HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: spice@convex.csd.uwm.edu (James G Spice)
Subject: Re: Whacky Flakey License plates
Keywords: licence
Organization: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 19:27:04 GMT

In article <1992Apr15.015005.29416@midway.uchicago.edu> djb6@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>
>Moving right along...
>New Hampshire licence plates say "Live Free or Die".  Great state motto.
>

UL or not?  A New Hampshire man was arrested and prosecuted for
covering up the "or Die" portion of the motto on his lisence plate.

Amazingly so, this is fact, not fiction.  The resulting litigation
wound up at the U.S. Supreme Court (Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 
705, 1977).  The Court found in favor of the man, holding "that a 
state may not force an individual to advertise an ideological message
using a car as a 'mobile billboard.'  The First Amendment protects the
freedom to speak and not to speak." (from Lois Fisher, "American 
Constitutional Law, McGraw-Hill, 1990.)



-- 
--------------------------------------     Jim Spice
And we're off, like a dirty shirt!         U. of Wisconsin -- Milwaukee
		--Lester Earnest Spice     Dept. of Political Science
======================================     spice@convex.csd.uwm.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Cable TV cheater spotters (was Re: FCC Call letters)
Organization: Hewlett-Parkard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 01:26:22 GMT

: "Radar Jammers" (the ones I saw) were not being sold as "Radar Jammers".
: They were being sold as "Ham Radio Transmitters", for the police shared
: a Ham Band on a secondary allocation.  If you were a Ham (Technician class
: at least) then the use of the device was legal from the FCC's viewpoint.

Yes and no. The Ham license does not give the right to cause malicious
interferance with another signal. That is what the Ham would be doing
and, as such, would be using the device illegally.

Bill "Working on 20 wpm" Nelson
From: weemba@libra.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Falling bullets on Marilyn's Parade
Date: 8 Apr 92 18:31:05 GMT
Reply-To: weemba@libra.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener)
Organization: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology
In-reply-to: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)

In article <1992Apr8.013957.8139@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com>, billn@hpcvaac (bill nelson) writes:
>Well, look at it this way. After you pick a door, there are 4 possibilities.
>Assume the doors are as you describe.

>Pick A and be shown C - switch and get a car.
>Pick C and be shown A - switch and get a car.
>Pick B and be shown C - switch and get a goat.
>Pick B and be shown A - switch and get a goat.

>Work it out for yourself.

Let's see.

The first case has a 1/3 chance of happening.

The second case has a 1/3 chance of happening.

The third case has a 1/6 chance of happening (1/2 of a 1/3)

The fourth case has a 1/6 chance of happening (1/2 of a 1/3).

So 2/3 of the time it pays to switch.

Wait a minute.  You're not one of these silly people who think if they
successfully enumerate four cases, these four cases each occur 1/4 of
the time?  What a maroon.
-- 
-Matthew P Wiener (weemba@libra.wistar.upenn.edu)
Organization: The American University - University Computing Center
Date: Friday, 17 Apr 1992 17:14:12 EDT
From: Douglass Glen Whitman <DWHITMA@auvm.american.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re:

Ok, I guess I must be mathematically feeble.  You pour a cup of 100% bran cerea
l into a bowl, and then a cup of 40% bran cereal on top of it.  The way I figur
e it, so far there are 1.4 cups of bran in the bowl:  1.0 from the first cup, a
nd 0.4 from the second.  There are two cups of cereal total.  The percentage of
 bran cereal in the bowl should equal total bran cereal divided by total cereal
 of any kind.  By my calculator, that's 0.7, or 70%, which is the value which M
ikkelso says qualifies me as mathematically feeble.  Is there some trick involv
ed like "Bran cereal is bran cereal, whether it's 40% or 100%, and therefore th
e bowl contains 100% bran cereal" ?  As for the answers suggested in the origin
al letter to Marilyn, 140% and 60%, they are both obviously bogus.  So what is
the actual answer?  What did Marilyn say?  What is the rationale?       Glen.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: sethb@fid.morgan.com (Seth Breidbart)
Subject: Re: Business cards
Organization: Terry (hon.)
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 00:06:23 GMT

Yet another bdi who truly believes.  Note the usual lack of any
checkable data.

In article <1544@necis.UUCP> posted to soc.singles, sci.med,
misc.consumers, and misc.kids, dlyons@necis.UUCP (Dave Lyons) writes:
|In article <1992Apr5.145129.2889@wetware.com>, diana@wetware.com (CatWoman ) wrote:
|> 
|> Also, folks - if you see ANYTHING that seems like this,
|> check the FAQ for alt.folklore.urban first!!  Because this
|> Shergold story WILL NOT DIE, it is one of the first items in the
|> FAQ.  (similar stories - collecting pull-top rings to pay for
|> various medical treatments, and the like, are also debunked
|> thoroughly...)
|> 
|> Diana
|
|WRONG-O-MUNDO PEASANT BREATH!!!     (I always wanted to say that)
|Not all similar stories are debunkable myths.  For example, a local company
|(don't know the name offhand) will pay for 1 minute of dialysis for children
|in need for every 100 soda can tops collected and turned.  This is not a myth,
|as I have given several thousand of these tops to the program and they were
|gratefully accepted.  Certainly some of these stories are untrue but to label
|them ALL as phony is wrong and may prevent some good being done.  A better way
|to put this would be:  If you hear/read of such a story and feel the urge to do
|some good, do yourself a favor and INVESTIGATE!  It MAY be a fake/myth/scam/etc
|designed to waste your time.
|                                       -- Dave --
|
|-- 
|******************************************************************************
|Dave Lyons                             dlyons@necis.nec.com  (603)878-2567 BBS
|Opinions expressed are mine.    My company doesn't even know I'm here (Shhhh!)
|******************************************************************************

Seth "I love picking on low saq types" Breidbart	sethb@fid.morgan.com
From: chuck_adams@qmail.ssc.gov (Chuck Adams)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Captain Crunch and the Phone Phreaks
Date: 8 Apr 92 20:06:17 GMT
Article-I.D.: sunova.1992Apr8.200617.4931
Organization: Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory

In article <1992Apr8.171925.21575@midway.uchicago.edu> 
djb6@ellis.uchicago.edu (dennis joseph brennan) writes:

> In the seventies there were people running around who called themselves
> "phone phreaks" who could accomplish all kinds of shenanigans at the phone
> company.  One discovered that the toy whistle given away as a prize in a
> box of Captain Crunch cereal duplicated the tone used by the phone company
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> to make an overseas call.

Jeez.  I thought everyone knew its Cap'n Crunch............
                                   ^^^^^

               Chuck Adams,  WB5WRR   (The Puhpxfgre)
                Internet:  chuck_adams@qmail.ssc.gov
   Disclaimer:  Not an official document of DOE, SSCL, URA or EG&G
                   "Curses!  Flamed Again"  - me

nobody's asked me what The Puhpxfgre is......is it that obvious?
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,misc.kids
From: sheaffer@netcom.com (Robert Sheaffer)
Subject: That's "Mares Eat Oats"!
Date: Wed, 08 Apr 92 23:35:31 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 

In article <1992Apr8.031322.27443@amd.com> karen@brahms.amd.com (Karen Black) writes:
>mpeter@OAVAX.CSUCHICO.EDU writes:
>>I write:
>>
>>>... "Lamsie Doats" ...
>>      ^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>I hope you mean "Marezy Doats" 'cauze little lamsie divie. 
>

     NAAH! That's,  "Mares eat oats, and does eat oats,
                     and little lambs eat ivy.
                     a kid'll eat ivy, too, wouldn't you?"

     Perfectly good grammar, n'est-ce pas? 


-- 
  
        Robert Sheaffer - Scepticus Maximus - sheaffer@netcom.com
  
 Past Chairman, The Bay Area Skeptics - for whom I speak only when authorized!

     "In the 1970's the world will undergo famines - hundreds of millions
     of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs 
     embarked upon now ... in 1985, when it is calculated [under the most
     optimistic scenario] that the major die-back will be over, ..."
       
                       Dr. Paul Ehrlich, "The Population Bomb," 1968
From: unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown Matt)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Digits in the Driver's license number
Date: 7 Apr 92 03:11:42 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz; Open Access Computing


In article <1992Apr6.035241.12966@e2big.mko.dec.com> moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com writes:
}In article <66734.29DDEF1E@psycho.fidonet.org>, Jay.Ashworth@f160.n3603.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jay Ashworth) writes...
}>A practice which, according to the Social Security Act, is illegal.
}>A friend of mine, a bit of a privacy nut, who lives in Massachusetts, one of
}>those states, confounded the DL people by demanding that they make him up an
}>arbitrary number.
}I live in Mass. as well and I also have one of those "made-up" numbers.

	I guess I agree in principle to the Soc. Sec. Act, but I honestly
don't see why someone would get one of those made-up numbers. Could you
please enlighten me? (Others may be interested too).. It seems that neither
the Prisoner complex ("I am not a number, I am a free man!") or the 
Bob Seger complex ("I feel like a number") apply, because you are just trading
one number for another number.

	What is the big deal about your Soc. Sec. number getting out?  I'm
not trying to be rude or sarcastic, I'm serious..
-- 
/unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu                                    Apple IIGS Forever!\
|WANT to get INFOCOM GAMES RERELEASED |  Also will pass on -UNIX GS-          |
\& ULTIMA VI GS written? ---mail me   |     & CHEAP CD info - mail me         /
From: steinar@faust.solan.unit.no (Cindy Kandolf)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Date: 16 Apr 92 11:33:21 GMT
	<92105.134525ICLNM@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Organization: Flodnak, Inc., Trondheim, Norway

Loyd Means writes:
>  Wild turkeys
>are another story.  They are legendary for their intelligence and resourceful-
>ness.  BenFranklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird.  Wouldn't that
>change Thanksgiving!

Not at all, and pass the gravy, please.

-Cindy Kandolf
 cindy@solan.unit.no
 Trondheim, Norway
From: morris@anasaz (Bob Morris)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Sir Winston Churchill Anecdotes
Date: 6 Apr 92 16:24:34 GMT
Organization: Anasazi, Inc.  Phoenix, Az

>And you can be the self-appointed arbiter of whether the humor is "lame" or
>"real", and whether it's "accidental" or intentional.  Simple rule: If you
>don't like it, don't read it.

Actually, what I asked was for each poster to be their own arbiter.  And
they have done so.  Thank you.

Bob "I didn't count mine at all" Morris
aka morris@anasazi.com  (new address)
anasaz!morris@asuvax.eas.asu.edu (old address still works)
My opinions only, of course...
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: fehr@ms.uky.edu (Jeff Davis)
Subject: Re: Miss Savant and Monty
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 12:54:15 GMT
Organization: My Daddy, My Doggy, and Me
X-Bytes: 

I have to confess to something: I've never seen the show. A friend to
whom I related this discussion says that Monty Hall varies the gag
from time to time. He sometimes just reveals a prize and asks if you
want the revealed prize or your original choice. Also, the choices
aren't always between goats and Cordobas. Sometimes the choices are
between $1000 of furniture and, a goat, and a car. It isn't always
clear what you're choosing, so the "smart money" isn't always a
2/3 bet. On a purely abstract level if the choice is goat-goat-car,
then (obviously?) you switch. However, Hall enters the equation,
bunch o'grapes body suits enter the equation, and thumbs-on-the-scales
enter the equation.   

-- 
Jeff Davis <davis@keats.ca.uky.edu>  
You know, there's many a damned fool woulda swallered that.
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:11653 alt.folklore.college:1175
From: sverkerw@Minsk.docs.uu.se (Sverker Wiberg)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.college
Subject: Re: Boldly Not Going Where No Man Has Not Gone Before
Date: 7 Apr 92 11:42:25 GMT
Organization: UDAC, Uppsala, Sweden

thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank) writes:

>In article <259@bbx.basis.com> russ@bbx.basis.com (Russ Kepler) writes:
>>Reminds me of a story, possibly an urban legend:
>>
>>An architect resigned a series of buildings for a university, and the
>>students were amazed to find a complete lack of sidewalks between
>>buildings and instead only grass fields and some bushes and trees.
>>
>>Overcoming their reluctance to trample the grass, practicality
>>overcame them and slowly but surely paths were worn in the grass. 
>>Skinny paths where the traffic was sparse, wide, well worn paths where
>>the traffic was dense.
>>
>>After the paths were clear a landscaping company came in and paved the
>>paths, matching the concrete walks to the size of the paths worn in
>>the grass.

My uncle did something like that when he moved in to his new house, but
before making the lawn. The neighbours did NOT enjoy living next to an 
unbuilt garden, and thus constantly nagging him to do something about 
the mess. 

The second year, when he knew where to put the paths, he did.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#include<stddisclaim.h>				Every interesting data structure is recursive.
sverkerw@mizar.docs.uu.se (Sverker Wiberg)		/Cons
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Organization: Arizona State University
Date: Wednesday, 15 Apr 1992 09:27:23 MST
From: <ICLNM@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: The wacky, flakey State
 <1992Apr6.165612.12002@anasaz> <yiejlf1@Unify.Com>
 <1992Apr13.174445.13598@anasaz>

In article <1992Apr13.174445.13598@anasaz>, morris@anasaz (Bob Morris) says:
>
>Since were on geology and rivers, the last time I was at the Grand
>Canyon, the geologist ranger told me that they still don't have a
>good theory about why the canyon was formed where it was.  Seems that
>every theory comes with accompanying counter evidence.  Did the
>Arizona State Legislature just pass a law to require it to be there?
>Before you tell me that they haven't been around that long, take a
>walk down by the state capitol or just read the local news...
>
I learned many years ago that the Grand Canyon was dug by Paul Bunyon with
the help of the blue ox, Babe, to irrigate Old Man Montezuma's potato patch.
It turned out to be a bit much, even for old Paul.  The heat would get to him
and he would sit down and rest in the shade of a mesquite tree.  Babe would go
crazy (also from the heat) and plow up ground randomly.  One doubter asked
what happened to the dirt when the digging was done.  The storyteller pointed
off in the distance to the San Francisco peaks (a 10,000 - 12,000 foot range
about 80 miles away).

So now you know.
Loyd Means
Phoenix AZ
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: The wacky, flakey State
From: dogbowl@acme.gen.nz (Alan Brown)
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 92 02:27:09   Y
Organization: ACME BBS - Palmerston North Public Access Usenet
Keywords: earthquake dam flood
Summary: How do river flow through mountain ranges?

morris@anasaz (Bob Morris) writes:

> >Rivers flow along fault lines only if there are fault
> >lines following the line of greatest gradient.
> 
> You're right, of course.  I was thinking of the rivers that DO follow
> faults, like the Bright Angel fault in the Grand Canyon which has not
> one but two rivers flowing along it, one from the North and one from
> the South into the Colorado River.
> 
> Since were on geology and rivers, the last time I was at the Grand
> Canyon, the geologist ranger told me that they still don't have a
> good theory about why the canyon was formed where it was.  Seems that
> every theory comes with accompanying counter evidence.  Did the
> Arizona State Legislature just pass a law to require it to be there?
> Before you tell me that they haven't been around that long, take a
> walk down by the state capitol or just read the local news...
> 
It's probably not the right place to ask this, but how can a river start 
on one side of a mountain range and flow through to the other side?
This is a question that often bugs me, as I live less than 10 kilometres 
from a river that does precisely that. It's in New Zealand, and it's 
called the Manawatu. ( man-awa-tu no emphasised syllables).
 The gap in question is the Manawatu Gorge, 40 deg 18 min S, 175 deg 47 
min E

Any explanations?
From: tjc50@ccc.amdahl.com (Terry Carroll)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: FCC Call letters
Date: 7 Apr 92 16:12:15 GMT
Reply-To: tjc50@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (Terry Carroll)
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

In article <9204061745.AA29491@crdgw1.ge.com> root@hp804.ae.ge.com (Root at hp804) writes:
>
> In alt.folklore.urban you write:
> 
> >At some point in history, the 40's I might guess, the FCC decreed
> >that all radio stations granted call letters henceforth would 
> >arbitrarily be divided into east and west, those east of the 
> >mississippi getting W??? call letters, and those west getting 
> >K???.  My question is why W + K?   Any reason?
> 
> Great trivia question.  The answer is that W stands for 
> Westinghouse, and K for Kaiser.  These companies were the 
> dominant suppliers of broadcasting equipment.  

That's one possibility.  Another is that they were assigned as part of
the Multilateral Treaty on Radio Regulations of December 21, 1959.

Actually, of course, the two aren't mutually exclusive.  The Kaiser and
Westinghouse background might have been input into the assignment of
letters made by the treaty.  Similarly, Canada, Chile, and Cuba share
"C" (but so does Morocco, Bolivia, Portugal, and Uruguay).
-- 
The above is my thoughts, not Amdahl's;   |  Terry Carroll  408/992-2152
The above is not legal advice;            |  Senior Computer Architect
All models over 18 years of age;          |  Amdahl Corporation
Contents sold by weight, not by volume;   |  tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com
Your mileage may vary.                    |  tjc50@amail.amdahl.com
From: robin@aus.intel.com (robin rosenbaum)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: idiomatically speaking... (Was: Re: other fun mistranslations)
Date: 8 Apr 92 20:36:28 GMT
Organization: Development Tools Operation, Intel Corp.

When, where, and how did this one get started:

     "If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a locomotive!"

(Meaning, Don't waste your time in should-have's and if-only's.)

Robin "choo choo" Hilp
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:12234 alt.folklore.science:1420
From: whit@milton.u.washington.edu (John Whitmore)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: PC Hazard
Date: 15 Apr 92 03:44:38 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In article <1992Apr11.201321.2481@ceilidh.beartrack.com> dnichols@ceilidh.beartrack.com (Don Nichols (DoN.)) writes:

>	I've always wondered why most hard drives use cases of alloys which
>are useless for magnetic shielding purposes.

	Hard disks have self-clocked data streams (MFM or RLL clocking
schemes are typical) that go roughly 10 Mbits/sec.  The useful data
is in the frequency range of 1 to 10 MHz, and lower frequencies are
blocked by the preamplifier filter.

	At this frequency range, cast aluminum is a pretty good
shield.  Lower frequencies require inconveniently thick conductive
metal, so are usually shielded with magnetic materials; there is
no need for such shielding in a hard disk drive.

	John Whitmore
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: mikkelson@breakr.enet.dec.com (snopes)
Subject: Re: Carbonated Beverages
Organization: Still waiting for the snuff films . . .
Date: 14 APR 92 08:50:37    


In article <1992Apr14.023635.26519@e2big.mko.dec.com>, 
  moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com writes...

>Get a college chemistry book and look up the discussion of partial pressures of
>gases.

>The partial pressure of a gas is the total pressure multiplied by the
>percentage of that gas to the total sum of gases.  For example, normal sea
>level air pressure is 14.7 psi, and air is 21% oxygen, so the partial pressure
>of oxygen in sea level air is about 3.087 psi.

I was told we wouldn't have to do any chemistry in this group.

- snopes

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|"[Disney's machine] has placed a Mickey Mouse hat on every little developing |
| personality in America.  As capitalism, it is a work of genius; as culture, |
| it is mostly a horror."   --   Richard Schickel, "The Disney Version"       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  David P. Mikkelson   Digital Equipment Corporation   Culver City, CA  USA  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: ceb@dbrus.Unify.Com (Caroline E. Bryan)
Subject: Re: The wacky, flakey State
Keywords: Wayne & Garth; we have nothing bad to say about them
Organization: /usr/lib/news/organization
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 92 16:49:32 GMT

In article <1992Apr6.164548.11655@anasaz> morris@anasaz (Bob Morris) writes:
>In article <1992Apr2.224828.19567@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
>>
>>How many other states have an element named after them?
>
>I count three, if you include Lawrencium and Berkeleyium.  (Please forgive
>my spelling; I don't do too well on pretend words).

Aw, heck, if you're including elements that aren't named after states, why
not count carbon and strontium and the rest?

Including elements NOT named after states, how many elements are named after
states?  My dictionary says 103.


Carrie		ceb@dbrus.unify.com	x6244     ----------------------------+
| ... one of those cliches that are always lying in wait to fill a vacuum in  |
| the brain.		- H.W. Fowler					      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Falling bullets on Marilyn's Parade
Organization: Hewlett-Parkard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 19:58:25 GMT

: >Pick A and be shown C - switch and get a car.
: >Pick C and be shown A - switch and get a car.
: >Pick B and be shown C - switch and get a goat.
: >Pick B and be shown A - switch and get a goat.
: 
: >Work it out for yourself.
: 
: Let's see.
: 
: The first case has a 1/3 chance of happening.
: 
: The second case has a 1/3 chance of happening.
: 
: The third case has a 1/6 chance of happening (1/2 of a 1/3)
: 
: The fourth case has a 1/6 chance of happening (1/2 of a 1/3).
: 
: So 2/3 of the time it pays to switch.
: 
: Wait a minute.  You're not one of these silly people who think if they
: successfully enumerate four cases, these four cases each occur 1/4 of
: the time?  What a maroon.
: -- 

No such thing. I made no claims at to what the chances were for each
choice - I just listed all the choices - given that we know where the
car is.

I left the probablilities for others to determine.

Bill "The controversy continues" Nelson