HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Carbonated Beverages
Date: 14 Apr 92 02:35:32 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

In article <kuhl2hINNdpt@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>, linden@positive.Eng.Sun.COM (Peter van der Linden) writes...
>ObUL:  Can anyone knowledgeable confirm or refute the theory that
>squeezing the sides of a partly-consumed soda bottle to expel the air
>before screwing the cap back, does not in fact keep the remaining
>soda from going flat, if anything it speeds the process.

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.

The higher the partial pressure of a gas there is, the more of that gas will
dissolve in a fluid the gas is soluable in.  To keep your soda fizzy, you
want to keep the partial pressure of CO2 high.  Now if you have a lot of
space in the bottle (a small amount in a 3 litre bottle) lots of CO2 can escape
and not change the percentage of CO2/air in the bottle much, so the partial
pressure of CO2 doesn't rise much, so the soda goes flat.  Now, if you collapse
the bottle, the total pressure inside the bottle goes down as the bottle tries
to expand back into shape, so the partial pressure of CO2 goes *down*, so
the soda goes flat faster.  Now, if you can collapse the bottle _and
prevent it from expanding_, the total pressure does *not* go down, but the
total volume of air space does go down, so less CO2 will escape before the
partial pressure of CO2 goes high enough to prevent more escape, so the soda
doesn't go flat as fast.  It will still go a little flat each time it's opened,
though.

Conclusion:  Don't collapse the bottle unless you keep it collapsed, for the
fizziest soda.

-Mike
From: tjw@vm2.cis.pitt.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: California Uber Alles?
Date: 11 Apr 92 04:49:33 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Apr10.191610.1@acfcluster.nyu.edu>, axd7104@acfcluster.nyu.edu writes:

> In article <1992Apr10.000155.1@vm2.cis.pitt.edu>, tjw@vm2.cis.pitt.edu writes:


>> I didn't know that Bill Clinton had net access!!!!
>> 
>> Terry "Nice try, Bill" Wood

> Nice try yourself, asshole.

Wow! What a comeback!

>I asked the questions in all seriousness.
> Oh, BTW, A) I voted for Tsongas, B) Jerry's tactics worked really well
> here in New York, didn't they? :smirk:

You'll never get to be President, Bill, voting for Tsongas.

Terry "Vote Early, Vote Often" Wood
From: de@moscom.UUCP (David Esan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Run out of town on a rail
Date: 10 Apr 92 20:07:02 GMT
Reply-To: de@moscom.UUCP (David Esan)
Organization: Moscom Corp., Pittsford, NY

In article <9204080113.AA09513@echidna.swdc.stratus.com> jane@STRATUS.SWDC.STRATUS.COM (Jane Beckman) writes:

About how nasty the rail is when you are run out of town on it.


Consider also the great horrors of tarring someone.  A person is covered
by hot tar.  The pain must have been intense, and removing it with the available
lye soap also difficult.


-- 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -->     David Esan      de@moscom.com  
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: chuck_adams@qmail.ssc.gov (Chuck Adams)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Carbonated Beverages
Date: 16 Apr 92 15:21:12 GMT
Organization: Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory

In article <1992Apr14.155034.23530@PA.dec.com> 
mikkelson@breakr.enet.dec.com (snopes) writes:
> 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

I was told we wouldn't have to listen to any snoping in this group.

               Chuck Adams,  WB5WRR   (The Chuckster)
                Internet:  chuck_adams@qmail.ssc.gov
   Disclaimer:  Not an official document of DOE, SSCL, URA or EG&G
                   "Curses!  Flamed Again"  - me
From: rescorla@rtnmr.chem.yale.edu (Eric Rescorla)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Genuine cow tipper
Date: 8 Apr 92 23:13:22 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.1992Apr8.231322.1525
Organization: Rescorla for himself.
Originator: rescorla@rtnmr.chem.yale.edu

Talk.abortion's very own Annelise Lilje....

The following description is posted with permission:


Easy. 

Time: Late in the evening and early morning.
Fuel: Hmmmm...I like Miller Genuine Draft but choose your own.
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."

-Ekr



-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Rescorla, DoD#431, Honda CM400 rider          rescorla@rtnmr.chem.yale.edu
Yale University Department of Chemistry            We hack anything.
My mind is now for rent: C/Unix,Vacuum Tech,Machining,P-Chemist. Hire me, eh? 
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Subject: Re: Taboo loot (was Re: VDB pennies (was Re: Initials on the Subway Token))
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 23:21:03 GMT

In article <unfjntn@Unify.Com> ceb@dbrus.Unify.Com (Caroline E. Bryan) writes:
>In article <31378@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> ecovingt@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Maiko Covington) writes:
>>Actually, while I hardly ever see $2 bills here in the USA, in Japan
>>they are quite plentiful. Whenever I changed money to buy some
>>dollars, I would get some $2 bills. I guess people here didn't like
>>them for one reason or another, and so they got sent overseas.
>
>$2 bills were more prevalent in the late 1800's, but they got a reputation
>for being unlucky unless you tore a corner off each when you got them.  Pass
>a $2 bill around often enough, and it'll reach someone who refuses to accept
>it because all 4 corners have been torn off and s/he can't avert the bad
>luck.  Since I first heard of this superstition when they came out again se-
>veral years ago, it may be that its recollection made it unattractive.

I heard the old $2 bills were considered unlucky because of the portrait
of Alexander Hamilton on them, so they were discontinued.  Somehow this
bad luck didn't transfer to the $10 bill.
-- 
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
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com ()
Subject: Re: Iron in blood setting off metal detectors
Reply-To: moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com ()
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 92 19:42:12 GMT


In article <1992Apr15.023602.8348@sleepy.UUCP>, chris@sleepy.UUCP (Chris Mills) writes:
|>A friend of mine says he read somewhere that there are people that accumulate
|>iron in their bodies to the extent that they set off metal detectors in
|>airports.  Anyone hear this?  Is it an U.L.?  Is it true???

Not true.  The iron in your blood isn't metallic iron, it's a compound, isn't
magnetic or conductive, and otherwise differs in many ways from metallic iron.

-Mike "but what about that steel plate in my head?" Moroney
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: david.lloyd-jones@rose.uucp (david lloyd-jones)
Subject: adium poisoning
Organization: Rose Media Inc, Toronto, Ontario.
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 10:58:00 GMT
X-Gated-By: Usenet <==> RoseMail Gateway (v1.2)


Date Entered: 04-05-92 14:38
Inspired poetically by: ae313406@vtcc1.cc.vt.edu (Vance Kochenderfer)
AE>Subject: Radium poisoning

AE>As for the workers glowing, I don't think this is possible, but
AE>then again I'm just an engineer, not a physicist...

AE>Anyone seeking more info can probably look it up under the "Radium
AE>Dial Co." or perhaps Ontario, CA.


There are a number of bath houses, in Japan, including one connected to
a large love hotel in Kawasaki, which advertise that their water
contains radium.

     -d "no idea how it affeects the love hotel" lj.
---
   SLMR 2.0   Unable to locate Coffee -- Operator Halted!
   RM 1.60: Usenet: Rose Media - Hamilton (416) 575-5363
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:11669 alt.folklore.science:1340
From: seawasp+@pitt.edu (Ryk E Spoor)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: Cable TV cheater spotters (was Re: FCC Call letters)
Date: 7 Apr 92 15:45:47 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Apr7.133344.23647@alf.uib.no> s082@brems.ii.uib.no (Ketil Malde) writes:
>And while we're at it, I always had this dream of jamming the police
>'radars' to show, say 300km/h while you're driving along at 30 :-)

	Used to wonder the same thing myself. I know you can JAM radar,
but I'm not sure if you can transmit to it so  that it reads what you want
it to. I would GUESS you probably could, though the gadget involved might
be VERY expensive.

>(I assume the radars work by emmitting sound, and measuring the frequency

	You assume wrong. That's SONAR. RADAR: RAdio Detection And Ranging.
SONAR: SONic detection And Ranging.

	Radar emits radio frequencies and measures their doppler shifts.
Same basic principle, but you're talking EM radiation, not sound.

				Sea Wasp
From: msolinas@micromed.net.netcom.com (Michael Solinas)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: "bullet" for illegal cable boxes.
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 92 22:11:32 PDT
Organization: Micro-Medic +1 408 280 1610

There was a lengthy message exchange on GEnie about the New York illegal 
boxes which were "hit by the bullet", stopped working, etc.  They were 
NOT the type for sale through mail order:  it was a very specific group 
of boxes which were targeted, and no physical damage to the boxes really 
occurred.  It is all hype promoted by the cable company.  Here's the real 
scoop:
The boxes were not mail order - they were "offered" to people by cable 
company installers.  The installer offered the box be "opened up" to 
allow access to all premium channels without pay, for a fee.  What the 
installers knew was that each box contained a prom with the box id - this 
prom was replaced with a copy of one with an ID for a user who paid for 
everything.  So - when the cable system polled the boxes, it would read 
the id number and allow access to all channels.
Here's how it was uncovered - the cable company has the capability to 
poll boxes, and this has been used mainly to find problems.  Well, they 
came up with multiple listings for one ID code, and figured out very 
quickly what was happening.  So, they simply "cancelled" that ID number.  
All of the bootleg boxes (plus the one legit one) stopped working, but 
where physically unharmed.  Some idiots DID call the cable company to 
complain, and wound up in hot water.
Now - boxes sold through the mail have the polling feature DISABLED.  The 
boxes cannot be spotted by the cable company as in the above example.

I am in no way advocating the use of pirate boxes.  It is illegal.  I 
just heard about this through the ham radio conference, and was 
interested in the reality behind the legend.  The cable company played up 
the lie that they could destroy pirate boxes.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
msolinas@micromed.net.netcom.com (Michael Solinas)
Micro-Medic BBS                                            (408) 280-1610

Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:11966 alt.folklore.science:1369
From: perry@Unify.Com (Perry Clarke)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: PC Hazard
Keywords: n
Date: 9 Apr 92 20:57:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: Unify.lgfjt2t
Distribution: na
Organization: Unify Corporation

w3wes@edison.gsfc.nasa.gov (William E. Smith) wrote:
>
>     I once ran across an account of a possible hazard to PC's.  It seems
>someone had their hard disk "wiped" during the trip home aboard one of
>Washington, DCs Metro Subway trains.
>
>     Any comments?
>
... cute 10 line sig deleted ...

My wife was told not to take company portable PCs on the London
Underground because the disk would be wiped.  After putting up with the
considerable inconvenience of *not* using the Tube a couple of times she
tried to find out what the basis for this rule was - no one could tell
her.  So she went back to her regular route with no ill effects.  Some
time later a software supplier warned her about taking their *floppy
disks* on the Tube and gave some vague rationale to do with electric
motors; she ignored this advice also and never had any problem.

Maybe a side effect of those chunky blue sparks you see around electric
trains might have some effect on magnetic media.  We figured the chance
of being hit by a bus while not taking the train was higher than the
chance of having a disk wiped.

--
Perry Clarke                   perry@unify.com                 (916) 928 6287

Unify Corporation, Sacramento, CA                   I speak only for Me, Inc.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: The wacky, flakey State
Organization: Hewlett-Parkard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 01:19:53 GMT

dogbowl@acme.gen.nz (Alan Brown) writes:

: 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?

Simple geology. The river was there before the mountain range. The mountains
rose slowly (not volcanic) and the river cut through as the range slowly
rose. No problem at all, given a few eons.

Bill
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:11814 alt.usage.english:2852
From: linden@positive.Eng.Sun.COM (Peter van der Linden)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.usage.english
Subject: Pleonasm
Keywords: I don't read headings very carefully
Date: 8 Apr 92 19:54:11 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca.
NNTP-Posting-Host: positive

A week or two back I quoted a very moving passage in which a rather angry
colleague described the death of his brother, by a means which many people
were (wrongly) saying was not possible.   My colleague wrote:
> I might suggest that you attempt to speak with my brother, who was
> fatally wounded resulting in his death...

There was a certain amount of derision from the more feeble-minded readers,
pointing out that "wounds that are fatal usually do result in death".

It was clear to me that my colleague had used an exaggerated writing style
to emphasize his point.  I could not remember the name for this literary
technique.  Nor could anyone on alt.usage.english where I also raised the
question, though I got a few related suggestions like "hyperbole".

The technique of using more words than necessary (e.g. "he heard with his
own ears") is called "pleonasm".  Please write that in big letters in your
red books and don't forget it.  PLEONASM, peons.


--
----------------
Peter van der Linden     linden@eng.sun.com    (415) 336-6206  Frank Zappa:
"May God have mercy on the English, for the terrible food they must endure"
A man without two apothegms in his .sig is like a metaphor without a bicycle
From: glp7584@tamuts.tamu.edu (Gordon Lee Powell Jr)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Falling Bullets
Date: 8 Apr 92 17:11:11 GMT
Organization: ~/lib/organization

In article <1992Apr6.204125.3576@fivegl.co.nz> derek@fivegl.co.nz (Derek Tearne) writes:
>In article <9204032006.AA21934@crdgw1.ge.com> rr@bing.bang.com writes:
>>
>>Some yahoo blowing smoke out of his ass claims:
>>>                    But here's a thing: a bullet fired travels
>>>faster than sound in many cases, and I guarantee you that no falling
>>>object will break the sound barrier on it's own.  So its unlikely that
>
>Perhaps there are a couple of things to be considered. 
>1) Terminal velocity is the speed at which a falling object either
>accelerates too ( normally ) or is slowed down too. It isn't generally 
>reached instantly. Perhaps the space shuttle enteres the atmosphere 
>at > than 6?0 MPH but it has usually slowed down a bit by the time it 
>reaches the ground. What is slowing it? Air and the resistance thereof.

You have the principle correct.  Orbital speed of the shuttle is near
17,000 mph.  When the shuttle enters the atmosphere, it is going along
at Mach 25--25 times the speed of sound--so it slows down a LOT before
it reaches the ground.

>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.

The speed of sound in air is only dependant on the temperature of the
air. (assuming a constant composition of air)
Terminal velocity is not at all concerned with the speed of sound.
The terminal velocity is greater at higher altitudes because of the 
much less dense atmosphere.  There is much less air to cause that
air resistance that slows things down. (Drag)

>3) Falling objects may hit the ground at greater than the speed of sound,
>but they have usually come a long way very quickly and often take out
>a few species of Dinosaurs on the way.
>
>You have to be under power to exceed the speed of sound ( if starting 
>from rest ), falling things just don't do this. 

You do not have to be under power to exceed the speed of sound.  It would
help to be at high altitude.  There is a case of a high altitude balloon 
pilot having to bail out near 100,000 feet altitude.  He could have 
VERY easily exceeded the speed of sound.  Any where from Mach 1 to 
above Mach 2, depending on his body attitude.  He did survive this fall
(I believe it was in the 1950's).

Something that would be very difficult to do would be to exceed the speed
of sound near sea level.  This makes is very unlikely that a bullet,
falling back to the ground, would be traveling supersonically after
being fired "up".  (whatever the heck "up" is)

Gordon L. Powell, Jr. '89            glp7584@zeus.tamu.edu (VMS on VAX 9000)
Aero Engr  Texas A&M Univ.           gordon@aero.tamu.edu (D. U. on S. C.)
    "Half a bee must, philosophically, ipso facto half not be."
From: derekr@yang.earlham.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Sidewalks . . .
Date: 13 Apr 92 01:06:22 GMT
Organization: Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana

>>>
>>>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.

Here at Earlham College, I'd say a good 30 to 40 percent of the sidewalks 
were done this way.  I don't think it was planned that way, but sidewalks 
keep sprouting up on well-worn dirt paths.  In my three years here, I've 
seen at least two major sidewalks go up.
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:12097 sci.skeptic:8018
From: epp@mala.bc.ca (Lorne Epp)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: The Philadelphia Experiment (?)
Date: 11 Apr 92 04:44:00 -0700
Organization: Malaspina College

In article <1992Apr11.011443.5236@nmt.edu>, houle@nmt.edu (Paul Houle) writes:
> ALPHA CENTAURI) and then went into SLOW FREEZE.  CAUGHT IN THE PUSH,
> they tryed to start a fight but they SUDDENLY TURNED INVISIBLE,  and
> then one of them WALKED RIGHT THROUGH A SOLID WALL IN ThE SIGHT OF
> HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE,  HE WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN.
> 

I suppose this is a minor point given the sheer weight of lunacy in the 
original post, but:  If he was invisible how could he do anything in the
sight of anybody?
From: unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (99E99)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Non-Alcoholic Drinks Folklore
Date: 10 Apr 92 17:59:49 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz; Open Access Computing


In article <1992Apr8.130510.12238@cs.bham.ac.uk> idf@mr-macgregor.cs.bham.ac.uk (Ian Fitchet) writes:
}	I was drinking from a large plastic bottle of Diet
}Pepsi/Coke/Drink of your choice when I offered some to a friend.  They
}put the top back on the bottle and screwed it closed with the sides of
}the bottle compressed inwards so that `there is less air inside so it
}stays fresher.'  

	It'll actually make the soda go flat faster, since the compressed 
sides create a vacuum, which leaches the CO2 out of the soda.  
-- 
/unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu GS SIMM mem card & trackball WANTED  Apple II Forever!\
\Mail me:Get INFOCOM GAMES RERELEASED,ULT VI GS done,for UNIX GS&CHEAP CD info/
From: doctor1@cbnewse.cb.att.com (patrick.b.hailey)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Iron in blood setting off metal detectors
Date: 17 Apr 92 09:21:22 GMT
Article-I.D.: cbnewse.1992Apr17.092122.19601
Organization: AT&T

In article <1992Apr15.170805.12446@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> hucke@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Matt Hucke) writes:
>In article <1992Apr15.023602.8348@sleepy.UUCP> chris@sleepy.UUCP (Chris Mills) writes:
>>
>>A friend of mine says he read somewhere that there are people that accumulate
>>iron in their bodies to the extent that they set off metal detectors in
>>airports.  Anyone hear this?  Is it an U.L.?  Is it true???
>It's true... a cousin of mine accumulated a steel plate in his skull, as well
>as several pins in his arms after a car crash, and now sets off metal 
>detectors.

Yup.  Katy Manning (of "Doctor Who" fame) has accumulated a similar amount and
type of metal in her (very lovely) body, using a similar method.  She, too,
sets off metal detectors.  Has to be searched manually.  Yow!

   Thanks awfully,
             Patrick

Just saw Katy last year.  With the dress she was almost wearing, I can assure
you, it is still truely a very lovely body.  She's still blind, though.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban