HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Subject: Re: terry awards
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 16:00:46 GMT

In article <4eS=02=L30Zr01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com> tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com (Terry Carroll) writes:
>In article <C00F65.Hx8@rahul.net>, phil@rahul.net (Phil Gustafson) writes:
>> That would be the _son_, rather than the sum, in both cases, Jonathan.
>> You've sorta tried to multiply lemurs on a log table.
>
>Is that like Noah saying to the snakes and other animals "go forth and 
>multiply," and then two adders did it on a log table?

What if they were puff adders, and one of them had been mistaken for a magic
dragon that lived by the sea and frollicked in the Autumn mist with a small
boy named Jackie?

cj "Noah stories have nothing to do with drugs" l
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.food.cooking
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Subject: Re: AFU Flan Cub
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 05:00:09 GMT

In article <28139@dog.ee.lbl.gov> TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan) writes:
>
>No, no.  I was wrong, it should have been Maxwell Smart movies.

No, Maxwell House coffee commercials.  Drink Maxwell House with our flan.

cj "maybe it was Maxwell's silver hammer?" l

>Terry "Leonard Maltin has nothing on me" Chan

What about Steven Scheuer?
From: PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: More flashing light ULs
Date: 23 Dec 92 02:48:15 GMT
Organization: The Ohio State University


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. [...]

	I'll bet Dan Rather knows it.  (sorry somebody had to do it.)

Jon "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" Papai
Organization: City University of New York/ University Computer Center
Date: Friday, 25 Dec 1992 19:52:53 EST
From: <MIWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject:    Ethnicity & Soc.Secur.No.

The story I heard is that the 1950s era government rigged the social security
system so that any government agent or knowledgeable employer or banker could
tell the ethnicity of someone by the middle two numbers. An -06-, -52-, -32-,
-12- or any other EVEN middle number belongs to Blacks, Hispanics, Jews,
Asians, etc. Any ODD middle number (e.g.  -67-, -43-, -07-) shows its owner
to be a WASP of reasonably pure upbringing.
   I asked around and could find very few odd middle numbers. My results:

     * EVERY even-numbered peson was either, Black, Hispanic, Jewish, Asian,
       Roman Catholic, Greek, or other Eastern European.
     * EVERY odd-numbered person I found was white. A few were half Jewish
       or half Roman Catholic.

    Coincidence or not, I would like to know what other people have
found about this and the results of their informal surveys.
    I do know that the Social Security System has records to do such
encoding, they used to know about ethnicity before the various rules of the
70s disallowed such mandatory questions.

                               Rick Yukon, post-modern Spelunkerist
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai)
Subject: Re: Oscillation of skyscrapers
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 22:40:54 GMT

ivanra@microsoft.com (Ivan Rancati) ponders:

>I heard that high buildings move a bit because
>of the wind (1-2 meters in the top).
>Does any wise on the net know some detail about
>concrete (i.e. Empire State Building) and metal
>(i.e. Tour Eiffel)?

I don't know if I'm wise, but I know some detail about metal.

The Empire State Bldg. is a steel structure.  All skyscrapers
have steel as the significant load bearing members.

ObUL:  Some important buildings in quake prone areas are supported
on fat rubber shock absorbers.

ObUL2: Malaysia has 500,000,000 rubber trees, all descended from an
original 11 imported specimens.

Jon "Does e-mail with subject:rubber bounce?"Papai
From: strat@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Steve Davis)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: CD Legends
Date: 28 Dec 1992 00:26:01 -0600
Organization: Kansas State University
NNTP-Posting-Host: matt.ksu.ksu.edu

bjackson@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Ben Jackson) writes:

>Well, I was listening to my newly purchased "Ten" CD (Pearl Jam, on Epic),
>and track 12 ("Release") fades to silence and about 15s later (I was watching
>the player, wondering why it hadn't stopped) a completely different song
>starts up.  A friend of mine has the tape, and I was going to go listen to
>the end of the tape version and compare but I haven't had time.

Hmm. On my copy of Ten, "Release" is track eleven.  This second movent
of "Release" is apparently the same music as the 39 second intro to
track 1, "Once".  Does anyone have a transcription to this?  (I know,
I know, check the lyric server ...)

Stratocaster
-- 
	   Steve Davis (I'm a student, not a spokesperson!)
      strat@cis.ksu.edu - Kansas State University - Manhattan KS
				   
Those who know what's best for us must rise and save us form ourselves. - Rush
From: levene@aplpy.jhuapl.edu (Robert A. Levene)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Eso si que es!
Date: 30 Dec 1992 23:18:44 -0600
Organization: Johns Hopkins University
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

A teenager who was taking Spanish in high school
suggested that the mistranslation derives from an old joke.  

(Condensed): 
 A tourist from Mexico needs to buy socks, but can't speak English.  He
 goes to a store, but can't get his message across.  Finally, the clerk
 points to a pair of socks, and the tourist says 'Eso si que es' to
 which the clerk responds 'You don't have to spell it, if you want
 socks, just ask for them.'"  

In other words, the tourist is literally saying "this one, yes,
that's it" but the message is "That's what I want."  

Rob



-- 
--
Robert A. Levene     Internet: levene@aplpy.jhuapl.edu
  "/  //  / /"         Bitnet:   RXL1@APLVM
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jdnicoll@prism.ccs.uwo.ca (James Davis Nicoll)
Subject: Re: illegal for private citizens to own
Organization: University of Western Ontario, London
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 18:46:50 GMT

In article <1992Dec30.003807.10916@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai) writes:
>dcb@rosedale.uucp (Dave Breneman) in Newsgroup: alt.beer,
>Message-ID: <1992Dec20.221436.2181@rosedale.uucp> writes:
>
>>I've got a copy of a paperback book put out by the Washington State Patrol
>>called something like "Identifying Counterfiet ID".  It also has a big
>>warning on the back along the lines of "Unlawful for private citizens
>>to posess this publication."
>
>	I believe this to be true.  However, is this type of law
>enforceable, or ever been enforced?  I saw nothing in the FAQ
>about this kind of stuff.  Lots of written material is illegal to
>own, justified by national security or industrial espionage
>concerns, but this type of book doesn't seem to qualify.

	My favourite government organisation, emergency services canada,
prints some publications which are supposed to be distributed  on a
'need to know' basis.  Being underfunded and undermanned, they don't
want to bother chasing down people who have mistakenly been supplied
with  restricted documents (As I  was), so one way of  demonstrating
need-to-know is possessing a need-to-know document. The logic is that
no-one would bother acquiring the documents unless they had a need-
to-know what was in them.

							James Nicoll
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: pt@geovision.gvc.com (Paul Tomblin)
Subject: Re: Tripping on exams
Reply-To: pt@geovision.gvc.com
Organization: Not officially GeoVision Systems Inc., Ottawa, Ontario
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 01:57:38 GMT

bml@netcom.com (Brian Leibowitz) writes:
>another story I heard (supposedly the teller knew the guy)
What do banks have to do with this UL?

>A student went to a philosophy exam tripping (I forget on what) and
>didn't remember what he did, but he got an A.  He did the same thing for the
>final and got called into the Professor's office - he had filled the
>blue book with gibberish.

In any philosophy courses I've taken, that would get you an A - providing
you have the right buzz words sprinkled in the gibberish.

(Except the Phil course I took on Godel, Esher, Bach: An Eternal Golden
Braid)

Paul "Giraffes, Elephants and Baboons: An Equatorial Grasslands Bestiary"
Tomblin
-- 
Paul Tomblin, pt@compass.gvc.com
(This is not an official opinion/statement of GeoVision Systems Inc.)
Anybody who doesn't wear a helmet when biking probably _will_ have their head
examined - by a coroner
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: nicolett@carson.u.washington.edu (Nicolette Roberge)
Subject: Re: Thawing food in cold water
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 18:50:07 GMT

Food does thaw faster immersed in cold water.  The important part about
the cold water is that, as long as it is below about 42 degress F, it will
delay the growth of bacteria.  Food should never be left at room
temperature to thaw--you could end up very sick.  The local Extension
Department says that it should always be thawed in the fridge, but in a
pinch under running cold water, or water that is changed at least every 20
minutes.  

Nicolette "That's what my Mom told me to do" Roberge

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: "dave iwankow" <dave.iwankow@canrem.com>
Subject: liquid nitrogen to defeat
Reply-To: "dave iwankow" <dave.iwankow@canrem.com>
Organization: Canada Remote Systems
Distribution: alt
Date: 22 Dec 92 00:33:46 EST

TM>tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com (Terry Carroll) writes:
TM>>> Another good way to clobber the Club, apparently used by some pros, is
TM>>> to pour liquid nitrogen on the lock area; once cold-soaked, a smart
TM>>> rap with a hammer shatters the sob.
TM>>
TM>>With all due respect, sounds like bullshit to me.  I'm following up to
TM>>alt.folklore.urban; any comments?

TM>     I saw this on one of those consumer-protection shows. I don't recall
TM>if it was liquid nitrogen, but they used some sort of freezing spray;
TM>the Club did break. Not easily, but it did break.

I saw on TV (Either Primetime Live or 48 Hours) a segment on auto theft
where a the tv crew 'hired' a couple of punks to steal their "protected"
car. The hoodlums went through the CLUB in 15 seconds with a hacksaw.

Dave.

---
  OLX 2.2  9:13 pm  12-21-92 Oakville, Ontario. Canada
--
Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario
World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Full moon and tides
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 21:47:13 GMT

lowe@fnx.uucp (Phill Lowe) writes:
: 
: Low pressure (caused by several things) means that there is less pushing
: down on the water.

This has absolutely nothing to do with how high a tide will be.

:                     The relative positions of the moon and sun are
: what cause the variations in the tides.  If the sun and moon are on
: the same side of the earth there is a greater combined pull on the
: water.

True.

:         If they are on opposite sides there is some canceling out of
: the effect.

Slight - not much.

:              Full moon means that the earth does not cut off the light
: from the sun on the moon...... ie the moon is not on the opposite side
: of the earth from the sun.  

Wrong. I suggest that you study some elemental physics. The moon is not
exactly opposite - otherwise it would be in eclipse, but it is within a
couple of degrees.

Bill
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: bam@Bang.UUCP (Bret A. Marquis)
Subject: Re: Traffic Light UL's
Reply-To: bam%bang@trout.nosc.mil
Organization: Marquis Property Development Co., San Diego
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 07:59:34 GMT

David L Anderson (v462etnn@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu) wrote:
: 
: I'm skeptical.  What did the sensor look like?  I have a hard
: time imagining that some sensor could be triggered by a flashing
: light on an emergency vehicle but not by headlights.
: 
: Any help?
: 


As an (ex)ambulance driver, we could affect some intersections by operating
our forward facing white strobe light.  The light flashed at a
particular frequency and a particular temperature (or color).
Photographers may recall that an electronic stroble operates at a
different color than a tungsten filament bulb.

In any event this is moot, since in many circumstances our strobe would
cause the intersection lights to go Red in ALL directions.  Stopping everyone
but our vehicle.  While this may block an intersection, it makes it
safer to drive in the oncoming lanes if everyone is stopped.


Bret Marquis
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai)
Subject: Re: American Civil War Stuff
Organization: The Ohio State University
 <BzqpuK.89J@polaris.async.vt.edu>
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 02:01:03 GMT

In article <BzqpuK.89J@polaris.async.vt.edu> jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu (J. Furr) writes:
>In article <1992Dec23.064632.27085@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai) writes:
>>thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank) writes:
>>>In article <1992Dec22.195845.18834@midway.uchicago.edu> cjt1@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>>>>In article <1992Dec19.222536.19404@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai) writes:
>>>>>ObUL2: A newsgroup actually exists that discusses ONLY this kind
>>>>>of stuff.
>>>>Gee, I knew I should do a better job of monitoring this newsgroup
>>>>for cross-pollination.
>>>
>>Perhaps you could merrimac this news group too.
>
>That's "virginia this news group too", if you please, dammit.
>
>Joel "What _is_ it with these damnyankees, anyway?" Furr

Brings to mind a favorite quote: "The victors write the history."-Churchill

>jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu
                     ^^
Vermont?  That's not in Dixie.  Buy an Atlas, son.  You're in Yankeeland.

Jon "Lincoln emancipated the Lemurs in 1863" Papai
From: ilaine@panix.com (Liz Stokes)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: The Ultimate Circumcision
Date: 30 Dec 92 12:24:45 GMT
Distribution: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix & Internet, NYC

In article <1992Dec29.224003.25783@nosc.mil> randle@nosc.mil (Mike Randle) writes:
>
>I Recall reading about a medical mishap back in the late 70s (I think).
>A doctor slipped up during a circumcision of a bouncing baby boy, and
>recommended to the parents that he should have a sex change operation
>and be rasied as a girl. Seems that the kid's fledgling manhood was
>beyond repair.  If I'm right, the doctor was in the military, and the
>hospital may have been Trippler (Hawaii).  Can anyone confirm this
>incident, or is this just another urban legend?  If it is true, whatever
>became of him/her?  What happened to the doctor?

	I dunno if it's true, but I remember reading the same story
(Reader's Digest maybe?)

	Liz "glad it wasn't *my* boyfriend" Stokes



-- 
Liz Stokes         | 	Ilaine's E-Z Garb Workshop
Ilaine de Cameron  | 	We're going to try an experiment now. Instead of using
                   | 	a loom, we're going to wind all the yarn into balls
ilaine@panix.com   |    and adopt an infinite number of kittens...
From: jvarley@crash.cts.com (J.J. Varley)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Ethnicity & Soc.Secur.No.
Date: 2 Jan 93 09:12:28 GMT

Expires: 
Followup-To: 
Distribution: usa
Organization: CTS Network Services (crash, ctsnet), El Cajon, CA
Keywords: 

My SS middle two numbers are "52" also, and I am Half-Portugese/
Half white mutt.  Hmmm...
From: bjacobs@chopin.udel.edu (William J Jacobs)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: asteroids beyond Jupiter
Date: 23 Dec 92 00:57:29 GMT
Organization: University of Delaware

In article <1992Dec22.235420.19821@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com> billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
>jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu (Joel K. Furr) writes:
>: In article <1992Dec22.185915.27317@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com> billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
>: >: 
>: >: Well, stay tuned.  Object 1992QB1 is reckoned to be a good candidate for a
>: >: distant (40-50 A.U.) minor planet and may be the first of many discovered at
>: >: that distance.
>: >
>: >The statement was asteroid - not planetoid. The asteroids originate in the
>: >asteroid belt. It is doubtful if any of them could be perturbed enough to
>: >reach the orbit if Neptune.
>: >
>: >The planetoids are a different matter. It is possible that some of them
>: >came from outside the Solar System. They could also have been formed just
>: >about anywhere in the system, so the same limitations do not apply to
>: >them. I would not argue that a planetoid could not have been captured
>: >by Neptune - although the fact that Pluto has a moon makes this very
>: >unlikely.
>: 
>: No, Bill, you're wrong.  There are many flat-out ASTEROIDS that orbit that
>: far.  You're not an astronomer, don't lecture us from a vacuum of knowledge.
>
>I could easily be wrong. This is AFU - after all.
>
>Guess I will have to do some study of the recent research. Do you have some
>cites to simplify my astronomical task?
>
>Bill

Well, this Bill is an astronomer, so I'll see if I can help out here.  I'm
afraid that I killed the thread that lead to this so all I know about your
dispute is right here.

First off, there is no reason an asteroid couldn't be perturbed enough to
reach Neptune's orbit.  I'll bet that plenty of asteroids get perturbed right
out of the solar system.  Any asteroids that were out there would be quite
difficult to detect.  I recall hearing of a few, but the theory was that they
were comets knocked into a fairly circular orbit with a large radius, not 
from the asteroid belt at all.

I'm not quite clear what a planetoid is.  I guess you  must mean a minor
planet a.k.a. a big asteroid.  The same limitations would apply to a 
planetesimal as to an asteroid.  They're the same sort of thing really.
I don't follow the capturing logic about Neptune and Pluto you state above,
but I will say that capturing a stray body is a tricky business.  You see,
to go from a big orbit (wandering around the solar system) to a small one
(around a particular planet) is to loose energy.  The only ways to do that
are to smack into something, or to take a dip into an atmosphere.  Neither
being a particularly likely or undisruptive event, this makes capture pretty
unlikely.  

I'm going to dig around the thread for this note and see if I can figure out
just what it is you folks are discussing.

Bill Jacobs
Actually I'm just a grad student, but close enough
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: pt@geovision.gvc.com (Paul Tomblin)
Subject: Re: ...film at 11...
Reply-To: pt@geovision.gvc.com
Organization: Not officially GeoVision Systems Inc., Ottawa, Ontario
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 23:35:21 GMT

styri@hal.nta.no (YuNoHoo) writes:
>In article <1992Dec22.021040.23538@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com>, billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
>|> styri@balder.nta.no (YuNoHoo) writes:
>|> : billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
>|> : However, no rule without the exception. The Olympic Games and the
>|> : logo with 5 rings are somehow protected in most countries. Not in

>With respect to the 5 colored rings - I don't know...

In Toronto, the Canadian Olympic Federation tried to sue one Tony Olympus
because he had a business called ``Olympic Pizza''.  (This was around about
the time of the Calgary Winter Olympics.

They also sued an organization I was on the board of directors, Orienteering
Ontario, because our 'running man with a map and compass' looked too much
like those stylized ``running man'' symbols that were used at the Olympics.

(We were lucky enough to have a lawyer on the national orienteering team at
the time, so we got them to back down)

-- 
Paul Tomblin, pt@compass.gvc.com
(This is not an official opinion/statement of GeoVision Systems Inc.)
"Ok dear, want me to call the bike shop and see if they'll sponsor your
mid-life crisis?" "Yeah.  Ask them if they'll upgrade my shifters, too"
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.food.misc,alt.fan.fruitcake
From: barth@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (barth.richards)
Subject: Re: Fruitcake
Organization: AT&T
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 21:05:33 GMT


In article <1992Dec26.051151.24468@news.columbia.edu>
lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:

>It is not universally accepted that fruitcake is a food.  However, all agree
>that it is a common construction material.
>
>Perhaps fruitcake is used to damp out oscillations in tall buildings, 
>especially flan factories.
>
>Have any buildings cracked because they forgot to take into account the
>weight of the fruitcakes in the buildings?

Or more importantly, have any buildings collapsed during an earthquake
because their designs did not include fruitcake rollers and sliding
weights to counteract the swaying motion?


Barth "thinks that the use of fruitcake as food or as a building material is
equally valid" Richards

-- 
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
88  Barth Richards                  "Language is a virus from outer space."  88
88  att!ihlpf!barth                           - William S. Burroughs         88
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: kasprj@isaac.its.rpi.edu (Jim Kasprzak)
Subject: Re: The El
Reply-To: kasprj@rpi.edu
Organization: The Big Wedge 
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 14:26:54 GMT

 
 Joel Furr called for urban train folklore. Here's a story that I heard 
a long time ago in New York City.
 
 A maintenance man in a midtown office building was checking the lights,
and had to replace an eight-foot long fluorescent tube. Once the tube had
been replaced, he had to dispose of it somehow, but he didn't have any 
specific instructions as to how. He'd heard something about fluorescent 
tubes containing mercury, which is hazardous, so it probably wasn't safe
to just smash it and throw it in the dumpster. 
 
 The bewildered maintenance man consulted the building manager, who
turned out to be equally clueless. In desperation the manager suggested
that he just take it on the subway to some out-of-the-way section of the
city, leave it leaning up against the back of a building, and let someone
else figure out what to do with it. 
 
 So the maintenance man walked out of the building with his dead light 
tube and took it into the subway, catching the IRT local for Brooklyn. 
 
 Now, if you have a long, skinny object with you in a crowded subway 
car, the easiest way to carry it is to rest one end on the floor and 
hold it upright. As it turned out, this particular tube was just long
enough to nearly reach the ceiling of the subway car. 
 
 As the train made its way downtown and more passengers got on, the car
got rather crowded. The natural instinct of passengers in a crowded 
subway car who see an upright cylindrical object is to grab onto it, 
so by the time the train reached downtown Manhattan, there were more 
than a dozen hands clutching the burnt-out fluorescent tube. At that 
point the maintenance man let go of the tube, got off at the next stop,
walked across the platform and caught the next train uptown, and for all
anyone knows that tube is still riding the subways somewhere beneath
New York.
------------------------------------------------------------------
     __  Live from Capitaland, heart of the Empire State...
 ___/  | Jim Kasprzak, computer operator @ RPI, Troy, NY, USA
/____ *| Sam Adams,Spaten# Life is too short #Hudson Lager,Beck's 
     \_| Pilsener Urquell#to drink cheap beer#Pete's Wicked Ale
      ====  e-mail: kasprj@rpi.edu or kasprzak@mts.rpi.edu