From oracle-request Mon Aug 19 08:04:58 1991 Received: by iuvax.cs.indiana.edu Date: Mon, 19 Aug 91 08:04:58 -0500 From: To: oracle-list Subject: Usenet Oracularities #337 Reply-To: oracle-vote X-Face: "9e\S&XFxP?L)~?^jbHC!$jk5#O}v\n#nwz8'd$#(H,+B4n<^{GSCr,![PCrQOV1 nW{vh|Ev<)b!y?'?aysJ)3YJ_/sOl@a'lKaG,uk|Xh3mR+xa]XJ!$vqAjQe?.nst;0/"u?M2K~rC6k~ |)'uWrn%alJW'QwwJJ441kc,m.C!?:EP49(+ X-Planation: X-Face can be viewed with "faces". From the iuvax archive today. === 337 ================================================================== Title: Usenet Oracularities #337 Compiled-By: Steve Kinzler Date: Mon, 19 Aug 91 08:04:58 -0500 To find out how to participate in the Usenet Oracle, send mail to: oracle@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu or {ames,rutgers}!iuvax!oracle with the word "help" in the subject line. Let us know what you like! Send your ratings of these Oracularities on a scale of 1 = "not funny" to 5 = "very funny" with the volume number to oracle-vote on iuvax, eg: 200 2 1 3 4 3 5 3 3 4 1 332 11 votes 21143 11540 23411 01352 22610 32150 14312 02342 22403 42140 332 3.0 mean 3.5 3.1 2.6 3.7 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.5 3.0 2.5 --- 337-01 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: arf@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (The Nefarious Scotto) The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Have you ever noticed that people space out a lot? I mean, they'll > get this faraway gaze and then a blank stare...as if they are > not even there. I've always been curious...when people leave like > that...where do they go? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } I have spent untold hours contemplating your question, after } having consumed enormous quantities of Pepsi and Fruit Loops to } prepare myself for this most arduous intellectual journey. } Thus begins my response: } } To fully appreciate the answer to your question, you must first } understand the strange and subtle marraige of superstring theory } and relativistic quantum mechanics that is modern physics. } As this is a fairly complex subject, especially for those not } endowed with the Oracle's formidable wisdom, I shall attempt to } explain it with a simple experiment: } } First, find the biggest commercial clothes dryer that you can. } } (...The Oracle likes the big green one in the corner of Ed's } Wash 'n Whirl, the famous DC laundry and square dance emporium, } but does not imagine that a trip to our nation's capitol will } be required to carry out the experiment...) } } Bring along a friend with a fistful of quarters, but by all means } don't eat lunch before you leave. Your friend may, if he or she } wishes, have a small piece of fruit beforehand, though this is } not usually necessary. Carefully climb into the empty dryer, } close the door, and ask your friend to insert $7.50 into the } machine and set it at it's warmest level. Look at your watch, } and note the time carefully. Ask your friend to start the dryer. } } As soon as the dryer reaches it's operating temperature and speed, } you may notice an unusual effect explainable only by the theories } mentioned previosly. Assuming you remain concious, and that } you can continue the experiment for a sufficiently long time } (estimates range from the age of the Universe at the high end } to the length of time required to translate the Koran into Pig } Latin at the low end), you will become aware of a multitude of } tiny, fuzzy objects striking you in the face. } } As time passes, you will find that these minute particles, called } "hosons", grow in size until they become recognizable as swarms } of socks. A special corollary to the Pauli Exclusion Priciple, } known as the "Hane's Law", states that no two of these particles } can be identical. They are, in fact, every sock that has ever } gone into a dryer and not come out again. Incidentally, the } Oracle hopes that this puts to rest persistant rumors that Elvis } has been stealing these socks and selling them to raise money for } his comeback tour. How silly. } } Thus, gentle reader, is the answer: just as hosons can appear } from out of the void, so too can people with too many socks enter } into it. Let this be a lesson to you, and to all hosiery fanciers } everywhere: Not only does God play dice with the Universe, She } doesn't want you to have more socks than she does. So there. } } You owe the Oracle a case of Pepto Bismol, and a dog-eared copy } of "A Brief History of Time". } } this incarnation of the Oracle brought to you by: } ferrick@acsu.buffalo.edu --- 337-02 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: alan@hercules.acpub.duke.edu (The Barrister) The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > where can I find my love? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } 50 Possible answers to the Question : Where can I find my love? } } 1. I Didn't know you lost it. } 2. Where did you last use it? } 3. I thought YOU tied it to the flagpole. } 4. Do you think the Neighbors Borrowed it. } 5. I don't know, but if its not here in 30 minutes its free. } 6. Under a rock. } 7. Masterbating with a chainsaw behind the woodshed. } 8. With your marbles. } 9. In the bathroom, next to the newspaper. } 10. It wasn't on my list, but the Supermarket had it. } 11. Deep within yourself. } 12. Deep within someone else. } 13. In your work. } 14. On a plane leaving for Rio. 4th row-left. Window seat. } 15. In a bottle of Monty's Mezcal. } 16. In money. } 17. In other people's money. } 18. In prison. } 19. In sports. } 20. In prison-sports. } 21. In All the Wrong Places. } 22. The Red-light district of Rome. } 23. In chocolate. } 24. In raindrops. } 25. In gumdrops. } 26. Next to the Boiled Squid in the 'frige. } 27. By collecting guns. } 28. In bowling alleys. } 29. In the discovery of new scientific breakthru's. } 30. In a man who calls himself, Homer. } 31. I traded it for some magic beans. } 32. Have you looked through the trash? } -Maybey you tossed it out be mistake. } 33. Well how should I know I'm not its keeper. } 34. Look down in the crack of the sofa. } 35. Maybey you forgot to seal the baggie and it evaporated. } 36. Probably out getting drunk. (See Number 15) } 37. North by North North-South-East. } 38. Under Peter Pipers pickled pepper. } 39. Don't know but theres plenty of phone numbers on this bathroom } wall... } 40. In a : Telescope, roof, and 4th story open girls dormitory } window. } 41. In a Forest full of naked people. } 42. By stealing somebody elses. (See Number 18) } 43. I think I just saw it go driving over that cliff there... } 44. Outside barking at the moon. } 45. By calling random phone numbers, and finding someone who doesn't } hang-up. } 46. Ask your mom and dad. } 47. You mean YOU DON'T KNOW? } 48. In a little crooked house, by a little crooked road, there was } a... } 49. In the dictionary under "L" } 50. In a Thesaurus next to Agony, hell, torment, suffering... } } You owe the Oracle a pack of Camel-Lights. (Smooth Character) --- 337-03 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: Karyanta The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Quite thoughtful Oracle, I keep having this dream > > All, right, I sent that bum to go do some work. I'm his manager, and > I'm tired of him wasting all day playing silly games and writing > letters. So, listen up, whoever you are, and knock it off! If I > find out Hinkle has been reading electronic mail from you or any > other of his packrat college buddies on MY time, I'll have the FBI > on your butt for interfering with computers purchased with government > money. Do you savvy? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Hmm...one moment, please. Yo, God! } } * msg from GOD, user [infinity] on ACAD } } Yeah? } } God, we've got a cretin here. Could you zap him for me, I'm kinda } busy. } } * msg from GOD, user [infinity] on ACAD } } Sure, no prob. } } faba-Daba-ZAP! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT! } } You owe the Oracle absolutely nothing, since you're already a } crispy critter. Do you savvy? --- 337-04 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: well!well!ewhac@apple.com (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab) The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > I've got plenty of vacation time lined up for next year, so do > you think it would be a good idea for me to run for the Democratic > nomination for U.S. President? I mean, NOBODY ELSE IS... And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Well, from my observations, I can tell you wouldn't be qualified to be } president...but then again, NO ONE ELSE IS, not even the slobs who've } already been President. Go for it. } } You owe the Oracle a Frank Zappa for President button. --- 337-05 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: well!well!ewhac@apple.com (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab) The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Oh mighty Oracle, whose toe jam I am not even worthy to put on > buttered toast, and whose dingleberries I am not even worthy to > clip from your rear to make it more comfortable for you to sit in an > easy chair to answer questions from draggletail guttersnipe such as > my highly unworth self, please answer me this most important question. > > How many dogs would a cat dog do, if a cat dog could do dogs, not to > mention if these cat dogs were doing stealing from fish stores and > cat nip stores? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Everyone knows that, if a cat dog could dog cats, a cat dog would dog } all the cats he could dog. From this it follows, by taking the negative } complex conjugate, that if a dog cat won't cat all the dogs she could } cat, then a dog cat can't cat dogs. Since cat(1) is far from a } privileged function, a dog cat CAN cat dogs, and therefore the } predicate is false. We have begun with a true statement, however; the } only logical conclusion is that we do not always mean "dog" when we } write "dog" and "cat" when we write "cat." Note that selectively } substituting "catch" for "cat" in the proposition yields "If a dog cat } won't catch all the dogs she could catch." Inverting one last time } produces, "A cat dog would do all the cats he could do," where "do" is } the logical conjugate of "catch." It therefore falls out that a cat dog } would do no dogs, if a cat dog could do dogs, because the cat dog would } be too busy doing cats. } } You wisely rejected the red herring of the fish stores, since it is } generally known that cat bait can't bait cats. } } You owe the Oracle a hot dog with extra catsup. --- 337-06 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: nolan@helios.unl.edu (Harold the Foot) The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > What is happening to the computer? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } The computer is gradually taking over our lives. For example, } have you noticed how much you worry when your computer fails } to do what you want it to ? The boxes are getting smaller and } smaller, the chips get more and more components, the memories } get bigger and bigger. And they get more and more sympathy } from us. Have you seen your partner in the last week ? No, } of course not. You have spend the time trying to get that } funny symbol to print on the laser printer. Last time } the screen went unexpectedly dark and the keyboard locked up, } you gave it aspirin. Poured into the floppy disk drive. } The computers take no notice anyway. They are just boxes } of transistors (sometimes, very WET transistors). } } The question is not, "what is happening to the computer", } rather "what is happening to the human race". Of course, } it's not my place to _ask_ questions. } } You owe The Oracle 16Mb of extended memory and a Laser Printer. --- 337-07 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: John.McCartney@ebay.sun.com ( The Lion of Symmetry ) The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > I'm moving away from the area I've lived in for 23 years, and am about > to start a new life in a new town with a new career. Do you have any > advice for me? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Don't trust them. The Federal Witness Protection Program is not } what its cracked up to be. } } You owe the Oracle grovelling testimony. --- 337-08 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: Jon Monsarrat "Dr. Who" The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Dave Barry wrote in an article a month ago or so that the sound of an > arrow going through someone's neck while they were talking would result > in a sound similar to 'GAAAAAAAACK' (ex. '...where the deer and the > antelope plGAAAAAAAACK!'). Is this true? Or is the sound a little > more complicated? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Well, let's see. Locate a mortal suitable for this...hmmmm....m?..no... } mm. Ok. Find my bow....arrow... } transcript follows] } here mortal turns to } face arrow, providing exposure of proper anatomy, saying ...antelope } pl-] huhwhatthehellaaaaaau } schwop! } brlbbrblbrlbblehelbrpmebrlbrHEbrlLPblMEbrbr blrb bbl } thwump. gack brlack aarrrrllb. } heylookithtatsomedudejustgothitbyanarrowintheneckohmygodheyyoucall911! } rufflerufflerufflemanthisguysgottohundredbucksinhiswalletquickrunthecops } wweeeeeooooowwwweeeoooowwwweeeooowwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoem. } pause] heyhiswalletslyingthere } andallthemoneysgonethosebastardscumbucket- } shityertrapandlookfercreditcardsthencomeon..... } click! } Sorry, I stopped the recording a little late. } } You Owe the Oracle CNN's album Greatest Hits of Desert Storm. --- 337-09 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: gt2126b@prism.gatech.edu (PETROSKY,WILLIAM T) The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Hey Macho Being, > I really need your most wise and most awesome advise. > Just what is in mystery meat and does it cause any long term health > problems. And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } There are 110 ingredients in mystery meat. Unfortunately, the } mention of the first 100 of the would cause instant vomitting } (sometimes until death graciously takes you away). The ten least } common and least gross are: } } 1. Re-re-recycled beatle-caps (a slice of bologna flavored mystery meat } covered with mashed potatoes and topped with melted cheese for the } cafeteria illiterate) Note: don't ask the Oracle where the first } mystery meat came originated. I am fully aware that it is an } ingredient in itself. Remember I know what the other things are, and } if you annoy me, you might find out. } 2. Sewer sludge } 3. The entire contents of that garbage barge from NY city that } travelled the country } 4. 2 eggs } 5. Grubs } 6. The black stuff that accumulates in your garbage can if you forget } to clean it out. } 7. Toe jam } 8. One Vax 11/750 combined with a PDP 8 } 9. Prunes } and last but not least... } 10. The collective vomit of everyone who has ever found out what any of } the other 100 ingredients were. } } As for long term health risks, stay away from the school cookbook } and you survive. } } You owe the Oracle a list of the 100 nastiest thing you ever ate. --- 337-10 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: nolan@helios.unl.edu (Harold the Foot) The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > O Fully Booted Oracle, thy Wisdom so deep as the C, thy Knowledge so > widespread as the UNIX and thy Intelligence so understandable as thy > Holy Assembly Language, > > what should I ask you as my last question if my account is not > prolonged any more? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Silly girl, you should ask me how to prolong your account, of course! } } Nobody should be without email.