HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: robohen@ocf.berkeley.edu (Henry Robertson)
Newsgroups: pa.forsale
Subject: ONE-DOLLAR JAPANESE COMICS FOR SALE
Date: 17 Dec 1992 13:47:18 GMT
Organization: U. C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: headcrash.berkeley.edu

I have here a vast collection of rare & unusual manga, that I've trimmed
down through sales....but, I have kept the very best, so that you manga
fans of the world can enjoy them with me.  By just sending ONE DOLLAR,
cash or money order, you receive an 8-page sample of the far-beyond-mainstream
cyberpunk stuff I have to offer.  No, it's not Akira or some other childish
fare.  If what you got out of that stuff was like an amphetamine high, this
would be a crack high.  One dollar is not a very big risk to take, folks.
What I have to offer is some of the most rare Japanese cartoons in existence,
by a man of distubring vision.  If you dare, contact robohen@ocf.berkeley.edu 
I know no holidays.  In any case, if you are interested in the 8-page
sample then send a self-addressed stamped business-size envelope to

Henry Robertson
2206 Durant Ave. #5
Berkeley, CA 94704  

and don't forget the dollar.  I'll look forward to hearing from you.
English subtitles are provided.
From: rap@nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com (Richard Porter)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Motorway lane closures
Date: 17 Dec 1992 09:55:45 GMT
Organization: BNR Europe Limited
NNTP-Posting-Host: nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com

In article <1992Dec16.130856.2854@lsl.co.uk> snail@lsl.co.uk writes:
>(Philip Rutter DNM22) writes:
>>snail writes:

>>>Me. I sit in the outside lane at the same position as I would have on the
>>>inner lane. Why? To stop people (behind me) cheating the other people in
>>>the queue.

>> Driving isn`t a game or a race is it ? :-)

>I never said it was a game or a race. This selective quote completely loses
>the context in which the phrase was written. The 'cheating' implied was
>'queue jumping' which quite simply is selfish behaviour, which as most of
>you on the net know, I don't like.

Sorry, I missed the beginning of this thread but it concerns a point I feel
very strongly about. Some drivers think it is necessary to change lanes a
long way before the constriction and resent it if anyone else dares to go
past and merge further on. This is faulty logic and although not selfish it
is misconceived, inconsiderate and only contributes to the problem.

Let's look at two scenarios: Lane A is open, Lane B is closed ahead.

1. Drivers in lane B try to join lane A a long way before the closure;
   this slows down lane A and speeds up lane B; some drivers continue
   in lane B right up to the obstruction where the two lanes merge.
   Further back drivers in lane A see that lane B is moving faster,
   so they cut across into lane B.

2. Drivers join whichever queue is the shorter and stay in lane right up
   to the closure, at which point the traffic in the two lanes merges 1:1
   (or two cars to one HGV). Both queues therefore move at the same speed,
   so there is no need or incentive to change lanes, and the queues remain
   about the same length as each other.

Don't you agree that scenario 2 is far better for everyone concerned?

Richard Porter
From: rap@nnsgs50.tcom.stc.co.uk (Richard Porter)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Motorway lane closures
Date: 17 Dec 1992 17:15:50 GMT
Organization: BNR Europe Limited
NNTP-Posting-Host: nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com

In article <29677@castle.ed.ac.uk> wbg@festival.ed.ac.uk (W Geake) writes:

>Surely the problem here is the assumption of equal priority at the
>obstruction for lanes A and B.  This doesn't happen.

No, but it could if most drivers acted sensibly. What happens is that some
drivers push in before they need to and then they resent anyone else trying
to merge further ahead.

>If all drivers get
>into A, no one need stop at the closure unless the traffic is very
>heavy, because no one loses right of way.  The reduction in lanes occurs
>smoothly and with minimal speed reduction to all concerned.  This, IMHO,
>more than balances the loss of use of the last few hundred metres of
>lane B.  Any queuing theorist care to comment?

As I pointed out in my follow-up posting there is no problem if the traffic
is flowing freely.

Richard
From: ken@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Ken Johnson)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: What are those white squares in M-way lanes for?
Date: 16 Dec 92 10:32:49 GMT
Followup-To: uk.transport
Distribution: uk
Organization: William's Wonderful Wonky Widget Warehouse


In article <1992Dec13.212643.411@comp.lancs.ac.uk>
daves@comp.lancs.ac.uk (Dave Stow) writes:

#  HAving been done for doing 100.5 mph - I lost my license for 28 days.
#  [...] All for 0.5 of a mph?

Looks more like something between 30.5 mph and 70.5 mph to me.

speedily, Ken Johnson



-- 
Son, all the pretty, intelligent,      || Ken Johnson                           healthy young women are taken.         || A I Applications Institute
It's a basic rule of the universe,     || 80 South Bridge                       and if you don't like it,              || Edinburgh,  Scotland   EH1 1HN
go somewhere else.                     || Phone 031-650 2756   Fax 031-650 6513
               -- my dad  1906-1992    || E-mail ken@aiai.ed.ac.uk
From: wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Speed freaks: some figures at last
Date: 15 Dec 92 18:21:32 GMT
Followup-To: uk.transport,uk.misc
Distribution: uk
X-From: ian@eonsw.demon.co.uk (Ian Leonard)
X-Newsgroups: uk.misc

X-Relay-Version: VMS News - V6.0-3 14/03/90 VAX/VMS V0.0; site vax.oxford.ac.uk
X-Date: 7 Dec 92 09:29:18 GMT
Distribution: uk
X-Organization: EON Software, Oxford, UK

In article <1992Dec1.201239.10506@vax.oxford.ac.uk> wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:
>In article <ByG2pq.8Kv@eonsw.demon.co.uk>, ian@eonsw.demon.co.uk (Ian Leonard) writes:
>> Perhaps more male drivers are under pressure to be somewhere at a particular
>> time (for work) where as female drivers are participating in less stressful
>> (but no less important, let me say quickly) duties such as shopping.
>> 
>Is there anyone who still seriously believes that
>
>(a) Women are usually out shopping rather than working and
>(b) Shopping is necessarily less stressful than working?
>
>Since you are in Oxford, may I humbly suggest that one Saturday afternoon you
>leave your MGBGT at home, take the bus to Cornmarket then go to Sainsbury's in
>the Westgate Centre, buy enough food for four people for a week and carry it
>back to Conmarket, queue for a bus and stand all the way home. You may find
>that shopping is rather more stressful than you imagine. May I also suggest
>that you open your eyes and look around you, outside the world of companies
>with internet connections. You may see large numbers of families struggling to
>survive on two inadequate wages.

What has this got to do with going shopping by car? May I humbly suggest that
you drive to one of the many out-of-town Sainsbury shops that we have around
here, buy as much as you like and then have a cup of coffee in their cafe.
The day after you can head for a early morning meeting half way around the
M25, get stuck in a traffic jam and turn up late. Be hassled for hours and
then drive home. One of these is more stressful for the driver.

I don't need to open my eyes to know that there is severe financial pressure
on some people these days. But what has it got to do with driving statistics.
As I recall we were talking about why male drivers had more accidents than
female ones.

>
>> There was a lot of damage and this pillar of society didn't have any
>> insurance. Fortunately my insurance company took a positive attitude
>> (I said it was sometime ago) so Mr. Examiner didn't have make his
>> family suffer by getting a large overdraft. I didn't report him
>> for his offense or to the IAM for being a prat because I believed he
>> was doing his bit to drag up driving standards.
>> 
>You allowed him to drive your car without insurance, so you were every bit as
>culpable as him.
He was covered by my insurance (anybody could drive it with my permission),
so thats okay isn't it.

>
>-- 
>
>Stephen Wilcox             |   For Sale: Posts in British Government. Suit
>wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk    |   outgoing American. Highest bids accepted.


-- 
Ian

Ian Leonard                        ian@eonsw.demon.co.uk
EON Software                       +44 (0)865 741452
From: steve@acorn.co.uk (Steve "daffy" Hunt)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Cameras on roads/motorways
Date: 13 Dec 92 09:30:04 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Acorn Computers Limited, Cambridge, UK
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

Pete Bentley (pete@tecc.co.uk) wrote:
:  >> You get far more useful information with a cheap C.B.
: Really?  Is it actually possible to get useful information that way?

Sure.  About 50% of long-distance trucks are fitted with them, and
what do you suppose truck drivers talk about most?  The traffic, of
course!
-- 
				Steve Hunt	steve@acorn.co.uk
From: tjo@its.bt.co.uk (Tim Oldham)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Indicating
Date: 14 Dec 92 12:38:22 GMT
Organization: BT Group Computing Services, Birmingham, UK

In article <1992Dec11.112307.1@logica.co.uk> adrian@pluto.logica.co.uk writes:
>A more interesting question about indicating is what you should do on an
>ordinary dual carriageway road where you want to pull in from the outside lane
>into the left-hand one but you are also approaching a side-road on the left
>from which vehicles are waiting to pull out.
>
>It strikes me that in some circumstances there is a risk of your left
>indication being misunderstood by these stationary vehicles as meaning you
>intend to go down the side road.  

The answer is simple: don't change lanes. It makes no odds to the people
waiting to join, and is safer.

	Tim.
-- 
Tim Oldham, BT Group Computing Services.       tjo@its.bt.co.uk
``Sounds good to me''
From: rap@nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com (Richard Porter)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Let me into the asylum please!
Date: 16 Dec 1992 13:31:35 GMT
Organization: BNR Europe Limited
NNTP-Posting-Host: nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com

In article <29629@castle.ed.ac.uk> fofp@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Holmes) writes:

>Way back when British Nuclear Fuels wanted to start shunting reprocessed
>waste around by train (unfortunately just past my back garden) they set
>up a test to "prove" to the public that this was safe.

>They hooked up one of the cannisters to an old locomotive and ploughed
>the lot into a barrier at 100mph. The "experiment" being what it was,
>they got quite spectacular news coverage "Guaranteed Train Crash - Film
>At Eleven!"

I know it wasn't the main point of your posting, but just to put the record
straight, the flask was placed at an angle across the track at Old Dalby,
and the train (a withdrawn Class 45 and a coach or two with instrumentation
on board) was run into it.
From: jon_w@sn4401.oldham.gpsemi.com (Jonathan Walker)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Motorway lane closures
Date: 17 Dec 92 10:57:53 GMT
Organization: GEC Plessey Semiconductors

Of course you could go all the way to the cones and stop, put on your
indicators, and wait till someone lets you in, saves wear and tear on the clutch and your legs. It is the pushy drivers that annoy the majority of us.
From: steve@acorn.co.uk (Steve "daffy" Hunt)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Services on motorways
Date: 11 Dec 92 20:55:24 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Limited, Cambridge, UK
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

Ian G Batten (igb@fulcrum.co.uk) wrote:
: In France, there are many service stations on the motorways.  They are
: clean and have excellent food, by and large.  (May I recommend the

I'll second that.  The services are small and frequent, and some of
them offer food that would do a posh city restaurant credit.  I can
almost imagine making a special journey to visit some of them - 'fraid
I can't say the same about Welcome Break!

-- Steve
-- 
				Steve Hunt	steve@acorn.co.uk
From: acb@cast0.ast.cam.ac.uk (Amanda Baker)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: getting to Oxford
Date: 17 Dec 92 12:18:11 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge

In article <8064@skye.ed.ac.uk> ken@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Ken Johnson) writes:
>
>In article <1992Dec15.121730.14733@infodev.cam.ac.uk>
>acb@cast0.ast.cam.ac.uk (Amanda Baker) writes:
>
>#  Why is going via *Reading* the best way to get to Oxford when both
>#  Oxford Citylink and (so I hear) the Oxford Tube run direct buses [...] ?
>
>
>Because you get to go on a train, dunderhead.


Dunderhead yourself!!! (:-) but is abuse *really* a useful debating
tool?)

I disagree that going on the train is an advantage if on is interested
in (a) cost (b) convenience and (c) speed, at least in this case!

ttfn

Amanda
-- 
Amanda Baker
Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA UK
Tel: (0223) 337548 x 37505  E-mail: acb@mail.ast.cam.ac.uk
Fax: (0223) 337523            or    acb@ast-star.cam.ac.uk
From: steve@acorn.co.uk (Steve "daffy" Hunt)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Motorway lane closures
Date: 11 Dec 92 20:37:56 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Limited, Cambridge, UK
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

T.I.Morley@lut.ac.uk wrote:
: I agree that if the motorway is empty enough that you can pull in early
: without slowing down too much then you should. However, what about the
: not unusual situation where you've got queues crawling along in all three
: lanes before you even get to a sign that tells you what lane is closed?

It seems to me that the almost-stationary queues in all three lanes
are CAUSED by the people who didn't merge early enough.  They get all
the way to the "funnel" without having merged, and have to stop.
Then the other queues have to stop, or slow right down, for the
now stationary third lane to merge.  You then get alternating
cars from each lane going through, which is why the queues
run so jerkily.

I always merge VERY early and curse the selfish sods who won't.
-- 
				Steve Hunt	steve@acorn.co.uk
Newsgroups: uk.transport
From: A.J.Robinson@lut.ac.uk (Alan Robinson) 
Subject: Wire grid in road: What is it ?
Reply-To: A.J.Robinson@lut.ac.uk (Alan Robinson)
Organization: Loughborough University, UK.
Distribution: uk
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 14:48:58 GMT


A couple of years ago I used to commute daily between Chesterfield
and Sheffield via a dual carriageway.

For several (summer) months near a particular bridge I noticed 
several people sat at the side of the road on fold-up picknick
chairs.

They didn't look official, and it is not a nice picknick spot,
so I assumed they were gathering evidence and/or campaigning
for something.

Later, a grid of diagonal bitumen lines appeared just after
the bridge, and the people stopped camping out.

Any ideas ?

I dont think its a speed trap- is it a speed monitor or
traffic counter ?

Its on an open stretch of road (nearest junction/traffic lights
1 or 2 miles away.



Alan.
From: fofp@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Holmes)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Let me into the asylum please!
Date: 16 Dec 92 12:56:42 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

mcramm@dct.ac.uk (McRamm) writes:

>Travelling back to Dundee from Malvern I passed a wide HGV on the Motorway,
>nothing unusual there, except for its load. 

>The damn thing was carrying a BR loco. So musch for the statement in the
>House of Clowns yesterday that the government is committed to getting
>heavy loads back onto rail. How do they hope to manage it when even BR use
>road transport to shift their loco's around?

Reminds me of one of the funniest and most pointed political cartoon
I've seen:

Way back when British Nuclear Fuels wanted to start shunting reprocessed
waste around by train (unfortunately just past my back garden) they set
up a test to "prove" to the public that this was safe.

They hooked up one of the cannisters to an old locomotive and ploughed
the lot into a barrier at 100mph. The "experiment" being what it was,
they got quite spectacular news coverage "Guaranteed Train Crash - Film
At Eleven!"

Anyway, the cartoon in one of the comics next day had a BNF guy talking
to someone, and a crashed train in the background. The caption was:

"Of course we didn't really use nuclear waste. It was cheaper and safer
to use coal."

> Angus M. Marshall, MCRAMM@DCT.AC.UK,amarshal@mcs.dund.ac.uk, (+44 382) 308600

FoFP
From: dhunt@infocom.UUCP (David Hunt)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Cameras on roads/motorways
Date: 15 Dec 92 20:52:29 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: INFOCOM Public Unix Server, +44 [0] 734 340055
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL7]

James Fidell (x5320) (jfid@mfltd.co.uk) wrote:
> time period might not be on, so you probably need two flash lamps.
> 
> So far, the best solution I have seen is a number plate which has the numbers
> made out of the same material as the backing, so that they reflect far more of

I recently saw an evidence demonstration by the Traffic Unit based at 
Wembley on the subject of cameras (this demonstration was given widely 
amongst businesses in the transport sector), it showed that there was 
VIRTUALLY no possible means of masking images taken by speed or red light 
cameras as they are/can be computer enhanced, negatised (if this is the 
correct wording) etc , etc. I would suspect that a large some of money would 
required to perfect this technique to any sort of worthwhile conclusion.

--
dhunt@infocom.co.uk
From: asmith@acorn.co.uk (Andy Smith)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Motorway lane closures
Date: 14 Dec 92 13:34:51 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Limited, Cambridge, UK

steve@acorn.co.uk (Steve "daffy" Hunt) writes:

>I always merge VERY early and curse the selfish sods who won't.
>-- 

I don't merge early:-) I sit in the outside lane level with the car or lorry
that was along side me, when we came upto the que. I then sit and stay level
until the traffic has cleared infront, and I am clear to merge behind or    
infront of the vehicle I was shadowing.

I find this way, the traffic in front clears much faster, and neither I nor
those infront, who had merged correctly is inconvenienced. Only those maniacs
that cut down the inside and try pulling in at the last minute are caused to
wait.


>				Steve Hunt	steve@acorn.co.uk

Andy
From: rap@nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com (Richard Porter)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Motorway lane closures
Date: 17 Dec 1992 13:02:27 GMT
Organization: BNR Europe Limited
NNTP-Posting-Host: nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com

In article <BzEH4H.83p@bailgate.gpsemi.com> jon_w@sn4401.oldham.gpsemi.com
(Jonathan Walker) writes:
>Of course you could go all the way to the cones and stop, put on your
>indicators, and wait till someone lets you in, saves wear and tear on the
>clutch and your legs.

That hardly makes much difference in crawling traffic - you have to get let in
somewhere, but it would help if the cones were arranged so that both lanes
converged to a central lane with no obvious priority. That would be less
satisfactory at quiet times when the traffic was flowing normally.

Incidentally, the situation described in my last posting only applied to
queueing traffic. If the traffic is flowing at normal speed you do choose
a safe point to get into the through lane and don't leave it to the last
few yards.
From: steve@acorn.co.uk (Steve "daffy" Hunt)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Cameras on roads/motorways
Date: 14 Dec 92 13:19:36 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Acorn Computers Limited, Cambridge, UK
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

M Brewer (mj_brewe@tofu.uwe.ac.uk) wrote:
: The best thing to do is remain inside the limit if you are the only one
: otherwise follow a car travelling faster than you and wait for the flash!

Do they really use visible flash?  I would have thought infra-red
would be more sensible - but perhaps that's not possible because
of the material number plates are made from, or because they
want to use the same film stock during the day.

Anyway, the temptation to build a flashback device is enormous...!

-- Steve
-- 
				Steve Hunt	steve@acorn.co.uk
From: ercm20@festival.ed.ac.uk (Sam Wilson)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Let me into the asylum please!
Date: 17 Dec 92 13:53:11 GMT

Alan.Holmes@brunel.ac.uk (Alan J Holmes) writes:
> [ in response to my response about broken down locos ]
>
> The only breakdown which would stop a loco from being transported by rail
> would be an axle breaking, otherwise the loco could be towed.

Presumably other major damage to a bogie would have a similar result. 
Also presumably there are cases where it would not be convenient or even
possible to replace a bogie at the site of the failure.

Sam
Newsgroups: uk.transport
From: dplumb@cix.compulink.co.uk (Dave Plumb)
Subject: Cameras on roads/motorways              
Cc: dplumb@cix.compulink.co.uk
Reply-To: dplumb@cix.compulink.co.uk
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 20:13:00 +0000

> those 'things' that are bolted onto metal bridges that span a motorway. 
> the first. They look too small to be cameras; so what are they? 
They are for "Trafficmaster" - a system run on radiopaging lines. It radios 
details of traffic holdups to subscribers, which are then displayed on a map 
of motorways in the car. It looks fairly good, from what I've seen, and costs 
around a quid a day to subscribe.
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Indicating
From: adrian@pluto.logica.co.uk (Adrian Putley)
Date: 14 Dec 92 17:40:48 GMT
Reply-To: adrian@pluto.logica.co.uk
Distribution: uk
Organization: Logica Industry Ltd, UK

In article <1992Dec11.145040.18547@gserv1.dl.ac.uk>, pho@gserv1.dl.ac.uk (P.Owens,C20,3492) writes:
>Adrian Putley (putleya@logica.co.uk) writes:
>> It strikes me that in some circumstances there is a risk of your left
>> indication being misunderstood by these stationary vehicles as meaning you
>> intend to go down the side road.  I drive along the A24 dual carriageway at
>> Holmwood (south of Dorking) regularly; that is a really nasty piece of road and
>> one thing it certainly hammers home to one is how dreadful many drivers are at
>> misjudging the speed of vehicles coming along a fast road at 70mph when they
>> are waiting to pull out from side roads.
>
>More to the point is the stupidity of people driving at 70mph along a
>"really nasty piece of road".

Quite.  But even reasonably decent stretches of dual carriageway have side
roads, and the problem is quite generic.  In fact there's almost a double
jeopardy because if you're going more slowly then they may _really_ think
you're planning to turn off!

Adrian Putley		Logica Industry Ltd	Medina House, Business Park 4,
putleya@logica.co.uk				Randalls Way, Leatherhead,
(+44 71) 637 9111 x5715				Surrey  KT22 7TW, UK
From: simon@pharaoh.cyborg.bt.co.uk (Simon)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Re: Speed limit signs/ signs that 'cry wolf'
Date: 11 Dec 92 10:07:42 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: One Hundred Pounds Per Second

A.J.Robinson@lut.ac.uk (Alan Robinson) writes:


>Signs that 'cry wolf', such as the 50mph signs on motorways well
>after the hazzard has gone, the 'men working' signs left behind
>by men who clearly aren't (and havent been for weeks), and so
>on lead to people ignoring signs. Bad information is 
>worse than no information.

This sort of thing really annoys me and seems to be happening more and more
these days. 

All too often, one sees lane closure signs on motorways (M11 is quite bad
for this) that create a huge tailback. You join the tailback. You get to the
front and - LO! - no bloody lane closure at all - just a wind up!

Worse than this are the signs that announce a closure of the left-hand
lane when the closure is actually of the right hand lane.

All these things lead one to distrust the signs on principle which makes 
things all the more dangerous when there is a real hazzard.



################################################################################
# Simon Day @ BT, Angel Centre, London          simon@cyborg.bt.co.uk          #
################################################################################
Newsgroups: uk.transport