HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: Bruce.Tindall@launchpad.unc.edu (Bruce Tindall)
Subject: Re: 'Springfield' is NOT a city in all states!
Organization: University of North Carolina Extended Bulletin Board Service
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 02:26:30 GMT

The belief that there is a "Springfield" in every state of the U.S.
may have been given currency by the monthly column in the magazine
"Wigwag".  The columnist, a journalist from Africa (Angola, I believe),
visited Springfields in many states and described one each month.  The
magazine ceased publication before he had visited all Springfields.
...Or did the belief predate and inspire the column?
 
As to what is a "town" and what is not:  There is a town or township in
northeastern Vermont that appears on maps and is legally defined but has
no residents.  All the land is owned by a paper-products company that
prefers trees to humans as citizens.  
 
And there is some discussion of the definition of "populated place",
"civil division", and similar technical geographical terms in the book
whose author etc. I was unable to give the other day:  "Place Names of
the Outer Banks," by Roger L. Payne, pub. Thomas A. Williams, Washington,
N. (not D.) C., ISBN 0-932707-01-4.  He also has a history of the U.S.
Geological Survey's decision to exclude names that contain racial slurs,
of which there were many.

Bruce "lives in a populated place, if 'populated' includes goats" Tindall

--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
From: twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
Date: 13 Dec 1992 09:01:30 GMT
Organization: Department of Redundancy Department
Reply-To: TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.12.117

ldoering@engin.umich.edu (Laurence Doering) writes:
  +
  +I noticed some weird street signs last summer when I was in Berlin.  
  +It was odd, but about one out of every three streets seemed to be
  +named "Einbahnstrasse."  I have no idea how Berliners find their
  +way around.  Even stranger, the same thing was true in Naples
  +and Brindisi, except the common street name seemed to be "Senso Unico."
  +
  +What's the deal?  Is this some European conspiracy to confuse foreigners,
  +or what?

Bah!  This is what happens when you move about on land.  Stick to
posting about airplanes, Larry.  [Czechoslovakia and Europe in one
week.  Sheesh!]

ObBerlinUL:  The street "Unter den Linden" was named after a part of
             Peter van der Linden.


Terry "NOT Dave Manley" Chan
--
Energy and Environment Division   | Internet:  TWChan@lbl.gov
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory      | 
Berkeley, California  USA  94720  | Carpe Per Diem
From: phil@rahul.net (Phil Gustafson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: They used to think...
Date: 18 Dec 92 01:37:31 GMT
Organization: Famed Parquet Floor

[Politics groups removed.]
In article <8694.21037@stratus.SWDC.Stratus.COM> jane@soave.swdc.stratus.com (Jane Beckman) writes:
>I just thought of a new "retroactive UL" over the weekend.  I
>was discussing archeology with someone.  And they said...
>
>"You know, they say early man didn't understand about sex.
>You know, babies just came.  They didn't make the connection
>that sex had anything to do with it, because babies came so
>much later.  Sex was one thing, and having babies was another.
>That's why there was a mother goddess, but no father goddess.
>They didn't realize babies had fathers, too."
>
I've also heard that, even after people realized the connection between
sex and babies, they thought that the best time to conceive a child
was during the woman's period -- they thought it was a kind of estrus
like they observed in their farm animals.

Of course, they had figured it out by the time Leviticus was written.

Phil "Wait a week till it's safe" Gustafson
-- 
|play: phil@rahul.net
|work: (Under Construction)              | Phil Gustafson 408-286-1749      |
|         Opinions outside attributed material are mine alone.              |
|        Satirical matter is not necessarily identified as such.            |
From: bls@sector7g.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Scearce)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Final Exams
Date: 14 Dec 1992 19:36:55 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems
Distribution: world
Reply-To: bls@sector7g.Eng.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: sector7g

And then there's Oscar Wilde's final exam in Classical Greek.  The exam
consisted of real-time oral translation of Greek text, the text being
unknown to the student prior to his recitation.

Wilde stepped up to the podium, and began reading a description of
Christ's passion on the cross.  After reading a few paragraphs, the
instructors could tell that his knowledge was excellent, and said, "You
may step down now, Mister Wilde." (They said it with the period
*outside* the quotes, though).

The Wilde-man looked up and replied, "Please, may I continue?  I want
to see how it turns out."

Brian "The Importance of Being Ernest P. Worral" Scearce
---
Brian Scearce                                           bls@sector7g.eng.sun.com
              The above does not necessarily represent Sun policy.
                  "You can't fit the truth on a t-shirt, man."
                                 "That'd fit."

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: rbrown@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Rich Brown -- Neither)
Subject: Re: For a close, circular shave (was: Unchanged FAQ List
Originator: rbrown@troon.ncsa.uiuc.edu
Organization: Nat'l Ctr for Supercomp App (NCSA) @ University of Illinois
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 16:35:09 GMT
Keywords: lather, rinse, repeat

In article <3051@israel.nysernet.org> warren@nysernet.org writes:
>
>I heard that Occam was the first person to ever fake a crop
>circle.

I thought it was Sir Edmund Cropper, who also invented the brassiere?

Rich "Or was that Nutzling" Brown
-- 
Rich Brown (Neither)
rbrown@ncsa.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai)
Subject: Re: Legal language
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 22:20:22 GMT

In article <8uD3VB5w165w@codewks.nacjack.gen.nz>,
system@codewks.nacjack.gen.nz (Wayne McDougall) writes:
>This is news to me. Please elaborate. I've heard some people suggest that
>Shakespeare collaborated on some of the writing. The King James doesn't seem
>to me to be more archaic than Shakespeare.

	Of courese Shakespeare wrote/translated the KJB.  He left
a clue in the Book of Psalms.  Psalm 46, the 46th word is shake
and the 46th word from the end, not including Amen, is speare.

ObLiterature: Some people like LtCdr Data's poetry.

Jon "Oh exothermic feline carnivore quadraped" Papai
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: smb@research.att.com (Steven Bellovin)
Subject: Re: Full moon and tides
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 20:24:25 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

In article <1992Dec14.153224.22250@newsgate.sps.mot.com>, markm@bigfoot.sps.mot.com (Mark Monninger) writes:
> Over the weekend, I heard a network news commentator say that high winds  
> and a full moon caused (or made worse) the higher-than-usual tide that  
> caused so much damage along the northeast coast. What does a full moon  
> have to do with it? I find it hard to believe that a full moon has any  
> effect on the tides. The mass of the moon, and hence its gravitational  
> pull on the ocean doesn't change, nor does its distance from the earth (at  
> least not because the moon is full). The only thing that really changes is  
> that we on earth can see more of the moon. Is this an urban legend or  
> what?

No, it's absolutely correct.  Look up ``spring tide'' and ``neap tide''
in any encyclopedia or dictionary.

Briefly, a tide-generating body (i.e., the moon and the sun) produces
two high tides, one on the side of the Earth nearest that body, and one
180 degrees away.  During new and full moons, the solar and lunar tides
are in sync, meaning that the effects are additive.  When the moon, Earth,
and sun form a right angle, the solar tides are in one direction, and the
lunar tides are in another.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: asurpren@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (aimee surprenant)
Subject: Amusing Signs
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 14:58:25 GMT

My favorite sign (I think I saw it in England or Scotland) is
an upside-down yellow diamond with a big "!" in the middle of it.
I've always read it as "PANIC!"

Aimee Surprenant
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.computers
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Subject: Testing the Truth of a Computer UL
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 03:21:05 GMT

UL: Peter Trei greps for "Mason".

Alternate UL: There are Masons assigned to read every single newsgroup to
inform Peter Trei when misinformation about Masons is posted.

Ted "But what happens when rec.arts.movies discusses 'Lolita'?" Frank
-- 
ted frank                     | thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu 
standard disclaimers          | void where prohibited
the university of chicago law school, chicago, illinois 60637
From: friedman@ocf.berkeley.edu (Eric J. Friedman)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: absentee ballots
Date: 15 Dec 1992 16:43:52 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: tsunami.berkeley.edu
Summary: Do they count?


I've often heard people say that absentee ballots 
(specifically for the last election)
are only counted if the vote is close enough.

So if I voted in the last election as an absentee, was my vote 
counted and when (before or after the results came out)?

Is this fact or fiction?

Thanks
Eric
friedman@cimsim.berkeley.edu



Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: thealien@nevada.edu (Minstrel Alien)
Subject: Re: Crazy as a $2 bill
Organization: The Danger Zone
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 04:31:27 GMT

In article <Bz4w3G.Io0@chinet.chi.il.us> dhartung@chinet.chi.il.us (Dan Hartung) writes:
>bobm@Ingres.COM (Bob McQueer) writes:
>>	sasbmt@jjoyce.unx.sas.com (Bruce Tindall) writes:
>>> 1.  The $2 bill was considered to be unlucky; the way to break the
>>> evil spell it cast on you was to tear off a corner of the bill. 
>>> Thus the bank clerks had a very hard time accurately counting stacks
>>> of the things because they were all mutilated.
>>
>>Does anybody have any stories as to why $2 bills are considered unlucky?
>>
>>The superstition has persisted for many years, with them never circulating
>>very much.  These days, I suspect that if you wanted them to circulate, you
>>would have to convince the makers of bill-changing machines and vending
>>machines to buy into taking them (which of course they don't want to because
>>nobody uses them ...).
>
>Well, $2 bills *are* considered unlucky by some.  They are considered
>rather inconvenient by many.  Some of these are store owners whose cash
>registers do not have a plae for a $2 bill.  What happens is they collect
>them but put them under the tray, where they are not easily accessible for
>the purpose of giving change.  So they get turned back in to the bank.
>
>>Another curiosity - according to my almanac, the $2 bill is the only bill
>>whose design has changed in the last few decades.  They discontinued it
>>in 1966, and reissued it in 1976, taking Monticello off the back and
>>substituting a picture of the signing of the declaration of independence.
>>How come the treasury dept seems determined to issue the things if nobody
>>wants to use them?
>
>Because the cost of printing a $1 bill keeps getting closer and closer
>to $1.  (I think it's somehting like a fraction of a dollar, but it's
>still something like 10 times more expensive today than several years
>ago.)  Obviously a $2 bill will be "half as cheap".  After all, in
>essence the dollar bill is the biggest "product" that our government
>"sells".
>
>-- 
>The Presidential Towers complex here   | Dan Hartung               |  Ask me
>in Chicago is bounded by four streets: | dhartung@chinet.chi.il.us |  about
>Jefferson, Adams, Monroe  .....        | Birch Grove Software      | Rotaract!
>        and Clinton!


	Okay, here's what *I* have heard.

		Our dollar is value-wise descended from spanish pieces of eight

	The two dollar note would then be from pieces of 13, which were
thought unlucky(13, ya know)

That's just what I've heard.

Minstrel


































































Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: richg@hatch.socal.com (Rich Greenberg)
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
Organization: Hatch Usenet and E-mail.  Playa del Rey, CA
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 08:44:29 GMT

In article <1992Dec17.154308.9854@infonode.ingr.com> palmermg@infonode.ingr.com (Michael G. Palmer) writes:

>>And we musn't forget how many visitors to Hawaii think "Mahalo" means
>>"Trash Can".
>
>So would you care to clue in the clueless here?  What does "mahalo"
>mean?

It means Thank You.
-- 
Rich Greenberg      Work: rmg50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com   310-417-8999
N6LRT               Play: richg@hatch.socal.com       310-649-0238
What?   Me speak for Amdahl?  Surely you jest....
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,ba.politics,ca.politics,talk.politics.misc
From: rhuss+@EDRC.CMU.EDU (Robert Huss)
Subject: Re: absentee ballots
Organization: Carnegie Mellon University
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 13:38:02 GMT

In article <klahn.724445871@well.sf.ca.us>, klahn@well.sf.ca.us (Robert A. Klahn) writes:


|> 
|> And why they just dont code the precinct number onto the ballot, so that it
|> does not matter what order you put it into the counter, I do not know.


	What?? And have an efficiently run government activity?? 

NEVER!

Bob "If government gets too efficient, who knows what they'd do" Huss


Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.startrek.misc
From: cep@taligent.com (Christophe Pettus)
Subject: Re: Sex, the Final Frontier?
Organization: Taligent, a little subsidiary of two really big companies.
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 00:16:01 GMT

In article <28014@dog.ee.lbl.gov> TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan) writes:
>It turns out that there is a huge segment of the trekkie
>subculture that meets and shares stories where the characters
>from the old series are in egaged in much racier stories (the 
>one that stuck in her mind was Kirk and Spock's homosexual 
>relationship) than those commonly associated with the series.

Mais oui, this is a pretty significant segment of Trek fandom, although
my impression is that it is getting lost in the shuffle as New
Generation fandom overwhelms the old guard; ST:TNG just doesn't inspire
the kind of imagination, at least not in this way, as the old stuff.

I'm certain that any of the rec.arts.startrek groups would be more than
happy to elucidate you, in more detail that you could live with.  Then
again, you're probably trying to avoid that very thing ...
--
-- Christophe

"I draw the line at Styrofoam packing kernels, you sick pervert."
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: tmason@ccscola.Columbia.NCR.COM (Tim Mason)
Subject: Re: Making Urban Legends - Carjacking
Organization: NCR Corp, CCSD, Columbia, SC
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 22:03:18 GMT

In article <1992Dec13.061209.5075@msc.cornell.edu> 
maynard@leah.msc.cornell.edu (Maynard J. Handley) writes:
...
>1) that while George [Will] is not quite as bad as Rush Limbaugh, he can get
>hysterical about things and tend to leave out important facts
>2) pretty much every trial I can think of where I know the facts had the
>folklore version of the trial make out that the judge and jury were letting
>ridiculous things happen, while always leaving out crucial details that
>justified the verdict.

Gee, sounds a lot like the "Rodney King beating" trial.

Looks to me like George and Rush have no monopoly on leaving out important
details.    (Look out! I hear the PcOLICE coming!)
-- 
---------------------------
Tim Mason
Tim.Mason@ccscola.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM
From: rhuss+@EDRC.CMU.EDU (Robert Huss)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Making Urban Legends - Carjacking
Date: 11 Dec 92 18:55:32 GMT
Organization: Carnegie Mellon University


	Recently there have been many stories about Car-jackings,
where several people (usually young black males) force their way
into a car, kick out the driver and steal the car.  I've heard 
( I think on this newsgroup) even that babies have been thrown out
of the cars. 
	Recently here in Pittsburgh, there have been 3 cases where
people FAKED having his happen to them.  In 2 cases, it was a white person claiming that young black men were the offenders.  This has upset some
people that these hoaxes are going to add to the current problems of
racial predjudice.
	Has anyone else heard of hoaxes of this kind?  People copying
urban legends?  Do you think it is an attempt to stir up racial tension,
or simply an unoriginal alibi to commiting crimes of their own.  (in one
case, the car was used in several burglaries... it turned out that the owner
of the car was the burglar)

Bob.
From: joltes@husc10.harvard.edu (Richard Joltes)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: I Live to FAQ!
Date: 11 Dec 92 18:40:04 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Science Center

jkshapir@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Kivi Shapiro) writes:
 
>>Tb.Cow-tipping (pushing over a sleeping cow) has happened.
>
>True!  My girlfriend has _seen_ people doing this.  Sources don't come
                                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>more reliable.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Nominated for AFU motto of the decade!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dick "or the century!" Joltes				joltes@husc.harvard.edu
Hardware & Networking Manager, Computer Services 	joltes@husc.bitnet 
Harvard University Science Center

"Mind you, not as bad as the night Archie Pettigrew ate some
sheep's testicles for a bet...God, that bloody sheep kicked him..."
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,ba.politics,ca.politics,talk.politics.misc
From: jdnicoll@prism.ccs.uwo.ca (James Davis Nicoll)
Subject: Re: They used to think...
Organization: University of Western Ontario, London
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 17:28:03 GMT

In article <1992Dec16.215531.19258@ulysses.att.com> smb@research.att.com (Steven Bellovin) writes:
>In article <1992Dec16.161922.5171@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>, ashall@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Andrew S Hall) writes:
>>  I know a real strong candidate for the origin of this belief.
>> Check out Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear "anthropological"
>> novels.
>
>Nope -- the story long antedates her books.  She just used it.

	Try studies of offshore SE Asian and Polynesian  cultures.
The  specific   annecdote concerned  islanders 'disproving' the
sex-pregnancy  link  by pointing   out a pregnant woman  whose
husband had been away for a few years.

	Of  course, it is well  known that  primitive  humans
never have a sense of  humour, and  that even  if they  *did*,
they  would never mislead  a snoopy  outsider.

						James Nicoll
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: smb@research.att.com (Steven Bellovin)
Subject: Re: Conductivity of water
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 16:33:12 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

In article <Bz2Cnr.JDw@helios.physics.utoronto.ca>, neufeld@helios.physics.utoronto.ca (Christopher Neufeld) writes:
> >
>    That would defeat the purpose. The question was, why are firefighters
> not afraid to use leaking hoses near large voltages, but treating the
> subway as your bathroom could be unwise?

Actually, my distinct impression was that they do worry, and in fact
do not enter subway tracks until the third rail power has been turned
off.  If nothing else, they're worried about direct contact with the
rail, and not just the water.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: yenamand@micro.cs.umn.edu (Murthy Yenamandra)
Subject: Re: Another University Exam One
Organization: :noitazinagrO
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 02:56:50 GMT

billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:

>styri@hal.nta.no (YuNoHoo) writes:
>: In article <Bz4Cx3.BIx@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>, schertz@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
>: (Sara Schertz) writes:
>: > [story 'bout trick exam/quizz/test deleted] The very last
>: > line said "do questions 1 and 2 and ignore the rest." The whole class
>: > (myself
>: > included) fell for it hook line and sinker.
>: > Afterward, the teacher said she had a similar test in college, and only one
>: > student did it right.
>: Ok, but they might have been on to something. The last line was to be ignored
>: too. College students sometimes make a big fuzz over these tiny details.
>Looks like a paradox to me.
>If you read and obey the final question, then you ignore the final question.
>But, if you ignore the final question, then you cannot obey it.

Not necessarily a paradox. "Do questions 1 and 2 and ignore the rest"
implies that one should ignore the rest of the questions, not the rest
of the entire exam. So, since the last "line" isn't a question, it
needn't (and should not) be ignored.

>Bill "Philosophies R US" Nelson

Murthy "Nit-pickers R Us" Yenamandra

--
Murthy Yenamandra	|    "I close my eyes and all the world drops dead;
Dept of Comp Science 	|     I lift my lids and all is born again.
Univ of Minnesota	|     (I think I made you up inside my head.)"
yenamand@cs.umn.edu OR murthy@molbio.cbs.umn.edu (if the first one fails)
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Conductivity of water
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 06:25:34 GMT

trk@palm15.cray.com (Tim Kirby) writes:
: 
: Hmm. If memory serves me correctly, the overhead catenery lines in the UK
: (the wires that run above the track) are 25kV AC. The "third rail" used
: extensively on the south east UK commuter lines is around 700V ... DC, I think
: (though I might be wrong - anyone know for sure ?). The locomotives that run
: on the 25kV service contain a pile of exquipment to convert the electricity
: to a lower voltage DC supply suitable for the drive motors.

Hm. I would like to watch a certain personage attempt to rearrange those
diodes.

Bill "Lets stick with the current subject" Nelson
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: bwatson@nyx.cs.du.edu (bruce watson)
Subject: Re: Counterclockwise Twisters
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 92 19:11:21 GMT

In article <1992Dec12.143207.338@nntp.nta.no> styri@nta.no writes:
>
>ObUL: Many tornadoes in the US are started because vehicles are driving on
>      the right side of the road. Passing vehicles then kick off lots of
>      baby tornadoes that may grow to disasters.

Now that the "Butterfly Effect" has been postulated. This UL may be
reinvestigated.

--
Bruce Watson  wats@nyx.cs.du.edu  Toy Cows, Toy Cows in Africa, Toy Cows
                                                       --- Chance
From: bob@kc2wz.bubble.org (Bob Billson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Mnemonics
Summary: now?
Date: 11 Dec 92 02:37:47 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Color Computer 3: Tandy's 'game' machine

thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank) says:
[...]
>One that's always worked for me is that both "port" and "left"
>end with a "t", so "port" is the left side of a ship.
>
>Ted "but what does the 't' stand for?" Frank
      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Why "Terry" of course!

Bob "only one 'T' in my whole name :-(" Billson
-- 
  Bob Billson, KC2WZ                          | internet: bob@kc2wz.bubble.org
  $nail:  21 Bates Way,  Westfield, NJ 07090  | uucp:     ...!uunet!kc2wz!bob

  "Professional ear piercing--while you wait!"  --sign in local jewelry store