HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sss@castle.ed.ac.uk (S S Sturrock)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.video,sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Intelligent HQ ( was Re: Best Tape Brands)
Date: 8 Sep 92 12:40:58 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

In article <c67pb7pk@cck.coventry.ac.uk> lsg001@cck.coventry.ac.uk (Graham Wilson) writes:
>> 
>** Out of interest Akai produced a video recorder fitted with their own 
>   Intelligent HQ or IHQ system. The recorder would analysise the tape for
>   10 seconds before starting to record. The system would automatically 
>   compensate for the different levels of oxide on each tape. Similarly, 
>   upon playback the system would conduct a 10 second test to allow 
>   maximum playback. The system is fully compatible with VHS.

I have this machine, when you put a tape in it will do a standard recording
setting but you can select I-HQ which takes the 10 seconds or so to test
the tape and then the picture will be better.  For replay the I-HQ is
always selected although it doesn't test the tape for playback other than
using DTR for optimal tracking.  I-HQ can be turned off for playback of
some blurred tapes.
>
>   Even tapes recorded using IHQ and then played back on a conventional 
>   video recorder look very impressive. In particular the picture quality
>   is very sharp, detail is clearer and the colour is superb.

Visually, the effect is about the same as softening the picture for
playback.  Recording, it does increase the resolution, I proved this using
a computer generated test pattern and I-HQ did improve it.  The manual also
says that the circuit allows the use of SVHS tapes on the machine and it
will set itself accordingly but not record in SVHS mode, this suggests a
better picture than with normal VHS tapes but not SVHS standard, not got
round to trying one myself due to prohibitive cost.  Best tapes?  BASF
Chromes as ever.  FUJI also give good colour.  TDK are not so hot suffering
lower resolution than the BASF or FUJI and a blue loss.
>
>   I think this shows the variation in manufacture of each video tape.

Indeed.


-- 
Shane Sturrock, Biocomputing Research Unit, Darwin Building, Mayfield Road,
University of Edinburgh, Scotland, Commonwealth of Independant Kingdoms.  :-)

Civilisation is a Haggis Supper with salt and sauce and a bottle of Irn Bru.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: burgoyne@access.digex.com (J. Robert Burgoyne)
Subject: Re: Priority Mail is a fraud - How to speed up the mail.
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 19:28:05 GMT

We've had excellent success speeding up the mail by putting the postnet
bar code on the envelope and depositing the mail at the regional post
office, where they have a special slot just for pre-barcoded mail.

Even if you only have the five digit code instead of the zip + 4 it
still seems to help.

Numerous software programs now provide this capability.

Robert Burgoyne
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: jim@mwhhlaw (James P. Cavanaugh III)
Subject: Re: Carburetors, gasoline and why I don't recycle
Organization: Martin Wade Hartley & Hollingsworth
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 18:28:59 GMT

	The original poster reached the correct answer in not  
recycling, but for the wrong reason.  The correct reason is that  
recycling is wasteful.  (Yes, you read that correctly).
	1.  Everything is scarce.  That is, there is not enough of  
anything in all creation to employ it for all possible uses.
	2.  Everything being scarce, there is a need to allocate all  
recources to the most efficient use.  I sense no serious disagreement  
so far.
	3.  Is it better to allocate things based upon the prejudices  
and theories of a few people or get input from everyone?  My vote is  
for the latter.  (The former did not do so well in Eastern Europe over  
the last 40 years or so).
	4.  This allocation system is called: THE PRICE SYSTEM.  This  
elegantly simple system considers what EVERYONE will or will not pay  
for EVERYTHING.  The higher the price, the more value to the most  
people, relative to the scarcity of the resource.  The system  
automatically channels resources to the most efficient uses.  It also  
channels resources away from their least efficient uses.  All that is  
necessary is that people act in their own self interest.
	5.  Rule:  The least costly alternative, all things considered,  
is the most effecient.  The most costly is the least efficient.
	6.  If civilization wanted recycled newspapers and plastic  
bottles, I would be able to sell them for some price.  As it is, I  
cannot just give them away.  I must either pay someone to come and get  
them or I must consume other resources to take them where wome kind  
soul will releive me of them.
	7.  Landfilling is, at present, much less costly to me and most  
other people.
	8.  Result: Landfilling is a more efficient use of ALL  
resources (as opposed to one or two isolated resources) than is  
recycling.
	A recent article in the Wall Street Journal told us that the  
USA is awash in landfill space.  So much so, in fact, that the cost of  
landfilling is actually going down across the country.
	For those hard core environmentalists who are convinced that  
all landfilling is bad, I would suggest that they target an end to  
socialized trash collection and waste disposal.  To the extent that  
consumers must pay for what they dispose of, the market works.  To the  
extent that subsidized municipal trash collection artificially reduces  
the cost to consumers (prompting more consumption of landfill space  
than would naturally occour at market prices), then it artificially  
increases our use of landfilling at the expense of other methods of  
waste disposal.
	Once again, governmental intervention into the market is  
ignored as the cause of the problem (if there is a problem).

Jim Cavanaugh
  
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.books.technical,alt.discrimination
From: kd1hz@anomaly.sbs.risc.net (Michael P. Deignan)
Subject: Re: Waldenbooks fires staff for refusing to sell racist book!
Organization: The Rhode Island Internet Systems Cooperative Network
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 02:58:25 GMT

chrz@tellabs.com (Peter Chrzanowski) writes:

>I don't understand your criteria for when it's OK to fire a bookstore
>employee.

Its simple. If I tell my stores that we're going to carry X, and some of
my employees refuse to sell X, then they can find other jobs.

MD
-- 
--  Michael P. Deignan                      / Sex is hereditary. If your 
--  Domain: mpd@anomaly.sbs.com            /  parents never had it, chances 
--    UUCP: ...!uunet!rayssd!anomaly!mpd  /   are you won't either...
-- Telebit: +1 401 455 0347              /
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: J.Newman@icarus.curtin.edu.au (John Newman)
Subject: Re: Homeowners insurance
Organization: Computing Centre, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 08:14:12 GMT

In article <1992Aug24.202923> tvervaek@col.hp.com (Tom 
Vervaeke) writes:> 
>One mistake owners make is that they insure for the full value of their
>home and their land. No need to insure your land in most cases. If it
>burns, the insurance company can't fix it!
> 

True, but if the house was a total write off, it can cost
thousands of $ to clear/restore the site and sort out
reconnections of all services.


/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ 
\ John Newman            Internet: J.Newman@icarus.curtin.edu.au /
/ Computing Centre,                 "There is less to this       \
\ Curtin University,                  than meets the eye."       /                         
/ Perth, Western Australia           - Tallulah Bankhead         \
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: billr@ims.com (Bill Rea)
Subject: Re: Carburetors, gasoline, and why I don't rec
Reply-To: billr@ims.com
Organization: IMS
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 16:33:26 GMT


> So I, for one, will not make an effort to "protect the environment"
> by recycling my little aluminum cans, or buying brand X because it's
> packed in recycled cardboard.  Not until I am assured that the oil
> companies are doing their part: working for the planet rather than
> against it for the sake of some pretty serious bucks.
>
>
> The above is (c)1992 by Eric J. Huppertz.  

Well, you made MY day.  This is by far the biggest bonehead posting I've 
read in misc.consumers a long time.  I'm sure the oil companies will feel 
properly chastised now that you are refusing to recycle.  Listen, there
is just so much energy in a unit of gasoline, if you ever bothered with
the math (if, in fact, you can add at all) you'd realize that the idea 
of doubling or tripling your gas mileage with a change in carburetion is 
absurd.  The vast majority of the energy in gasoline is wasted as heat, not
by improper combustion.  You get better mileage by using the engine more
efficiently (no hotrodding, etc.), reducing the weight of the vehicle, or 
redesigning the engine to be more efficient.

Besides, what does your paranoid ravings about a world-wide oil conspiracy
have to do with your being an inconsiderate, narrow-minded, slob?  I recycle
because in the long run it SAVES me money.  It costs a lot of money to
shut down an old landfill and open a new one.  Who do you think pays for that?
The oil companies?  You are ranting about inefficient carburetors, what do you 
think recycling is?  It's efficiency in our daily lives.  How much energy does 
it take to smelt a new can of cola verses recycling an old one?  Do the math
Eric, and stop wasting my time.


Thank you Eric J. Huppertz, you've given me a new name to add to my kill file.


Note to the rest of the net: Sorry for the flame. 
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:16272 misc.wanted:8241 rec.audio:12195 rec.misc:223 sci.electronics:15327
From: schuster@panix.com (Michael Schuster)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.wanted,rec.audio,rec.misc,sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Audio Cassette Deck Maintenance - Suggestions Wanted
Date: 7 Sep 92 20:48:37 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix & Internet, NYC

In article <=yqnnfm.noring@netcom.com> noring@netcom.com (Jon Noring) writes:
>
>Hello,
>
>I'd like to get feedback from the Usenet as to the current state-of-the-art
>of audio cassette deck maintenance.  The two areas of maintenance that I
>see are head and capstan cleaning, and head demagnetization.  I've seen
>devices that make this job easier than getting in there with a cotton swab
>and alcohol for cleaning.

I use the mechanical cleaning devices (Allsop and the like) only when
direct access with a cotton swab is impossible (e.g. a car deck).
My reasons are three:

	1. You can't verify that it's done the job completely
        2. Concerns about jams. etc.
        3. Concerns about using alcohol/freon on the pinch rollers

For #3, I use TEAC rubber conditioner/cleaner which is petroleum based
rather than containing alcohol or freon. The latter will dry out the
rubber ... I've sene it happen.

Unfortunately, this will dissolve the innards of an Allsop device, so it
can only be used (carefully0 via a coton swab.


-- 
_______________________________Mike Schuster________________________________
NY Pub. Access UNIX/Internet: schuster@panix.com | 70346.1745@CompuServe.COM
The Portal (R) System: schuster@cup.portal.com   | MCI Mail,GEnie: MSCHUSTER
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.video,sci.electronics
From: wmb@jalama.Idbsu.EDU (William M. Bennecke)
Subject: Re: Best Tape Brands!
Reply-To: wmb@jalama.idbsu.edu
Organization: Dept. of Geoscienes - BSU
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 22:58:45 GMT


hich of the lower priced VHS tapes are the best?


---------------------------
|                         |
|  WILLIAM M. BENNECKE    |     FINAL COLLEGE PROFECIENCY EXAMINATION
|  wmb@jalama.idbsu.edu   | 
|  132.178.15.11          |     Epistemology:  Take a position for or
|                         |     against the truth.  Prove the validity
---------------------------     of your position.
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:16180 rec.video:10948 sci.electronics:15255 sci.misc:1578
From: dd2u@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (David  Drucker)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.video,sci.electronics,sci.misc
Subject: Re: VCR Maintenance Advice Wanted. Head Cleaners Any Good?
Date: 5 Sep 92 03:44:51 GMT
Organization: University of Virginia

>              I have read this discussion on VCR heads cleaning,
>           well,  What about camcorders.  My old camcorder has been
>        used for more than 3 years now.  I have used those cleaning
>        tapes.  Now, I would like to do an in-depth cleaning to it.
>        It is a full-size Sharp camcorder,  Is it easy to reach the
>        heads and clean them?? I've never tried to open-up the
>        camcorder.
>                 Thanks for any help.
>            Eleazar Puente
Camcorders fall into the same boat as any vcr except getting
the thing apart can take a small army (putting it together
again takes a large one...)
The video head is easy enough to get at if you have small
fingers, so you will definetly want to use one of those foam
covers swabs. The other parts can be trouble, but it is doable.

David Drucker
Curry School of Education
dd2u@virginia.edu
--
From: kherron@ms.uky.edu (Kenneth Herron)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: REQUEST: credit card charges disputes - how do they work
Keywords: credit cards
Date: 13 Sep 92 01:08:29 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences

JULIE.KADASHEVICH@OFFICE.WANG.COM ("Julie Kadashevich") writes:

>I am curious how adjustments work.  Did the credit card company
>had to "eat" $148, or do they have a way of forcing
>a non-cooperative company to pay them back?

If the company is still submitting charge card charges the amount can
be witheld from one of the reimbursements.  MicroChip should also have 
posted a bond of some sort when they signed their merchant agreement, 
though obviously that can only go so far if they screw a lot of people.
-- 
Kenneth Herron                                           kherron@ms.uky.edu
University of Kentucky                                      +1 606 257 2975
Department of Mathematics           "Thanks to the magic of the slow-motion 
camera, we can now show you how ugly the inside of someone's mouth can be."
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:16246 misc.wanted:8231
From: TomK@cup.portal.com (Tom R Krotchko)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.wanted
Subject: Re: What does a basic Porsche '89 or '90 model sell for?
Date: Sun,  6 Sep 92 20:51:35 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: usa

>Car prices obviously depend on dozens of factors but I was wondering
>what the usual/expected price would be for a 1989 or 1990 basic no-frills
>Porsche car.

Which model? The "lowest" model was the 944 in the years you're asking
about. I would guess the minimum price on this car in decent shape is
about $20,000.

>Someone said they could cost less than $10,000 for "ordinary" ones

Which?

>while used "collectible" ones in the same variety/year of make could go for
>$40,000.  Any truth to that statement you think?

None. There's no such thing as a 1989/90 "collectable" Porsche, unless you
mean the 959, but those are probably worth in the neighborhood of $500,000.
Of course, these aren't even legal to *own* in the US.

You're forgetting one important thing about a Porsche: maintenance costs
will be roughtly $1500 a year if you follow the recommended service
procedures, and fix the "normal" things that break each year. Also, add
to the cost the insurance. A 45 year old man with no violations at work
pays approximately $2000 per year on insurance on a 944.

Also, if you think you're going to get away with not doing the maintenance,
you will...for about a year. And then you've got a pile of junk.

A 1987/88 944 might be had for $16000, but these cars probably need
some work, bringing your price up considerably. If you insist on a
Porsche, look into about a 1986 924, these are probably in the
sub $10,000 range you're looking at. However, maintenance costs will
still be $1500 per year, and insurance if you're below 30 and
unmarried will be expensive.

TomK@cup.portal.com
Tom Krotchko
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: mag1@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (michael.a.giden)
Subject: Re: GE Refridgerator: Compressor problems
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Distribution: bl
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 20:02:04 GMT
Summary: Call GE

In article <7166@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com>, delanzo@sparc22.hri.com (Michael DeLanzo) writes:
> 
> The compressor om my GE refridgerator died after only 5 1/2 years of
> service (just out of warranty). I heard/read somewhere that they had a
> recall on this a few years back. Does anyone know about this or has
> anyone dealt with GE on a problem like this?
> 
> Please email.
> 
> Thanks - Michael


Call the GE Answer Center at 1-800-626-2000.  They will be able to
answer your questions.

Mike Giden








Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.med
From: seove@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov (ERIC OVERTON)
Subject: Re: water purification/is drinking pure water bad for you?
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center
Distribution: usa
Date: 11 Sep 1992 14:16 EST  

In article <1992Sep10.163055.5506@engage.pko.dec.com>, moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com writes...
>>2. I've heard in a couple of places that drinking mineral-free (e.g.
>>distilled) water is bad for you.  This has always sounded bogus to me
>>but some of the explnations are semi-plausible (that the pure water
>>messes up some osmotic balance and actually drains minerals from your
>>system).  Does anyone have reliable information about this?
> 
>This is an urban legend.  A normal diet has plenty of minerals so it would
>be nearly impossible to leach the minerals from your system, and also once
>the water hits your stomach it is no longer pure so the osmotic balance
>argument doesn't apply either.
> 
>-Mike

You would probably have to drink a bathtub full of water to 
benefit from the mineral contents.

Eric
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: jeffo@uiuc.edu (J.B. Nicholson-Owens)
Subject: Re: Waldenbooks fires staff for refusing to sell racist book!
Reply-To: jeffo@uiuc.edu (J.B. Nicholson-Owens)
Followup-To: alt.discrimination
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1992 18:06:52 GMT

This post didn't belong in misc.books.technical at all.  I would have  
posted this in alt.discrimination, but we don't get that group and this  
post was posted in misc.consumers as well.

Dennis P. Harris writes
> I have already informed WB that I intend to boycott them until they
> stop selling the book and reinstate the fired employees by posting a
> message to their user services folks in their Walden Computerbooks
> on-line store in the Compu$erve Mall (GO WB), and I urge others to join
> me. 

How about boybotting the right people--the people directly
responsible for the book (all books written by Blanche Knott)? 
Boycotting the bookstore chain that sells this book is akin to
killing the messenger when a bad news arrives.  These booksellers
don't control the content of the books and it would be bad business for
them to stop selling a book because some people view it as racist. 

If bookstores stopped selling what others find offensive (or might
find offensive), there wouldn't be many books to sell.  I think maps
of the world would be all that's left.  Nobody is forcing you to purchase  
these books, and legally, Blanche Knott has a right to say whatever  
Blanche Knott feels.  Whether I, personally, am against the material  
expressed in the book is irrelevant.

> I also intend to write St. Martins Press and tell them I'm boycotting
> them, too.

Well, at least you're getting closer.  Just avoid the author if you
don't agree with that author's words.  The kind of removal or cleaning of
people's attitudes towards others should begin with education that people
are all equal, not by removing some books off a bookstore shelf.

> The book's author is apparently afraid to use his/her real name, since 
> it's listed as "Blanche Knott" (ooh, bad pun!).

You obviously have never heard of the popular joke books by the same  
author called something like "Bad Taste Jokes".  Agreed, just because  
these books are popular does not make them good reading material for  
impressionable people, however the name "Blanche Knott" has become  
synonymous with humor that some might find in bad taste.  These jokes in  
this series of books specialize in being racist, sexist and are sorted by  
whom they are aimed to offend: Poles, Women, Men, Catholics, etc.
-- 
-- Jeff (jeffo@uiuc.edu)
-- no NeXTmail please
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: don@helix.nih.gov (donald seto)
Subject: Re: ATM interface design
Organization: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 14:48:25 GMT

In article <5547@ssc-bee.ssc-vax.boeing.com> simnet@ssc-vax.boeing.com (Mark R Poulson) writes:
>In article <JAK.92Sep3081952@bimini.cs.brown.edu>, jak@cs.brown.edu (Jak Kirman) writes:
>> My bank recently changed its automatic teller machines from the kind
>> that have a single keypad to the kind that have one normal keypad for
>> entering numbers etc. and one keypad next to the screen where the
>> buttons are pointed to by arrows on the screen.
>> 
>> Personally, I find this latter type of ATM an abomination -- I don't
>> like having to switch from one keypad to another all the time, and I
>> don't like the fact that sometimes confirmation of a command is done by
>> pressing "enter" on the main keypad and sometimes it is done by pressing
>> one of the upper arrows.
>
>The two keyboards doesn't bother me (though I do feel its piss poor
>engineering/human factors), what is really an abomination is the little arrows
>on the screen like this:
>
>	Checking 				>
>
>	Savings					>
>
>In almost every machine I use, the arrows don't point to a button, they
>point between two adjacent buttons. If I were taller or shorter, it might 
>match better (but be wrong for one of the two cases). I usually have to count
>which entry is my choice and then count down to the appropritate button. YUCK.
>
>> 
>> What I would like to know is whether there have been any studies on
>> automatic teller interfaces that might give me an idea as to which of
>> these two is better for the average user.  Has anyone seen such things?
>> I would be interested in personal opinions, but by mail please, and I
>> will summarize if there is interest.  The opinions expressed in this
>> forum are likely to be heavily biased towards experienced computer
>> users, and therefore will not be particularly relevant to ATM users in
>> general, in any case.
>
>There are human factors experts in everywhere. Whether ATM designers
>use them I don't know.  Half the problems are physical and not computer
>software related. Yes, most usenet readers are probably familiar with
>following computer menus whereas my mother is not. I haven't seen many
>problems like this for ATM's though, its just select your choice or enter
>a set of numbers. If they were using a screen with vi commands, that would
>be a whole different story!
>
>
>		Mark
>


Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: hemant@cbnewse.cb.att.com (hemant.b.bhatt)
Subject: Home & Auto Insurance
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 10:22:06 GMT

What's good coverage for Home & Auto insurance?

Home Insurance

Dwelling - $
Dwelling extension -$
personal property - $
loss of use - $
personal liability - $
damage to property of others - $
medical payments to each person - $
deductable amount - $

Auto Insurance

bodily injury/property damage liabilty - $
medical payments - $
comprehensive - deductable - $
collision - deductable - $
uninsured motor vehicle - $
underinsured motor vehicle - $
Emergency Road Service - $
Car rental & Travel expenses - $ 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers