HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (JOSEPH T CHEW)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Hoover Dam (was The wacky, flakey State)
Summary: We interrupt this legend to bring you a sort of commercial
Date: 8 Apr 92 21:35:45 GMT
Article-I.D.: dog.22581
Reply-To: jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.198
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4

You can also buy a book entitled The Story of Hoover Dam at the 
souvenir booth.  As a science and technology writer, I was 
surprised and pleased to find that it was:

(a) based on a series of period trade-journal articles, not a bunch
    of latter-day hokum from somebody's tourism board, and
(b) written with the combination of clarity and economical grace
    you would expect from only the best science magazines today.

Knowing how it was done only reinforces the sense of awe I feel
every time I top that last ridge on US 93 and see the thing. If 
you have the old-fashioned and vaguely nerdy ability to be moved
by grand engineering achievements, both the drive and the book are 
highly recommended.

Just don't buy any gerbils in Nevada and smuggle them into California.

ObUL:  You show me a reservoir and I'll show you a bodacious gob 
of mud that will eventually get so big  somebody will have to do
something about it.  (But not for several generations yet.)

--Joe
"Just another personal opinion from the People's Republic of Berkeley"
From: twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Scallops: Seafood or Spinefood?
Date: 9 Apr 92 01:16:41 GMT
Article-I.D.: dog.22591
Reply-To: twchan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Organization: Myrtle's Marauders
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.12.117

In article <1992Apr7.182554.5290@opusc.csd.scarolina.edu> 
	peter@opusc.csd.scarolina.edu (Peter Hoffman) writes:
 
  [Test to determine scallops vs. skates by examination of fibers deleted]
 
  +Has anyone ever found a fake scallop using this test?  I never have.
  +If this is true, does anyone have good recipes for skate wings?  (A
  +multi-pound scallop, cheap -- WOW!)
  +
  +Peter Hoffman

Sushi.


Terry "Sashimi, if you're really pressed for time" Chan
--
================================================================================
INTERNET:  twchan@lbl.gov              BITNET:  twchan@lbl.bitnet
  "I think it's stupid. We collect all these business cards, and it turns
                    out nobody wants them."
From: Jay.Ashworth@f160.n3603.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jay Ashworth)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: FCC URBAN LEGENDS
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 92 12:19:00 EDT
Organization: FidoNet node 1:3603/160 - Hacker's Haven, Clearwater FL

In a msg of <Sunday April 12 1992>, tjw@vm2.cis.pitt.edu wrote to All:

 >> Someone also asked if the assignment of "N" to the US has to do with the
 >> fact that aircraft numbers also begin with "N".  I doubt it.  All the
 >> aircraft call letters begin with K or W, too.  Unless I missed something
 >> in the list, "N" is restricted to amateur radio.

Different things.  Aircraft identification numbers are issued by the FAA, and don't directly relate to the aircraft's radio set.

 tcpe> Every plane I've ever used had an "N" callsign.  "N7892W" was the call
 tcpe> sign that we used on our Piper Cherokee back in the 60s.

All American registered aircraft are assigned AIN's beginning with N.  Other countries use different letters, in a scheme administered by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

 tcpe> The FCC decides to "crack down" on those control towers and airplanes
 tcpe> that don't use their FULL call letters for every transmission.  (After
 tcpe> initial contact, it was customary to call "N7892W" just "92W"
 tcpe> (actually spoken as "Niner Two Wiskey"))  Technically, this was a
 tcpe> violation as "92W" was not the proper call.  But it made life easier
 tcpe> for all concerned.

Yes indeed, it does.  In fact, if you, as a pilot, try to give your full call on every transmission (except in circumstances, for example, where there are _two_ 0 0 Foxtrots in the same control area), what you'll end up with is a room full of _very_ pissed off controllers.

 tcpe> So the FCC Enforcers go to an airport and begin "sighting" a number of
 tcpe> pilots and control tower operators.  When the case comes to court, the
 tcpe> judge who hears the case happens to be a HAM radio operator and throws
 tcpe> the case out of court, saying that it's bullsh*t.
 tcpe> He then embarrasses the FCC officials by asking them if they are now
 tcpe> arresting pilots since they have done such a great job cleaning up 11
 tcpe> meters (the CB Band) that they have nothing better to do!

Indeed.  Nobody ever said the FCC had their shit together...

Cheers,
-- jra

--  
Internet: Jay.Ashworth@f160.n3603.z1.FIDONET.ORG
UUCP: ...!uunet!myrddin!tct!psycho!160!Jay.Ashworth
Note:psycho is a free gateway between Usenet & Fidonet. For info write to
     root@psycho.fidonet.org.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: daniell@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Daniel Large)
Subject: Re: Falling Bullets
Organization: Sydney University Computing Service, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 05:42:26 GMT

derek@fivegl.co.nz (Derek Tearne) writes:

>In article <1992Apr8.134711.28085@sunova.ssc.gov> chuck_adams@qmail.ssc.gov (Chuck Adams) writes:
>>In article <1992Apr6.204125.3576@fivegl.co.nz> derek@fivegl.co.nz (Derek 
>>Tearne) (Me)writes:
>>
>>Much talk of Space Shuttle/speed of sound/falling objects etc. deleted
>>
>>> 2) The speed of sound in air varies depending on exactly how much 
>>> air there is and is much higher at higher altitudes. Therefore Terminal
>>> velocity is greater at higher altitudes.
>>
>>Reading this paragraph would indicate that you believe that Terminal 
>>Velocity (tm) is somehow related to the speed of sound in air.  It is not. 
>> Terminal Velocity (tm) would be higher at higher altitudes only because 
>>the density of air is less.  The speed of sound at higher altitudes is 
>>also higher, also due to the fact that the density of air at the higher 
>>altitude is less, but the two are not directly related.

>[SHEEPISH MODE ON]

>Re-reading my paragraph it would certainly appear that I implied a 
>relationship between the speed of sound and terminal velocity.

>That was not my intention. The two things are completely unrelated.
>It is my belief that the speed of sound is different at altitude. I am
>sure that terminal velocity varies with the density of the medium and 
>therefore altitude. I DO NOT believe that the speed of sound has any
>affect whatsoever on terminal velocity. I shall now cut of the fingers
>which typed ahead of my brain. Sorry.

>[SHEEPISH MODE OFF]

>Typing with some different fingers which I had lying around doing nothing.
>Is it really true that density of medium has nothing to do with the
>speed of sound? 
>Can anyone tell me the speed of sound in the following 
>a: Vacuum
>b: Air ( at 18C and sea level )
>c: Water
>d: Steel

>I would look it up but my book of data is in England. Will have to get 
>it sent to me.

a) Sound does not travel in a vacuum - remember in space no one can
hear you scream.
b) About 330 metres per second
c) About 1500 metres per second (this is typical of the ocean)
d) I have no idea my guess (based on the sped in rocks) would be about
5000 meters per second.


Daniel

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Subject: Reggie Jackson
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Distribution: world,local
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 23:55:50 GMT

In article <1992Apr11.154142.1@violet.ccit.arizona.edu> f67709317@violet.ccit.arizona.edu (Greg Franklin) writes:
>ObUL: Winston Churchill once stayed in the same hotel as Reggie Jackson.
>Churchill happened to walk into the same elevator as the ballplayer, who
>had a Doberman pinscher on a leash.  The elevator door closed, and Reggie
>commanded, "Sit, Lady!"  Churchill looked sharply at Reggie.  "I said that
>to Lady Astor once," and he puked all over the Doberman.  The next morning,
>Reggie sent a fine breakfast up to Churchill's room, along with a note of
>apology for upsetting the former Prime Minister so badly. 

Now, I know there's a UL about Reggie Jackson's dog, 'cause Dave Barry
used it in a column where he exhibited snoping.  But I don't know what
it is.  Could someone elucidate?

While you're at it, if someone could post the joke that Kerrey told about
Brown, I'll respond by posting the name of George Bush's alleged mistress.

ObUL:  Gennifer Flowers dots her i's with a heart.
-- 
Ted Frank          + "He wanted to be the car rather than the thimble or the
1307 E 60 St, #109 +  hat."  -- District attorney explaining Marc Cienkowski's
U o' C Law Skool   +  murder with bow and arrow of Michael Klucznik in
Chi, IL 60637      +  Doylestown Borough, PA over a game of Monopoly.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: berger@atropa (Mike Berger)
Subject: Re: Iron in blood setting off metal detectors
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 15:25:27 GMT

tjw@vm2.cis.pitt.edu writes:
>See how much rust (iron oxide) will stick to a magnet.
*----

A pretty substantial amount, apparently.  Just look at the heads
of a well-used tape recorder.

If iron compounds don't have magnetic properties, I wonder how
magnetic recording tape works?
--
	Mike Berger
	Department of Statistics, University of Illinois
	AT&TNET     217-244-6067
	Internet    berger@atropa.stat.uiuc.edu
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:12098 alt.mcdonalds:436
From: steinar@faust.solan.unit.no (Cindy Kandolf)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.mcdonalds
Subject: Re: McMouse!
Date: 11 Apr 92 12:03:04 GMT
	<1992Apr10.122830.407@cs.yale.edu>
Organization: Flodnak, Inc., Trondheim, Norway

<Discussion of whether your hand would stick to a hot grill - yuck - deleted>

When i was working at a fast food place that shall remain nameless (except
for those of you in Pittsburgh it's the one on the ground floor of the
Cathedral of Learning), one of the cooks leaned against the side of
a warming cabinet (used for holding biscuits and such).  His hand was
pretty badly burned, but he didn't stick.  He also tried to impress us
girls later by claiming it didn't hurt, but those of us who had heard his
scream didn't believe it.  Particularly since i heard it while sweeping
the floor in a far corner of the dining room.

Yet another case, which happened in a place where i had worked but happened
after i quit.  (I heard this from the manager, and i don't think she'd make
this up, but no promises.)  One of the guys was supposed to empty the fat
out of the fry vat.  As you may know the stuff is solid at room temperature,
so the easiest way to empty it is to do it while the stuff is still warm,
hence liquid.  This guy wanted to get it over with so he did it while the
fat was still VERY hot, about the same temp as they use to fry stuff in.
He put a bucket under the drain and opened up the drain.  However, genius
boy forgot to close the drain when he switched buckets.... Hot fat all
over and through his shoe.  Urgh.

And then there's the time i slipped and fell in the refrigerator and had
ketchup all over me, but i think that's enough fun for one day.

-Cindy Kandolf
 cindy@solan.unit.no
 Trondheim, Norway
 ...and i never want to work in a fast food place again as long as i live.
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:11842 alt.folklore.science:1354
From: robin@lsl.co.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: FCC Call letters
Date: 8 Apr 92 12:58:18 GMT
Organization: Laser-Scan Ltd., Cambridge

In article <167C27123.MEDELMA@cms.cc.wayne.edu>, MEDELMA@cms.cc.wayne.edu (Michael Edelman) writes:
> Amateurs used to have an 11 meter band (27 MHz) as well as a 5 meter
> band (100 MHz). TVs used to include a channel 1 around 54 MHz. [...]

I assume this is a special dispensation for amateurs in the USA.  In 
Europe, we keep the speed of light the same for 27MHz as for 100MHz.  
Thus a 100MHz band would be a 3 metre band, round here ;-)
-- 
Robin Fairbairns, Senior Consultant, postmaster and general dogsbody
Laser-Scan Ltd., Science Park, Milton Rd., Cambridge CB4 4FY, UK
Email: robin@lsl.co.uk  --or--  rf@cl.cam.ac.uk
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: FURRJK@vtvm1.cc.vt.edu (Joel Furr)
Subject: Lemurs
Organization: The Ohio State University Department of Computer and Information Science
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 22:30:28 GMT

Kim Greer (klg@mc.duke.edu) says that natives in the rainforests of
Madagascar think that lemurs are gods or godlike.  She goes on to say
that she has performed a medical operation on a lemur, and mentions that
its name happened to be Nigel.  I have two questions for Ms. Greer, and
perhaps these will spark some discussion on the net.

My first question is this: Having associated with lemurs, did you find them
to be benevolent gods?  Were you richly rewarded for your help to the lemur
named Nigel?

My second question has to do with Nigel himself.  Is Nigel a common name
among lemurs?  How did Nigel come to have this name?
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:11708 alt.folklore.science:1344
From: frank@rover.uchicago.edu (Frank - Hardware Hacker - Borger)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: CATV monitoring, Tempest screening (was Re: FCC Call letters)
Date: 7 Apr 92 22:39:00 GMT
Reply-To: @rover.uchicago.edu
Organization: Joint Center for Radiation Therapy
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <PZS.92Apr7144019@ficus.webo.dg.com>, pzs@ficus.webo.dg.com (Peter Z. Simpson) writes...
>    The *white* van was in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago. It
>had a long low antenna on the roof. I knew exactly what it was. ....

	They would have really been chugged at what happened last fall out
	in my Wisconsin shack, where long rang antennas with rotors, (aim
	for Milwaukee, Chicago, Rockford, or Madison,) are being replaced by
	cable. Some dude managed to connect his cable feed to his ANTENNA.

	Noticed it 'cause there was a channel 3 where there was no channel
	before, and the kids were watching the Disney channel.

+---_      Frank R. Borger - Physicist     Internet:  Frank@rover.uchicago.edu
|__|_)  Michael Reese  - Univ. of Chicago  Phone : 312-791-8075 fax : 567-7455
|  | \ _  Center for Radiation Therapy
|     |_)   2929 South Ellis Avenue        Bachelor; A man who never made the
      |_)   Chicago, Illinois 60616        same mistake once!
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Perot Info: Biography of Ross Perot
Keywords: Perot biography
Date: 9 Apr 92 01:33:04 GMT
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations

In article <1992Apr8.143730.5836@mcs.anl.gov> goldman@atlantis.eid.anl.gov writes:
>Perot has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including:
>
>The Winston Churchill Award. Perot was the third recipient and the only  
>businessman to receive this award, given to those who best exemplify the  
>imagination, boldness, and vigor of the late British prime minister. 

Does this get him the a.f.u. vote?  Will he Bushuhuru in Japan?
-- 
Ted Frank          + "A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it
1307 E 60 St, #109 +  is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in
U o' C Law Skool   +  color and content according to the circumstances and
Chi, IL 60637      +  the time in which it is used."  --  Holmes
From: steinar@faust.solan.unit.no (Cindy Kandolf)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Iron in blood setting off metal detectors
Date: 16 Apr 92 11:42:38 GMT
Organization: Flodnak, Inc., Trondheim, Norway

snopes writes (NOT snoping this time, dash it all..):
> Journalists have been trying to
>come up with such a unifying theory -- one that relates UFOs, Elvis, Bigfoot,
>Nessie, microwaved poodles, and Satan -- for years, but with little success.

That one's easy.  Elvis was Bigfoot and Nessie's love child.  As we know,
he is not really dead, but the TRUTH is - and this is the truth now -
he's doing research for a.f.u (no, it's TRUE!!!  I read it in the paper
s it MUST be true!)  He's finding out what happens if you actually 
put a poodle in the microwave.  However, since the SPCA would be on his
back if he did this here on earth, he rented a UFO to use as a 
laboratory.  (Everyone who buys Elvis records is therefore indirectly 
subsidising microwave poodle research.)  When he does decide to take
a vacation and come down to earth, he designs costumes for Let's Make a
Deal contestants.  And all the unclaimed goats left outside the LMAD
studio after experiments to show whether you should switch doors or not
are snapped up by teenage Satanists, who have lately taken to using
whisperized helicopters to avoid detection.

What do i win?

-Cindy Kandolf
 cindy@solan.unit.no
 Trondheim, Norway
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jrd5@po.CWRU.Edu (Jacob DeGlopper)
Subject: Re: Genuine cow tipper
Reply-To: jrd5@po.CWRU.Edu (Jacob DeGlopper)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 92 00:34:23 GMT


In a previous article, rescorla@rtnmr.chem.yale.edu (Eric Rescorla) says:

>Target: A Cow (Never a BULL!!!!), asleep in the vertical position.
>Action: Good running start if your small like me. Lower shoulder into
>shoulder of cow (or rump if you prefer). Some people can simply approach
>cow slowly and tip. Never hit cow in the midsection as ribs may be 
>delicate (for the safety concerned tipper).
>Result: Cow on ground in vertical position...many times STILL sleeping!
>
>Anne notes that it should read "horizontal" not "vertical."
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Why?  The given result sounds perfectly correct to me; you'll stand there
looking like a fool while the cow stands there and sleeps on...

-- 

           Jacob DeGlopper, EMT-A, Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad
            -- CWRU Biomedical Engineering - jrd5@po.cwru.edu --
From: slb3y@cc.usu.edu (Unterhund)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Today's conspiracy theory
Date: 9 Apr 92 00:28:39 GMT
Article-I.D.: cc.1992Apr8.182839.54314
Organization: United Order of Non-joiners

In article <1992Apr8.195601.918@beaver.cs.washington.edu>,
mckenzie@cs.washington.edu (Neil McKenzie) writes:
>>In <ku1q2tINN2ma@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> linden@positive.Eng.Sun.COM
(Peter van der Linden) writes:
>>
>>>    3.  Carnivores are three times likelier to get colon cancer
> 
> "Diet For a New America" by John Robbins has significant evidence to
> support claims like this.  Read the book; it would take too much
> much bandwidth to post all the relevant bits.  Summary: cancer rates
> correlate directly with fat intake.  Suffice to say that I eat differently
> now since reading this book.
> 
     I have three classes this quarter:  statistics, research methods,
and survey design.  All three instructors would be glad to call you on
this one.  Allow me to sum up what each of them would no doubt tell
you:

CORRELATION DOES NOT INDICATE CAUSATION

Patrick "Thank you for your time" Clark
-- 
Patrick S. Clark | "Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you."
slb3y@cc.usu.edu |  _Can_You_Picture_That?_
slb3y@usu        |   Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem 
Disclaimer:  I'm a Masters candidate.  Only freshmen know everything.
From: morris@anasaz (Bob Morris)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Falling Bullets
Date: 13 Apr 92 16:50:40 GMT
Organization: Anasazi, Inc.  Phoenix, Az

In article <12095@tamsun.tamu.edu> glp7584@tamuts.tamu.edu (Gordon Lee Powell Jr) writes:
>
>Reading this paragraph would indicate that you believe that the speed of 
>sound is somehow related to the density of the air.  It is not.

When I was in PHY290 a few years ago, the instructor did a demonstration
showing that the pitch of a tone produced by a tube (like an organ pipe)
was dependent on the length of the tube and the speed of sound.  The first
part was to use a long tube (low pitch) and a short tube (high pitch).
He then asked the class for another way to change the pitch.  I turned
to my friend Bobb and said quietly, "Why don't you change the speed of
sound?"  We both burst out laughing when he said, "I will change the
speed of sound."  The class thought we were crazy for laughing at this,
but he proceeded to change the speed of sound by changing the density of
air.  He did this by changing the composition of air from mostly nitrogen
with a little oxygen and other stuff to one of mostly helium.

Changing the temperature is one way to change the speed of sound.  It
accomplishes this by changing the density.  If you still think that the
speed of sound is not somehow related to the density, inhale the contents
of a helium baloon and say it again.

Bob "must have been a good demonstration, I remember it" 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: patrick@is.rice.edu (Patrick L Humphrey)
Subject: Re: New Madras Fault Was: Scallops
Summary: Make that New Madrid.
Organization: Rice University
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 03:18:06 GMT

In article <1992Apr6.001157.21333@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) writes:
>In article <7937@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> nall@sun8.scri.fsu.edu (John Nall) writes:
>>
>>   Changing the subject....for a REAL afu, my grandmother claims that
>>HER grandmother experienced an earthquake in Mississippi back in the
>>early 1800's and no amount of explaining about continential drift, fault
>>lines, and the Pacific Ring of Fire will convince her otherwise :-)
>>
>
>Listen to your grandmother.  There was a very large quake on the
>New Madras fault, near St. Louis, in the early 19th century.

Try New Madrid, down in the boot heel of Missouri, about 100 miles up-river
from Memphis and 200 down-river from St. Louis, where the great 1811 quake
occurred.

>The quake shifted the river in places, and is one of the reasons that
>the states bordering the Missippi tend to include little pieces on the
>wrong side.

About all the 1811 shake did to the Mississippi was to open up a fissure for
it to flow into up in northwest Tennessee, which is why we have Reelfoot
Lake up there today.  The river's natural change of course is why the state
lines don't follow the river exactly -- the river moves, the state lines
don't.

>There will be another quake there some day.  The locals will have no idea
>in the world how to handle it.

That's a good bet, considering that in 1811 there weren't many locals to
speak of -- but today, there are three or four million people within a
100-mile radius of New Madrid.  It's not a place I want to be in the event
of The Big One occurring.  (The 1811 quake is estimated, since the Richter
scale hadn't been thought of yet, to be of equal or greater force than the
San Francisco quake of 1906.)

>Phil "Of course, we Californians respond to quakes with 'Hmf. About a
>4.6'" Gustafson

At least you're on the edge of a plate that's going somewhere -- the folks
along the Mississippi get to be right in the middle of a developing rift
valley...


-- 
Patrick L. Humphrey  (patrick@is.rice.edu)  Rice Networking & Computing Systems
  +1 713 528-3626 at Rice. 713 776-1541 at home. 713 527-4056 at Willy's Pub.

                              Skate or die, m0ez.   
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban