HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: karr@cs.cornell.edu (David Karr)
Subject: Re: Packing Fraction
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 05:12:04 GMT

Generally I would expect that a given geometric "pattern" of spheres will
have a well-defined density, that is, if you take larger and larger
enclosing bounds (such as the same object, e.g. a cube, scaled up by
ever larger amounts), then the number of spheres per unit volume approaches
a certain fixed constant, which is the "density" of the packing in space.
The only thing that prevents the density from being achieved exactly is
"edge effects" of one sort or another.

This being the case, if you double the size of the bounding box, in three
dimensions you put 8 times as many spheres into it.  The exact same thing
happens if you halve the radius of the spheres but leave the box intact;
it's just the previous situation plus a change in scale.

-- David Karr (karr@cs.cornell.edu)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Mastermind - some EASY questions.
From: wft@math.canterbury.ac.nz (Bill Taylor)
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 00:40:28 GMT
Organization: Department of Mathematics, University of Canterbury

These questions aren't just easy - you can hardly get them wrong!


1. What is the best thing to do when following a very slow car ?

2. What is the term for a single run through a compiler ?

3. What is a common slang term for an implicit sexual suggestion ?

4. What is the most usual method of obtaining the ball in basketball ?

5. What is the most commonly heard call in contract bridge ?


Good luck.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Bill Taylor              wft@math.canterbury.ac.nz
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Galaxies - results of chaotic amplification of quantum events in the big bang.
 Free will- the result of chaotic amplification of quantum events in the brain.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: nsmith@tms390.micro.ti.com (Neal Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Internet supercomputer (WAS: Re: Elements ending in H)
Date: 17 Nov 92 15:04:42 GMT
Article-I.D.: tms390.1992Nov17.150442.4582
Organization: Texas Instruments, Houston

jacobw@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Jacob Solomon Weinstein) writes:

>In response to my elements-ending-in-h-challenge, isaak@aurora.com (Mark Isaak) writes:
>>There are lots of elements which end with 'h':  hydrogen, helium,
>>holmium, hafnium, hahnium.
>>
>>You never said which end.
>Ouch! Good point! Once again, the collective wit of the Internet proves
>my superior. I'm really going to have to start making my challenges
>harder.

>You know, it occured to me that, taken as a whole, the Internet is
>the most powerful supercomputer in the world, if you include in the system the minds
>linked by it.

Unfortunately, it's also correspondingly slow... :v)
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------
From Neal Smith (nsmith@tms390.micro.ti.com)
The expressions opined here are mine.
If you want TI's opinion, you'll have to ask marketing...
From: shajid@phenyl.phr.utexas.edu (Shajid A. Mohammed)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Great turtle race : Spoiler
Date: 19 Nov 92 04:34:38 GMT
Organization: Univ of Texas - College of Engineering


In article <1992Nov12.192101.13105@hellgate.utah.edu>, tolman%asylum.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Kenneth Tolman) writes:
>It was the day for the great turtle races, and Alfred, Bob, Carl, Dave,
>Ed and Frank shuffled up to the starting line.  There would be two
>races, and all of them were very excited (as excited as turtles can be!)
>They would average each turtles place to find their overall rank..
>
>In the first race:
>   Alfred came in before Bob or Carl did
>   Dave came in two places before Frank
>   Three turtles ran times in between Carl and Ed
>
>In the second race:
>   Alfred came in before Bob or Carl did, and ran better this race than before
>   Dave came in two places before Frank
>   Three turtles ran times in between Carl and Ed
>
>Quite peculiar!  Yet no turtle placed the same in both races.  Happily,
>after they computed their overall rank for the day every turtle got
>a medal.. gold, silver or bronze for 1,2 or 3rd.
>
>  What were the placings for each turtle in both races?  Who got the gold?

I guess by now the solution should be out, but I didn't see it, so am posting mine.

There are three possible answers to this problem.  First let me state what I thought were the conditions ( just to clarify ) :
	1. There is always one place between  Dave and Frank with Dave always ahead.
	2. There are always three places between Carl and Ed with either of them ahead.
	3. Alfred is always ahead of Bob and Carl.
	4. Dave's ranking was better ( lesser number ) in the second race than in the first.
	5. All the turtles got medals, and there are only three types of 
medals: Gold, Silver, and Bronze. i.e. there were only three positions after the final averages were computed.
	7. The ranks of all turtles were different in both races.  
	
	Now solution # 1:
			  First Race      Second Race
			  ----------       -----------
			1st	Dave		Ed			
			2nd	Ed		Dave
			3rd	Frank		Alfred
			4th	Alfred		Frank
			5th	Bob		Carl
			6th	Carl		Bob
		
	Average Scores: A: 3.5,  B: 5.5,  C: 5.5,  D: 1.5,  E:1.5, F:3.5
	Gold: 	D and E
	Silver:	A and F 	
	Bronze:	B and C

	Solution # 2:
			First race	 	Second race
			----------		-----------
			E 			A			
			A			E
 			B			D
			D			B
			C			F
			F			C

	Gold: A and E	Silver: B and D		Bronze: C and F

	Solution # 3:
			First race	 	Second race
			----------		-----------

			E 			A			
			A			C
 			B			D
			D			B
			C			F
			F			E
				
	GOld: A		Silver: B, C, D, and E		Bronze: F


If any of my solutions are wrong, please mail to me.

Shajid 

=======		========================================================================
Shajid A. Mohammed		       E-mail:     shajid@methyl.phr.utexas.edu
Manufacturing Systems Engineering		   bobby@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
University of Texas at Austin	       Voice mail: Home:   (512) 454 6835
						   Office: (512) 471 4809	
===============================================================================
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: deghare@daisy.uwaterloo.ca (Dave Hare)
Subject: Re: <None>
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 13:14:07 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.091948.1@hamp.hampshire.edu> mdorfman@hamp.hampshire.edu writes:
>Is anyone familiar with the children's book "Masquerade" by Kit Williams?
>
>The author created a jeweled Hare, made out of gold, and buried it in
>England.  The book contains clues as to where the Hare was buried.
>
>I know that the puzzle was solved some years ago, and I even remember where 
>the Hare was buried (from newspaper reports, etc.)  What I want to know is:

Hah!  That's what *you* think.  Actually, I escaped...

Dave Hare
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: expected distance between points in a sphere
From: cvadsavi@vmsa.is.csupomona.edu (Carl R. Knecht)
Date: 20 Nov 1992 07:56 -0800
Distribution: world
Organization: California Polytechnic University, Pomona
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

In article <1992Nov20.072501.16998@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>, fgg@gemini.gsfc.nasa.gov (Frank G. Gomez) writes...
>Two small problems:

>Given two random points within a sphere of unit radius, what is
>the expected straight-line distance between them ?

I'll go for the blatently obvious:  2 * radius * pi

>Given a square sheet of paper, make three folds (nothing fancy, just a normal
>fold).  At the end you will get a polygon.  What is the maximum number of sides
>this polygon can have ?  Can you generalize to n folds (assuming the paper has
>no thickness) ?

????

yub yub, Carl

Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: bcash@crchh410.BNR.CA (Brian Cash)
Subject: Re: Formulae for pi
Reply-To: bcash@crchh410.BNR.CA (Brian Cash)
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd.
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 05:21:44 GMT

In article <1992Nov15.193400.8408@r-node.gts.org>,
amichail@r-node.gts.org (Ashraf Michail) writes:
|>This is the best algorithm I know for generating PI:
|> 
|>y0=SQRT(2) -1                       
|>a0=6-4*SQRT(2)
|> 
|>y1=(1-(1-y0^4)^(1/4))/(1+(1-y0^4)^(1/4))
|>a1=((1+y1)^4)*a0-(2^3)(y1(1+y1+(y1)^2)
|> 
|>y2=(1-(1-y1^4)^(1/4))/(1+(1-y1^4)^(1/4))
|>a2=((1+y2)^4)*a1-(2^5)(y2(1+y2+(y2)^2)
|> 
|>and so on ...
|> 
|>1/(a15) will give more than two billion digits of PI..
|> 
               
Don't your roots need to be taken to two billion digits, then?
(to prevent rounding errors)

Brian /-|-\
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: samuel@cs.cornell.edu (S. Weber)
Subject: Re: Songs containing states
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 19:22:06 GMT

Another song which nobody has mentioned, "Send My Body Home" by
Uncle Bonsai mentions Virginia, Alabama, and "the Dakotas"

Also, "Movin' Right Along" on the Muppet Movie soundtrack mentions
California and Rhode Island.

I don't have the words to "Movin' Right Along" on-line, but here are the
pertinant verses of "Send My Body Home":

   I don't like Virginia
   I went there in the winter
   There were good ol' boys in T-shirts
   With a case or two of beer
   And though I didn't show my fear
   I could tell that there was danger in their eyes

   ....

   There are people in Virginia
   Who I know are educated
   And I'm sure they hardly notice
   These Neanderthals on wheels

   I don't like Alabama
   I was there when it was raining
   And these good ol' boys in Chevys
   Leave their mufflers back at home

   ....

   I don't like the Dakotas
   Cause there aren't any people
   An occasional oasis
   And some stupid tourist traps
   And though I kind of liked the sunsets
   I could tell that they were always the same

-- 
   -- Sam Weber                   "I never think of money,
                                   I think of milk and honey,
   samuel@cs.cornell.edu           Grinnin' like a cheshire cat!"
                                       --Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: blum@medici.ils.nwu.edu (Dan Blum)
Subject: Re: <None>
Reply-To: blum@ils.nwu.edu
Organization: The Institute for the Learning Sciences
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 18:37:02 GMT

There was a book published about the hunt, called "Quest for the
Golden Hare" or something like that.  It's in the library here - when
I have time (ha!) I'll take a look at it.

While we're on the subject, does anyone know what happened with the
contest for Williams' _second_ book (where you had to figure out the title)?

--
_____________________________________________________________________
Dan Blum           Institute for the Learning Sciences   Room 327
blum@ils.nwu.edu   1890 Maple Ave., Evanston, IL 60201   708-467-2306

 He thought he saw an Argument
 that proved he was the Pope;
 he looked again and found it was
 a Bar of Mottled Soap.
"A fact so dread,"
 he faintly said,
"extinguishes all hope!"
____________________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Monty Hall
From: graber@vax1.mankato.msus.edu
Date: 17 Nov 92 21:19:30 -0600
Organization: Mankato State University

I have no idea what the monty hall puzzle is. i am new to the net.  could
someone please re post it?





much thanks.   @)-->-->----
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: jacobw@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Jacob Solomon Weinstein)
Subject: Re: Anagram generator wanted...
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 22:40:38 GMT

In article <1e92jpINNabh@early-bird.think.com> bickford@jimmy.dfci.harvard.edu (Paul Bickford) writes:
>I am interested infinding an anagram generator, too, but I am looking for
>on the Macintosh platform. Anyone have any leads?
>
>--Paul Bickford

Check out "Ars Magna" on sumex-aim. I believe it's in the "games"
directory, although it could be in "misc." It has a really kludgy
interface, but it works pretty darn well.

By the way, has anybody tried contacting the author? I want to send in
my shareware fee, but the thing is six or seven years old, and I want to
make sure the address is current.
Date: Thursday, 19 Nov 1992 20:49:13 +01
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Sequence
From: Andre' Pirard <pirard@vm1.ulg.ac.be>
X-UserAgent: Nuntius v1.1.1d11
X-XXDate: Thu, 19 Nov 92 19:45:48 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Universite' de Lie`ge (Belgium)

In article <0f2Dmga00YUoMxNrJg@andrew.cmu.edu> Bruno W. Repetto,
br0w+@andrew.cmu.edu writes:
>312211
>
>This is in the FAQ.

OK OK, and the FAQ is good reading indeed.
But, anyone's got a pack of toner cartridges for me to finish printing it?
It came, totally unrelated to this list, from my brother on visit from
Southern France.

-----
Andre Pirard          SEGI, Univ. de Li`ge         139.165 IP coordinator
B26 - Sart Tilman     B-4000 Li`ge 1 (Belgium)            +32 (41) 564932
pirard@vm1.ulg.ac.be  alias PIRARD@BLIULG11.BITNET
From: J.Theodore.Schuerzinger@dartmouth.edu (J. Theodore Schuerzinger)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: How many letters in the answer?
Date: 19 Nov 92 20:56:29 GMT
 <1992Nov13.141055@sees.bangor.ac.uk>  
 <H.ea.xAP35Hc3H_k@akb.in-berlin.de>
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0a5@newshost.dartmouth.edu

I missed some answers in foreign languages that I had posted
previously.
Spanish: cinco
Russian: Tri
odinnadtsat'
(ie. the Russian words for 3 and 11 have 3 and 11 letters,
respectively)
Esperanto: du
tri
kvar
Finnish: viisi
And in German, how about:
"Hundert geteilt durch zwei minus vierzehn"
If I'm not mistaken, there are 36 letters in the answer!

--Ted Schuerzinger
email: .zed@Dartmouth.EDU
"I should have realized it would be bad vodka when all the label said
was 'Russian Vodka'."
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: hudu@well.sf.ca.us (Scott Marley)
Subject: Re: Kit Williams' old new book
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 07:01:14 GMT


I pulled out "The Bee on the Comb" and refreshed my memory.

In the first picture, there are two "hybrid" animals, one half-mouse,
half-horse, the other half-cat, half-toad.  If you've read "Masquerade", the
drawings remind you of the circle of animals in one of the pictures in that
book, and there's even a footnote there explaining the names of the animals
in that picture.  Using the same reasoning, the two animals in "The Bee on
the Comb" ought to be called a "morse" and a "coad".  So the obvious
conclusion is that this is a clue indicating that Morse code is involved.

Well, it *is* a clue, but if there's Morse code anywhere in "The Bee on the
Comb", I haven't found it.  The real clue is that it sends you back to
"Masquerade", because the words around that picture read "All animals are
equal in a tale of tail to tail, end to end to end".  The "end to end to
end" line is particularly apt.  I wonder whether Mr. Williams had this
second book in  mind already when he wrote that, or whether he was casting
about for ideas later and tumbled across that line.

Anyway, each picture in "The Bee on the Comb" contains a hidden animal.
Ignore all the naturalistic animals: you're looking just for one animal
hidden in some visually punning way.  For example, in the first picture,
there's a parrot hidden in the young man's vest--turn the page upside down
and the leaves pictured on his vest become the parrot's feathers.

If you write down all fifteen hidden animals and take their last letters,
"end to end to end", it spells out "The Bee on the Comb".  I recall that we
found the hidden animal in the picture on the kitchen (the one with the box
of Oxo cubes on the mantel) particularly difficult to find, though I expect
that'll vary from person to person.  The hidden animals are wonderfully
cleverly hidden.  Oh, and the animal ending in C is rather obscure; I think
we had to figure out its name only after we'd figured out the title of the
book and knew it ended in C.

If you count the number of bees in each picture and convert it to letters,
using A = 1, B = 2, etc., you get "Bees Only Sting".  I sort of remember
there's some clue in the text that this is to be ignored.

Funny thing, I just now noticed for the first time that there is in fact
Morse code around the frame of the gardening picture.  I can't imagine how
we missed it, and yet I have no recollection of ever seeing it or working it
out.  Hmm.

Scott Marley
hudu@well.sf.ca.us
From: tjgerman@53iss6.Waterloo.NCR.COM (Trevor German)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: message for the future
Date: 17 Nov 92 20:26:36 GMT
Organization: Imaging Systems Division, NCR Corp, Waterloo, Ont., CANADA


	Re: sending a message to the future.

	Obviously anything placed on earth is likely to be destroyed
	by plate techtonics etc so no good burying something. A transmition
	that takes that long to get back would be hard to receive even if
	you were expecting it.

		I have a much better idea. Take a dead satelite. A big one,
	like say the moon. Then blast its surface with  enough nukes to
	make an easily recognisable pattern that would be only partly
	erased by comet and meteoride collisions. Then just for good measure,
	adjust the rotational velocity of the moon so that the message
	always faces the earth. The message could be something like
	a big face......................


	Came to me in a dream.

--
       >|  "Only average people            | Trevor J German BSc    |<
       >|        never make mistakes."     | NCR, Waterloo, Ontario |<
       >| tjgerman@53iss6.Waterloo.NCR.COM | Canada.                |< 
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: deghare@daisy.uwaterloo.ca (Dave Hare)
Subject: Re: Another plurals puzzle
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 12:25:09 GMT

In article <1992Nov15.020002.21566@questrel.com> chris@questrel.com (Chris Cole) writes:
>In article <1992Nov14.044410.7840@cs.cornell.edu> karr@cs.cornell.edu (David Karr) writes:
>>>In article <1992Nov08.153848.24287@eng.umd.edu>, rabino@eng.umd.edu (Michael Rabinovitz) writes:
>>>
>>>> What words, other than necropolis, have their plurals formed by
>>>> dropping the final letter?
>>
>>I can't imagine that "necropoli" is the plural of "necropolis."
>>"Necropolises," perhaps, or "necropolites" if you want to pretend
>>(poorly) to be an ancient Greek.
>
>Webster's Third has "necropoli" as one form of the plural of "necropolis."
>Since I believe this is the only plural in English formed by dropping the
>final "s," I decided to check with the editors to discover how good the
>citations were for this usage.  It turns out they are quite good indeed,
>spanning several decades and all from authoritative sources.  I can give
>details if you're interested; just drop me a line.

But there is an English noun which has the property that dropping the
final "s" results in the plural of a (different) English noun.  This is
probably an FAQ.

Dave Hare
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: wft@math.canterbury.ac.nz (Bill Taylor)
Subject: Re: Songs containing states
Organization: Department of Mathematics, University of Canterbury
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 01:37:14 GMT

There is also an old folk song which lists lots of states.

It will sing things like "What did Delaware boys?" and you are to
take this as "What did Della wear boys?".
I think the next line says that she wears a New Jersey.
At one point it says "Alaska" which, from the context of the song,
can be taken as "I'll ask her".

Maybe someone who actually knows the song could post the words.

------------------------
You got it, sweetheart...
------------------------

WHAT DID DELLA WEAR ?

What did Della wear, boys, what did *Della wear*   (twice)
She wore a brand *new jersey*                    (3 times)
That's what Della wore.

Why did *Callie phone ya*, why did Callie phone    (twice)
She called to say *How are ya*                  (3 times)
That's why she did phone.

What did *Missis sip* boys, what did Missis sip  (twice)
She sipped on *Minnie's soda*                  (3 times)
That's what Missis sipped.

Where has *Orry gone* , boys, where has Orry gone,
I don't know but *Ah'll ask her* , where has Orry gone,
She's gone to pay her *taxes*                  (3 times)

How did *Wiscon sin* , boys, she stole a *new brass key*
Too bad that *Arken saw* boys, and so did *Tenner see*,
It made poor *Florrie die* boys                (3 times)
She died in *misery* .

(repeat first verse, fading...)

Incidentally, between each verse there is a chant of "one, two, three, four"
in various languages.

This all gives Delaware, New Jersey, California, Hawaii, Mississippi, Minnesota,
Oregon, Alaska, Texas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, Missouri





Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: agarwal@jans.Stanford.EDU (Amit N. Agarwal)
Subject: A Simple Puzzle
Organization: Stanford University
Distribution: su
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 23:09:41 GMT

Once upon a time there was a king who had three queens. (At that time
it was politically correct.) 

One day a merchant presented him with a bag full of diamonds. The king
announced that he will equally distribute them amongst his wives later. 

However, the queens were of somewhat impatient nature. That night,
one queen stole one-third the number of diamonds. Later that night,
the second queen came and stole one-third the number left and as you 
can guess now, the third queen also came and stole one-third the
number left. (They were all pretty honest, not stealing all). 

Next morning, the king had the bag brought to him, divided into three 
portions with one diamond left over. He gave one portion to each of the queens
and kept the lone diamond for himself. 

What was the number of diamonds in the bag to start with?

(To be technically right, what is the smallest such number?)
From: imc@comlab.ox.ac.uk (Ian Collier)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Formulae for pi
Date: 19 Nov 92 17:53:20 GMT
Organization: Oxford University Computing Laboratory, UK
X-Local-Date: Thursday, 19th November 1992 at 5:52pm GMT
Originator: imc@msc5.comlab

In article <1992Nov16.052144.23407@bnr.ca>, bcash@crchh410.BNR.CA (Brian Cash) wrote:
>In article <1992Nov15.193400.8408@r-node.gts.org>,
>amichail@r-node.gts.org (Ashraf Michail) writes:
>|>This is the best algorithm I know for generating PI:
[iteration deleted]
>|>1/(a15) will give more than two billion digits of PI..
>Don't your roots need to be taken to two billion digits, then?

Yes, but what of it?

I've tested this by the way, and it really works.  (I haven't tested it to 2
billion digits, but to a few hundred anyway).  I also have two similar
ones - one based on square roots from ages ago, and one based on cube roots
which was published in the October notices of the AMS.  This one uses
quartic roots.  I wonder if there is a general formula (I suppose this
should have gone to sci.math...)  Incidentally, the cube root version was
the quickest, because it seems that the time taken to calculate a fourth
root cancels out the extra speed of the algorithm.

Anyway, the original poster wanted to use BASIC.  All these formulae are not
much use for your average BASIC.  If you are still reading, what system is
this on?  It's not often I get to say this, but REXX is the best language
for the job.  It is available for most systems.  My implementation of the
above algorithm (and several others) is in REXX.  (If anyone wants to see
these, just email).

REXX is good because it's fairly easy to program, and it can do high
precision arithmetic with the greatest of ease.  Here's a quickie which
calculates 6*arcsin(0.5):

parse arg n .
if n='' then n=9
numeric digits n+3
numeric fuzz 1
a=1/8;pi=3+a
do i=3 by 2 until p=pi
   a=a*i*i/4/(i+1)/(i+2)
   p=pi
   pi=pi+a
end
numeric digits n
say "pi = "format(pi)

Ian Collier
Ian.Collier@prg.ox.ac.uk | imc@ecs.ox.ac.uk
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles