ARMS TIRED!!"
   - Rolf Wilson in alt.folklore.computers
From: csuah@warwick.ac.uk (~WISP at CU~)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Mis-applied physics in advertising
Date: 25 Jul 92 00:09:13 GMT
Organization: Computing Services, Warwick University, UK

In article <1992Jul24.135006.25086@seas.gwu.edu> gritz@seas.gwu.edu (Larry Gritz) writes:
>In article <Brp0CE.CD8@helios.physics.utoronto.ca> neufeld@helios.physics.utoronto.ca (Christopher Neufeld) writes:
>>>medical rag) is that 6 of 100,000 women married to non smokers will get
>>>cancer as opposed to 8 of 100,000 women married to smokers.
>>>
>>   Putting the odds of a woman contracting cancer somewhere around her
>>odds of being struck by lightning? Haven't we seen figures recently that
>>one in ten women can expect to contract breast cancer? I thought that
>>cancer deaths accounted for 10+% of deaths in the industrialized world.
>
>Obviously, the 6/100000 figure is PER YEAR, and the 10% figure is
>over a lifetime.  I don't know if the numbers are correct, however.

Don't know about the US, but in UK about 20% of men and 25% of women die of
cancer. (More men die of cardiovascular disease...). The 6/100000 figure is a
ridiculous underestimate for incidence, which is taken per year anyway (that's
part of the definition of incidence in medical school), and in any case,
who lives to be ~1640 years old?

These figures haven't been explained here, but probably amount to some bozo's
underestimate of some other bozo's theory that tobacco is good for you,
especially if you work for a tobacco company...

Later,

The Wisp [who`s been cleaning up after the tobacco industry for years...]
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Chris Williams <csuah@uk.ac.warwick.csv> aka <csuah@csv.warwick.ac.uk>
"Tony Greig in the slips, legs apart, waiting for a tickle"
                                      Brian Johnson (thanks to A. Simha 8^>)
From: porges@beretta.camb.inmet.com (Don Porges)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Unexplained events
Date: 21 Jul 92 15:42:45 GMT
Organization: Intermetrics Inc.

In article <1992Jul17.184600.6755@iscnvx.lmsc.lockheed.com> baylor@force.ssd.lmsc.lockheed.com writes:
>I did read somebody's account (might have been in the book 
>"Goedel, Eshcer, Bach") about being told he was testing a new
>AI conversation program, and finding out that it was a reverse
>Turing test. What finally clued him was the inconsistancy
>of what the "machine" did and didn't understand.

It's in a different book by the same author, Douglas Hofstadter.  It's
"Metamagical Themas."
-- 
					-- Don Porges
					porges@inmet.camb.inmet.com
					..uunet!inmet!porges
From: sgs@grebyn.com (Stephen G. Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Bear eats child's face
Date: 29 Jul 92 22:56:35 GMT
Organization: Agincourt Computing

In article <13080052@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> jeffa@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Jeff Alley) writes:

>Supposedly there was a family that was traveling through Yellowstone park
>and they had a young child with them.  Several people were stopped feeding
>the bears along a road. The father of the child wanted to get a picture
>of his kid with a bear. He wanted a special picture so he got the brilliant
>idea that if he smeared honey on the kid's cheek, the bear would come up
>and lick it off and he'd get a great picture of a bear licking his son's
>face. The bear had other idea though, and bit instead of licked and the
>child lost a good portion of the side of his face.

I haven't heard that particular story, but a friend on mine confirms
that Yellowstone tourists can be mind-bogglingly stupid.  They also tend
to be very abusive, and insist that everything is Somebody Else's Fault.

A couple of his stories:

A guy wanted to get a really cute picture of a bear, so he enticed the
bear into his car (after getting out first).  He thought he would get a
neat picture of the bear sitting behind the wheel.  However, the
critter didn't like being shut up in a car that was *not* designed for
an 800+ pound bear.  The car was totalled.  From the inside.

----

A bit of background:  Yellowstone has lots of hot springs that are
*very* high in mineral content.   As the water evaporates from the top
of the spring, it forms a thin mineral crust.  The crust can be
anywhere from paper thin to a couple of feet thick, and there is no
good way to tell just by looking.  Trails are run only on areas that
are thick enough that there is no probability of it breaking.  The
areas off the trails ... well, good luck.

This guy wanted a picture of his kid with the hot spring.  As my friend
approached the guy had put the kid outside the fence and was directing
him closer to the edge of the water (where the crust is thinnest ...)
My friend had to use all of his diplomatic skills ("get that kid back
here *now* or I'll break both your arms ...") to convince the father to
get the kid back to saftey.

----

Then there was the affair of the multiple trashcans full of empty beer
cans that they dumped into Old Faithful.  Boy, did they get yelled at!
-- 
Steve Smith                     Agincourt Computing
sgs@grebyn.com                  (301) 681 7395
"Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: glitto@iastate.edu (Scott M Klabacha)
Subject: Re: NetNews/CD - USENET News Available
Keywords: locksmith door
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 19:29:18 GMT

hugh@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Hugh Grierson) writes:
lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
>>In article <2328@israel.nysernet.org> warren@nysernet.org writes:
>>[nice description of the cutout of the CD case deleted]
>>
>>                                                                       Are
>>any other media cut out for this specific reason?  (45's, Laser-discs?, DAT?
>>DCC?, sheet music?)
>
>Newspapers (and magazines) have their title on the cover cut out and returned
>to the publishers for a credit in lieu of returning the whole paper.  I don't
>think that the remaining paper can be sold however.
>

They can't *legally* be sold, but sometimes they are. This used to happen fairly
frequently with comic books, which would be sold (after title removal) for half
price, or put in bags of 3 for a quarter, or something similar...

***gLITTOfERN*** glitto@iastate.edu
From: jimj@cleanplate.EBay.Sun.COM (James D. Jones)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Do the Hokey-Pokey
Date: 30 Jul 1992 17:14:22 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.  Mt. View, Ca.
Distribution: na
Reply-To: jimj@cleanplate.EBay.Sun.COM (James D. Jones)
NNTP-Posting-Host: cleanplate.ebay.sun.com

When I was in kindergarten and first grade (early '60s), kids in the first
couple of school grades had to learn a rather brain-dead dance called
the Hokey-Pokey for the annual May Day dances at the school.  Just about
anybody can do the Hokey-Pokey, because you do it to a record that cues you on
every move, i.e.
 
Put your left foot in
Pull your left foot in
Put your left foot in
and you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around
That what it's all about.


Endless verses, each for a different bodypart. Well, 30 years later I
decided to learn to roller skate at the local roller rink.  And in the middle 
of each session, the rink staff  everything and calls everyone out into the 
middle of the rink to do -- the Hokey Pokey!  Every session!  They use the
same tune, though it's a different recording (slightly funky).
I asked the help about this, and they say the Hokey Pokey's a grand 
skating tradition.  They've been doing it during every session since the
rink was opened, over 40 years ago, and the guy who built the rink had
been playing it for years before that at an earlier rink. 

Seeing it now reminds me that it's still the silliest dance on the face of the
earth.  So why this incredible staying power?  Are they still hokey-pokeying
elsewhere out there in America?  Has the Hokey-Pokey spread to Europe by
now?  Are there hokey-pokey sightings in Australia?  How far back in time
does this vile conspiracy  go? Anyone know the origins?

Jim (I _don't_ hokey-pokey) Jones
From: Robyn.C.Reed@dartmouth.edu (Robyn C. Reed)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Moxie, submarines (was: Re: Prince Albert in a can?!?)
Date: 24 Jul 92 00:10:51 GMT
 <1651@necis.UUCP> <8079.31878@stratus.SWDC.Stratus.COM> 
 <1992Jul17.194024.16923@pixel.kodak.com>  <39465@skye.dcs.ed.ac.uk>
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

In article <39465@skye.dcs.ed.ac.uk>
kgg@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Kees Goossens) writes:

> >Does McDonalds DARE to break local tradition????????
> 
> Of course. They do exactly this all over the world, so that those American
> teenagers which are spending their holiday abroad don't have to eat any
> local food. (What a thought! Having to eat _real_ rolls with _real_ meat,
> instead of those drab, tasteless objects known as 'McTurds' or wharever.)

Not entirely.  In Hawaii, on Kauai, Burger King offers a breakfast with
scrambled eggs and either bacon or Portugese sausage and rice.  I had
never heard of Portugese sausage till I visited Hawaii, so that must
have been in keeping with local tradition.  But that was Burger King.

Robyn "But no poi on the menu...." Reed
robyn.c.reed@dartmouth.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Subject: Re: Sanity
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 03:05:39 GMT

In article <1992Jul27.013402.2497@zip.eecs.umich.edu> stame@emunix.emich.edu (Stewart Tame) writes:
>
>As long as we're mentioning movies, there's a movie listed in one of
>Danny Peary's _Cult Movies_ books called (I think I've remembered this
>correctly) _Shock Corridor_, dealing with a reporter who gets himself
>committed so he can do an investigative piece on mental hospitals.  Came
>out around 1970 or so I think.

Shock Corridor
1963 starring Peter Breck, Constance Towers, Gene Evans, James Best ***

>Dunno if the routine's got any formal title but I'm pretty sure it's from
>_A Night at the Opera_.

Correct; give that man a breeder's guide or some Tootsie Fruitsie Ice Cream.

cj "The password is swordfish" l
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Organ muggers
From: derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Derek Tearne)
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 06:47:54 GMT
Organization: Fujitsu New Zealand

In article <1992Jul22.194147.1@indyvax.iupui.edu> harvey@indyvax.iupui.edu writes:
>In article <1992Jul22.201035.29965@PA.dec.com>, mikkelson@breakr.enet.dec.com (snopes) writes:
>>
>> In article <1992Jul21.211605.20223@ctp.com>,
>>   dvand@ctp.com (Derek Vandivere) writes...
>>
>>>Just to corroborate, I recall a cover story in _The Economist_ while flying
>>>the USAir shuttle a few months ago (yes, some Merkins read _The Economist_)
>>>which described the same problem.  Evidently, it's mostly poor 3rd worlder
>>>types who get cut.
>>
>>  I read about third worlders selling the odd kidney, but not about any who have
>>  them involuntarily ripped out.  There's a world of difference.
>>
>>  - snopes
>>
>
>From the June 10-17 Indianapolis NUVO Newsweekly "News of the Weird":
>
>        Columbian garbage collector Oscar Hernandez claimed in March
>        that he was kidnapped by security guards during Carnival in
>        Barranquilla and taken to a lab at the Free University of
>        Barranquilla, where a syndicate planned to kill him for his
>        body parts.  

This was reported in the New Zealand Herald (a proper newspaper).  The 
difference between this and the organ legging Urban Legand was that
a) The victims were killed outright, they didn't wake up in the street minus
an organ or two with a headache and some new scars.
b) The bodies were sold to the university for use by medical students, they
were not sold for transplant surgery.


>        Police identified most victims as garbage collectors.

In this particular part of the world there are no garbage collectors per se.
The homeless and poor get paid too clear away the rubbish.  The victims were
lured into the University by the guards who offered them money to clear away
some rubbish.


Derek "Now where did I put my Kidney? I am sure I had it a moment ago" Tearne




-- 
Derek Tearne  derek@icl.co.nz or derek@fivegl.co.nz --Fujitsu SDC,Auckland,NZ

My 'self aware' .signature file failed his Turing test.  
It turns out he was just a chess playing midget in a decorative box.
From: pdg@crosfield.co.uk (paul goffin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Shergold sighting!
Date: 24 Jul 92 11:42:37 GMT
Organization: Crosfield Electronics, Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom.

Would someone please mail me the Craig Shergold information
sheet.

My wife's conpany (who I'd previously thought immune to the
problem as they used to employ one of Craigs cousins as a
typist!) have just had circulated the Shergold Business Card
appeal information.

We think we've stopped it this time, but it would be nice to
pin the "complete" story on her work's notice boards.

Thanks in advance.

Paul.
-- 
+-------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
+ Paul Goffin +  Crosfield Electronics Ltd. U.K.  +44 442 230000x3357 +
+             +  Opinions expressed are mine!                         +
+--     My employer uses no CFCs in its processes - does yours?    ---+
From: glitto@iastate.edu (Scott M Klabacha)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: that'd be in the butt, bob
Date: 23 Jul 92 19:56:54 GMT
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA

artn@bert.eecs.uic.edu  (Ellyn Sandor) writes:
>	OK, cutting through the noise of what constitutes "proof" or not,
>A friend of mine whose truth and memory I trust claim to have seen the
>episode.  He estimates the date between 1986 and 1988, not a rerun, and
>the wording was a little different from what has transpired in this
>discussion: (I just spoke to him about this last night, but I am not sure
>of the wording)
>
>	Where is your favorite place to make whoopie?
>
>	That'd be in the butt, bob.
>
>	Some people have been arguing that censors would never have let
>that go by.  Why?  There are no dirty words, and the content is such that
>one would already have to know about how that sort of thing works 
>in order to understand:  in other words, a child young enough to require
>protection from such a statement would not understand it in the first place.

Methinks thou dost attribute too much common sense to the censors.

>	I, too, would like to see a tape, but I think the numbers of
>direct witnesses in this case leads me to believe it really happened.
>
>				Stephan Meyers
>-- 

/|\\|/ GlittoFern     glitto@iastate.edu
"Obviously crime pays, or there'd be no crime." --G. Gordon Liddy