HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: joltes@husc10.harvard.edu (Richard Joltes)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Another University Exam One
Date: 14 Dec 92 14:54:11 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Science Center

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

[regarding the "ignore all questions before this one" exam...]

>Yep - many times. I wonder if anyone has ever turned up an actual exam
>that had this "feature"?

Yes.  I and several co-workers were given one as part of a "quality training"
seminar when I worked for a former employer.  The last question said "now, go
back to the top of the page, write your name and the date, then stop.  Do not
answer any of the other questions on this page."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dick "caught me!" 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
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Mnemonics
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 07:45:29 GMT

wwo@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (Thomas Schoene) writes:
: 
: anyone on alt.urbn.folklore, please delete "rec.arts.startrek.misc" from the
: "newsgroup" line when you reply to posts in this tread.  r.a.s.m is getting a
: lot of these posts which have no business being there.  
: 
: Thanks 
: 
: P.S.  Whoever crossposted this thread to r.a.s.m. what were you thinking?

Thinking? On a.f.u? Horrors.

Bill "Kirk is dead!" Nelson
From: ibacon@seamis1.gsfc.nasa.gov (Ian Bacon)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
Date: 15 Dec 92 16:46:24 GMT
Organization: Goddard Space Flight Center

My favourite sign is the one that used to grace the top floor of the parking
structure on 2nd Street in Santa Monica, California. These are municipal 
parking structures, and used to be free (last I was there, this was no longer
true). Most of the structures impose a three hour maximum parking limit, but the
one on second street (above Santa Monica Blvd), permitted increasingly more time
the higher one went. The bottom floor had a sign saying "Three hour maximum 
parking, 8am to 6pm", the next floor allowed six hour parking, and the top 
floor had my favourite sign:
	"Twelve Hour Maximum Parking, 8am to 6pm"

Then, of course, there was my favourite street sign, which was in Southampton,
England, where I went to University. Southampton is a very old town, and still
has the remains of the walls which surrounded it in the Middle Ages. Just off 
of the centre of the city, there is a street called Back Of The Walls, which 
was almost always altered to the spoonerism of the name.

-- Ian --
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: palmermg@infonode.ingr.com (Michael G. Palmer)
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
Organization: Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL.
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 15:43:08 GMT

In article <BzEMtq.FLo@monster.apd.saic.com> tomj@monster.apd.saic.com (Tom Johnson) writes:
>ldoering@engin.umich.edu (Laurence Doering) writes:
>
>>In article <guest.724539004@cs.wisc.edu> petlock@turing.org writes:
>>>pt@geovision.gvc.com (Paul Tomblin) writes:
  [ stuff deleted ]
>>>Would someone please provide a translation of "einbahnstrasse" for the
>>>german- impaired?
>
>>Okay, okay.  It's a joke.  "Einbahnstrasse" is German for "one-way street."
>
>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?

--
Michael G. Palmer
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,sci.skeptic
From: "James F. Tims" <p00168@psilink.com>
Subject: Re: Daytime Stars - Not Donahue or Oprah
Organization: Semper Excelsior
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 16:43:56 GMT
X-Mailer: PSILink (3.2)

>DATE:   Thu, 10 Dec 1992 03:40:36 GMT
>FROM:   Dave Svoboda <rubis@gagme.chi.il.us>
>
>In article <1frabsINNibs@gap.caltech.edu> carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU writes:
>|
>|How do you propose to "cut out scattered sunlight"?  The fact that it's
>|scattered means that it's coming from all over the sky.  That's why the sky
>|looks blue.
>
>Naww, it looks blue 'cause it reflectin' off the ocean!
>
>		Dave "Jethro" Svoboda, Chicago, thereabouts

You know, a physics zero such as I should not have to correct this, since
real physicists post to this newgroup.  As I understand it, the sky is blue
because certain elements of the atmosphere glow at their spectral
frequencies when the energy of the sun activates them ala neon lights.
Maybe it's just the argon, but I think the nitrogen glows, too.  I can't
remember...somebody get this right, will ya?

-jim tims
From: jbarnett@nrtc.northrop.com (Jeff Barnett)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Hypnosis and Repression (was Ritual Abuse Taskforce....)
Date: 16 Dec 92 20:48:32 GMT
Organization: Northrop Research & Technology Center, Palos Verdes, CA

|> In article <2933430839.2.p00168@psilink.com> p00168@psilink.com (James F. Tims) writes:
|> >
|> Ha! This is the very first time I see this word.  I know the word
|> "cryptomnesia", litterally: hidden memory.  It refers to the situation
|> that someone remembers something, but forgot the origin. Like the old
|> gentleman who tells an anecdote as if he experienced it all himself,
|> even when he is telling it to the guy who told him the anecdote some
|> time earlier.
|> 
|> It seems that in a state of deep relaxation all kinds of memories 
|> can surface whose source has been forgotten.  From what I gather,
|> such memories may or may not be accurate.
|> 

Suggested reading -- Fredrick Bartlett's "Remembering", 1910 (approximately).
This classic studies memory by studying forgetting.  The hypothesis is that
memories are constructed by fitting (a few) facts into memory schemes and
actively generating the story.  It seems that most memories are incorrect
in an absolute sense but are good enough for the way that we use them.
Bartlett's work was the basis for the better-known works of Paget and are
resurrected in many AI approaches -- semantic nets, frames, etc.

Jeff Barnett
From: guest@veronica.cs.wisc.edu (Guest account)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
Date: 16 Dec 92 20:50:04 GMT
Reply-To: petlock@turing.org
Organization: U of Wisconsin Madison - Computer Sciences

pt@geovision.gvc.com (Paul Tomblin) writes:

>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

>Funny - Dave Barry made _exactly_ the same observation - in the book "Dave
>Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need".  I was reading it last night to
>prepare for a trip to the UK.

>-- 
>Paul Tomblin, pt@compass.gvc.com
>(This is not an official opinion of GeoVision Systems Inc.)
>"I need that trephination stuff like I need another hole in the head"
>    --  Kim L. Greer in alt.folklore.urban

Would someone please provide a translation of "einbahnstrasse" for the
german- impaired?

-Tim Petlock
petlock@turing.org
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai)
Subject: Re: Another University Exam One
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 00:26:08 GMT

egilmour@ac.dal.ca asks:

>Sitting in my exam today the professor beat to death that we should read
>the entire exam first. This sparked a memory of a grade six science teacher
>that told us naive eleven year olds to always remember to read the entire
>exam because when he was in university they once had this really long
>exam that went on for over ten pages. And when he turned over to seventh
>question on page six it started by saying "IGNORE ALL QUESTIONS BEFORE
>THIS ONE"
>Anyone else heard this one?

	Heard it?   I've seen it.  My sister showed me an exam
she took in nursing school.  For some reason I guess THEY think
it is important for nurses to know how to follow directions.

Jon "10 CC LSD for this one. STAT." Papai
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: mkjensen@IASTATE.EDU (Martha K (Puester) Jensen)
Subject: Re: Traffic Light UL's
Reply-To: mkjensen@IASTATE.EDU (Martha K (Puester) Jensen)
Organization: Iowa State University
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 17:46:27 GMT


I used to live in San Diego, where they have the sensors on the
traffic light poles.  While most of the sensors could not be triggered
by flashing high beams, there was one particular one that could be.

The traffic light in question was located at the crest of a hill
(Genesee and Torrey Pines Road, FYI), and we found that if the car's
lights were flashed at the right point when coming up the hill, that the
light would change.  I have no idea whether this particular sensor
was just easier to trip than others, or if it was due to the hill causing
the headlight beams to be higher and actually hit the sensor, but it did
work, and I can provide witnesses...

Martha

ObUL  The word posh actually is an acronym for Port Out, Sherry Home, 
referring to the drink lists of first class passengers.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: lmh@world.std.com (Larry M Headlund)
Subject: Intermittent wipers was Re: ring-pulls/ cats-eyes
Summary: True facts 
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 00:08:07 GMT

In article <1992Dec17.185557.18916@bert.eecs.uic.edu> artn@bert.eecs.uic.edu (Stephan Meyers) writes:
>>>And I understand that the person who patented intermittent wipers is getting
>>>rich as he progressively sues and settles out of court with car manufacturers.
>
>	Actually, the story as I heard it was that the case was recently settled
>with several automakers as a group, after 30 years of litigation, during which
>the original inventor died.  His heirs are rich.

	1.  The inventor is still alive.

	2.  He this year won one case against an auto manufacturer and is 
	    in the process of sueing others.

	3.  His one victory did NOT make him rich as his expenses were almost
            as big as the award.

-- 
Larry Headlund  lmh@world.std.com    Eikonal Systems (617) 482-3345
From: twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Pluto (was Re: Mnemonics)
Date: 12 Dec 1992 21:37:14 GMT
Organization: Department of Redundancy Department
Distribution: world
Reply-To: TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.12.117

RE
  +>And, from what I remember from astronomy, possibly cooked. I can't
  +>remember the name of the scientist...I'm remembering Lowell, but
  +>I'm not real confident of that.
 
jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (Ad absurdum per aspera) writes:

  +Close, in a way.  It was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1929, some
  +years after his predecessor Lowell concluded that Neptune was not
  +enough to account for small perturbations observed in the orbit
  +of Uranus.  

And, I recall hearing a little story that Pluto was also used
because the first two letters were the same as Lowell's initials.


Terry "Cute" Chan
--
Energy and Environment Division   | Internet:  TWChan@lbl.gov
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory      | 
Berkeley, California  USA  94720  | Carpe Per Diem
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31641 rec.arts.startrek.misc:12871
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.startrek.misc
Subject: Re: Mnemonics
From: system@codewks.nacjack.gen.nz (Wayne McDougall)
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 92 15:43:45 NZST
Organization: The Code Works Limited, PO Box 10 155, Auckland, New Zealand

quetzal@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au (Quetzal) writes:

> part of its orbit.  Pluto's mean distance from the sun is still quite a
> lot bigger than Neptune's.
> 
> (If you are wondering if there is the possibility of the two colliding
> when their distances from the sun are the same, the answer is no, as the
> two planets' orbits are inclined to each other at about 17 degrees.
> They don't get close at all.)

Oh YEAH? The planes do intersect, and there is supposed to be a collision
or near miss in about 4 billion years. Working backwards they should also
have collided about 2 billion years ago (c. 1/2 the estimated age of the
solar system). Some people speculate that Pluto is an asteroid that was
captured by Neptune at this time.

The theory that Pluto was an escaped moon of Pluto (which escaped at that
same time) was discredited.

This is going to startrek. My newsreader doesn't let me change that, and I
thought some of you out there'd be interested anyway, or may have better
information.

OBUl1: If you sneeze with your eyes open, your eyes will pop out.

OBUl2: The machine that goes *PING* on the bridge of NCC-1701 is the most
expensive machine on the WHOLE ship, and was sold to the Klingon High Command
and then leased back.

OBUl3: The matter transporter WOULD have been the most expensive machine on
the WHOLE ship if there were economies of scale [more than one], Starfleet
had shelled out for one that was reliable, and it went *PING* [which it
doesn't].


Incoming flames! Activate the force wall Zen.


-- 
  Wayne McDougall, BCNU
  This .sig unintentionally left blank.

Hello! I'm a .SIG Virus. Copy me and spread the fun.
From: styri@hal.nta.no (YuNoHoo)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: More flashing light ULs
Date: 16 Dec 92 14:06:29 GMT
Reply-To: styri@nta.no
Organization: Bohemians and Globetrotters, Unlimited

In article <Krzysztof.0nvl@netxsys.guild.org>, Krzysztof@netxsys.guild.org
(Krzysztof Adamski) writes:
>
> In Mississauga, Canada most traffic lights have a light sensor that responds
> to a light signal that looks like a strobe light. This strobe lights are mounted
> on fire trucks. The frequency of the strobe light is kept secret. [...]
                                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^

Oh boy! I don't really care about the frequency, but plase tell me how they
can keep a secret like that. (Joking about what frequency - the strobe or
the light is tempting...)

> So if sombody can flash brights at the same frequency then they will not have
> to ever be waiting for the lights to change.

Even if the light doesn't "look like a strobe light"? 

---
YuNoHoo  "nit pickers are needed to keep the nit mills running"
Organization: Junior, Math/Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 23:10:26 -0500 
From: "Stephen M. Lacy" <sl31+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Electric Field Question


On a different note -- I've always heard people talking about the
dangers of EMF fields, now, what about pigeons?  They love to sit on
those high-voltage wires that run around Hometown,USA  But, how often do
you see this dead bloated pigeon carcus that died from cancer?  

(On another note, where do pigeons go when they die?  I'm assuming that
there are literally millions of them in places like NYC, yet you rarely
see a dead one.)  
"I don't like much really, do I?  But what I do like, I love
passionately!" -Pet Shop Boys

Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31649 ba.politics:7827 ca.politics:10449 talk.politics.misc:64908
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,ba.politics,ca.politics,talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: They used to think...
From: system@codewks.nacjack.gen.nz (Wayne McDougall)
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 92 16:37:30 NZST
Organization: The Code Works Limited, PO Box 10 155, Auckland, New Zealand

ashall@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Andrew S Hall) writes:

> .  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 know a real strong candidate for the origin of this belief.
> Check out Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear "anthropological"
> novels. In the first one, it is unmistakably represented
> that this tribe hasn't the fainted clue about the connection
> between sex and childbirth. A lot of people seem to accept these
> novels as being more than just fiction.

Sorry I heard this story about "primitive"
tribes before Clan of the Cave Bear.


-- 
  Wayne McDougall, BCNU
  This .sig unintentionally left blank.

Hello! I'm a .SIG Virus. Copy me and spread the fun.
From: sasbmt@jjoyce.unx.sas.com (Bruce Tindall)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Legal language
Date: 19 Dec 92 17:27:46 GMT
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.
Originator: sasbmt@jjoyce.unx.sas.com


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.

I'll steer clear of that, but it is true that one of the translators
of the Jerusalem Bible was J.R.R. Tolkein.  (Just look in the front
of any copy, where they list the translators.)  This explains why its
23rd Psalm contains, instead of the more familiar but incorrect "my
cup runneth over," the verse "the hair on my toes grows longer."

Bruce "riverrun, past Eve and Frodo's, brings us in a commodius
vicus of recirculation back" Tindall
-- 
Bruce Tindall, Core Testing Mgr., SAS Institute Inc., Cary, N.C. 27513
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.college
From: ewagoner@nmt.edu (A Hoopy Frood Who Always Knows Where His Towel Is)
Subject: Inventor Profs
Organization: New Mexico Tech
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 20:45:16 GMT

In article <00965274.8ED1DA80@vms.csd.mu.edu> 2ck1racicr@vms.csd.mu.edu writes:
>
>Well up here in Marquette, we have a chem prof who gets paid the biggest
>salary I've ever seen. A big Fat Dollar.
>	He has a pile of money. He invented the sticky crap om
>scoth tape and latex paint.
>
Here, we've got the guy who invented nylon. A reclusive chem prof.
Local Folklore says he's given every penny of the scads of money he
makes to the Mormon church.

We've also got the guy who invented the Niccotine patch. Our dean of
students until this year. His checks just started rolling in (split
50-50 with the school). WOW!

eric
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
From: swk004@marshall.wvnet.edu
Date: 18 Dec 92 13:13:11 -0500
Organization: Marshall University

Back to business names and signs, across the street from (or very near
to) the Performing Art Center (ballet, opera, symphonies, etc.) in 
Milwaukee, was Art's Performing Center (topless, g-strings, cheap 
guns.)

I have no idea if Art's is still there.  I don't care.

Connie (who knows from experience the weird feeling of being 
the only fully dressed female in a crowd of men and near-naked women)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.startrek.misc
From: k206027@smog.DKRZ-Hamburg.DE (Bakayaroo Banzai)
Subject: Re: Sex, the Final Frontier?
Organization: Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum GmbH, Hamburg
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 09:26:56 GMT

In article <lj05n6INNago@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> trelford@trelford.Eng.Sun.COM (Trelford Pinkerton) writes:
>
>Now that Terry has raised the question of lust-crazed trekkies,
>I would like to ask for further elucidation myself.
>
>First, what is the etiquette concerning the use of the holodeck?
>Would it be frowned upon if Cmdr Riker ordered the computer to
>produced the likenesses of Deanna Troi and Dr "Ball" Crusher,
>both dressed as leather-clad fetish-inducing hose monkeys?
>
>What if Wesley did this?  What if the captain did it, and ordered
>the image of Wesley to watch?
>
The image of Wesley would then be entitled to free therapeutic
counseling sessions with the image of Counselor Troi.

>I saw the Captain call up an Arabian horse on the holodeck for
>him to ride, just a few days ago.  What if he extended his "riding"
>to other mammals?  Space can be pretty lonely, and no one can
>hear you cream.
>
>Why does Whoopi Goldberg always appear in a funny hat?
>
To distract you from the fact that she has *no* eyebrows
whatsoever.

>Doesn't anyone ever give in to the urge to scramble Data's diodes
>by running a powerful magnet over the back of his head?
>
>Personally, I felt that "Dr Who" is better -- which is not saying much.
>
Sacrilege! Please go off in the corner and abase yourself with a 
Sonic Screwdriver!
From: jane@soave.swdc.stratus.com (Jane Beckman)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: McDonalds and IRA?
Date: 12 Dec 92 01:25:34 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc., San Jose, CA

No, no, it was MacDonald's contributing to the IRS. 
And believe me, I'm sure they pay more taxes most!  Do you
know how much megabusiness they do?!

Of course, since I haven't heard of a MacDonalds pension plan,
they probably encourage employees to contribute to their
IRAs...
--
  Jilara   [jane@swdc.stratus.com]

"The field of pseudo-science hasn't progressed much in ten
years, except to gain access to the net." --from ca.earthquakes
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: datepper@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (David Aaron Tepper)
Subject: Re: Poisoned Cocaine Legend?
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 02:05:21 GMT

Actually, the way I heard it, my mother would always warn me
against street dealers who sell drugs--"They put _rat_poison_
in those things!"

Turns out strychnine is used as rat poison--a fatal dose makes
the victim extremely sensitive. The sound of a door slamming,
for example, will cause repeated convulsions that can be fatal.
In small doses, though, I believe strychnine is used
to enhance the effect of cocaine.

Elaborations and corrections and... oh heck, flames too... welcome.

Tep
-- 
Did you really think I spoke for anyone else? Boy, you're gullible!
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31466 rec.arts.startrek.misc:12784
From: twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.startrek.misc
Subject: Re: Sex, the Final Frontier?
Date: 17 Dec 1992 07:53:10 GMT
Organization: Department of Redundancy Department
Reply-To: TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.12.117

In reply to a query of mine on hot blooded trekkie culture:

cep@taligent.com (Christophe Pettus) writes:

  +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.

So Christope, are you saying that TNG is inferior to the TOS 
because it doesn't inspire the same sort of quivering of the 
loins of its followers?  What do you attribute this outcome
to?  The contrast in uniforms?  Dull and unimaginative plots?
Inconsistent use of technology and basic laws of physics?
Lousy makeup?

Terry "Enquiring..er..minds want to know" Chan

--
Energy and Environment Division   | Internet:  TWChan@lbl.gov
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory      | 
Berkeley, California  USA  94720  | Carpe Per Diem
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31331 ba.politics:7753 ca.politics:10371 talk.politics.misc:64456