HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: frankj@ifi.uio.no (Frank Tore Johansen)
Subject: Re: You know you've been playing games too long when...
Reply-To: frankj@ifi.uio.no
Organization: University of Oslo, Norway
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 04:58:26 GMT
Originator: frankj@yrsa.ifi.uio.no


>>>In article <_dm3jvq@rpi.edu>, jonesr2@aix02.ecs.rpi.edu (Kazrak) writes:
>>>> Today, I determined that I've been playing Lemmings too long.  How?  Well,
>>>> when my fiancee and I were approaching the door to her building and I was
>>>> trying to figure out how one of us could unlock the door without the other
>>>> bouncing off and heading in the other direction, I figured I was a goner.

This reminds me of what I picked up in comp.risks.  For those who don't
read that newsgroup:

>Date: Sun, 17 Jan 1993 18:07:40 -0500
>From: Robert A. Morris <ram@cs.umb.edu>
>Subject: Re: Computer games may endanger your health (Russell, RISKS-14.27)
>
>> EPILEPSY WARNING: READ BEFORE USING YOUR NES OR SUPER NES
>> Consult your physician if you experience any of the following symptoms while
>> playing video games: altered vision, muscle twitching, other involuntary
>> movements, loss of awareness of your surroundings, mental confusion, and/or
>> convulsions.
>
>Of course, the search for most of these conditions are among the _goals_ of
>video game players....

-Frank.
From: alien@acheron.amigans.gen.nz (Ross Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Pentia
Date: 22 Jan 93 10:34:03 GMT+12
Distribution: world
Organization: Muppet Labs

If a "586" is a Pentium (pl. Pentia?), then are 386s trivia?


--
...... Ross Smith (Wanganui, NZ) ...... alien@acheron.amigans.gen.nz ......
"I blame you for the moonlit sky and the dream that died with the Eagle's flight
I blame you for the moonlit nights when I wonder why are the seas still dry
Don't blame me, sleeping satellite"                              (Tasmin Archer)
--
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Jason 'KodaK' Balicki)
Subject: Service Merchandice
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Distribution: alt
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 07:21:33 GMT


What are those [insert eerie music here] THINGS they use at Service
Merchandice, and are they hooked up to some kind of national network,
or what?  I bought a VCR and they KNEW who I was, and I don't remember
buying anything from Service Merchandice before (I know I must have,
but not since I've been where I am now.) 


-- 
Jason Balicki | kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: pyotr@halcyon.com (Peter D. Hampe)
Subject: Re: You know you've been playing games too long when...
Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. (206) 455-3505
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 23:12:21 GMT

lfm54477@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Libor F. Michalek) writes:

>dsiebert@icaen.uiowa.edu (Doug Siebert) writes:

>>ina_craig@actew.oz.au (Craig Alexander) writes:

>>>In article <_dm3jvq@rpi.edu>, jonesr2@aix02.ecs.rpi.edu (Kazrak) writes:
>>>> Today, I determined that I've been playing Lemmings too long.  How?  Well,
>>>> when my fiancee and I were approaching the door to her building and I was
>>>> trying to figure out how one of us could unlock the door without the other
>>>> bouncing off and heading in the other direction, I figured I was a goner.
>>>> 

>>>I have heard stories of the game Tetris affecting people like this but much
>>>more severely. Some people have said that they have gotten to the stage where
>>>they can play tetris in their heads without needing a computer. 


>>Wouldn't it be too easy then?  I don't know about other people, but I'd always
>>give myself perfectly fitting pieces if I was playing it in my head ;-)

>This happened to me in high school right around when tetris first came on the
>seen. I wrote a version for my PC that only reached a certain speed( about level
>seven on nitendoe (sp?)). I knew I had it mastered when one saturday I woke up
>at 9 am ( just so I could play the game ) started playing and didn't stop until
>5 pm when I realized by brain was about to explode( this was non-stop play).
>Any way for a few months afterwards I use to play the game in my head all the
>time and no self respecting tetris addict would give himself the easy pieces.
>To this day every time I go to a bathroom I look at the tiles and try to imgine
>how they would fit if they where tetris pecies. There is no way in hell I am
>letting my kids play this game ( when I have kids that is ). Personally I think
>my life would have been different where it not for this game.               
>oh well.

>Libor ( if you rotate the L the o above it would fit pretty well )

What I 'hate' is finishing with the game, and then for the
next N hours I see little peices floating down to fit the
random spaces in front of me: people I'm talking to, the
ragged justification of the book I'm reading.  At least my
hand has stopped twitching.

chus
pyotr

-- 
Pyotr aka Peter D. Hampe : eka pyotr@halcyon.com
Nothing says loving like a bun in the oven.
EOF
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: N.W. Choe <nwc1@midway.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: What one-liner, joke, saying would you like to see on a T-shirt
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A78C8E57E1017492@sl-mac-18.rh.uchicago.edu>
X-Xxdate: Wed, 27 Jan 93 01:09:11 GMT
Organization: Beaver Consulting Co.
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d13
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 01:14:13 GMT

In article <73925@cup.portal.com> Sunday and Associates,
sunday@cup.portal.com writes:
>	We are preparing a commercial release of T-shirts intended for
>the Usenet civilization and related societies. We would like to
solicit
>your thoughts about what *saying*, slogan, one-liner, joke
(including
>visual) you would like to see on a t-shirt. 
>	Remember there is a front and a back to any shirt.

How about something along the lines of:

UseNET

Wasting hundreds, if not thousands of dollars every time I post.

(you get the idea)
N.W. Choe    Beaver Consulting Co.- Chicago
5454 S. Shore Dr. #318
Chicago, IL 60615     312.702.4605
"Embarking upon the obvious to stumble upon the truth."
From: azog@spatula.rent.com (Billy D'Augustine)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Noisey computers
Date: 22 Jan 93 00:04:34 GMT
Organization: A kitchen utensil somewhere in central New Jersey

Im sitting here with my computer on, and I happen to have my amplifer
on at the same time (keying in some MIDI sequences thru my digital 
keyboard), so I decided to take a break, and read some news. Anytime
any text gets dumped to my screen, I can hear 'something' on the
amp (or perhaps, its when anything comes across the modem?)

I figured that if things were FCC class B certified (or is it A?)
that things shouldnt do stuff like this? Cant be the hard drive
box I built, as I know thats probably really noisey and besides, 
just watching the screen scroll doesnt cause disk access...

Doesnt much matter to me, but what I thought would be kinda fun would
be to hook up a mic, and perhaps feedback the amp sounds into my computer
and display what its doing.

I think its kinda interesting...
-- 
Billy D'Augustine 
azog@spatula.rent.com

Hell is an endless loop of 'Three's Company' episodes.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: raymondc@microsoft.com (Raymond Chen)
Subject: Re: i is for iteration
Date: 22 Jan 93 18:27:56 GMT
Organization: None.  That way, I don't have to write a disclaimer.

In article <C13J9p.ABA@brunel.ac.uk> cs92njc@ccws-39.brunel.ac.uk.ac.uk writes:
>Does anyone know the circumstances that surround "i" being adopted as
>the most common name for a variable in a loop...

As has been mentioned by others, the convention undoubtedly derives from the
fact that mathematicians had been using "i" as a loop index for over a
century before the invention of the modern computer.  The earliest citation
I have within easy reach is the invention of the summation symbol by
Joe Fourier:

	Le signe
				i=oo
				---
				>
				---
				i=1

	indique que l'on doit donner au nombre entier  i  toutes ses
	valeurs 1, 2, 3, ..., et prendre la somme des termes.

		-- ``Refroidissement s\'eculaire du globe terrestre''
		   J. Fourier (1820)

(The paper can be found in Volume 2 of his collected works.)

I do not doubt that the use of "i" as an index variable predates even
Fourier.

It's interesting to note that Fourier's original notation has survived
to the modern day with only minor changes.  Compare all the "is less
than" symbols that mathematicians went through before settling on "<".
From: raf4482@zeus.tamu.edu (REID FORREST)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: hacker language articles
Date: 24 Jan 93 20:01:00 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
NNTP-Posting-Host: zeus.tamu.edu
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <93021.155838JIM@UCF1VM.BITNET>, Jim Ennis <JIM@UCF1VM.BITNET> writes...
>Hello,
> 
> I am trying to assist a friend in writing a paper about the history of
>computer hacker/user language.  I have a copy of the Jargon file and
>a couple of the book references from the end of the file.  I am looking
>for any suggested magazine articles which the net might know of which
>describes instances of hacker language or how the language came about.
> 
>Jim Ennis
>University of Central Florida

There are quite a few good references you can look at.  First, try the book
_Hackers_ by Steven Levy.  It not only describes quite a bit of jargon, but
also the Hacker Ethic and their lifestyle from its beginnings at MIT to the
present.  Also, try _The Hacker Dictionary_.  I do not know the author's 
name.  These and the Jargon file should be a fairly complete reference.
Hope this helps!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reid Allen Forrest            :  Texas A&M University
RAF4482@rigel.tamu.edu        :  Computer Science and Engineering Major
(409)847-1808                 :  3rd Generation Hacker
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: Jeremy_Reimer@mindlink.bc.ca (Jeremy Reimer)
Subject: Re: You know you've been playing games too long when...
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 12:46:47 GMT

> Thomas Beagle writes:
>
> Msg-ID: <1993Jan25.193307.44710@datamark.co.nz>
> Posted: 25 Jan 93 19:33:07 GMT
>
> Org.  : Datamark International Ltd.
>
> In article <1993Jan25.103136.186@actew.oz.au> ina_craig@actew.oz.au (Craig
> Alexander) writes:
> >I have heard stories of the game Tetris affecting people like this but
> much
> >more severely. Some people have said that they have gotten to the stage
> where
> >they can play tetris in their heads without needing a computer.
>
> I have dreamed playing Tetris - I was doing quite well. THe only
> problem was that I suspected my mind was not selecting the blocks to
> drop at random...
>
> I have also played my current addiction, Minesweeper, in my mind while
> dreaming. I didn't do as well as I normally do.
> --
>     Thomas Beagle | thomas@datamark.co.nz           Work: 64 4 233 8186
>  Technical Writer | thomas@cavebbs.welly.gen.nz     Home: 64 4 499 3832
>    Wellington, NZ | Yes, I do have long ears, a black nose, and a tail.


I used to be unable to get to sleep easily because whenever I closed my eyes
all I could see were the darting forms of Dralthi, Salthi, Krant, Jalthi and
Gratha...

I don't see them anymore-- at least not unless I am actually playing, but I
still don't sleep because I've found another addiction, namely reading news
all hours of the morning...

Jeremy (Wing Commander addict)



--
Jeremy_Reimer@ |"It turned out, as N-Man discovered later, that the black
mindlink.bc.ca | boat hadn't been after him at all.  It was full of riotous,
---------------| unemployed former James Bond villains enraged at the fall
aka THE JAGUAR!| of Communism in the Soviet Union."
---------------|
Stealth Sig#69 |  --From "N-Man #3: N-Man on Holiday"

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: magnasco@research.nj.nec.com (Marcelo Magnasco)
Subject: Re: What one-liner, joke, saying would you like to see on a T-shirt
Originator: magnasco@asterion
Organization: NEC Research Institute
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 93 04:42:18 GMT

/dev/teeshirt
From: shoppa@almach.caltech.edu (TIM SHOPPA)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Noisey computers
Date: 22 Jan 1993 08:51 PST
Organization: California Institute of Technology
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: almach.caltech.edu
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

In article <1993Jan22.000434.20149@spatula.rent.com>, azog@spatula.rent.com (Billy D'Augustine) writes...
>Im sitting here with my computer on, and I happen to have my amplifer
>on at the same time (keying in some MIDI sequences thru my digital 
>keyboard), so I decided to take a break, and read some news. Anytime
>any text gets dumped to my screen, I can hear 'something' on the
>amp (or perhaps, its when anything comes across the modem?)
> 
>I figured that if things were FCC class B certified (or is it A?)
>that things shouldnt do stuff like this? Cant be the hard drive
>box I built, as I know thats probably really noisey and besides, 
>just watching the screen scroll doesnt cause disk access...
> 
>Doesnt much matter to me, but what I thought would be kinda fun would
>be to hook up a mic, and perhaps feedback the amp sounds into my computer
>and display what its doing.
> 
>I think its kinda interesting...
>-- 
>Billy D'Augustine 
>azog@spatula.rent.com
> 
>Hell is an endless loop of 'Three's Company' episodes.

Ha!  FCC certified?  That's a joke to anyone who has ever had
to make any other sensitive equipment work in the same room with a
computer.  The standard lets all sorts of stuff past.  And worst of all
is the little disclaimer that appears on certification labels, saying
something like:

"This device must accept any interference received including interference
that causes undesired operation."

I have never really figured this statement out.  I think it's just a way
of saying:

"Hey, if this device has little to no shielding in it, that's your
tough luck, and neither the manufacturer or the FCC have any responsibility
to clean it up, or even pay attention to your complaints."

As the amount of iron and steel going into computers continues to drop,
and clock rates continue to soar, I guess it is inevitable that more
and more noise will be emitted in any environment!

				Tim (shoppa@erin.caltech.edu)

P.S.  As a practical answer to your problem, look in the book by
Horowitz and Hill, "The Art of Electronics."  They give many
suggestions, like eliminating ground loops, using ferrite toroids
to filter out RF interference on audio lines, and the final solution,
the Faraday cage.


P.P.S. And many people here must have played the game of putting an AM radio
near their LED pocket calculator, and discovering how different
digit patterns on the multiplexed display caused different notes
to issue from the radio!
From: urban@sideshow.jpl.nasa.gov (Michael P Urban)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: You know you've been playing games too long when...
Date: 26 Jan 1993 15:57:28 GMT
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Reply-To: urban@sideshow.jpl.nasa.gov (Michael P Urban)
NNTP-Posting-Host: sideshow.jpl.nasa.gov

I have found that several hours of doing _anything_ with a high level of
repetitious sensory input -- pinball, playing Tetris, or Spider, or even
performing at the local Renaissance Faire, where the input is a lot
more varied, will `resonate' on the old brain-cells long after the
stimulation has ceased.  For me, two or three aspirins will deaden
this effect sufficiently to permit deep sleep; others have reported
good results with Tylenol as well.

>
>Ken == kenc@sol.acs.unt.edu == kenc@vaxb.acs.unt.edu
> Sex is not the answer.  Sex is the question.  "Yes" is the answer.
> 		-- Swami X

The venerable Swami (hey, I remember him!) got this line from Lenny Bruce.

	Mike Urban

	urban@cobra.jpl.nasa.gov
From: azog@spatula.rent.com (Billy D'Augustine)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Atari 1450 XLD
Date: 26 Jan 93 13:12:03 GMT
Organization: A kitchen utensil somewhere in central New Jersey

In article <1993Jan24.203953.11538@athena.mit.edu> joshg@athena.mit.edu (Josh Gagliardi) writes:
>
>Many years ago, my father used to get a catalog of gifts he could order from
>his company in return for having sold equipment.  We looked through the
>catalog one year, and here was this neat computer, the Atari 1450XLD.  It
>had a built in floppy drive, a little space above it for diskettes, and 
>a modem, I think.  We ordered it, and after almost a year of little 
>"Manufacturer's delay" postcards finally got an 800XL with a disk drive in 
>the mail.  what happened?  Was the machine ever built?
>

Cant answer about the 1450XLD, but it sounds like Atari is still using the
same old tricks these days. First, personally, it took over 6 months to
receive a 520STe I ordered from a dealer (dealer was back ordered from 
the factory. actually, it probably more of supply and demand, as Atari
didnt realize it would be so popular)

Second, for those who may be following any of the Atari groups, where is
the Falcon? Its been in the wings for over a year, and I just found out
there is more delays, until possibly March 92.

Next is the STBook, which is a great STe in a notebook, but has been
relegated to vapourware. The machine does exist, and some select people
have one, but its 'being redesigned'

-- 
Billy D'Augustine 	azog@spatula.rent.com

'Armies of the Gods of Hell ride across the astral plane, bearing curses
of destruction, sworn beyond the grave'
From: sweeney@Ingres.COM (Tony Sweeney)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Pooter meat - source discovered!
Date: 27 Jan 93 12:39:26 GMT
Reply-To: sweeney@Ingres.COM (Tony Sweeney)
Organization: Ask Computer Systems Inc., Ingres Division, Alameda CA 94501

In article <C186BK.CzI@rahul.net> phil@rahul.net (Phil Gustafson) writes:
>This is exactly right.  Jonathan Kamens has done a fine job with
>news.answers, and had provided a valuable service to the net.  A year or so
>ago, he was faced with a bumptious former FAQmeister of AFU who wanted to
>call the afu archive jik-dik.  Or maybe jik-dick.
>
>Now, in five minutes, he could have resolved this matter politely:
>
>  I believe that afu-faq is a more appropriate name for the archive.
>
>Or, if he were grouchier:
>
>  I believe that afu-faq is a more appropriate name for the archive, asshole.
>
>Or, if he wished to earn the hearts of afu-ers everywhere (and there are
>more than 40,000 of us):
>
>  The archive is called peter-pooter.  Live with it.
>

Aha! So that's where 'pooter meat comes from (heh). Do I hear any volunteers
for the taste test? Cindy? Or perhaps Pinky would like to chow down.
I hear he's "good friends" with PvdL anyhow...

>Phil
>
>
>-- 
>|play: phil@rahul.net
>|work: (Under Construction)              | Phil Gustafson 408-286-1749      |
>|         Opinions outside attributed material are mine alone.              |
>|        Satirical matter is not necessarily identified as such.            |



Tony "I'm told it needs to be beaten thouroughly before cooking." Sweeney.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: dnichols@d-and-d.com (DoN. Nichols)
Subject: Re: You know you've been playing games too long when...
Organization: D and D Data, Vienna VA
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1993 03:42:50 GMT

In article <1993Jan27.060853.26119@cam.compserv.utas.edu.au> khill@leven.appcomp.utas.edu.au (Katrina Hill) writes:

>	This was also big in Australia this morning, apparently it causes
>	epileptic siezures in those people who suffer the form of epilepsy
>	the makes them react to any flickering lights ie like strobe...
>	i have a brain damaged epileptic cousin and he isn't allowed to 
>	play computer games for long periods of time, but he has siezures
>	a lot.
>
>	A doctor this morning was sort of "basically" [i'm no authority]
>	saying it MAY happens to 1 in 10 epileptics. The journalists were the
>	panicy kind and wanted to know the general "should we burn them in a 
>	big pile or not?" questions that go with this type of issue.

	Well ... A friend (actually husband of a friend) who is an epileptic
had gone for a fairly long period (over a year) without any problems, and
had stopped taking his medication.  He wound up with a grand-daddy grand mal
while working with a computer.  It was so bad that several of those who were
attempting to restrain him were badly bruised, and he worked in a hospital,
so they should have known proper proceedures.

	Later, when discussing this incident with him, I was trying to trace
what could have caused it. (No, I am not a doctor, I am just curious.)  It
seems that he regularly worked with a computer with no ill effects.  On
questioning, I determined that the computer he normally used was an 
Apple ][, as was the one that he was using at the time of the seizure.  The
difference was that his normal machine had a green phosphor monitor, and the
one that he was using at that moment had a white monitor.

	I had read that the Apple at that time used only every other field
of the video.  The green phosphor monitors have greater persistance, and
were normally used for computer monitors only, while white monitors were
used for standard broadcast tv.  The green was unacceptable for broadcast
because of the longer persistance, which would leave slow-fading ghosts on
the screen.

	I figured that the white phosphor, with its minimal persistance, was
presenting him with an image flickering at 30Hz, while the green, with its
long persistance was not perceptably flickering.  I suspect that the flicker
was a bit faster than double the alpha rythm of his brain, and pulled the
frequency enough to trigger the seizure.  I suggested that he avoid all
white monitors connected to computers in the future.  (Modern ones work at a
high enough refresh rate to minimize the problem, but at that time, and
knowing that he preferred to work with the Apple ][, I suspect that my
advice was good.


-- 
 Email:   <dnichols@d-and-d.com>  |  ...!uunet!ceilidh!dnichols 
		 <dnichols@ceilidh.beartrack.com>
 Donald Nichols (DoN.)  |   Voice (Days): (703) 704-2280 (Eves): (703) 938-4564
	--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---
From: pmueller@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu (The Highlander)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: What one-liner, joke, saying would you like to see on a T-shirt
Date: 26 Jan 93 20:04:34 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

Well, i thought of this first, but it's for the DOS USENETters out there:

Error reading device MIND:
Sector not found.
A)bort R)etry I)gnore F)ail

I'm trying to think up a UN*X version of this.....

also how about:

Kernel Panic: The sticky bit is stuck.

those were my first thoughts.... thinking up a few more...
-pete
-- 
Peter Mueller                                | You MUST pay for your sin!!!
pmueller@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu                    | 
pmueller@sumter.cso.uiuc.edu <--- NeXT Mail  | If you have already paid, 
DISCLAIMER: Help! Help! I'm being Oppressed! | please disregard this notice...
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: terjej@edb.tih.no (Terje Johansen,o90b)
Subject: VIC-20 returns!
Reply-To: terjej@edb.tih.no
Posting-Front-End: Winix Conference v 92.05.15  1.20 (running under MS-Windows)
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 12:29:11 GMT

As a joke and as a remembrance of my first computer-days,
I bought a VIC-20 with a cassette-player yesterday.
Any ideas what I can use it for, except for doorstop and to scare 
the shit out of future grandchildren?

I was thinking of maybe connect it to some device, like a simple 
window-alarm circuit with a bell or something. Anybody done something
like this?

Hell, humorous suggestions will also be appreciated - just remember
that with 3.5k Ram there are SOME limits to what can be done...

-- 
Terje Johansen at Trondheim College of Engineering, Norway.

War isn't fought to decide who is right
   but who is left.