HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jack@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: British Troops in Bosnia
Date: 8 Jan 93 19:36:21 GMT
Reply-To: jack@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin)
Organization: COMANDOS Project, Glesga Yoonie

david@postman.gr.osf.org (David George) wrote:
>> The point was that all Mr. Major's talk about not wanting to take any
>> military action at all to help the Bosnians, for fear of endangering
>> the British forces on the ground
> In fact the whole area is "so safe" that, according to last weeks European
> newspaper "hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers are flocking back" to
> the area "to take advantage of deserted Adriatic beaches".  A long article
> extolling the virtues of Yugoslavia (except the nasty Serbian bit) followed.
> They'll be doing plugs for Iraq and Cambodia next.  I expect this is another
> article written from the safety of the European's London desk.

Well, I was in Rijeka this summer and it *was* safe: the place has only had
one bombing raid in the entire war, and that just blew up a radio
transmitter on the edge of town.  I don't think Pula even got that much.
The whole northern Croatian Adriatic coast is pretty much untouched by the
war (Dubrovnik is a different story).  And virtually no signs of
militarization except isolated soldiers on leave wandering around: no
roadblocks, no armed guards at checkpoints, nothing.  (I posted a long
account of this trip to rec.travel).

What *is* a problem is accommodation.  All the tourist hotels in Opatija
were crammed full of Bosnian refugees.  So I'd say by all means visit
Istria and the northern Adriatic islands, but make sure you can get
somewhere to stay first.  Since there is a computer science conference
scheduled for Pula in a few months, I assume there must be some hotel
space there at least.  Dubrovnik is unlikely to be back in shape to
receive tourists yet and Split will presumably be a chaos of refugees and
UN forces: Trogir might be worth checking out but I don't know about it.

The European has journalists on the ground in a lot more of Eastern Europe
than any other British paper I can think of.  Some of them even know what
they're talking about.

-- 
--  Jack Campin    room G092, Computing Science Department, Glasgow University,
17 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ, Scotland   TEL: 041 339 8855 x6854 (work)
INTERNET: jack@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk or via nsfnet-relay.ac.uk    FAX: 041 330 4913
BANG!net: via mcsun and uknet     BITNET: via UKACRL    UUCP: jack@glasgow.uucp
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: dbrooks@osf.org (David Brooks)
Subject: Re: American humo(u)r (was Re: Studying Me
Reply-To: dbrooks@osf.org (David Brooks)
Organization: Open Software Foundation
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 05:09:53 GMT

ian@sun.com writes:
>In article 1170@ttinews.tti.com, jackson@soldev.tti.com (Dick Jackson) writes:
>> Frankly, I like it here. The living is easy, and apart from the
>> nearby quasi-random machine gun bursts it is very pleasant in So. Cal.
>
>Do many others reading this in the USA hear gunfire from their homes?

Yah.  Just 'bout every Sunday during duck huntin' season.  Yessir.  Them
ducks, they never know what hit 'em, heh heh.

Course, we don't hold with it on reg'lar days.
-- 
David Brooks					dbrooks@osf.org
Open Software Foundation			uunet!osf.org!dbrooks
Shine out, fair sun, with all your heat!  Black winter freezes to his seat...
The boneless fish close quaking lies...the stars in icicles arise!
From: smckinty@sunicnc.France.Sun.COM (Steve McKinty - Sun ICNC)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Eastern hemisphere electrical power
Date: 7 Jan 1993 16:44:36 GMT
Organization: SunConnect
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: hardy.france.sun.com

In article <93007.083225RBYAML@rohvm1.rohmhaas.com>, Aengus Lawlor <RBYAML@rohvm1.rohmhaas.com> writes:
> In article <1993Jan7.071308.15181@netcom.com>, ewadams@netcom.com (Ernest Adams)
> says:
> >Generally I'm not in favor of trying to make the Old World more like the
> >New, but in this case I'll make an exception. Non-lethal line voltage
> >just makes better sense than 220 volts. It's like putting that smelly
> >stuff in natural gas: you don't *have* to do it, but it gives the
> >innocent victim of a breakdown better odds of surviving.
> I always thought that it's the current that'll kill you, not the voltage.
> And because V=IR, half the voltage means twice the current.
> 
Its the current that kills, but if you halve the voltage, and the resistance
stays the same, you will halve the current too (i = v/r). Half the
voltage only means twice the current if the power stays the same, i.e.
if the resistance is quartered.

Its a bit academic though, the amount of current needed to be lethal
is tiny. For a direct shock through the heart it's of the order of
a few thousandths of an amp. Even 110v can deliver that easily if the
shock is from one hand to the other. For a shock from arm to leg, down
your side, its safer because the heart isn't in the path.

Steve

-- 
Steve McKinty
SUN Microsystems ICNC
38240 Meylan, France
email: smckinty@france.sun.com	   BIX: smckinty
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: sue@netcom.com (Sue Miller)
Subject: Re: Truly English?
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 18:47:07 GMT

Adrian.Waterworth@newcastle.ac.uk (Adrian Waterworth) writes:
>mingos@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:
>
>>Coundn't find a more appropriate newsgroup to discuss this in, so I'm sorry if
>>this is a bit off the beat.
>
>> A few years ago, Margaret Thatcher became a grandmother.  She came out of her
>>house and proudly announced 
>
>> 		"We are a grandmother"
>
>> Now, this was clearly the intended message (ie was not a slip of the tongue), 
>>and was clearly done for effect, as was usual with her.  What I'd like to know
>>is, could this in any way be regarded a correct use of the english language? 
>>What was the implied meaning - that the child, as her grandchild, was part of 
>>our common heritage?  It just seemed really pompous, and has bugged me ever
>>since.
>
>	Such turns of phrase have always tended to be associated with
>and used by the monarchy (particularly the reigning monarch). Hence it
>is often described as "the Royal 'We'".
>
>	Pompous? Absolutely. However, from a personal point of view, I
>always thought that it was just a pure and simple case of dear old
>Battie Maggie entertaining power-crazed delusions of grandeur.
>
>	You never know, if she had been left in power, she might have
>been coming out with "And Margaret moved upon the face of the waters"
>by now.


This, in conjunction with several other postings in a similar vein,
almost tempts me to do a Devil's Advocate number, but I'm just not
political enough.

I sometimes wonder why MT should arouse such intense feelings of
dislike.  I really couldn't stand Ronnie Reagan, but I've never felt
like posting statements about him with the same sort of passion
exhibited in anti-Maggie postings.

My spouse was an unabased Thatcherite (and yes, he was in England
during most of her tenure).  I didn't have too much interest one way
or the other.  



Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: dj@ekcolor.ssd.kodak.com (Dave Jones)
Subject: Re: Celsius <--> Fahrenheit (was Re: British Imperial...)
Organization: Vonnegut Tent Rentals, Inc.
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL7]
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 93 15:14:44 GMT

Paul Taylor <pt@acl.icnet.uk> (pt@curie.lif.icnet.uk) wrote:
> In article <C0FFqv.356@newcastle.ac.uk> Trevor.Kirby@newcastle.ac.uk (Trevor Kirby) writes:
> >
> >In article <1993Jan5.144821.1@jaguar.csc.wsu.edu>, f0975893@jaguar.csc.wsu.edu writes:
> >>
> >>Does anyone know how the Farenheit scale was developed and why it is such a
> >>weird scale? I have heard that the 100F mark was supposed to be the tempera-
> >>ture of blood (body temperature), only they got it wrong!! And 0F happened
> >>to be the lowest temperature measured at that time (~freezing point of saline
> >>water?!?).
> >>
> >The way I heard it is that it was his body temperature, he just happened to be
> >running a fever at the time. The answer is probably in the urban legend FAQ.
> >
> > Trev
> 
> I heard that Zero F was the lowest temperature at the time, but I thought the
> other fixed point was 180 F and this was boiling water or something.
> 
You're confusing Fahrenheit with the little-used Roemer scale.

If anything, Celsius is the weird scale, from the human point of view.  If
you want to describe the weather it means using negative numbers.  0F is 
about as cold as it can get in most of Western Europe, and 100+ is 
unusual there.  Fahrenheit is a good scale for describing the ambient 
temperature.  Usage for scientific purposes came later.  Celsius has the 
advantage that you can get your fixed points with a readily available 
material - pure water - though there's no reason you can't call 32 a 'fixed'
point.

Note that scientists don't use Celsius either - they use Kelvin, whose 
degrees just happen to be the same size, but which is measured from Absolute
Zero.  You could just as easily have Fahrenheit sized degrees on an absolute
scale.

--
||------------------------------------------------------------------------
||Dave Jones (dj@ekcolor.ssd.kodak.com)|Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY  |
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.canada,soc.culture.europe,soc.culture.french,soc.culture.german,soc.culture.greek
From: koningj@risc1.unisa.ac.za (Gert Koning)
Subject: Need info: University tuition systems
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 12:01:23 GMT
Organization: University of South Africa

The University of South Africa is a distance teaching institution that
has been in existance from 1946. It has 120 000 students none of which
are campus based - all tuition is through correspondence. Although the
university teaches through correspondence, it still has a fixed academic
year of twelve months, January through December.

The huge number of students and the projected growth of our student
population necessitates an urgent investigation of this university model.
UNISA is currently investigating the possibility of an open system of
registration where the student registers at any time according to his/her
particular circumstances and sit for an examination when ready. There are
other universities that operate according to similar tuition systems.
Information pertaining to such institutions (Location, Contact Person,
Fax number, etc.) is urgently required.

Can you help? Please reply by E-mail to koningj@risc1.unisa.ac.za.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gert Koning (koningj@risc1.unisa.ac.za)
Department of Computer Services
University of South Africa - Pretoria - RSA
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: mckeonj@ul.ie
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Eastern hemisphere electrical power
Date: 8 Jan 93 10:59:04 GMT
Organization: University of Limerick, Ireland

In article <1993Jan7.094719.18974@cbnewsj.cb.att.com>, sadamson@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (stuart.r.adamson) writes:
> In article <1993Jan7.071308.15181@netcom.com>, ewadams@netcom.com (Ernest Adams) writes:
>> Somebody wrote:
>> 
>> >Underpowered and over here.
Listen, bud! Essex may well be in the Eastern hemisphere, but
the rest of Britain (and Ireland), ain't!
-- 
"Ich am of Irlonde" (medieval fragment used by Yeats)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
John McKeon, Material Science Dept. University of Limerick, Ireland
From: Geraint.Jones@comlab.oxford.ac.uk (Geraint Jones)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Eastern hemisphere electrical power
Date: 8 Jan 93 22:22:09 GMT
Organization: Rosalind's Genuine Original Handmade Farmhouse Kitchen Company
Originator: geraint@clts1.comlab

tjo@its.bt.co.uk (Tim Oldham) wrote:
(  Hey! Who *hasn't* had a 240V mains shock? I know I have...aged 11, I was
 ) fascinated by the fact that when you stuck a pair of scissors into the
(  top socket, the little doors would open...and pins could then be jammed
 ) in and hold there by the doors...
(  
 ) Quite tingly, and a bit of a shock, but my heart kept beating...
(  
 ) 	Tim. ``Mary Shelley? Who she?''

When BBC2 was still young and original (or seemed so...) they had this great 
idea for cheap programmes.  You get in from the street the nearest idiot who
wants to make a fool of himself and you let him play at televison for a while.
It was called Open Door.  The first one of these that made anything like a
lasting impression on me was called `Electricity Smells of Burnt Pork'.  It
was made by a Chap (quite definitely a /chap/, and likely enough a brigadeer,
or an old boy, probably from somewhere in Kent, in the Eastern hemisphere, too)
with a toothbrush moustache and metaphorical plus-fours, and who claimed to be
an inventor.  I think he was working on man-powered flight or some such horse-
feathers.

His title came from one of his childhood experiments.  He had wanted to learn
all about electricity, so he tried looking into a mains socket.  Then he tried
sniffing at it.  Since the socket only smelled of bakelite, he tried plugging
in some flex and sniffing that.  He found that electricity was quite painful,
but smewd of burnd bawk.  Now that is what I call real science.  If I were on
the Committee for the Public Undertanding of Science, I would vote this man
a grant for activities furthering the public understanding of science and 
engineering (including mathematics).  I suppose it is just as well that I
am not.  Does anyone remember who this fellow was?                          /
                                                                           /
I think it was this programme that made me want to be a mad inventor.     / g
___
What makes experiments scientific is that they be repeatable.
From: hiscrp@nuscc.nus.sg (C R Pennell)
Subject: Re: Back from the UK
Organization: National University of Singapore
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 22:49:36 GMT

sandee@Think.COM (Daan Sandee) writes:
: In article <1993Jan12.032713.10746@news.columbia.edu>, gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener) writes:
: |> 
: |> Speaking of the "store" thing, does anyone know the history behind the
: |> word for "store" in most romance languages being cognate with our word
: |> "magazine" ??
: 
: What's the problem ? A magazine is a place of storage (see dictionary,
: derived from some Arab word). Both "store" (in English) and "magazine"
: (in various Romance languages) came to have another meaning "shop
: selling sundry goods". Another example of this is "warehouse".
: 
: The interesting bit is "magazine" now meaning "periodical" (i.e., a particular
: type of publication). This originated from the oldest magazines, in this
: sense, being a collection of miscellaneous bits and pieces, not necessarily
: united by a theme or editorial direction. This usage is restricted to
: English.


At last. I knew if I hung on long enough I could use things that I tell my
students in lectures and tell people outside in the real world. 

The Arabic base word is Khazana (kh pronounced roughly like ch in loch) to
store, stock up, ammass accumulate. Makhzan is a noun formed from this
verb - meaning store room, depository, warehouse, by extension a place
where you store ammunition (and in English etc, by extension again a place
where you store bullet ready to clip onto your gun, and alos by another
branch a store house for lots of pieces of irrelevant information, like
this). It was also the title of the pre-colonial Moroccan government, with
the implication that the government's main task was to collect up taxes
(often in kind). also "the heart, because the secret is concealed in it"
(EW Lane _English-Arabic Lexicon_ 734). So both multiple ideas and sound
passed into the languages of the barbarian Europeans.

Richard, History, NUS.
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:18206 soc.culture.celtic:8551
From: Trevor.Kirby@newcastle.ac.uk (Trevor Kirby)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.celtic
Subject: Re: British Flags (was Re: The Welsh Flag)
Date: 5 Jan 93 09:58:41 GMT
Organization: Computing Laboratory, U of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK NE1 7RU.


In article <1992Dec23.234600.11563@nuscc.nus.sg>, hiscrp@nuscc.nus.sg (C R Pennell) writes:
>
>	Didn't see that bit but note for trivia-watchers (and triumphalist
>anti-imperialists) Did you know that the last time the J R was flown in
>battle was by the British navy during the Falklands War?
>
>There now, wasn't that interesting?
>
OB. nitpick. It was flown on return to harbour, flying flags at 50 fathoms 
tends to be futile.

 Trev
From: steven@cwi.nl (Steven Pemberton)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: electrical power
Date: 7 Jan 93 10:54:38 GMT
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam

In article <1993Jan7.071308.15181@netcom.com> ewadams@netcom.com
(Ernest Adams) writes:
> Generally I'm not in favor of trying to make the Old World more like the
> New, but in this case I'll make an exception. Non-lethal line voltage
> just makes better sense than 220 volts.

I read recently that 17 European countries have agreed to standardise
their electricity supplies to 230 volts 50Hz; but not (guess who) the
UK. Why on earth not? Surely lowering the voltage slightly will have
minimal impact (less that raising it as the Dutch are doing).

Steven Pemberton, CWI, Amsterdam; Steven.Pemberton@cwi.nl
"Let us go then you and I/while the night is laid out against the sky/like a
					smear of mustard on an old pork pie"
Nice poem Tom. I have ideas for changes though, why not come over? - Ezra
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: bvaughan@sheps.Princeton.EDU (Barbara Vaughan)
Subject: Re: Celsius <--> Fahrenheit (was Re: British Imperial...)
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 23:26:23 GMT

In article <8547@charon.cwi.nl> steven@cwi.nl (Steven Pemberton) writes:
>In article <1993Jan6.151444.14612@pixel.kodak.com>
>dj@ekcolor.ssd.kodak.com (Dave Jones) writes:
>> If anything, Celsius is the weird scale, from the human point of view.  If
>> you want to describe the weather it means using negative numbers.
>
>The only unfortunate aspect of celsius is that I expect most
>fahrenheit thermostats are set at 70 degrees, and most celsius at 20
>degrees, thus contributing to global warming as more people switch
>from F to C (:-)). (I set mine at 19 by the way).
>
I thought we Americans were the energy pigs; I set mine to 62 F (@17 C). 
By the way, here's my quick and dirty C <--> F formula:

  Celcius: Subtract 30 from Fahrenheit and divide by 2
  Fahrenheit: Double Celcius and add 30

Within the range of outdoor temperatures (in England, not Montana), this
is never off by more than a few degrees; enough to decide quickly whether
you need a coat.

Barbara Vaughan
From: aoaass@registry.adelaide.edu.au
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Uni Admissions Centre
Date: 8 Jan 93 16:52:23 ACST
Organization: Office of the Registry, University of Adelaide
NNTP-Posting-Host: admin.registry.adelaide.edu.au

Can any one tell me if they have an email address for4 anyone connected to the
British Universities Admissions Centre????

Ross Karavis
University of Adelaide, South Australia
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: etaylor@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Euan R. Taylor)
Subject: degrees-grades
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 21:35:40 GMT

Hi netters, I'm trying to find out what % of students at UK universities
get 1st class, upper second, lower second, and third class degrees, so I
can see how it compares with the grade point system used in the US and
canada.
In particular I want to know the percentages getting the different grades
at Univ. of Cambridge.

If anyone has this information or has an Email address for Cambridge where
ai might get this info -Please let me know.

toodle pip

Euan taylor
etaylor@ccu.umanitoba.ca
From: Geraint.Jones@comlab.oxford.ac.uk (Geraint Jones)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: British Imperial Weights and Measures
Date: 5 Jan 93 19:45:26 GMT
Organization: The MacSharry Museum of Mysterious Weeds and Exotic Diversity
Originator: geraint@clts1.comlab

various delightful souls contributed:
(  >>>"A Pint's A Pound the Whole World Round"
(  >>
(  >>A pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter.
(  >
(  >" A Litre of water's a pint and three quarters"
(  
(  no, I believe you're thinking of "two and a quarter pounds of jam
(  weigh about a kilogram"
(   
(    -- or do you have to subtract 32 first?  Or is it afterwards?  I never
(       could remember.

Oh, oh! Five and ten and twenty-one: winter, spring and summer sun.  Ahhhh.    g
From: proberts@informix.com (Paul Roberts)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: British Imperial Weights and Measures
Date: 6 Jan 93 00:48:39 GMT
Organization: Informix Software, Inc.

In article <1993Jan5.194526.5847@clts1.comlab.ox.ac.uk> Geraint.Jones@comlab.oxford.ac.uk (Geraint Jones) writes:
>various delightful souls contributed:
>(  >>>"A Pint's A Pound the Whole World Round"
>(  >>
>(  >>A pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter.
>(  >
>(  >" A Litre of water's a pint and three quarters"
>(  
>(  no, I believe you're thinking of "two and a quarter pounds of jam
>(  weigh about a kilogram"
>(   
>(    -- or do you have to subtract 32 first?  Or is it afterwards?  I never
>(       could remember.
>
>Oh, oh! Five and ten and twenty-one: winter, spring and summer sun.  Ahhhh.    g

OK, who can remember where the above "Five and ten and twenty-one: winter, 
spring and summer sun" originated? Just to make it a bit easier, it was the
winning entry in a competition to "find a mneumonic to help people remember
centigrade temperatures" as help on which Britsh TV programme?
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:18507 alt.usage.english:10439
From: rnewman@bbn.com (Ron Newman)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Back from the UK
Date: 11 Jan 93 23:47:34 GMT
Organization: Bolt, Beranek & Newman, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: spcsun25.bbn.com

In article <1993Jan11.233015.28726@csi.uottawa.ca>, misrael@csi.uottawa.ca (Mark Israel) writes:
|>    British houses often have the bath in a separate room from the
|> toilet, so the euphemism "bathroom" wouldn't work.  Of course,
|> "water closet", "W.C.", "the loo", etc. are often used.

On a recent trip to Italy, I was surprised to find public
rest rooms often labelled "WC", since I understand that to
be a strictly British usage, and "W" isn't even a letter in
the Italian language.

-- 
Ron Newman		rnewman@bbn.com
From: jeremy@castle.ed.ac.uk (Jeremy Henderson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Martini
Date: 12 Jan 93 12:07:02 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

In article <1993Jan11.144641.1476@infodev.cam.ac.uk> gdb15@cl.cam.ac.uk writes:
~In article <1993Jan10.223047.1@acfcluster.nyu.edu> marcusc@acfcluster.nyu.edu writes:
~
~>Martinis are "mixed" in
~>the US but not in Britain (in fact an american martini is what we would call a
~>gin and it in UK). 
~
~As far as I know "Martini" is a proprietary name for a brand of vermouth
~in Britain. not a generic, but then I don't drink the stuff so I'm
~hardly an expert.  The American usage has always baffled me: is it
~a proprietary name over there as well?

As any old fool who listens to Tom Lehrer records could tell you, a martini
is 6 parts gin to 1 part vermouth.





-- 
===Jeremy Henderson===jeremy@castle.ed.ac.uk=          

This message cost the net hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
Bloody good value if you ask me.
From: curt@nereus.East.Sun.COM (Curt Harpold-Sun-Vienna VA-Systems Engineer)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: British Imperial Weights and Measures
Date: 5 Jan 93 20:22:47 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Vienna, Va.
NNTP-Posting-Host: nereus.east.sun.com

In article <128030005@otter.hpl.hp.com> tgg@otter.hpl.hp.com (Tom Gardner) writes:
>
>Simple. Don't bother, use this mechanism:
>	Celcius to Fahrenheit: subtract 40, *9/5, add 40
>	Fahrenheit to Celcius: subtract 40, *5/9, add 40
>
>notice the similarity.
>
>This works because -40F = -40C.

What?!?

This _doesn't_ work!  Please check formulae before posting, someone might
take you seriously.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.french