How To Beat Single Deck Blackjack Version 1.01 By Michael Hall (1991)

HOW TO BEAT SINGLE DECK BLACKJACK
Version 1.01
Copyright 1991, Michael Hall

—————-> Part 1: The Basics
Part 2: About the Strategy Charts
Part 3: The Strategy Charts (LONG)

Introduction
============
Here is the long-awaited article on Hi-Opt I, covering everything
from the rules of blackjack to basic strategy to card-counting to
multiparameter tables for experts. Novices should read this article.
People interested in “just the facts” about the strategy should
just read Part 2 and Part 3, in separate articles.

Help for the novice blackjack player
====================================
The basic idea of the game is to get a total less than 21 that is
higher than the dealer OR to not bust (go over 21) when the dealer
busts.

All single deck games are dealt face down. You receive the first
two cards face down, and any subsequent cards face up. Use one
hand to hold the first two cards. Don’t touch the others.

Insurance is a side bet for up to half of your original bet. It can
only be placed at the start of a round when the dealer has an ace
showing. An player who is not counting cards should never take insurance.
Insurance pays 2-1 only if the dealer has blackjack.

Splitting can be done 3 times, to produce up to 4 hands. If you have
a pair and wish to split them, put your cards face up in front of your
bet, and push out a bet equal to your original. The dealer splits the cards
apart and deals a card to the first one, which you play normally,
and then the dealer deals a card to the second one, which again you
play normally.

Doubling can be done on any two cards. First put your cards face up
in front of your bet, and then push out a bet equal to your original,
and you will receive exactly one more card. (If it is a pair, you
may have to verbally tell the dealer whether you are doubling or
splitting.)

Standing versus hitting is the most common and important decision. To
hit you scratch your held cards on the surface of the table. Standing is
indicated by pushing your cards under your bet. When you split,
you instead use the protocol for face-up games – hitting is indicated
by tapping the table, and standing is indicated by a waving motion
parallel to the table.

Aces can be counted as either 1 or 11. A “soft” total means you have
an ace and can use it as 11 without going over 21; “hard” means you
aren’t counting an ace as 11 in your total.

Basic Strategy
==============
You must first learn basic strategy, whether your goal is to become
a professional card counter or just to survive a weekend at
the blackjack tables.

With basic strategy, you eliminate the house edge on most Las Vegas
single deck games. With the Frontier’s special rules, you can get
a +0.3% advantage with just basic strategy. Basic strategy is the
computer proven *best* way to play, unless you are counting cards.

The basic strategy for typical single deck blackjack is given in
another part of this article.

About Nevada
============
Single deck rules and conditions vary tremendously throughout Nevada.
But yes, Virginia, single deck blackjack is alive and well.

Vegas Strip rules are dealer stands on soft 17, double any first
two cards, resplit up to 3 times, no doubling after splitting,
and blackjack pays 3 to 2. Proper basic strategy on this game
makes it an even game. Many casinos on the Vegas strip use
these rules.

Vegas Downtown rules are like Vegas Strip rules, except that the
dealer hits soft 17. This swings the odds slightly in the house’s
favor against the basic strategist. Many casinos in downtown Vegas
use these rules.

Northern Nevada rules are like Vegas Downtown rules, except that
doubling is restricted to totals of 10 and 11 only. This really hurts
the basic strategist.

Advantage
=========
Advantage is your winnings divided by your action. Your action is
the total amount of money you wager. To find out how much of an
advantage you have with basic strategy for a single deck game,
use the table below. Start with +0.02% for Vegas Strip rules,
and then add the adjustments for rule differences for the game
you wish to analyze.

% RULE
—– ———————————
-0.78 Doubling on 11 only
-0.26 Doubling on 10 and 11 only
-0.21 No non-ace pair splitting
-0.19 Dealer hits soft 17
-0.16 No splitting of aces
-0.13 Doubling on 9, 10, 11 only
-0.11 No hole card (European)
-0.02 No resplitting of non-ace pairs
+0.03 Resplitting of aces
+0.11 Six card automatic winner
+0.13 Doubling after splitting (DAS)
+0.14 Drawing to split aces
+0.16? Suited BJ pays 2-1
+0.24 Doubling on 3 or more cards

Help for the aspiring card-counter
==================================
For single deck blackjack, I recommend a simple counting system card
called Hi-Opt I. Although it is one of the simplest systems to start
with, it can be extended to be more powerful than nearly any other
counting system – and you never have to forget what you have already
learned.

Here’s an interesting table, drawn from “Theory of Blackjack” and elsewhere:

PLAYING BETTING COUNT VALUES
SYSTEM EFFICIENCY CORRELATION A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Hi-Opt I .615 .88 0 0 +1 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0 -1
Hi-Opt I + A .635 .96 ”
Hi-Opt I + A,7 .736 .97 ”
Hi-Opt I + A,7,8 .811 .97 ”
Hi-Opt I + A,7,8,9 .870 .97 ”
Hi-Opt I + A,7,8,9,2 .891 .98 ”

High-Low .51 .97 -1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0 -1
High-Low + A .61? .97 ”
Hi-Opt II .67 .91 0 +1 +1 +2 +2 +1 +1 0 0 -2
Zen .63 .97 -1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +1 0 0 -2
Uston APC + A .69 .91 0 +1 +2 +2 +3 +2 +2 +1 -1 -3

(Side counted cards are listed after the “+” signs.)

Playing efficiency is a measure of how good a counting system is
a strategy, while betting correlation is a measure of how good it
is at betting. As you can see, Hi-Opt I + A,7 is better in both
respects than of the listed competitor systems, and Hi-Opt I + A is as
nearly as good as or better than most systems. Even straight Hi-Opt I
with no side count of aces is respectable.

Here is how you do the Hi-Opt I count. Initialize “running count” to
zero at start. Add one for each 3, 4, 5, or 6 you see and subtract
one for each 10 you see. Divide running count by estimated number
of unseen decks to get true count used in the strategy adjustment
table. Note that for single deck, this division becomes a multiplication.
For example, if there is 1/4 deck remaining and the running count is
+2, then the true count is +8.

You should only take insurance if the true count is +2 or above.
Don’t be swayed by what cards you have (i.e., don’t fall into the
insure-your-blackjack trap); it’s a side bet, so only the count
matters.

The Kelly Criterion is a betting heuristic that minimizes your chance
of going broke while maximizing your long-run profits. To bet
consistently with the Kelly Criterion, you should divide your bankroll
into 300-400 units and normally bet 1-4 units on each hand. Your
optimal bet on a hand is a percentage of your *current* bankroll
equal to about .5R/D + B, where R is the running count, D is the number
of remaining decks (so R/D is the true count), and B is the basic
strategy expectation. Note that on a weekend trip you might not
need access to your whole bankroll, but you may need 100-150 units.
It is wise to limit your top bet to about 1/100 of your total bankroll,
but you can get away with slightly more for very high true counts.
Of course, if you understand the risks and are willing to accept
higher risks by using fewer units, more power to you.

Playing two hands at once is a often a good idea. You can afford to bet
around 30% more on two hands (combined) than on one hand, and
so you will make more money per hour without increasing your variance.
To play two hands, each bet must be twice the table minimum at
most casinos. Play the first hand before looking at the second,
except when the dealer has an ace showing and you are permitted
to look at both hands to decide if you want insurance.

After you have mastered basic strategy and betting according to the
count, you can bet more accurately if you keep a side count of aces.
For each excess seen ace, temporarily subtract 1 from the running count
– if there are excess remaining aces, add 1 to the running count.
Then compute the true count for betting. For example, suppose you
have seen the first 1/4 deck, but have not seen any aces. This
means there is 1 excess remaining ace, since you normally expect
to see one ace for every quarter deck (since there are four aces
in a deck). So, you would adjust the running count by +1 for betting
purposes.

Strategy adjustments are another improvement. Here you deviate
intelligently from basic strategy, according to the true count.
The strategy adjustment table is given and explained in another part of
this article. The strategy adjustment table is refinement; you get
most of the benefit of counting from bet size variation, and you
should do fine if you avoid strategy adjustments at first. The
strategy adjustments will just buy you an extra 0.4% or so.
The multiparameter strategy tables for side counts are a refinement on a
refinement, and should only be attempted by counters with considerable
experience with basic Hi-Opt I. They’ll buy you an extra 0.1% or so.

Here is what a card counter looks at to rate a blackjack game, in rough
order of their importance:

1. NUMBER OF DECKS. The fewer the better.
2. PENETRATION. The % of cards dealt before the shuffle is very important.
The number of spots being played can impact the penetration.
3. RULES. A near zero or positive basic strategy expectation helps.
4. MINIMUMS/MAXIMUMS. The game must be affordable and profitable, and
the player’s betting should not be too much bigger than the minimum,
lest he attracts unwanted attention.
5. CONTENT DEALERS/PIT CRITTERS. It helps if the employees are happy
in general and happy about your business too.

The importance of playing single deck blackjack with good penetration
cannot be overstressed. Sneak some extra effective penetration
by sitting towards third base if you are using strategy adjustments –
your adjustments will be more accurate since they will be made after
seeing more cards, raising your advantage significantly.

The maximum edge that you’ll hear knowledgable card counters claim to attain
in practice is about 1.5%. Around 0.9%-1.1% is more realistic, winning an
average of about 1.5 units per 100 hands played. Figure on getting in
about 100 hands per hour, so that’s 1.5 units per hour you’ll make. For
typical blackjack games, a 1-4 betting spread is sufficient to beat
the game with a good profit margin. Even flat betting will produce
a profit, though probably not enough for the average greedy card
counter. If the game has poor penetration or poor rules and a better
game cannot be found, then a betting spread larger than 1-4 will probably
be necessary.

As far as risk goes, the variance on a hand of blackjack with a
1-4 spread is about 15.5. The expected value will form a normal
distribution, as shown on the next page. Study these distributions
to get a feel for the kind of negative negative swings you will
experience, purely as a result of variance.

The game simulated here is Vegas downtown rules, 3 rounds of 3 spots,
with the counter at the last spot using Hi-Opt I, strategy adjustments
-6 to +6, ace adjustment for betting, true count accurate to
a quarter deck, 1-4 betting spread.

20,000 hands with 300 unit bankroll

Player #3
Average winnings: 291.90 (variance 15.547404)
Average action: 31582.54 (variance 6.373246)
Average worse loss: -105.47 (variance 31339.356156)
Average advantage: 0.924258 +- 0.072904 % (variance 1.383540)
Win/100 rounds: 1.51

FINAL BANKROLL DISTRIBUTION CUM %
=============== =================================================== ==========
BUSTED |********************************************* 7
1 – 50 |* 7
51 – 100 |* 7
101 – 150 |******* 8
151 – 200 |************* 10
201 – 250 |************* 12 LOSS
251 – 300 |********************* 16________
301 – 350 |************************ 19 PROFIT
351 – 400 |************************* 23
401 – 450 |***************************************** 30
451 – 500 |************************************ 35
501 – 550 |************************************************** 43
551 – 600 |*********************************************** 50 –MEAN
601 – 650 |***************************************** 57
651 – 700 |****************************************** 63
701 – 750 |******************************************* 70
751 – 800 |**************************************** 77
801 – 850 |************************************* 82
851 – 900 |***************************** 87
901 – 950 |*********************** 90
951 – 1000 |************* 92
1001 – 1050 |*********** 94
1051 – 1100 |************ 96
1101 – 1150 |******** 97
1151 – 1200 |****** 98
1201+ |************ 100

Initial bankroll: 300.00
Mean final bankroll: 591.90

In a day or two, a player might get in 2,000 hands. With an 80 unit
bankroll, the results are shown below:

2,000 hands with 80 unit bankroll

Player #3
Average winnings: 29.71 (variance 15.577170)
Average action: 2860.31 (variance 6.363973)
Average worse loss: -44.59 (variance 3387.431404)
Average advantage: 1.038872 +- 0.317410 % (variance 26.225822)
Win/100 rounds: 1.70

FINAL BANKROLL DISTRIBUTION =============== ============== BUSTED |************* 1 – 13 |* 14 – 27 |*** 28 – 40 |**** 41 – 53 |****** 54 – 67 |******* 68 – 80 |********** 81 – 93 |********* 94 – 107 |*********** 108 – 120 |*********** 121 – 133 |******* 134 – 147 |*********** 148 – 160 |*********** 161 – 173 |********* 174 – 187 |********* 188 – 200 |********** 201 – 213 |***** 214 – 227 |******* 228 – 240 |******* 241 – 253 |***** 254 – 267 |**** 268 – 280 |** 281 – 293 |** 294 – 307 |* 308 – 320 |* 321+ |* CUM %
===================================== ==========
************************************* 24
25
26
28
31
35 LOSS
40_______
44 PROFIT
50 –MEAN
55
59
64
70
74
78
83
86
89
92
95
97
98
99
99
100
100

Initial bankroll: 80.00
Mean final bankroll: 109.72

Note: different scale than previous graph.

Team Play
=========
If you have studied the above graphs, you may be getting depressed,
given that the size of your bankroll may imply you will make below
minimum wage. Don’t give up hopes of making money with blackjack
yet. The way to do it is to form a team.

Several players can pool their bankrolls and bet as each had the
whole bankroll. If there are N players contributing equally,
then they will each make N times as much together than they would
individually. Or they can make slightly less and reduce the
variance significantly.

There are also schemes of cooperative play at the same table,
but it’s usually best to have the players play at separate tables.

Barring and Countermeasures
===========================
Card counting is not illegal. However, the casino can kick you
out for whatever reason they choose. If they read you the Trespass
Act, *then* it will be illegal for you to return to the casino
and they can have you arrested. In extreme cases, casinos have
been known to break the bones of card counters, but if you are
playing for low stakes at a reputable casino, you shouldn’t have
any such physical problems.

There are many things that a casino can do besides kick you out
to make it not worth your while to stay. They can shuffle the
deck any time the cards favor you, which will cost you 1-2% in
advantage, making the game unbeatable. Even if they are not
card counting, the dealer can simply shuffle any time a large
bet is placed. Or they can simply stop dealing deep into the
deck altogether.

When the pit critters (properly known as floor managers or sometimes
a pit boss) are hanging around your table, eyeing you, looking
through the discards or obviously card counting during play,
telling the dealer to shuffle early, restricting your betting
spread, etc. then this is called “heat”.

Since heat results in poor playing conditions and may preceed
a barring, you should try to avoid it. Don’t look like you
are counting cards! Become good enough at card counting that
you can simultaneously carry on a conversation. Talk to the
other players, the dealer, and the pit critters. Mix up your
betting pattern. Don’t always bet the same at the top of
the deck. Limit your betting spread, as spreads wider
than 1-4 are usually not necessary to have a good advantage
and wider spreads will usually not be tolerated by the pit
critters. You can make an okay profit with even a 1-2 spread,
though 1-4 should be your goal. Use a lot of different colors of
chips, representing different dollar amounts, so that a pit critter
cannot at a glance figure out whether you raised or lowered your
bet from the previous hand. Try switching back between 1 and
2 hands to range your bet that way, unless this causes heat
itself.

Many casinos like for you to “color up” when you leave. This
means to exchange your chips for ones of higher denominations,
making it easier for you to carry, and trivial for the pit critters
to count. It’s a good idea to leave a table with no chips, if possible.
You can accomplish this without losing by *discretely* squirreling chips
into yourclothes during play. Even if you can’t get rid of all your chips,
your coloring up will be less embarassing. If you run out of chips
on the table before you’re ready to go, pull out more cash. Make
sure you do color up if you leave with only a few chips on the
table – you want them to know that you took a “loss”.

If you have been squirreling chips, then be discrete about cashing
them in. Only cash in initially what you had showing on the table.
Come back later to cash in the rest, or try to get rid of the chips
at another casino.

Comps
=====
You can generate extra low variance income via “comps” – complimentary
rooms, food, and other hotel services. Four hours of betting $25
minimums is enough to get a free room at most casinos in Vegas.
Lower levels of betting will get you a free meel. Even higher levels
of betting will prompt the casino to comp *everything* – room,
food, and even your plane tickets.

To be eligible for comps, just ask a floor manager to “rate” your
play. He will record your buy-in, betting level, and color-out
(chips you take with you.) After you have played for a while,
ask a floor manager or the pit boss for a meal or whatever.

This is a great way to reduce expenses and hence essentially get
some guarenteed income. Unfortunately, it’s also a great way to
get nailed by the casinos, since you’ll be in their computers,
and it will take just one pit critter comment “card counter”
appended to your record to ruin your play there until they
forget your face and you use a new name.

Further reading for the aspiring card counter
=============================================
Although this article gives you enough information to make money off
the casinos, I recommend purchasing at least two of these three books:

“Blackbelt in Blackjack” by Snyder
“Fundamentals of Blackjack” by Chambliss and Rogenski
“The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book” by Humble & Cooper

These are available from the Gambler’s Book Club in Las Vegas,
(800) 634-6243. You have a decent shot at finding the last book
in your local book store.

“Blackbelt in Blackjack” has a couple of good counting systems,
Red 7’s and Zen. In addition, Snyder gives many good suggestions
for achieving an advantage in single deck blackjack without looking
like a typical counter.

“Fundamentals of Blackjack” is a new book with lots of useful tables.
The counting system (C&R count) is not recommended, however.

“The World’s Best Blackjack Book” focuses on the Hi-Opt I
counting system that I advocate. It has lots of general information
that any card counter should know, though the authors of this book are
a little too paranoid about getting cheated.

Good luck and on to the tables! The strategy tables, that is. See
the next two articles.

HOW TO BEAT SINGLE DECK BLACKJACK
Version 1.01
Copyright 1991, Michael Hall

Part 1: The Basics
—————-> Part 2: About the Strategy Charts
Part 3: The Strategy Charts (LONG)

Description
===========
This article describes basic strategy and Hi-Opt I strategy tables
for single deck blackjack, Vegas Strip rules. The strategy information
was compiled from a variety of sources, including “The World’s
Greatest Blackjack Book”, Steve Markowitz’s analytic strategy adjustment
program, and my empirical strategy adjustment program.

Caveats
=======
I do not guarantee that these tables are correct. If you find any
mistakes, or have any suggestions, please let me know, and I will
repost if necessary.

How to read the Basic Strategy table
====================================
Cross index your hand with the dealer’s face-up card. If there is
something other than “…”, it means “yes, do the corresponding decision”
– conversely, a “…” means “no, *don’t* do the corresponding decision.”
Read from the bottom up. First see if you should split (“spl”), then double
(“dbl”), then stand (“sta”). If nothing applies, then hit.

For example, suppose you have two 8’s, and the dealer has a 10
showing. You first check splitting – the table shows that you always
split 8’s, since it has an “spl” for every dealer up card. As
another example, if you Ace-7 vs. Ace, you first check to see if you double.
There is a “…” there, so you don’t double, and so you check to see if
you should “soft hit” it. Ace-7 is soft 18, which when cross-refenced
with the dealer’s ace has a “sta”, indicating you should stand on versus ace.

How to read the Hi-Opt I Strategy table
=======================================
Cross index as with the basic strategy table. Follow the basic
strategy, except possibly when there is a number there. If there
is a number and the true count is greater than or equal to it,
it means yes, do the corresponding action. Exception: when there
is an asterisk (*) after the number it means just the opposite –
do the decision only when the true count that number or below.

For example, using the previous example, you would deviate from basic
strategy and hit soft 18 vs. Ace if the true count were below
zero, since there is a 0 in that box. For counts of zero and above,
you would stand. Note that the strategy with a count of zero is
not always the same as basic strategy – use the strategy adjustments
in preference to basic strategy. As another example, suppose
you have 8-8 vs. dealer 10 (no double after split). The number there
is “+5*”, meaning that for true counts of 5 or less, you split, but
for true counts of +6 or more, you would not split. (Exercise for
the reader: what play would you do in that case of a true count of +6?)

Most of the numbers are rounded off to -20,-15,-10,-5,-1,0,+1,+5,+10,+15,
or +20. In the September 1991 issue of Blackjack Forum, Arnold Snyder
showed that such a simplication resulted in no measurable loss in
performance. However, I have included a finer granularity of numbers
for hard standing, because my empirical results produced statistically
significant settings of these adjustments to their exact values.
Whether this will make a statistically difference in the overall results
of a few million hands, I rather doubt, but since it definitely makes
a difference in the results for these particular hands, I can’t bear
to throw away that gain. If you wish, you may round the rest
of the numbers off the multiples of 5 (or +1/-1) to make things easier.

Learn the adjustments gradually, starting with 0, then adding +1, then
-1, then +5, and so on. The most important adjustments are the ones for
hard standing and doubling. You can and probably should completely ignore
the ones for splitting, except for the hand 10-10.

How to read the side count strategy tables
==========================================
The side count tables are for experts only. They are memorized in
addition to the normal Hi-Opt I strategy adjustment table. The best
order to learn the side counts is given in the first part of the
article in the table that compares the various card counting systems.
First learn to side count aces, then add 7’s and other side counts as you
becomes a grandmaster of blackjack.

As far as I know, this article is the only place you can easily
multiparameter Hi-Opt I in its full glory. No book I’ve seen gives
Hi-Opt I strategy adjustments outside of -6 to +6, and no book
gives multiparameter adjustments for anything other than aces.
(Currently just aces and 7’s are here, but I’ll add the other cards
in later editions of this article.)

You find the side count strategy adjustment number the same way you find
the Hi-Opt I strategy adjustment number, by cross-indexing on the
appropriate table.

For strategy, you adjust the running count by the number of excess seen
cards for the side count times the side count strategy adjustment number.

As an example of how to use the side count adjustment number, suppose
you are side-counting 7’s and are faced with 14 vs. 10 and a running
count of -1 at the 1/2 deck level. The Hi-Opt I strategy adjustment
number for standing hard 14 vs. 10 is +15, and the seven adjustment
number for this play is +5. Suppose you have seen all four 7’s
remaining at the 1/2 deck level, meaning that there are two excess
7’s removed from the deck. For strategy, you then must adjust the
*running* count, not the true count, and not the strategy adjustment
number. From the running count, you *subtract* the number of excess
*remaining* 7’s times the 7-adjustment index (or *add* the number of
excess *seen* 7’s times the 7-adjustment index.) In this case
that’s -1 + 2*(+5) = +9. You then convert to true count by dividing
by the number of remaining decks (1/2), yielding +9/(1/2) = 9*2 = +18,
which is the true count you would compare to the normal Hi-Opt I strategy
adjustment number of +15. Since +18 is more than +15, you would
stand. Imagine that, standing on hard 14 vs. 10 with a negative Hi-Opt I
count!

Let R be the running count,
X be the number of excess seen side count cards times the adjustment number
N be the number of remaining decks

Then the adjusted count for strategy is:

R+X
—
N

If you are good enough to keep several side counts for strategy,
then X will be the sum of all these adjustments.

Confused?
=========
You can send e-mail to hall@rocky.bellcore.com if you have any
questions on these charts.

HOW TO BEAT SINGLE DECK BLACKJACK
Version 1.01
Copyright 1991, Michael Hall

Part 1: The Basics
Part 2: About the Strategy Charts
—————-> Part 3: The Strategy Charts (LONG)

What follows are several tables for single deck blackjack and
multi-parameter Hi-Opt I.

* Basic Strategy for Single Deck
* Hi-Opt I Blackjack Count Strategy Adjustments
* Hi-Opt I Ace Side Count Strategy Adjustments
* Hi-Opt I Seven Side Count Strategy Adjustments

Basic Strategy for Single Deck

Hard Hit/Stand Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Hard 18+ sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta
Hard 17 sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta
Hard 16 sta sta sta sta sta … … … … …
Hard 15 sta sta sta sta sta … … … … …
Hard 14 sta sta sta sta sta … … … … …
Hard 13 sta sta sta sta sta … … … … …
Hard 12 … … sta sta sta … … … … …

Soft Hit/Stand Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Soft 19+ sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta
Soft 18 sta sta sta sta sta sta sta … … sta
Soft 17- … … … … … … … … … …

Hard Double Down Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Hard 11 dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl
Hard 10 dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl … …
Hard 9 dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl … … … … …
Hard 8 … … … dbl dbl … … … … …
Hard 7 … … … … … … … … … …
Hard 6 … … … … … … … … … …
Hard 5 … … … … … … … … … …
Hard 4 … … … … … … … … … …

Soft Double Down Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

A9 … … … … … … … … … …
A8 … … … … dbl … … … … …
A7 … dbl dbl dbl dbl … … … … …
A6 dbl dbl dbl dbl dbl … … … … …
A5 … … dbl dbl dbl … … … … …
A4 … … dbl dbl dbl … … … … …
A3 … … dbl dbl dbl … … … … …
A2 … … dbl dbl dbl … … … … …

Basic Strategy for Single Deck

Pair Split Strategy (non-DAS)

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Pair 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Ace,Ace spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl
10,10 … … … … … … … … … …
9,9 spl spl spl spl spl … spl spl … …
8,8 spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl
7,7 spl spl spl spl spl spl … … … …
6,6 spl spl spl spl spl … … … … …
5,5 … … … … … … … … … …
4,4 … … … … … … … … … …
3,3 … … spl spl spl spl
2,2 … spl spl spl spl spl … … … …

Pair Split Strategy (DAS)

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Pair 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Ace,Ace spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl
10,10 … … … … … … … … … …
9,9 spl spl spl spl spl … spl spl … …
8,8 spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl
7,7 spl spl spl spl spl spl spl … … …
6,6 spl spl spl spl spl spl … … … …
5,5 … … … … … … … … … …
4,4 … … spl spl spl … … … … …
3,3 spl spl spl spl spl spl spl … … …
2,2 spl spl spl spl spl spl … … … …

Take insurance: Never (unless card counting)

Hi-Opt I Blackjack Count Strategy Adjustments

Cards: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace
Values: 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 -1 0

1 deck, dealer stands on soft 17

Hard Hit/Stand Strategy (-20 to +20)

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Hard 18+ sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta
Hard 17 -20 -20 sta -20 sta -20 -15 -15 -20 -6
Hard 16 -7 -7 -9 -10 -10 +10 +10 +6 +2 +7
Hard 15 -5 -5 -5 -8 -8 +10 +10 +6 +3 +8
Hard 14 -3 -3 -5 -5 -5 +10 +20 … +13 +10
Hard 13 0 0 -1 -4 -4 … … … … +15
Hard 12 +3 +3 +1 -1 +1 … … … … …

Soft Hit/Stand Strategy (-5 to +5)

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Soft 19+ sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta
Soft 18 sta sta sta sta sta sta sta … … 0
Soft 17- … … … … … … … … … …

Hard Double Down Strategy (-10 to +15)

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Hard 11 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -5 -5 -5 -5 0
Hard 10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -5 -5 -1 +5 +5
Hard 9 +1 0 0 -5 -5 +5 +10 … … …
Hard 8 +10 +10 +5 +5 +1 +15 … … … …
Hard 7 … +15 +10 +10 +10 … … … … …
Hard 6 … +15 +15 +10 +15 … … … … …
Hard 5 … … +15 +10 +15 … … … … …
Hard 4 … … +15 +15 +15 … … … … …

Soft Double Down Strategy (-10 to +15)

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

A9 +10 +10 +5 +5 +5 +15 … … … …
A8 +5 +5 +5 +1 +1 +15 … … … …
A7 +1 -1 -5 -10 -10 +15 … … … …
A6 +1 -1 -5 -10 -10 +10 … … … …
A5 +10 +5 -1 -5 -10 … … … … …
A4 +15 +5 -1 -5 -5 … … … … …
A3 +10 +5 +1 -5 -5 … … … … …
A2 +10 +5 +1 -1 -5 … … … … …

Hi-Opt I Blackjack Count Strategy Adjustments

Cards: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace
Values: 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 -1 0

1 deck, dealer stands on soft 17

Pair Split Strategy (non-DAS) (-5 to +5 except 10’s)

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Pair 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Ace,Ace spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl -5
10,10 +10 +10 +5 +5 +5 +10 +20 … … …
9,9 -1 -1 -1 -5 -5 +5 spl spl … +1
8,8 spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl +5* spl
7,7 spl spl spl spl spl spl … … … …
6,6 +1 0 -5 -5 -5 +1* … … … …
5,5 … … … … … … … … … …
4,4 … … … … … … … … … …
3,3 +5 +5 0 spl spl spl +1* … … …
2,2 +5 +1 -5 spl spl spl … … … …

Pair Split Strategy (DAS) (-5 to +5 except 10’s)

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Pair 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Ace,Ace spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl -5
10,10 +10 +10 +5 +5 +5 +10 +20 … … …
9,9 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 +5 spl spl … +1
8,8 spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl
7,7 spl spl spl spl spl spl -1 … … …
6,6 -5 -5 -5 spl spl spl … … … …
5,5 … … … … … … … … … …
4,4 … +5 +1 -1 0 … … … … …
3,3 -5 spl spl spl spl spl +5* … … …
2,2 -5 -5 spl spl spl spl +5 … … …

Take insurance: true counts +2 and above

Modifications if dealer hits soft 17:

Hard 17 vs. A -4
Hard 16 vs. A +3
Hard 15 vs. A +4
Hard 14 vs. 6 S
Hard 13 vs. 6 -5
Hard 12 vs. 6 -3

Soft 18 vs. A H
9-9 vs. 6 -4
9-9 vs. A +5

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Hi-Opt I Ace Side Count Strategy Adjustments AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Cards: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace
Values: 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 -1 0

1 deck, dealer stands on soft 17

Hard Hit/Stand Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Hard 18+ sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta
Hard 17 +1 +1 sta +1 sta +3 +6 +3 +2 0
Hard 16 +1 0 0 +1 +1 +2 +1 +1 +1 0
Hard 15 0 0 0 0 +1 +1 0 0 0 0
Hard 14 0 0 0 0 +1 +1 0 … 0 0
Hard 13 0 0 0 0 +1 … … … … 0
Hard 12 0 0 0 0 +1 … … … … …

Soft Hit/Stand Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Soft 19+ sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta
Soft 18 sta sta sta sta sta sta sta … … +1
Soft 17- … … … … … … … … … …

Hard Double Down Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Hard 11 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +1 +1
Hard 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 -2 -1
Hard 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0? … … …
Hard 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 … … … …
Hard 7 … 0 0 0 0 … … … … …

Soft Double Down Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

A9 -1 -1 -1 -1 0 0 … … … …
A8 -1 -1 -1 0 0 0 … … … …
A7 -1 -1 0 0 0 -1 … … … …
A6 +1 0 0 0 +1 +1 … … … …
A5 +2 +2 +1 +1 +2 … … … … …
A4 +4 +3 +2 +2 +3 … … … … …
A3 +2 +2 +1 +1 +2 … … … … …
A2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 … … … … …

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Hi-Opt I Ace Side Count Strategy Adjustments AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Cards: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace
Values: 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 -1 0

1 deck, dealer stands on soft 17

Pair Split Strategy (non-DAS)

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Pair 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Ace,Ace spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl +1
10,10 0? 0? 0? 0? 0? 0? 0? … … …
9,9 -1 -1 -1 0 0 -4 spl spl … -4
8,8 spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl +2 spl
7,7 spl spl spl spl spl spl … … … …
6,6 +1 0 0? 0? 0? +2 … … … …
5,5 … … … … … … … … … …
4,4 … … … … … … … … … …
3,3 0 0 0 spl spl spl 0 … … …
2,2 -1 -1 -1 spl spl spl … … … …

777777777777777 Hi-Opt I Seven Side Count Strategy Adjustments 777777777777777

Cards: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace
Values: 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 -1 0

1 deck, dealer stands on soft 17

Hard Hit/Stand Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Hard 18+ sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta
Hard 17 0 0 sta -1 sta -2 -5 -4 -2 +1
Hard 16 0 0 0 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 +1 0
Hard 15 0 0 0 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 0 0
Hard 14 +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 … +5 +2
Hard 13 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 … … … … +2
Hard 12 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 … … … … …

Soft Hit/Stand Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Soft 19+ sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta sta
Soft 18 sta sta sta sta sta sta sta … … 0
Soft 17- … … … … … … … … … …

Hard Double Down Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Hard 11 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0 0 0 +1 +1
Hard 10 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0 0 0 +2 +1
Hard 9 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0 0? … … …
Hard 8 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0 … … … …
Hard 7 … +1 +1 0 0 … … … … …

Soft Double Down Strategy

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Total 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

A9 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0? … … … …
A8 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0? … … … …
A7 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 +2 … … … …
A6 +3 +2 +2 0 0 +1 … … … …
A5 +3 +3 +2 0 0 … … … … …
A4 +3 +3 +2 0 0 … … … … …
A3 -1 0 0 -2 -2 … … … … …
A2 0 0 0 -1 -1 … … … … …

777777777777777 Hi-Opt I Seven Side Count Strategy Adjustments 777777777777777

Cards: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace
Values: 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 -1 0

1 deck, dealer stands on soft 17

Pair Split Strategy (non-DAS)

Dealer’s Upcard

Player’s Pair 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace

Ace,Ace spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl +1
10,10 0? 0? 0? 0? 0? 0? 0? … … …
9,9 +1 +1 +1 0 0 +2 spl spl … 0
8,8 spl spl spl spl spl spl spl spl +3 spl
7,7 spl spl spl spl spl spl … … … …
6,6 +2 +2 0? 0? 0? -3 … … … …
5,5 … … … … … … … … … …
4,4 … … … … … … … … … …
3,3 -2 0 0 spl spl spl +8 … … …
2,2 0 +2 +1 spl spl spl … … … …

0

How To Beat Atlantic City Blackjack, By Michael Hall (1991)

HOW TO BEAT ATLANTIC CITY BLACKJACK
Copyright 1991, Michael Hall

—————-> Part 1: The Basics
Part 2: About the Strategy Charts
Part 3: Postscript Strategy Charts (LONG)

Help for the novice blackjack player
====================================
The basic idea of the game is to get a total less than 21 that is
higher than the dealer OR to not bust (go over 21) when the dealer
busts. With basic strategy, you reduce the house edge to about -.45% in
Atlantic City (or -.40% where late surrender is offered); it is the
*best* way to play, unless you are counting cards. All hands are dealt
face up in Atlantic City; don’t touch the cards. A “soft” total means
you have an ace and can use it as 11 without going over 21; hard means
you aren’t counting an ace as 11 in your total.

Insurance is a side bet for up to half of your original bet. It can
only be placed at the start of a round when the dealer has an ace
showing. A basic strategy player should never take insurance.
Insurance pays 2-1 only if the dealer has blackjack.

With early surrender, you can give up half your bet to avoid playing
your first two cards; late surrender is the same, except you still
lose you whole bet if the dealer has blackjack. To surrender, just say
“surrender.”

Splitting can be done only on your first two cards in Atlantic City.
You push out a bet equal to your original, the dealer splits the cards
apart and deals a card to the first one, which you play normally
except that you can’t resplit, and then the dealer deals a card to the
second one, which again you play normally without resplitting.

Doubling can be done on any two cards. You push out a bet equal to
your original, and you will receive exactly one more card.

Standing versus hitting is the most common and important decision. To
hit you tap the table or draw your fingers towards you. Standing is
indicated by a waving motion parallel to the table.

About Atlantic City
===================
All Atlantic City casinos use the same rules, except when they get
special permission from the Gaming Commission to try something else.
Atlantic City rules are no resplitting, split aces get only one card
each, double down allowed after split, dealer stands on soft 17,
blackjack pays 3 to 2, insurance pays 2 to 1, and 4, 6, or 8 decks
are used, but you will find only 8 decks for less than $25 minimums.
Until recently the absolute lowest minimums were $5, but now the Taj
Mahal offers $3 tables during the day on weekdays. Late surrender was
found only at the Claridge until recently, when Trump Plaza announced
that it is offering it too. It is unlikely that early surrender will
ever be offered again, because the casinos lost so much money when it
was offered that the Gaming Commission declared a state financial
crisis (or some such) in order to get rid of it and protect this
source of New Jersey tax revenue.

Help for the aspiring card counter
==================================
I recommend Stanford Wong’s book, “Professional Blackjack” as a
reference on the High-Low counting system; it is finally out as a
paperback after 9 years of being a hardback. I also recommend Humble’s
“The World’s Best Blackjack Book”, which focuses on the Hi-Opt I
counting system but which has lots of general information that any card
counter should know, though the authors of this book are a little too
paranoid about getting cheated. Hi-Opt I and High-Low counts are very
similar, but I feel that High-Low is marginally better for most
players. More advanced counts do exist (using more numbers than -1, 0,
and +1), but they offer very little theoretical gain coupled with an
increased chance for errors. Most professional card counters use
High-Low or Hi-Opt I. An additional reference containing useful tables
of information is “Fundamentals of Blackjack” by Chambliss & Rogenski.
For example, they give a table that shows the effects of various rules
on basic strategy expectation for 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8 decks.

Here is how you do the High-Low count. Initialize running count to
zero at start. Add one for each 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 you see and subtract
one for each 10 or Ace you see. Divide running count by estimated
number of unseen decks to get true count used in the strategy
adjustment table. The strategy adjustment table is just a minor
refinement; you get most of the benefit of counting from bet size
variation, and you should do fine if you avoid strategy adjustments at
first.

The Kelly Criterion is a betting heuristic that minimizes your chance
of going broke while maximizing your long-run profits, and for
Atlantic City, this heuristic dictates that you should bet
approximately (TC*0.5 – 0.5)*.0077*BR, where TC is the True Count and
BR is your BankRoll (i.e., how much money you’ve got on you.)

On games with large numbers of decks, it is absolutely imperative that
you abandon the table when the count goes negative. How negative?
That’s a personal decision and depends on your betting spread (difference
between your lowest bet and your highest), but I would advise leaving
eight deckers when the count hits -1.

You should only take insurance if the TC is above +3 (more precisely,
+2.8 for four decks, +3.0 for six decks, and +3.1 for eight decks).
Don’t be swayed by what cards you have (i.e., don’t fall into the
insure-your-blackjack trap); it’s a side bet, so only the count
matters.

The maximum edge that most card counters claim to attain in practice
is about 1.5%. In Atlantic City, you will need about a 1-8 spread
(i.e., highest bet is eight times your lowest) to grind out any profit
at all. My simulations show a .5% advantage (ratio of winnings to
total amount bet) for a 1-8 betting spread, 7 players, -1 to +10 strategy
adjustments, and abandoning counts of -1 or worse. If late surrender
is available, the edge improves to .66%.

As far as risk goes, a 500 unit bankroll (e.g. $2500 for $5 minimums)
has a 81.5% chance of doubling before going broke. If late surrender
is available, this improves to 89.3%. You are risking quite a bit
to win how much? 0.9 units is the average win per 100 hands; 1.3 units
with late surrender. So you could make about $5 an hour or so if you
are willing to have more than a 10% chance of losing $2500 before
doubling it.

If you want to make money at blackjack, either join a blackjack team or
play the single or double deckers in Vegas.

HOW TO BEAT ATLANTIC CITY BLACKJACK
Copyright 1991, Michael Hall

Part 1: The Basics
—————-> Part 2: About the Strategy Charts
Part 3: Postscript Strategy Charts (LONG)

Description
===========
This article describes basic and High-Low strategy tables for Atlantic
City rules with four or more decks. The strategy information was taken
from Stanford Wong’s book, “Professional Blackjack”. The tables tell
you the mathematically best play given a certain circumstance –
whether to surrender, split, double-down, hit, or stand.

Rationale
=========
I made these tables for myself, because I was unsatisfied with
any I could find in published books. I am very satisfied with the
result, so I thought I would share it with y’all. You may wish to
modify the tables for your particular situation (different counting
system, different casino rules, etc.) If so, you’ll need to get the
troff source from me, or else you can use the “Do Your Own Strategy”
blank chart that is included.

Caveats
=======
I do not guarantee that these tables are correct. If you find any
mistakes, or have any suggestions, please let me know, and I will
repost if necessary. Also, note that Wong computed his numbers for 4
decks, and he assumes 4 decks = 6 decks = 8 decks for purposes of
strategy adjustments. If anyone has High-Low strategy numbers that have
*proved* to be more accurate for 6 or 8 decks, then let me know.

How to print the tables
=======================
In a subsequent article, you’ll find the Postscript gobble-dee-gook
that hopefully can be understood by your printer. However, it’s
uuencoded and compressed. Save the article to a file. “uudecode”
the file. “uncompress” the resulting file, high-low.ps.Z (“uudecode”
and “uncompress” are UNIX programs that you hopefully have. There is
no need to strip out the article header before running uudecode. If
everything works, then you should wind up with a file named high-low.ps
that has “%!PS-Adobe-1.0” as its first line.) Send high-low.ps to a
printer that understands Postscript. (This includes the popular
Apple Laserwriter II printer and many others.) There will be a few
semi-blank pages, because the original text formatter, troff, is
brain-damaged. What you want are the pages with the tables for
“High-Low”, “Basic Strategy”, and “Do Your Own Strategy”.

How to use the Do Your Own Strategy table
=========================================
Use the Do Your Own Strategy table for memory recall practice or to
devise a table with a different set of strategy adjustment numbers,
perhaps for a counting system other than High-Low.

How to read the Basic Strategy table
====================================
Cross index your hand with the dealer’s face-up card. If there is an
“X”, it means “yes, do the corresponding decision” – conversely,
a blank means “no, *don’t* do the corresponding decision.” Read from
the bottom up. First see if you should surrender (if this option is
available), then split, then double, then stand. If nothing applies,
then hit.

For example, suppose you have two 8’s, and the dealer has a 10
showing. If you are playing at the Claridge (or Trump Plaza), you
first see if you should late surrender, but cross indexing 8-8 with 10
under late surrender shows that you should not. You then check splitting
– the table shows that you always split 8’s, since there are X’s all the way
across. However, if you split 8’s and get another hand of 8’s, then
you cannot resplit. You then look up to see if you should double – of
course not – and then you look up to see if you should stand; 8-8
versus 10 is blank, so you don’t stand and instead you take a hit.

How to read the High-Low Strategy table
=======================================
Cross index as with the basic strategy table. Follow the basic
strategy, except in these cases:

1) If there is a positive number in the box and the true count is greater
than it, it means “override basic strategy, so yes, do the corresponding
action.”

2) If there is a negative number in the box and the true count is lower
than it means “override basic strategy, so no, *don’t* do the corresponding
action.”

To conform to the above and to avoid confusion, zeros are noted as
positive or negative. The somewhat counterintuitive use of a “Stand”
decision as opposed to a “Hit” decision is again to conform to the
above and to avoid confusion in the long run.

This all sounds complicated, but it’s simple once you get used to it.

For example, using the previous example, you would deviate from basic
strategy and surrender 8-8 against 10 if the running count were
positive (greater than +0). You would always split 8’s, but you would
deviate from basic strategy and stand on hard 16 when the running
count were positive.

How to highlight the High-Low Strategy table
============================================
I highly recommended that you use a highlighting pen to indicate
basic strategy on the High-Low Strategy tables. Overlay your High-Low
printed page on top of your Basic Strategy page. Press down so you can
the X’s through the High-Low page. Highlight everywhere an X shows
through. Note that there is a basic strategy X everywhere there is a
negative High-Low Strategy number, and there is a basic strategy blank
everywhere there is a positive High-Low Strategy number (this would
not be true for some ranges of counts larger than -1 to +6.)

Still confused?
===============
You can send e-mail to hall@rocky.bellcore.com if you have any
questions on these charts.

0

Glossary Of High Energy Weapons Terms

GLOSSARY OF HIGH ENERGY WEAPONS TERMS

ALPHA PARTICLE

Helium nuclei. Not very penetrating. Stopped by epidermis.

BECQUEREL

Symbol: Bq
1 disintegration/second. 1 Curie = 3.7 x 10^10 Bq. Unit of activity. Things
with small half-lives have the biggest activity.

BERYLLIUM

Symbol: Be
Element 4 with atomic weights b/w 6 and 11. A neutron reflector and neutron
source. Has low thermal neutron absorption cross section. Has high neutron
scattering cross section. Be has the highest number of atoms / c.c. than any
other element. Absorbs high energy neutrons to become a neutron source.
Used in the core of boosted fission devices.

number 4
symbol Be
name Beryllium
density 1.85
heatVapor 73.9
heatFusion 2.8
elecConduct .25
thermalConduct .38
specificHeat .45
weight 9.012182
boilPoint 2472 deg C
meltPoint 1289 deg C
thermalConduct 2.01
specificGrav 1.848 (20 deg C)
valence 2
configuration [He] 2s^2

BETA PARTICLE

Electrons, more penetrating than alphas. Can go through air, but are stopped
by protective clothing.

BETA DECAY

Radioactive emission of an electron (beta particle) from a nucleus.

BOOSTING

Injecting the hollow core of a fissile weapon with T and D gases, soon after
core implosion and fission initiation. Done to improve efficiency – there is
a synergy b/w fission and fusion reactions.

DEUTERIUM

Symbol: D
Heavy hydrogen isotope. Atomic number of 1, atomic weight of 2.
i.e. nucleus has 1 proton, 1 neutron. Deuterium is not radioactive. Found as
1/6000 of tap water. Nuclear fuel used in fusion into helium.

GAMMA RAY

Short wavelength electromagnetic radiation, extremely high energy light. Highly
penetrating. Can go through inches of steel or lead. Need metres of lead for
protection.

GRAY

Symbol: Gy
SI unit for 1 Joule deposited/kilogram of flesh. 1 Rad = 0.01 Gy.

ION

Atom stripped of its electron cloud.

INERTIAL CONFINEMENT

A technique which compresses a mass of fusion fuel, thereby increasing the
probability and rate of fusion. Abbreviation: ICF

LEVITATION

Method of separating the pusher and core so that there is an air gap in
between. This lets the pusher develop momentum (and maximises impulse) as
the pusher implodes.

LITHIUM

Symbol: Li
Element 3 with atomic weights b/w 5 and 9. Used as a fusion fuel. It is usually
compounded with deuterium to form Li-6D. Neutron bombardment transforms Li
into T. THe T fuses with the D to release He nuclei, more neutrons, and
radiation.

LITHIUM 6 DEUTERIDE

Called “Liddy” by Igor Kurchatov its discoverer, it serves as a dry fuel in
secondaries.

MEGATON

1,000,000 tons of TNT. 1 ton of TNT = 4.184^9 J. [From ‘A Physicist’s
Desk Reference’, Ed. Herbert L. Anderson]

NEUTRON

Chargeless particle, and highly penetrating due to this property.
It hardly interacts, and hence is difficult to block. Can only be
blocked by metres of concrete or deep water. Neutron absorption by
nuclei can make the nuclei radioactively unstable.

NUCLEON

A proton or neutron in a nucleus.

ORALLOY

Symbol: Oy
Oak Ridge Alloy, about 93.5% U-235.

PLUTONIUM

Sumbol: Pu
Element 94 with atomic weights b/w 232 and 246. Radioactive, man-made. Half-
life is 24,360yrs, and it alpha decays. Pu-239 metal is used in weapons.

number 94
symbol Pu
name Plutonium
weight [244]
boilPoint 3230 deg C
meltPoint 640 deg C
heatVapor
heatFusion
elecConduct
thermalConduct 0.0670
specificHeat
specificGrav (alpha modification) 19.84 (25 deg C)
valence 3, 4, 5, or 6
configuration [Rn] 5f^6 7s^2

RAD

Radiation Absorbed Dose, unit for measuring specific amounts of radiation
absorbed by human tissue.

REM

Radiation Equivalent Man, measures biological damage done to tissue by
specific amounts of radiation. The type of radiation is taken into account.
For beta and gamma radiation, 1 RAD = 1 REM. For neutrons and alphas,
1 RAD = up to 20 REM, depending on particle energy. Low rad dosages are
a few REM, high doses are > 100 REM. High doses give rise to immediate
radiation sickness: hypodermal bleeding, hair loss, sickness. Under 25 REM,
no short term effects are observed. In the long term, however, it will
lead to greater possibility for cancer and genetic abnormality in offspring.

ROENTGEN

Symbol: R or r

Unit for measuring ionising radiation in air. Replaced by the Coulomb/kg.
1 roentgen = 2.58 x 10^-4 C/kg.

SHAKE

10 ns

SIEVERT

Symbol: Sv
SI unit defined as Gy x Quality_factor. 1 REM = 0.01 Sv. Unit for dose
equivalent. QF of gammas and betas is 1, QF for alphas is 20. So absorbed dose
of 1 Gy of gammas = 1 Sv, whereas the dose of 1 Gy of alphas is 20 Sv.
Background rad is 0.03 Sv.

SPARKPLUG

Oy or Pu-239 rod used as a fission igniter in a fusion cell. When compressed
and bombarded at one end by neutrons, it fissions. It heats the surrounding
compressed fusion fuel, and provides neutrons for T generation.

TRITIUM

Symbol: T
Heavy hydrogen isotope. Atomic number of 1, atomic weight of 3.
i.e. nucleus has 1 proton, 2 neutrons. Tritium is radioactive, with a half-
life of 12.3yrs. Not found in Nature. Produced via neutron bombardment of Li.

URANIUM

Symbol: U
Element 92 with atomic weights b/w 227 and 240. The U-235 and U-238 isotopes
are used in weapons. U-238 produces Pu-239 via neutron bombardment in reactors.
A heavy, silvery-white metal which is pyrophoric (spontaneous ignition) when
finely divided. Highly corrosive to most materials when in metallic vapour
form. Melting point: 1132 C. Boiling point: 3818 C. Has 6 electrons in
highest shell, contributing to a complicated chemistry for U.

number 92
symbol U
name Uranium
weight 238.0289
boilPoint 4134 deg C
meltPoint 1135 deg C
heatVapor
heatFusion
elecConduct
thermalConduct 0.275
specificHeat
specificGrav ~18.95
valence 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6
configuration [Rn] 5f^3 6d 7s^2

URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE

Symbol: UF6
Used in separation techniques since there is only 1 isotope of F. Molecular
weight is 349 or 352, corresponding to U-235 and U-238 respectively. Highly
symmetrical moelcule. Fluorines arranged arround central U atom, along the
3 perpendicular axes. UF6 is highly reactive, especially against water and
many organic compounds. Strong fluorinating agent. Corrosive to most metals.
Only Ni or Al and their alloys are suitable for UF6 handling in separators.
Colorless solid at room temp. At room pressure, it sublimes at 56.5 C. cf
dry ice.

1994

0

Introduction To Playing A Highlander Role-Playing Game

Prologue

A Treatise on Immortality by Stephen Bonet, Filius of Penelope, House
Bonisagus (Order of Hermes), presented to the Stonehenge Tribunal on
March 20, 1854

Greetings Fellow Magi!

As always, it is with great honor and privilege that I address you at
this Tribunal. My sodalis and I have come across a most curious breed
of man, and I would like to present our studies of this man for you to
enjoy:

His name is Guillaume, and he was born in the year 1422 to a
farmer and wife outside Paris, in France. All of this information
about him has come from our explorations of his mind and body, for
despite his incredible powers he is but a man, albeit a very special
kind of man.

Through his mind, we saw his death and rebirth: unlike
the mummies of the southern lands, however, he does not travel to a
spirit realm and beg to return, but rather his internal power somehow
regenerates his form, no matter how damaged it has become. This
natural healing is rapid, causing him to return from the most grievous
of wounds to his full health in scant hours.

We tested his mind’s visions, and in fact his wounds heal remarkably quickly.
He cannot be drowned, for somehow his lungs draw air from the water itself.
He can be burned, or shot, but he heals so quickly that the most heinous of
wounds are little more than an annoyance to him.

Through his mind, we likewise learned of others of his kind. A teacher, who
came to him and taught him the Rules, and others, who came to steal his power
for themselves.

Their kind have Rules, built up through centuries of
conflict. The only way to kill them is to remove their head from
their shoulders, separating their head from their heart (the two
sources of life, as we ourselves know). If this is done by another of
their kind, the power within them (which they refer to as their
Quickening, or life) flows into their killer, making him even more
powerful. Their legends speak of the Gathering, a time when all of
their kind will battle, until only one remains. That one, with all of
their power as his own, will be like unto a god.

How do we explain these beings? Quite easily, in fact. Their power is
nothing less than raw Quintessence, somehow drawn to them from reality itself.
As all living things have some faint spark of Quintessence in them, these
beings have a raging flame, which gives them strength and power. This
raw power is similar to that of our own Avatars, yet in many ways
different. Those of us who study the Prime have recognized this in
our subject, and in fact can sense the power flowing through him. At
the same time, he does not seem to have the Gift, and we have been
unable to Awaken him. We have not yet endeavored to remove his head
ourselves, until we are certain we have learned all we can from him.

Another Rule of their kind deals with Holy Ground, and the fact that
they cannot fight there. According to Guillaume, he can sense this
ground, much as he senses others of his kind when they draw near.
Through studying him and his memories, we have gained some information
as to this sensation. It seems our Chantry is also considered Holy
Ground to him, as it seems all Nodes are. These connections to
Quintessence are off limits to them? Why is that? The answer lies in
understanding their battles.

When two of their kind fight, the Quintessence within them begins to flow,
empowering them and their weapons, and literally filling the air around them.
When one loses, the winner draws his own Quintessence back into himself, as
well as some of that belonging to his opponent… the rest, with nowhere to
go, wreaks havoc on the environment around them. This Quintessence he
absorbs from his opponent carries with it a shadow of the man’s
knowledge, indeed his very life… and in some cases, can overshadow
the life of the victor.

On a Node site, the Quintessence from the loser flows not into the victor, but
into the Node itself. In this way, the victor not only gains nothing, but in
fact loses that Quintessence of his which had mingled with that of his
opponent… a very pragmatic reason for the Rule they follow.

There are many things about these beings still to be learned. They seem as
closely tied to Quintessence as we ourselves, but at the same time seem to be
able to contain and harness this “Quickening” of theirs in other ways.
In some ways, they seem a living Node: a constant amount of Quickening
within them, unused by their healing and powers, and always the
capacity for more. We will experiment more with this subject,
including channeling Quintessence into him, to further explore our
theories.

Thank you for your patience, and good night.

0

UNESCO’s World Heritage List (The 10-12 Most Historic Sites)

From: pstott@pearl.tufts.edu
Newsgroups: sci.archaeology
Subject: UNESCO’s World Heritage List
Message-ID:
Date: 16 Jan 93 22:57:12 GMT
Organization: Tufts University – Medford, MA
Lines: 749

Mark Chou has asked:

> I remember reading about a list compiled by the United Nations
> Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which
> had something like the 10 or 12 most historic sites in the world
> (something like the “Seven wonders”, except these are cities).

The list to which he probably refers is the World Heritage List,
maintained by UNESCO’s World Heritage Secretariat in Paris. The list
is updated at the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee
each December. The list, which includes both cultural and natural
sites, numbers 358 different properties, including numerous cities.

UNESCO
WORLD HERITAGE LIST

The World Heritage Committee has approved the following properties and natural
properties to be included on the World Heritage List. The properties are
arranged alphabetically by nominating country. The following list is updated
to January 1992.

ALGERIA:

1980 Al Qal’a of Beni Hammad
1982 Tassili n’Ajjer
1982 M’zab Valley
1982 Djemila
1982 Tipasa
1982 Timgad

ARGENTINA:

1981 Los Glaciares
1984 Iguazu National Park

ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL

1984 Jesuit Missions of the Guarnis:
San Ignacio Mini, Santa Ana, Nuestro Senora de Loreto
and Santa Maria Mayor (Argentina), Ruins of Sao Miguel
das Missoes (Brazil)

AUSTRALIA:

1981 Great Barrier Reef
1981 Kakadu National Park
1981 Willandra Lakes Region
1982 Tasmanian Wilderness
1982 Lord Howe Island Group
1987 Uluru National Park
1987 Australian East Coast Temperate and Sub-Tropical
Rainforest Parks
1988 Wet Tropics of Queensland
1991 Shark Bay, Western Australia

BANGLADESH:

1985 Historic Mosque City of Bagerhat
1985 Ruins of the Buddhist Vihara at Paharpur

BENIN:
1985 Royal Palaces of Abomey

BOLIVIA:

1987 City of Potosi
1990 Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos
1991 Historic City of Sucre

BRAZIL:

1980 Historic Town of Ouro Preto
1982 Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda
1984 Iguau National Park
1985 Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia
1985 Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas
1987 City of Brasilia
1991 Serra da Capivara National Park

BULGARIA:

1979 Boyana Church
1979 Madara Rider
1979 Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo
1979 Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak
1983 Ancient City of Nessebar
1983 Srebarna Nature Reserve
1983 Pirin National Park
1983 Rila Monastery
1985 Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari

CAMEROON:

1987 Dja Faunal Reserve

CANADA:

1978 L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Park
1978 Nahanni National Park
1979 Dinosaur Provincial Park
1981 Anthony Island
1981 Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Complex
1983 Wood Buffalo National Park
1984 Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks*
1985 Historic Area of Quebec
1987 Gros Morne National Park

*The Burgess Shale Site, previously inscribed on the
WHL, is part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks.

CANADA AND THE UNITED OF STATES OF AMERICA:

1979 Kluane National Park and Reserve, Yukon, Canada;
Wrangell-St. Elias National Monument, Alaska, U.S.A.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC:

1988 Parc National du Manovo-Gounda St. Floris

CHINA (PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF):

1987 The Great Wall
1987 Mount Taishan
1987 Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
1987 Mogao Caves
1987 The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emporer
1987 Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian
1990 Mount Hungshan

COLOMBIA:

1984 Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Carthagena

COSTA RICA/PANAMA:

1983 Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves/
1990 La Amistad National Park

COTE D’IVOIRE:

1982 Tai National Park
1983 Como National Park

CUBA:

1982 Old Havana and its Fortifications
1988 Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios

CYPRUS:

1980 Paphos
1985 The Painted Churches in the Troodos Region

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

1990 Colonial City of Santo Domingo

ECUADOR:

1978 Galapagos National Park, including the Galapagos
Islands
1978 Old City of Quito
1983 Sangay National Park

EGYPT:

1979 Abu Mena
1979 Ancient Thebes, including its Necropolis
1979 Islamic Cairo
1979 Memphis and its Necropolis-the Pyramid Fields from Giza
to Dahshur
1979 Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae

ETHIOPIA:

1978 Rock-hewn Churches of Lalibela
1978 Simen National Park
1979 Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region
1980 Aksum
1980 Lower Valley of the Awash
1980 Lower Valley of the Omo
1980 Tiya

FINLAND:

1991 Old Rauma
1991 Fortress of Suomenlinna

FRANCE:

1979 Chartres Cathedral
1979 Decorated Grottoes of the Vezere Valley, including the
Grotto of Lascaux
1979 Mont-St. Michel and its Bay
1979 Palace and Park of Versailles
1979 Vezelay, Church and Hill
1981 Amiens Cathedral
1981 Chateau and Estate of Chambord
1981 Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay
1981 Palace and Park of Fontainebleau
1981 Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles
1981 The Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the
Triumphal Arch of Orange
1982 The Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans
1983 Place Stanislas, Place de la Carriere, and Place
d’Alliance, Nancy
1983 Church of Saint-Savin-sur Gartempe
1983 Classified Site of Cape Girolata, Cape Porto and
Scandola Natural Reserve, Corsica
1985 Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)
1988 Strasbourg, Grande Isle
1991 Paris, Banks of the Seine
1991 Cathedral of Notre-Dame, former Abbey of Saint-Remi and
Tau Palace, of Reims

GERMANY:

1978 Aachen Cathedral
1981 Speyer Cathedral
1981 Wurzburg Residence, including the Court Gardens and
Residence Square
1983 Pilgrimage of Church of Wies
1984 The Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at Bruhl
1985 St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. Michael’s Church,
Hildesheim
1986 Roman Monuments, Cathedral and Liebfrauen-Church in
Trier
1987 Hanseatic City of Lubeck
1990 Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
1991 Abbey and Altenmunster of Lorsch

GHANA:

1979 Forts and Castles, Volta Greater Accra, Central and
Western Regions
1980 Ashante Traditional Buildings

GREECE:

1986 Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae
1987 Archaeological Site of Delphi
1987 The Acropolis, Athens
1988 Mount Athos
1988 Meteora
1988 Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika
1988 Archaeological Site of Epidaurus
1988 Medieval City of Rhodes
1989 Archaeological Site of Olympia
1989 Mystras
1990 Delos
1990 Monasteries of Daphni, Hossios Luckas and Nea Moni of
Chios

GUATEMALA:

1979 Antigua Guatemala
1979 Tikal National Park
1981 Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua

GUINEA AND COTE D’IVOIRE

1981 Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve

HAITI:

1982 National Historic Park, including La Ferriere Citadel,
Sans-Souci Palace, and Site of Les Ramiers

HOLY SEE:

1984 Vatican City

HONDURAS:

1980 Maya Site of Copan
1982 Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve

HUNGARY:

1987 Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube with the
district of Buda Castle
1987 Holloko

INDIA:

1983 Ajanta Caves
1983 Ellora Caves
1983 Agra Fort
1983 Taj Mahal
1984 Sun Temple, Konarak
1985 Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram
1985 Kaziranga National Park
1985 Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
1985 Keoladeo National Park
1986 Churches and Convents of Goa
1986 Group of Monuments at Khajuraho
1986 Group of Monuments at Hampi
1986 Fatehpur Sikri
1987 Group of Monuments at Pattadakal
1987 Elephanta Caves
1987 Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur
1987 Sundarbans National Park
1988 Nanda Devi National Park
1989 Buddhist Monastery at Sanchi

INDONESIA:

1991 Komodo National Park
1991 Ujung Kulon National Park
1991 Borobudur Temple compound
1991 Prambanan Temple compound

IRAN:

1979 Persepolis
1979 Tchoga Zanbil Ziggurat and Complex
1988 Meidan Emam, Esfahan

IRAQ:

1985 Hatra

ITALY:

1979 Rock Drawings in Valcamonica near Bresica
1980 Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle
Grazie with “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci
1982 Historic Centre of Florence
1987 Venice and its Lagoon
1987 Piazza del Duomo, Pisa
1990 Historic Centre of San Gimignano

ITALY/HOLY SEE:

1980 Historic Centre of Rome, the properties of the Holy See
in that city enjoyning extraterritorial rights, and San
Paolo fuori le Mura

JORDAN (HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF):

1981 The Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls
1985 Petra
1985 Quseir Amra

LEBANON:

1984 Anjar
1984 Baalbek
1984 Byblos
1984 Tyr

LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA (SOCIALIST PEOPLE’S):

1982 Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna
1982 Archaeological Site of Sabratha
1982 Archaeological Site of Cyrene (Shahhat)
1985 Rock-art Sites of Tadrart Acacus
1988 Old Town of Ghadames

MADAGASCAR:

1990 Tsingy Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve

MALAWI:

1984 Lake Malawi National Park

MALI:

1988 Old Towns of Djenne
1988 Timbuktu
1989 Cliffs of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)

MALTA:

1980 City of Valetta
1980 Ggantija Temples on the Island of Gozo
1980 Hal Saflieni Hypogeum

MAURITANIA:

1989 Banc D’Arguin National Park

MEXICO:

1987 Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco
1987 Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque
1987 Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan
1987 Historic Centre of Oaxaca and the Archaeological Site
of Monte Alban
1987 Historic Centre of Puebla
1987 Sian Ka’an
1988 Historic Town of Guanajuato and adjacent mines
1988 Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza
1991 Historic Centre of Morelia

MOROCCO:

1981 Medina of Fez
1985 Medina of Marrakesh
1987 Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou

MOZAMBIQUE:

1991 Island of Mozambique

NEPAL:

1979 Kathmandu Valley
1979 Sagarmatha National Park, including Mt. Everest
1984 Royal Chitwan National Park

NEW ZEALAND:

1990 Te Wahipounam – South West New Zealand (Westland/Mount
Cook National Park and Fiordland National Park,
previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, are
part of this site)
1990 Tongariro National Park

NIGER:

1991 Air-Tenere Reserve

NORWAY:

1979 Bryggen, the Old Hansiatic Quarter of Bergen
1979 Urnes Stave Church
1980 Roros Mining Town
1985 Rock Drawings of Alta

OMAN:

1987 Bahla Fort
1988 Archaeological Sites of Bat, Al-Khutm and Al-Ayn

PAKISTAN:

1980 Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro
1980 Buddhist Ruins at Takht-i-Bahi and Neighboring City
Remains at Sahr-i-Bahlol
1980 Taxila
1981 Fort and Shalamar Gardens at Lahore
1981 Historic Monuments of Thatta

PANAMA:

1980 Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Portobelo-San
Lorenzo
1981 Darien National Park

PERU:

1983 City of Cuzco
1983 Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu
1985 Archaeological Site of Chavin
1985 Huascaran National Park
1987 Manu National Park
1988 Chan Chan Archaeological Zone
1990 Rio Abiseo National Park
1991 Historic Centre of Lima

POLAND:

1978 Historic Centre of Cracow
1978 Wieliczka Salt Mines
1979 Auschwitz Concentration Camp
1979 Bialowieza National Park
1980 Historic Centre of Warsaw

PORTUGAL:

1983 Central Zone of the Town of Angra do Heroisma in the
Azores
1983 Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belem,
Lisbon
1983 Monastery of Batalha
1983 Convent of Christ in Tomar
1988 Historic Centre of Evora
1989 Alcobaca Monastery with the tombs of Ines de Castro and
King Dom Pedro

ROMANIA:

1991 Danube Delta

RUSSIAN FEDERATION:

1990 Historic Centre of St. Petersburg and related groups of
monuments*
1990 Khizi Pogost*
1990 Kremlin and the Red Square*

SENEGAL:

1978 Island of Goree
1981 Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary
1981 Niokolo-Koba National Park

SEYCHELLES:

1982 Aldabra Atoll
1983 Vallee de Mai Nature Reserve

SPAIN:

1984 Mosque of Cordoba
1984 Alhambra and Generalife, Granada
1984 Burgos Cathedral
1984 Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid
1984 Parque Guell, Palacio Guell and Casa Mila, Barcelona
1985 Altamira Cave
1985 Old Town of Segovia, including its aqueduct
1985 Churches of the Kingdom of the Asturias
1985 Santiago de Compostela (Old Town)
1985 Old Town of Avila, including its Extra Muros churches
1986 Mudejar Architecture of Teruel
1986 Historic City of Toledo
1986 Garajonay National Park
1986 Old Town of Caceres
1987 Cathedral, the Alcazar and Archivo de Indias, Seville
1988 Old City of Salamanca
1991 Poblet Monastery

SRI LANKA:

1982 Sacred City of Anuradhapura
1982 Ancient City of Polonnaruva
1982 Ancient City of Sigiriya
1988 Sinharaja Forest Reserve
1988 Sacred City of Kandy
1988 Old Town of Galle and its fortifications
1991 Golden Temple of Dambulla

SWEDEN:

1991 Royal Domain of Drottningholm

SWITZERLAND:

1983 Convent of St. Gall
1983 Benedictine Convent of St. John at Mustair
1983 Old City of Berne

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC:

1979 Ancient City of Damascus
1980 Site of Palmyra
1980 Ancient City of Bosra
1988 Ancient City of Aleppo
THAILAND:

1991 Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries
1991 Historic Town of Sukhothai and associated historic
towns
1991 Historic City of Ayutthaya and associated historic
towns

TUNISIA:

1979 Roman Amphitheater of El Djem
1979 Archaeological Site of Carthage
1979 Medina of Tunis
1980 Ichkeul National Park
1985 Punic Town of Kerkuane, including its Necropolis
1988 Medina of Sousse
1988 Kairouan

TURKEY:

1985 Historic Areas of Istanbul
1985 Goreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia
1985 Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrigi
1986 Hattusha
1987 Nemrut Dag
1988 Xanthos-Letoon
1988 Hierapolis-Pamukkale

UKRAINE:

1990 Kiev: St Sophia Cathedral and related monastic
buildings, and Lavra of Kiev-Pechersk

UNITED KINGDOM:

1986 The Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast
1986 Durham Castle and Cathedral
1986 Ironbridge Gorge
1986 Studley Royal Park, including the Ruins of Fountains
Abbey
1986 Stonehenge, Avebury and associated sites
1986 The Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd
1986 St. Kilda
1987 Blenheim Palace
1987 City of Bath
1987 Hadrian’s Wall
1987 Palace of Westminster, Abbey of Westminster, and St.
Margaret’s Church
1988 Henderson Island
1988 The Tower of London
1988 Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine’s Abbey, and St.
Martin’s Church

UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA:
1979 Ngorongoro Conservation Area, including the Ngorongoro
and Empakaai Craters and Olduvai Gorge
1981 Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara
1981 Serengeti National Park
1982 Selous Game Reserve
1987 Kilimanjaro National Park

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

1978 Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
1978 Yellowstone National Park, WyomingIdahoMontana
1979 Everglades National Park, Florida
1979 Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
1979 Independence Hall, Pennsylvania
1980 Redwood National Park, California
1981 Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
1981 Olympic National Park, Washington State
1982 Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Illinois
1983 Great Smokey Mountains National Park, North Carolina
Tennessee
1983 San Juan National Historic Site and La Fortaleza,
Puerto Rico
1984 The Statue of Liberty, New York
1984 Yosemite National Park, California
1987 Monticello, and the University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, Virginia
1987 Chaco Culture National Historic Park, New Mexico
1987 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, including Mauna Loa,
Hawaii

UZBEKISTAN:**

1990 Itchan Kala

YEMEN:

1982 Old Walled City of Shibam
1988 Old City of Sana’a

YUGOSLAVIA:

1979 Historic Complex of Split with the Palace Diocletian
1979 Natural and Culturo-Historic Region of Kotor
1979 Ohrid Region, including its cultural and historic
aspects, and its natural environment
1979 Old City of Dubrovnik
1979 Plitvice Lakes National Park
1979 Stari Ras and Sopocani Monastery
1980 Durmitor National Park
1988 Studenica Monastery
1988 Skocjan Caves

ZAIRE:
1979 Virunga National Park
1981 Kahuzi-Biega National Park
1980 Garamba National Park
1984 Salonga National Park

ZAMBIA/ZIMBABWE:

1989 Victoria Falls/Mosi-oa-Tunya

ZIMBABWE:

1984 Mana Pools National Park, Sapi and Chewore Safari Areas
1988 Great Zimbabwe National Monument
1988 Khami Ruins National Monument

__________________
* The nominations related to these cultural sites were submitted
in 1989 by the U.S.S.R.

** Since the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States,
in place of the U.S.S.R., UNESCO has not received, to date, a
declaration by Uzbekistan as to whether it is, or is not, a Party
to the World Heritage Convention.

* * * * * *

EXPLANATION OF WORLD HERITAGE LIST

The World Heritage List was established under terms of the
Convention Concerning the Protection of World Culture and Natural
Heritage adopted in November, 1972 at the 17th General Conference
of UNESCO.

The Convention states that a World Heritage Committee “will
establish, keep up-to-date and publish” a World Heritage List of
cultural and natural properties, submitted by the States and
considered to be of outstanding universal value.

One of the main responsibilities of this Committee is to
provide technical co-operation under the World Heritage Fund for
the safeguarding of World Heritage Sites to States Parties whose
resources are insufficient.

States Parties can request international assistance under
the Fund for expert missions, training of specialized staff, and
supply of equipment when appropriate; they can also apply for
long-term loans and, in special cases, non-repayable grants.
Requests must concern work necessary for the preservation of
cultural or natural sites included in the World Heritage List or
assistance to national or regional training centres.

Emergency assistance is also available under the Fund in the
case of properties severely damaged by specific natural or
man-made disasters or threatened with imminent destruction.
As of the end of 1990, 115 Member States had ratified the
Convention, the United States being the first to do so. As of
January 1992, the number of sites on the World Heritage List
stands at 358. The Committee named 12 sites in 1978, 45 in 1979,
28 in 1980, 26 in 1981, 24 in 1982, 29 in 1983, 23 in 1984, 31 in
1985, 27 in 1986, 41 in 1987, 27 in 1988, 7 in 1989, 17 in 1990,
and 23 in 1991.

* * * * *

*Small discrepancies in numbers may be due to different methods
of numbering sites, and overlapping of sites into two countries.

Inquiries should be sent to : World Heritage Committee
UNESCO
7 Place de Fontenoy
Paris, 75700 France

—

==============================================================================
Peter H. Stott
Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy /
Urban & Environmental Policy Tel. (617) 627-3694
Tufts University Fax. (617) 627-3377
97 Talbot Avenue e-mail: pstott@pearl.tufts.edu
Medford, MA 02155 pstott@igc.apc.org
===============================================================================

0

The Cut-Up Method Of Brion Gysin

THE CUT-UP METHOD OF BRION GYSIN ~

At a surrealist rally in the 1920s Tristan Tzara the man from
nowhere proposed to create a poem on the spot by pulling words out
of a hat. A riot ensued wrecked the theater. Andre Breton expelled
Tristan Tzara from the movement and grounded the cut-ups on the
Freudian couch.

In the summer of 1959 Brion Gysin painter and writer cut
newspaper articles into sections and rearranged the sections at
random. “Minutes to Go” resulted from this initial cut-up experiment.
“Minutes to Go” contains unedited unchanged cut-ups emerging as
quite coherent and meaningful prose.

The cut-up method brings to writers the collage, which has been
used by painters for fifty years. And used by the moving and still
camera. In fact all street shots from movie or still cameras are by the
unpredicatble factors of passersby and juxtapositon cut-ups. And
photographers will tell you that often their best shots are accidents . .
. writers will tell you the same. The best writings seems to be done
almost by accident but writers until the cut-up method was made
explicit-all writing is in fact cut-ups; I will return to this point-had
no way to produce the accident of spontaneity. You cannot will
spontaneity. But you can introduce the unpredictable spontaneous
factor with a pair of scissors.
The method is simple. Here is one way to do it. Take a page. Like this
page. Now cut down the middle. You have four sections: 1 2 3 4 . . .
one two three four. Now rearrange the sections placing section four
with section one and section two with section three. And you have a
new page. Sometimes it says much the same thing. Sometimes
something quite different-cutting up political speeches is an
interesting excercise-in any case you will find that it says something
and something quite definite. Take any poet or writer you fancy.
Here, say, or poems you have read over many times. The words have
lost meaning and life through years of repetition. Now take the poem
and type out selected passages. Fill a page with excerpts. Now cut the
page. You have a new poem. As many poems as you like. As many
Shakespeare Rimbaud poems as you like. Tristan Tzara said: “Poetry
is for everyone.” And Andre Breton called him a cop and expelled
him from the movement. Say it again: “Poetry is for everyone.”
Poetry is a place and it is free to all cut up Rimbaud and you are in
Rimbaud’s place. Here is a Rimbaud poem cut up.
“Visit of memories. Only your dance and your voice house. On the
suburban air improbable desertions . . . all harmonic pine for strife.
“The great skies are open. Candor of vapor and tent spitting blood
laugh and drunken penance.
“Promenade of wine perfume opens slow bottle.
“The great skies are open. Supreme bugle burning flesh children to
mist.”
Cut-ups are for everyone. Anybody can make cut-upws. It is
experimental in the sense of bein something to do. Right here write
now. Not something to talk and argue about. Greek philosophers
assumed logically that an object twice as heavy as another object
would fall twice as fast. It did not occur to them to push the two
objects off the table and see how they fall. Shakespeare Rimbaud live
in their words. Cut the word lines and you will hear their voices. Cut-
ups often come through as code messages with special meaning for
the cutter. Table tapping? Perhaps. Certainly an improvement on the
usual deplorable performances of contacted poets through a medium.
Rimbaud announces himself, to be followed by some excruciatingly
bad poetry. Cut Rimbaud’s words and you are assured of good poetry
at least if not personal appearance.
All writing is in fact cut-ups. A collage of words read heard
overheard. What else? Use of scissors renders the process explicit
and subject to extension and variation. Clear classical prose can be
composed entirely of rearranged cut-ups. Cutting and rearranging a
page of written words introduces a new dimension into writing
enabling the writer to turn images in cinematic variation. Images
shift sense under the scissors smell images to sound sight to sound
sound to kinesthetic. This is where Rimbaud was going with his color
of vowels. And his “systematic derangement of the senses.” The place
of mescaline hallucination: seeing colors tasting sounds smelling
forms.
The cut-ups can be applied to other fields than writing. Dr Neumann
in his Theory of Games and Economic behavior introduces the cut-up
method of random action into game and military strategy: assume
that the worst has happened and act accordingly. If your strategy is
at some point determined . . . by random factor your opponent will
gain no advantage from knowing your strategy since he cannot
predict the move. The cut-up method could be used to advantage in
processing scientific data. How many discoveries have been made by
accident? We cannot produce accidents to order. The cut-ups could
add new dimension to films. Cut gambling scene in with a thousand
gambling scenes all times and places. Cut back. Cut streets of the
world. Cut and rearrange the word and image in films. There is no
reason to accept a second-rate product when you can have the best.
And the best is there for all. “Poetry is for everyone . . .
Now here are the preceding two paragraphs cut into four sections
and rearranged:
ALL WRITING IS IN FACT CUT-UPS OF GAMES AND ECONOMIC
BEHAVIOR OVERHEARD? WHAT ELSE? ASSUME THAT THE WORST
HAS HAPPENED EXPLICIT AND SUBJECT TO STRATEGY IS AT SOME
POINT CLASSICAL PROSE. CUTTING AND REARRANGING FACTOR YOUR
OPPONENT WILL GAIN INTRODUCES A NEW DIMENSION YOUR
STRATEGY. HOW MANY DISCOVERIES SOUND TO KINESTHETIC? WE
CAN NOW PRODUCE ACCIDENT TO HIS COLOR OF VOWELS. AND NEW
DIMENSION TO FILMS CUT THE SENSES. THE PLACE OF SAND.
GAMBLING SCENES ALL TIMES COLORS TASTING SOUNDS SMELL
STREETS OF THE WORLD. WHEN YOU CAN HAVE THE BEST ALL:
“POETRY IS FOR EVERYONE” DR NEUMANN IN A COLLAGE OF WORDS
READ HEARD INTRODUCED THE CUT-UP SCISSORS RENDERS THE
POCESS GAME AND MILITARY STRATEGY. VARIATION CLEAR AND
ACT ACCORDINGLY. IF YOU POSED ENTIRELY OR REARRANGED CUT
DETERMINED BY RANDOM A PAGE OF WRITTEN WORDS NO
ADVANTAGE FROM KNOWING INTO WRITER PREDICT THE MOVE. THE
CUT VARIATION IMAGES SHIFT SENSE ADVANTAGE IN PROCESSING
TO SOUND SIGHT TO SOUND. HAVE BEEN MADE BY ACCIDENT IS
WHERE RIMBAUD WAS GOING WITH ORDER THE CUT-UPS COULD
“SYSTEMATIC DERANGEMENT” OF THE GAMBLING SCENE IN WITH A
TEA HALLUCINATION: SEEING AND PLACES. CUT BACK. CUT FORMS.
REARRANGE THE WORD AND IMAGE TO OTHER FIELDS THAN
WRITING. – William Burroughs
~ BRION GYSIN ~
A biography/appreciation by Terry Wilson . . .
BRION GYSIN
(19 January 1916- )
SELECTED BOOKS
Minutes to Go, with William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso and Sinclair
Belles (Paris: Two Cities Editions, 1960; San Francisco: Beach Books,
1968);
The Exterminator, with William Burroughs (San Francisco: Auerhahn
Press/Dave Haselwood Books, 1960, 1967);
The Process, (New York: Doubleday, 1969; London: Jonathan Cape,
1970);
Oeuvre Croisee (The Third Mind), with William S. Burroughs (Paris:
Flammarion, 1976; New York: Viking Press, 1978; London: John
Calder, 1979).
Brion Gysin is regarded as one of the most influential and visionary
of living poets and painters. In 1958, a chance encounter with
William Burroughs on the Place St. Michel in Paris resulted in him
moving into the famous Beat Hotel at no. 9 rue Git le Coeur in the
Latin Quarter. He confided to Burroughs his inventions, the Cut-ups
and Permutations, and thus began the most important collaboration
in modern literature.
A naturalized US citizen of Swiss extraction, Gysin was born in
Taplow House, Taplow, Bucks, UK. After the loss of his father when
he was nine months old, his mother took him to New York to stay
with one of her sisters and then to Kansas City, Mo., to stay with
another. He finished high school at the age of fifteen in Edmonton,
Alberta, and ws sent for two years to the prestigious English public
school, Downside. While there, Gysin began publishing his poetry
before he went on to the Sorbonne. In Paris, he met everybody in the
literary and artistic worlds. When he was nineteen, he exhibited his
drawings with the Surrealist group, which included Picasso on that
occasion.
Gysin is an entirely self-taught painter who acquired an enviable
technique without putting foot in an art school or academy. At the
age of twenty-three he had his first one-man show in a prestigious
Paris gallery just off the Champs Elysees. It was a glittering social
and financial (even a critical) success, with an article in Poetry World
signed by Calas. But it was May, 1939. World War II caught Gysin in
Switzerland with an overnight bag. When he got to New York,
everybody asked: “How long you been back?”
~ HERE TO GO: PLANET R-101 ~
An excerpt from Here To Go: Planet R-101, by Terry Wilson
T: How did you get into tape recorders?
B: I heard of them at the end of World War II, before I went to
Morocco in 1950, but unfortunately I never got hold of good
machines to record even a part of the musical marvels I heard in
Morocco. I recorded the music in my own place, The 1001 Nights,
only when it was fading and even in later years I never was able to
lay my hands on truly worthwhile machines to record sounds that
will never be heard again, anywhere.
I took Brian Jones up to the mountain to record with Uhers, and
Ornette Coleman to spend $25,000 in a week to record next to
nothing on Nagras and Stellavox, but I have to admit that the most
adventurous sounds we ever made were done with old Reveres and
hundred dollar Japanese boxes we fucked around with, William and I
and Ian Sommerville. I got hold of the BBC facilities for the series of
sound poems I did with them in 1960, technically still the best,
naturally. I had originally been led to believe that I would have a
week and it turned out to be only three days that we had, so in a
very hurried way at the end I started cutting up a spoken text-I
think the illustration of how the Cut-ups work, “Cut-ups Self
Explained”-and put it several times through their electronic
equipment, and arrived at brand new words that had never been
said, by me or by anybody necessarily, onto the tape. William had
pushed things that far through the typewriter. I pushed them that
far through the tapeworld. But the experiment was withdrawn very
quickly there, I mean, it was . . . time was up and they were made
rather nervous by it, they were quite shocked by the results that
were coming back out of the speakers and were only too glad to
bring the experiment to an end. [“Well, what did they expect? A
chorus of angels with tips on the stock market?”-William Burroughs)
“The Permutated Poems of Brion Gysin” (as put through a computer
by Ian Sommerville) was broadcast by the BBC, produced by Douglas
Cleverdon. (“Achieving the second lowest rating of audience approval
registered by their poll of listeners”-BG) Some of the early cut-up
tape experiments are now available: Nothing Here Now But The
Recordings (1959-1980) LP (IR 0016) available on the Industrial
Records label from Rough Trade, 137 Blenheim Crescent, London
W11, England.]
What we did on our own was to play around with the very limited
technology and wattage we had in the old Beat Hotel, 40-watts a
room was all we were allowed. There is something to be said for
poverty, it makes you more inventive, it’s more fun and you get
more mileage out of what you’ve got plus your own ingenuity. When
you handle the stuff yourself, you get the feel of it. William loved the
idea of getting his hands on his own words, branding them and
rustling anyone else’s he wanted. It’s a real treat for the ears, too, the
first time you hear it . . . made for dog whistles, after that. Hey Rube!
– the old carny circus cry for men working the sideshows when they
saw some ugly provincial customer coming up on them after they
had rooked him . . . Hey Rube! – a cry to alert all the carny men to a
possible rumble . . . Hey-ba ba-Rube-ba! – Salt Peanuts and the
rude sound coming back so insistent again and again that you know
the first bar of Bebop when you hear it. Right or wrong, Burroughs
was fascinated because he must have listened to plenty of bebop talk
from Kerouac, whom I never met. He must have been a fascinating
character, too bad to miss him like that, when I was thrown up
against all the rest of this Beat Generation. Maybe I was lucky. I
remember trying to avoid them all after Paul Bowles had written me:
“I can’t understand their interest in drugs and madness.” Then, I dug
that he meant just the contrary. Typical. He did also write me to get
closer to Burroughs whom I had cold-shouldered . . . until he got off
the junk in Paris.
T: Who produced the “Poem of Poems” through the tape recorder?
The text in The Third Mind is ambiguous.
B: I did. I made it to show Burroughs how, possibly, to use it. William
did not yet have a tape recorder. First, I had “accidentally” used
“pisspoor material,”fragments cut out of the press which I shored up
to make new and original texts, unexpectedly. Then, William had
used his own highly volatile material, his own inimitable texts which
he submitted to cuts, unkind cuts, of the sort that Gregory Corso felt
unacceptable to his own delicate “poesy.” William was always the
toughest of the lot. Nothing ever fazed him. So I suggested to William
that we should use only the best, only the high-charged material:
King James’ translation of the Song of Songs of Solomon, Eliot’s
translation of Anabase by St. John Perse, Shakespeare’s sugar’d
Sonnets and a few lines from The Doors of Perception by Aldous
Huxley about his mescaline experiences.
Very soon after that, Burroughs was busy punching to death a series
of cheap Japanese plastic tape recorders, to which he applied himself
with such force that he could punch one of them to death inside a
matter of weeks, days even. At the same time he was punching his
way through a number of equally cheap plastic typewriters, using
two very stiff forefingers . . . with enormous force. He could punch a
machine into oblivion. That period in the Beat Hotel is best illustrated
by that photo of William, wearing a suit and tie as always, sitting
back at this table in a very dingy room. On the wall hangs a nest of
three wire trays for correspndence which I gave him to sort out his
cut-up pages. Later, this proliferated into a maze of filing cases filling
a room with manuscripts cross-referenced in a way only Burroughs
could work his way through, more by magic dowsing than by any
logical system. how could there be any? This was a magic practice he
was up to, surprising the very springs of creative imagination at
their source. I remember him muttering that his manuscripts were
multiplying and reproducing themselves like virus at work. It was all
he could do to keep up with them. Those years sloughed off one
whole Burroughs archive whose catalogue alone is a volume of 350
pages. Since then several tons of Burroughs papers have been moved
to the Burroughs Communication Centre in Lawrence, Kansas. And he
is still at it.
T: The cut-up techniques made very explicit a preoccupation with
exorcism – William’s texts became spells, for instance. How effective
are methods such as street playback of tapes for dispersing
parasites?
B: We-e-ell, you’d have to ask William about that, but I do seem to
remember at least two occasions on whyich he claimed success . . .
Uh, the first was in the Beat Hotel still, therefore about 1961 or ‘2,
and William decided (laughing) to “take care” of an old lady who sold
newspapers in a kiosk, and this kiosk was rather dramatically and
strategically placed at the end of the street leading out of the rue Git
le Coeur toward the Place Saint Michel, and, uh, you whent up a flight
of steps and then under an archway and as you came out you were
spang! in front of this little old French lady who looked as if she’d
been there since-at least since the French Revolution-when she had
been knitting at the foot of the guillotine, and she lived in a layer of
thickly matted, padded newspapers hanging around her piled very
sloppily, and, uh, she was of absolutely incredible malevolence, and
the only kiosk around there at that time that sold the Herald-
Tribune, so that William (chuckling) found that he was having to deal
with her every day, and every day she would find some new way to
aggravate him, some slight new improvement on her malevolent
insolence and her disagreeable lack of . . . uh (chuckling)
collaboration with William in the buying of his newspaper (laughter)
. . .
So . . one day the little old lady burnt up inside her kiosk. And we
came out to find that there was just the pile of ashes on the ground.
William was . . . slightly conscience-stricken, but nevertheless rather
satisfied with the result (laughter) as it proved the efficacity of his
methods, but a little taken aback, he didn’t necessarily mean the old
lady to burn up inside there . . . And we often talked about this as we
sat in a cafe looking at the spot where the ashes still were, for many
months later . . . and to our great surprise and chagrin one day we
saw a very delighted Oriental boy-I think probably Vietnamese-
digging in these ashes with his hands and pulling out a whole hatful
of money, of slightly blackened coins but a considerable sum, and
(laughing) we would have been very glad to have it too – just hadn’t
thought of digging in the thing, so I said: “William, I don’t think your
operation was a complete success.” And he said: “I am very glad that
that beautiful young Oriental boy made this happy find at the end of
the rainbow . . .”
T: She consummated her swell purpose . . .
B: (Laughing) Exactly . . . exactly . . . (chuckling)
Now the other case was some years later in London when he had
perfected the method and, uh, went about with at least one I think
sometimes two tape recorders, one in each hand, with prerecorded,
um-runes-what did you call them? You said William’s things-
T: Spells.
B: Spells, okay, spells.
T: Like-
B: (chanting)
Lock them out and bar the door,
Lock them out for e-v-e-rmore.
Nook and cranny windo door
Seal them out for e-v-e-rmore
Lock them out and block the rout
Shut them scan them flack them out.
Lock is mine and door is mine
Three times three to make up nine . . .
Curse go back curse go back
Back with double pain and lack
Curse go back – back
Et cetera . . . yeah . . . pow . . . “Shift, cut, tangle word lines” . . . sure
.
Well, that was for the Virus Board, wasn’t it, that he was gonna
destroy the Virus Board . . .
~ HERE TO GO: PLANET R-101 ~
An Excerpt from Here to Go: Planet R-101, Brion Gysin interviewed
by Terry Wilson (with original writing and an introduction by W.S.
Burroughs), available July 1982 from Re/Search Publications . . .
– Who Runs May Read
“May Massa Brahim leave this house as the smoke leaves this fire,
never to return . . .”
. . . Never went back to live, and I’ve only been back there even to
visit only very briefly . . .
And then it was back to Paris for a year or so, 1949-50, and then in
1950 I went to Morocco with Paul Bowles, who had taken, bought a
little house there, and I stayed there really, or felt that I was
domiciled there, uh, although I was really only a sort of terminal
tourist, from 1950 till 1973 . . .
“Magic, practiced more assiduously than hygiene in Morocco, through
ecstatic dancing to the music of the secret brotherhoods, is, there, a
form of psychic hygiene. You know your music when you hear it, one
day. You fall into line and dance until you pay the piper.”
BG “CUT-UPS:
A Project for Disastrous Success”
in Brion Gysin Let The Mice In
B: Yeah . . . what a tale . . . what a tale . . . yeah, I met John Cooke in
Morocco uuummm but, uh . . . I don’t know what to say about all
that, really . . .
T: He designed tarot cards . . . ?
B: Yeah . . .
T: A new set of tarot card . . .
B: Yeah, so he did. How did you even know that?
T: I saw them the other day.
B: Oh really? . . . No kidding? They’re still around eh? Well well . . .
T: Is he still alive?
B: Yes, I imagine he’s still alive, I think living in Mexico [John Cooke
died sometime after this was recorded.] . . . and he comes from one of
those very rich and powerful families who were the Five Founding
Families of Hawaii . . . who own the island, did own the island of
Molokai . . . and, uh, many people in his family have been interested
in mystic things, and he was particularly interested in magic all his
life . . . early connection with . . . what do they call it, kaluhas or
something, the Hawaiian shamanistic magic men? . . . Kahunas, yeah .
. .
T: Yeah. So tell me about Morocco . . . you got more and more
immersed into Islam, or, uh-
B: Not really, no, I never was much immersed truly into Islam, or I
would’ve become a Moslem, and probably still be there . . . uh, it was
most particularly the music that interested me. I went with Paul
Bowles, who was a composer long before he was a writer, and, uh, he
had perfect pitch, an unusual thing even among composers, and he
taught me how to use my ears a great deal during the years we’d
known each other in New York, but when he’d taken this house,
bought this house in Tangier, he suggested that I go and spend a
summer there living in the house and he was on his way to America,
he was just going to leave me in the house . . . but it turned out
rather differently . . . he was goin to New York to write the music for
his wife’s play, Jane Bowles’ In The Summerhouse, and he had
written a great deal of theatrical music for Broadway, all the
Tennessee Williams plays, all of the plays by Saroyan, and many
other productions of that time . . . and was a great expert on that . . .
but he also had very, very extraordinary ears, and, uh, he taught me
a lot of things, I owe him a tremendous amount, I owe him my years
in Morocco really because I wouldn’t’ve gone there if he hadn’t
suggested it at that particular time . . . I might have gone back to
Algeria, which isn’t nearly as interesting a country, never was . . .
But, uh, in 1950 we went to a festival outside of Tangier on the
beach, on the Atlantic shore, at a spot which was previously a small
harbour, 2000 years ago in Phoenician times, and must’ve marked
one of the first landfalls that any boat coming out of the
Mediterranean via the Straits of Gibraltar would make as soon as the
boat entered the Atlantic, the first landfall would be at this little
place not very far from Cape Spartel . . . and, uh, the Phoenician habit
was always to establish a center of religion, I mean a thanks offering
for getting them safely over the dangerous sea, one supposes, and a
marking of the spot which eventually became a center of their
religious cult, presumably a college of priestesses . . . two or three
more landfalls further down the Atlantic coast is what used to be the
great harbour of Larache . . .
All these harbours are now silted up completely . . . Larache was the
site of the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, where Hercules went to
get away from the demonic . . . the orgiastic priestesses, who were
guardians in a sacred grove surrounded by a serpent if you
remember, a dragon – well the dragon is the river, in each case there
are these winding rivers that go back up into the country; only one of
them still exists, the Lixos. Well the Lixos was presumably the
dragon in the mythological tale and there was an island in the
harbour, and this spot that we went to had been on the same
geographic and even religious plan, as it were, and the festival was
given there, which doesn’t correspond to the Lunar Calendar but to
the Solar Calendar, and has to do with the harvest and actual cycle of
agricultural life of the people there . . . And I heard some music at
that festival about which I said: “I just want to hear that music for
the rest of my life. I wanna here it everyday all day.” And, uh, there
were a great many other kinds of extraordinary music offered to one,
mostly of the Ecstatic Brotherhood who enter into trance, so that in
itself-it was the first time I’d seen large groups of people going into
trance-was enough to have kept my attention, but beyond and above
all of that somewhere I heard this funny little music, and I said “Ah!
That’s my music! And I must find out where it comes from.” So I
stayed and withing a year I found that it came from Jajouka . . .
(LOUD CRASHES, TAPE STOPS)
B: Your question . . . ?!
T: You found that your music was at Jajouka . . . The purpose of the
Rites of Jajouka is to preserve the balance of Male-Female forces, is
that correct?
B: Yes, in a very strange way I think it’s a very pertinent question
that you ask. Uh, when I met them finally, it took about a year to
find them, and went up to the mountain village, I recognized very
quickly that what they were performing was the Roman Lupercal,
and the Roman Lupercalia was a race run from one part of Rome, a
cave under the Capitoline Hill, which Mussolini claimed to have
discovered, but is now generally conceded to be some 10 or 15
meters further down . . . and in this cave goats were killed and
skinned and a young man of a certain tribe was sown up in them,
and one of these young men was Mark Antony, and when in the
beginning of Julius Caesar, when they meet, he was actually running
this race of Lupercalia through Rome on the 15.March, the Ides of
March . . . and the point was to go out to the gates of Rome and
contact Pan, the God of the Forests, the little Goat God, who was
Sexuality itself, and to run back through the streets with the news
that Pan was still out there fucking as he flailed the women in the
crowds, which is why Julius Caesar asked him to be sure to hit
Calpurnia, because his wife Calpurnia was barren . . . Forget not in
thy haste, Antonius, to touch Calpurnia, for the Ancients say that in
this holy course the barren are rendered fruitful, or something like
that, are the lines from Shakespeare on the subject . . . Shakespeare
dug right away that’s what it was, the point of the sexual balance of
nature which was in question . . . And up there on the mountain
another element is added, inasmuch as the women, who live apart
from the men, whose private lives are apart from the men’s lives to a
point where even women’s language isn’t immediately understood by
men-women can say things to each other in front of men that men
don’ts understand, or care to be bothered with, it’s just women’s
nonsense, y’see . . . and they sing sort of secret little songs enticing
Bou Jeloud the Father of Skins, who is Pan, to come to the hills,
saying that . . . We will give you the prettiest girls in the village, we
will give you Crosseyed Aisha, we will give you Humpbacked- . . .
naming the names of the different types of undesirable non-beauties
in the village, like that, and, uh, Pan is supposed to be so dumb that
he falls for this, because he will fuck anything, and he comes up to
the village where he meets the Woman-Force of teh village who is
called Crazy Aisha-Aisha Homolka . . . well Aisha is of course an Arab
name, but it’s derived from an earlier original, which would be
Asherat, the name of Astarte or any one of these Venus-type lady
sex-goddesses like that . . . And, uh, Bou Jeloud, the leader of the
festival, his role is to marry Aisha, but in actual fact women do not
dance in front of any but their own husbands, the women in Arab
life, all belly-dancing movies to the contrary, do not dance in public,
or never did, and most certainly don’t in villages, ever dance where
they’re seen by men any more than men dance in front of women . . .
so that Crazy Aisha is danced by little boys who are dressed as girls,
and because her spirit is so powerful-
(TAPE STOPS)
” . . . a faint breath of panic borne on the wind. Below the rough
palisade of giant blue cactus surrounding the village on its hilltop,
the music flows in streams to nourish and fructify the terraced fields
below.
“Inside the village the thatched houses crouch low in their gardens to
hide in the deep cactus-lined lanes. You come through their maze to
the broad village green where the pipers are piping; fifty raitas
banked against a crumbling wall blow sheet lightning to shatter the
sky. Fifty wild flutes blow up a storm in front of them, while a
platoon of small boys in long belted white robes and brown wool
turbans drum like young thunder. All the villagers, dressed in best
white, swirl in great circles and coils around one wildman in skins.
“Bou Jeloud leaps high in the air on the music, races after the women
again and again, lashing at them fiercely with his flails-‘Forget not in
your speed, Antonius, to touch Calpurnia’-He is wild. He is mad.
Sowing panic. Lashing at anyone; striking real terror into the crowd.
Women scatter like white marabout birds all aflutter and settle on
one little hillock for safety, all huddled in one quivering lump. They
throw back their heads to the moon and scream with throats open to
the gullet, lolling their tongues around in their heads like the clapper
in a bell. Every mouth is wide open, frozen into an O. Head back and
hot narrow eyes brimming with dangerous baby.
“Bou Jeloud is after you. Running. Over-run. Laughter and someone is
crying. Wild dogs at your heels. Swirling around in one ring-a-rosy,
around and around and around. Go! Forever! Stop! Never! More and
No More and No! More! Pipes crack in your head. Ears popped away
at barrier sound and you deaf. Or dead! Swirling around in cold
moonlight, surrounded by wildmen or ghosts. Bou Jeloud is on you,
butting you, beating you, taking you, leaving you. Gone! The great
wind drops out of your head and you hear the heavenly music again.
You feel sorry and loving and tender to that poor animal
whimpering, grizzling, laughing and sobbing there beside you like

[part of the text is lost here]

Maraini demanded an interview with the general and- here’s this
Japanese general sitting with regimental sword in front of him like
that, and Maraini . . . took his sword, and cut off his own finger and
threw it into the man’s face. And that had absolutely the desired
effect – it was the thing that really impressed the Japanese more
than anything else that he could have done. Everybody got more
food, and lives were saved by this gesture. So maybe it’s partly that
true story that’s been loaned to William as part of his legend. But
that didn’t happen quite that way.
GEN: So you’ve lost a toe, and he’s lost some finger-
BRION: Everybody loses a little something here and there on the way
through this rat race . . .

This excerpt is from a forthcoming book of interviews with Brion
Gysin, edited by Genesis P-Orridge, Genesis and Peter (Sleazy)
Christopherson asked the questions . . .

“Real total war has become information war, it is being fought now . .
. ”

0

Hazardous Chemicals In Your Home: Proper Use And Disposal, By Theodore B. Shelton, Ph.D. And Michael T. Olohan

This is a FAST ACCESS VERSION of a RUTGERS COOPERATIVE
EXTENSION FACT SHEET. Because of the mode of transmission it
is possible that certain graphics intended to be included with
the original FACT SHEET have been deleted. You can obtain the
complete FACT SHEET from any county office of RUTGERS
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION.

HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS IN YOUR HOME:
PROPER USE AND DISPOSAL

Theodore B. Shelton, Ph.D.
Specialist in Water Resources Management

Michael T. Olohan
Public Information Coordinator
Navesink River Watershed Project

WHAT IS A HAZARDOUS HOUSEHOLD PRODUCT?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
considers a substance hazardous if it can catch fire, if it
can react or explode when mixed with other substances, if it
is corrosive, or if it is toxic. Each of these categories is
explained in its regulations. EPA has designated 400 specific
substances to be hazardous.

EPA estimates that the average household contains between
3 and 10 gallons of hazardous chemicals. Even improper
disposal of such small amounts of hazardous wastes can make an
underground water source unusable for decades if the
contamination is not prevented.

HOW SHOULD YOU HANDLE HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS?

Generally, most household products should never be
disposed of by dumping into a sink, toilet, street drain, or
roadway. Your household plumbing system usually leads to a
municipal wastewater treatment plant or a septic tank
wastewater disposal system. However, neither is designed to
remove hazardous chemicals completely from wastewater. You
should also be aware that storm sewers (street drains) usually
flow directly into nearby streams or rivers without treatment,
leading to direct pollution of the waterways. Homeowners
should reduce the purchase of products containing hazardous
chemicals and consider nontoxic alternatives to prevent
potential disposal, poisoning, and water pollution problems.

WHAT DISPOSAL OPTIONS DO YOU HAVE?

The following list offers advice for using and disposing
of most hazardous products in your home and, where possible,
it proposes alternatives. The recommendations listed apply to
quantities less than 1 quart. Your local health department,
county health department, or State Department of Environmental
Protection (NJDEP) Hazardous Waste Advisement Program should
be consulted for larger quantities. In all cases, proper
disposal at a local hazardous waste collection center or
program or recycling, is preferred.

(T)=TRASH – This symbol identifies products that should never
be poured down a drain, but can be safely disposed of by
placing in the garbage. Make sure products are sealed or
capped to prevent leakage.

(H)=HOLD – This symbol identifies hazardous products that must
be held for disposal at a local collection center or program
or given to a hazardous waste disposal contractor. (Even
empty containers of these products should be handled in these
ways.) For more information, contact NJDEP Hazardous Waste
Advisement Program at 609-292-8341.

(R)=RECYCLE – This symbol identifies products that can or
should be recycled. Take these products to the recycling
program in your area. If no recycling program exists,
encourage local officials to start one. For more information,
contact the NJDEP Office of Recycling at 609-292-0331.

HAZARDOUS HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS

(H) OVEN, DRAIN, AND TOILET CLEANERS – Most of these
products are corrosive and poisonous. Follow directions
carefully, exchange unused portions to neighbors and friends
to use instead of discarding. An alternative to oven cleaners
is baking soda and water. Instead of chemical drain cleaners,
you might use a metal snake to clear pipes. Instead of toilet
cleaners, use a toilet brush and baking soda or a mild
detergent.

(H) FURNITURE POLISH, FLOOR POLISH – Certain brands are
flammable. Offer unused quantities to friends and neighbors.
Do not pour down drains. Do not dispose of these substances
in normal trash.

(T) OLD MEDICINES – Many products are hazardous. Some
medicines can be disposed of with regular trash. Contact your
local health department or New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection Hazardous Waste Advisement Program at
609-292-8341 for more information.

(T) DISINFECTANTS – These products are usually corrosive
and toxic. Do not dispose of down drains. Fully use these
products or recycle unused portions by exchanging them with
friends or neighbors.

(H) RUG AND UPHOLSTERY CLEANERS – These products are
irritants, and are corrosive and toxic. Do not dispose of
these substances with regular garbage. These products might
be exchanged with a neighbor.

(H) BLEACH CLEANERS – Products containing bleach are
strong oxidizers and are corrosive. Fully use these products
or exchange them with neighbors or friends. Do not dispose of
with regular trash.

GARAGE AND WORKSHOP CHEMICALS

(H)(R) USED MOTOR OIL, BATTERY ACID, DIESEL FUEL, FUEL
OIL, GASOLINE, KEROSENE, PAINT BRUSH CLEANER WITH SOLVENT,
PAINT THINNER, TURPENTINE – These products are toxic,
flammable, and corrosive. Do not dispose of these substances
in the sink, toilet, street drain, or roadway. In New Jersey,
service stations, retail outlets, and reinspection stations
that sell motor oil must accept up to 5 gallons of used motor
oil for recycling. Other products should be saved for
disposal at local collection centers.

(S) ANTIFREEZE, AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID, BRAKE
FLUID, CAR WAX WITH SOLVENT, OTHER OILS, GLUE, OIL-BASED
PAINT, PAINT STRIPPER, PRIMER, RUST REMOVER, VARNISH, WOOD
PRESERVATIVE – These products are toxic, corrosive, and/or
flammable. Do not dispose of these substances in the sink,
toilet, street drain, or roadway. If possible, exchange or
save for local collection centers.

(T)(R) METAL POLISH WITH SOLVENT, PAINT BRUSH CLEANER
WITH TSP (TRISODIUM PHOSPHATE), WATER-BASED GLUE, LATEX PAINT,
PAINT STRIPPER (lye base) – These products are toxic.
Exchange with neighbors. Recycle is possible or seal tightly
and discard with regular trash.

CHEMICALS USED OUTDOORS

(H) PESTICIDES, HERBICIDES, INSECTICIDES, FUNGICIDES –
Toxic. Pesticide is usually a catch-all term for all types of
lawn, garden, and agricultural chemicals. Use only according
to label or recommendations of an agricultural agent in the
Rutgers Cooperative Extension office in your county.
Triple-rinse containers and reuse rinse water as a
full-strength pesticide. Garden pesticide alternatives
include keeping your garden weed-free by handpulling,
importing predators, or using insecticidal soap. Consult the
Rutgers Cooperative Extension office in your county for
specific agricultural and garden pesticide recommendations.

(H) POOL CHEMICALS – In addition to being corrosive and
toxic, these products are strong oxidizers and pose a fire and
explosive hazard. NEVER DISPOSE of pool chemicals with
household trash. Store safely until they can be fully used or
exchanged with neighbors.

OTHER HAZARDOUS HOME PRODUCTS

(H)(R) HOBBY CHEMICALS (CRAFTS, PHOTOGRAPHY, LABS) –
These can be irritants, and are often corrosive, toxic, and
flammable. Do not dispose of these substances. These
chemicals should be safely stored in original containers.
NEVER pour down drains.

(H) ARTISTS’ PAINTS, MEDIUMS, ADHESIVES – These can be
irritants, and are often toxic and flammable. Work area
should be well ventilated. Store these containers until they
can be safely disposed of.

For more information on hazardous household chemicals:

1) Household Hazardous Waste: Solving the Disposal Dilemma.
Gina Purin, Golden Health Empire Health Planning Center, 2100
21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95818.

2) Nontoxic and Natural: How to Avoid Dangerous Everyday
Products and Buy or Make Safe Ones. Debra Lynn Dadd.
Nontoxic Lifestyles Inc., Box 210019, San Francisco, CA 94121.

* Information in this reference appears with the understanding
that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by
RUTGERS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION is implied.
��

0

Some Suggestions For A Handyman

HANDYMAN

To prevent plywood from splitting while cutting, apply a strip of
masking tape at the point where you plan to start sawing.

Prevent moisture damage to shop lumber by placing lumber on a
couple of old tires.

To find the length of lumber you want from your storage pile,
mark foot lengths (1 ft., 2 ft., etc.) on wall or storage shelf.

Find wall studs by running an electric razor along the wall. The
razor tone will change at studs.

Store separated nails, screws, bolts, etc. in baby food jars.
Jar lids can be nailed to a board or under a shelf for hanging.

Use clamps when gluing objects for better holding power.
Clothes’ pins will work for small objects.

If taking an item apart that has many small parts, lay parts on
double tape to avoid losing them.

When using a double edge razor blade, cover one edge with cork to
protect fingers.

Sharpen razor blades by using the striker on a matchbook.

Keep a record book of when home repairs are done, cost and by
whom. This is helpful if you sell your house, and in some cases,
for tax returns.

Remove old contact paper by heating the paper with your hair
dryer.

Label the inside of your fuse box, in case you need to replace a
fuse, or need to turn off the power to a certain room or
appliances.

Put a piece of masking tape or cellophane tape over drywall
plaster before nailing to avoid plaster from chipping.

When installing paneling, paint a one-inch strip the same color
as paneling between joints. If joints come apart, they won’t be
as noticeable.

For nailing small nails, place the nails between the teeth of a
comb.

If the landlord tells you no nails in the wall, use a sewing
machine needle for hanging pictures. The needles will hold up to
30 pounds.

Quickly patch nail holes with toothpaste.

On colored walls after patching nail holes, color with water
color paints to blend in with wall color.

To avoid marring your walls when removing a nail, place a piece
of wood or magazine under hammer-head.

Place adhesive tape around the center of the picture wires to
keep pictures from sliding on hanger.

Wrap masking tape (sticky side out) around toothpicks, then place
near the bottom back side of frame. This is another way to keep
pictures in place.

Unfinished picture frames can be stained with shoe polish. Use
two coats, and after drying, wax with a good paste wax. Brown
shoe polish will have a walnut glow, oxblood emulates a mahogany,
and tan will appear as a light maple color.

Sandpaper will last longer and work better if the paper backing
is dampened slightly before wrapping around a block of wood.

For sanding small hard-to-get places, use sandpaper on a popsicle
stick or use an emery board.

When sanding small objects, attach the sandpaper to a flat
surface and then run the object that needs sanding over the
paper.

After sanding wood, pull an old nylon stocking over your hand and
rub the wood lightly. You will be able to locate the slightest
rough spots.

When drilling hard metal, on the drill point put a drop or two of
turpentine instead of oil for lubrication.

Use a small drill bit first for accuracy in drilling.

For plywood shelves, if you don’t have a wood molding, use color
vinyl tape instead. This will give them a colorful look.

Put magnetic tape on inside of cupboard doors that won’t stay
closed.

Non-stick vegetable spray can be used to lubricate squeaky
hinges, sticky locks, bicycle chains, etc.

On door hinges, lubricate the pin with petroleum jelly.
Petroleum jelly won’t drip on the floor like oil.

To protect a saw blade, split a piece of garden hose and insert
the teeth into it.

Keep ladders from moving by driving spikes through the bottom of
small cans, into the ground. Then insert the ladder feet in the
cans.

Wrap burlap around the bottom rung of ladder to wipe your shoes
before climbing a ladder. This will remove any moisture or mud
from shoes.

Attach a rubber strip from an old tire to the top of a ladder to
insert tools. Nail the strip to make pockets. Tools can be
inserted before raising ladder.

Attach cup hooks to the top of your wooden ladder to hold rags.

Loosen old glue on wood joints by applying vinegar to joints.
Fill a small oil can with vinegar, and apply liberally to joints.

You can secure a loose chair leg by wrapping the loose end with a
small strip of nylon hose or thread, apply glue, then reinsert.

Sticky dresser drawers will slide easier if you rub candle wax or
soap on the runner on the side of the drawers.

Apply WD-40 on a rusty bolt for easier removal.

A rusty bolt often can be loosened by applying a cloth soaked in
any carbonated beverage.

A drop or two of ammonia also will loosen rusty bolts.

Before reinserting a bolt, to avoid future rusting, wrap thread
around the bolt and coat with vaseline.

To prevent rust on tools, place charcoal, chalk or several
mothballs in your toolbox to attract any moisture. The first two
are better choices unless you like the aroma of mothballs.

Check for gas leaks by lathering the pipes with soapy water. Any
gas escaping will cause soapy water to bubble.

If your cedar closet no longer smells like cedar, lightly sand
the surface. Sanding will restore the cedar smell.

On light switches that control lights that you can’t see unless
the door is open to that room, dab some red paint or fingernail
polish on the on position.

Store leftover scraps of wallpaper by stapling them to your attic
wall. If you ever need to make a repair, the wallpaper should
have faded the same as the paper on the wall that needs the
repair.

Tips on Screws:

Remember that left is loose and right is tight.

Apply soap or wax on screws for easier screwing.

Fill an empty stick deodorant container, (the solid kind that you
roll up as you use) with toilet bowl wax. As you need more wax,
just turn the knob.

Longer screwdrivers have more leverage.

If a screw is loose, stick a wooden kitchen match or tooth pick
in the hole and break it off, then put the screw back in.

You can also wind a few strands of steel wool around the threads
of the screw before screwing it in to keep it tight.

For a wobbly drawer knob, paint the screw with fingernail polish
before inserting it.

Or dip screw in glue or putty and it will hold tight.

On home appliances, for screws that keep coming loose, dab
shellac under the heads before tightening them, this will hold
them tightly in place.

Painting Tips:

When painting a room, jot down how much paint it took for next
time. Write this information on the inside of the light switch.
The color used also can written down.

Protect shoes while painting by wearing an old pair of socks over
your shoes.

If your paint is lumpy, cut a circle from an old screen slightly
smaller than can. Place a screen in the can and let it settle to
the bottom. Lumps will be at the bottom of can.

Before pouring paint from a can, line the edge with masking tape.
When finished, remove tape and rim will be clean for replacing
lid.

Store left over latex paint in clean plastic milk jugs. Shake
jug before using the next time. Label color, brand, and store
obtained from.

A small amount of paint can be stored in small glass jars.
Save for touch ups.

If you’re not able to finish your painting job, store brushes or
rollers that contain paint by wrapping with plastic wrap or
freezer wrap and freeze. Allow to thaw 1 hour before using.

Place roller pan in a large plastic bag before adding paint.
When your painting job is finished, throw the bag away and your
pan will be clean.

To paint stairways that must be used, paint every other step one
day and do the other steps the next day.

Paint small objects on a lazy Susan. You will be able to rotate
the object while painting.

Remove paint spatters from woodwork with very fine dry steel
wool.

Or better yet, before painting apply a coat of lemon oil on
woodwork. Paint speckles will wipe up easily.

For tiny touch-ups use a Q-tip instead of a paint brush.

Rid paint smell from a room by placing a large cut onion in a pan
of water in the middle of the room. The onion will absorb the
odor in a short time.

Or add a tablespoon of ammonia in a pan of water and leave
overnight to rid paint smell.

0

A Simplified Half-Board Game Using A Chinese Chess Set By Roleigh Martin (January 18, 1994)

A SIMPLIFIED HALF-BOARD GAME
USING A CHINESE CHESS SET
BY ROLEIGH MARTIN
CIS 71510,1042
5511 Malibu Drive
Edina MN 55436
1-18-94

I received an interesting Compuserve (CIS) email from a
downloader of an earlier upload of CCHESS.ZIP from Dave
Franz (CIS ID 71172,2115). I am reproducing relevant
parts from his email. It shows how to play another
game with Chinese Chess that might be easier to teach
newcomers. I’ve known Chinese mothers and young kids
to play this game quite enjoyably. According to Dave
Franz, a lot of Chinese men play this game too. I
haven’t played it myself though. It is reproduced here
to achieve written (in English) posterity.

To: Roleigh H. Martin > [71510,1042]
#: 67 S0/CompuServe Mail [MAIL]
05-Jan-94 09:52 CST
Sb: XiangXi half-board chess
Fm: Dave Franz [71172,2115]

I was wondering if you knew of the half-board version
of this game. I learned it in Taiwan from Taxi
drivers. (It is played on half the board, with all the
pieces turned down, in the center of the squares. A
move consists of flipping a piece over or moving a
piece… well hopefully you know all of this.)

* * *

To: Roleigh Martin > [71510,1042]
#: 68 S0/CompuServe Mail [MAIL]
06-Jan-94 15:38 CST
Sb: XiangXi half-board chess
Fm: Dave Franz [71172,2115]

First to answer your questions, I downloaded your
upload from IBMNEW forum. I was taught how to play the
full board version once, but that was long ago, and I
never practiced enough to retain the knowledge. I
haven’t played the half board game in two years now, so
I’m also getting rusty at that. In this game, there
are two players, and the game is very fast and
exciting. Kind of a mix-up of Checkers, Chess, Stratego
and Poker.

PRE-GAME

All pieces are turned upside down, mixed up, and placed
in the center of the squares of a half board (on a 4×8
grid).

STARTING

CAI CHUAN (paper-rock-scissors) determines who will
turn over the first piece to see who makes the first
move (turns the first piece.) The color of the first
piece is played by the turner of that piece.

PLAY

A move is either (1) turning over a piece, (2) moving a
piece one square horizontally or vertically (not
diagonally) to another blank square, or (3) capturing
another piece. Obviously, at first, most of the moves
are turning over pieces. The object of the game is to
eliminate all the tiles of the other player.

HIERARCHY OF PIECES

The general can take a knight, can take a elephant, can
take a chariot, can take a horse can take a pawn.
Pawns can take a general, but generals can’t take
pawns. Any piece just mentioned can capture its own
kind or below (except general to pawn). Cannons can
take anything, but only by jumping over another piece,
regardless of how far away the piece is, so long as
there is only one piece. (The piece captured is the
one it lands on, not the one it jumps.) When not
capturing, cannons can move to adjacent free squares
just like any other piece. Further, cannons can be
taken by anything but a pawn. Capturing takes place
for any other piece by moving to an adjacent square.

COMMENTS

Stalemates are possible. The end of the game can get
very strategy oriented.

Games are not based entirely on strategy, sometimes a
game can be won by the luck of the draw (the luck of
the turn).

Cannons tend to be the most interesting pieces in the
game.

The rules I just laid out are subject to wide
variations. Some of my favorite: Cannons can jump
consecutively, taking many pieces in one move. Various
pieces can move on the diagonal. Horses can only move
two up one over (like in regular chess). Various
pieces can move on the diagonal (or can move only on
the diagonal). Turn all pieces up at start. etc. etc.
etc. Half-board Xiang Xi works like poker, when the
dealer calls the game (ie, 7stud, draw, etc.).

Well I hope this gives you a better idea of the game.
I just wrote this on the fly, so it may not be a very
good description.

0

The Quite And Dirty Guide To Japanese

Newsgroups: sci.lang.japan
From: tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu ()
Subject: THE QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE GRAMMAR (Posted)
Message-ID:
Summary: So many people requested it, I decided to post! (LONG!)
Organization: clearer than blir
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 00:13:55 GMT
Lines: 683

There was pretty strong interest in my guide, so I decided to post it.
I didn’t know so many people were reading this group. They sure haven’t
been *posting* to it lately. Anyway, spin-off threads are welcome as
this group needs some life pumped into it.

Thanks go to a recent friend I made on the net named Jeff Friedl for
providing the final impetus to produce this. There was another person
I talked with via e-mail who said he was interested in such a thing,
but the discussion occured between the last time gibdo was backed up
and the day gibdo’s hard disk bit the big one, so I lost his name and
address and can’t give proper credit.

THE QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE
by Tad Perry

PREFACE

Many students of Japanese just want to communicate. Sure, they want to
say things correctly as often as possible, but they also want to get
into the language quickly and start mixing it up early. This QUICK AND
DIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE was meant to help you do just that. It makes
no pretense of being complete, but tries to pack the most *useful
information* necessary to achieve the *goal of using Japanese* in the
*shortest possible space*. This article therefore only covers *two*
things: Particles (those wa, ga, wo, de, ni and he thingies) and verb
conjugations.

This is my reasoning on this: you can build a vocabulary of nouns,
just by looking in a dictionary or asking a native speaker. They
almost never inflect (in any true meaning of the word) and are easy.
Plus we won’t be worrying about those strange noun-like things that
can act like adjectives. So *you* can take care of the nouns yourself
as you see fit.

On the other hand, the verbs and adjectives inflect so I’ll try to
present the most compact rules conceivable for allowing you to
manipulate every verb you ever encounter and hopefully you can take it
from their. The less mental overhead for remembering how to do it, the
less painful it will be. After knowing the conjugation rules pat, you
can get new vocabulary out of a dictionary or ask a native speaker.

Now that you have a bunch of nouns and a bunch of verbs and adjectives
(that you can inflect), you need to know how to piece them together.
That’s where learning about the particles come in. Remember, this is
a *Quick and Dirty* guide so don’t expect these generalizations to
*always* work, just expect them to work in as many cases as possible
based on what I know.

Now, in compiling this, I noticed that the descriptions are pretty
comprehensive. So why aren’t these things presented this way in class?
Well, an educational institution obviously has a financial stake in
dragging out your language learning as long as possible (and confusing
you along the way), now doesn’t it? The also feel obligated to teach
you every little detail so you feel like you’re getting your money’s
worth. In the case of this guide, return comments such as: “You made
generalization X, but for got to mention exceptions Y and Z.” won’t
be appreciated very much. This is a *quick and dirty* guide, remember?
So be forewarned that their are exceptions all over the place, but
that I have tried to be as accurate as space allows. And space is the
primary concern here. Please don’t forget that.

PARTICLES

Word Order

Before talking about particles let’s get into word order. In general,
standard word order for Japanese when using an action verb is:

[SUBJECT]+TIME+PLACE/IMPLEMENT+INDIRECT OBJECT+OBJECT+ACTION VERB

“Ashita, gakkou de sensei ni purezento wo agemasu.”
(“[I’m] going to give a present to [my] teacher tomorrow.”)

For an existence verb it is:

[SUBJECT]+TIME+LOCATION+EXISTENCE VERB

“Takahashi wa, ima honsha ni iru.”
(“Takahasi is in the main office right now.”)

For a motion verb it is:

[SUBJECT]+TIME+ORIGIN+ROUTE+DESTINATION+MOTION VERB

“Ashita, paatii ni iku.”
(“I’m going to a party tomorrow.”)

SUBJECTs are put in brackets to stress that they are very often
deleted. In general, if a new subject is introduced where another had
been previously understood, signal the change by placing “wa” after
the subject. If a subject is understood, but for some reason not
deleted (that’s rare) use “ga” or nothing. Often you can move a
subject out after the verb when things start piling up before the
verb. Like: “Ashita boku ga kooen de utau.” (I’m singing at the park
tomorrow.) often becomes: “Ashita kooen de utau, boku.” For more on
SUBJECTs, see the longer description in the next section, “Subjects
and Deletion”. Knowing how to delete is a key to sounding natural.

TIME is usually followed by “ni”. In general, use “ni” for specific
points in time or specific spans of time. So “jyuu gatsu [ni]”
(October), “san gatsu mikka [ni]” (March 3rd) take “ni”. A word like
“ashita” (tomorrow) that can only be understood by context (it changes
depending on when you say it). These types of words are called
“deictic” time words and don’t take “ni”. “Ashita iku” (“I’m going
tomorrow.”), but: “sanji ni iku” (“I’m going at 3.”) Even if you have
trouble making the distinction between these two types of time words,
don’t worry: Japanese people can understand what you mean even if you
get it backwards.

PLACE/IMPLEMENT is followed by “de”. By PLACE, I mean the location
that a volitional *action* occurred. If you’re eating at home, that’s
“ouchi de shokuji suru”. If you’re eating with chopsticks, that’s
“ohasi de taberu”. The place you do something or the thing you use to
do something takes “de”. If you’re going somewhere by car, you say
“kuruma de iku”. It’s not that hard to understand really. (See
INDIRECT OBJECT for why DESTINATIONs are different.) Verbs of motion
that tell DESTINATION, or ones of existence that tell the LOCATION of
something take “ni”. (DESTINATIONs can also take “he”.) Try to
distinguish PLACE from LOCATION by thinking of it this way: PLACE is
WHERE SOMETHING IS DONE, LOCATION is WHERE SOMETHING OR SOMEONE IS.
Use “kara” (“from”) after an ORIGIN and “wo” after a ROUTE. “Gakkoo
kara, kooen wo totte, ouchi ni kaeru.” (Lit. “I’m going home from
school through the park.”) There’s usually an intermediate verb in
this type of usage.

OBJECT is followed by “wo” or nothing. “Hon wo yonde iru” (I’m reading
a book.) This is a really simple one in most cases. I really don’t
know many Japanese learners who can’t understand this.

INDIRECT OBJECT is followed by “ni”. By INDIRECT OBJECT, I mean a sort
of secondary object that some verbs take. “Kono hon wo anata ni
ageru.” (“I’m going to give this to you.”) You have “this book” and
you have “to you”. The “this book” part is the OBJECT. The “to you”
part is the INDIRECT OBJECT. “Wo” and “ni” are used to distinguish
these two.

VERB doesn’t take any particles, but it needs to be inflected. There’s
a big section at the end on how you do that, and useful colloquial
English equivalents of what those inflections mean.

To boil this section down, remember it this way:

SUBJECT+wa/ga/nothing (delete subject if possible, show changes with “wa”)
TIME+ni/nothing (use nothing if it’s a deictic time word)
PLACE/IMPLEMENT+de (is the place where you *do* or where you *are*?)
LOCATION+ni (is the place where you *are* or where you *do*?)
ORIGIN+kara
ROUTE+wo (is this a place on the way to where you’re going?)
DESTINATION+ni/he (use “ni” over “he” but be aware that both are okay.)
INDIRECT OBJECT+ni (use this if you’re out of choices 🙂
DIRECT OBJECT+wo

After understanding the descriptions given earlier, these nine lines
are the key to knowing what particle to use 90% of the time. Even if
these rules cause you to make a mistake you’re definitely being
understood.

Subjects and Deletions

Usually, you don’t have to worry about whether to use wa or ga,
because most subjects can usually be deleted. “You can’t get something
wrong, if you left it out in the first place.” That’s my philosophy.
So we’ll work on the parts of sentences that you can delete, starting
with subjects.

If you turn to a Japanese and suddenly make a statement:

“Ashita paatii ni iku.”
(“[I’m] going to the party tomorrow.”)

The listener will assume the subject is you. So don’t bother supplying
any subject. To do so, is in fact, not natural; a Japanese wouldn’t
normally do it.

If you turn to a Japanese and suddenly ask a question:

“Ashita paatii ni iku?”
(“[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?”)

The listener will assume the subject is himself or herself. Easy! Most
one-on-one conversations where you or the listener is the subject
*don’t need an explicit subject*. No chance of screwing up wa/ga here.

If you suddenly turn to a Japanese and want to make a statement or ask
a question about some other person altogether, use “wa” after that
person’s name or title the first time you mention that person:

“Shachoo wa, ashita paatii ni iku?”
(“Is the shachoo going to the party tomorrow?”)

Let’s just say the “wa” introduces a change in subject. This time it
signals a change from the default “you the listener” to the “shachoo”.
After you establish that you’re talking about the president you can
go back to dropping subjects again:

“Sono ato wa, kaeru ka na?”
(“Is he going home after that?”–again some vagueness added with
“ka na” (“I wonder”). Don’t be too forward making assumptions
about other people. This trick also stops the listener from
thinking the question is back to being about themself. There’s a
strong tendency for questions to erase understood info and you
have to signal that things are unchanged. Usually you play with
the verb a little bit to get this across. Note that the change in
time being talked about was also signaled with a “wa”.)

Note that this tendency to delete in Japanese parallels the point
where an English native speaker would use plain pronouns like, I, you,
he, she, they. When you start a comment about yourself, you use “I”
(Japanese delete). When you ask about the listener, you use “you”
(Japanese delete). When you’ve first established someone and then keep
going with that person, you use “he” or “she” (Japanese delete). See?
Simple.

Deleting other Established Info

Just like with subjects any info that’s been established can be
deleted, and any changes in established info can be signalled using
“wa”:

“Ashita paatii ni iku?”
(“[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?”)

“Un, anata wa?”
(“Yeah, how about you?”–info about “paatii ni” and “iku” unchanged,
therefore deleted. Subject changed to original questioner, so the
change is signaled with “wa”.)

“Un-n, ikanai”
(“No, I’m not going.”–info about “paatii ni” still deleted, “iku”
comes back as “ikanai” because it has changed form.)

“Sono ato no eiga wa?”
(“How about the movie afterwards?”–the established info “paatii”
changed to “eiga” so we use “wa” to establish the change in
understood information. Understood info that *hasn’t* changed is
still left out, like the subject “boku” and the action “iku”.)

“Un-n, ikanai.”

This is pretty much how deletions work whether it be subjects or
something else. In general, always go for deletions if possible. This
section also serves the purpose of giving you a feel for “wa”.

Particle Ga

In general, you don’t need it. In the instances where you do, you
can slowly build a feel for it. Basically, you need it in situations
where you’re not expressing a change in subject, but where you want
to state the subject even though it is established info. Usually,
this is to add emphasis or avoid ambiguity.

“Shacho wa, ashita paatii ni iku?”
(“Is the shachoo going to the party tomorrow?”)

“Un-n, ikanai mitai.”
(“No, it doesn’t look like it.”–throw in a “mitai” because you
don’t wan’t to act too sure of the actions of others in Japanese.
We’re not really covering that though, it’s just a side note.)

“Nande?”
(“Why not?”)

“Sore ga wakaranai”
(“I don’t know why not.”–there’s no real ambiguity in this case,
and “wakaranai” alone would have worked, but it is a case where
you’re not changing an understood subject to another, you’re
restating the understood subject as such for some emphasis. If
you’re stating an established subject, for whatever reason, use
“ga”. But you could’ve deleted, and if you were following my
explanation you should have. This one sentence also helps dispell
the huge MYTH that “wa” is for negative sentences.)

Particle Mo

Use mo when you’re adding more info on a list of established info. It
may be used alone when marking subjects and objects, and can follow
other particles (like ni, de, and he). Put it this way: if “wa” clears
the understood info and replaces it, “mo” adds extra info on top of
what’s already there without clearing out anything.

“Ashita paatii ni iku?”
(“[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?”)

“Un, iku yo.”
(“Yeah, I’m going, how about you?”–note what was deleted and why.)

“Boku mo iku.”
(“I’m going too.”–add yourself to the understood subject.)

Mo is easy, so we won’t waste any more time with it. Just trying to be
complete and it only took a few lines to do.

VERB CONJUGATIONS

Another thing that many Japanese learners need is an easy method of
arriving at all the verb conjugations and a highly reduced set of
rules for how to get them right on the different types of verbs.
That’s easy enough really because there are only three major verb
types: -ru verbs, -u verbs, and -aru verbs (a polite type not much
used except for “gozaru/gozaimasu”). People really hate Eleanor Jordan
for this kind of naming, but in language learning you take what’s easy
and go with it; there’s no need to worry about theoretical linguistics
here. Also note that I changed romanization styles at this point to
one that makes the changes in verbs appear much more uniform.

-Ru verbs are those that end in -ru like taberu and ireru. “-u” verbs
end in u, ku, gu, bu, mu, nu, su, tu, or [a,i,u,o]+ru (rarely e+ru
because those are almost always -ru verbs like taberu. I only know of
three like that: keru/kick, heru/decrease and heru/elapse–there are
probably more, but I have a feeling they would also only be two
syllables like these). So the only real overlap worth worrying about
is “i+ru”. If you memorize two forms for each of these (like:
ireru/irete and hairu/haitte) you can keep them straight.

-Ru Verbs

Everything’s done by dropping or replacing -ru with something else.
Just remember the different uses of each conjugation.

drop -ru to add things like -masu, -yasui (easy to): tabe
(tabeyasui (easy to eat))

replace with “-te” for gerund: tabete
(gerund is for “and”-ing verbs (eat and go, “tabete iku”) and simple
orders (eat that, “are tabete”)

replace with “-ta” for past tense: tabeta

replace with “-tara” for meaning “if”: tabetara
(if I/someone eats)

replace with “-tari” for meaning “do things like”: tabetari
(I did things like eating–tabetari sita. not used much)

replace with “-reba” for another “if”: tabereba
(if I/someone eats. A little different from “-tara” but don’t worry
about that now, they’re pretty much interchangeable.)

replace with “-yoo” for “let’s”: tabeyoo
(let’s eat)

replace with “-ro” for rude orders: tabero
(eat dammit!)

replace with “-nai” for negative: tabenai

replace with “-rareru” for “can”: taberareru <- these are now -ru verbs
(I can't eat this! kore taberarenai yo! Good in cafeteria's.)

replace with "-saseru" for "make (someone) do": tabesaseru <- now a -ru verb
("Kore tabesasenai de yo!" Don't make me eat this. A negative request
equal in level to "tabete" is "nai" plus "de")

replace with "-rareru" for passive "was X-ed": taberareru hanasi (talk)
kiku -> kiki (walk)
oyogu -> oyogi (swim)
yobu -> yobi (call)
nomu -> nomi (drink)
sinu -> sini (die)
tukuru -> tukuri (make)
matu -> mati (wait)
harau -> harai (pay)

Replace -u with -ite for do “X and Y” and for simple commands.
(types not following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)

hanasu -> hanasite (talk)

kiku -> kiite (walk) (replace entire -ku)
oyogu -> oyoide (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -ide)

yobu -> yonde (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -nde)
nomu -> nonde (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -nde)
sinu -> sinde (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -nde)

tukuru -> tukutte (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -tte)
matu -> matte (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -tte)
harau -> haratte (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -tte)

Replace -u with -ita for past tense.
(types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)

hanasu -> hanasita (talk)

kiku -> kiita (walk) (replace entire -ku)
oyogu -> oyoida (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -ida)

yobu -> yonda (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -nda)
nomu -> nonda (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -nda)
sinu -> sinda (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -nda)

tukuru -> tukutta (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -tta)
matu -> matta (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -tta)
harau -> haratta (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -tta)

(In fact, I query search and replaced “e” with “a” on the gerunds to
get this if that helps any. The rule breakers are breaking the rule
uniformly now.)

Replace -u with -itara for “if”. (Or, just add “ra” to the past.)
(types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)

hanasu -> hanasitara (talk)

kiku -> kiitara (walk) (replace entire -ku)
oyogu -> oyoidara (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -idara)

yobu -> yondara (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -ndara)
nomu -> nondara (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -ndara)
sinu -> sindara (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -ndara)

tukuru -> tukuttara (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -ttara)
matu -> mattara (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -ttara)
harau -> harattara (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -ttara)

Replace -u with -itari for “do things like X”. (Or just add “ri” to past.)
(types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)

hanasu -> hanasitari (talk)

kiku -> kiitari (walk) (replace entire -ku)
oyogu -> oyoidari (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -idari)

yobu -> yondari (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -ndari)
nomu -> nondari (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -ndari)
sinu -> sindari (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -ndari)

tukuru -> tukuttari (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -ttari)
matu -> mattari (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -ttari)
harau -> harattari (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -ttari)

Replace -u with -eba for “if”
(works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)

hanasu -> hanaseba (talk)
kiku -> kikeba (walk)
oyogu -> oyogeba (swim)
yobu -> yobeba (call)
nomu -> nomeba (drink)
sinu -> sineba (die)
tukuru -> tukureba (make)
matu -> mateba (wait)
harau -> haraeba (pay)

Replace -u with -oo for “let’s do X”.
(works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)

hanasu -> hanasoo (talk)
kiku -> kikoo (walk)
oyogu -> oyogoo (swim)
yobu -> yoboo (call)
nomu -> nomoo (drink)
sinu -> sinoo (die)
tukuru -> tukuroo (make)
matu -> matoo (wait)
harau -> haraoo (pay)

Replace -u with -e for rude orders “do X dammit”.
(works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)

hanasu -> hanase (talk)
kiku -> kike (walk)
oyogu -> oyoge (swim)
yobu -> yobe (call)
nomu -> nome (drink)
sinu -> sine (die)
tukuru -> tukure (make)
matu -> mate (wait)
harau -> harae (pay)

Replace -u with -anai for negative. (This is now an adjective.)
(works straight across, only one phonetic change in one type)

hanasu -> hanasanai (talk)
kiku -> kikanai (walk)
oyogu -> oyoganai (swim)
yobu -> yobanai (call)
nomu -> nomanai (drink)
sinu -> sinanai (die)
tukuru -> tukuranai (make)
matu -> matanai (wait)
harau -> harawanai (pay) (stick a wa in there, not just an “a”. Makes
it easier to say, too. Lucky us!)

Replace -u with -eru for “can do X”. This is now a -ru verb.
(works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)

hanasu -> hanaseru (talk)
kiku -> kikeru (walk)
oyogu -> oyogeru (swim)
yobu -> yoberu (call)
nomu -> nomeru (drink)
sinu -> sineru (die)
tukuru -> tukureru (make)
matu -> materu (wait)
harau -> haraeru (pay)

Replace -u with -aseru for “make (someone) do X”. This is now a -ru verb.
(works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of the types)

hanasu -> hanasaseru (talk)
kiku -> kikaseru (walk)
oyogu -> oyogaseru (swim)
yobu -> yobaseru (call)
nomu -> nomaseru (drink)
sinu -> sinaseru (die)
tukuru -> tukuraseru (make)
matu -> mataseru (wait)
harau -> harawaseru (pay) (Don’t forget to throw a wa in there!)

Replace -u with -areru for “X is done (often to someone)”. This is now
a -ru verb. (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of
the types)

hanasu -> hanasareru (talk)
kiku -> kikareru (walk)
oyogu -> oyogareru (swim)
yobu -> yobareru (call)
nomu -> nomareru (drink)
sinu -> sinareru (die)
tukuru -> tukurareru (make)
matu -> matareru (wait)
harau -> harawareru (pay) (Don’t forget to throw a wa in there!)

Replace -u with -aserareru for “be made to do X by someone”. Same
result as just doing the two conjunctions separately but is taught
in most books as a specific conjunction. This is now a -ru verb.
(works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of the types)

hanasu -> hanasaserareru (talk)
kiku -> kikaserareru (walk)
oyogu -> oyogaserareru (swim)
yobu -> yobaserareru (call)
nomu -> nomaserareru (drink)
sinu -> sinaserareru (die)
tukuru -> tukuraserareru (make)
matu -> mataserareru (wait)
harau -> harawaserareru (pay) (Don’t forget to throw a wa in there!)

Now that was long, but it was mostly cut-and-paste because even these
are well-behaved when you organize them correctly. When you boil down
what needs to be done to these verbs to conjugate them correctly, the
information required is really minimal–even for the oddballs. That’s
all you need to be able to conjugate almost every verb in Japanese.
Most books say that their are only two irregular verbs in all of
Japanese: suru and kuru. Those you have to learn separately, but they
kind of make sense. In fact, though, there’s a third one: iku. The
reason is that unlike kiita for kiku, you don’t say iita, you say
itta. You don’t say, iite, you say itte. But it’s regular in it’s
irregularity because it acts like tsukuru for some weird reason.

kuru (“will come”, or “comes (often, everyday, etc.)”)
ki (to add “-masu”, note that “-yasui” isn’t used)
kite (casual command: “come here”)
kita (past tense: “someone came”)
kitara (add ra to past) (“if(once) someone comes”, some connotation of when)
kitari (ad ri to past) (“do things like come”)
kureba (“if someone comes”, no connotation of when)
koyoo (“let’s come”, no, it can’t possibly mean orgasms)
koi (rude request: “come here you”)
konai (negative: “won’t come” or “doesn’t come (very much)”)
korareru (“can come”)
kosaseru (“make (someone) come”)
korareru (passive–no example comes to mind)
kosaserareru (“be made to come (by someone)”)

suru (“will do”, or “does (often, everyday, etc.)”)
si (to add “-masu”, or “-yasui”)
site (casual command: “do this”)
sita (past tense: “someone did”)
sitara (add ra to past) (“if(once) someone does”, some connotation of when)
X sitari (ad ri to past) (“do things like doing X”)
sureba (“if someone does”, no connotation of when)
X siyoo (“let’s do X”)
siro (rude request: “do this dammit”)
sinai (negative: “won’t do” or “doesn’t do (very much)”)
dekiru (really “seru”) (“can do”–“someone I can love”: “ai seru hito”)
saseru (“make (someone) do”)
sareru (“be done (by someone”))
saserareru (“be made to do (by someone)”)

A cool trick to remember suru is that many of the conjugations match
what you would get if you conjugated a lone “su”, so it’s kind of like
“hanasu”. Hanasita–sita. Hanaseru–seru. Hanasaseru–saseru.

Adjectives

These aren’t that hard. They always end in [a,i,u,o]+i. They *never*
end in e+i that would be a noun. Basically you replace “i” with a form
of “ka” to inflect.

yasashii (“It’s nice”)
yasashiku nai (“It’s not nice”)
yasashikatta (“It was nice”)
yasashikattara (“If it’s nice.”)
yasashikattari (possible I suppose but not heard often)
yasashikereba (“If it’s nice.”)

These inflections follow what a “ka+u” verb would do. If you can
conjugate “kau” (to buy) you can conjugate every Japanese adjective.
Just note that you don’t say: “atsukaseru” for “make something hot”
you say “atsuku suru”. For a command, say: “yasashiku natte” (“be
nice”).

————————————————————————
Tad Perry Internet: tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu
CompuServe: 70402,3020
NIFTY-Serve: GBG01266
————————————————————————

0

Accommodations, Airplane Rides And More For Youth Groups

Accommodations, Airplane Rides and More for Youth Groups

The U.S. Air Force provides a variety of free, unique experiences for our
nation’s youth, especially national scouting groups. The Air Force opens its
facilities to these groups for special events, such as olympics, jamborees,
conferences, and meetings. Overnight accommodations ranging from camping sites
to beds in barracks are also available. Youth can participate in training
exercises, obtain orientation plane rides, and take tours of the Air Force
facilities. Aerospace education, career programs, and sometimes surplus
properties are also available. Films, on topics as diverse as expert motorcycle
riding, space communications, the history of the Air Force, and missile
development in space can be borrowed. For information, assistance or support in
any of the above areas, scout and youth groups should contact the Youth
Organization Project Officer at the Air Force Installation where they wish to
conduct an activity.

Address correspondence to: Base Commander, (List Appropriate Name) Air Force
Base, State, Zip Code, Attention: Youth Organization Project Officer. For
national and regional events, youth groups should write the appropriate regional
liaison officer or the director. A list of these officers appears below.

Director, Air Force Office of Youth Relations, Kelly Air Force Base, Texas
78241-5000/512-925-5384.

Northeast Region, Air Force Office of Youth Relations, McGuire Air Force Base,
New Jersey 08641-5000/609-724-2905/3728.

Southeast Region, Air Force Office of Youth Relations, Dobbins Air Force Base,
Georgia 30069-5000/404-424-4990.

East Central Region, Air Force Office of Youth Relations, O’Hare ARF Facility,
Illinois 60666-5000/312-694-6088.

South Central Region, Air Force Office of Youth Relations, Carswell Air Force
Base, Texas 76127-5000/817-735-7134.

North Central Region, Air Force Office of Youth Relations, Whiteman Air Force
Base, Missouri 65305-5000.

Western Region, Air Force Office of Youth Relations, Travis Air Force Base,
California 94535-5260/707-438-5100.

Adopt-A-Horse

In order to control the population of wild horses and burros grazing on public
land, the U.S. Department of the Interior offers these animals for adoption to
qualified applicants. For further information and adoption applications
contact: Adopt-A-Horse, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the
Interior, Washington, DC 20240.

Anger – Helping Children Cope

A free pamphlet entitled “Plain Talk About Dealing with the Angry Child” (502N)
suggests ways of helping a child cope with feelings of anger and aggression.
Available from: Consumer Information Center, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO 81002.

Anorexia Nervosa

A 7-page booklet entitled “Facts About Anorexia Nervosa” (411N, 50 cents)
describes symptoms, causes, and treatments of this potentially fatal eating
disorder. It also gives sources for more information and assistance. Available
from: Consumer Information Center, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO 81002.

Art Musxeum Exhibits For Rent

The Smithsonian Museum provides specially designed exhibts to organizations
and institutions across the country, and abroad, at the lowest possible rental
fees. More than 120 exhibitions of paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings,
decorative arts, history, children’s art, natural history, photography, science
and more are circulated every year. Contact: Smithsonian Institution, 900
Jefferson Drive SW, Washington, DC 20560/ (202)-357-3168.

Art on Loan

Educational materials, including color slide programs, films and videocassettes
based on works in the National Gallery of Art’s collection and special
exhibitions can be borrowed without charge. A free catalogue is available.
Write: Extension Programs, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC 20565.

Arts America

The International Communication Agency assists qualified artists and performers
in arranging private tours overseas. Its aim is to present a balanced portrayal
of the American scene. ICA has sponsored: a major exhibition of American
crafts shown in China; a modern dance company’s visit to the USSR, Spain, and
Portugal; and a jazz ensemble’s tour of Nigeria, Senegal and Kenya. Contact:
Arts Liaison Advisor, Office of the Associate Director for Programs,
International Communication Agency, United States Intelligence Agency, 301 4th
Street SW, Room 568, Washington, DC 20547/202-485-2779.

Art Slides from the National Gallery

Slides of the Gallery’s collection are available on a loan basis to
organizations, schools, and colleges without charge. Contact: Slide Library,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC 20565/202-737-4215.

Best and Worst Food Buys for Coming Months

A free subscription to the National Consumer Buying Alert will keep you informed
about which foods will be cheaper or more expensive in coming months. The
monthly publication also provides general consumer tips, such as how to deal
with a wet basement, how to insulate your home or how to reduce gas consumption.
For a free copy write: Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, CO 81009.

Bibliographies

Free listings of Government publications on more than 240 subjects ranging from
accounting to veteran’s affairs can be easily obtained. For a brochure on the
subjects covered write to: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402/202-783-3238.

Biking and Hiking Maps

Brochures with maps of trails throughout the National Park Service are available
free of charge. When placing your order, specify the geographical area you are
interested in. Contact: U.S. Department of Interior, 18th and C Streets NW,
Room 1013, Washington, DC 20240/202-343-4747. (Note: If you call, you will at
first hear a recording. Stay on the line if you wish to speak with someone.)

Birthday and Anniversary Greetings from the President

The President will send birthday greetings to individuals 80 or over and
anniversary greetings to couples married 50 years or longer. You must notify
the President of the event, in writing, at least 2 weeks (preferably 1 month or
more) before the celebrated occasion. Include in your letter: the name(s) and
address, including zip code of the person(s) to be honored, and information
about the event including the date, number of years being celebrated and whether
it is a birthday or anniversary. Write: White House, Greetings Office,
Washington, DC 20500.

Boating Lessons

A variety of free courses, ranging from 1 to 13 classes, on safe boating are
offered by the U.S. Coast Guard. For further information contact your local
U.S. Coast Guard Office, or Commandant (G-BAU-1), U.S. Coast Guard,
Washington, DC 20592/202-426-1077.

Breast Cancer

A pamphlet is available summarizing information about breast cancer, biopsy,
mammography, reconstruction and rehabilitation. For a free copy write: Public
Inquiries Office, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, MD 20205.

Brides Information Package

Available to new homemakers, this packet contains an assortment of home and
garden bulletins relating to budgeting, consumer tips, cooking, etc. Contact:
Your Congressman, U.S. Congress, Washington, DC 20515/202-224-3121.

Business Loans for Children and Teenagers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture lends up to $10,000 to youths from ten to 21
years of age. The loans can be used to support both farm and non-farm ventures,
such as small crop farming, livestock farming, roadside stands and custom work.
They are normally made in conjunction with youth groups and require parental
consent. Contact: Production Loan Division, Farmers Home Administration,
Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250/202-447-4572.

Calendars

Each congressional office has a large stock of hanging wall calendars,
containing beautiful photographs of Washington Scenes. For a free calendar
contact: Your Congressman, U.S. Congress, Washington, DC 20515/202-224-3121.

Child Support Handbook

The “Handbook on Child Support Enforcement ” is a “how-to” guide for getting the
child support payments which are owed to you and your children. Information is
provided about applying for child support enforcement services, obtaining help
in finding the absent parent, establishing paternity, collecting child support,
and collecting payments in another state. The free publication is available by
writing: Consumer Information Center, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO 81002.

Christmas Trees

Free Christmas trees are available to nonprofit organizations. Commercial
organizations and individuals can obtain trees at fair market value, and for
$1.00 you can cut your own tree. The trees are located on federal land in ten
western states. Contact: Your local office of the Bureau of Land Management,
the Forest Service, or: Division of Forestry, Bureau of Land Management,
Department of the Interior, Room 5620, Washington, DC 20240/202-343-3229.

Chronic Pain

A free booklet describing causes and possible cures for pain, including
headaches, lower back pain, cancer pain and arthritis pain is available from:
Chronic Pain, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and
Stroke, Room 8A-06, Building 31, Bethesda, MD 20205.

Coaches-Drug and Alcohol Prevention Program

A nationwide program, developed in conjunction with the National High School
Athletic Coaches Association, is designed to help coaches prevent drug and
alcohol abuse. Free information packets, publications, a slide show and video
tape are all available to coaches. Clinics and workshops for coaches will be
held throughout the United States at which Drug Enforcement Agency Special
Agents, professional athletes, and amateur sports figures will address a variety
of topics pertaining to drug and alcohol prevention. Contact: Preventive
Programs, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice, 1405 I Street
NW, Washington, DC 20537/202-633-1437.

Baldness Treatments (553N)

This freebie discusses products which are supposed to restore hair or prevent
hair loss. Write: Consumer Information Center, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO
81002.

Computerized Databases – Free Public Access

For the price of a phone call, computer users, with telephone link-up equipment,
can dial directly into several data bases operated by the federal government:
alternative fuel data bank AFDB, designed for direct public access, can be
searched by most home computer users having a telephone linkup. The data bank
contains information about the utilization of alternative fuels. It has three
types of data: bibliographies of publications, synopses of ongoing research
activities and discussions of topics of current interest. AFDB focuses on the
use of non-petroleum sources and non-conventional fuels from petroleum sources
in transportation. Examples of fuels covered include syncrudes from shale,
coal, alcohols, hydrogen, ethers and broadcut. Information is collected from
periodicals, abstract news service publications, technical society papers,
conference proceedings, and project progress and final reports. Data retrieval
programs are interactive and designed for easy use by the general public.
Searches and direct-access privileges are available free of charge. Contact the
Center to obtain a free user’s manual and I.D. number. If you don’t have the
equipment to search AFDB yourself, the Center will query the system for you and
send you a printout. Contact: Alternative Fuel Data Bank, Bartlesville Energy
Technology Center, P.O. Box 2128, Bartlesville, OK 74005/918-337-4267.

Climate assessment data base. This database designed for easy public access
provides users with information about short-term climate conditions in the
United States and throughout the world. Anyone with a compatible terminal (most
home computers are) and telephone linkup can obtain a password and dial directly
into the system. Users can then select from a menu of 12 databases summarizing
meteorological data on a weekly, monthly and seasonal basis. Examples of data
include: temperature, precipitation, weather indexes, heating and cooling days,
energy conditions, and assessment of climate on crops. The system contains
global surface data collected from 8,000 stations worldwide. Currently, most
data is in tabular form, but plans are under way to include graphical
presentations. To obtain a password for this system contact: NOAA, National
Meteorological Center, W353, WWB, Room 201, Washington, DC 20233/301-763-8071.

Computer standards and technology bulletin boards. The Institute for Computer
Science and Technology sponsors two free electronic bulletin boards which
provide information about conferences, articles, and other literature dealing
with new standards and technology in computers and software. One bulletin board
deals with computer performance evaluation and the other microprocessors.
Contact: Institute for Computer Science and Technology, National Bureau of
Standards (NBS), Washington, DC 20234/301-921-2731.

Crude Oil Analysis Data Bank. This data bank contains analyses of nearly all
crude oils discovered in the United States and representative crude oils from
foreign countries. COA is the world’s largest collection of data about crude
oil physical properties, distillation and refining. Examples of retrievable
properties include: gravity, sulphur content, nitrogen content, viscosity,
color and pour point. Other retrievable information includes the oil’s
geochemistry, its source and financial value. The database can be searched by
any parameter in the analyses (i.e., type of oil, location, specific property,
etc.). The system is designed for easy use by the general public.

COA was started in the 1920’s and it currently contains more than 10,000
analyses. Searches and direct access privileges are available free of charge.
If you don’t have the equipment to search COA yourself, the Center will query
the system for you and send you a printout. To obtain a free User’s Guide or
more information, contact: Crude Oil Analysis Data Bank, Bartlesville Energy
Technology Center, U.S. Department of Energy, P.O. Box 1398, Bartlesville, OK
74003/918-336-2400 (ext. 256).

Time database. The U.S. Naval Observatory Automated Data Service (USNO-ADS)
collects the latest available time data, and most owners of home computers with
a telephone hook-up can dial directly into the system’s numerous files. By
inputting appropriate information, users can obtain data such as: the time of
sunrise, sunset, twilight and moonrise on a given day at any location on Earth;
the times when transit satellites will pass over their area during the upcoming
25 hours; the direction and distance (in nautical and statute miles) between
any two points on Earth; the Universal Time; and much more. The Naval
Observatory has designed most of the programs on ADS, but they will help
individuals and organizations (such as universities) run their own programs on
the system. Staff will also search their database for you at no cost. Contact:
Time Service Division, U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, DC
20390/202-653-1527.

Computerized Decisionmaking for Consumers, Families, Businessmen, and Farmers

The Computerized Management Network (CMN) is a software system of more than 60
interactive programs developed to help the decisionmaking process for farmers,
consumers, families, and businessmen. Designed to be used by
non-computer-oriented individuals, the system covers areas such as: finance and
accounting; taxes and estate planning; human nutrition and health; home, farm,
and crop management; information retrieval; and much more.

You can obtain access to CMN through most Cooperative Extension Service (CES)
offices nationwide. Subscribing CES offices will either search the system for
you or possibly let you conduct a search yourself. Individuals and
organizations can also obtain direct-access privileges for a minimum usage fee
of $25.00 per month. The cost of running CMN programs varies from 50 cents for
a very simple analysis to $15.00 for complex linear models. Contact your local
Extension Service Office (listed under Department of Agriculture in your
telephone book).

Computerized Decisionmaking for Consumers, Families, Businessmen, and Farmers

The Computerized Management Network (CMN) is a software system of more than 60
interactive programs developed to help the decisionmaking process for farmers,
consumers, families, and businessmen. Designed to be used by
non-computer-oriented individuals, the system covers areas such as: finance and
accounting; taxes and estate planning; human nutrition and health; home, farm,
and crop management; information retrieval; and much more.

You can obtain access to CMN through most Cooperative Extension Service (CES)
offices nationwide. Subscribing CES offices will either search the system for
you or possibly let you conduct a search yourself. Individuals and
organizations can also obtain direct-access privileges for a minimum usage fee
of $25.00 per month. The cost of running CMN programs varies from 50 cents for
a very simple analysis to $15.00 for complex linear models. Contact your local
Extension Service Office (listed under Department of Agriculture in your
telephone book).

Congressional Pages and Interns

Approximately 100 pages work for Members of Congress during the school year.
More positions for pages as well as interns are available during the summer
months. Contact your U.S. Senator and Representative for more information.

Consumer Publications – Best Freebies List The Consumer Information Center is
the main distributor of free and low-cost consumer oriented publications issued
by the federal government. Below is a representative listing of some of the
Center’s most popular publications. For copies of these publications, or to
order a free publications catalogue, contact: Consumer Information Center,
Pueblo, CO 81009.

Cancer Prevention: Good News, Better News, Best News (571N) provides advice on
what you can do to help protect yourself against cancer, including latest
nutrition information.

Child Support (501N) describes help available from the government to enforce
child support obligations, locate missing parents, and establish paternity.

Consumer Credit Handbook (591N) explains how to apply for credit, what to do if
you are denied, and how consumer credit laws can help you.

Student Guide -Five Federal Financial Aid Programs (513N) gives important
information about five grant and loan programs for college, vocational, and
technical school students.

Back Pain (569N) describes common causes and treatments of this all too common
ailment.

Your Social Security (515N) explains all about Social Security and Medicare
benefits, including who gets them and how to apply.

Checklist for Going into Business (516N) discusses important considerations
before starting a small business.

A Consumer’s Guide to Life Insurance (592N) this is a comprehensive guide to
different types of policies, costs, and coverage; includes a glossary of
commonly used terms.

How to Choose and Use a Lawyer (601N) provides questions and answers about fees,
advertising, referrals, and other legal resources. It also covers what to do
when you have a problem with a lawyer.

Some Things You Should Know About Prescription Drugs (560N) even prescription
drugs can be dangerous; here are tips for safe use.

How to Buy a Telephone (600N) gives facts about costs, selection, installation,
and repair.

Consumer’s Guide to Telephone Services (618N) describes the best area services
available.

Consumer’s Resource Handbook (613N). A comprehensive guide to how to complain
and get results, this lists corporate consumer representatives, private consumer
organizations, and federal, state, and local government agencies with consumer
responsibilities. The 111-page guide is available free of charge from:
Consumer Information Center, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO 81002.

Contraception: Comparing the Options (554N). This free fold-out chart lists
the nine common methods of birth control and the pros and cons of each. For a
copy write: Consumer Information Center, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO 81002.

Cosmetics

A free pamphlet entitled “Questions Concerning Cosmetics” (548N) provides
answers to seven commonly asked questions regarding ingredients in various
cosmetics. Write: Consumer Information Center, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO
81002.

Diet and Weight-Loss Gimmicks

Below are 2 freebies available from: Consumer Information Center, P.O. Box
100, Pueblo, CO 81002.

About Body Wraps, Pills, and Other Magic Wands (564N) this discusses weight-loss
gimmicks, untested diet aids, and their potential dangers.

Diet Books Sell Well But (566N) presents the fallacies and hazards of some
popular diets, as well as advice about selecting a healthy diet to lose weight.

Disaster Handbook

In Time of Emergency – A Citizen’s Handbook, provides information and guidance
about what families can do to enhance survival in the event of natural or
man-made disasters, such as fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms,
earthquakes, tidal waves, nuclear power plant accidents or nuclear attacks.
Free from: Federal Emergency Management Agency, P.O. Box 8181, Washington, DC
20024.

Duck Stamp Contest

Artists are invited to participate in the Duck Stamp Contest, one of our
nations’ oldest and most successful wildlife conservati Generally, beginning in
July of each year, artists can submit a rendition of any living species of North
American migratory duck, goose or swan for the contest. A winner is selected,
and he or she receives a sheet of stamps (worth $225) and owns the copyright of
the painting which can be of great value.

The stamps, which must be purchased yearly by waterfowl hunters, are sold by the
U.S. Post Office for $7.50 each. The proceeds are then used to buy wetlands
for the National Wildlife Refuge System. A free pamphlet entitled The Duck
Stamp Story presents the background of the Duck Stamp Program. To order, or
obtain further information, contact: Public Affairs, Fish and Wildlife Service,
Washington, DC 20240/202-343-5634.

Films You Can Borrow or Buy

The U.S. Government has produced more than 13,500 films on subjects as varied
as foreign relations, drug abuse, preparing your taxes, business management,
space exploration and sexual assault. The Government’s National Audio Visual
Center catalogues, loans, rents and sells these films. Upon your request the
clearinghouse will send you a listing of its holdings on any subject you choose.
A free catalogue listing 3,000 titles on subjects of interest to the general
public is available free of charge. Often there is a small fee for films
borrowed from the Center. Contact: National Audio Visual Center, Information
Services DW, Washington, DC 20409/202-763-1896.

Several government agencies distribute films they have produced directly to the
public. Listed below, by broad subject area, are agencies from which you can
borrow films free of charge. Films offered by these offices range from expert
motorcycle riding, courtesy of the Air Force, to recreational films from the
U.S. Corps of Engineers. Most of these offices will send you a free catalogue
listing films you can borrow or purchase.

Agriculture motion pictures on a variety of agricultural subjects are available
for loan through various State Extension Services film libraries. Contact:
National Audio-Visual Center, Attention: Information Services, Washington, DC
20409

Air and Space films are available on topics such as the Apollo missions, the
planets, earth-sun relationships, the atmosphere, weather, and National
Aeronautics and Space Administration research projects. For information and a
free film catalogue contact: NASA, Motion Pictures, Office of Public Affairs,
Washington, DC 20546/202-755-3500.

Air Force mation pictures for information on motion picture films created or
acquired by the Air Force and cleared for public distribution, contact:
DAVA-N-LD, Norton Air Force Base, CA 92409/714-382-2394. A film catalog, “”Air
Force Regulations 95-2, Vol. 2,” is available for $10.00 from: Superintendent
of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
20402/202-783-3238.

Air Force stock footage – footage of Air Force films is available from:
DAVA-DAVCOM Divisions, Building 248, Motion Media Depository, Norton Air Force
Base, CA 92409/714-382-2307.

Army Films – Army films available to the public, contact: Commander, U.S. Army
Audio Visual Center, 1010 MOAV-MO, Room 5A470, Pentagon, Washington, DC
20310/202-694-4548.

Captioned Films – free catalog listing free educational and entertainment films
for the deaf is available from: Modern Talking Picture Service, Inc., 5000 Park
Street N, St Petersburg, FL 33709/813-541-7571.

Citizenship Education – education films are available at no charge to civic,
patriotic, educational and religious groups. There are also about 15 textbooks
on citizenship available, consisting of teachers’ manuals and student textbooks
at various reading levels. These books are distributed free to public schools
for applicants for citizenship. Contact: Naturalization, Immigration and
Naturalization Service, Department of Justice, 425 Eye Street NW, Room 7228,
Washington, DC 20536/202-633-3320.

Defense Logistics Agency – information on films available for public showing to
present and potential contractors, contact: Headquarters, Defense Logistics
Agency, Department of Defense, Cameron Station, Room 3C547, Alexandria, VA
22314/202-274-6075.

Documentary Films and Newsreel Footage – approximately 91 million feet of
documentary and newsreel footage and other government-produced films constitute
this collection. Materials can be screened and footage may be purchased. For
more information, contact: Motion Picture and Video and Sound Branch, National
Archives and Records Administration, 8th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room G-13,
Washington, DC 20408/202-786-0041.

Drug Education – education films are available free of charge to civic,
educational, private and religious groups. Contact: Preventive Programs,
Office of Public Affairs, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of
Justice, 1405 Eye Street NW, Room 1209, Washington, DC 20537/202-633-1249.

Education Films – ERIC – Clearinghouse described in the “”Information on
Anything and Everything” section of this Sampler, frequently loans audiovisual
materials. For further details contact the ERIC Clearinghouse covering the
subject in which you are interested.

Encironmental and Recreation – Army Corps of Engineers offers public
informational films on subjects including navigation, flood control,
hydroelectric power, recreation, emergency operations management, environmental
enhancement and boating safety. Various exhibits and audiovisual presentations
produced by the Corps are available for touring. For short, descriptive lists
and information, contact: Public Affairs, Army Corps of Engineers, Department
of the Army, Department of Defense, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Room 8122C, HQDA
(DAEN-PAV), Washington, DC 20314/202-272-0017.

Requests for loan of these films should be sent to: Modern Talking Picture
Service, Inc., 5000 Park Street N, St. Petersburg, FL 33709/813-541-7571.

Geology and Mapping Films – about geology, topographic mapping, water resources,
astrogeology, aerial photography, and other subjects are available. For
information and a free film catalogue contact: Visual Information Services,
U.S. Geological Survey, 790-National Center, Reston, VA 22092/703-860-6171.

Law Enforcement films – and videotape recordings can be borrowed for education
and information purposes. Contact: National Criminal Justice Research Service,
1600 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850/301-251-5500.

Natural Resources Films – are available describing many of the country’s natural
resources. For information and a free catalogue contact: Bureau of Mines,
Motion Pictures, 4800 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213/412-621-4500.

Safty Relayed Films – are available on safety-related topics such areas as
outdoor power equipment, playground equipment, poison prevention packaging, and
toys. A free catalogue is available. Contact: Consumer Product Safety
Commission, Washington DC 20207/Hotline: 800-638-2772.

Sexual Assault Films – explaining how to protect yourself against sexual
assault, as well as how to help a victim of an attack, are available from: The
National Center for the Prevention and Control of Rape, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room
6C-12, Rockville, MD 20852/301-443-1910.

Taxes – Internal Revenue Service loans a variety of films on subjects such as
the history of taxes, how a tax return is processed, taxpayer rights, and how to
organize a business for tax purposes. For a free film listing and information,
contact your local IRS office or: Public Affairs Division, Internal Revenue
Service, Department of the Treasury, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20224/202-566-6860.

Foreign Relations History – four-part color film series, 30 minutes each, with
accompanying discussion guides, may be bought or borrowed without charge. The
series starts with the militia diplomacy of the Revolution and ends with the
development of U.S. foreign policy through 1975. Contact: Films Officer,
Office of Public Communication, Public Affairs, Department of State, 2201 C
Street NW, Room 4827A, Washington, DC 20250/202-632-8203.

Youth Oriented Films – free booklet listing films, both informative and
educational, for youth organizations is available from the Air Force. The
films, on topics from expert motorcycle riding to space communications, as well
as Air Force history, may be borrowed. For a copy of the booklet, “Air Force
Films for National Youth Groups,” contact: Aerospace Audio-Visual Service,
United States Air Force Central Audio-Visual Library, Norton Air Force Base, CA
92409-6518/714-382-2307.

Firewood

Firewood, for personal use, is available for a minimal fee from 155 National
Forests in the U.S. A local forest ranger will identify the fallen and dead
wood which can be cut and/or carried away. Contact your local Forest Service
Office for a free fact sheet. For a map showing Forest Service land write:
Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 2417, Washington, DC
20013/202-447-3957.

Food Buying

You will find the 2 publications described below helpful. Order from: Consumer
Information Center, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO 81002.

Making Food Dollars Count (409N, 50 cents) a two-week plan, including recipes,
to help the shopper on a limited budget meet nutritional needs.

How to Buy Economically: A Food Buyer’s Guide (436N, 50 cents) this provides
advice about how to cut costs on meat, poultry, eggs, milk, fruits and
vegetables. It identifies months during which you can get the best buys on a
variety of fruits and vegetables.

Funeral Information

A booklet entitled Consumer Guide to the FTC Funeral Rule (425N, 50 cents)
explains your legal right to information concerning prices and options of
funeral services. Available from: Consumer Information Center, P.O. Box 100,
Pueblo, CO 81002.

Future Trends

What’s Next is a free bimonthly newsletter reporting about social, technical and
political trends that could be important in the future. It is written to help
Congressional Representatives think about the future as they prepare
legislation. You too can subscribe by contacting: Your U.S. Congressional
Representative’s office and asking his/her staff to place you on the
newsletter’s mailing list.

Employment Roadmaps

The Congressional Caucus for Science and Technology, established to serve
members of Congress, can tell you about the impact of science and technology on
training and retraining. The Caucus plans to develop Employment Roadmaps which
will highlight employment opportunities, as well as training and educational
requirements, for current and prospective jobs. Staff can answer questions
about high tech related legislation and they will refer science and technology
oriented inquiries to the Caucus’ research arm, the Research Institute for
Space, Science and Technology. Contact: Congressional Caucus for Science and
Technology, House Annex Building 2, H2-226, 2nd and D Streets SW, Washington, DC
20515/202-226-7788.

Great Outdoors

The free catalogue Recreation and Outdoor Activities (SB-017) is a listing of
Federal government publications on biking, water sports, national recreation
areas, winter activities and more. Available from: Superintendent of
Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402/202-783-3238

Handicrafts

A pamphlet containing information and a bibliography about crafts, both as an
art and as a business, is available free of charge from: U.S. Small Business
Administration, 1441 L Street NW, Washington, DC or your local SBA office.

Hotline to The President

Call 456-7198 in DC area or 800-424-9090 elsewhere to hear the President
announce the latest news from the White House.

How to Strike It Rich in the Government Oil and Gas Lottery

Individuals can participate in public lotteries which offer the rights to
extract oil and gas from federally owned land. For an application and further
information contact: Bureau of Land Management, Department of Interior, 18th
and C Street NW, Room 3560, Washington, DC 20240/202-343-5717.

Exercise and Your Heart

This free booklet explains the relationship between exercise and a healthy heart
and it offers practical information about what you can do to improve your heart.
Available from: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Information Office,
Building 31, Room 4A21, Bethesda, MD 20205.

Information Guides

The Library of Congress has published more than 100 Tracer Bullets, which are
reference guides designed to help a reader begin to locate information on a
subject about which he or she has only a general knowledge. Examples of these
bullets are listed below. Each cites books, reports, periodicals, abstracting
services and organizations for a particular topic.

To order a bullet or obtain further information contact: Science and Technology
Division, Reference Section, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540/
202-287-5580. Biotechnology, Japanese Science and Technology, Alcoholism,
Extraterrestrial Life, Women in the Sciences, Manned Space Flight, Personal
Computing/Home Computers, Aging, Stress: Physiological and Psychological
Aspects, Human Diet and Nutrition, Chemical and Biological Warfare,

Insomnia (579N) This freebie covers the common causes of sleeplessness and ways
to cope without medication. For a copy, write: Consumer Information Center,
P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO 81002.

International Youth Exchange Programs

Your Guide to International Youth Exchange (512N) lists guidelines for selecting
the right exchange program as a student, host family, or community volunteer.
The guide also contains a directory of selected programs and services. The
64-page publication is available free of charge from: Consumer Information
Center, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO 81002.

Depression and Manic-Depressive Illness

This publication describes the wide range of depression states, the biological
factors related to depression and the treatments available. To obtain a free
copy write: Information Office, National Institutes of Health, Clinical Center,
Room 5C305, Bethesda, MD 20205.

Mailing Help

All you ever wanted to know about certified mail, forwarding mail, express mail,
return receipts, postage meters, COD, and much more is described in a free
21-page booklet called A Consumer’s Directory of Postal Services and Products.
Copies can be obtained from your local post office or by writing to: Consumer
Information Center, Department 532, Pueblo, CO 81009.

Medical Care Free or Low-Cost at 5,000 Places Nationwide

Call 800-638-0742 in Maryland or 800-492-0359 elsewhere for information about
free and low-cost care in hospitals and other health facilities nationwide.
Staff will send you a list of facilities in your area participating in the
federal Hill-Burton Free Care Program. They will also send you a brochure
describing eligibility guidelines and advise you about filing any questions you
have about the program or care you may have received. Information can also be
obtained by writing: BHMORD-JRSA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD (Note:
Residents of Alaska and Hawaii must write for information, as the toll-free
numbers do not service either state.)

Menstrual Discomforts

A freebie entitled Doing Something About Menstrual Discomforts (574N) discusses
common problems related to menstruation and treatments, including a list of
non-prescription drugs that relieve specific symptoms. Write: Consumer
Information Center, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, CO 81002.

Mental Health Services

A Consumer’s Guide to Mental Health Services (544N) provides information on
services ranging from financial aid to different kinds of therapy. The 21-page
guide is available by writing: Consumer Information Center. P.O. Box 100,
Pueblo, CO 81002.

Military Service Records

You can obtain the service record of anyone who retired from the U.S. Military
75 or more years ago. Under certain circumstances you can also obtain
information about individuals who retired earlier. A free booklet describing
the process for obtaining these records is available from: Public Affairs
Office, Department of Defense, Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301/202-697-5737.

Mining, Prospecting and Drilling on Public Lands

Prospecting is still possible! You can look for and mine “hard rock” minerals
on public lands administered by the federal government. You can also lease
certain public lands to obtain oil, gas, coal, geothermal resources, and other
mineral products. For information and free publications about this opportunity,
contact the local offices of your U.S. Forest Service (USDA), or Bureau of Land
Management (Department of Interior). You can also contact: United States
Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, 12th and Independence Avenue
SW, P.O. Box 2417, Washington, DC 20013/703-235-8010.

Missing and Exploited Children Resources Guide

A free publication entitled Directory of Support Services and Resources for
Missing and Exploited Children describes nonprofit or public support groups
throughout the country dedicated to assisting missing and exploited children and
their parents. For a copy contact: National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, 1835 K Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20006/202-634-9821.

Missing Persons Locator

Both the Social Security Administration and the U.S. military offer locator
services. The Social Security Administration will help you locate a missing
parent, lost child or other close relative as long as your reasons are humane.
To activate the search, write a letter to your missing person and send it with
as much personal information as possible, e.g. date of birth and place of
residence, to the Social Security Administration. If the Administration can
locate the person in its files, it will forward your letter to him or her. The
Administration will not, however, give you the missing person’s current address.
For further information contact your local Social Security Information Office
or send your missing person letter, along with pertinent information to: Social
Security Administration, Public Inquiries, Department of Health and Human
Services, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235/301-594-5970.

Past and present military personnel trying to locate someone who is, or has
been, in the military? Each branch of the Armed Services has a worldwide
locator number you can call for information. The operator needs the full name,
and if available the birth date and Social Security number, of the military
person you are trying to locate. This service is free for military personnel or
members of the immediate family. All other users must pay a fee of $2.85 and
submit their request by mail.

Air Force 512-652-5774
Mailing Address:AF MPC/MPC D003
9504 IH 35 N
San Antonio, TX 78233-6636
(Make checks payable to Air Force, Randolph Air Force Base)

Army 317-542-3647
Mailing Address:USAEREC
ATTN: Locator Branch
Ft.Harrison, IN 46249-5301
(Make check payable to U.S. Treasurer)

Marine Corps 202-694-1861
Mailing Address:CMC MMRB-10
HQs U.S. Marine Corps
Washington, DC 20380
(Make checks payable to the U.S. Treasury)

Navy 202-694-3155
Mailing Address:To find non-family members:
Naval Military Personnel Command N 0216
Washington, DC 20370-5021

To find a family member: Naval Military Personnel Command N 036CC Washington,
DC 20370-5021 DC 20370-5036 (Make checks payable to the U.S. Treasury)

Office Automation and Working Women: Issues for the Decade Ahead

This publication discusses the most important issues women workers face in the
electronic office. Single copies can be obtained free of charge. There is a
nominal fee for multiple copies. Contact: Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210 (202)523-6611

Overseas Travel Programs for Americans

The United States Information Agency (USIA) will pay American experts, who can
contribute to foreign societies’ understanding of the United States, to travel
abroad and participate in seminars, colloquia or symposia. Subjects covered by
American participants have included economics, international relations, U.S.
social and political processes, arts and humanities, and science and technology.
A free booklet American Participants, which describes the program, is
available. Contact: American Participants, Office of Program Coordination and
Development, U.S.I.A., 1750 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room 200, Washington, DC
20547/202-724-1900.

Pamphlets Unlimited

The free leaflet Vacations Unlimited! catalogs many low-cost ($2.25 – $7.00)
travel publications available from the Federal Government. Available from:
Vacations Unlimited!, Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington, DC 20402/202-783-3238.

nder certain circumstances you can also obtain
information about individuals who retired earli

0

A Severe Strain On The Credulity (Reprint Of 1920 Editorial)

A Severe Strain on the Credulity

As a method of sending a missile to the higher, and even to the highest
parts of the earth’s atmospheric envelope, Professor Goddard’s rocket
is a practicable and therefore promising device. It is when one
considers the multiple-charge rocket as a traveler to the moon that one
begins to doubt … for after the rocket quits our air and really
starts on its journey, its flight would be neither accelerated nor
maintained by the explosion of the charges it then might have left.
Professor Goddard, with his “chair” in Clark College and countenancing
of the Smithsonian Institution, does not know the relation of action to
re-action, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum
against which to react … Of course he only seems to lack the
knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.
— New York Times Editorial, 1920

0

Collection Of Varied And Miscellaneous Abbreviations

2D 2-Dimensional
3D 3-Dimensional
3M Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing
4GL Fourth Generation Language
4H Head, Heart, Hands, Health
4WD Four wheel Drive (see also FWD)
A Aftermath
AA Affirmative Action committee
AA Alcoholics Anonymous
AA Antiaircraft Artillery
AA Associate in Accounting
A&A Astronomy and Astrophysics [Space]
AA Automobile Association [England]
AAA American Automobile Association
AAAL American Academy of Arts and Letters
AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science
AAII American Association of Individual Investors
AAMSI American Association for Medical Systems Informatics
AAO Anglo-Australian Observatory [Space]
AAP Affirmative Action Program
AARC Anglo-American Cataloging Rules
AARN Australian Academic Research Network [Networking]
AARP American Association of Retired Persons
AAS American Astronomical Society [Space]
AAVSO American Association of Variable Star Observers [Space]
AB ABle seaman
ABA American Bar Association
ABA American Basketball Association
ABA American Booksellers Association
ABBR ABBReviation
ABC American Broadcasting Company [Corporate name]
AC Alternating Current (ac, see also DC)
AC Ante Christum (before Christ)
AC Ante Cibum (before meals)
ACAA Agricultural Conservation and Adjustment Administration
ACAWS Advisory, Caution, And Warning System
ACBL American Contract Bridge League
ACC Argonne Code Center
ACCS Army Command and Control System
ACD Automatic Call Distributor [Telephony]
ACE Advanced Composition Explorer [Space]
ACE Advanced Computing Environments [Corporate name]
ACE Automatic Calibration and Equalization
ACHEFT Automated ClearingHouse Electronic Funds Transfer
ACK ACKnowledge
ACL Advanced Cmos Logic
ACLU American Civil Liberties Union
ACM Association for Computing Machinery
ACRV Assured Crew Return Vehicle (or) Astronaut Crew Rescue Vehicle [Space]
ACS Advanced Communications System
ACSE Association Control Service Entity (ISO/CCITT layer 7)
ACT Action for Children’s Television (in Cambridge, MA)
ACT American Conservatory Theater
ACTS Advanced Communications Technology Satellite
ACTS Automatic Coin Telephone Service [Telephony]
ACU Alarm Control Unit
ACU Automatic Call Unit [Telephony]
ACW Alternating Continuous Waves
AD After Date
A/D Analog to Digital converter (see ADC)
AD Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord)
AD Application Development
Ad Astra To the stars [Latin, Space]
ADAP Alzheimer’s disease-associated protein
ADAP American Discount Auto Parts [Corporate name]
ADB A DeBugger
ADB Apple Desktop Bus
ADC Analog to Digital Converter
ADCI Automatic Display Call Indicator
AD&D Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
ADF Automatic Direction Finder
ADM ADMiral
ADP Adenosine Di-Phosphate
ADP Administrative Data Processing
ADP Advanced Data Processing
ADPCM Pulse Code Modulation with Adaptive Quantization
ADS Application Development System
ADSR Attack Decay Sustain Release
ADT Abstract Data Type
ADT Atlantic Daylight Time
AE Application Execution
AEA American Electronics Association
AEC Atomic Energy Commission
AEF American Expeditionary Force (see BEF)
AEGIS Advanced Electronic Guidance and Instrumentation System
AF Adventures in Fantasy
AF Air Force
AF Audio Frequency
AFADS Automatic Force Adjustment Data System
AFATDS Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System
AFB Air Force Base
AFC American Football Conference
AFC Automatic Flight Control
AFC Automatic Frequency Control
AFCAC Air Force Computer Acquisition Center
AFCC Air Force Communications Command
AFGE American Federation of Government Employees
AFIPS American Federation of Information Processing Societies
AFL American Federation of Labor
AFL American Football League
AFLCIO American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
AFNOR Association Francaise de NORmalization
AFP Appletalk Filing Protocol
AFS Andrew File System
AFSC Air Force Systems Command
AFSCME American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
AFTRA American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
AG Adjutant General
AG Arcade Game
AG Attorney General
AGCT Army General Classification Test
AGN Active Galactic Nucleus [Space]
AHL American Hockey League
AHQ Air HeadQuarters
AI Artificial Intelligence
AIAA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics [Space]
AIC Automatic Intercept Center
AID Agency for International Development
AIDDE Ames’ Interactive Dynamic Display Editor
AIDS Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome
AIOD Automatic Identification Outward Dialing
AIS Automatic Intercept System
AIX Advanced Interactive eXecutive (IBM’s name for UNIX)
AJ Astronomical Journal [Space]
AK Alaska
AKA Also Known As
AL Alabama [US state postal designation]
AL American League (baseball)
ALA American Library Association
ALA Automobile Legal Association
ALBM Air-to-Land Ballistic Missile
ALC Automatic Load Control
ALGOL ALGOrithmic Language
ALIT Automatic Line Insulation Testing [Telephony]
ALPO Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers [Space]
ALS Advanced Launch System [Space]
ALU Arithmetic Logic Unit
A&M Agricultural and Mechanical
AM Amplitude Modulation
AM Ante Meridiem (before noon)
AMA American Medical Association
AMA Automatic Message Accounting [Telephony]
AMARC Automatic Message Accounting Recording Center
AMBA Association of Master of Business Administration
AMC Albany Medical College
AMC American Motors Corporation(?) [Corporate name]
AMC Appalachian Mountain Club
AMD Advanced Micro Devices [Corporate name]
AMEX AMerican EXpress [Corporate name]
AMI Alternate Mark Inversion (see also NRZ, NRZI, B8ZS)
AMORC Ancient Mystic Order Rosae Crucis
AMP Adenosine MonoPhosphate
AMPAS Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
AMPAS Acedemy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
AMRAAM Advanced Medium Range Air-To-Air Missile
AMROC American Rocket Company [Space]
AMSAT radio AMateur SATellite corp.
AMU Atomic Mass Unit
AMVET AMerican VETeran
ANA American Nurses Association
ANAC Automatic Number Announcemnt Circuit [Telephony]
ANC All Number Calling [Telephony]
ANC Army Nurse Corps
ANDF Architecture-Neural Distribution Format
ANF Automatic Number Forwarding [Telephony]
ANG Air National Guard
ANI Automatic Number Identification (see also: CLID) [Telephony]
ANL Argonne National Laboratory
ANOVA ANalysis Of VAriance
ANPA American Newspaper Publishers Association
ANSI American National Standards Institute
ANZUS Australia, New Zealand, United States
AO Account Of
AOA Abort Once Around [NASA, Shuttle]
AOA Abort Once Around (Shuttle abort plan) [Space]
AOL Absent Over Leave (see AWOL)
AOS Academic Operating System
AOS Alternate Operator Service [Telephony]
A/P Accounts Payable
AP Additional Premium
AP All Points
AP Associated Press [Corporate name]
APA All Points Addressable
APA American Psychological Association
APB All Points Bulletin
APDA Apple Programmers and Developers Association
API Application Programming Interface
APICS American Production and Inventory Control Society
Ap.J Astrophysical Journal [Space]
APL A Programming Language
APL acute promyelocytic leukemia [Disease]
APO Alpha Phi Omega, service fraternity
APO Army Post Office
APP Applications Portability Profile
APPC Advanced Peer-to-Peer Communications
APR Annual Percentage Rate (as in loan interest)
APSE Ada Programming Support Environment
APU Auxiliary Power Unit [Space]
AQ Accumulator-Quotient register
A/R Accounts Receivable
AR Address Register
AR Arkansas
ARC AIDS-related complex
ARC American Red Cross
ARC Ames Research Center (NASA) [Space]
ARCNET Attached Resource Computer local area NETwork
ARO After Receipt of Order
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
ARPA Advanced Research Projects Agency (of the DoD, see DARPA)
ARPANET ARPA (q.v.) NETwork
ARRL Amateur Radio Relay League
ARV American Revised Version
AS Anglo-Saxon
ASA Acetyl Salicylic Acid
ASAP As Soon As Possible
ASC Accredited Standards Committee
ASCAP American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
ASCC Automatic Sequence-Controlled Calculator
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASDIC Anti-Submarine Detection Investigation Committee (British for sonar)
ASDSP Application-Specific Digital Signal Processor
ASG Automated Sciences Group
ASHRAE Amer. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-cond. Engineers, inc.
ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit
ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ASN Abstract Syntax Notation One (ISO/CCITT ASN.1)
ASP Aggregated Switch Procurement
ASRM Advanced Solid Rocket Motor [Space]
ASSR Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
AST Atlantic Standard Time
ASV American Standard Version
AT Atlantic Time
ATA Automatic Trouble Analysis
ATACC Advanced Tactical Air Command Central
ATB Advanced Technology Bomber (stealth bomber)
ATC Air Traffic Control
ATDRS Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite [Space]
ATF Advanced Technology Fighter
ATIS Atherton Tools Interface Specification
ATLAS Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science [Space]
ATM Amateur Telescope Maker [Space]
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
ATM Automatic Teller Machine
ATO Abort To Orbit [NASA, Shuttle]
ATO Abort To Orbit (Shuttle abort plan) [Space]
ATOMS AT&t Optimized Materials Simulator
ATP Adenosine TriPhosphate
ATPCO Airline Tariff Publishing COmpany
AT&T American Telephone & Telegraph [Corporate name]
ATT American Telephone & Telegraph (normally written AT&T when seperate)
ATTIS American Telephone and Telegraph Information Systems [AT&T] (Division)
ATV All Terrain Vehicle
AU Astronomical Unit (93,000,000 miles) [Space]
AU Astronomical Unit [Space]
AUI Attachment Universal Interface
AURA Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy [Space]
AUS Army of the United States
AUTODIN AUTOmatic DIgital Network
AUTOVON AUTOmatic VOice Network
AV AudioVisual
AVLIS Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation
AWACS Airborne Warnings And Control Systems
AWEA American Wind Energy Association
AWK al Aho, peter Weinberger, brian Kernighan (pattern scanning language)
AWOL Absent WithOut Leave (also Absent Without Official Leave) (see AOL)
AW&ST Aviation Week and Space Technology (a.k.a. AvLeak) [Space]
AXAF Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility [Space]
AZ Arizona
B Book
B8ZS Binary 8 Zero Substitution (see also NRZ, NRZI, AMI)
BA Bachelor of Arts
BACH Business Alliance for Commerce in Hemp
BAFO Best And Final Offer
BARRNet Bay Area Regional Research Network (SF Bay Area)
BASIC Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
BATSE Burst And Transient Source Experiment (on GRO) [Space]
BB Bases on Balls
BB Best of Breed
BB Bunnies and Burrows
BBA Bachelor of Business Administration
BBB Better Business Bureau
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
BBL Barrel
BBN Bolt, Beranek, and Newman, Inc. [Corporate name]
BBXRT Broad-Band X-Ray Telescope (ASTRO package) [Space]
BC Battlecars
BC Before Christ
BC British Columbia
BC/BS Blue Cross/Blue Shield
BCD Bad Conduct Discharge
BCD Binary Coded Decimal
BCDIC Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
BCE Before the Common Era (substitute for BC)
BCNU Be Seeing You [Net jargon]
BCP Byte Controlled Protocols
BCPL Basic Combined Programming Language
BCS Bachelor of Commercial Science
BCS Binary Compatibility Standard
BCS Boston Computer Society
BCS British Computer Society
BD Bachelor of Divinity
BD Bank Draft
BD Bills Discounted
BD&D Basic Dungeons & Dragons
BDF Binary Distribution Format
BDT Billing Data Transmitter
BE Bill of Exchange
BEF British Expeditionary Force (see AEF)
BELCORE BELL COmmunications REsearch
BEM Bug Eyed Monster
BEM Bug-Eyed Monster [Space]
BENELUX BElgium, NEtherlands, and LUXembourg
BER Bit Error Rate
BERT Bit Error Rate Test
BEST Borland Enhanced Support and Training
BF Brought Forward
BFA Bachelor of Fine Arts
BFD Bristol (RI) Fire Department (probably typical of any town starting “B”)
BH Black Hole [Space]
BH Boot Hill
BHP Brake HorsePower
BICS Building Industry Consulting Services [Telephony]
BID Bis In Die (twice a day)
BIMA Berkeley Illinois Maryland Array [Space]
BIOS Basic Input Output System
BIS Business Information System
BISDN Broadband ISDN (q.v.) [Telephony]
BiSync Binary Synchronous Communications (BSC is preferred) [IBM]
Bit BInary digiT
BITNET Because It’s Time Network
BLAST BLocked ASynchronous Transmission
BLERT BLock Error Rate Test
BLF Busy Lamp Field [Telephony]
BLT Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato (sandwich)
BLT BLock Transfer [Instruction]
BLT Branch Less Than [Instruction]
BM Basal Metabolism
BM Bowel Movement
BMA Bank Marketing Association
BMEWS Ballistic Missile Early Warning
BMO Ballistic Missile Office
BMOC Big Man On Campus
BMR Basal Metabolism Rate
BNC Bayonet Neill Concelman (connector) [Electronics] (see also TNC)
BNF Bachus-Naur Form
BO Body Odor
BO Branch Office
BO Buyer’s Option
BOC Bell Operating Company
BOD Board Of Directors
BOF Birds Of a Feather
BOM Bill Of Materials
BOOTP Bootstrap Protocol [Internet]
BOQ Bachelor Officers’ Quarters
BOS Business Office Supervisor
BOSIX Biin Open System Interface eXtension
BP Blood Pressure
BP British Petroleum
BP British Pharmacopoeia
BPI Bits Per Inch
BPL Boston Public Library
BPL Branch if PLus [Instruction]
BPOE Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
BPS Bits Per Second
BR Bills Receivable
BR British Rail
BRA Boston Redevelopment Authority
BRI Basic Rate Interface (ISDN) [Telephony]
BRIEF Basic Reconfigurable Interactive Editing Facility
BRL army Ballistic Research Laboratory
BRS Bibliographic Retrieval Service
BS Bachelor of Science
BS Bill of Sale
BSA Birmingham Small Arms
BSA Boy Scouts of America
BSc Bachelor of SCience
BSC Binary Synchronous Communications (also sometimes BiSync) [IBM]
BSD Berkeley Software Distribution
BSN Bachelor of Science in Nursing
BSS Block Started by Symbol
BSTJ Bell System Technical Journal
BT British Telecom
BTAM Basic Telecommunications Access Method [IBM]
BThU British Thermal Unit (BTU {q.v.} is preferred)
BTL Bell Telephone Laboratories
BTO Bachman Turner Overdrive
BTU British Thermal Unit
BTW By The Way [Net jargon]
BU Boston University
BUF B-52 bomber (“Big Ugly Fellow”) [USAF]
BV Blessed Virgin
BWI Baltimore-Washington International (airport)
BWI British West Indies
BX Base eXchange (see also PX)
c centi- (metric 1/100)
C programming language (successor to B, which was based on BCPL)
CA California
CA Chartered Accountant
CA Chief Accountant
CA Chronological Age
CA Collision Avoidance (as in CSMA/CA (q.v.))
CAB Civil Aeronautics Board
CACM Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery
CAD Computer Aided Design (sometimes seen as CAD/CAM)
CAD Computer Aided Dispatching
CAE Common Applications Environment
CAE Computer Aided Engineering
CAI Computer Aided Instruction
CAIS Common Apse Interface Specification
CALS Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support
CAM Computer Aided Management
CAM Computer Aided Manufacturing (sometimes seen as CAD/CAM)
CAM Content Addressable Memory
CAMA Centralized Automatic Message Accounting [Telephony]
CAMP Campaign Against Marijuana Planting
CAP Civil Air Patrol
CAP Columbia Appletalk Package
CAR Contents of the Address part of the Register (LISP)
CARE Committee on American Relief in Europe
CARP California Air Resources Board
CASE Computer Aided Software Engineering
CASSIS Classification and Search Support Information System
CAT Computer-Aided Tomography
CATIS Common Applications and Tools Integration Services
CATV Common Antenna TeleVision
CATV Community Antenna TeleVision
CAVU Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited
CB Citizens Band radio
CBC Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
CBD Cash Before Delivery
CBD Commerce Business Daily
CBEMA Computer & Business Equipment Manufacturers Association
CBR Chemical, Biological, Radiological warfare
CBS Columbia Broadcasting System [Corporate name]
CBW Chemical and Biological Warfare
CC C (language) Compiler
CC Carbon Copy
CCA Computer Corporation of America [Corporate name]
CCAFS Cape Canaveral Air Force Station [Space]
CCC Canadian Committee on Cataloging
CCC Civil(ian) Conservation Corps
CCC Command, Control, and Communications (sometimes C^3)
CCC Concourse Computer Center [MIT]
CCCCM CCC CounterMeasures (sometimes C^3CM)
CCCI Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence
CCD Charge Coupled Device (see CID)
CCD Charge-Coupled Device [Space]
CCDS Centers for the Commercial Development of Space [Space]
CCF Hundred Cubic Feet
CCI Computer Carrier Interrupt
CCI Computer Consoles, Incorporated
CCIP Continuously Computed Impact Point
CCIRN Coordinating Committee for Intercontinental Research Networking
CCIS Common Channel Interoffice Signaling [Telephony]
CCITT Comite’ Consultatif International Telegraphique et Telephonique
CCITT Consultative Committee on International Telephony and Telegraphy
CCITT International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee
CCR Commitment, Concurrency, and Recovery
CCR Creedence Clearwater Revival [Music]
CCRI Community College of Rhode Island [Corporate name]
CCRP Continuously Computed Release Point
CCS Hundred Call Seconds [Telephony]
CCS7 Common Channel Signalling (version #7) [Telephony, AT&T]
CCSA Common Control Switching Arrangement [Telephony]
CCTA Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency
CCTV Closed Circuit TeleVision
CD Carrier Detect (properly DCD (q.v.)) (EIA RS-232-C)
CD Certificate of Deposit
CD Civil Defense
CD Collision Detection (as in CSMA/CD (q.v.))
CD Compact Disk
CDA Call Data Accumulator
CDA Compound Documents Architecture
CDC Centers for Disease Control
CDC Control Data Corporation, Inc. [Corporate name]
CDEV Control panel DEVice
CDIAC Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center
CDO Community Dial Office
CDR CommanDeR
CDR Contents of the Decrement part of the Register (LISP)
CD-ROM Compact Disk Read Only Memory
CD-ROM Compact Disk Read-Only Memory [Space]
CDSF Commercially Developed Space Facility
CDT Central Daylight Time
CDU Control Display Unit
CE Chemical Engineer
CE Civil Engineer
CE Common Era (substitute for AD)
CE Corps of Engineers
CE Customer Engineer (see also FE, SE)
CEA Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique (Frenc Atomic Energy Commision)
CEA Council of Economic Advisors
CEA County Education Authority
CEC Commission of the European Communities
CED Committee for Economic Development
CELSS Controlled Ecological Life Support System [Space]
CENS Centre d’Etudes Nucleaires de Seclay
CENTO CENtral Treaty Organization
CEO Chief Executive Officer
CERFnet California Education and Research Federation Network
CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research
CERN organisation (formerly Conseil) Europeenne pour la Recherche Nucleaires
CERT Computer Emergency Response Team
CEVI Common Equipment Voltage Indicator
CF Carry Forward
CF Coin First (payphone) [Telephony]
CF Cystic Fibrosis [Disease]
CFA Center For Astrophysics [Space]
CFC Chloro-FluoroCarbon [Chemical]
CFC Combined Federal Campaign
CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics
CFHT Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope [Space]
CFI Cost, Freight, and Insurance
CFL Canadian Football League
CFO Chief Financial Officer
CG Coast Guard
CG Commanding General
CGA Color Graphics Adapter
CGCT Compagnie Generale de Constructions Telephoniques
CG&E Cincinnati Gas & Electric
CGE Compagnie Generale d’Electricite
CH Cardboard Heroes
CH ClearingHouse
CH CourtHouse
CH Customs House
CHA Champions
CHAP CHAnnel Processor
CHARA Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy [Space]
CHI Chill: Adventures into the Unknown
CHOTS Corporate Headquarters Office Technology System
CHP California Highway Patrol
CI Cubic Inches
CIA Central Intelligence Agency [US Government]
CIA Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY)
CIC Carrier Identification Codes [Telephony] (10XXX codes)
CIC Committee on Institutional Cooperation
CIC Coordination and Information Center [CSNet]
CICA Competition in Contracting Act
CICS Customer Information Control System [IBM]
CID Caller ID [Telephony] (see also: CLID, ANI)
CID Central Institute for the Deaf
CID Charge Injection Device (see CCD)
CID Computer Integrated Design
CIDIN Common Icao Data Interchange Network
CIM Computer Integrated Manufacturing
CIO Chief Information Officer
CIRRIS Cryogenic InfraRed Radiance Instrument for Shuttle [Space]
CISC Complex Instruction Set Computer
Cislunar The space between the Earth and the Moon
CIT California Institute of Technology
CIT Case Institute of Technology (part of CWRU, Cleveland, OH)
CIT Circumstellar Imaging Telescope [Space]
CLASP Comprehensive Logistics Automated Support Program
CLASS Custom Local Area Signaling Service [Telephony]
CLI Command Line Interpreter
CLID Calling Line ID [Telephony] (see also: CID, ANI)
CLNP Connectionless-mode Network Protocol
CLNS Connectionless-mode Network Service
CLR Combined Line and Recording
CLRC Circuit Layout Record Card
CLU Chartered Life Underwriter
CLUT Color LookUp Table
cm centimeters
CM Command Module (Apollo spacecraft) [Space]
CM Congregation of the Mission
CMC Communication Machinery Corp.
CMD Centralized Message Distribution
CMIP Common Management Information Protocol
CMIS Common Management Information Services
CML Current Model Logic
CMMU Cache/Memory Management Unit
CMOS Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (see MOS)
CMOT Common Management Information Services and Protocol Over TCP/IP
CMRR Common Mode Rejection Ratio
CMS Circuit Maintenance System
CMSgt Chief Master Sergeant
CMU Carnegie-Mellon University
CMYK Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK
CN Canadian National [Corporate name, Railroading]
CN/A Customer Name / Address [Telephony]
CNI Common Network Interface [Telephony, AT&T] (Department of AT&T)
CNN Cable News Network
CNO Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen [Space]
CNO Chief of Naval Operations
CNR Canadian National Railways
CNR Carrier to Noise Ratio
CNRI Corporation for National Research Initiatives
CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (French National Center for Scientific Research)
CNS Central Nervous System
CNSR Comet Nucleus Sample Return [Space]
CO Cash Order
CO Central Office [Telephony]
CO Colorado
CO Commanding Officer
CO Conscientious Objector
C/O in Care Of
COB Close Of Business
COBE COsmic Background Explorer [Space]
COBOL COmmon Business Oriented Language
COC Call of Cthulhu
COCOT Customer Owned, Coin Operated Telephone [Telephony]
COD Collect On Delivery; Cash On Delivery
CODEC COder-DECoder
COER Central Office Equipment Report
COLA Cost-Of-Living Allowance
COM Computer Output (on) Microfiche
COM Computer Output (on) Microfilm
COMAS Central Office Maintenance and Administration System
COMM Communications
COMPACT COMmercial Product ACquisition Team
COMPTEL COMPton TELescope (on GRO) [Space]
COMSAT Communications Satellite [Space]
CONACYT Consejo Nacional de Cienca Y Tecnologia (Mexican National Council of Science and Technology)
CONS Connection-Oriented Networking Service
CONS Connection-Oriented Networking Session
CONS CONStruct (LISP)
CORE COntrolled Requirement Expression
CORN COmputer Resource Nucleus
COS Corporation for Open Systems
COSINE Cooperation for Open Systems Interconnection Networking in Europe
COSMIC COmmon System Main InterConnecting frame
COSMIC COmputer Software Management and Information Center
COSMOS COmputer System for Mainframe OperationS
COSTAR Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement [Space]
COT Card Or Tape (NCR)
CP Campus Police (MIT, others probably too)
CP Canadian Pacific
CP Chemically Pure
CP Command Post
CP Command Processor
CP CoPy
CP the Canadian Press
CPA Certified Public Accountant
CPE Customer Premises Equipment
CPE Customer Provided Equipment
CPFF Cost Plus Fixed Fee
CPI Characters Per Inch
CPI Common Programming Interface
CPL Combined Programming Language
CPM Control Program for Microcomputers (sometimes CP/M)
CPM Control Program Monitor (sometimes CP/M)
CPO Chief Petty Officer
CPO Chief Post Office
CPR Canadian Pacific Railway
CPS Characters Per Second
CPSR Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
CPT CaPTain
CPU Central Processing Unit
CPW Certified Public Weigher
CQ Change of Quarters
CR Carriage Return (ASCII 15 octal)
CRA Cambridge Redevelopment Authority
CRAF Comet Rendezvous / Asteroid Flyby [Space]
CRAM Card Random Access Memory (NCR, but maybe others)
CRC Chemical Rubber Company
CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check
CREG Concentrated Range Extension with Gain
CREN The Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (merge of BITNET and CSNet)
CRRES Combined Release / Radiation Effects Satellite [Space]
CRRES Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite [NASA]
CRT Cathode Ray Tube (also generic reference to a terminal)
CRTC Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
C&S Chivalry & Sorcery
CS Civil Servant
CS Computer Science; Computing Science
CS County Seat
CSA Confederate States of America
CSAB Computing Sciences Accreditation Board
CSACS Centralized Status, Alarm and Control System
CSC Computer Sciences Corporation
CSDC Circuit Switched Digital Capability
CSF Critical Success Factor
CSI Commercial Systems Integration
CSIS Canadian Security and Intelligence Service
CSL Coin Supervising Link
CSM Command and Service Module (Apollo spacecraft) [Space]
CSM Command Sergeant Major
CSMA Carrier Sense Multiple Access
CSMA/CA Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance
CSMA/CD Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection
CSNET Computer + Science Network (merged with BITNET to make CREN)
CSO Central Services Organization
CSOC Consolidated Space Operations Center (at Colorado Springs)
CSP Control Switching Point
CSR Control and Status Register
CSR Customer Service Representative [Telephony]
CSRG Computer Systems Research Group
CSRS civil Service Retirement System
CSS Customer Switching System
CST Central Standard Time
CSU Channel Service Unit
CT Central Time
C&T Communications & Tracking [Space]
CT Connecticut
CTC Canadian Transport Commission
CTC Centralized Traffic Control [Railroading]
CTD Computing and Telecommunications Division
CTIO Cerro Tololo Inter-american Observatory
CTIO Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory [Space]
CTNE Compania Telefonica Nacional de Espana
CTS Clear To Send (EIA RS-232-C)
CTS Compatible Timesharing System
CTV Canadian TeleVision network
CU Close-Up
CUA Common User Access
CUL See You Later [Net jargon]
CV Curriculum Vitae
CW Car Wars
CW Chemical Warfare
CW Child Welfare
CW Churchwarden
CW Churdwarden
CW Continuous Wave
CWO Cash With Order
CWO Chief Warrant Officer
CWRU Case Western Reserve University
CXI Common X-windows Interface
CY Calendar Year
CYO Catholic Youth Organization
CZ Canal Zone
D Depth
DA Days after Acceptance
DA Department of Agriculture
DA Deposit Account
D/A Digital to Analog converter
DA Directory Assistance (/C = computerized, /M = Microfilm) [Telephony]
DA District Attorney
DA Don’t Answer [Telephony] (may be more general)
DAC Digital to Analog Converter
DA/C Directory Assistance/Computerized
DACCS Digital Access Cross Connect System [Telephony] (suspect, see DACS)
DACS Digital Access Cross-connect System [Telephony]
DAD Draft ADdendum
DAG Directed Acyclic Graph
DAL Dedicated Access Line [Telephony]
DA/M Directory Assistance/Microfilm
DAP Division Advisory Panel (of NSF (q.v.) DNCRI (q.v.))
DAR Daughters of the American Revolution
DARE Drug Abuse Resistance Education
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (of the DoD, see also ARPA)
DASD Direct Access Storage Device
DAT Digital Audio Tape
DATA Defense Air Transport Administration
DAV Disabled American Veterans
DB DataBase
db decibel(s)
dba doing business as
DBF DBase Format
DBME DataBase Managment Environment
dbms DataBase Management System (rdbms for Relational …)
DBRAD Data Base Relational Application Directory
DC Direct Current (dc, see also AC)
DC District of Columbia
DCA Defense Communications Agency
DCA Distributed Communication Architecture
DCA Document Content Architecture
DCC Descriptive Cataloging Committee
DCCO Defense Commercial Communications Office
DCD Data Carrier Detect (sometimes CD (q.v.)) (EIA RS-232-C)
DCE Data Communication Equipment
DCL Digital Command Language
DCP Distributed Communications Processor
DCTS Dimension Custom Telephone Service
DD Daredevils
DD Data Dictionary
DD Days after Date
DD Demand Draft
DD Dishonorable Discharge
DD Disk Drive
DD Doctor of Divinity
D&D Dungeons & Dragons
DDC Digital Data Converter
DDCU DC-to-DC Converter Unit [Space]
DDD Direct Distance Dialing [Telephony] (principally US, elsewhere STD)
DDL Document Description Language
DDN Defense Data Network
DDP Distributed Data Processing
DDS Dataphone Digital Service [AT&T]
DDS Digital Data Service
DDS Direct Digital Service
DDS Doctor of Dental Science
DDS Doctor of Dental Surgery
DDT DEC Debugging Tape
DDT Di- (pesticide)
DDT Dynamic Debugging Technique
DE Delaware
DEA Drug Enforcement Agency [US Government]
DEAR Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation
DEC Digital Equipment Corporation [Corporate name]
DECUS Digital Equipment Corporation Users Society
DES Data Encryption Standard [NIST]
DEW Distant Early Warning (as in DEW Line)
DF Damage Free
D/F Direction Finding
DFC Distinguished Flying Cross
DFD Data Flow Diagram
DFE Data Flow Editor
DFM Distinguished Flying Medal
DFN Deutsche Forschungsnetz Verein (German Research Network Association)
DFRF Dryden Flight Research Facility [Space]
DFS Depth-First Search
DFW Dallas-Ft.Worth (regional airport)
DG Data General [Corporate name]
DG Dei Gratia (by the grace of God)
DG Director General
DGSC Defense General Supply Center
DHHS Department of Health and Human Services
DHSS british Department of Health and Social Security
DHSS Department of Health and Social Security (British)
DIA Document Interchange Architecture
DIAD (magnetic) Drum Information Assembler / Dispatcher
DIAL Direct Information Access Line
DIAS Defense Automatic Integrated System
DID Direct Inward Dialing [Telephony]
DIF Document Interchange Format
DIN Deutsches Institut fur Normung
DIRE Dire Is Really Emacs
DIS Draft International Standard [ISO]
DISA Data Interchange Standards Association
DISOSS Distributed Office Support System [IBM]
DIY Do It Yourself
DJ Disc Jockey
DLA Defense Logistics Agency
DLI Data Link Interface(?)
DLL Data Link Layer [ISO OSI]
DLL Dial Long Line equipment
DLO Dead Letter Office
DM Dungeon Master
DMA Direct Memory Access
DMD Doctor of Dental Medicine
DME Distance Measuring Equipment
DMF Probably part of an X.400 address in Europe
DMOS Diffusion Metal Oxide Semiconductor (see MOS)
DMSP Defense Meteorological Satellite Program [Space]
DMV Department of Motor Vehicles
DMV Department of Motor Vehicles (Calif)
DMZ DeMilitarized Zone
DNA DeoxyriboNucleic Acid
DNA Digital Network Architecture [DEC]
DNCRI [NSF] (q.v.) Division of Networking and Communications Research and Infrastructure
DNHR Dynamic NonHierarchical Routing
DNIC Data Network Identification Code [Telephony]
DNIS Dialed Number Identification Service (see also DID) [Telephony]
DNL Director of Naval Laboratories
DNR Dialed Number Recorder [Telephony]
DNS Domain Name System
DOA Dead On Arrival
DOB Date Of Birth
DOC Dynamic Overload Control
DOD Department Of Defense [US Government] (sometimes DoD)
DOE Department of Energy [US Government]
DOHC Dual OverHead Cams [Automotive]
DOMAIN Distributed Operating Multi Access Interactive Network (Apollo)
DOS Disk Operating System
DOT Department Of Transportation [US Government]
DOT&E Director, Operational Test and Evaluation
DOV Data Over Voice [Telephony]
DOY Day of Year
DP Data Processing
DP Dial Pulse [Telephony]
DP Displaced Persons (expelled from native land)
DP Display Postscript
DP Double Penetration
DP Double Play
DP Draft Proposal
DPA Delegation of Procurement Authority
DPANS Draft Proposed American National Standard
DPI Dots Per Inch
DPS Display PostScript
DQ Dairy Queen
DQ Dragon Quest
DQDB Distributed Queue Dual Bus (IEEE 802.6) [Telephony, Networking]
DQL Database Query Language
DR Dead Reckoning
DR Dining Room
DRAM Dynamic Random Access Memory (as opposed to static RAM)
DRD Data Reading Device
DRE Directional Reservation Equipment
DRG Democratic Republic of Germany (East Germany)
DRI Defense Research Internet
DRI Digital Research, Incorporated [Corporate name]
DS Double-Sided
DS Draft Standard
DSA Dial System Assistance
DSE Data Structure Editor
DSEE Domain Software Engineering Environment
DSM Distinguished Service Medal
DSO Distinguished Service Order
DSP Decessit Sine Prole (died without issue)
DSP Digital Signal Processing
DSRI Digital Standard Relational Interface
DSS Decision Support System
DSS Direct Station Selection [Telephony]
DST Daylight Saving Time
DSTN Double SuperTwisted Nematic
DSU Digital Service Unit
DT Delirium Tremens
DTE Data Terminal Equipment
DTF Dial Tone First payphone [Telephony]
DTMF Dial Tone Multi Frequency [Telephony]
DTP DeskTop Publishing
DTR Data Terminal Ready (EIA RS-232-C)
DUI Driving Under the Influence
DUT Device Under Test
DV Deo Vo lente (God willing)
DVM Digital Volt Meter
DVM Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
DWAPS Defense Warehousing Automated Processing System
DWI Died Without Issue [Genealogy]
DWI Driving While Intoxicated
DWIM Do What I Mean
DX Distance (as in long distance radio communication)
DXT Data eXtractT facility
E East
E Espionage
EADASS Engineering and Administrative Data AcquiSition System
EAFB Edwards Air Force Base [Space]
EAN Certainly part of an X.400 Address in Europe
EARN European Academic Research Network
EAS Extended Area Service (or Engineering Admin. System)
EASI European Academic Supercomputer Initiative (of IBM)
EBCDIC Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
EC Exchange Carrier [Telephony]
ECAFE Economic Commission for Africa and the Far East
ECASS Electronically Controlled Automatic Switching System
ECASS Export Control Automated Support System
ECC Error Correction Code
ECC Error Correction Code (corrects error in memory or transmission)
ECCM Electronic Counter-CounterMeasures
ECDO Electronic Community Dial Office
ECG ElectroCardioGram
ECL Emitter Coupled Logic (see also TTL)
ECLSS Environmental Control and Life Support System [Space]
ECM Electronic Counter Measure
ECM European Common Market
ECMA European Computer Manufacturers Association
ECO Ecological
ECO Electronic Central Office
ECO Engineering Change Order
ECPA Electronic Communications Privacy Act [US law]
ECS Environmental Control System [Space]
ECT ElectroConvulsive Therapy
ECV Electric Cargo Vehicle [NASA OEXP]
ED&D Expert Dungeons & Dragons
EDGAR Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval
EDI Electronic Data Interchange
EDIF Electronic Design Interchange Format
EDO Extended Duration Orbiter [Space]
EDP Electronic Data Processing
EDS Electronic Data Systems
EDT Eastern Daylight Time
EDTA Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid
EDTCC Electronic Data Transmission Communications Central
EE Electrical Engineer
EE Electrical or Electronics Engineer
EEC European Economic Community
EEC European Economic Comunity
EEG ElectroEncephaloGram
EEL Epsilon Extension Language
E&EO Errors and Omissions Excepted
EEPROM Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
EFF Electronic Frontier Foundation
e.g. ??? (Latin(?): for example)
EGA Enhanced Graphics Adapter
EGP Exterior Gateway Protocol [Internet]
EGRET Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (on GRO) [Space]
EHF Extremely High Frequency (30-300GHz)
EIA Electronic Industries Association
EINE EINE Is Not Emacs
EISA Extended Industry-Standard Architecture
EISS European Intelligence Support System
EKG ElectroKardioGramm (see ECG)
EL ElectroLuminescent (as in display)
ELF Extremely Low Frequency
ELO Electric Light Orchestra
ELP Emerson, Lake and Palmer (or Powell)
ELV Expendable Launch Vehicle [Space]
E&M “Ear and Mouth”; receive and transmit leads of a signalling system
EM Enlisted Man (see EW)
EMA Electronic Mail Association
EMACS Editor MACroS
EMACS Eight Megabytes And Constantly Swapping
E-MAIL Electronic MAIL
EMF ElectroMotive Force
EMF ElectroMotive Force (voltage)
EMI ElectroMagnetic Interference
EMP Electromagnetic Pulse
EMPRESS EnvironMental Pulse Radiation Environment Simulator for Ships
EMR ElectroMagetic Response
EMR ElectroMagnetic Response
EMS Electronic Message System
EMS Extended Memory Specification
EMT Emergency Medical Technician
EMU ElectroMagnetic Unit
EMU Extravehicular Mobility Unit [Space]
ENIAC Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator
ENS ENSign
EO End Office [Telephony]
EO Erasable Optical
EOF End Of File
EOM End Of Month
EOS Earth Observing System [Space]
EOWG Engineering and Operations Working Group (under FNC)
EP Experience Points
EP Extended Play
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EPOS Engineering and Project-management Oriented Support system
EPRI Electric Power Research Institute
EPROM Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
EPS Encapsulated PostScript
EPT Empire of the Petal Throne
EQ Educational Quotient (see IQ)
ER Emergency Room
ERA Earned Run Average
ERA Entity-Relationship-Attribute
ERA Equal Rights Amendment
ERD Entity-Relation Diagram
ERE Entity Relationship Editor
ERT Earth Resources Technology [Space]
ES Expert System
ESA European Space Agency
ESA European Space Agency [Space]
ESAC Electronic Systems Assistance Center
ESDI Enhanced Standard Device Interface
ESE East South East
ESF Extended Superframe Format [Telephony]
ESM Electronic Support Measures
ESnet Energy Sciences network (DoE) [Networking]
ESO European Southern Observatory
ESO European Southern Observatory [Space]
ESP Extra Sensory Perception
ESPS Entropic Signal Processing System
ESS Electronic Switching System [Telephony]
ESSEX Experimental Solid State EXchange
EST Eastern Standard Time
ET Eastern Time
ET Extra Terrestrial [Space]
ET (Shuttle) External Tank [Space]
ETA Estimated Time of Arrival
ET/ACC External Tank/Aft Cargo Carrier (see also ET) [Space]
ETC Et cetera, and so on…
ETD Estimated Time of Departure
ETFD Electronic Toll Fraud Device [Telephony]
ETH Eidgn:oessiche Technische Hochschule (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)
ETLA Extended Three Letter Acronym [Space]
ETO Earth-to-Orbit [Space]
ETR Eastern Test Range [Space]
ETS Electronic Translator System
ETV Education TeleVision
EUUG European Unix User Group
EUV Extreme UltraViolet
EUV Extreme UltraViolet [Space]
EUVE Extreme UltraViolet Explorer [Space]
EVA ExtraVehicular Activity
EVA ExtraVehicular Activity [Space]
EVX Electronic Voice eXchange
EW Electronic Warfare
EW Enlisted Woman (see EM)
EWOS European Workshop for Open Systems
FA Football Association (British soccer–a word derived from Association)
FAA Federal Aviation Agency [US Government]
FACD Foreign Area Customer Dialing
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization [US Government]
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions [Space]
FAR Federal Acquisition Regulations
FAS Foreign Agricultural Service
FAS Free Alongside Ship
FASST Flexible Architecture Standard System Technology
FAST Fast Auroral SnapshoT explorer [Space]
FAT Foreign Area Translation
FAX FAcsimile
FB Freight Bill
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation [US Government]
FCC Federal Communications Commission [US Government]
FCC Federal Computer Conference
FCCSET Federal Coordinating Committee for Science, Education and Technology (under OSTP) {Maybe Eng. for Edu.??}
FCO Field Change Order
FCO Frequency Controlled Oscillator
FCS Frame Check Sequence
FDA Food and Drug Administration [US Government]
FDDI Fiber Digital Data Interface
FDDI Fiber Distributed Data Interface
FDHD Floppy Drive High Density
FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [US Government]
FDM Frequency Division Multiplexing
FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt [US President]
FE Field Engineer (see also CE, SE)
FEA Finite Element Analysis
FEDSIM FEDeral Systems Integration and Management center
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
FEMF Foreign EMF (q.v.) (a.k.a. Cross Battery) [Telephony]
FEPC Fair Employment Practices Commission
FEPG Federal Engineering Planning Group (of FNC under EOWG, originally of FRICC)
FERS Federal Employees Retirement System
FET Federal Excise Tax
FET Field Effect Transistor
FFA Future Farmers of America
FFT Fast Fourier Transform
FFT Fast Fourier Transform [Space]
FG-A Feature Group A [Telephony] (Line Side termination for LD carriers)
FG-B Feature Group B [Telephony] (Trunk Side termination for LD carriers (aka ENFIA B), 950 service)
FG-D Feature Group D [Telephony] (Trunk Side termination for LD carriers, 1+ service)
FGS Fine Guidance Sensors (on HST) [Space]
FHA Federal Home Administration
FHA Future Homemakers of America
FIB Focused Ion Beam
FICA Federal Insurance Contributions Act
FIDO Fog Investigation Dispersal Operation
FIFO First In First Out (as in registers and buffers)
FILO First In Last Out (see also FIFO)
FIMS Forms Interface Management System
FINE FINE Is Not Emacs
FIO Frequency In and Out
FIPS Federal Information Processing Standard
FIR Far InfraRed [Space]
FIR Finite Impulse Response
FIRMR Federal Information Resource Management Regulation
FIT Federal Information Technologies, inc.
FITS Flexible Image Transport System [Space]
FIX Federal Inter-agency eXchange [Networking]
FL Florida
FLACC Full Level Algol Checkout Compiler
FLL Fixed Loss Loop [Telephony]
FLOP FLoating point OPeration
FLOPS FLoating-point OPerations per Second
FLRA Federal Labor Relations Authority
FM Frequency Modulation
FMB Federal Maritime Board
FMCS Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
FMR Follow Me Roaming [Telephony]
FMS Financial Management Service (Treasury Dept)
FMS Forms Management System
FNC Federal Networking Council (formerly FRICC) [US Government] (under OSTP)
FO Foreign Office
FO Forward Observer
FOAC Federal Office Automation Center
FOB Free On Board
FOB Full Of Bull (aperiodical of) [TMRC]
FOC Faint Object Camera (on HST) [Space]
FOC Free Of Charge
FOIA Freedom Of Information Act
FOIMS Field Office Information Management System
FOOBAR See FUBAR [Net jargon]
FOR Free On Rail
FORCS Faa’s Operational Reporting Communication System
FORD Fix Or Repair Daily [Humor]
FORD Found On Road Dead [Humor]
FORTRAN FORmula TRANslator
FOS Faint Object Spectrograph (on HST) [Space]
FOSE Federal Office Systems Exposition
FOT Free On Truck
FOV Field Of View
FPA Floating Point Accelerator
FPC Fish Protein Concentrate
FPE Floating Point Engine
FPHA Federal Public Housing Authority
FPLA Field Programmable Logic Array (see PLA)
FPM Feet Per Minute
FPO Field Post Office
FPO Fleet Post Office
fps Feet Per Second
FPU Floating Point Unit
FQDN Fully Qualified Domain Name [TCP/IP] (DNS)
FR Frame Relay [Telephony, Networking]
FRACTAL FRACTional dimensionAL
FRED Fred Resembles Emacs Deliberately
FRG Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)
FRICC Federal Research Internet Coordinating Committee (now FNC, q.v.) [Networking, US Government]
FROG Free Rocket Over Ground
FRPG Fantasy Role Playing Game
FRS Federal Reserve System
FS Field Service
FS File System
FS Full Standard
FSF Free Software Foundation
FSK Frequency Shift Keying
FSLIC Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation
FSS Federal Supply Service
FSW Forward Swept Wings
Ft Foot
FTAM File Transfer And Management (ISO upscale FTP)
FTC Federal Trade Commission
FTL Faster Than Light
FTP File Transfer Protocol (esp. of the TCP/IP suite)
FTS Federal Telecommunications System [Telephony, US Government]
FTS Flight Telerobotic Servicer [Space]
FUBAR F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition/Repair
FUBAR Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition/Repair
FUSE Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer [Space]
FW Fringeworthy
FWD Front Wheel Drive
FWHM Full Width at Half Maximum [Space]
FX Foriegn eXchange [Telephony]
FY Fiscal Year
FYI For Your Information
G General audiences [Movie rating]
G Gravity
GA Gamblers Anonymous
GA General Assembly
GA General Average
GA General of the Army
GA Georgia
GAAP Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
GAB Group Audio Bridging [Telephony]
Gaia Earth’s self-sustaining Biosphere (Not an acronym, from some ancient language, I think)
GAN Global Area Network
GAO General Accounting Office [US Government]
GAR Grand Army of the Republic
GARR Gruppo Arminizzazione Rete por la Ricerca (Italian Research Network Harmonization Group)
GAS Get-Away Special [Space]
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GAW Guaranteed Annual Wage
GAW Guarenteed Annual Wage
GB Gangbusters
GB GigaByte
GB Great Britain
GBIP General Purpose Interface Bus
GBT Green Bank Telescope [Space]
GC Garbage Collection (LISP)
GC Gas Chromatograph (or Chromatography)
GCA Ground Controlled Approach
GCC Gnu C Compiler
GCD Ground Controlled Descent
GCL Graphics Command Language
GCM General Court Martial
GCR Group-Coded Recording (magnetic tape, 6250 bpi)
GCT Greenwich Civil Time
GCVS General Catalog of Variable Stars [Space]
GDB Gnu DeBugger
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GDS Great Dark Spot [Space]
GE General Electric
GEM Giotto Extended Mission [Space]
GEM Graphics Environment Manager
GEO Geosynchronous Earth Orbit [Space]
GHQ General HeadQuarters
GHRS Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (on HST) [Space]
GHz Giga HertZ (unit of frequency, 1,000,000,000 cycles per second)
GI Galvanized Iron
GI Gastro Intestinal (as in upper GI)
GI General Issue
GI Government Issue
GID Group ID [UNIX]
GIF Graphics Interchange Format
GIGO Garbage In Garbage Out
GIN Graphics INput
GISS Goddard Institute for Space Studies
GKS Graphical Kernel Standard
GKS Graphics Kernel System
GM Game Master
GM General Manager
GM General Motors [Corporate name, Automobile]
GM Guided Missile
GMBH Gesellschaft Mit Beschraenkter Haftung
GMC Giant Molecular Cloud [Space]
GMD Gesellschaft f:ur Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung (German Institute for Mathematics and Data Processing)
GMRT Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope [Space]
GMT Greenwich Mean Time (also called UT)
GNP Gross National Product
GNU GNU’s Not Unix
GOES Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite [Space]
GOES Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellites [Space]
GOSIP Government Open Systems Interconnection Profile (calls for government procurement of ISO/CCITT products)
GOSIP Government OSI Profile
GP General Practitioner
GP General Purpose (RR engines and origin of Jeep) [Railroading, Automobile]
GPC General Purpose Computer [Space]
GPI Graphics Programming Interface
GPIB General Purpose Interface Bus
GPIB General-Purpose Interface Bus
GPL GNU General Public Licence
GPO General Post Office
GPO Government Printing Office
GPS Global Positioning System
GPS Global Positioning System [Space]
GQ General Quarters
GRB Gamma Ray Burst(er)
GREP Global Regular Expression Print, g/re/p, (UNIX command)
GREP Global Regular Expression Print [UNIX]
GRO Gamma Ray Observatory [Space]
GRS Gamma Ray Spectrometer (on Mars Observer) [Space]
GRS Great Red Spot [Space]
GS General Schedule
GS Glide Slope
GSA General Services Administration
GSA General Services Adminstration [US Government]
GSA Girl Scouts of America
GSBCA General Services administration Board of Contract Appeals
GSC Guide Star Catalog (for HST) [Space]
GSFC Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, MD) [NASA, Space]
GSI Gesellschaft f:ur Schwerionenforschung (German Federal Research Institute for Heavy Ion Research)
GSM Global System Mobile
GSM Groupe Speciale Mobile (Committee Designing preceding)
GSTS Ground-based Surveillance and Tracking System
GT Gross Ton
GTE General Telephone and Electric [Corporate name]
GTO Geostationary Transfer Orbit [Space]
GTSI Government Technology Services, inc.
GUI Graphical User Interface
GW Gamma World
GWEN Ground Wave Emergency Network
GWM Generic Window Manager [X]
H Harn
H Height
HACD Home Area Customer Dialing
HAL Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer (movie 2001)
HAM Hold And Modify
HAO High Altitude Observatory [Space]
Hb HemogloBin
HBM Her British Majesty; His British Majesty
HBO Home Box Office
HC Holy Communion
HC House of Commons
HCFA Health Care Financing Administration
HCFC hydrochlorofluorocarbon [Chemical]
HCL High Cost of Living
HD Hard Disk
HD Heavy Duty
HD Henry Draper catalog entry [Space]
HDA Head Disk Assembly (in winchester disk drives)
HDBV Host Data Base View
HDL High Density Lipoprotein
HDLC High-level Data Link Control [Networking]
HDTV High Definition Television
HE His Eminence
HE His Excellency
HEAO High Energy Astronomical Observatory [Space]
HEDM High Energy-Density Matter [Space]
HEMP Help End Marijuana Prohibition
HEO High Earth Orbit [Space]
HEPnet High Energy Physics network [Networking]
HERO Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance
HF High Fantasy
HF High Frequency (3-30MHz)
HFE Human Factors Engineering
HFS Hierarchical File System
HGA High Gain Antenna [Space]
HHS (US Department of) Health and Human Services
HI Hawaii
HIIPS Hud Integrated Information Processing Services
HLC Heavy Lift Capability [Space]
HLL High-Level Language
HLV Heavy Lift Vehicle [Space]
HMC Halley Multicolor Camera (on Giotto) [Space]
HMOS High performance Metal Oxide Semiconductor (see MOS)
HMS His/Her Majesty’s Ship
HMT His/Her Majesty’s Transport
HNPA Home Numbering Plan Area [Telephony]
HOBIS HOtel Billing Information System
HOL High-Order System
HOTOL HOrizontal Take-Off and Landing
HP Hewlett Packard, Inc. [Corporate name]
HP High Pressure
HP Higher Power (sort of an AA “in” term, usually God)
HP Hit Points
HP HorsePower
HPGe High Purity Germanium
HPL/T High-Productivity Languages/Tools
HQ HeadQuarters
HR Hertzsprung-Russell (diagram) [Space]
HR House of Representatives
HRH Her Royal Highness
HRH His Royal Highness
HRI High Resolution Imager (on ROSAT) [Space]
HS High School
HSB Hue, Saturation, Brightness
HSP High Speed Photometer (on HST) [Space]
HST Hawaiian Standard Time
HST Hubble Space Telescope [Space]
HT High Tension (as in electric power transmission)
HTK Hits To Kill
HUAC House Unamerican Activities Committee
HUD Heads Up Display
HUD Housing and Urban Development [US Government]
HUPD Harvard University Police Department
HUT Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (ASTRO package) [Space]
HV High Voltage
HVAC Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
HW2000 Highway 2000
HWM High-Water Mark
Hz HertZ (unit of frequency, cycles per second)
IAB Internet Activities Board [Networking]
IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency
IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA@ISI.EDU)
IATA International Air Transport Association
IAU International Astronomical Union [Space]
IAUC IAU Circular [Space]
IBM Ingrained Batch Mentality
IBM International Business Machines, Inc. [Corporate name]
IBM Itty Bitty Machines
IBT Illinois Bell Telephone
IC Integrated Circuit
IC Interexchange Carrier [Telephony] (see also IEC, IXC)
ICB Interstate Computer Bank
ICBM InterContinental Ballistic Missile
ICE In-Circuit Emulator
ICE International Cometary Explorer [Space]
ICI Imperial Chemical Industries
ICJ International Court of Justice
ICL International Computers Ltd.
ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol
ICP Integrated Channel Processor
ICP Inventory Control Points
ICRC International Cosmic Ray Conference
ID Idaho
ID IDentification
IDA Intercommunication Data Areas
IDA International Dark-sky Association [Space]
IDA International Development Association
IDDD International Direct Distance Dial [Telephony]
IDE Interactive Development Environments, inc
IDF Intermediate Distributing Frame [Telephony]
IDL Interactive Data Language [Space]
IDV Interlibrational Derived Vehicle [Space]
i.e. ???? (Latin(?): in other words (?))
IE Indo-European
IEC Inter-Exchange Carrier [Telephony] (see also IC, IXC)
IEE Institute of Electrical Engineers [UK]
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IF Intermediate Frequency (as in IF stage)
IFB Invitation For Bids
IFC International Finance Corporation
IFC International Freighting Corporation
IFF Identification – Friend or Foe
IFF Interchange File Format
IFLA International Federation of Library Associations
IFR Instrument Flight Rules [Aviation]
IGES Initial Graphics Exchange Standard
IGM InterGalactic Medium [Space]
IGY International Geophysical Year
IGY International Geophysical Year [Space]
IHP Indicated HorsePower
IHS Integrated Hospital Support
IIA Information Industry Association
IIE Institute of Industrial Engineers
IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation
IIL Integrated Injection Logic
ILO International Labor Organization
ILS Instrument Landing System
ILV Industrial Launch Vehicle [Space]
IMF International Monetary Fund
IMHO In My Humble Opinion [Net jargon]
IMO In My Opinion [Net jargon]
IMP Interface Message Processor [ARPANET/MILNET] (replaced by PSN)
IMSL International Mathematical Subroutine Library
IN Indiana
INADS INitialization and ADministration System [Telephony]
INRA Iesus Nazerenus Rex Iudaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews)
INRIA Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique
INS Immigration and Naturalization Service
In-situ In Place [Latin]
INSTITUTE INSTITUTE’s Name Shows That It’s Totally Unrelated To EMACS
INTAP INteroperability Technology Association for information Processing
INWATS INward Wide Area Telephone Service [Telephony]
I/O Input/Output
IO Input/Output (sometimes I/O)
IOC International Operating Center [Telephony, US]
IOD Identified Outward Dialing
IOOF International Order of Odd Fellows
IOTA Infrared-Optical Telescope Array [Space]
IOTA International Occultation Timing Association [Space]
IOU I Owe you(U)
IP Information Provider [Telephony]
IP Innings Pitched
IP Intermediate Point
IP Internet Protocol
IPC Inter-Process Communication
IPE Integrated Programming Environment
IPMS InterPersonal Message Services
IPS Inertial Pointing System [Space]
IPS Information Processing Standards
IPSE Integrated Project-Support Environment
IQ Intelligence Quotient (see EQ)
IR Index Register
IR Infra-Red
IRA Individual Retirement Account
IRA Irish Republican Army
IRAF Image Reduction and Analysis Facility [Space]
IRAS InfraRed Astronomical Satellite [Space]
IRBM Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile
IRDS Information Resource Dictionary Standard
IRDS InfraRed Detection Set
IRE Institute of Radio Engineers (old name for the now IEEE, which see)
IRM Information Resources Management
IRMS Information Resources Management Service
IRS Internal Revenue Service
IRTF Internet Research Task Force
IS Information Systems
IS International Standard [ISO] (Beyond the DIS Stage)
ISA Industry-Standard Architecture
ISAM Indexed Sequential Access Method
ISAS Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (Japan) [Space]
ISBD International Bibliographic Description
ISC Information Services Center
ISC International Switching Center
ISCH Interstitial-Cell-Stimulating Hormone (same as LH)
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network [Telephony]
ISDT Integrated Systems Development Tool
ISEE International Sun Earth Explorer (usually ISEE-3)
ISF Information Systems Factory
ISFUG Integrated Software Federal User Group
ISI Information Sciences Institute
ISM InterStellar Medium [Space]
ISO Infrared Space Observatory [Space]
ISO International Organization for Standardization
ISO International Standards Organization [Space]
ISODE ISO Development Environment
ISOO Information Security Oversight Office
ISPM International Solar Polar Mission
ISPM International Solar Polar Mission (now Ulysses) [Space]
ISR Institute of Snow Research
ISRG Independent Space Research Group
ISV Independent Software Vendor
ISY International Space Year [Space]
IT Industrial Technology
IT Information Technology
ITC Inter-Task Communication
ITS Incompatible Timesharing System
ITT International Telephone and Telegraph
ITU International Telecommunications Union
ITUSA IT Users Standards Association
IUE International Ultraviolet Explorer [Space]
IUS Inertial Upper Stage
IUS Inertial Upper Stage [Space]
IUV Interlibrational Utility Vehicle [Space]
IXC Inter-eXchange Carrier [Telephony] (see also IC, IEC)
IXI International (pan-European) X.25 Infrastructure
JACM Journal of the Association for Computing Machinery
JANET Joint Academic Network (UK)
JBS John Birch Society
JC Jesus Christ
JC Joint Compound (plumbing)
JC Julius Caesar
JC Junior College
JCA Jewelry Crafts Association
JCAC Joint Civil Affairs Committee
JCAE Joint Committee on Atomic Energy
JCEE Joint Council on Economic Education
JCET Joint Council on Educational Television
JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff
JD Justice Department
JDS John Dewey Society
JEM Japanese Experiment Module (for SSF) [Space]
JES John Ericsson Society
JET Joint European Torus (fusion research)
JFK John F. Kennedy
JFK John F. Kennedy (international airport)
JFMIP Joint Financial Management Improvement Program
JGR Journal of Geophysical Research
JGR Journal of Geophysical Research [Space]
JI Justice, Inc.
JIC Joint Intelligence Center
JIC Just in Case
JILA Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics [Space]
JIM Job Information Memorandum
JINTACCS Joint INteroperability of TActical Command and Control Systems
JIS Japan Industrial Standards
JISC Japanese Industrial Standards Committee
JIT Just In Time
JMS John Milton Society
JNT Joint Network Team (UK)
JO Job Order
JO Junior Officer
JOVE Jonathan’s Own Version of Emacs
JOVIAL Jules Own Version of the International Algorithmic Language
JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory
JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory [Space]
JRC Junior Red Cross
JSC Johnson Space Center
JSC Johnson Space Center (NASA) [Space]
JSD Jackson System Development
JSRC Joint Services Review Committee
JTIDS Joint Tactical Information Distribution Systems
JV Junior Varsity
JvNC John von Neumann (Super Computer) Center
JvNCnet John von Neumann (Super Computer) Center network
K Kilo- (metric 1000)
K9 canine (K9 corps – army dogs)
KAIST Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
KAO Kuiper Airborne Observatory [Space]
KB KiloByte
KC King’s Counsel (QC when queen reigning)
KC Knights of Columbus
KD Kiln Dried
KD Knocked Down
KDCI Key Display Call Indicator
KERMIT Kl-10 Error-free Reciprocal Micro Interconnect over Tty lines
KET Kentucky Educational Television
KHz Kilo HertZ (unit of frequency, 1000 cycles per second)
KI Kiwanis International
KIA Killed In Action
KIAS Knot Indicated Air Speed
Km Kilometers
KO Knock Out [Boxing, Electric]
KP Key Pulse [Telephony]
KP Kitchen Police
KPNO Kitt Peak National Observatory
KPO KeyPunch Operator
KQC King’s College London
K&R Kernighan and Ritchie, the c programming language
KS King’s Scholar
KSC Kennedy Space Center (NASA) [Space]
KSU Key System Unit [Telephony]
KTB Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary (from German) [Space]
KTS Key Telephone System [Telephony]
KTU Key Telephone Unit [Telephony]
KWIC Key Word In Context
KY Kentucky
L1 Lagrange Point #1 35,000 Miles above moon [Space]
L2 Lagrange Point #2 40,000 Miles behind moon [Space]
L3 Lagrange Point #3 (?? 35,000 Miles below moon) [Space]
L4 Lagrange Point #4 240,000 mile Earth orbit [Space]
L5 Lagrange Point #5 240,000 mile Earth orbit [Space]
LA Los Angeles
LA Louisiana
LA Low Altitude
LADAR LAser Detection And Ranging
LAM Master of Liberal Arts
LAMA Local Automatic Message Accounting [Telephony]
LAN Local Apparent Noon
LAN Local Area Network
LANL Los Alamos National Laboratory [Space]
LANL Los Alamos (NM) National Laboratory
LAPB Link Access Procedure (Balanced)
LAPD Link Access Procedure (??)
LAPD Los Angeles (CA, US) Police Department
LAR Local Acquisition Radar
LaRC Langley Research Center (NASA) [Space]
LASER Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
LAT Local Apparent Time
LATA Local Access and Transport Area [Telephony]
LAX Los Angeles International Airport
LB Light Bomber
LB pound (LiBra)
LBHS Long Beach High School
LBL Lawrence Berkeley (Calif.) Labs
LBS Pounds
LC inductor-Capacitor circuit (as in filters, L is symbol inductance)
LCD Liquid Crystal Display
LCD Lowest Common Denominator
LCDR Lieutenant Commander
LCL Less than Carload Lot [Railroading]
LCL Lunar Cargo Lander [NASA OEXP]
LCM Least Common Multiple
LCM Life Cycle Management
LCS Laboratory for Computer Science (of MIT)
LCT Landing Craft Tanks
LD Long Distance [Telephony]
LDC Long Distance Carrier [Telephony]
LDEF Long Duration Exposure Facility [Space, NASA]
LDF Large Deployable Reflector [Space]
LDL Low Density Lipoprotein
LDX Long Distance eXtender [Telephony]
LEAP Low-power Enhanced At Portable
LEC Local Exchange Carrier [Telephony]
LED Light Emitting Diode
LEM Lunar Excursion Module (a.k.a. LM) (Apollo spacecraft) [Space]
LEO Low Earth Orbit [Space]
LEP Large Electron-Positron collider [CERN]
LeRC Lewis Research Center (NASA) [Space]
LEST Large Earth-based Solar Telescope [Space]
LF Low Frequency (30-300KHz)
LFSA List of Frequently Seen Acronyms (!) [Space]
LGA Low Gain Antenna [Space]
LGM Little Green Men [Space]
LH Left Hand
LH Liquid Hydrogen (also LH2 or LHX) [Space]
LH Lower Half
LH Luteinizing Hormone (same as ISCH)
LHC Large Hadron Collider [CERN]
LHD Litterarum Humaniorum Doctor (doctor of human letters)
LHS Left Hand Side
LI Long Island
LIFIA Laboratoire d’Informatique Fondamentale et d’Intelligence Artificielle
LIFO Last In First Out (see FIFO)
LINC Laboratory INstrument Computer
LISA Large Installation Systems Administration (USENIX specific?)
LISP LISt Processing Language
LIU Line Interface Unit
LL Late Latin
LL Long Lines [Telephony]
LLB Legum Baccalaureus (bachelor of laws)
LLD Legum doctor (doctor of laws)
LLN Line Link Network [Telephony]
LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories
LLO Low Lunar Orbit [Space]
LLOX Lunar Liquid Oxygen [Space]
LLP Line Link Pulsing [Telephony]
LM Life Master (Contract Bridge ranking)
LM Lunar Module (a.k.a. LEM) (Apollo spacecraft) [Space]
LMC Large Magellanic Cloud (see SMC)
LMC Large Magellanic Cloud [Space]
LMOS Line Maintenance Operations System [Telephony, AT&T]
LN2 Liquid N2 (Nitrogen) [Space]
LNG Liquified Natural Gas
LOA Lands of Adventure
LOFT Launch Operations Flight Test [Space]
LOOPS Lisp Object Oriented Programming System
LOP Lines Of Position
LOSF Lunar Orbit Staging Facility [Space]
LOTS Low Overhead Timesharing System
LOX Liquid Oxygen
LOX Liquid OXygen [Space]
LP Long Play(ing) (record)
LP Low Pressure
LPC Linear Predictive Coding (speech processing)
LPDA Link Problem Determination Aid
LPF League for Programming Freedom
LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas
LPG Low Pressure Gas
LPL Lunar Personnel Lander [NASA OEXP]
LPN Licensed Practical Nurse
LPP Licensed Program Products
LPR Line PrinteR
LPT Lunar Propellant Tanker [NASA OEXP]
LPV Lunar Piloted Vehicle [NASA OEXP]
LRB Liquid Rocket Booster [Space]
LRBM Long Range Ballistic Missile
LRC Longitudinal Redundancy Character
LRU Least Recently Used
LRU Line Replaceable Unit
LRV Light Rail Vehicle [Railroading]
LS Left Side
LS Letter Signed
LS Locus Sigilli (place of seal)
LSAP Logical(?, maybe Link) Service Access Point [OSI, Networking]
LSB Least Significant Bit; Least Significant Byte
LSB Lower Side Band
LSC Lecture Series Committee (of MIT)
LSC LightSpeed C
LSD Least Significant Digit
LSD LySergic acid Diethylamide
LSD pounds (Libra), shillings (Sestertii), and (old) pence (Denarii)
LSI Large Scale Integration
LSP LightSpeed Pascal
LSR Local Standard of Rest [Space]
LSS Life Support System
LSS Loop Switching System
LSSD Level-Sensitive Scan Detection
LT Long Ton
LT Low Tension
LTC Lieutenant Colonel
LTJG Lieutenant Junior Grade
LTL Less than Truckload Lot
LTP Lunar Transient Phenomenon [Space]
LUG Local Users Group
LUT Look-Up Table
LWM Low-Water Mark
LWT London Weekend Television [Corporate name]
LZ Landing Zone
M Mega- (metric 10^6)
m meter(s)
m milli- (metric 1/1000)
M Miniatures
MA Massachusetts [US state postal designation]
MAAP Maintenance And Administration Panel
MAC an MIT interdepartmental lab (stands for many things) (renamed to LCS)
MAC Media Access Control
MAC Medium Access Control
MAC Military Air Command
MACSYMA project MAC’s SYmbolic MAnipulation System
MAD Mutual Assured Destruction
MADD Mothers Against Drunk Driving
MAG Magazine
MAN Metropolitan Area Network
MAP Manufacturing Automation Protocol
MAP/TOP Manufacturing Automation Protocol/Technical Office Protocol
MARBI MAchine Readable form of Bibliographic Information
MARC MAchine Readable card Catalog
MARS Multiuser Archival and Retrieval System
MASC Multiple Award Schedule Contract
MASER Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
MASH Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
MAST Multi-Application SOnar Trainer
MAT-CALS Marine Air Traffic-Control And Landing System
MAU Math Acceleration Unit
MAU Media Access Unit
MAU Medium Access Unit
MB Manned Base [Space]
MB MegaByte
MBA Master Business Administration
MBTA Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
MC Master of Ceremonies
MCA Micro Channel Architecture
MCAE Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering
MCC Master Control Console
MCC Microelectronics and Computer technology Corporation
MCC Mission Control Center [Space]
MCP Master Control Program
MCP/AS Master Control Program/Advanced System
MCPO Master Chief Petty Officer
MCSV Mars Crew Sortie Vehicle [NASA OEXP]
MD Doctor of Medicine
MD Maryland
MD Maryland [US state postal designation]
MD Medical Doctor
MD Months after Date
MDAS Magnetic Drum Auxiliary Sender
MDC Metropolitan District Commision (Mass State Agency)
MDE Modular Design Environment
MDF Main Distribution Frame [Telephony]
MDRE Mass Driver Reaction Engine [Space]
MDT Mean Down Time
ME Maine
ME Mechanical Engineer
MECO Main Engine CutOff [Space, Shuttle]
MEd Master of EDucation
MERP Middle-Earth Role Playing
MeV Million Electron Volts
MF Medium Frequency (300-3000KHz)
MF Middle French
MF Multi-Frequency [Telephony]
MFA Master Fine Arts
MFA Museum of Fine Arts [Boston]
MFJ Modified Final Judgment [Telephony]
MFLOPS Million FLoating-point OPerations per Second (see also FLOPS)
MFM Modified Frequency Modulation
MFS Macintosh File System
MG Machine Gun
MG Major General
MG Military Government
MGH Massachusetts General Hospital
MGM Metro-Goldwyn Mayer [Corporate name]
MHD MagnetoHydroDynamics
MHS Mail Handling System [ISO]
MHz Mega HertZ (unit of frequency, 1,000,000 cycles per second)
MI Michigan
MI Military Intelligence
MIA Missing In Action
MIB Management Information Base
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface
MIFASS Marine Integrated Fire And Support System
MILNET MILitary NETwork
MIM Morality In Media
MIMD Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data
MINCE MINCE Is Not Complete Emacs
MIPS Million Instructions Per Second
Mir Peace [Russian]
MIRV Multiple Independently-Targetable Reentry Vehicle
MIS Management Information System
MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ML Middle Latin
mL milliliter(s)
MLA Member of Legislative Assembly (see MPP)
MLD Minimum Lethal Dose
MLL Mars Logistics Lander [NASA OEXP]
MLS Microwave Landing System
MLS Multi-Level Security
MLV Medium Lift Vehicle [NASA OEXP]
MM Maryknoll Missioners
mm millimeters
MMES Martin Marietta Energy Systems
MMFS Manufacturing Message Format Standard
MMH MonoMethyl Hydrazine [Space]
MMM see 3M
MMT Multiple Mirror Telescope [Space]
MMU Manned Maneuvering Unit [Space]
MMU Memory Management Unit
MMW Multi-Mega Watt [Space]
MN Minnesota
MNA Member of National Assembly (Quebec)
MNP Microcom Networking Protocol [Corporate name]
MNRAS Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society [Space]
MO Mail Order
MO Medical Officer
MO Missouri
MO Modus Operandi
MO Money Order
MOC Mars Observer Camera (on Mars Observer) [Space]
MOD Ministry of Defence (UK) (sometimes written MoD)
MOL Manned Orbiting Laboratory [Space]
MOLA Mars Observer Laser Altimeter (on Mars Observer) [Space]
MOMA Museum of Modern Art [New York]
MOMV Manned Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle [Space]
MOR Middle-Of-the-Road
MOS Metal Oxide Semiconductor
MOSFET Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
MOTAS Member Of The Appropriate Sex
MOTIS Member Of The Inappropriate Sex
MOTIS Message-Oriented Text Interchange System
MOTOS Member of the Opposite Sex
MOTSS Member of the Same Sex
MOTV Manned Orbital Transfer Vehicle [Space]
MOU Memorandum Of Understanding
MOUSE Minimum Orbital Unmanned Satellite of Earth
MP Melting Point
MP Member of Parliament
MP Metropolitan Police
MP Military Police(man)
MPC Minor Planets Circular [Space]
MPE Mission to Planet Earth [Space]
MPG Miles Per Gallon
MPH Miles Per Hour
MPP Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada; also MLA)
MPR Mars Pressurized Rover [Space]
MPV Mars Piloted Vehicle [NASA OEXP]
MPW Macintosh Programmer’s Workshop
MR Miniatures Rules
MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MRP Manufacturing Requirements Planning
MRSR Mars Rover and Sample Return [Space]
MRSRM Mars Rover and Sample Return Mission [Space]
MS ManuScript
MS Master of Science
MS Military Science
MS Motor Ship
MS Multiple Sclerosis
MSB Most Significant Bit; Most Significant Byte
MSC MicroSoft C
MSCP Mass Storage Control Protocol
MSD Most Significant Digit
MS-DOS MicroSoft DOS
MSE Mobile Subscriber Equipment
MSFC (George C.) Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA) [Space]
MSFC Marshall Space Flight Center
MSG MonoSodium Glutamate
MSH Marvel Super Heroes
MSL Mean Sea Level
MSPCA Massachussetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
MSPE Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes
MSRP Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price
MSS Management Support System
MSS ManuScriptS
MSS Mass Storage System
MSS Maximum Segment Size [TCP/IP] (see also MTU)
MST Mountain Standard Time
MT Metric Ton
MT Mountain Time
MTA Message Transfer Agent
MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority
MTBF Mean Time Between Failures
MTC Man Tended Capability [Space]
MTR Magnetic Tape Recording
MTSO Mobile Telephone Switching Office [Telephony]
MTTF Mean Time To Failure
MTTR Mean Time To Recovery
MTTR Mean Time To Repair
MTU Maximum Transfer Unit [Networking] (see also MSS)
MTV Music TeleVision
MUF Maximum Usable Frequency (max freq during sunspot activity)
MULTICS MULTiplex Information Computer Services
MUMPS Mgh Utility MultiProgram System
MUNG Mung Until No Good (see the hacker’s dictionary)
MUX MUltipleXor
MVA MegaVolt Ampere
MVS Multiple Virtual Storage [IBM]
MX Missile eXperimental
N North
N Notice
NA Narcotics Anonymous
NA North America
NA Not Applicable
NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NAAS North American Automated Systems co.
NAB National Association of Broadcasters
NABISCO NAtional BIScuit COmpany [Corporate name]
NACCIRN North American Coordinating Committee for Intercontinental Research Networking (see also CCIRN)
NACS National Advisory Committee on Semiconductors
NAD Network Access Device
NADGE NATO Air Defense Ground Environment
NAG Numerical Algorithms Group
NAGE National Association of Government Employees
NAK Negative AcKnowledge
NAM Name and Address Module [Telephony] (cellular phone changeable ROM)
NAM National Account Manager [Telephony, AT&T]
NAM Number Assignment Module [Telephony] (cellular phone changeable ROM)
NANP North American Numbering Plan
NAPAP National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program
NAR Nuclear Acoustic Resonance
NARDAC NAvy Regional Data Automation Center
NAS National Academy of Sciences
NAS National Advanced Systems
NASA National (US) Aeronautics and Space Administration [Space]
NASDA NAtional (Japan) Space Development Agency [Space]
NASM National (US) Air and Space Museum [Space]
NASP National (US) AeroSpace Plane [Space]
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NAVDAC NAVal Data Automation Command
NAVSWC NAVal Surface Weapons Center
NB New Brunswick
NB Nota Bene
NBA National (US) Basketball Association
NBC National (US) Broadcasting Company [Corporate name]
NBFM NarrowBand Frequency Modulation
NBO Network Build Out
NBS National Bureau of Standards (renamed NIST) [US Government]
NBVM Narrow Band Voice Modulation
NC No Charge
NC No Connection
NC North Carolina
NCA Network Control Analysis
NCC National (US) Computer Conference
NCC National (US) Council of Churches
NCDC National (US) Climatic Data Center
NCE New Catholic Edition
NCGA National (US) Computer Graphics Association
NCI National (US) Cancer Institute [US Government]
NCIC National (US) Cartographic Information Center
NCO Non-Commissioned Officer
NCP Network Control Program
NCR National (US?) Cash Register [Corporate name]
NCS Network Computing System
NCSA National (US) Center for Supercomputing Applications
NCSC National (US) Computer Security Center [NSA]
NCTL National Computer and Telecommunications Laboratory
NCV No Commercial Value
ND No Date
ND North Dakota
NDA Non-Disclosure Agreement
NDDL Neutral Data Definition Language
NDE News Development Environment
NDEA National (US) Defense Education Act
NDL Network Database Language
NDP New Democratic Party (Canada)
NDSL National (US) Defense Student Loan
NDSL National (US) Direct Student Loan
NDT Newfoundland Daylight Time
NDV NASP Derived Vehicle
NDV NASP Derived Vehicle [Space]
NE New England
NE North East
NEAR National Electronic Accounting and Reporting system
NEARnet New England Academic and Research Network
NEB New English Bible
NEC Nippon Electric Company [Corporate name]
NEI Not Elsewhere Included
NES National Energy Strategy
NES Not Elsewhere Specified
NESC National Energy Software Center
NET National (US) Educational Television
NET NETwork
NET New England Telephone
NEWS Network extensible Window System
NEXRAD NEXt generation weather RADar
NF No Funds
NFC National (US) Football Conference
NFFE National (US) Federation of Federal Employees
NFL National (US) Football League
NFS Network File System
NG National Guard
NG No Good
NGC New General Catalog [Space]
NH New Hampshire
NHI National Health Insurance
NHL National (Canada) Hockey League
NHLBI National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (Bethesda, MD)
NIC Network Information Center (“The NIC” is NIC.DDN.MIL)
NICMOS Near Infrared Camera / Multi Object Spectrometer (HST upgrade) [Space]
NIFTP (a file transfer network in the UK)
NIH National (US) Institutes of Health
NIH Not Invented Here
NIM Nuclear Instrumentation Module (an electronic instr. standard)
NIMH National Institute of Mental Health (Rockville, MD)
NIMS Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (on Galileo) [Space]
NIR Near InfraRed [Space]
NIS Network Information System (formerly yp)
NISO National Information Standards Organization
NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology (formerly NBS) [US Government]
NJ New Jersey
NJB New Jersey Bell [Telephony]
NL National League (baseball)
NLM National Library of Medicine
NLP Natural Language Processing
NLRB National Labor Relations Board
NLS Network License Server
NM Nautical Mile
NM New Mexico
NM Night Message
NM No Mark; Not Marked
NMOS N channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor (N-MOS) (see MOS)
NMR Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
NMS Network Monitoring Station
NNE North North East
NNTP Net News Transfer Protocol
NNW North North West
NNX NANP syntax for a three-digit string, N:{2-9}, X:{0-9} [Telephony]
NOA NSWC Office Automation
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [Space, US Government]
NOAO National (Tucson, AZ, US) Optical Astronomical Observatories [Space]
NOC Network Operations Center
NORAD NORth American Defense Command
NORM Naturally Occuring Radioactive Material
NORML National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
NOS Not Otherwise Specified
NOSC Naval Ocean Systems Center
NOTIS Network Operator Trouble Information System
NOW Negotiable Order for Withdrawal [Banking] (Is this MA or NE specific?)
NOx Nitrogen Oxides
NP No Protest
NP Nondeterministic-Polynomial
NP Notary Public
NP Noun Phrase
NPA Numbering Plan Area (area code) [Telephony]
NPC Non-Player Character (see PC) [Role-playing]
NPL National Physical Laboratory (UK)
NPL Non-Procedural Language
NPN Negative-Positive-Negative (transistor)
NPN NonProtein Nitrogen
NPR National Public Radio
NPR non-Processor Request [PDP11, UNIBUS]
NQS Network Queuing System
NRA National Reconstruction Act (FDR era US)
NRA National Rifle Association
NRAO National Radio Astronomical Observatory [Space]
NRC National Research Council
NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission
NRE Non-Recurring Engineering (as in NRE costs)
NREN National (US) Research and Education Network
NRL Naval Research Labs
NRO National Reconnaissance Office
NRO National Reconnaissance Organization [Space]
NRZ Non-Return to Zero
NRZI Non-Return to Zero Inverted (magnetic tape, 800 bpi)
NS Neutron Star [Space]
NS Not Specified
NS Nova Scotia
NS Nuclear Ship
NSA National Security Agency [US Government]
NSAP Network Service Access Point [OSI, Networking]
NSC National (US) Security Council [US Government]
NSE Network Software Environment
NSF National (US) Science Foundation [US Government]
NSS Nodal Switching System [NSFnet]
NSSDC National Space Science Data Center [Space]
NST Newfoundland Standard Time
NSTS National Space Transportation System [Space]
NSW New South Wales (Australia)
NSWC Naval Surface Warfare Center
NSWC Naval Surface Weapons Center
NT New Testament
NT Newfoundland Time
NT Northern Territory
NTEU National Treasury Employees Union
NTIS National Technical Information Service
NTN Neutralized Twisted Nematic
NTP Network Time Protocol [Internet]
NTP Normal Temperature and Pressure (see STP)
NTSB National Transportation Safety Board [US Government]
NTSC National Television Standards Committee
NTSC Never Twice Same Color
NTT New Technology Telescope [Space]
NTT Nippon Telephone & Telegraph
NU Name Unknown
NURBS NonUniform Rational B-Spline
NUSC Naval Underwater Systems Center [US Government]
NV Nevada
NW North West
NWNET NorthWestNet
NWS National Weather Service
NWT North West Territories (Australia)
NXX NANP syntax for a three-digit string, N:{2-9}, X:{0-9} [Telephony]
NY New York
NYC New York City
NYNEX New York and New England (Telephone)
NYPD New York Police Department
NYSE New York Stock Exchange
NYSERNet New York State Educational and Research Network
NZ New Zealand
NZUSUGI New Zealand Unix System User Group, Inc.
OA Office Automation
OA Overeaters Anonymous
OAO Orbiting Astronomical Observatory [Space]
OAS Organization of American States
OATS Office Automation Technology and Services
OBE Order of the British Empire
OBS Omni Bearing Selector
OC Order of Canada
OCDM Office of Civil Defense and Mobilization
OCI Out of City Indicator
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
OCLC Online Computer Library Center (Ohio College Library Catalog)
OCO Object Code Only
OCR Optical Character Recognition
OCS Officer Candidate School
OCST Office of Commercial Space Transportation [Space]
OD Doctor of Optometry
OD Oculus Dexter (right eye)
OD Officer of the Day
OD OverDose
ODI Optical Digital Image
ODISS Optical Digital Image Storage System
ODT Octal Debugging Technique
ODT Online Debugging Technique
OE Old English
OED Oxford English Dictionary
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer
OEO Office of Economic Opportunity
OES Order of the Eastern Star
OEXP Office of Exploration [NASA]
OF Old French
OFM Order of Friars Minor
OFS Order of Free State
OG Original Gum
OH Ohio
OIRA Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
OIU Office Interface Unit
OJT On the Job Training
OLTP On-Line Transaction Processing
OMB Office of Management and Budget [US Government]
OMD Orchestral Manouevers in the Dark
OMS Orbital Maneuvering System [Space]
OMV Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle [Space]
ON Old Norse
ONC Open Network Computing
ONI Office of Naval Intelligence
ONI Operator Number Identification [Telephony]
ONR Office of Naval Research
OOP Object Oriented Programming
OOPART Out Of Place ARTifact
OOPS Object-Oriented Programming System
OP Observation Post
OP OFFICEPOWER office automation system, trademark of CCI
OP Order of Preachers
OP Out of Print
OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
OPF Orbiter Processing Facility [Space]
OPM Office of Personnel Management
OPUS Obvious Password Utility System (Eugene Spafford )
OR Operating Room
OR Oregon
OR Owner’s Risk, Own Risk
ORFEUS Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer [Space]
ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory
OROM Optical Read Only Memory
OS Oculus Sinister (left eye)
OS Operating System
OS Ordinary Seaman
OS Out of Stock
OSB Order of St. Benedict
OSC Orbital Sciences Corporation [Space]
OSCAR Orbiting Satelite Carry Amateur Radio (1st launched 12 Dec 1961)
OSCAR Orbiting Satellite Carry Amateur Radio (1st launched 12 Dec 1961)
OSCAR Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio [Space]
OSCRL Operating System Command Response Language
OSD Office of the Secretary of Defense
OSDIT Office of Software Development and Information Technology
OSF Open Software Foundation
OSF Open Systems Foundation
OSF Order of St. Francis
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration [US Government]
OSI Office of Scientific Integrity [NIH]
OSI Open Systems Interconnection (per ISO; 7 layer model)
OSI/RM Open Systems Interconnection/Reference Model
OSME Open Systems Message Exchange
OSP Optical Storage Processor
OSPFIGP Open Shortest-Path First Internal Gateway Protocol [Internet]
OSS Office of Strategic Services (later CIA)
OSS Office Support System
OSS Operation Support System [Telephony, AT&T]
OSSA Office of Space Science and Applications [Space]
OSSE Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (on GRO) [Space]
OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy
OSTP (White House) Office of Science and Technology Policy [US Government]
OT Old Testament
OT OverTime
OTA Office of Technical Assistance
OTA Office of Technology Assessment
OTA Optical Telescope Assembly (on HST) [Space]
OTB Off-Track Betting
OTC Over The Counter (stocks)
OTF Open Token Foundation
OTH-B Over The Horizon – Backscatter (as in radar)
OT&LF Open Taxi & Limousine Foundation
OTR On The Rag
OTS Officers’ Training School
OTV Orbital Transfer Vehicle [Space]
OUTWATS OUTward Wide Area Telephone Service [Telephony]
OV Orbital Vehicle [Space]
OV Orbiter Vehicle [Space]
PA Pennsylvania
PA Per Annum
PA Play Aid
PA Power of Attorney
PA Press Agent
PA Private Account
PA Public Address
PA Purchasing Agent
PABX Private Automatic Branch eXchange [Telephony]
PACCOM Pacific Computer Communications network consortium [Networking]
PACX Private Automatic Computer eXchange
PAD Packet Assembler-Disassembler [Networking]
PAH Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon
PAL Phase Alternation Line-rate
PAL Programmable Array Logic
PAM Payload Assist Module [Space]
PAM Pulse Amplification Modulation
PARC Palo Alto Research Center, xerox
PASS Personal Access Satellite System [NASA]
PATROL Program for Administrative Traffic Reports On Line
PBM Play By Mail game
PBS Public Broadcasting System
PBX Private Branch eXchange [Telephony]
PC Peace Corps
PC PerCent; PerCentage
PC Personal Computer (IBM wants you to believe a specific kind)
PC Player Character (see NPC) [Role-playing]
PC Post Card
PC Post Cibum (after meals)
PC Privileged Character
PC Privy Council
PC Program Counter
PC Progressive Conservative party [Canada]
PC Providence College
PC/AT Personal Computer/Advanced Technology
PCB PolyChlorinated Biphenyl
PCB Printed Circuit Board
PC-DOS Personal Computer DOS
PCI Panel Call Indicator
PCIE President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency
PCL Printer Command Language
PCM Plug-Compatible Mainframe
PCM Pulse Code Modulation
PCPC Personal Computers Peripheral Corporation
PCS Permanent Change of Station
PCTE Portable Common Tools Environment
PCTS Posix Conformance Test Suite
PD Per Diem
PD Police Department
PD Potential Difference
PD Public Domain
PDAD Proposed Draft ADdendum
PDE Partial Differential Equation
PDES Product Data Exchange Specifications
PDF Program Development Facility
PDL Page Description Language
PDL Program Design Language
PDN Public Data Network
PDP Plasma Display Panel
PDP Programmed Data Processor
PDP Programmed Data Processor [DEC]
PDQ Pretty Damned Quick
PDS Premises Distribution System [AT&T]
PDT Pacific Daylight Time
PE Phase Encoded
PE Physical Education
PE Prince Edward island
PE Printer’s Error
PE Professional Engineer
PE Protestant Episcopal
PEI Prince Edward Island
PEP Productivity Enhancement Project
PEPE Pepe Est Presque Emacs
PERL Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister
PERL Practical Extraction and Report Language
PEX Phigs/phigs+ Extension to X
PFC Plasma Fusion Center [MIT]
PG Parental Guidance (suggested) [Movie rating]
PGA Professional Graphics Adapter
PGA Pure Grain Alcohol
PHA Pulse Height Analyzer (or Analysis)
PHIGS Programmers Hierarchical Interactive Graphics System
PHS Public Health Service
PhysRev Physical Review Journal – Phys Rev
PI Principal Investigator
PI Priority Interrupt
PI Private Investigator
PIC Plastic/Polyethelene Insulated Cable [Telephony]
PIC Position Independant Code
PIF Paid In Full
PIT Principal, Interest, and Taxes
PIXEL PIcture ELement
PLA Programmable Logic Array
PLATO Programmed Learning for Automated Teaching Operations (U. Ill., early ’70s)
PLC Programmable Logic Controller
PLCC Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier
PLL Phase-Locked Loop
PLM Programming Language for Microcomputers
PLO Palestine (sic?) Liberation Organization (?)
PLO Please Leave On
PLSS Portable Life Support System [Space]
PM PayMaster
PM Police Magistrate
PM Post Meridiem
PM Post Meridiem (after noon)
PM PostMaster
PM PostMortem
PM Pressurized Module [Space]
PM Preventive Maintenance
PM Prime Minister
PM Provost Marshal
PMC Permanently Manned Capability [Space]
PMIRR Pressure Modulated InfraRed Radiometer (on Mars Observer) [Space]
PMO Prime Minister’s Office
PMOS P channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor (P-MOS) (see MOS)
PMS PreMenstrual Syndrome
PMT PhotoMultiplier Tube
PM/X Presentation Manager for X windows
PN Promissory Note
PNP Positive-Negative-Positive (transistor)
PO Petty Officer
PO Post Office
PO Postal Order
PO Purchase Order
POC Port Of Call
POD Pay On Delivery
POE Port Of Embarkation
POE Port Of Entry
POGO Polar Orbiting Geophysical Observatory
POM Phase Of Moon
POP Point of Presence [Telephony]
POP Post Office Protocol [Networking] (esp. TCP/IP)
POPS Paperless Order Processing System
POR Price On Request
POS Point Of Sale
POS Professional Operating System [DEC]
POSI Promoting conference for OSI
POSIX Portable Operating System for unIX
POSIX Portable Operating System Interface
POTS Plain Old Telephone Service [Telephony]
POTV Personnel Orbit Transfer Vehicle [Space]
POV Point Of View
POW Prisoner Of War
PP Parcel Post
PP Past Participle
PP Post Pay (payphone) [Telephony]
PP Primary Point
PPB Parts Per Billion
PPC Pour Prendre Conge’ (to take leave)
PPCS Person to Person, Collect, Special [Telephony]
PPM Parts Per Million
PPN Parameterized Post-Newtonian formalism for general relativity
PPN Project Programmer Number
PPP Point-to-Point Protocol (successor to SLIP (q.v.))
pps Packets per Second
PPS PostPostScriptum
PPT Parts Per Trillion
PPT Pulse Pair Timing
PPT Punched Paper Tape
PQ Province of Quebec
PR PayRoll
PR Public Relations
PR Puerto Rico
PRC Planning Research Corporation
PREPnet Pennsylvania Research & Economic Partnership Network
PRI Primary Rate Interface (ISDN) [Telephony]
PRN pro re nata [Medicine] (as needed?)
PROFS PRofessional OFfice System [IBM]
PROM Programmable Read-Only Memory
PS PicoSecond
PS PostScript
PS PostScriptum
PS Power Steering
PS Power Supply
PS Proposed Standard
PS Public School
PSA Problem Statement Analyzer
PSC Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center
PSC Polar Stratospheric Clouds
PSDN Public Switched Data Network [Telephony]
PSDS Public Switched Digital Service [Telephony, AT&T]
PSE Programming Support Environment
PSF Point Spread Function [Space]
PSG Platoon SerGeant
PSI Performance Systems International [Corporate name, Networking]
PSI Power Systems, Incorporated [Corporate name, Model Railroading]
PSK Phase Shift Keying
PSL Problem Statement Language
PSN Packet Switch Node [ARPANET/MILNET] (replaced IMP)
PSR Product Specific Realizations
PSR PulSaR [Space]
PSS (unknown to me, but something in the UK environment)
PST Pacific Standard Time
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
PT Pacific Time
PT Patrol Torpedo (as in PT boat)
PT Physical Therapy
PT Physical Training
PTA Parent-Teacher Association
PTD Parallel Transfer Disk
PTL Praise The Lord (ministry)
PTN Plant Test Number [Telephony] (actual number assigned for 800 service)
PTO Patent and Trademark Office
PTO Please Turn Over
PTO Power Take-Off
PTT Post, Telephone and Telegraph administration
PTV Passenger Transport Vehicle [Space]
PUC Public Utilities Commision
PV Photovoltaic [Space]
PVC Permanent Virtual Circuit (see also VC)
PVC Poly-Vinyl Chloride
PVO Pioneer Venus Orbiter [Space]
PW Prisoner of War (usually POW)
PWG Permanent Working Group
PX Post eXchange (see BX)
QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
QC Quality Control
QC Queen’s Counsel (KC when queen reigning)
QD Quaque Die (daily) [Medicine]
QDA Quantity Discount Agreement
QED Quod Erat Demonstrandum (which was to be demonstrated) [Latin]
QEF Quod Erat Faciendum (which was to be done) [Latin]
QEI Quod Erat Inveniendum (which was to be found out) [Latin]
QET Quantum Effect Transistor
QIC Quarter-Inch Cartridge
QID Quater In Die (four times a day) [Medicine]
QLI Query Language Interpreter
QM QuarterMaster
QMC QuarterMaster Corps
QMF Query Management Facility
QMG QuarterMaster General
QMS Quality Micro Systems [Corporate name]
QNS Quantity Not Sufficient
QSO Quasi-Stellar Object [Space]
q.v. ???? (Latin(?): which see)
QWERTY first six keys from left on top alphabetic row of standard keyboard
R Restricted [Movie rating]
R Rolemaster
RA Regular Army
RA Research Assistant
RA Royal Academy
RAAF Royal Australian Air Force
RACE Random Access Card Equipment
RACEP Random Access and Correlation for Extended Performance
RAD Radiation Absorbed Dose
RAD Rapid Access Disk
RADAR RAdio Detection And Ranging
RADM Rear ADMiral
RAF Royal Air Force
RAM Random Access Memory (R/W)
RAM Red Academicia de Mexico (Mexican Academic Network)
RARDE Royal Armaments Research and Development Establishment
RARE R’eseaux Associ’es pour la Recherche Europ’eenne (the European Organization of Research Networks)
RAS Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability
RASC Residence Account Service Center
RATS Radio Amateur Telecommunications Society
R&B Rhythm and Blues (commonly R and B)
RBC Red Blood Count
RBI Runs Batted In
RBOC Regional Bell Operating Company
RC Red Cross
RC Regional Center
RC Resistor-Capacitor circuit (as in filters)
RC Roman Catholic
RCA Radio Corporation of America [Corporate name]
RCAF Royal Canadian Air Force
RCAS Reserve Component Automation System
RCC Radio Common Carrier
RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police
RCS Reaction Control System [Space]
R&D Research and Development (commonly R and D)
RD Rural Delivery
RDA Remote Data Access
RDBMS Relational DataBase Management System
RDF Radio Direction Finding
REA Rail Express Agency
RECON Reconnaissance
REM Rapid Eye Movement
REO R. E. Olds
REO Removable, Erasable, Optical
RETMA Radio {something(equipment?)?} {something?} Manufacturers’ Association (????)
REXX Restructured EXtended eXecutor
RF Radio Frequency
RF Radio Frequency [Space]
RFC Request For Comments (ala ARPA Internet)
RFD Rehoboth (MA) Fire Department
RFD Rural Free Delivery
RFI Radio Frequency Interference
RFI Radio Frequency Interference [Space]
RFP Request for Proposal
RFQ Request for Quote
RFS Remote File System
RGB Red Green Blue
RGP Raster Graphics Processor
RH Right Hand
RHC Regional (Bell) Holding Company
RHS Right Hand Side
RI Rhode Island
RIACS Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science (NASA)
RIACS Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science [Space]
RIAS Radio In the American Sector, berlin
RIF Reading Is Fundamental
RIF Reduction In Force
RILM Repertoire International de Literature Musicale
RIP Rest In Peace (or Requiescat In Pace : latin)
RIP Routing Interchange Protocol
RIPE R’eseaux IP Europ’eenne (European IP Networks) (of RARE, q.v.)
RISC Reduced Instruction Set Computer
RITA Recognition of Information Technology Achievement award
RJE Remote Job Entry
RLC Resistor Inductor Capacitor
RLG Research Libraries Group
RLIN Research Libraries Information Network (run by RLG (q.v.))
RLL Run Length Limited
RMA Radio Manufacturers’ Association
RMA Return Materials Authorization
RMATS Remote Maintenance Administration and Traffic System [Telephony]
RMS Remote Manipulator System [Space]
RMS Richard M. Stallman
RMS Root Mean Square
RMS Royal Mail Ship
RN Registered Nurse
RN Royal Navy
RNA RiboNucleic Acid
RNGC Revised New General Catalog [Space]
RNZAF Royal New Zealand Air Force
ROFF Run-OFF
ROG Receipt Of Goods
ROM Range Of Motion [Medicine]
ROM Read-Only Memory
ROM Rupture Of Membrane (as in birth)
ROSAT ROentgen SATellite [Space]
ROSE RATS (q.v.) Open Systems Environment
ROSE Remote Operations Service Entity (per ISO/CCITT layer 7)
ROTC Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
ROTS Rotary Out Trunks Selectors
ROYGBIV Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
RPC Remote Procedure Call
RPG RePort Generator
RPG Role Playing Game
RPI Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
RPM Revolutions Per Minute
RPN Reverse Polish Notation
RPO Railway Post Office
RPS Revolutions Per Second
RPV Remotely Piloted Vehicle
RQ RuneQuest
RR RailRoad
RR Route Relay
RR Rural Route
RRO Rate and Route Operator [Telephony]
RS Recommended Standard (EIA)
RS Recording Secretary
RS Revised Status
RS Right Side
RS Royal Society
RSCS Remote Spooling Communications Subsystem
RSFSR Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic
RSN Real Soon Now
RSU Remote Switching Unit
RSV Revised Standard Edition
RSVP Repondez S’il Vous Plait (please reply)
RSWC Right Side up With Care
RT RadioTelephone
RT RealTime
RTA Remote Trunk Arrangement [Telephony]
RTAC Regional Technical Assistance Center [Telephony]
RTF Rich Text Format
RTFM Read The @!# Manual
RTFM Read The F***ing Manual
RTG Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
RTG Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator [Space]
RTLS Return To Launch Site (Shuttle abort mode) [NASA, Shuttle, Space]
RTR Ready to Run [Model Railroading]
RTR Reel-To-Reel
RTS Request To Send (EIA RS-232-C)
RTTY Radio Teletype
RU Receive Unit
RVD Remote Virtual Disk [MIT]
RW Right Worshipful
RW Right Worthy
RX Receive
Ry Railway
S South
S Supplement
SA Salvation Army
SA Seaman Apprentice
SA Service Assistant
SA Sex Appeal
SA Sine Anno (without date)
SA South Africa
SA South America
SA Subject to Approval
SAA South Atlantic Anomaly
SAA South Atlantic Anomaly [Space]
SAA Systems Application Architecture
SAC Special Area Code [Telephony] (represent services, not places)
SAC Strategic Air Command (see TAC)
SAC Strategic Air Command [US military]
SADD Students Against Drunk Driving
SAFENET Survivable Adaptable Fiberoptic Embedded Network [US Navy]
SAM Surface to Air Missile
SAM Surface-to-Air Missile
SAMA Step-by-step Automatic Message Accounting [Telephony]
SAMPEX Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle EXplorer [Space]
SAMTO Space And Missile Test Organization [Space]
SAO Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory [Space]
SAP Second Audio Program
SAP Service Access Point [OSI, Networking]
SAR Search And Rescue
SAR Synthetic Aperture Radar
SARA Satellite pour Astronomie Radio Amateur [Space]
SARA Stichting Academisch Rekencentrum Amsterdam (Amsterdam Universities Computing Center)
SAREX Search and Rescue Exercise [Space]
SAREX Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment [Space]
SARTS Switched Access Remote Test System
SAS Small Astronomy Satellite
SAS Space Activity Suit [Space]
SASE Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope
SASI Shugart Associates Systems Interface
SAT Satellite [Space]
SAW Surface Acoustic Wave
SBA Small Business Administration
SC Secondary Channel
SC Sectional Center
S&C Skull & Crossbones
SC South Carolina
S/C SpaceCraft [Space]
SC SubCommittee
SCA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft [Space]
SCAD Subsonic Cruise Armed Decoy
SCADC Standard Central Air Data Computer
SCAME SCreen oriented Anti-Misery Editor
SCAMP Single-Chip A-series Mainframe Processor
SCAN Switched Circuit Automatic Network
SCC Specialized Common Carriers
SCC Switching Control Center
SCCS Source Code Control System
SCE Signal Conversion Equipment
SCE Structure Chart Editor
SCI SpaceCraft Incorporated
SCIFI SCIence FIction (often used pejoratively of what really isn’t)
SCO Santa Cruz Operation
SCOOPS SCheme Object Oriented Programming System
SCOTS Surveilance and Control Of Transmission Systems
SCSI Small Computer Systems Interface
SCT Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope [Space]
SCUBA Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
SCUD Subsonic Cruise Unarmed Decoy
SD South Dakota
SDB Source(?) DeBugger
SDI Standard Disk Interconnect [DEC]
SDI Strategic Defense Initiative [Space, US Government]
SDIO Strategic Defense Initiative Organization [Space, US Government]
SDLC Synchronous Data Link Control [IBM]
SDM Sub-rate Data Multiplexer
SDN Software Defined Network [Telephony, AT&T]
SDN System Development Network (Korea)
SDO Staff Duty Officer
SDSC San Diego Supercomputer Center
SDV Shuttle Derived Vehicle [Space]
SE Service Engineer (see also CE, FE)
SE South East
SEATO SouthEast Asia Treaty Organization
SEC Security Exchange Commission
SECNAV SECretary of the NAVy
SED Stream EDitor
SEI Software Engineering Institute (Carnegie Mellon)
SEI Space Exploration Initiative [Space]
SEL Software Engineering Laboratory
SEM Scanning Electron Microscope
SEST Swedish-European Submillimeter Telescope [Space]
SETI Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence [Space]
SETI Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence [Space]
SF San Francisco
SF Science Fiction; Speculative Fiction
SF Standard Form
SF Star Frontiers
SFRPG Science Fiction Role Playing Game
SG StarGuard
SG SubGroup
SGML Standard Generalized Markup Language
SHAPE Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
SHAR SHell ARchiver
SHCD Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
SHF Super High Frequency (3-30GHz)
SHRPG Super Hero Role Playing Game
SI Staten Island
SIAM Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
SID Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance [Space]
SIG Special Interest Group
SIGCAT Special Interest Group for Cd-rom Applications Technology
SIMD Single Instruction, Multiple Data
SIMM Single In-line Memory Module
SIMM System Integrated Memory Module
SINE SINE is not EINE
SIPS Satellite Imagery Processing System
SIR Shuttle Imaging Radar [Space]
SIRTF Space (formerly Shuttle) InfraRed Telescope Facility [Space]
SIRTF Space Infrared Telescope Facility [Space]
SIS Strategic Information System
SISCOM Satellite Information System COMpany
SITA Societe Internationale Telecommunications Aeronautiques
SJ Society of Jesus
Skyhook Surface to space “elevator” transportation system [Space]
SL Salvage Loss
SL Space Launch [Space]
SL SpaceLab [Space]
SLA Special Libraries Association
SLA Synchronous Line Adapter
SLAC Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
SLAN Sine Loco, Anno, (vel) Nomine (without place, year, or name)
SLAR Side Looking Airborne Radar
SLAR Side-Looking Airborne Radar [Space]
SLBM Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles
SLC Space Launch Complex [Space]
SLC Subscriber Loop Carrier [Telephony]
SLDC Synchronous Data Link Control
SLIP Serial Line Internet Protocol
SLIP Serial Line IP (sometimes SL/IP) (see also PPP)
SLP Super Long Play (VHS VCR)
SLS Space(lab) Life Sciences [Space]
SM Service Mark
SMA Sergeant Major of the Army
SMA Spectrum Manufacturers Association
SMC Small Magellanic Cloud (see LMC)
SMC Small Magellanic Cloud [Space]
SMD Storage Module Device (interface standard for disk drives)
SMD Surface Mounted Devices
SMDR Station Message Detail Recording [Telephony]
SMDS Switched Multi-megabit Data Service [Telephony, Networking]
SME Solar Mesosphere Explorer [Space]
SMEGMA Sophisticated Modern Editor with Gloriously Magnificent Abilities
SMERSH Abbr. of Russian phrase meaning “Death to the spies.”
SMEX SMall EXplorers [Space]
SMILS Sonobuoy Missile Impact Location System
SMM Solar Maximum Mission (satellite 1980-1989) [Space]
SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SMU Southeastern Massachusetts University
SMU Southern Methodist University
SN Science News [Periodical]
SN Serial Number
SN Super Nova
SN SuperNova (e.g., SN1987A) [Space]
SNA Systems Network Architecture [IBM]
SNADS SNA Distribution Services
SNAFU Situation Normal — All Fouled Up (also more profane versions)
SNAP Shipboard Non-tactical Automated data Processing program
SNAP Sub Network Access Protocol [OSI, Networking]
SNCF Societe National des Chemins de Fer (French National Railways)
SNF Server-Natural Format
SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol [TCP/IP]
SNOBOL StriNg Oriented symbOLic Language
SNPA SubNetwork Point of Attachment
SNR Signal to Noise Ratio
SNR Signal to Noise Ratio [Space]
SNR SuperNova Remnant [Space]
SNU Solar Neutrino Units [Space]
SO Seller’s Option
SO Significant Other
SO Space Opera
SO Strike Out
SOAP Symbolic Optimizing Assembler Program
SOFIA Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy [Space]
SOH Start Of Header, ASCII control character (dec=01,control-A)
SOHIO Standard Oil of oHIO [Corporate name]
SOHO SOlar Heliospheric Observatory [Space]
SOL Short on Landing (or, colloquially, Shit Out of Luck)
SONAR SOund Detection And Ranging
SONET Synchronous Optical Network [Telephony]
SOP Standard Operating Procedure
SOS Save Our Souls (International standard distress call, Morse …—…)
SOS Silicon On Sapphire
SOS Son of Stopgap (editor) [DEC]
SP Shore Patrol
SP Short Play (VHS VCR)
SP Southern Pacific [Corporate name, Railroading]
SP Stack Pointer
SP Star Patrol
SPA Software Publishers Association
SPAG Standards Promotion and Applications Group
SPAN Space Physics and Analysis Network [NASA] (DECnet)
SPAN Space Physics and Analysis Network [Space]
SPAR Stock Points Adp Replacement
SPARC Scalable Processor ARChitecture
SPARC Standards, Planning, And Requirements Committee
SPAWAR naval SPAce and WARfare command
SPC Software Productivity Consortium
SPCA Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
SPCC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
SPDM Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator [Space]
SPEC Systems Performance Evaluation Cooperative
SPITBOL SPeedy ImplemenTation of snoBOL
SPNI Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel
SPOT Systeme Probatoire pour l’Observation de la Terre [Space]
SPS Solar Power Satellite [Space]
SPUR Systech Pluraxial Unplug Repeater
SQIID Simultaneous Quad Infrared Imaging Device (at NOAO)
SQL Structured Query Language
SQUID Superconducting QUantum Interference Device
SRAM Short Range Attack Missile
SRAM Static RAM
SRB Solid (fuel) Rocket Booster [Space]
SRG Short and Ring Ground (test) [Telephony]
SRI Stanford Research Institute
SRM Solid Rocket Motor [Space]
SRO Standing Room Only
SS7 Signalling System #7 [Telephony]
SSA Social Security Administration [US Government]
SSB Single Side Band
SSC Superconducting Super Collider
SSE South-SouthEast
SSF Space Station Fred (er, Freedom) [Space]
SSF Space Station Freedom [NASA, Space]
SSFF Showcase Software Factory of the Future
SSG Staff SerGeant
SSI Small Scale Integration
SSI Solid-State Imager (on Galileo) [Space]
SSI Space Services Incorporated [Corporate name, Space]
SSI Space Studies Institute [Space]
SSI Supplemental Security Income
SSME Space Shuttle Main Engine [Space]
SSPF Space Station Processing Facility [Space]
SSPS Satellite Solar Power Station [Space]
SSR Secondary Surveillance Radar
SSR Soviet Socialist Republic
SSRMS Space Station Remote Manipulator System [Space]
SST Spectroscopic Survey Telescope [Space]
SST SuperSonic Transport [Space]
SSTO Single Stage To Orbit [Space]
SSTV Slow Scan TeleVision
SSW South-SouthWest
ST Short Ton
STARS Software Technology for Adaptable, Reliable Systems
STD Sacrae Theologiae Doctor (doctor of sacred theology)
STD Sexually Transmitted Disease (replaces VD)
STD State Transition Diagram
STD Subscriber Trunk Dialing (British, and elsewhere; equiv. DDD in USA)
STI Standard Tape Interconnect [DEC]
STILO Scientific and Technical Intelligence Liaison Office
STIS Space Telescope Imaging Spectrometer (to replace FOC and GHRS) [Space]
STL St. Louis (airport designation)
STN SuperTwisted Nematic
STOL Short TakeOff and Landing
STP Shielded Twisted Pair [Telecom, Networking]
STP Software Through Pictures
STP Standard Temperature and Pressure (see NTP)
STRPG Star Trek: The Role-Playing Game
STS Space Transportation System (space shuttle) [NASA]
STScI Space Telescope Science Institute [Space]
STV Single Transferable Vote
STV Space Transfer Vehicle [Space]
SUM Symantec Utilities for Macintosh
SUN Stanford University Network
SUN SUN MicroSystems Computer (not an Acronym) [Corporate name]
SUNOCO SUN Oil COmpany [Corporate name]
SUNY State University of New York
SURAnet Southeastern Universities Research Association Network
SVID System V Interface Definition
SW South West
SW SuperWorld
SWAS Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite [Space]
SWBT South Western Bell Telephone [Telephony]
SWF ShortWave Fading [Space]
SWIFT Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Communications
SWS Scientific Workstation Support
SXS Step by Step switching [Telephony]
T Traveler
T1 1.544Mbps [Telephony], one of the basic signalling systems 24x64Kb
T3 45Mbps (eq 28 T1 channels) [Telephony]
TA Teaching Assistant
TAC Tactical Air Command (see SAC)
TAC Terminal Access Controller [ARPANET/MILNET] (replaced TIP)
TACACS Terminal Access Controller Access Control System [ARPANET/MILNET]
TACCS Tactical Army Combat service support Computer System
TAE Transportable Applications Environment
TAL Trans-Atlantic Abort Landing [NASA, Shuttle]
TAL Transatlantic Abort Landing (Shuttle abort plan) [Space]
TANSTAAFL There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
TAR Tape ARchiver
TASI Time Assign{ment,ed} Speech Interpolation [Telephony]
TAU Thousand Astronomical Units [Space]
TB TuBerculosis
TBA To Be Announced
TBD To Be Determined
TBD To Be Done
TC Teachers College
TCA Terminal Controlled Airspace
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
TCS Thermal Control System [Space]
TCSEC Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (orange book)
TCT To Challenge Tomorrow
TD Tardive Dyskinesia
TD TouchDown
TD Treasury Department
TDCC Transportation Data Coordinating Committee
TDE Transition Diagram Editor
TDI Trusted Database Interpretation
TDM Time-Division Multiplexer
TDR Time Domain Reflectometer
TDRS Tracking and Data Relay Satellite [Space]
TDRSS Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System [Space]
TDY Temporary DutY
TECO Tape Editor and COrrector
TECO Text Editor and COrrector
TEFLON polyTEtraFLuOrethyleNe
TES Thermal Emission Spectrometer (on Mars Observer) [Space]
TFP Tops Filing Protocol
TFS Translucent File System
TFT The Fantasy Trip
TFT Thin Film Transistor
TG Thieves’ Guild
TGV Tres Grande Vitesse (French, Very High Speed) [Railroading]
TGV Two Guys and a VAX (humorous variant) [Corporate name]
THIEF THief Isn’t Even Fine
THIEF This Here Isn’t Even Fine
THOR Tandy High-intensity Optical Recording
TI Texas Instruments
TIA Thanks In Advance [Net jargon]
TIA Transient Ischemic Attack
TIC TermInfo Compiler
TID Ter In Die (three times a day)
TID Transaction ID
TIFF Tag Image File Format
TIP Terminal Interface Processor [ARPANET/MILNET] (replaced by TAC)
TIS Trusted Information Systems [Corporate name]
TISN Tokyo International Science Network (Japan)
TKO Technical Knock Out [Boxing]
TL Total Loss
TLA Three Letter Acronym
TLC Tender Loving Care
TLI Transort-Level Interface
TM TradeMark
TMA Tycho Magnetic Anomaly (movie 2001)
TMAC Treasury department’s Multiuser Acquisition Contract
TMIS Telecommunications Management Information System
TMO Telephone Money Order
TMP The Morrow Project
TMRC Tech Model Railroad Club [MIT]
TMRC Transportation Modeling Research Center (TMRC {above} alter ego)
TN Tennessee
TN Twisted Nematic
TNC Threaded Neill Concelman (connector) [Electronics] (see also BNC)
TNF Tumor Necrosis Factor [Biology, Medicine]
TNP Tech Nickel Plate (RR) [TMRC]
TNT TriNitro Toluene
TO Telegraph Office
TO Turn Over
TODS Transactions on Database Systems (ACM)
TOMS Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer [Space]
TOMS Transactions on Mathematical Software (ACM)
TOOIS Transactions on Office Information Systems (ACM)
TOP Technical Office Protocol
TOPLAS Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems (ACM)
TOPS Traffic Operator Position System [Telephony]
TOPSMP Traffic Operator Position System Multipurpose [Telephony]
TORES Text ORiented Editing System
TOS Transfer Orbit Stage [Space]
TOW Tube launched, Optically tracked, and Wire guided
TOY Time Of Year (clock)
TP Transaction Processing
TP Transport Protocol (ISO/CCITT Transport Services (TP0-TP4); like TCP)
TP4 Transport Protocol, class 4 [ISO]
TPC The Phone Company (from classic movie: _The President’s Analyst_)
TPI Tracks Per Inch
TPO Traveling Post Office
TPP TetraarylPorPhyrin
TPS Technical Publishing Software
TPS TeleProcessing Services
TPS Thermal Protection System [Space]
TR Tech Report (at least at LCS (q.v.), maybe others)
TR Technical Reference [Bell, Telephony]
TRG Tip and Ring Ground (test) [Telephony]
TROFF Text RunOFF, text formatter
TRUSIX TRUSted unIX
TRW Thompson, Ramo, and Woolridge
TS Top Secret
TSAP Transport Service Access Point [OSI, Networking]
TSD Total System Design
TSP Teleprocessing Services Program
TSP Thrift Savings Plan
TSP Time Synchronization Protocol
TSP TriSodium Phosphate
TSR TSR (Fortune 500 Company that manufactures Dungeons & Dragons)
TSS Tethered Satellite System [Space]
TSTO Two Stage to Orbit [Space]
T&T Tunnels & Trolls
TTFN Tah Tah, For Now
TTL Transistor Transistor Logic
TTMA Tennessee Tech Microcomputer Association
TTU Tennessee Technological University
TTY TeleTYpe
TUNIS Toronto UNIversity System
TV TeleVision
TVA Tennessee Valley Authority
TW Thieves’ World
TWA Trans World Airlines [Corporate name]
TWB Terrestrial WideBand [Networking, DARPA]
TWIMC To Whom It May Concern
TWT Traveling Wave Tube
TWX TeletypeWriter eXchange
TX Texas
Tx Transmit
u (representing the greek mu) – micro
U Universe
UA United Artists
UAR United Arab Republic
UAR User Action Routine
UARS Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite [Space]
UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter
UBA UniBus Adapter [DEC]
UBC Universal Bibliographic Control
UBC University of British Columbia
UBM Unpressurized Berthing Mechanism [Space]
UCAR University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
UCB University of California at Berkeley
UCD Uniform Call Distributor [Telephony]
UCD University of California at Davis
UCI University of California at Irvine
UCL University College London
UCLA University of California at Los Angeles
UCR University of California at Riverside
UCSB University of California at Santa Barbara
UCSC University of California at Santa Cruz
UCSD University of California at San Diego
UCSF University of California at San Francisco
UDB Unified DataBase
UDMH Unsymmetrical DiMethyl Hydrazine [Space]
UDP User Datagram Protocol
UEC User Environment Component
UFO Unidentified Flying Object [Space]
UGC Uppsala General Catalog [Space]
UH Upper Half
UHF Ultra High Frequency (300-3000MHz)
UID Unique IDentifier
UID User IDentification [UNIX]
UIMS User Interface Management System
UIT Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (Astro package) [Space]
UIUC University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
UK United Kingdom
UKST United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope [Space]
UL Underwriters Laboratory
ULANA Unified Local-Area Network Architecture
UMOC Ugliest Man On Campus [MIT]
UMT Universal Military Training
UN United Nations
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, & Cultural Organization
UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (now United Nat. Child. Fund)
UNICS UNiplex Information Computer Services
UNIX Not an acronym at all. Was a joke on MIT’s MULTICS.
UNMA Unified Network Management Architecture [AT&T]
UNO United Nations Organization
UP Union Pacific [Railroading, Corporate name]
UPC Universal Product Code
UPI United Press International
UPI United Press International [Corporate name]
UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply
UPS United Parcel Service [Corporate name]
UR University of Rochester
URI University of Rhode Island
US United States (of America)
USA Union of South Africa
USA United States Army
USA United States of America
USAF United States Air Force
USAFA United States Air Force Academy (in Colorado Springs)
USAN University Satellite Network
USB Upper Side Band
USC University of Southern California
USCG United States Coast Guard
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
USES United States Employment Service
USFL United States Football League
USGS United States Geological Survey
USIA United States Information Agency
USM United States Mail
USMC United States Marine Corps
USMP United States Microgravity Payload [Space]
USN United States Navy
USO United Service Organizations
USO Unix Software Operation
USP United States Pharmacopeia
USPS United States Postal Service
USR User Service Routines
USS United States Ship
USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
USSS User Services and Systems Support
USW Und So Weiter
UT Universal Time (a.k.a. GMT, UTC, or Zulu Time)
UT University of Tennessee
UT University of Texas
UT UTah
UTC Coordinated Universal Time (a.k.a. UT)
UTC Universal Coordinated Time (a.k.a. UT)
UTnet University of Texas Network
UTP Unshielded Twisted Pair [Telecom, Networking]
UUCP UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Program
UUG Unix User Group
UV UltraViolet
UVS UltraViolet Spectrometer
UW UnderWriter
UW Univ of Wisconsin
VA Veterans Administration
VA Virginia
VAB Vehicle Assembly Building (formerly Vertical Assembly Building) [Space]
VAFB Vandenberg Air Force Base [Space]
VAN Value Added Network (e.g. Tymnet, Telenet, etc)
VANS Value-Added Network Services
VAR Value Added Remarketer (reseller)
VASI Visual Approach Slope Indicator
VAT Value Added Tax
VAX Virtual Address eXtended
VAXBI VAX Bus Interconnect
VC Viet Cong
VC Virtual Circuit
Vcc Voltage (Common Cathode?)
VCM Voice Coil Motor
VCO Voltage Controlled Oscillator
VCR VideoCassette Recorder
VCU Virginia Commonwealth University
VD Venereal Disease (see also STD)
VDFM Virtual Disk File Manager
VDI Virtual Device Interface
VDM Vienna Development Method
VDM Virtual Device Metafile
VDT Video Display Terminal
VEEGA Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist (Galileo flight path) [Space]
VF Video Frequency
VF Voice Frequency
VFO Variable Frequency Oscillator
VFR Visual Flight Rules [Aviation]
VFW Veterans of Foreign Wars
VFW Volunteer Fire Department
VG Very Good
VG Vicar-General
VGA Video Graphics Array
Vgg Voltage (Gate to Ground?)
V&H Vertical and Horizontal (CO coordinate tape) [Telephony]
VHDL Vhsic Hardware Description Language
VHF Very High Frequency (30-300MHz)
VHS Video Home System (VCR)
VHSIC Very High Speed Integrated Circuit
VI VIsual editor
VIABLE Vertical Installation Automation BaseLinE
VILE VI Like Emacs
VINE Vine Is Not Emacs
VIP Very Important Person
VISTA Volunteers In Service To America
VITA Vme International Trade Association
VJ Video Jockey
VL Vulgar Latin
VLA Very Large Array [Space]
VLBA Very Long Baseline Array [Space]
VLBI Very Long Baseline Interferometry [Space]
VLF Very Low Frequency (3-30KHz)
VLIW Very Long Instruction Word
VLSI Very Large Scale Integration
VLT Very Large Telescope [Space]
VM Virtual Memory
VM/CMS Virtual Machine/Conversational Monitor System
VMM Virtual Memory Manager
VMOS Vertical Metal Oxide Semiconductor (V-MOS) (see MOS)
VMR Vertical Market Reseller
VMS Vertical Motion Simulator [Space]
VMS Virtual Memory System [DEC]
VOA Voice Of America
VOIR Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar (superseded by VRM) [Space]
VOIS Voice-Operated Information System
VOQ Visiting Officer’s Quarters
VPI&SU Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
VRC Vertical Redundancy Character
VRM Venus Radar Mapper (now called Magellan) [Space]
VRM Virtual Resource Manager
VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal (satellite dish)
VSX X/open Verification Suite
VTAM Virtual Telecommunications Access Method [IBM]
VTOC Volume Table Of Contents
VTOL Vertical TakeOff and Landing
VTR VideoTape Recorder
VUP Vax Unit of Performance
V&V Villains & Vigilantes
VVSS Vertical Volute Spring Suspension
W West
W Width
WA Washington
WA Western Australia
WAC Womens Air Corps
WAIS Wide Area Information Server
WARC World Administrative Conference
WATS Wide Area Telephone Service
WB Water Ballast
WB WayBill
WBC White Blood Cells
WC Water Closet
WC Without Charge
WCTU Women’s Christian Temperance Union
WD White Dwarf [Space]
WECo Western Electric Company [AT&T] (manufacturing arm of AT&T)
WFPC Wide Field / Planetary Camera (on HST) [Space]
WFPCII Replacement for WFPC [Space]
WG Working Group
WH WarHammer
WHBL World Home Bible League
WHCA White House Communications Agency [US Government]
WHO World Health Organization
WI Wisconsin
WIMP Windows/Icons/Mouse Programming(?)
WIPP (nuclear) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant [DOE]
WIS WWMCCS Information System
WITS Washington Interagency Telecommunications System
WIYN Wisconsin / Indiana / Yale / NOAO telescope [Space]
WMSCR Weather Message Switching Center Replacement
WOM Write Only Memory
WOP WithOut Papers [Immigration]
WOPR War Operations Planned Response (from “Wargames” movie)
WORM Write Once, Read Many times
WOW Worlds of Wonder
WP Word Processing
WP Working Paper
WPI Worcester Polytechnic Institute
WSI Wafer Scale Integration
WSMR White Sands Missile Range [Space]
WSW West-SouthWest
WTR Western Test Range [Space]
WU Washington University
WU Western Union
WUPPE Wisconsin Ultraviolet PhotoPolarimter Experiment (Astro package) [Space]
WV West Virginia
WW World War
WWI World War I
WWII World War II
WWMCCS World-Wide Military Command and Control System
WY Wyoming
WYSIWIS What You See Is What I See
WYSIWYG What You See Is What You Get
XCF eXperimental Computing Facility
XD without Dividend
XDR eXternal Data Representation
XFER Transfer
XINU XINU Is Not UNIX
XL eXtra Large
XMM X-ray Multi Mirror [Space]
XMTR transMiTteR (the X is for trans)
XNS Xerox Network Services
XO eXecutive Officer
XOR eXclusive OR (logical function)
XPORT Transport
XSECT cross SECTion
XTAL crysTAL (another version of x for crys, see XMTR)
XUI X-windows User Interface
XUV eXtreme UltraViolet [Space]
YA Yet Another
YACC Yet Another Compiler Compiler
YB YearBook
YMCA Young Mens Christian Association
YMHA Young Mens Hebrew Association
YOB Year Of Birth
YP Yellow Pages
YRS Ysgarth Rules System
YSO Young Stellar Object [Space]
YST Yukon Standard Time
YT Yukon Territory
YT Yukon Time
YTD Year To Date
YWCA Young Womens Christian Association
YWHA Young Womens Hebrew Association
Z Zenith
Z Zero
Z Zulu (time)
ZB Zero Beat
ZETA Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly
ZGS Zero Gradient Synchrotron
ZI Zonal Index
ZIF Zero Insertion Force (connector/socket)
ZIP Zone Improvement Plan (US post office code)
ZK barrage balloon (navy symbol)
ZMRI Zinc Metals Research Institute
ZPG Zero Population Growth
ZPRSN Zurich Provisional Relative Sunspot Number
ZST Zone Standard Time
ZT Zone Time
ZWEI Zwei Was Eine Initially

Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253

0

The Truth About The German Language Becoming America’s Language

>From: cindy@solan10.solan.unit.no (Cynthia Kandolf)
Subject: Return of the US Language UL
Message-ID:
Date: 12 Jul 92 16:43:24 GMT
Sender: news@ugle.unit.no (NetNews Administrator)
Distribution: alt
Organization: /home/ludviga/cindy/.organization
Lines: 52

Those of you who have been around here for longer than you care
to admit (like me) may remember the time someone brought up a legend
about German having narrowly missed becoming the official language of
the United States. This is a common story, and the usual cap to it
is that Congress voted – by a majority of one vote – to make English
the official language of the US, this significantly altering the
course of development in the US textbook publishing industry.

The story is false. Matter of fact, the US at present does not have
an “official” language in the sense of a language declared by law to
have special status; English is merely the de facto standard.
There _was_ indeed some discussion about which language to adapt,
with some strong seperatists arguing that English was the language
of the “enemy”. However, there were no cliff-hangers as suggested
by the legend mentioned above; the strong seperatists were a minority
group, and it was pretty clear from the start that most people
considered changing from English to be too much trouble. All this
junk was discussed the last time around, but i wanted to summarize it
for those who weren’t with us then.

The reason for bringing this up is that i have found an incident that
may be the source of this UL. (Drum roll.) My source is the
_Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language_, by David Crystal, published
by the Cambridge University Press, (c)1987. In the interest of
completeness, ISBN 0 521 26438 3.

from page 365:

_A planning myth_

Probably the best-known myth in the history of language planning is
the story that German nearly became the national language of the US in
the 18th century, losing to English by only one vote in the
legislature (the “Muhlenberg” legend). In fact, all that was involved
was a request, made by a group of Virginia Germans, to have certain
laws issued in German _as well as_ in Englih. The proposal was
rejected by one vote, apparently cast by a German-speaking Lutheran
clergyman, Frederick Muhlenberg (1750-1801). But the general status
of English as the majority language was never in doubt. (After S.B.
Heath and F. Mandabach, 1983.)

[End quote]

Just to show that i did my homework, the paper referred to is:
Heath, S.B., and Mandabach, F. 1983. Language status decisions and
the law in the United States. In J. Cobarrubias and J.A. Fishman
(eds.), _Progress in language planning: international perspectives_
(Berlin: Mouton), 87-105.

-Cindy Kandolf
cindy@solan.unit.no
Trondheim, Norway

0

Feline Genetics, By R. Roger Breton And Nancy J. Creek

FELINE GENETICS

R. Roger Breton
Nancy J Creek

——————————

Cells, Chromosomes, and Genes

From a 35-pound Main Coon to a 5-pound Devon Rex; from the small
folded caps of a Scottish Fold to the great, delicate ears of a Bali-
nese; from the 4-inch coat of a Chinchilla Persian to the fuzzy down
of a Sphinx; from the deep Ebony of a Bombay to the translucent white
of a Turkish Angora; from the solid color of a Havana Brown to the
rich tabbiness of a Norwegian Forest Cat: the variety and beauty to
be found in the domestic cat is beyond measure. When these character-
istics are coupled with the genetically-patterned and environmentally-
tailored personalities of the individuals, it can be seen that each
animal is as unique as it is possible to be. There truly is a cat for
everyone.

Wide as the range of cats is, it pales when compared with the varie-
ties of Other Pet. Why should the dog exhibit such a wide spectrum of
body types, looking like completely different creatures in some cases,
while cats always look like cats (as horses always look like horses)?
The secrets behind the wide variations in possible cats, and why cats,
unlike dogs, resist gross changes and always look like cats, can be
found in its genetic makeup.

In order to understand what happens genetically when two cats do their
thing, it is necessary to understand a few basic things about genetics
in general. To study genetics, is to study evolution in miniature,
for it is through the mechanism of genetics that evolution makes
itself felt. In chapter 1, we showed how the gross evolution of the
cat came about, and how this gross mechanism was applied to the Euro-
pean Wildcat to evolve the African Wildcat, the immediate forerunner
of our cats. We will examine this mechanism itself to better under-
stand how the first domestic cat has become the dozens of breeds
available today, and how cat breeders use this mechanism to create new
breeds or improve existing ones.

Cats, like people, are multi-cellular creatures: that is, their
bodies are composed of cells, lots and lots of cells. Unlike primi-
tive multicellular creatures, cat bodies are not mere colonies of
cells, but rather societies of cells, with each type of cell doing a
specific task. To one specific type of cells, the germ cells (ova in
females and sperm in males), fall the task of passing the genetic code
to the next generation. The method the Great Engineer has developed
to carry this out is one of the most awesome, most elegant, and most
beautiful processes in nature.

The cells of a cat, with few special exceptions, are eukaryotic, that
is, they have a membrane surrounding them (acting as a sort of skin),
are composed of cytoplasm (cell stuff) containing specialized orga-

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 1

nelles (the parts that do the cell’s task), and have an inner membrane
surrounding a nucleus. It is this nucleus that contains all the
genetic materials.

Within the nucleus of a cell are found the chromosomes, long irregular
threads of genetic material. These chromosomes are arranged in pairs:
19 pairs in a cat, 23 pairs in a human. It is these 38 chromosomes
that contain the “blueprint” for the individual cat.

When inspected under a microscope, the chromosomes reveal irregular
light and dark bands: hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions per
chromosome. These light and dark bands are the genes, the actual
genetic codes. Each gene controls a single feature or group of fea-
tures in the makeup of the individual. Many genes interact: a single
feature may be controlled by one, two, or a dozen genes. This makes
the mapping of the genes difficult, and only a few major genes have
been mapped out for the cat.

The chromosome is itself composed primarily of the macromolecule DNA,
(deoxyribonucleic acid): one single molecule running the entire
length of the chromosome. DNA is a double helix, like two springs
wound within each other. Each helix is composed of a long chain of
alternating phosphate and deoxyribose units, connected helix to helix
by ladder-like rungs of four differing purine and pyridamine com-
pounds.

It is not the number of differing compounds that provide the secret of
DNA’s success, but rather the number of rungs in the ladder (uncounted
millions) and the order of the amino acids that make up the rungs.
The four different amino acids are arranged in groups of three, form-
ing a 64-letter alphabet. This alphabet is used to compose words of
varying length, each of which is a gene (one particular letter is
always used to indicate the start of a gene). Each gene controls the
development of a specific characteristic of the lifeform. There is an
all-but-infinite number of possible genes. As a result, the DNA of a
lifeform contains its blueprint, no two alike, and the variety and
numbers of possible lifeforms has even today barely begun.

Mitosis and Mendel

When a cell has absorbed enough of the various amino acids and other
compounds necessary, it makes another cell by dividing. This process
is called mitosis, and is fundamental to life.

Not too long ago, it was thought that the chromosomes were generated
immediately prior to mitosis, and dissolved away afterwards. This
turned out not to be true. The extremely tiny chromosomes, normally
invisible in an optical microscope, shorten and thicken during mito-
sis, becoming visible temporarily.

The rather complex process of mitosis can perhaps be explained simply
as a step-by-step process:

Mitosis begins when the cell senses sufficient growth and nutrients to

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 2

support two cells.

The invisible chromosomes duplicate themselves through the wonder of
DNA replication. Various enzymes are used as keys to unlock and
unwind the double helix into two single helices. Each of these he-
lices then uses other enzymes to lock the proper parts (the amino
acids and other stuff) together to build a new second helix, complete
with all transverse rungs, so that the results will be exact replicas
of the original double helix. This winding and unwinding of the DNA
can take place at speeds up to 1800 rpm! The two daughter chromosomes
remain joined at a single point, called the centromere.

The cromosomes then wind themselves up, shortening and thickening,
making them visible under the microscope, and attach themselves to the
nuclear membrane.

The nuclear membrane then dissolves into a fibrous spindle, with at
least one fiber passing through each centromere (there are many more
fibers than centromeres).

The fibers then stretch and pull the centromeres apart, pulling the
chromosomes to opposite sides of the cell.

The spindles dissolve into two new nuclear membranes, one around each
group of chromosomes.

The chromosomes unwind back into invisibility, the cell divides, and
mitosis is complete. Genetically, each daughter cell is an exact
duplicate of the parent cell.

Since the genetic coding is carried in the rungs of the DNA and only
consists of four different materials arranged in groups of three to
form words of varying length written with a 64-letter alphabet, the
instructions for a “cat” may be considered to consist of two sets of
19 “books,” each millions of words long, one set from each of the
cat’s parents. The numbers of possible instructions are more than
astronomical: there are far more possible instructions in one single
chromosome than there are atoms in the known universe!

A single gene is a group of instructions of some indeterminate length.
Somewhere among all the other codes is a set of instructions composing
the “white” gene, and what that set says will determine if the cat is
white or non-white.

Since a cat receives two sets of instructions, one from each parent,
what happens when one parent says “make the fur white” and the other
says “make the fur non-white”? Will they effect a compromise and make
the fur pastel? No, they will not. Each and every single gene has at
least two levels of expression (many have more), called alleles, which
will determine the overall effect. In the case given, the “make the
fur white” allele, “W”, is dominant, while the “make the fur non-
white” allele, “w”, is recessive. As a result, the fur may be white
or non-white, not pastel (we’re only speaking of the “white” gene
here, a gray cat is caused by an entirely different gene).

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 3

In order to understand how this works, lets run through a couple of
simple examples using the white gene. A cat has two and only two
white genes. Since each white gene, for the purposes of our examples,
consists of one of two alleles, “W” or “w”, a cat may have one of four
possible karyotypes (genetic codes) for white: “WW”, “Ww”, “wW”,
“ww”. Since “W” is dominant to “w”, the codes “WW”, “Ww”, and “wW”
produce white cats, while the code “ww” produces a non-white cat.

| W w
–+——–
W | WW Ww
w | wW ww

The double-dominant “WW” white cat has only white alleles in its white
genes. It is classed as homozygous (same-celled) for white, and will
produce only white offspring, regardless of the karyotype of its mate.

The single-dominant “Ww” or “wW” white cat has one of each allele in
its white genes. It is classed as heterozygous (different-celled) for
white, and may or may not produce white offspring, depending upon the
karyotype of its mate.

The recessive “ww” non-white cat has only non-white alleles in its
white genes. It is classed as homozygous for non-white, and may or
may not produce white offspring, depending upon the karyotype of its
mate.

Assuming these cats mate, there are sixteen different possible karyo-
type combinations. Since each cat in these sixteen combinations will
pass on to their offspring one and only one allele, there are four
possible genetic combinations from each mating. There are sixty-four
possible combinations of offspring.

Inspecting these possible offspring, several patterns emerge. Of the
64 possible offspring, 16, or exactly one-quarter, have any given
pattern. This means that one quarter of all possible matings will be
homozygous for white, “WW”, two quarters will be heterozygous for
white, “Ww” or “wW” (which are really the same thing), and one quarter

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 4

will be homozygous for non-white, “ww”. Since homozygous white and
heterozygous white will both produce white cats, three-quarters of all
possible combinations will produce white cats, and only one-quarter
will produce non-white cats. This 3:1 ratio is known as the Mendelian
ratio, after Gregor Johann Mendel, the father of the science of genet-
ics.

Further inspection leads us to several conclusions. If a homozygous
white cat mates, all offspring will be white. If two homozygous white
cats mate, all offspring will be homozygous white. If a homozygous
white cat mates with a heterozygous white cat, there will be both
homozygous white and heterozygous white offspring in a 1:1 ratio. If
a homozygous white cat mates with a homozygous non-white cat, all
offspring will be heterozygous white. Thus, a homozygous white cat
can only produce white offspring, regardless of the karyotype of its
mate, and is said to be true breeding for white.

If two heterozygous white cats mate, there will be homozygous white,
heterozygous white, and homozygous non-white offspring in a ratio of
1:2:1. The ratio of white to non-white offspring is the Mendelian
ration of 3:1. If a heterozygous white cat mates with a homozygous
non-white cat, there will be both heterozygous white and homozygous
non-white offspring in a 1:1 ratio.

If two homozygous non-white cats mate, all offspring will be homozy-
gous non-white. Homozygous non-white cats are therefore true-breeding
for non-white when co-bred.

Geneticists differentiate between what a cat is genetically versus
what it looks like by defining its genotype versus its phenotype. A
homozygous white cat has a white genotype and a white phenotype.
Likewise, a homozygous non-white cat has a non-white genotype and a
non-white phenotype. A heterozygous white cat, on the other hand, has
both a white genotype and a non-white genotype, but only a white
phenotype.

Naturally, in a given litter of four kittens the chances of having a
true Mendelian ratio are slim (slightly better than 1:11), so several
generations of pure white kittens could be bred, still carrying a
recessive non-white allele. In all good faith you then breed your
several-generations-all-white-but-heterozygous female to a similar
several-generation-all-white-but heterozygous male and voila! A black
kitten! The non-white genotype has finally shown itself.

This Mendelian patterning is the basic rule of genetics. Since the
rule is so simple, why is it so hard to predict things genetically?
The reason is that we are dealing with more than one gene from each
parent. The number of possible offspring combinations is two to the
power of the number of genes: one gene from each parent is two genes,
two squared is four possibilities; two from each parent is four, two
to the fourth is sixteen; three from each is six, two to the sixth is
64;… There are literally hundreds of millions of genes for one cat,
yet a mere hundred from each parent produces a 61-digit number for the

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 5

possible offspring combinations!

Meiosis

Since each cell contains the entire chromosome set, 19 pairs, how is
it possible for a parent to pass on only the genes from one chromosome
of a pair, and not both. This is accomplished via the gametes: the
germ cells, ova for females and sperm for males. Within the gonads
(ovaries or testes), these special cells go through a division process
known as meiosis.

Unlike the normal process of mitosis, where the chromosomes are faith-
fully replicated into duplicates of themselves, in meiosis the result-
ant gametes have only half the number of chromosomes, one from each
original pair. This involves a double division.

As in mitosis, meiosis begins when the cell senses sufficient growth
and nutrients to support division. The invisible chromosomes are
duplicated through DNA replication. As usual, the two daughter chro-
mosomes remain joined at the centromere. The chromosomes wind them-
selves up, shortening and thickening, becoming visible under the
microscope. Each new chromosome twin aligns itself with its homolo-
gous counterpart: the twin chromosome from its opposite number in the
original chromosome pair. The two twin chromosomes intertwine into a
tetrad and exchange genes in a not clearly understood process that
randomizes the genes between the twins. The tetrad attaches itself to
the nuclear membrane. The nuclear membrane dissolves into a spindle,
with at least one fiber passing through both centromeres of each
tetrad. The fibers stretch and pull the tetrads apart, pulling the
chromosomes twins to opposite sides of the cell. Once the chromosome
twins are at the poles of the spindle, the spindle dissolves and
reforms as two separate parallel spindles at right angles to the
original spindle, with at least one fiber through each centromere. At
this time there are effectively two mitoses taking place. The paral-
lel spindles pull the centromeres apart, forming four separate groups
of chromosomes, each of which consists of one-half the normal number.
The spindles dissolve and four new nuclear membranes form, one around
each group of chromosomes. The chromosomes unwind back into invisi-
bility, the cell divides into four gametes, each having 19 chromo-
somes, and meiosis is complete.

At the moment of conception, a single sperm penetrates a single ovum,
the ovum absorbs the sperm, merging the sperm’s nucleus with its own
and pairing the two sets of chromosomes. The ovum has now become a
zygote, which begins dividing through the normal mitosis process, and
a kitten is on its way.

Male, Female, and Maybe

The 19 pairs of chromosomes in a cat carry the numbers 1 through 18,
plus “X” and “Y”. The “X” and “Y” chromosomes are very special, for
they determine the sex of the kitten. A female cat has two “X” chro-
mosomes, “XX”, while a male cat has one “X” and one “Y” chromosome,
“XY”, so if we follow the Mendelian pattern for sex determination we

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 6

find that the female parent can provide only an “X” chromosome to her
offspring, while the male parent can provide either an “X” chromosome
or a “Y” chromosome. The resulting kittens are either “XX” or “XY”,
as determined by the father. The same rule also applies to people
(Sorry guys, if you and the wife have seven girls, it’s your fault,
not hers!).

Since the sex chromosomes follow the same rules as the other chromo-
somes, why bother mentioning them separately? Because they don’t
exactly follow the same rules: the “X” chromosome is longer than the
“Y” chromosome, and it is this extra length that carries the codes for
the female. When there is only one set of these extra codes, they act
as recessives, allowing the male characteristic to dominate. When
there are two sets, they act as dominants, and suppress the male
characteristics. Thus, female and male kittens.

We could end the argument here if it weren’t for two complications.
First, the extra-length of the “X” chromosome carries some genes that
are for other than sex characteristics (such as the gene for orange
fur): such characteristics are said to be sex-linked, and operate
differently in males and females.

A further complication comes with incomplete separation of the “X”
gene twin at the centromere. An “X-X” gene twin has its centromere
exactly where “Y”‘s would become “X”‘s. If an “X” were to fracture at
the centromere during the process of separation, it would become an
effective “Y”. This is rare but by no means unheard of, and produces
a “false” “Y” (shown as “y” to differentiate it from a female “XX”
parent.

Another variation is incomplete separation, where only a “false cen-
tromere” is separated from the gene twin, with or without a part of
the twin, causing one gamete to have 18 chromosomes (neither an “X” or
a “y” while the other has 20 (either two “X”‘s, an “Xy”, or two “y”‘s,
depending on the point and angle of fracture).

These variations on the sex chromosomes mean that a female, being “XX”
in nature, can produce ova with the following: “XX”, “Xy”, “yy”, “X”,
“y”, or “O” (no sex chromosome). A male, being “XY”, can produce
sperm with “XY”, “Yy”, “X”, “Y”, “y”, or “O”. A zygote, taking one
gamete from each parent, may then be any of the following 36 possibil-
ities:

Since at least one “X” is required (can’t build a puzzle without all
the pieces), we may immediately ignore “Yyyy”, “Yyy”, “yyy”, “YyO”,

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 7

“yyO”, “Yy”, “yy”, “YO”, “yO”, and “OO”.

In a like manner, “XXXY”, “XXYy”, and “XYyy” have too many pieces and
are unstable, usually dying at conception, in the womb, or soon after
birth (and invariably before puberty) from gross birth defects due to
over-emphasis of various sex-linked traits.

Turner females, “XO”, show all normal female characteristics save that
they have difficulty reproducing due to the absence of a paired sex
chromosome, which inhibits normal meiosis.

Kleinfelter superfemales, “XXX”, tend to exhibit an unusually strong
maternal instinct, often refusing to wean or surrender their young.
This leads to psychological damage in the young, usually resulting in
antisocial behavior.

Kleinfelter supermales, “XYy” or “Xyy”, tend to exhibit a generally
antisocial behavior, often leading to unnecessary fighting to the
point of inhibiting mating. As an interesting aside, among us humans
approximately 5 per cent of convicted male felons are supermales.
Hermaphrodites, “XXy” and “XXY”, have male bodies but tend to exhibit
various female characteristics, often adopting orphan kittens or other
young. One such cat adopted a litter of mice, which it lovingly
raised while gleefully hunting their relatives. Hermaphrodites are
invariably sterile, sometime having both sets of sexual organs with
neither fully developed. This is the most common of the aberrant
sexual makeups.

Pseudoparthenogenetic females, “XXO”, or males, “XYO”, are identical
to normal cats in every way save that their sex and sex-linked charac-
teristics come only from one parent.

Gene-reversal males, “Xy”, suffer partial gene reversal, receiving a
normal “X” from one parent and a “y” from the other parent’s “X”.
This is the rarest of the aberrant sexual makeups.

Pseudoparthenogenetic and gene-reversal animals often suffer from
birth defects and other signs of the aberrant genetic construct.

Normal females, “XX”, and males, “XY”, are by definition the norm and
vastly outnumber all other type combined. Chances are less than
1:10000 that any given cat has a genetically aberrant sexual makeup,
the most common of which is hermaphroditism, about 1:11000.

Mutations

Going back to genes in general, those genes that are found in the
African Wildcat, felis lybica, the immediate ancestor of our cats, are
termed “wild.” These genes may be considered to be the basic stock of
all cats.

Since all cats do not look like African Wildcats (brown tabbies), it
is obvious that some changes have taken place in the genetic codes.
These changes occur all the time, and are called mutations. Unlike

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 8

the distortions shown in cheap post-apocalypse or ecological-disaster
movies, mutations rarely occur at the gross level, but rather at the
level of the genetic codes themselves.

Mutations occur when, in the course of mitosis or meiosis, there is an
imperfect replication or joining of the components of the DNA macro-
molecule. Such imperfections can occur as a result of a chemical
imbalance within the body which affects replication. Most commonly
these days such an imbalance is caused by the introduction of some
foreign agent into the body (such as nicotine or, for an extreme
example, thalidomide) which acts as a catalyst and affects the keying
action of the enzymes during replication. Such agents are called
mutagens.

The greatest of all mutagens is radiation. It is believed that the
vast majority of spontaneous mutations, such as extra toes, long hair,
albinism, etc., that keep reoccurring in an otherwise clean gene pool
are caused by solar radiation, cosmic rays, the Earth’s own background
radiation, and most probably, by radioactive isotopes of the atoms
making up DNA itself, most significantly carbon-14. (One of the
dangers of nuclear war, other than the obvious, is that the increase
in background radiation and atmospheric carbon-14 may increase the
numbers of spontaneous mutations to the point where the germ cells
lose viability, and whole species, even genera, would go the way of
the dinosaur.)

Mutations are the very essence of evolution (or of a breeding program,
which is merely evolution guided by man). It is through mutation that
the survival of the fittest takes place.

To illustrate this, let’s assume a species of striped cat living on
the plains. He undergoes a mutation creating a spotted coat (the
stripes get broken up). For our plains friend, the spots don’t blend
as well as stripes with the long shadows and colors of the grasses,
his prey can see and avoid him better, and he soon evolves out. This
was a detrimental mutation (most are).

Now let’s assume the same species of striped cat living in woodlands.
He undergoes the same mutation creating a spotted coat. In his case,
the spots blend better with the dapple of light and shadow playing
through the trees, his prey can’t see or avoid him as well, and spots
are soon the “in” thing. This was a beneficial mutation. From the
same parent stock we soon have two differing sub-species, one striped,
living on the plains, and one spotted, living in the woods.

In a domestic situation, a litter is born to two normal cats, wherein
one of the kittens is hairless. Thinking the hairlessness is differ-
ent enough to be a desired feature, especially for those with aller-
gies, the kitten is very carefully bred to other cats, back and forth
over several generations, until the hairlessness breeds true. Thus
the Sphinx, a hairless domestic cat and the ultimate in hypo-allergen-
ic cats, was developed.

The Mapped-out Genes

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 9

As stated earlier, a few of the common cat genes have been identified
and mapped. These genes are grouped according to the effects they
have: the body-conformation genes which affect the shape of the body
of body parts; the coat-conformation genes which affect the texture
and length of the coat; and the color-conformation genes which affect
the color and pattern of the coat.

The color-conformations genes are themselves divided into three
groups: the color genes which control the color of the coat and its
density; the color-pattern genes which control the pattern of the coat
and expression of the color; and the color-masking genes which control
the degree and type of masking of the basic color.

The Body-Conformation Genes

The body-conformation genes affect the basic conformation of the parts
of the body: ears, tail and feet. There are literally thousands of
body conformation genes, but only a few have been mapped: normal or
Scottish fold ears, normal or Japanese bobtail, normal or Manx tail-
lessness and spinal curve, and normal or polydactyl feet.

The Scottish-fold gene: normal or folded ears. The wild allele,
“fd”, is recessive and produces normal ears. The mutation, “Fd”, is
dominant and produces the cap-like folded ears of the Scottish Fold.
This mutant gene is crippling when homozygous.

The Japanese Bobtail gene: normal or short tail. The wild allele,
“Jb”, is dominant and produces normal-length tails. The mutation,
“jb”, is recessive and produces the short tail of the Japanese Bob-
tail. Unlike the Manx mutation, this mutation is not crippling and
does not cause deformation of the spine.

The Manx gene: normal or missing tail. The wild allele, “m”, is
recessive and produces normal-length tails and proper spinal conforma-
tion. The mutation, “M”, is dominant and produces the missing tail
and shortened spine of the Manx. This mutation is lethal when homozy-
gous. When heterozygous, it is often crippling, sometimes resulting
in spinal bifida, imperforate anus, chronic constipation, or inconti-
nence.

The polydactyl gene: normal-number or extra toes. The wild allele,
“pd”, is recessive and produces the normal number of toes. The muta-
tion, “Pd”, is dominant and produces extra toes, particularly upon the
front paws.

Interestingly, humans also have a similar dominant polydactyl gene
controlling the number of fingers. Homozygous people with six fingers
on each hand will pass that trait on to all their children, heterozy-
gous people to one in four of their children, even with a normal mate:
the gene is dominant. Just because a given mutation is dominant,
however, doesn’t mean it will dominate the species. If a given muta-
tion is not conducive to survival of the individual or inhibits mating
in any way, it will never become “popular,” no matter how dominant it

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 10

may be.

The Coat-Conformation Genes

The coat conformation genes affect such things as the length and
texture of the coat.

The Sphinx gene: hairy or hairless coat. The wild allele, “Hr”, is
dominant and produces a normal hairy coat. The mutation, “hr”, is
recessive and produces the hairless or nearly hairless coat of the
Sphinx.

The longhaired gene: short or long coat. The wild allele, “L”, is
dominant and produces a normal shorthaired coat. The mutation, “l”,
is recessive and produces the longhaired coat of the Persians, Ango-
ras, Main Coons, and others.

The Cornish Rex gene: straight or curly coat. The wild allele, “R”,
is dominant and produces a normal straighthaired coat. The mutation,
“r”, is recessive and produces the very short curly coat, without
guard hairs, of the Cornish Rex.

The Devon Rex gene: straight or curly coat. The wild allele, “Re”,
is dominant and produces a normal straighthaired coat. The mutation,
“re”, is recessive and produces the very short curly coat of the Devon
Rex. Unlike the Cornish Rex, the Devon Rex retains guard hairs in its
coat.

The Oregon Rex gene: straight or curly coat. The wild allele, “Ro”,
is dominant and produces a normal straighthaired coat. The mutation,
“ro”, is recessive and produces the very short curly coat of the
Oregon Rex. Like the Cornish Rex, the Oregon Rex lacks guard hairs.

The American Wirehair gene: soft or bristly coat. The wild allele,
“wh”, is recessive and produces a normal soft straighthaired coat.
The mutation, “Wh”, is dominant and produces the short, stiff, wiry
coat of the American Wirehair.

Note that there are three different Rex mutations producing almost
identical effect. There are still three different genes involved,
however.

The Color-Conformation Genes

The color-conformation genes determine the color, pattern, and expres-
sion of the coat. Since these characteristics are among the most
important of the cat’s features, at least from a breeding point of
view, more emphasis is given the color conformation genes than the
others.

These genes fall into three logical groups: those that control the
color, those that control the pattern, and those that control the
color expression. Each of these groups contains several differing but
interrelated genes.

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 11

The Color Gene

The first of the genes controlling coat color is the color gene. This
gene controls the actual color of the coat and comes in three alleles:
black, dark brown, or light brown. This three-level dominance is not
at all uncommon: the albinism gene, for example, has five levels.

The black allele, “B”, is wild, is dominant, and produces a black or
black-and-brown tabby coat, depending upon the presence of the agouti
gene. Technically, the black is an almost-black, super-dark brown
that is virtually black — true black is theoretically impossible, but
often reached in the practical sense (so much for theory).

The dark-brown allele, “b”, is mutant, is recessive to black but
dominant to light brown, and reduces black to dark brown.

The light-brown allele, “bl”, is mutant, is recessive to both black
and dark brown, and reduces black to a medium brown.

The Orange-Making Gene

The second of the genes controlling coat color is the orange-making
gene. This gene controls the conversion of the coat color into orange
and the masking of the agouti gene and comes in two alleles: non-
orange and orange.

The non-orange allele, “o”, is wild and allows full expression of the
black or brown colors. The orange allele, “O”, is mutant and converts
black or brown to orange and masks the effects of the non-agouti
mutation of the agouti gene (all orange cats are tabbies).

This gene is sex-linked — it is carried on the “X” chromosome beyond
the limit of the “Y” chromosome. Therefore, in males there is no
homologous pairing, and the single orange-making gene stands alone.
As a result there is no dominance effect in males: they are either
orange or non-orange. If a male possesses the non-orange allele, “o”,
all colors (black, dark brown, or light brown) will be expressed. If
he possesses the orange allele, “O”, all colors will be converted to
orange.

In females there is an homologous pairing, one gene being carried on
each of the two “X” chromosomes. These two genes act together in a
very special manner (as a sort of tri-state gene), and again there is
no dominance effect.

If the female is homozygous for non-orange, “oo”, all colors will be
expressed. If she is homozygous for orange, “OO”, all colors will be
converted to orange. It is when she is heterozygous for orange, “Oo”,
that interesting things begin to happen: through a very elegant
process, the black-and-orange tortoiseshell or brindled female is
possible.

Shortly after conception, when a female zygote is only some dozens of

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 12

cells in size, a chemical trigger is activated to start the process of
generating a female kitten. This same trigger also causes the zygote
to “rationalize” all the sex-linked characteristics, including the
orange-making genes. In this particular case, suppression of one of
the orange-making genes in each cell takes place in a not-quite-random
pattern (there is some polygene influence here). Each cell will then
carry only one orange-making gene.

Since the zygote was only some dozens of cells in size at the time of
rationalization, only a few of those cells will eventually determine
the color of the coat (the orange-making genes in the other cells will
be ignored). If the zygote were homozygous for non-orange, “oo”, then
all cells will contain “o”, and the coat will be non-orange. Like-
wise, if the zygote were homozygous for orange, “OO”, then all cells
will contain “O”, and the coat will be orange. If, however, the
zygote were heterozygous, “Oo”, then some of the cells will contain
“O” and the rest of the cells will contain “o”. In this case, those
portions of the coat determined by “O” cells will be orange, while
those portions determined by “o” cells will be non-orange. Voila! A
tortoiseshell cat!

A female kitten has two “X” chromosomes, and therefore two orange-
making genes, one from each parent. Assuming for the sake of discus-
sion an equal likelihood of inheriting either allele from each parent
— an assumption that is patently false, but used here for demonstra-
tion only — then one quarter of all females would be non-orange, one-
quarter would be orange, and one-half would be tortoiseshell. A male
kitten, on the other hand, has only one “X” chromosome, and therefore
only one orange-making gene. Keeping the same false assumption of
equal likelihood, then one-half of all males would be non-orange and
one-half would be orange. This means that there would be twice as
many orange males as females if our assumption were correct.

Our equal-likelihood assumption is not correct, however. The orange-
making gene is located adjacent to the centromere and is often damaged
during meiosis. This damage tends to make an orange allele into a
non-orange allele, giving the non-orange allele a definite leg up, so
to speak, in a 7:3 ratio. This means that among female kittens 49%
will be non-orange, 42% will be tortoiseshell, and only 9% will be
orange, while among male kittens 70% will be non-orange and 30% will
be orange: there will be more than 3 times as many orange males as
females. That’s why there are so many Morris-type males around.

Since a male has only one orange-making gene, there cannot be a male
tortie. An exception to this rule is the hermaphrodite, which has an
“XXY” genetic structure. Such a cat can be tortie, since it has two
“X” chromosomes, but must invariably be sterile. In fact, despite the
presence of male genitalia, a hermaphrodite is genetically an underde-
veloped female, and may have both ovaries and testes, with neither
fully functional.

The Color-Density Gene

The third and last of the genes controlling the coat color is the

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 13

color-density gene. This gene controls the uniformity of distribution
of pigment throughout the hair and comes in two alleles: dense, “D”,
and dilute, “d”.

The dense allele, “D”, is wild, is dominant, and causes pigment to be
distributed evenly throughout each hair, making the color deep and
pure. A dense coat will be black, dark brown, medium brown, or or-
ange.

The dilute allele, “d”, is mutant, is recessive, and causes pigment to
be agglutinated into microscopic clumps surrounded by translucent
unpigmented areas, allowing white light to shine through and diluting
the color. A dilute coat will be blue (gray), tan, beige, or cream.

The Eight Cat Colors

All possible expressions of the color, orange-making, and color-
density genes produce the eight basic coat colors: black, blue
(gray), chestnut or chocolate (dark-brown), lavender or lilac (tan),
cinnamon (medium brown), fawn (beige), red (orange), and cream.

The brown and dilute colors are rarer (hence generally more prized)

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 14

because they are recessive. A table of all possible combinations of
the three genes controlling color will show all eight basic coat
colors, among which are six female or twelve male black cats but only
one female or two male fawn:

Note that although tortoiseshell females are two-color they introduce
no new colors.

It may also be noted that red and cream dominate any of the true
(black or brown) colors: a red coat is red regardless of whether the
color gene is black, dark brown, or light brown. The color gene is
masked by the orange-making gene. This, coupled with the fact that
males are either red or non-red require that the color chart show “oO”
and “Oo” as distinctly separate. A male has only the first of the two
genes: “o” from “oO” or “O” from “Oo”. In some texts, the orange-
making genes are indicated as “o(O)” and “O(o)” to emphasize the
sexual distinction.

The Albinism Gene

The first of the color-conformation genes affect coat pattern is the
albinism gene. This gene controls the amount of body color and comes
in five alleles: full color, “C”, Burmese, “cb”, Siamese, “cs”, blue-
eyed albino, “ca”, and albino, “c”.

The full color allele, “C” is wild, is dominant, and produces a full
expression of the coat colors. This is sometimes called the non-
albino allele.

The Burmese allele, “cb”, is mutant, is recessive to the full color
allele, codominant with the Siamese allele, and dominant to the blue-
eyed albino and albino alleles, and produces a slight albinism, reduc-
ing black to a very dark brown, called sable in the Burmese breed, and
producing green or green-gold eyes.

The Siamese allele, “cs”, is mutant, is recessive to the full color
allele, codominant with the Siamese allele, and dominant to the blue-
eyed albino and albino alleles, and produces an intermediate albinism,
reducing the basic coat color from black/brown to a light beige with
dark brown “points” in the classic Siamese pattern and producing
bright blue eyes.

The Burmese and Siamese alleles are codominant, that is they each have
exactly as much dominance or recessivity. It is possible to have one
of each allele, “cbcs”, producing a Siamese-patterned coat with a
darker base body color and turquoise (aquamarine) eyes: the Tonkinese
pattern.

The blue-eyed albino allele, “ca”, is mutant, is recessive to the full
color, Burmese and Siamese alleles and dominant to the albino allele,
and produces a nearly complete albinism with a translucent white coat
and very washed-out pale blue eyes.

The albino allele, “c”, is mutant, is recessive to all others, and

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 15

produces a complete albinism with a translucent white coat and pink
eyes.

The albanism genes combine in some rather interesting ways:

| C cb cs ca c
—+———————————————————–
C | full color full color full color full color full color
cb | full color Burmese Tonkinese Burmese Burmese
cs | full color Tonkinese Siamese Siamese Siamese
ca | full color Burmese Siamese B-E Albino B-E Albino
c | full color Burmese Siamese B-E Albino Albino

Notice how the dominance characteristics among the alleles are normal
except for the combination of Burmese and Siamese, which produce the
Tonikinese pattern.

The Agouti Gene

The next gene controlling the pattern of the coat is the agouti gene.
This gene will control ticking and comes in two alleles: agouti, “A”,
and non-agouti, “a”.

The agouti allele, “A”, is wild, is dominant, and produces a banded
or ticked (agouti) hair, which in turn will produce a tabby coat
pattern.

The non-agouti allele, “a”, is mutant, is recessive, and suppresses
ticking, which in turn will produce a solid-color coat. This gene
only operates upon the color gene (black, dark brown, or light brown)
in conjunction with the non-orange allele of the orange-making gene
and is masked by the orange allele of the orange-making gene.

The Tabby Genes

The last of the genes affecting the coat pattern is the tabby gene.
This gene will control the actual coat pattern (striped, spotted,
solid, etc.) and comes in three alleles: mackerel or striped tabby,
“T”, Abyssinian or all-agouti-tabby, “Ta”, and blotched or classic
tabby, “tb”.

The mackerel-tabby allele, “T”, is wild, is co-dominant with the
spotted tabby and Abyssinian alleles and dominant to the classic-tabby
allele, and produces a striped cat, with vertical non-agouti stripes
on an agouti background. This is the most common of all patterns and
is typical grassland camouflage, where shadows are long and strait.

A spotted tabby is genetically a striped tabby with the stripes broken
up by polygene influence. There is no specific “spotted-tabby” gene.
This spotted coat is a typical forest camouflage, where shadows are
dappled by sunlight shining through the trees. Do not confuse the
spots of our domestic cats with the rosettes of the true spotted cats:
entirely different genes are involved.

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 16

The Abyssinian allele, “Ta”, is mutant, is codominant to the mackerel-
tabby allele and dominant to the classic-tabby allele, and will pro-
duce an all-agouti coat without stripes or spots. This all-agouti
coat is a basic type of bare-ground camouflage, seen in the wild
rabbit and many other animals.

A special case occurs when both the mackerel-tabby and Abyssinian
alleles are expressed, “TTa”. This will produce a unique coat con-
sisting of the beige ground color with each hair tipped with the
expressed color. By selective breeding, the ground color has become a
soft gold, producing the beautiful golden chinchilla cats.

The blotched- or classic-tabby allele, “tb”, is recessive to both the
mackerel-tabby and the Abyssinian alleles and will produce irregular
non-agouti blotches or “cinnamon-roll” sworls on an agouti background.
When the “cinnamon-rolls” are clean and symmetrical, and nicely cen-
tered on the sides, a strikingly beautiful coat is achieved.

The “coat of choice” in Europe is the classic tabby (hence the name),
probably because of the similarity in appearance of a large mackerel
tabby domestic cat and the European Wildcat, the former being soft and
cuddly and the latter prone to remove fingers. In the U.S., the
reverse is true.

The Color-Inhibitor Gene

The first of the color-conformation genes controlling color expression
is the color-inhibitor gene. This gene controls the expression of
color within the hair and comes in two alleles: the non-inhibitor,
“i”, and the inhibitor, “Y”.

The non-inhibitor allele, “i”, is wild, is recessive, and allows
expression of the color throughout the length of the hair, producing a
normally colored coat.

The inhibitor allele, “I”, is mutant, is dominant, and inhibits ex-
pression of the color over a portion of the hair.

The inhibitor allele is variably-expressed. When slightly expressed,
the short down hairs (underfur) are merely tipped with color, while
the longer guard and awn hairs are clear for about the first quarter
of their lengths: the coat is said to be smoked. When moderately
expressed, the down hairs are completely clear and the longer hairs
are clear for about half their lengths: the coat is shaded. When
heavily expressed, the down hairs are completely clear and the longer
hairs are clear for about three-quarters (or more) of their lengths:
the coat is then tipped or chinchilla.

Neither allele has anything to do with the actual color or pattern,
only with whether that color is laid upon a clear undercoat or one of
the beige ground color.

The Spotting Gene

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 17

The next gene controlling color expression is the white-spotting gene.
This gene controls the presence and pattern of white masking the
normal coat pattern, and has four alleles: non-spotted, “s”, spotted,
“S”, particolor, “Sp”, and Birman, “sb”. The presence of the parti-
color and Birman alleles of this gene are still subject to argument at
this time: their effect is not.The non-spotted allele, “s”, is wild,
is recessive, and produces a normal coat without white.

The spotted allele, “S”, is mutant, is dominant, and produces white
spotting which masks the true coat color in the affected area. This
is a variably-expressed allele with a very wide expression range:
From a black cat with one white hair to a white cat with one black
hair.

The particolor allele, “Sp”, if it exists, is a variation of the
spotted allele affecting the pattern of white. The classic particolor
pattern is an inverted white “V” starting in the center of the fore-
head and passing through the centers of the eyes. The chin, chest,
belly, legs and feet are white. Variable expressions of this allele
range downward to a simple white locket or a white spot on the fore-
head.

The Birman allele, “Sb”, if it exists, is a variation of the spotted
allele producing white feet. Variable expression ranges from white
legs and feet to white toes only.

Unlike the white gene or the albinism gene, the white-spotting gene
does not affect eye color: if your all white cat has green eyes, it
is most definitely a colored cat with one big white spot all over.

The Dominant-White Gene

The final gene controlling color expression is the dominant-white
gene. This gene determines whether the coat is solid white or not,
and comes in three alleles: non-white, “w”, white, “W”, and van,
“Wv”. The existence of the van allele is open to argument: it may be
a separate gene.

The non-white allele, “w”, is wild, is recessive, and allows full
expression of the coat color and pattern.

The white allele, “W”, is mutant, is dominant, and produces a translu-
cent all-white coat with either orange or pale blue. Blue-eyed domi-
nant-white cats are often deaf, orange-eyed cats occasionally so.
Interestingly, a white cat may be odd-eyed, having one blue and one
orange eye. Such a cat is often deaf on the blue side.

The van allele, “Wv”, if it exists, is a variation of the white allele
allowing color in the classic van pattern: on the crown of the head
(often a two small half-caps separated by a thin white line), on the
ears, and on the tail. Variable expression controls cap size and
shape and the presence of color on the ears and tail. Occasionally,
the caps will be missing and only the ears and/or tail will be col-
ored.

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 18

It is important to remember that, genetically speaking, white is not a
color, but rather the suppression of the pigment that would normally
be present. A heterozygous white cat can an often does produce col-
ored kittens, sometimes with no white at all.

Polygenes

The genes described above control color and coat, and several breed-
specific body features, but what about the genes that control the body
structure itself? Can we not develop a cat with long floppy ears
(sort of a bassett-cat)? The answer is a qualified no. Not within
the realms of normal breeding, and not without a much better means of
genetic engineering than is currently available to us. The reason
cats (and horses) resist major changes, whereas dogs do not, is be-
cause the genes controlling these features are scattered among the
genetic codes of other genes (remember, a gene is not a physical
entity but rather a series of instructions). This type of scattered
gene is called a “polygene”. Polygenes are in firm control of many of
those things that define the cat, and breeding programs can only
change these characteristics slowly, bit-by-bit.

The Eye Colors

There are no specific genes for the eye colors. Rather, the color of
the eyes is intimately linked to the color and pattern of the coat via
several polygenes.

There is much about eye color that is not yet understood. As an
example, the British Blue usually has orange or copper eyes while
those of the Russian Blue are usually green, in spite of the fact that
the breeds have identical coat genotypes.

The range of eye color is from a deep copper-orange through yellow to
green. The blue and pink eyed cats are partial or full albinos, with
suppression of the eye color.

Color Abr Description
————————————————————-
Copper cpr Deep copper-orange
Orange org Bright orange
Amber amb Yellow-orange
Yellow yel Yellow
Gold gld Dark yellow with hint of green
Hazel hzl Dark greenish-yellow
Green grn Green
Turquoise trq Bluish-green (common in Tonkinese)
Siamese Blue sbl Royal Blue to medium-pale grayish-blue
Dominant-White Blue wbl Medium blue
Dominant-White Odd odd One blue, one orange
Albino Blue abl Very pale blue, almost gray
Albino Pink pnk Pink

There is a definite interaction between the color genes, “B”, “b”, and

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 19

“bl”, the color density genes, “D” and “d”, and eye color. This
interaction is especially evident in those cats with Siamese coats
where the eye color can range from a strikingly deep, rich blue for a
Seal Point coat to a medium-pale, grayish blue for a lilac point coat.

Naming the Colors

When it came to naming the colors, those who did so were firm believ-
ers in using the thesaurus: never call a color brown when you can
call it chocolate or cinnamon.

The colors naturally fall into distinct groups: the “standard” col-
ors, the shaded colors, the “exotic” colors, the oriental colors, and
the whites. Each group may then be subdivided into several distinct
smaller groups, each with a common characteristic. Each color name is
followed by its karyotype in three groups (as they were discussed
above), and the usual eye colors. Bear in mind that all possible
combinations of color and pattern will eventually be realized, but not
necessarily recognized: especially by the various cat fancies.

The Standard Solid Colors

The solids form the basis for all other colors in nomenclature and
karyotypes: these are the fundamental rendition of the eight basic
coat colors. Solids are called “selfs” in Britain.

The black solid technically has a brown undercoat, but selective
breeding has managed to eliminate the brown undercoat and has produced
cats that are “black to the bone.”

The subtle differences possible in blues (grays) has made this one of
the most popular colors among breeders, with several breeds being
exclusively blue. Blues, regardless of pattern, are often referred to
as “dilutes.”

The terms “chestnut” and “chocolate” are synonymous, as are the terms
“lavender” and “lilac.”

Since the orange allele of the orange-making gene also masks the non-
agouti allele of the agouti gene, red and cream solids are genetically
identical to red and cream tabbies. Careful selective breeding has
made cause the non-agouti areas (the stripes) to widen and overlap,
effectively canceling the paler agouti background and obscuring the
tabby pattern. A generation or two of random breeding, however, and
the stripes will return.

The patched solids, solid-and-whites or bi-colors, are formed by
adding the white-spotting gene, “S*”, to the solids. If, instead of
the normal random white spotting gene, the particolor gene, “Sp*”, is
present, then the coat will show white in the particolor pattern. If
both the random white-spotting and particolor genes, “SSp”, are
present, then a composite pattern will be evident. If the Birman
gene, “sbsb”, is present, then the pattern will be white feet only.

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 20

The tortoiseshells or torties are formed by combining both the domi-
nant and recessive sex-linked orange genes, “Oo”, with the solids.
Because of the sex-linking of the orange genes, the tortie is always
female. A tabby pattern may be visible in the orange areas, with any
tabby pattern being permitted. In some individuals, the agouti and
non-agouti orange areas may offer such contrast as to produce a false
tri-color (black-orange-cream).

The patched tortoiseshells or calicos are formed by combining both the
dominant and recessive sex-linked orange-making genes, “Oo”, to the
solids and adding the white-spotting gene, “S*”. Like the torties,
the calicos are always female, and like the patches, any white-
spotting pattern is permitted.

The Standard Tabby Colors

The tabbies are formed by adding the agouti gene, “A*”, to the solids.
This causes the otherwise solid color to show the pattern dictated by
the tabby gene: light and dark stripes (mackerel allele, “T*”) or
blotches (blotched allele, “tbtb”).

The brown tabby corresponds to the black solid: sufficient undercoat
color shows in the agouti areas to provide a brownish cast. When in
mackerel pattern, this is the “all wild” genotype, and represents the
natural state of the cat.

The red tabby, when in mackerel pattern, presents an alternate stable
coat often found on feral domestic cats, usually as a pale ginger.

The patched tabbies or tabby-and-whites are formed by adding the white
spotting gene, “S*”, to the tabbies. Like the patched solids, any
white spotting pattern is permitted.

The tabby-tortoiseshells or torbies are formed by combining both the

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 21

dominant and recessive sex-linked orange genes, “Oo”, with the tabbies
colors. Like the torties, the torbies are always female.

The patched tabby-tortoiseshells, or patched torbies or torbicos, are
formed by combining the dominant and recessive orange-making genes,
“Oo”, with the standard tabbies and adding the white spotting gene,

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 22

“S*”, to the torbie colors. Like the patched solids, any white-
spotting pattern is permitted.

The Shaded Colors

The shaded colors are formed by adding the inhibitor gene, “I*”, to
the standard solids. If the expression is light, a smoked coat is
produced, if moderate, a shaded coat, and if heavy, a tipped or chin-
chilla coat. Only six of the eight possible colors are recognized.

The tortie chinchillas are formed by adding a moderate-to heavy ex-
pression of the inhibitor gene, “I*”, to the standard torties. Only
four of the six possible colors are recognized.

The Golden Chinchilla Colors

The golden chinchillas are formed by combining the mackerel and Abys-
sinian alleles of the tabby gene, “TTa”, with the standard solids.
This produces a coat of undercoat-colored hairs tipped with the stand-
ard colors. Selective breeding has altered the undercoat polygenes to
produce a striking warm-gold color. Only three of the eight possible
colors are recognized.

The golden chinchilla torties are formed by combining the mackerel and
Abyssinian alleles of the tabby gene, “TTa”, with the standard
torties. This produces a coat with hairs of undercoat color tipped

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 23

with the standard tortie colors. While any combination is possible,
only two colors are recognized.

The Silver Tabby Colors

The silver tabbies are obtained by adding a moderate expression of the
inhibitor gene, I*, to the standard tabbies. Only six of the eight
possible colors are recognized.

The Spotted Tabby Colors

The bronze spotted tabbies are genetically standard mackerel tabbies
with the mackerel striping broken into spots by the effects of various
polygenes. Ideal coats have evenly spaced round spots. Only six of
the eight possible colors are recognized.

The silver spotted tabbies are bronze spotted tabbies with a moderate
expression of the inhibitor gene, “I*”, added. This produces a pat-
tern of jet black spots on a silvery agouti background. Only six of
the eight possible colors are recognized.

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 24

The Abyssinian Colors

The Abyssinians are primarily standard tabbies with the Abyssinian
allele of the tabby gene, “Ta*”. This produces an all-agouti coat,
similar to that of the wild rabbit.

The silver Abyssinians are Abyssinians with a moderate expression of
the inhibitor gene, “I*”. This produces the all-agouti ticking on a
pale silver undercolor.

It should be noted that among Abyssinians there are two genetically
different reds that are virtually identical in appearance: “red,”
which is in reality cinnamon, and “true red,” which is red.

The Oriental Solid Colors

The oriental solids are identical in every way to the standard solids
except in their names. Oriental color names tend to be used with cats
of oriental build, effectively solid-color Siamese.

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 25

The Burmese Colors

The Burmese colors are formed from the standard solid colors by the
reduction in color expression from full, “C*”, to the Burmese alleles,
“cbcb”. This is a partial albinism and causes a slight reduction in
color intensity: black becomes sable. These colors are used almost
exclusively for the Burmese and related breeds, such as the Malayan
and Tiffany.

The Tonkinese Colors

The Tonkinese colors are formed from the standard solid colors by the
reduction of color expression from full, “C*”, to combined Burmese and
Siamese, “cbcs”. This is a partial albinism and causes a downgrade in
color expression, the body color becoming a light-to-medium brown and
the points becoming Burmese. These colors are used only with the
Tonkinese breed.

The Siamese Colors

The Siamese solid-point formed from the standard colors by the reduc-
tion of color expression from full, “C*”, to Siamese, “cscs”. This is
a partial albinism and causes a downgrade in color expression, the
body color becoming fawn and the points becoming Burmese. The solid-
point colors are formed from the standard solids, the tortie-point
from the standard torties, the lynx-point from the standard tabbies,
and the torbie-point from the standard torbies. Only six of the eight
possible solid- or lynx-point and four of the six possible tortie- or
torbie-point colors are recognized.

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 26

The Van Colors

The van colors are formed from the standard solid colors by the addi-
tion of the van gene, “Wv”. This is a masking gene, covering the
effects of the agouti, color-expression, tabby, inhibitor, and white-
spotting genes. The van gene, a modified dominant-white gene, causes
the coat to be white with color on the crown of the head, ears, and
tail only. The preferred van color is auburn (orange). The tail is
often tabby-ringed.

The Whites

White is not a color, but rather a masking of the color genes result-
ing in an absence of color. There are five ways a cat can have an all
white coat: be full-inhibited white, be full-spotted white, be domi-
nant white, be blue-eyed albino, or be albino. Each of these ways is
genetically different.

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 27

The full-inhibited white coat comes from a 100% expression of the
inhibitor gene, “I*”, masking all colors and patterns. Since the
current trend in chinchilla coats is to have just a hint of tipping,
certain kittens are bound to be born where the “hint” is effectively
zero, creating an all-white cat. Since the colors still exist, the
eyes will be the proper color for the masked “true” coat colors, and
may be anything except dominant-white blue, albino blue, or pink.

The full-spotted white coat comes from a 100% expression of the white
spotting gene, “S*”, masking all colors and patterns. This coat may
have a few non-white hairs, especially on a kitten. Like the full-
inhibited white, the eyes will be the proper color for the masked
“true” coat colors, and may be anything except dominant-white blue,
albino blue, or pink.

The dominant white coat comes from expression of the dominant-white
gene, “W*”, masking all colors and patterns. The eyes are always
orange, dominant-white blue, or odd.

The blue-eyed albino comes from expression of the blue-eyed albino
allele of the albino gene, “ca*”, masking all colors and patterns.
The eyes are always albino blue.

The albino coat comes from expression of the albino allele of the
albino gene, “cc”, masking all colors and patterns. The eyes are
always pink.

Color | Karyotype | Usual eye color
———————-+————————–+—————-
full-inhibited white | ****** ****** I***** | not wbl/abl/pnk
full-spotted white | ****** ****** **S*** | not wbl/abl/pnk
dominant white | ****** ****** ****W* | org wbl odd
blue-eyed albino | ****** ca***** ****** | alb
albino | ****** cc**** ****** | pnk

———————————————————————-
Feline Genetics Page 28

0

What Someone With Mineral Lore At 51% Knows

What Someone with Mineral Lore at 51% Knows

People in Glorantha have as much trouble telling gems apart
as people on Earth do. They may have more, because the shape of
a stone gives no information about it. With some exceptions, any
stone could have its shape because a sorceror formed it that way.
Sorcerors can also mold a mottled or banded stone like clay until
it has a consistent color. Sorcerors or simple craftsmen can
change a stone’s texture. This leaves color, transparency,
toughness, and fragility as the main distinguishing
characteristics. Glass is the great unknown. It can be flecked,
banded, layered, milky, silky or catseye. It can be transparent
or translucent, or opaque if a dark color.

Notes:
s = solid (assume all gems are solid unless an m or b note
appears)
f = flecked
m = milky or waxy
b = banded
l = layered
c = catseye
w = waxy
g = glittering
Multicolored stones are of the same transparency as solid stones
of the same type; where there is none, Tp (Transparent), Tl
(Translucent), or O (Opaque) appears.

If it is… Then the gem could be:
Black and
Transparent Diamond, or Zircon
Translucent Diamond, or Zircon
Opaque Alabaster (dyed), Chalcedony (dyed),
Coral (s, f), Jet (s, f, g, w), Obsidian
(s, f, b), Pearl

Blue and
Transparent Aquamarine, Diamond, Jewelflor (whitish),
Quartz, Sapphire, or Zircon
Translucent Aquamarine, Jewelflor (whitish), Quartz, or
Zircon
Opaque Alabaster (dyed), Chalcedony (dyed), Coral
(s, f), Lapis Lazuli (f), Pearl, Turquoise
(s, f)

Brown and
Transparent Diamond
Opaque Alabaster (dyed), Chalcedony (f, or dyed s),
Jet (s, f, g, w), Petrified Wood, Sard,
Tiger’s Eye, or Topaz
Orange Hawk’s Eye (O: c)
Yellow Chalcedony (b)
Yellow & White Chalcedony (b)

Clear and
Transparent Diamond, Jewelflor, Quartz, or Zircon
Translucent Jewelflor (m, w), or Zircon

Gray and
Translucent Agate,
Opaque Agate (f), Alabaster (dyed), Bezoar (s, f),
Chalcedony (dyed), Echostone (s, f),
Ironrock, Pearl, Petrified Wood, or Prase
(greenish)
Orange Agate (b)

Green and
Transparent Aquamarine (bluish), Arkatite (in daylight),
Diamond, Emerald (s, f, b), Jewelflor,
Quartz, Sapphire (bluish), or Zircon
Translucent Aquamarine (bluish), Emerald (s, f, b), Jade
(s, f, m, b), Jewelflor (m, w), Sapphire
(bluish)
Opaque Alabaster (dyed), Chalcedony (dyed),
Chrysoprase (f, b), Grow Stone (s, f), Jade
(s, f, m, b), Jewelflor (m, w, g), Prase
(grayish)
Brown Chrysoprase (b), Jade (f, b)
White Chrysoprase (b, f), Jade (f, b)

Orange and
Transparent Amber, Diamond, Zircon
Translucent Agate
Opaque Agate (f), Alabaster (dyed), Chalcedony
(dyed), Grow Stone
Brown Hawk’s Eye (o)
Gray Agate (b)

Pink and
Transparent Quartz, Ruby, or Zircon
Translucent Ruby
Opaque Alabaster (dyed), Chalcedony (dyed), Coral
(s, f), Grow Stone, Sard,

Red and
Transparent Amber, Arkatite (by firelight), Ruby
Translucent Almandine, Cornelian (m, w), Ruby
Opaque Alabaster (dyed), Bloodstone (f), Chalcedony
(dyed), Coral (s, f)
Black Bloodstone (f), Coral (f, b), Jasper (O: b,
f)
Brown Bloodstone (f), Coral (f), Jasper (O: b, f)
Green Bloodstone (f)
Orange Jasper (O: b, f)
White Jasper (O: b, f)

Onyx (dark and light), Opal (spectrum of speckles), Tiger’s
Eye (brown and yellow, perhaps with red lines), or Turquoise
(blue and one or more of: black, brown, or white)

Violet and
Transparent Amethyst, Jewelfor (whitish), Zircon
Translucent Almandine, Jewelflor (whitish)
Opaque Amethyst (f), Alabaster (dyed), Chalcedony
(f, b, or dyed s), Grow Stone
White Amethyst (b), Chalcedony (b), Jade (f, b),
Jewelflor (m)

White and
Transparent Jewelflor
Translucent Alabaster (see notes), Jade (s, f, b)
Opaque Alabaster (natural), Chalcedony (b or dyed
s), Coral, Grow Stone, Ivory, Jade (s, f, b),
Pearl
Violet Amethyst (b), Chalcedony (b), Jade (f, b)
Yellow & Brown Chalcedony (b), Jade (f, b)

Yellow and
Transparent Amber, Chrysoberyl (s, c), Diamond, Zircon
Translucent Jade (f, b), Jewelflor
Opaque Alabaster (dyed), Chalcedony (f, b, or dyed
s), Grow Stone, Ivory, Jade (s, f, m, b),
Topaz
Brown Chalcedony (f or b), Jade (f, b)
Brown & White Chalcedony (f or b), Jade (f)

SUMMARY:

Gem Color(s) Transparency
AGATE O, Gy, banded Op, Tl
ALABASTER W Op
ALMANDINE R-Vt Tl
AMBER O, Y, or R Tp, Tl
AMETHYST Vt (+W) Tp (W=Op)
AQUAMARINE Bu, Bu-Gn Tp, (Tl)
ARKATITE Gn in daylight, lt R by firelight
or magical light Tl
BEZOAR Gray Op
BLOODSTONE Dark Gn + R Op
CHALCEDONY banded/mottled waxy, dull, or
Tl
CHRYSOBERYL golden-Y Tp
CHRYSOPRASE mottled/banded Gn Tl and Op
CORAL R, W, P, Bk, Bu Op
CORNELIAN cherry R waxy or milky
DIAMOND C, Y, Bn, Bu, Gn, O, Bk Tp
ECHOSTONE Gray Op
EMERALD Gn Tp or Tl
lustrous
GLASS Any Tp or Tl
GROW STONE Gn Op
HAWK’S EYE O + Bn striped Op
IRONROCK Gray Op
IVORY W Op
JADE Gn, W or Y Op, Tl
JASPER dark red and white, brown, or
black, striped/spotted Op
JET Bk, Bn Op
JEWELFLOR W, C, W/Gn, W/Bu Tp
LAPIS LAZULI Bu (spotted/striped) Op
OBSIDIAN Bk Op
ONYX even layers dark and light,
especially white and black Op
OPAL iridescent rainbow Tp, Op
PEARL W, Bk, Bu, G Op
PETRIFIED WOOD Bn, Gy Op
PRASE Lt Gy-Gn, mottled Op
QUARTZ C Tp
RUBY R Tp, Tl
SAPPHIRE Bu or Bu-Gn Tp
SARD R-Bn Tp or milky
TIGER’S EYE Bn + Y striped, (+ dark R lines) Op
TOPAZ Bn or Y, too deep to be
chrysoberl, or Gn- or R-tinted
yellow stones Tp, Tl
TURQUOISE Bu (+Bk, Bn, or W) Op
ZIRCON variety Tl

0

Additional Information About Gems

BONUSES TO ENCHANT
Magicians get a bonus to the Enchant roll when enchanting a
gem with a spell appropriate to the stone’s divine association.
For sacred stones, the bonus ranges from 10 to 50 percentiles,
depending on the size and quality of the stone. Blessed stones
receive a bonus between 5 and 25.
Gems give an increased bonus when engraved with the image of
an appropriate god. Gems give a further bonus to enchant when
they bear holy words or words of the spell. A gem gives a bonus
to enchant a Control or Dominate [animal] spell if the animal’s
image is on the gem. A gem in the shape of the animal also gives
such a bonus. Different enchantments may get different bonuses
with the same stone.
Very rare stones have a deep mystical receptivity for
enchantments. On a special success with the Enchant skill, the
enchanted spell has double strength in some way. If the gem
ordinarily gives a bonus, that bonus is doubled. On a critical
success, the spell has vastly increased power. On a fumble,
however, the caster loses the ability to use the spell.

MAGICAL DETECTION SPELLS
The following list provides Detect and Find Substance spells
for each cult that has them. Note that the rules give many cults
Find (substance) spells without specifying which cult finds which
substances. This list includes gems and non-gems, to fill a need
for this information. It includes all the published cults, and
some unpublished ones.

Deity Magical Detection Spells
—– ——————————————-
Aldrya Find (amber, coal [including jet], copper,
grow stone, jewelflor, petrified wood)
Ancestor Worship all Detects available from shamans, no Find

Annilla Find (moonrock, turquoise)
Aranea all Detects available from shamans, no Find

Argan Argar Find (bronze, lead, obsidian)
Artmal Find (turquoise)

Asrelia Detect (any precious metal or gem), Find
(any precious metal or gem) — precious
metal means any rune metal except lead; gem
means any substance in the list above,
except bezoar, coral, echostone, glass,
ironrock, ivory, pearl, mother of pearl,
and petrified wood
Babeester Gor Find (bone, copper, iron, zircon)

Bagog all Detects available from shamans, no Find
Basko Find (diamond, lead)

Basmol all Detects available from shamans, no Find
Blood Sun Find (bloodstone)

Bloody Tusk no Detect or Find
Brastalos Find (bronze, pearl, quicksilver)

Caladra and
Aurelion Find (copper, diamond, earthblood, firebone
[coal], gold)
Chalana Arroy Find (bloodstone, cornelian)

City God usually none
Dayzatar Find (diamond, tin)

Dendara Find (agate, copper, diamond, emerald,
jasper, topaz)
Dormal Find (agate, coral, quicksilver)

East Isles Gods varies
Eiritha Find (bezoar, copper)

Ernalda Find (agate, copper, diamond, emerald,
jasper, topaz)
Etyries Find (diamond, emerald, opal, ruby,
sapphire)

Eurmal one shrine teaches Find Fool’s Gold,
another teaches Turn Stone into Chrysoprase
Godunya Godunya-magic: any

Gorakiki all Detects available from shamans, no Find
Gorgorma Find (bloodstone, iron)

Grain Goddess Find (amethyst, chrysoprase, copper)
Heler Find (quicksilver, sapphire)

Himile Find (lead, quartz)
Horned Man all Detects available from shamans, no Find

Humakt Find (bloodstone, iron, ruby)
Hykim and Mikyh all Detects available from shamans, no Find

Invisible God Animate, Form/Set, and Sense (substance)
for all common substances and many rare
ones
Issaries Find (diamond, emerald, opal, ruby,
sapphire)

Krarsht Find (acid, poison)
Kyger Litor Find (echostone, lead, opal)

Lhankor Mhy all Detects and Finds available, in theory;
minor temples have the names of spirits
that teach the Detect spells for all common
substances
Lodril Find (aluminum, chrysoberyl, gold, iron,
jasper, ruby, sapphire, silver)

Lokarnos Find (chrysoberyl, jasper, ruby, sapphire)
Magasta Find (aquamarine, coral, teeth [including
ivory], pearl, quicksilver)

Malia all Detects available from shamans, no Find
Maran Gor Find (copper, iron)

Mee Vorala Find (plants)
Moorgarki Find (lead)

Mostal Animate, Form/Set, and Sense (substance)
for all metals and inorganic minerals;
Sense (truestone) available to Silver
caste; no one has Form/Set or Animate
truestone; Refine Truestone is legendary
Murthdrya Find (coral, quicksilver)

Ompalam Find (iron)
Orlanth Find (agate, flintstone, iron)

Pamalt Find (copper, glass, teeth [including
ivory])
Rathor all Detects available from shamans, no Find

Rice Mother Find (copper, jade)
River Gods Find (lapis lazuli, quicksilver)

Storm Bull Find (agate, iron)
Thed all Detects available from shamans, no Find

Tholaina Find (coral, shell of [animal],
quicksilver)
Triolina Find (coral, quicksilver)

Ty Kora Tek Find (bone, copper, diamond)
Valind Find (quartz)

Voria Find (zircon)
Vrok Find (gold, hawk’s eye)

Wachaza Find (iron, teeth [including ivory],
quicksilver)
Waha all Detects available from shamans, no Find

Xiola Umbar Find (bloodstone, coal [includes jet],
lead)
Yelm Find (chrysoberyl, gold, hawk’s eye, iron,
ruby, sapphire)

Yelmalio Find (chrysoberyl, citrine, gold, hawk’s
eye, iron, jasper, ruby, sapphire)
Zorak Zoran Find (coal [includes jet], deadstone, lead)

Bolongo, Cacodemon, Elmal, Flamal, Gagarth, Geo, Hunter, Immanent
Mastery, Mastakos, Pocharngo, Primal Chaos, Red Goddess, Subere,
Thief Gods, Tsankth, Uleria, and Xentha teach no Find or Detect
spells.

0

Collection Of Information About Various Gem Types

AGATE is an opaque or translucent stone with bands or concentric
circles of different colors. The common orange or gray stones
are sacred to Orlanth and his household of gods. Some Orlanthi
make wedding rings out of the substance. They especially prize
the rare variety in which the concentric circles are uneven,
suggesting a storm rune. Orlanthi carve agate into cameos,
seals, talismans, and ritual bowls and cups.
Heortlanders say that agates are the bodies of friendly
earth spirits who allied with the King of the Gods. Yelm killed
them for spite, and Kyger Litor stole their bodies to hide them
in her underground larder.
Orlanthi superstitions credit agate with the power to
protect from storms and lightning and the power to kindle
courage. A rare blue agate is sacred to Dormal. Druops is a
green kind with a scaly pattern. It is sacred to the Serpent
Mother (and blessed by Earth cults). Some druops are Snake
Crystals, a kind of spell reinforcing crystal. All orange agates
are sacred to Elmal, and that variety is the most common type of
sensitivity crystal. Gem hunters find agate in western Maniria,
in the bends of rivers.
Agate costs 1 to 10 p. per gram at the source. Pieces occur
in sizes from 10 to 500 grams. One can mistake polished agate
for chalcedony or onyx.

ALABASTER is a soft, opaque stone, a uniform chalky white in its
natural state. It holds any color of dye. It is translucent in
very thin slices, and at the edges of large pieces. Crafters use
it for ornamental objects, not jewelry. It has no great role in
any cult, but many cults use it for ritual items. Most of it
comes from open pit mines in North Esrolia.
Alabaster costs 3 p. per kilogram at the source. Pieces
occur in sizes from 1 to 100 kilograms. One can mistake
alabaster for marble, chalk, pottery, or coral.

ALMANDINE is a red translucent stone with a deep violet tint. It
is uniformly dark, and gem-cutters often cut it in slivers to
make it look lighter. It is not sacred to any known god or
saint. Rare pieces are dead crystals. It comes from Wenelian
mines.
Almandine costs 3 to 5 p. per gram at the source. Pieces
occur in sizes from 1 to 1000 grams. One can mistake cut and
polished almandine for amber, bloodstone, coral, cornelian, ruby,
or zircon.

AMBER is an orange, yellow, or red transparent gem, often of un-
even color. It is soft and will burn. It has a special place in
the primitive religion of Eol, and in the lives of the Rathori
and Uncolings. The elves also hold it sacred, identifying it
with High King Elf. It washes ashore in Yggs Isles, and in the
White Sea. Primitive peoples gather pieces along the Valind
Glacier.
Elves say that ambers are the solidified souls of dryads who
died in the Darkness. Rathori and Uncolings tell a different
story. They say that ambers are the hearts of the ice demons who
come down off the glacier to attack their peoples.
Pieces with insects inside are sacred to Gorakiki, the
insect goddess. Humans consider such stones unlucky, because the
insect’s spirit is trapped within the gem. Shamans can contact
the trapped spirit, but most insects have small and unintelligent
spirits. No known Form/Set affects amber.
Amber costs 20 to 50 p. per piece at the source. Pieces
occur in sizes from 10 to 200 grams. One can mistake amber for
almandine, a low-quality ruby (if the amber is reddish), or
cloudy zircon.

AMETHYST is a grape-purple transparent gem, often with stripes of
opaque white. It is sacred to various local wine-spirits, and by
extension to the land-goddesses, also known as grain goddesses.
Folk belief says it prevents drunkenness and disease, and
provides a smooth tongue.
The god of wine wandered all over the land, and drank from a
sack that never ran dry. Where he stopped to drink, he let fall
some drops of wine in his gluttony, and these changed into
amethyst. So says a Ralian legend.
Miners dig amethyst in Fonrit, Teleos, and Teshnos. Gem
hunters find it in water-carried deposits in many places.
Amethyst costs .2 to 10 p. per gram at the source. Pieces occur
in sizes from 5 to 500 kilograms. One can mistake cut and
polished amethyst for chalcedony or glass.

AQUAMARINE is a light blue or blue-green gem, usually
transparent. As its name implies, aquamarine is sacred to
Magasta and the Water pantheon. It doubles the duration of any
water spell enchanted into it. Rich sailors wear charms made of
the gem. Miners find aquamarine in many coastal lands and
islands. They say that aquamarines are the eyes of naiads,
turned to stone by dwarves. The only known ludoch legend
disagrees, saying that Framanthe gave birth to aquamarines in her
old age.
Aquamarine costs 5 to 25 p. per gram at the source. Pieces
occur in sizes from 1 to 200 grams. One can mistake cut and
polished aquamarine for sapphire, diamond, or glass.

ARKATITE is the Gloranthan name for Earth’s Alexandrite. It is a
rare hard transparent gem which appears bright green in daylight
and light red by firelight or magical light. It is sacred to
Saint Arkat and to Movement cults, especially Mastakos. It comes
from the Eastern and Western Rockwoods Mountains.
Arkatite costs 100 to 1000 p. per piece at the source.
Pieces occur in sizes from 25 to 100 grams, but quality matters
more than price. One can mistake cut and polished arkatite for
emerald in daylight, or for almandine, ruby or zircon by
firelight.

BEZOAR is a near-gem only because of its magic powers, not the
way it looks. It is a hard grayish mass found in the stomachs of
ruminants. It has magic power from concentrating the animal’s
power to digest grass. A bezoar will neutralize poison in a
drinking cup.
Eiritha holds bezoars sacred, and her high priestesses claim
all bezoars found. Bezoars can occur in the stomachs of any of
Eiritha’s beasts. These are alticamelus, bison, impala, long-
nose, morokanth (not herd-men), nose-horn, plains elk, rhino,
sable, and zebra. (The priestesses of the Paps say that the
long-nose, nose-horn, and plains elk are extinct. Zebra bezoars
are only rumor.) No known sorcery spells affect bezoar stones.
Priestesses will not sell real, working bezoars. On the
black market, a bezoar costs about 1000 p. Bezoars are typically
between 250 and 2000 grams. One can mistake Bezoar for any
grayish stone with protruding filaments.

BLOODSTONE is an opaque, dark red gem, often with green, brown,
or black splotches. It polishes readily, but often feels wet or
sticky to the touch. It is sacred to all cults that have special
relationships with blood. Prominent among these are Gorgorma,
the Cult of the Bloody Tusk, and the Blood Sun. Xiola Umbar
cultists make ritual jars out of black and red bloodstone.
Bloodstone brings success in all activities that involve
spilling blood. Warriors value all varieties. Midwives use red
and green bloodstone in their rituals. Some of Arroin’s Tears
and Chalana’s Blessings are bloodstones. It comes from various
mines in Maniria, as well as Jrustela, Kralorela, and the East
Isles.
Bloodstone costs 3 to 9 p. per gram at the source. Pieces
occur in sizes from 10 to 200 grams. One can mistake cut and
polished bloodstone for almandine, coral, cornelian, jasper, or
sard.

CHALCEDONY is a banded or mottled porous stone, waxy, dull, or
translucent. Colors are usually some combination of golden
brown, grape-purple, and white. Chalcedony also dyes easily. It
makes good cameos and talismans, and gems cut en cabochon. Folk
tales says it protects against Brain Fever, Demoralize, and
Madness, as well as phantoms and bad dreams at night. Some
varieties are almost a pure violet, and craftsmen cut these en
cabochon as talismans of Saint Talor. Dyed stones do not work as
talismans, so Malkioni gem-workers watch out for fakes.
Chalcedony comes from Wenelia and Umathela.
Chalcedony costs 1 to 10 p. per gram at the source. Pieces
occur in sizes from 10 to 1000 grams. One can mistake cut and
polished chalcedony for agate, hawk’s eye, tiger’s eye, topaz, or
zircon.

CHRYSOBERYL is a transparent golden-yellow gem which shoots off
rays of light in full sunlight. It is sacred to Yelm and all his
associate cults. Some chrysoberyls are magic crystals, either
Yelmalio’s Toe Blood or Arrow Points.
Catseye chrysoberyls are called cymophanes. They are sacred
to Basmoli lion-people and to Orlanthi who claim descent from
Yinkin the Cat.
Chrysoberyl doubles the normal radius of Light and Glow
spells cast on it. Yelmists say that chrysoberyl gives victory
in battle and in legal disputes. Even so, it makes its owner
friendly. Chrysoberyl comes from Teshnos, Kimos, Jrustela, and
Vormain.
Chrysoberyl costs 3 to 30 p. per gram at the source. Pieces
occur in sizes from 5 to 250 grams. One can mistake cut and
polished chrysoberyl for citrine (yellow quartz), diamond, glass,
or zircon. One can mistake cymophanes for quartz or glass.

CHRYSOPRASE is a mottled or banded apple-green translucent and
opaque stone. Large stones have brown or white opaque stripes.
Eurmal, the Grain Goddesses, and Saint Xemela hold chrysoprase
sacred, a strange combination of gods that vexes the devotees of
each.
Eurmali say that their god blew mucus out of his nose on
occasion, and that this solidified as chrysoprase. Grain Goddess
initiates say that in the godtime, their ancestors buried sacred
grain heads and these became gems. Saint Xemela’s devotees says
that these are their saint’s favorite gemstones.
Chrysoprase comes from various mines in Fronela and Ralios.
It costs .2 to 1 p. per gram at the source. Pieces occur in
sizes from 5 to 1000 grams. One can mistake cut and polished
chrysoprase for emerald, glass, jade, or prase.

CORAL is a mystery to most people, because it grows undersea.
Land dwellers tell wild tales of coral coming from solidified
merman blood or merman bones.
The most valuable kind is a uniform blood red. Gem-workers
also use pinkish white, peach pink, oily black, robin’s-egg blue,
and mottled kinds. Coral is sacred to Murthdrya and Triolina (it
is a plant, in Glorantha). Teshnans say that coral protects from
storms and from mishaps crossing rivers.
Productive coral reefs lie off the shores of Teshnos,
several East Isles, Elamle, and Fonrit. A reef in Fonrit holds a
city carved into the gem-like coral above the high-tide line.
Only Zabdamar know the sorcery spells for coral.
Coral costs 1 to 1000 p. per kilogram at the source. Pieces
occur in sizes up to mountain-sized. One can mistake cut and
polished red coral for almandine, bloodstone, cornelian, or sard.
One can mistake cut and polished pink coral for dyed alabaster or
chalcedony. One can mistake cut and polished black coral for jet
or, if shiny, obsidian. One can mistake cut and polished blue
coral for turquoise. One can mistake cut and polished mottled
coral, depending on its colors, for chalcedony, jade, jasper,
lapis lazuli, onyx, sard, or turquoise.

CORNELIAN is a cherry-red waxy or milky-red translucent stone.
It stills the blood and softens anger, bringing harmony. It is
sacred to Chalana Arroy. Her initiates say that cornelians are
blood from the many wounds that she healed. They became stones
by magical transmutation when Chalana Arroy healed the wounds
from which they fell.
Most Arroin’s Tears and Chalana’s Blessings are cornelians.
Some cornelians give a 5 to 25 percentile bonus in casting
healing spells. A healer adds the same bonus to her chances of
calming a berserk. A Heal 6 matrix in a cornelian always
succeeds in casting.
Cornelian comes from Wenelia, Enkloso, and northern Fonrit.
Cornelian costs 10 to 1000 p. per piece at the source. Price
depends as much on quality and perceived magical potential as on
size. Pieces occur in sizes from 5 to 500 grams. One can
mistake cut and polished cornelian for almandine, bloodstone,
coral, ruby, or sard.

DIAMOND is the hardest gem except truestone. It occurs in clear,
yellow, brown, blue, green, orange, and black varieties. Except
for the black variety, it is always transparent. Colors are
consistent throughout the stone, although many stones have flaws,
such as bubbles or cracks. Diamond cutters cut rough diamonds
with powdered diamond. They can also use a sliver of truestone.
Black diamonds are sacred to Subere, Ty Kora Tek, Arkat, and
Basko (the Black Sun). An Attack Soul matrix in a black diamond
gives a 1 to 10 MP bonus in overcoming MP. Black diamond seems
to absorb light, and a fire will dim when a black diamond comes
close to it. One legend says that black diamonds are shreds of
Nakala’s cloak cut off by the coming of Aether.
Clear diamonds are sacred to Asrelia, Caladra and Aurelion,
Dayzatar, and Saint Malkion. A Spirit Screen focus or Spirit
Screen/Block/Resistance matrix in a clear diamond adds 1 to 10
points to the defense provided. Dayzatari say that diamonds are
the thoughts of stars, fallen to earth, and the Pelorian name for
diamond translates as “starthought.”
Green diamonds are sacred to cults of the light earth.
Gatasave spell resisting crystals are green diamonds. They say
that these come from honeydew exuded by extinct holy trees.
Saint Gerlant wore a blue diamond, and that type is now
sacred to him.
Malkioni folklore says that diamonds make their owners
loyal, tenacious, and persistent.
Diamond mines exist in Teshnos, Dagori Inkarth, Ramalia, and
many dwarf mountains. Diamonds also wash down from the Shan
Shan, Nidan, and Tarmo Mountains.
Diamond costs 100 to 10,000 p. per gram at the source.
Pieces occur in sizes from .01 to 100 grams, and larger in very
rare finds.
Uncut and unpolished diamond require a mineral lore expert
or miner to identify. When cut and polished, diamond resembles
many other stones. One can mistake black diamond for obsidian,
clear diamonds for glass or quartz, yellow and orange diamonds
for amber, chrysoberyl, glass, quartz, or zircon, brown diamonds
for glass, quartz, topaz, or zircon, blue diamonds for
aquamarine, sapphire, glass, quartz, or zircon, and green
diamonds for emerald, glass, or zircon.

ECHOSTONE is a plain-looking charcoal gray mineral which acts as
a mirror for trolls’ darksense. Quality varies from specimen to
specimen, and trolls can improve the quality by smoothing the
surface of the rock.
Scanning into it, a troll darksenses his or her reflection.
The source of the sonar is the troll’s own head. Thus, the
effect is like standing in a dark room, casting Light on one’s
nose, and looking into a mirror. Trolls use echostone for many
profane purposes, such as spying past bends in caves.
Echostone is sacred to Dehore and blessed of the other Dark-
ness cults. All troll shamans use it for enchantments of binding
and controlling or commanding. It also aids in enchanting
Reflection.
Echostone occurs in nearly all igneous rock formations.
Troll miners earn from 1 to 100 bolgs per kilogram. Specimens
come in all sizes from slivers to multi-ton seams. A non-troll
cannot distinguish it from other rock without having arcane
mineral and troll lore.

EMERALD is a green stone with high luster. It is usually
translucent but sometimes is transparent. Color is often uneven,
and may occur in stripes. From certain angles, emerald gives off
dark bluish green reflections. Emeralds are fragile, but hard to
scratch.
Emeralds are sacred to Ernalda/Dendara and to Earth cults in
general, as well as to some minor Malkioni saints. Ernalda’s
Tears is a spell resisting crystal that is a banded translucent
variety. Folk wisdom grants emeralds many powers. They protect
from evil spells. They give their owners oratorical skill, joy,
ambition, and honesty. This is because they come from the secret
ovaries of plant spirits.
Emeralds come from Enkloso, the northern Redlands, and the
Maidstone Mountains. A huge emerald truestone sits at the center
of the inner temenos (sanctum) of Ernalda in the city of Ernalda,
in Esrolia.
Emerald costs 10 to 1000 p. per gram at the source. Pieces
occur in sizes from .01 to 100 grams, and larger in very rare
finds. One can mistake cut and polished emerald for aquamarine,
diamond, glass, jade, prasiolite (green quartz), sapphire, or
zircon.

GLASS is common throughout the world in jewelry, statues, and
other objects. Most people prefer the colored kinds, which
resemble gems. Merchants, at least, can distinguish glass from
true gemstones.
Glass is sacred to Bolongo, and to some other Pamaltelan
cults. Along the Pamaltelan coastline, people say that it is
pieces of Trickster’s brain. A local god (which varies with the
region) knocked these pieces out of his head.
Glass occurs world-wide, and many know the secret of making
glass from sand. Other secrets are scattered and jealously
guarded, such as the secret of unbreakable glass. Form/Set Glass
is a fairly common sorcery spell.
Glass costs 1 to 1000 p. per kilogram at the source. Piece
size is limited only by magic and technology. One can mistake
glass for almost anything.

GROW STONE looks like a plant part or (rarely) a whole plant.
The common leaf stones come in hues ranging from first growth’s
gold green to late summer spinach color. Flower stones come in
the same colors flowers do. There are also root and berry
stones. Rarest of all are whole-plant stones.
Grow stone has a naturally smooth and shiny surface. The
elves claim that these stones are slowly growing, thus the name.
(Petrified wood, by contrast, is dead.) Elves can distinguish
fakes easily, baffling human traders who thought pieces genuine.
Elves can also tell if a trader has broken a stone, and will
react unpredictably if he has.
Grow stone is sacred to Flamal and to all Plant cultists.
Elves can awaken grow stones with enchantments, including one
which enables an elf to attune a stone. Humans know that much,
but no more. Even among elves, only Mineral Lore experts know
that an attuned grow stone deepens one’s elf-sense perceptions.
The attuned know the wonder of sensing and joining in life
through a grow stone.
Elves tell a legend about a Dogwood clan elf named Laslak
Axehead, who lived in Ballid. He was a hero of the Lesser
Darkness. He could “smell the wind in the leaves, feel the
darkness under the roots, hear the heat of decay in the forest
floor, and see the sap flow inside distant plants.” He went to
sleep with the rest of his clan. When Flamal returned and the
Mreli awoke, Laslak was gone. A whole dogwood grow stone stood
over his resting place. Dwarves broke the tree, but elves
recovered most of the pieces.
Miners find grow stone where Aldryami woods vanished in the
godtime. No known sorcery spells affect grow stone.
Grow stone costs 100 p. per piece at the source. Pieces
occur in sizes from 10 grams to 100 kilograms, and larger in very
rare finds. Humans can mistake leaf grow stone for chrysoprase,
glass, jade, or prase. Root and stem stones look like petrified
wood or topaz. Flower and berry stones look like shaped gems of
the appropriate color.

HAWK’S EYE is an opaque orange and brown striped stone which
craftsmen cut en cabochon. A polished hawk’s eye reveals a small
ray of light on its surface, resembling a hawk or falcon’s eye.
It is sacred to Vrok, god of hawks, and blessed by his associated
cults Yelm and Yelmalio.
Hawk’s eyes come from mines in Teshnos, Laskal, Jrustela,
and the East Isles. There, it costs .1 p per gram. Pieces weigh
from 10 to 500 grams. It is hard to mistake, except for tiger’s
eye, after it is cut and polished. Uncut, it looks like a brown
stone, such as topaz.

IRONROCK is a grayish near-gem made by dwarves. Humans believe
it is either the raw material for making iron or a by-product of
making iron. They cannot make iron from it, which implies it is
a by-product. It burns elves and trolls, however, and deadens
magic in the same way iron does.
In any case, specimens are usually one to two ENC in size.
Ironrocks are irregular, faceted, shiny, and hard. Humans use it
as a symbol of power on scepters and other ritual objects.
Enchant Iron does not affect it, and causes the enchanter to lose
the POW put into the spell.
Ironrock is very rare in human lands. Mostali trade it
rarely. Much of it comes from human raids on factories the
dwarves have abandoned. These raiders can get 1000 p. per
kilogram.

IVORY is a near-gem, but some sages call it a true gem. The term
“ivory” includes not only the tusks of elephants and narwhals but
also the teeth of hippopotami, sea lion, and wild boar.
Fossilized elephant tusks also fall under this term. Young ivory
is white, and old ivory is yellow.
Crafters use ivory for jewelry, magic and mundane talismans,
and ritual objects. It is sacred to Wachaza and to the Elephant
God of Enkloso. Elephant ivory is the finest type, and it comes
from Teshnos and much of Pamaltela. Spells that affect teeth
affect ivory.
Ivory costs 10 to 100 p. per kilogram at the source. Tusks
are 20 to 100 kilograms, and larger in very rare finds. Ivory
looks something like white jade. One can make cut pieces look
like pearl.

JADE is a green, white, violet, or yellowish stone that comes in
many shades and hues. It often bears stripes or spots of another
color. Most specimens are opaque, but a few are translucent.
The most valuable varieties are translucent green with a few
stripes of white or black.
Kralorelans and Teshnans use jade to make ceremonial axes.
They also make musical chimes out of it, and the trolls of the
Kingdom of Ignorance and Koromondol have imitated this use.
Craftsmen in Teshnos carve fantastic designs in it. Still
fancier items come from Hsiang Wan in Kralorela where the
sorcerers know Form/Set Jade.
The white kind is sacred to Lhankor Mhy and Emperor Metsyla,
but for different reasons. Lhankor Mhy scholars say that its
color represents the purity of truth. Emperor Metsyla’s devotees
say that white jade was the Emperor’s medium of writing. They
claim to be able to detect traces of writing in many specimens.
Green jade is sacred to the Rice Mother. A piece of green
jade at the end of the drawstring on a rice bag will repel
insects.
Dark specimens of violet and brown jade are sacred to
Tsankth. They represent the blood of his foes, solidified by
contact with his weapons and feet.
Jade guides lost souls after death, so in the East a close
relative usually places a small stone in the corpse’s mouth.
Common folk credit this power of jade to spirits. Philosophers
explain that it comes from jade’s “right alignment with the earth
axis.”
There are jade mines in Teshnos, Kralorela, and Onlaks.
Teshnos is the only source for imperial jade, an emerald green
translucent variety which merchants value highly. Mining
companies charge their middlemen 100 to 1000 p. per kilogram,
depending on quality. Pieces range from 10 grams to 100
kilograms. Green jade looks like chrysoprase, emerald, or prase.
White jade looks like ivory or very good chalcedony. Brown jade
looks like chalcedony. Violet jade looks like amethyst or
chalcedony.

JASPER is a striped or spotted opaque stone. Its colors include
dark red combined with white, orange, brown, or black. Lodrili
craftsmen carve it into cylinder seals or amulets to ward off
blindness, drought, and the bites of poisonous snakes. It is
blessed of Yelm’s pantheon (but not Yelm), and of the Earth cults
as well.
The largest mines are in Bastis, but other mines exist
elsewhere in Maniria, in Pent, and on Vormain.
Jasper costs from 1 to 2 p per gram at the source. Pieces
range from 10 to 1000 grams. Cut and polished jasper looks like
coral, bloodstone, onyx, petrified wood, or sard.

JET is a very hard black or dark brown coal which can take a
polish. It is the softest of gems, with a velvety waxy luster.
Some jets have little bits of pyrite in them, giving them a
shimmering surface dotted with gold.
Legends say that jet is the crushed and burned bodies of
Flamal and his followers. Zorak Zoran and his train chopped up
Flamal and thousands of Flamali, then used darkness magic to
blacken the corpses. Pieces which the army ate and excreted
became coal, and pieces which they missed became jet.
Trolls say that jet has an unusual Darksense “image,” and
that it tastes good. It is blessed of Zorak Zoran and Xiola
Umbar, and Darkness cults in general.
Jet, like all coal, is sacred to Aldrya. An extremely rare
powered crystal, called Flamal’s Sap, is jet. Rumor gives it
powers of fertility and growth.
Jet occurs in coal mines in Dagori Inkarth, Jrustela, and
Fonrit. Flamal’s Sap comes from coal mines on the border of
Ralios and Seshnela. No known Form/Set affects coal or jet.
Jet costs from 1 to 2 p per gram at the source. Pieces
range from 100 to 10,000 grams. Uncut jet looks like ordinary
coal. Cut and polished jet looks like much black coral or
obsidian.

JEWELFLOR is a human name for the plant and the gem which elves
call Laslak. It is quite rare, yet is the most common of the
Aldryami jewel-plants. The plant is a small biennial which makes
one to three bright crystalline flowers in late Earth Season of
its second year. The plant is delicate and needs extensive care.
The blossoms are glassy and shaped like tiny daffodil flowers.
When fresh, they have an enthralling scent. They are fragile,
but do not decay. Most are transparent white. Rare specimens
are perfectly clear or white tinged with violet or blue. No
known Form/Set affects any jewel-plant.
Elves say that Laslak was a prince of the white elves, who
loved himself above all. When he caught sight of his reflection
in a pond, he lingered there until he died of hunger. His body
became a flower.
Elves give Jewelflor to their friends, and often expect
something in return. A typical flower, with stem, weighs 50
grams. Jewelflor looks like a shaped gem of the appropriate
color.

LAPIS LAZULI is a dark blue gem, usually spotted or striped with
many shades of blue. It is lustrous and opaque. It makes pretty
jewelry, pigment, murals, and ritual objects. A golden-spotted
variety is sacred to Lorian Godriver. All types are sacred to
river gods, because rivers carry the stone down from their
sources. Lapis lazuli washes away melancholy.
Lapis Lazuli mines exist in the Dagori Inkarth and Elder
Wilds regions of the Rockwood Mountains, in the upper Hachuan
Shan, and near Bad Deal, in Vesmonstran, Ralios.
Lapis lazuli costs from .1 to .5 p. per gram at the source.
Pieces range from 100 grams to 100 kilograms. Cut and polished
lapis lazuli looks like coral or turquoise.

OBSIDIAN is a type of volcanic glass, black or gray with some-
times a golden or silver sheen. Flowering obsidian is a variety
with white circles. Obsidian holds a very sharp edge, and the
dragonewts use it in their weapons.
It is sacred to Argan Argar and his mother, Xentha, and to
Raven and some minor godlings. The power enhancing Nipple Stone
is an obsidian, said to be one of Xentha’s ten million nipples.
Obsidian is symbolic of the triumph of darkness and cold over
heat and light.
Obsidian occurs in most volcanic areas, including Maniria,
Mari, Kimos, and some East Isles. Many multi-ton pieces survive
from Argan Argar’s Castle of Black Glass in the Shadowlands.
Spells that affect glass also affect obsidian.
Obsidian costs from 1 to 5 p. per kilogram at the source.
Trolls charge the same price in bolgs. Cut and polished obsidian
looks like black diamond, coral, or jet.

ONYX is a stone with even layers of opaque dark and light, often
white and black. Sard-onyx is a type which has brown and white
layers.
Onyx is sacred to various thief gods and to Disorder
cultists. It provokes discord and induces lack of passion.
Trickster wore a cloak of woven onyx when he stole the roc’s
eggs, and used the cloak to fool the roc.
A Befuddle focus carved into onyx gives a bonus to casting.
A carved Befuddle matrix gives a +1 to +5 MP bonus to overcoming
MP.
Onyx comes from Umathela, the East Isles, and Vesmonstran.
Onyx costs from 1 to 5 p. per kilogram at the source.
Pieces range from .1 to 100 kilograms. Cut and polished onyx
looks like agate, mottled coral, or jasper.

OPAL is an iridescent precious stone, displaying a rainbow of
playing colors. The lighter “white opal” is translucent, showing
light blue, red, and sometimes green. It is sacred to Issaries.
Issarites say it is an example of how their god made something
out of nothing. In this case, he took ordinary rock and gave it
sparkles of color and light.
There is also a darker “black opal,” which rarely has a
truly black background. Both white and black opal are sacred to
Kyger Litor. Trolls say that opals have an odd humming “image”
when Darksensed. They say that opals are the lining of giant
trolls’ eyes.
Opal mines exist in the mountains of Peloria. In recent
years, splendid opals have come from the East Isles. Kralorelans
consider the stone a symbol of loyalty and hope. Spells which
affect opal also affect some non-gems that look nothing like
opal, generally called false opals.
Opal costs from 1 to 5 p. per gram at the source. Pieces
range from 50 to 500 grams. Cut and polished precious opal is
unmistakable.

PEARL is a white, black, blue, gray, or off-white sphere or
spheroid. Oysters form pearls inside their bodies. Pearl is
soft, and decomposes over a period of 100 to 200 years. Mother
of pearl is a similar substance taken from the shells of pearl
oysters.
Black pearls are sacred to Molocca, the goddess of mollusks.
Blue pearls are sacred to Tholaina, and white pearls to
Brastalos. All varieties are sacred to Beast cultists.
White pearls make their owners friendly, and fill them with
integrity and purity. Legend says that white pearls are the
purified souls of the humble and gregarious oysters.
Rumor states that Zabdamar have Form/Set Pearl.
Pearls costs from 10 to 500 p. each at the source, depending
on size, quality, and color. The rarer blue and black varieties
are more expensive than the white. Off-white pearls are less
expensive than white, and gray pearls are the cheapest.
Individual pearls weigh from 1 to 25 grams. Rare giant pearls
(from giant oysters) weigh up to 500 grams and bidding begins at
10,000 p. One can mistake pearls for beads or ivory.

PETRIFIED WOOD is a near-gem. Polished pieces may be quite
attractive, but they are still opaque brown or gray rocks.
Humans have little use for petrified wood. Mostali view it
as blasphemous, and avoid or smash it. Elves and their ilk,
however, weep and wail over it, and carve it for memorials to
dead loved ones. Thus, human traders sometimes bring pieces to
elf forests, hoping for valuable goods in return.
Stonewood is the largest concentration of petrified wood in
Glorantha. It is next to Foulblood Wood in Heortland. Other
places have a petrified branch, tree, or small stand of trees at
most.
It is difficult to put a price on petrified wood, because of
the wide range of attitudes toward it and the elves’ peculiar
economics. Pieces range in size up to entire trees. One can
mistake a cut piece for a poor-quality hawk’s eye or tiger’s eye,
sard, or a root grow stone.

PRASE is a lustrous light gray-green stone. It is opaque, and
many pieces are mottled. All Fertility cults bless it,
especially Deezola and Hon-Eel. They say that it is a drop of
dew fallen from the cup of fertility.
Prase comes from small mines in Fronela and Ralios. It
costs 1 to 2 p. per gram at the source. Pieces weigh between 10
and 100 grams. One could mistake cut and polished prase for
chrysoprase, growstone, or green jade.

The term QUARTZ covers a diverse group of stones, confusingly
named. “Rock crystal” is a synonym for quartz, but sometimes
refers only to the clear variety. The term “magic crystal”
refers to a different but overlapping class of gems, some clear
and some white or with color. Many unpowered crystals are, in
fact, clear quartz.
Clear quartz is sacred to Himile and Valind, because it is
ice that has turned to stone. Quartzes with other minerals
inside them are sacred to various other deities, depending on the
color and shape of the inclusion.
Star cults value two kinds, both called star-quartz. One is
a quartz with star-shaped filaments inside it. The other is the
true star-quartz, which reflects light as a star sapphire does.
Both are blessed of the star cults. Yelm blesses quartzes that
have gold inside them, and other deities bless quartzes that have
bits of their associated metal in them.
Citrine is a lemon-yellow quartz. One can distinguish it
from chrysoberyl because it does not send off rays of light. It
is blessed of Yelmalio and other lesser deities of light, such as
Golden Bow, Yelorna, and Lorkanos.
Prasiolite is a leek-green quartz, blessed of Fertility
cults.
Rose quartz is blessed of the lunar pantheon.
Aventurine is a dark green quartz with mica glitter. It is
blessed of Asrelia.
Blue quartz is blessed of the Felster Lake Spirit.
Quartz occurs in small deposits around the world.
Spelunkers and trolls often run across outcroppings in caves.
Quartz costs 10 to 25 p. per kilogram at the source. Pieces
weigh between .1 and 100 kilograms. Traders often mistake quartz
for various gems, depending on the color.

RUBY can be transparent or opaque, but is always a lustrous red
stone. Some rubies display a star pattern, catseye, or silky
sheen. Only inferior stones have uneven or pale color. Some
gem-traders use the term “spinel” for those, but sages reject the
term. Catseye rubies are called Snakeseye, Turtleseye, or
Owlseye, depending on the sacred animal of a culture.
Humakti hold all rubies sacred as the solidified blood of
heroes. Star rubies are especially sacred because they fell from
the Sword Stars or the constellation Humakt.
Cultists of Lodril and the Lowfires hold all brilliant
rubies sacred. For other members of the Yelm pantheon, star
rubies are blessed stones. A Pelorian legend says that rubies
are the ripe berries of the Yunia bush, which grows in the sky.
Sapphires are the unripe berries, and Yelmists sometimes bury
them so they can ripen.
Since the rising of the Red Moon, Lunar cultists have prized
all red stones. This is purely for the color, and not for any
ancient affinity.
The so-called Esrolian Ruby is a power enhancing crystal.
Some Arroin’s Tears and Chalana’s Blessings are rubies.
Ruby wards off evil thoughts, lust, pestilential vapors,
disputes, and loss of rank. Most rubies come from Teshnos, but a
few come from the Hungry Plateau, in Peloria, and the island of
Teleos.
Ruby costs 1 to 10 p. per gram at the source. Pieces weigh
between .1 and 30 grams. One can mistake Ruby for almandine,
amber, arkatite (by firelight), cornelian, sard, or zircon.

SAPPHIRE is a blue or bluish-green gem, transparent and bril-
liant. It comes in various hues.
The cult of Uleria holds all sapphires sacred. They claim
that these gems multiply through the power of love.
Shamans also value the stone as aiding in communication with
the spirits. In fact, some milky sapphires are Ghost Shields
spirit supporting crystals.
Star sapphires are blessed of the Yelm pantheon, whose
cultists say that they are the skin of angels.
Catseye sapphires are blessed by Heler, for obscure reasons.
Sapphire wards off envy, fraud, and poison, while giving its
owner wisdom and vigilance.
Sapphires come from Porent, Brolia, and Umathela, but the
best and largest ones come from Teshnos. It costs 1 to 10 p. per
gram at the source. Pieces weigh between .1 and 100 grams. One
can mistake Sapphire for aquamarine, blue diamond, emerald, or
zircon.

SARD is a red-brown stone, similar to cornelian. Some varieties
are transparent, while others are milky. No known cult prizes
it. Mines in Wenelia yield small amounts annually. Craftsmen
cut it, and con men try to sell it as another gem.
Sard costs .1 p. per gram at the source. Pieces weigh
between 5 and 500 grams. One can mistake Sard for bloodstone,
coral, cornelian, jasper, petrified wood, ruby, or zircon.

TIGER’S EYE is a brown and yellow striped stone, sometimes with
dark red lines. When cut en cabochon, it reveals a line of light
within the stone, like the eye of a tiger. It is sacred to the
Tiger God, and Teshnans and Kralorelans use it to ward off the
Tiger People.
Most of it comes from Teshnos and the East Isles, but some
comes from Elamle. Tiger’s eye costs .2 p. per gram at the
source. Pieces weigh between 5 and 500 grams. One can mistake
polished or unpolished tiger’s eye for hawk’s eye. One can also
mistake unpolished tiger’s eye for chalcedony and various other
stones, including topaz.

TOPAZ is a transparent brown or yellow gem of too deep a color to
be called chrysoberyl. Green or red-tinted yellow stones are
also topaz, and are sacred to the Earth. One translucent brown
variety is called smoky topaz because it creates a haze in the
light around it.
Smoky topaz manifests the Disorder rune and the Disorder
cults hold it sacred or blessed. Smoke Rocks, a kind of Spell
Reinforcing crystal, are smoky topaz.
Very light yellow topazes charm spirits and please the
ancestors. Thus, magicians use them in amulets.
Topaz comes from the Wenelian Islands of Maniria. It costs
1 to 5 p. per gram at the source, with the yellow gems being more
valuable than the brown. Pieces weigh between 5 and 500 grams.
One can mistake Topaz for chalcedony, brown diamond, root or stem
grow stone, or unpolished hawk’s eye or tiger’s eye.

TURQUOISE is a blue opaque stone, often with veins of black,
brown, or white.
It is sacred to Annilla and Artmal. Annilla landed on a bed
of turquoise when she fell from the sky. That bed broke her
fall, say the Artmali.
Turquoise protects its wearer from falling and from being
under falling structures. How this works is a matter of some
speculation.
Mines exist in Dragon Pass, Teshnos, and Kralorela, as well
as Teleos, Loral, and Onlaks. Turquoise costs .1 to .5 p. per
gram at the source. Pieces weigh between 5 and 5000 grams. One
can mistake Turquoise for any of several types of coral or for
lapis lazuli.

ZIRCON is a beautiful but fragile translucent stone, occurring in
a variety of colors. Humans consider it a weak relative of
diamond.
The Hyacinth variety, a yellow-red, is sacred to Voria. A
red variety is sacred to Babeester Gor, and gemcutters cut it
into the shape of drops of blood.
Zircon occurs all over Genertela, but the best and largest
stones come from Teshnos. It costs .5 to 1 p. per gram at the
source. Pieces weigh between 5 and 500 grams. One can mistake
Zircon for almost anything, depending on its color.

0

The Lore Of Gloranthan Gems And Near-Gems, By Martin R. Crim (1992)

INTRODUCTION

Most sages try to ignore the thorny riddle of gloranthan gem
lore. They complain that the lore is complex and inconsistent.
The well-known system of runes and myths does not explain gems’
traits or runic links.
In fact, the Godlearners gave up the search for a unified
theory of gems, according to one legend. The many problems
baffled them. Two gems that look the same can have different
traits and runic links. Gods who are linked in myth often hold
very different gems sacred. Gods with nothing in common hold the
same gem sacred. (Jet is a good example, being holy to both Al-
drya and Zorak Zoran.) Worse than that, local myths differ
widely in explaining the origin of a gem.

CLASSIFICATION
Despite the difficulties, one can organize gem lore
according to natural groups. Each magical detect spell works on
some stones and not on others. (By detect spell, we mean the
spirit magic Detect, the divine magic Find, and the sorcerous
Sense.) Sages in different parts of the world can group gems the
same way by applying logic and a variety of detect spells. They
find that local gem traders apply single terms to gems from more
than one magical group. Early steps in magical research show
that the natural group, not the local term, fixes a gem’s magical
traits. These findings sound like Godlearner teaching to many
people, so the finding has not gone far. Confusion reigns in
sorting gems in most parts of the world today.
There are many detect spells for gems and other stones, and
no one but Zzabur has a complete list. For each of the gems
below, there is a detect spell that detects it but no other gems
on the list. Organic material must be dead to trigger the
perception spell. Although most of the names parallel Earth
gems, Glorantha’s gems are not identical to Earth’s.
For many gems, detect spells exist only in one or two of the
systems of magic (spirit, divine, and sorcerous). As a rule of
thumb, if there is a Sense (substance) for a gem, there are also
Animate (substance) and Form/Set (substance) spells for it.
Even the word “gem” confuses many. The Teshnans mislead the
rest of the world by applying their term for gem to coral, pearl,
and ivory. Ordinary folk and even many sages believe that those
gems come from Teshnan mines. Pedants quibble that coral, pearl,
ivory, and jet are not gems, because the dwarfs do not consider
them to be minerals. Added confusion comes from classifying
truestones with the gems that most closely resemble them. Spells
that affect non-truestone gems do not affect similar truestone.
The truestone will not trigger Detect/Find/Sense, Animate will
not animate it, and Form/Set will not mold it.
This document uses the word “gem” to refer to things that
one group of people or another considers highly valuable and
pretty. It applies the term “near-gem” to any hard valuable
substance that has some of the traits of gems, such as being
pretty, magical, or valuable. “Near-gems” include amber, bezoar,
coral, echostone, glass, ironstone, ivory, jet, jewelflor, and
pearl. Both terms leave out many hard things used in decora-
tions, such as sea shells, tortoise shell, and rhino horn.

MAGICAL GEMS
Many gems have magical power. The so-called crystals are gems of
various colors. Most “dead crystals” have no link to a religion
or a rune. Living crystals usually belong to a god, however, and
the popular name notes this. By gazing deep into a living
crystal, one can learn its nature. A living crystal has an
unmistakable inner fire that charms the eye and the mind.
“Attuning” a gem is actually a means of learning, in which one
comes near to the divine.
Gems that lack divine qualities may still have magical
powers. Some stones make spells easier to cast. Many gems bear
the mystical stamp of a rune or cult (see below).

IDENTIFYING GEMS
Many of the gems below resemble one another. They also may
resemble non-precious stones. Identifying a gem requires a
successful use of Mineral Lore.
Anyone green at identification (25% or less, but above base
skill plus bonus) knows the colors of the best-known stones
(Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire). He or she knows the color
correlation table, below, and the sacred stones of his or her
cult. He or she knows that there are many fake gems, and that
there are ways of testing gems.
Anyone intermediate in identification (26%-50%) can test
gems using the scratch test. This can narrow down the
possibilities and allow the identifier to make an educated guess.
The scratch test can distinguish glass from other minerals, if
done right.
Anyone veteran in identification (51-75%) can identify the
gems on this list with a successful roll. He or she can uncover
fakes on a successful roll, modified for the cleverness of the
forgery.
Any expert in identification (76%+) can accurately grade and
value gemstones. He or she has most of the information in this
article (the major exception being the notes on Grow Stone). An
expert can tell where a gem came from if he or she succeeds in
another skill roll, with a modifier for how well he or she knows
the gem and region.

GEMCUTTING
Faceted gems are rare in Glorantha. The most common way to
prepare gems is to smooth off the rough edges and polish the
surfaces. This yields irregular gems with very little
brilliance. The next most common method is to cut gems en
cabochon. That method creates a flat or rounded base and a
rounded top.
Teshnans mine and cut many of Glorantha’s gems, often using
the point cut and table cut. The former is merely a regular
eight-sided solid, like a D8. The latter is a point cut with one
point cut off.
Some gemcutters in Seshnela now experiment with larger
numbers of facets, working with Form/Set Quartz. Humans have a
few ancient stones with many facets, cut in the time of legend.
Crafters use soft gems for cameos, talismans, and seals.
They sometimes carve letters or runes into hard gems. Crafters
carve pictures and designs into the surface of a flat piece,
using Craft (Gemcutting) or the proper Form/Set. The designs
hold both religious and magical power. Spell-teachers weave
spirit spell foci into their designs. Enchanters work the runes
of enchantment into the designs they make. The designs
themselves have magic power, especially when they build on the
gem’s sympathy for particular runes.

ATTITUDES OF THE SENTIENT SPECIES
Human attitudes about gems depend on cult and culture.
Primitives view all shiny objects as magical, and especially
revere any transparent stones. Nomads are more sophisticated
than primitives, but often get fooled by traders. Barbarians
have many folk beliefs about the magical qualities of gems. The
notes on each gem below give these, without distinguishing the
true from the false. Civilized peoples often have the same
superstitions, but also view gems as very precious treasure.
They have the attitude needed for wide-scale trading.
Within culture types, individual cultures have different
feelings toward gems. Malkioni link their castes to particular
gems: Ruler–diamond, Wizard–ruby, Knight–sapphire, Farmer–
quartz, Woman–emerald. The Teshnans consider gems a
particularly fun part of life, worth the tedium of mining and
polishing–so long as there is time for fun every day.
The elder races group gems in their own ways, quite
different from human labels. Almost every species has an
attitude toward gems different from all other species. Some
elder races value a particular mineral, as Dragonewts prize
obsidian. Some appreciate all shiny objects, as Windchildren and
Beastmen do. Ducks and Morokanth value the same stones that
humans value, for they are close to humans in outlook. However,
Ducks value blue stones above all others, and Morokanth prize
large gems. Broos and Scorpionmen never value gems except as
magic items and traps for their victims. Jelmre do not mine,
cut, or polish gems. They appreciate gifts of gems, however,
especially ones that look like their missing emotions. The many
kinds of Timinit see nothing of value in gems. The major elder
races have attitudes that reflect their general points of view.
Dwarfs group gems entirely by their physical traits, and cut
them for specific uses. They often work in complete darkness, so
prettiness is not important to orthodox Mostali. They do not
group gems as gem-quality or not gem-quality. This is a rational
custom in light of the way spells work. Their names for gems
include poetry like “hardness 140,000 perfect cleavage isometric
stone” (which humans call diamond). Dwarfs occasionally produce
a beautiful gem, as incidental to a particular use. All castes
use gems, but the Lead caste has a special relationship with
glass and mirrors. (Of all orthodox Mostali, they come closest
to having an aesthetic sense.) Rock caste gem-workers have
several ways, including spells, to measure a mineral sample’s
traits and see what it is. Dwarfs trade gemstones to humans at
certain places, include Bad Deal in the High Llama Pass and Gem-
borg in the Holy Country. Most are rough, but some are cut and
polished.
Trolls group gems according to their sonic properties, which
they examine with their Darksense (sonar). Like dwarves, trolls
spend much of their time in complete darkness. Trolls value
visual traits much less than sonic traits. Thus, they have a
different grouping system from humans. Some terms match human
ones, like jade and opal. Others are completely different. The
term “warm-timbre rough-stone” refers to stones which humans put
in more than one group, and it excludes stones which humans place
in those same groups.
Trolls prize some mundane stones which humans find plain and
drab. Echostone is set forth in detail below. Deadstone mutes
darksense, making it hard to “see.” It is sacred to Zorak Zoran,
whose cultists make maul- and mace-heads from it. Waterstone
sends back echoes that “look” like a water surface. Hollowstone
and squeakystone have the darksense traits suggested by their
names.
Brown and Green Elves enjoy all pretty stones, but only
prize those intimately associated with plants. The most common
of these are amber, grow stone, jet, jewelflor, and petrified
wood. Yellow elves are similar in attitude, but grow almost all
of their gems. They grow jewelflor, glass vine, gem orchid,
sapphire violet, and some rarer varieties. Humans know nothing
about Red, Blue, and Black Elf attitudes. Elves have three terms
which they use to group all minerals. Noble, as a gem term,
means unfathomable, powerful, and pure. Common, as a gem term,
means ordinary, weak, and mixed. Profane, as a gem term, refers
to made things. Within the common class, the elves classify
minerals by their effect on plants growing in or near them.
Thus, they talk about the veins and ores in which gems occur more
than they talk about the gems themselves.
Mermen prize coral, ivory, and pearls. They trade with
surface dwellers for polished aquamarines, the only surface gem
they honor. They link each gem to a caste: aquamarines with
rulers, pearls with shamans, and coral with gatherers. The
warriors’ gem is ivory, which they take from narwhals and sea
lions.

MAGICAL CORRELATIONS
Gloranthan stones roughly follow a color scheme linking them
to the runes. The following table applies to gems and also to
other stones. It is not complete, nor even adequate. It only
indicates some links between runes and gems.
Working the runes into the right gem often makes an enchant-
ment easier to create or stronger when it is done. Light spells,
in particular, work well with transparent gems. Hard gems make
stasis spells stronger.
Most gems have special links with one or more deities or
spirits, or with particular runes. Where these do not follow
from the color association, a myth explains the origin of the gem
from the acts of the associated deity. Gods with the common
divine spell of Find (substance) provide Find spells for all
their sacred materials. See the list below, at the end.
In addition to their sacred gems, many deities also hold
certain gems blessed, but not divine. These are always less
valuable stones.
The Teshnans do not link particular gem types to individual
gods. Teshnans present gifts of cut and polished stones to
temples and temple-complexes. They base the gift on obscure dis-
tinctions, which outsiders find inscrutable.
Chaotic gems come in all colors. They may appear “wrong” in
some way, or they may not. Some are so tainted with chaos that
they infect those who handle them. Most just have an affinity
for chaos. Chaotic enchanters prize both kinds.

Associations

Color Primary Secondary

Black Darkness Death, Illusion, Dark Earth
Blue Water Moon, Mastery, Fertility
Brown Earth Fertility, Disorder

Clear Magic Light, Ice, Infinity
Gray Air Movement, Shadow, Undead
Green Plant Earth, Harmony, Stasis

Orange Spirit Air, Heat, Death
Pink, Red Moon Illusion, Death
Variegated Man Disorder, Trade, Luck

Violet Beast Water, Fertility
White Law Truth, Fate, Cold
Yellow Sky Truth, Harmony

[This is part 1 of 4; email me at Argrath if you want to see
more.]

0

Installing A Gable Vent For Your House

ีอออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออธ
ณ This information is from the HomeLine BBS (301) 745-2037. ณ
ณ 24 hrs 300/1200/2400 ณ
ณ While every precaution is taken in the preparation of this information, ณ
ณ the HomeLine assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is ณ
ณ any liability assumed for damages resulting from its use. ณ
ณ Share it…but don’t use it commercially. ณ
ิอออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออพ

Project # 41 INSTALL A GABLE VENT

Many older homes have inadequate attic ventilation. Air movement through
your attic helps remove excess moisture to keep the roof joists dry and
prevents the area from overheating. If your house has a gable roof you can
increase your attic ventilation by installing a triangular gable vent.

You can easily tackle this is a job if you have some carpentry experience.
The vent will cost about $70 and should take the better part of a day to
install. These vents are sized according to the area of the attic floor.
Check the package to make sure you purchase a vent with the capacity you need.

The installation is straightforward. You need only basic carpentry tools.
Most of the work is done from outside the attic so you will have to climb a
ladder to the roof peak. If working up high on a ladder does not appeal to
you, hire a carpenter. He’ll charge about $120 to do the job.

0

The Game Of Y, With Cool ASCII Illustration

Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
From: rrognlie@netcom.com (Richard Rognlie)
Subject: Re: The Game of Y: rules/info ?
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 1994 23:27:31 GMT

: I am interested in learning more about the game
: I saw this reviewed in games magazine 12/94.

The game is played on a roughly triangular board that looks something
like the following:
____
/ ____
/ __/ __
__/ __ ____
/ ____/ __
/ / __/ __ ____
__/ __ ____/ __
/ / ____/ __ __
__/ / __/ __ ____/ __
/ __/ __ ____/ __
/ / / ____/ ____/ __
__/ / __/ ____/
/ / __/ __ ____/ __ __
__/ / / __/ ____/ __/ __
/ __/ / / ____/
/ / / ____/ ____/ __ __ __
__/ __/ ____/ ____/ __/ __/ __
/ / / / ____/
__/ __/ __/ ____/ __ __ __ __ __
/ / / / / __/ __/ __/ __/
__/ __/ ____/ __/
/ / / / / __/ __/ __/ __/ /
__/ __/ __/ ____/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/
/ / / / ____/ / / / /
__/ __/ ____/ / ____/ __/ __/ __/
/ / / ____/ ____/ / __/ __/ __/
__/ / / ____/ / / /
__/ / __/ / ____/ __/ __/
/ __/ __/ ____/ / __/ __/
__/ / __/ / ____/ / /
/ / ____/ / ____/ __/
__/ __/ ____/ / __/
__/ / __/ __/ ____/ __/
/ ____/ __/ __/
__/ __/ ____/ __/
/ / __/ __/ ____/
____/ __/
__/ __/ ____/
/ __/ __/
____/
____/

Players take turns placing stones of their colour (one player is white,
the other black) on the board, trying to connect the 3 sides of the board
with a single set of fully connected stones. The stones are placed on
the intersection points on the lines. A corner counts as being part of both
sides.

Richard
—
/// | Richard Rognlie / Sr. Computer Analyst / PRC Inc. / McLean, VA
/ | E-Mail: rrognlie@netcom.com *or* rognlie_richard@prc.com
/ / / | Phone: (Home) (703) 361-4764 (Office) (703) 556-2458
/// | (Fax) (703) 556-1174

From: wft@math.canterbury.ac.nz (Bill Taylor)
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: Re: The Game of Y: rules/info ?
Date: 14 Dec 1994 02:07:00 GMT

rrognlie@netcom.com (Richard Rognlie) writes:
> The game is played on a roughly triangular board that looks something
> like the following:

[Exellent ascii board, program-drawn by Dan Hoey; snipped]

> Players take turns placing stones of their colour (one player is white,
> the other black) on the board, trying to connect the 3 sides of the board
> with a single set of fully connected stones.

And don’t forget the variant invented by Dan Hoey & myself, “Projective Y”:-
played on the same board, but with diametrically opposite edge points
identified, (i.e. a board on a projective plane), the winner being the
first to make a closed loop which is non-contractible-to-a-point.

This is one of the more abstract of abstract games around; it should appeal to
mathematicians in particular. J.H.Conway should have invented it!

——————————————————————————-
Bill Taylor wft@math.canterbury.ac.nz
——————————————————————————-
I’m not one of the main actors in the computing world, just a bit player.
——————————————————————————-

Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
From: rrognlie@netcom.com (Richard Rognlie)
Subject: Re: The Game of Y: rules/info ?
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 1994 12:42:06 GMT

: Why was the board shaped like that, rather than a straight hexagonal
: lattice?

There are 3 points which have only 5 connection points (rather than the
normal 6). That forces the curved shape. It also reduces the 1st player
advantage a little (in theory). I still opt for 1 move equalization (e.g.,
player A moves. Player B has option of accepting player A’s move as his
own, or making his own move. Play continues.)
—
/// | Richard Rognlie / Sr. Computer Analyst / PRC Inc. / McLean, VA
/ | E-Mail: rrognlie@netcom.com *or* rognlie_richard@prc.com
/ / / | Phone: (Home) (703) 361-4764 (Office) (703) 556-2458
/// | (Fax) (703) 556-1174

0

The Game Of Chess

THE GAME OF CHESS

Once upon a time… in faraway Persia there was a King who had a beautiful
wife and a handsome son called Gav. Life was all sunshine as far as he was
concerned, but not for long.
One day, as he was going hunting, he fell from his horse and was killed.
Women in Persia could not succeed to the throne and so the dead ruler’s brother
was proclaimed King. He was a prince called May. He fell in love with the
widowed Queen and married her. She gave him a son whose name was Talend. Alas,
some time later, the new King died and there only remained the Queen with the
two sons, brothers of couse, but with different fathers. The question was soon
raised:-
“Which brother will become King of Persia?” “It will be Gav,” was one reply,
“because he is the elder.” But others said, “It will be Talend, because he is
the son of our last King.” The Queen herself said nothing at all.
However, sooner or later, she would have to come to a decision, and she did
not want to disappoint either Gav or Talend. As long as the two boys were
small, it didn’t matter, but when they started to grow up and began to ask
when one or the other was going to be crowned King, the problems began. The
Queen couldn’t make up her mind. When the ministersasked her to make a choice,
she would reply,
“Yes, I will do it tommorow…” and so the years went by.
Gav and Talend became young men, and rivals. As children they were always
together, as youths, they saw little of each other, indeed, they kept out of
each other’s way. Each had his own set of friends. In that way, two sides were
formed, one supporting Talend, the other supporting Gav. The ministers were
very worried, and now insisted that the Queen choose the King. But she couldn’t
bring herself to do this, for fear of disappointing one of her dearly loved
sons.
Some years later, the kingdom drifted towards what is known as civil war,
for the two princes did not see eye to eye, neither wanted to give up the
throne, neither wanted to step down. Some of the provinces sided with Talend,
others with Gav. Certain battalions in the army swore allegiance to Talend,
others to Gav. The two young men met, but only to stare at each other coldly
and to promise war instead of peace, and war was fast approaching. Two
opposing armies were built up, consisting of weapons, money, horses and
elephants, very important in Persia, for they carried on their backs a
wickerwork turret from which the archers fired arrows at the enemy. Gav’s army
began to march against Talend’s. All Persia held its breath,awaiting the battle
that was to decide its fate.
The battle was fought. both armies had the same number of foot soldiers,
standard bearers and elephants. It was a terrible massacre. Neither of the
brothers wanted the other to die. In spite of everything, the brothers felt the
call of the family tie. Indeed, each had given an order that, if the soldiers
found they were about to kill the enemy leader, they were to stop and warn him
instead by shouting,
“Watch out, King!” The conflict lasted for a long time, until Gav’s troops
were overcome and Talend found himself with only a few soldiers to defend him.
Then, a little later, quite alone, he found himself surrounded on all sides by
Gav’s turreted elephants, slowly advancing on him. No arrows were fired on the
prince, he turned his way and that, searching for a way to escape, but his
heart failed at that moment and he fell dead to the ground.
High in the palace tower, the Queen had watched the battle with sorrow in
her heart, knowing full well that she was, at that moment, losing one of her
sons. But which one? It didn’t matter. She loved them both equally. When she
saw that the dust had settled on the distant plain and the cries of battle had
died away, the Queen came down from the tower and rushed through the palace to
meet those returning from the field. She stopped in her tracks. Her son Gav,
his clothes in tatters and slashed with blood, staggered sadly towards her.
“Talend?” stammered the Queen. Gav shook his head,
“Oh, mother,” he said, “my brother Talend is dead.”
“Dead! Did you kill him?”
“Oh, no, mother!” exclaimed Gav. “I would never have done such a thing.”
“But you ordered his death!” exclaimed the Queen. The young man then knelt
before her and, taking the hem of her dress in his hand, said,
“Mother, I swear nobody was responsible for my brother’s death. He died, but
not violently.”
“I shall never believe that is the truth,” wept the Queen. But Gav said,
“I shal prove that it is.” He then thought of a way to show his mother how
the battle had been fought. First of all, he asked a carpenter to make him a
board, as flat as the plain. Then to mark the positions and manoeuvres of the
two armies, the board was divided into white and black squares. A wood carver
made him a minature army of foot soldiers, a king, standard bearers, knights
and towers, to take the place of the elephants and their turrets. When
everything was ready, Gav called the Queen and, moving one piece at a time,
acted out the various stages of battle.
“You see, mother, my foot soldiers advanced like this, so Talend manoeuvred
his like that. Each time my brother was about to be killed, I had the men cry
out `watch out, King,’ so that he could reach safety,” said Gav.
“In the end, though, my Talend was no longer safe,” murmured the Queen. Gav
sadly replied,
“That’s true. He was surrounded. But I would never have had him killed,
mother. It was his heart that gave out. My brother realised he had lost, and so
he died.” The Queen then said,
“I understand, son, and I forgive you. I feel you’ll be a good king for our
country. But I wonder why, in a battle between two kings, one must win and the
other lose…”
The poor Queen kept asking herself the same question for a very long time.
She would sit all day long beside the little battlefield moving the pieces,
foot soldiers, standard bearers and towers, always trying to save the King. In
the end, she understood that, as in make-believe, so it is in real life, when
there is a fight to the last, one of the opponents must fall, just as her son
Talend had fallen.
One day, they found the poor Queen dead on what was, by then, known as the
chessboard. That is how chess originated. Nowadays it is a peaceful contest
that recalls a real-life battle. Today it is fun, but then it caused a poor
mother who saw her sons fight against each other, sadness and suffering…

0

One Solar System? What Good Is That? By John M. Ford

ONE SOLAR SYSTEM? WHAT GOOD IS THAT? by John M. Ford

(This article originally appeared in ROLEPLAYER #11.)

John Ford wrote this as commentary/contribution for GURPS Space – but

unfortunately, as we fought to get the final manuscript down to “only” 128

pages, it didn’t make it. So here it is . . . some comments and suggestions

for the GM who wants a science-fiction campaign set in a single solar system.

* * * * *

Space opera usually spans vast interstellar distances, with dozens or

hundreds of inhabited worlds. But it doesn’t have to. The exploration of one

solar system – ours, or another reached by colony ships – is material enough

for centuries of epic adventure.

The one-system background is excellent if the GM and players prefer a

“hard science” story. FTL travel is not needed; if the system is not

Earth’s, it was reached the hard way, by a generation ship, or perhaps by a

ship traveling so close to light speed that only a short time passed aboard.

Or perhaps FTL exists, but is so expensive that it can only be used to send

colonists on one-way trips. Or stargates go only one way. Or the colonists are

exiles and can’t go home.

The whole campaign can be set at the top end of Tech Level 7. Still, with

developments of present-day science technolgy, this could include better hand

weapons, clean fusion plants, a “beanstalk” space elevator from planetary

surface to orbit. In particular, this campaign needs breakthroughs in space

propulsion. To go somewhere, you must still accelerate a reaction mass and

throw out the back of the ship. The mass may be bulky and cheap – water

flashed to steam by a nuclear reactor – or dense and expensive – heavy metals.

The result is the same: the faster you want to get where you’re going, the

more of the ship’s mass is taken up with fuel.

The cheapest, slowest way to get around in-system is along a Hohmann

transfer orbit, an ellipse with foci at the origin and destination worlds.

Hohmann data for the Solar System is available in reference books, including

the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, or “Rubber Bible.”

Notice we said “slow.” A one-way Hohmann trip from Earth orbit to Mars

orbit takes about 260 days – and the launch window for a trip this short

occurs only once every two years. To travel any faster, or at another time,

requires a lot more energy. If the characters aren’t to spend most of their

lives either on one world or in transit (not that that would be a bad idea),

you may want to allow the “torchship,” with a highly efficient system that

produces 1-G thrust for as long as necessary. 1-G thrust is wonderfully fast;

with a mid-course turnover (accelerating halfway, decelerating halfway; it

feels just the same aboard ship) you can get from Earth to Mars in less than

four days. But this requires power and materials we don’t (yet) have, or any

useful idea how to make, so it’s TL8 at a minimum.

Instead of a star map, the one-system campaign uses an orrery – a set of

orbital tracks with markers to show the planet’s locations. Move the planets

at intervals appropriate to their year; Earth might move every 10 days,

Jupiter every year or so. Planetary motions can also be programmed on a home

computer, with any level of precision you choose. (One advantage to using the

real Solar System is the huge amount of very precise data available,

especially for the inner planets.)

One common SF theme is “mining the asteroid belt.” This is usually

compared to the California gold rush, with lots of lone-wolf miners in their

one- or two-person ships, wandering through a cloud of space rocks, staking,

digging and jumping claims. Unfortunately, the reality is very different. The

asteroids are at least half a million miles apart, invisible from one another.

And once you get there, most of them are just rock, and most of the rest are

just iron. If civilization needs a lot of asteroidal iron, the cheap way to

get it will be to send one mission to find a big lump, and set up a mass

driver to bring it slowly home.

If you still want a Belt civilization, you could set up a system with a

much denser asteroid belt, or just “salt the mine” with something widely

scattered (justifying all those little missions) but very valuable. Metals

like iridium, for instance, are much more common in space material than in

Earth’s crust. Larry Niven posited that “magnetic monopoles” might be the

remnants of an inhabited planet, with alien artifacts scattered through it.

(Incidentally, our own Belt is almost certainly not a shattered world; there’s

not enough matter there. Sometimes science is a real spoilsport.)

Given all these restrictions, what sort of adventures can you have in one

system? The same sort that real explorers and settlers have always had: The

excitement of trying to survive in a strange new environment, making society

and government work under new circumstances, and every now and then finding

something that no one ever saw before. That’s at least as exciting as

slaughtering aliens with particle beams.

Quit, List, or number to read :

0

Fusion Principles (1994)

“In thermonuclear weapons, radiation from a fission explosive can be contained
and used to transfer energy to compress and ignite a physically separate
component containing thermonuclear fuel.”

The 3 basic concepts of thermonuclear devices,
U.S. DOE, Sept 1980, Duane Sewell,
Assistant Secretary of Energy for Defense,
Official Declassification Act.

FUSION PRINCIPLES

Under solar conditions (high temps of about 100 millions degrees C, 1 milion
megabars pressure), H atoms fuse into He. Three isotopes of H exist:

H1 (P) protium
H2 (D) deuterium
H3 (T) tritium.

Protium reacts too slowly even in the sun so deuterium and tritium are used.
Under solar conditions, the H atoms gain enough kinetic enery to overcome
the electrostatic repulsion of their positive charges. The electrons which
are normally found surrounding H nuclei have already been ionised. You have
a plasma of positive nuclei. He is formed in a H-H reaction, releasing energy.

Sources of D and T

Heavy water (D2O) is present at 1 part in 6700 in normal tap water. You can
separate the heavy water, and then obtain deuterium gas. D2 gas
is obtained via electrolysis.

Tritium is radioactive, and is obtained via bombardment of Li6 with thermal
(slow) neutrons. It beta decays like: T -> He3 + e

T fuses with D at a temperature an order of mag lower than for D-D fusion,
hence its usefulness in a weapon.

Lithium

The lightest of metals, only 1/2 as dense as water. Found combined with
other elements in igneous rocks and mineral spring water. Li7 is separated
electrolytically from Li7Cl. Has several isotopes: Li5 to Li9. Li6 and Li7
are used in weapons, and are naturally occuring. Li5, Li8, and Li9 are
man-made radioisotopes.

Li6 is present as 7.5% of all naturally occuring Li. Separation methods
include electrolysis, distillation, chemical exchange, or EM methods. Li
bonds with H to form the solid Li6D.

Back to the Story

Since the mass of the resultant He is less than the mass of the separate H,
the excess energy is converted into radiation and kinetic energy of neutrons.
The energy of these fast neutrons is high enough to split normal U-238. Slow
neutrons only transmute U-238 into Np-239 (which then beta decays into
Pu-239).

One cubic metre of gaseous deuterium, when fused into helium, yields the
equivalent of about 10 megatons of TNT.

Deuterium and tritium are gases at room temperature, so their storage in a
weapon would be cumbersome. Instead, a substance called lithium deuteride
(Li6D or Li7D) is used. This material has the property of being a whitish,
slightly-blue powdery light salt-solid (which is extremely hygroscopic) at
room temperature. It is made by heating metal lithium in a vessel, into
which deuterium gas is injected. It is then pressed and shaped into a
ceramic.

When a neutron is absorbed by a LiD molecule, the molecule breaks up into
a He, H3, and a deuterium. The D can then reacts with the T in fusion. This
releases enormous amounts of energy, much greater than you would get in
a fission reaction. The end products include a free n, and a He. Schematically:

U-238 fission releases fast neutrons and heat (thermal kinetic energy of
neutrons).

Li6 + n -> He4 + T + 4.7 MeV

then

D + T -> He4 + n + 17.6 MeV.

n + U-238 -> neutrons + fission products + energy

These reactions occur in under 1/10-6 secs. Additional reactions are:

Li6 + D -> 2(He4) + 22.4 MeV

Li6 -> 2(He4) + n

Li6 + P -> He4 + He3 + 4.0 MeV

Li7 + P -> 2(He4) + 17.3 MeV

Li7 + D -> Li8 + P

Li7 + n -> He4 + T + n

D + Li7 -> Be8 + n + 15.1 MeV

D + D -> T + H + 4.0 MeV

D + D -> He3 + n + 3.25 MeV

D + D -> He4 + 23 MeV

T + T -> He4 + 2n + 12.2 MeV

He3 + D -> He4 + H + 18.3 MeV

D + n -> T

Beryllium is useful in the core of a fission mass since you can use it to
increase the neutron flux:

Be9 + n -> Be8 + 2n

Be9 + D -> Be8 + T + 4.53 MeV

For a thermonuclear reaction, you have to compress the Li6D solid to 15-30
times it’s original uncompressed density at RTP (15lbs/foot^3). Compression
is needed to:

(1) increase fusion *probability*. You pack the molecules closer together.
In the process, you pave the way to overcoming the electrostatic repulsion
of the H atoms in the Li6D.

(2) increase fusion *rate*, since you get quicker reactions when the reactants
are packed closely together than far apart. The *time* for a reaction is
inversely proportional to fuel density. Denser fuels mean shorter reaction
times, and hence more chance of a larger number of reactions. The *rate* of
reaction, on the other hand, is proportional to the square of the fuel density.
Increase the density by a factor of 30, and your rate increases by a factor
of 900.

Compression is a form of inertial confinement fusion (ICF). You are in effect
counteracting the explosive forces released in the fusion, by giving the
reactants an inwardly directed momentum. So the whole mass of fuel stays
together. It’s collapsing in on itself; at the same time it wants to tear
itself apart.

PS, 1994

0

Observation Of Cold Nuclear Fusion In Condensed Matter, By S. E. Jones, E. P. Palmer, J. B. Czirr, D. L. Decker, G. L. Jensen, J. M. Thorne, And S. F. Taylor (March 23, 1989)

OBSERVATION OF
COLD NUCLEAR FUSION IN CONDENSED MATTER

S. E. Jones, E. P. Palmer, J. B. Czirr, D. L. Decker, G. L. Jensen,
J. M. Thorne, and S. F. Taylor

Department of Physics and Chemistry
Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah 84602

and

J. Rafelski
Department of Physics
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721
March 23, 1989

Fusion of isotopic hydrogen nuclei is the principal means of producing
energy in the high-temperature interior of stars. In relatively cold
terrestrial conditions, the nuclei are clothed with electrons and
approach one another no closer than allowed by the molecular Coulomb
barrier. The rate of nuclear fusion in molecular hydrogen is then
governed by the quantum-mechanical tunneling through that barrier, or
equivalently, the probability of finding the two nuclei at zero
separation. In a deuterium molecule, where the equilibrium separation
between deuterons (d) is 0.74 A, the d-d fusion rate is exceedingly
slow, about 10E-70 per D molecule per second. [1]
2

By replacing the electron in a hydrogen molecular ion with a more
massive charged particle, the fusion rate is greatly increased. In
muon-catalyzed fusion, the internuclear separation is reduced by a
factor of approximately 200 (the muon to electron mass ratio), and the
nuclear fusion rate correspondingly increases by roughly eighty orders
of magnitude [1]. Muon-catalyzed fusion has been demonstrated to be
an effective means of rapidly inducing fusion reactions in low-
temperature hydrogen isotopic mixtures [2].

A hypothetical quasi-particle a few times as massive as the electron
would increase the cold fusion rate to readily measurable levels,
about 10E-20 fusions per d-d molecule per second [1]. Our results
imply that an equivalent distortion on the internuclear hydrogen
wavefunction can be realized under certain conditions when hydrogen
isotopic nuclei are loaded into metallic crystalline lattices and
other forms of condensed matter.

We have discovered a means of inducing nuclear fusion without the use
of either high temperatures or radioactive muons. We will present
direct experimental results as well as indirect geological evidence
for the occurrence of cold nuclear fusion.

DETECTION OF COLD FUSION NEUTRONS

We have observed deuteron-deuteron fusion at room temperature during
low-voltage electrolytic infusion of deuterons into metallic titanium
or palladium electrodes. The fusion reaction

3
d + d -> He (0.82 MeV) + n (2.45 MeV) (1a)

+
is evidently catalyzed as d and metal ions from the electrolyte are
deposited at (and into) the negative electrode. Neutrons having
approximately 2.5 MeV energy are clearly detected with a sensitive
neutron spectrometer. The experimental layout is portrayed in Figure
1. We have not yet obtained results regarding the parallel reaction

d + d -> p (3.02 MeV) + t (1.01 MeV) (1b)

as this requires different measuring procedures. However, it can be
presumed that the reaction (1b) occurs at a nearly equal rate as the
reaction (1a), which is usually the case.

The neutron spectrometer, developed at Brigham Young University over
the past few years [3], has been crucial to the identification of this
cold fusion process. The detector consists of a liquid organic
scintillator (BC-505) contained in a glass cylinder 12.5 cm in
diameter, in which three lithium-6-doped glass scintillator plates are
embedded. Neutrons deposit energy in the liquid scintillator via
collisions and the resulting light output yields energy information.
These, now low-energy neutrons are then scavenged by lithium-6 nuclei
6 4
in the glass plates where the reaction n + Li –> t + He results in
scintillations in the glass. Pulse shapes from the two media differ
so that distinct signals are registered by the two photomultiplier
tubes (whose signals are summed). A coincidence of signals from the
two media with 20 microseconds identifies the neutrons.

An energy calibration of the spectrometer was obtained using 2.9 and
3.2 MeV neutrons, generated via deuteron-deuteron interactions at 90
degrees and 0 degrees, respectively, with respect to the deuteron beam
from a Van de Graaf accelerator. The observed energy spectra show a
broad structure which implies that 2.45 MeV neutrons should appear in
the multi-channel analyzer spectrum in channels 45-150. Stability of
the detector system was checked between data runs by measuring the
counting rate for fission neutrons from a broad-spectrum californium-
252 source. We have performed other extensive tests proving that our
neutron counter does not respond in this pulse height range to other
sources of radiation such as thermal neutrons.

Background rates in the neutron counter are approximately 10E-3 1/s in
the energy region where 2.5 MeV neutrons are anticipated. By
comparing energy spectra from gamma and neutron sources we have
determined that nearly all of the background stems from accidental
coincidences of gamma-ray events. Improvements in the shielding and
gamma-ray rejection were pursued throughout the experiments, resulting
in significant reduction in background levels.

During the search for suitable catalytic materials, we developed the
following (unoptimized) prescription for the electrolytic cells. The
electrolyte is a mixture of 160 g deuterium oxide (D O) plus various
2

metal salts in 0.2 g amounts each: FeSO . 7H O, NiCl . 6H O,
4 2 2 2

PdCl , CaCO , Li SO . H O, NaSO . 10H O, CaH (PO ) . H O,
2 3 2 4 2 4 2 4 4 2 2

TiOSO . H SO . 8H O, and a very small amount of AuCN.
4 2 4 2

(Our evidence indicates the importance of co-deposition of deuterons
and metal ions at the negative electrode.) The pH is adjusted to
pH He + gamma (5.4 MeV) (4)

Deuterium was incorporated in the earth during its formation. The
current abundance in sea water is about 1.5x10E-4 deuterons per
proton. Water is carried down into the earth’s upper mantle at
converging plate margins, and seawater is transported as deep as the
Moho at spreading regions [7]. Estimates of water subduction suggest
that a water mass equal to the ocean mass is cycled through the mantle
in about 1-billion years [7]. Thus, 1.4x10E43 deuterons are cycled
through the mantle in 3x10E16 s. Since each p-d fusion releases 5.4
MeV (8.6×10-13 J), we calculate that a heat flux of 750 mW/(m*m),
averaged over the earth, would result if all deuterium fused at the
rate at which it is supplied by subduction. This is more than ten
times the estimate of the actual flux of 60 mW/(m*m) [8]. Thus,
geological p-d fusion could possibly contribute to the observed heat
flux, the high temperatures of the earth’s core and provide an energy
source for plate tectonics.

The foregoing data allow a geological fusion rate lambda to be
f
calculated. We assume a first-order rate equation for p-d
fusion: dN = lambda N dt, or lambda = (dN/N)dt. The fraction (dN/N)
f f
is the ratio of the number of fusions which take place to the number
of atoms available. It is also the rate of fusion divided by the rate
of supply of deuterons; thus, dN/N is equal to the actual heat flux
from the earth divided by the possible heat flux so that

-1
lambda = (60/750)/3x10E16 s = 3x10E-18 s (5)
f

Consider next the possibility that the localized heat of volcanism at
subduction zones is supplied by fusion. As much as 10E6 J/kg is
required to turn rock into magma, and this must be supplied from a
local source of energy. Subducting rock contains about 3 percent
water [7], or 3x10E30 deuterons/kg. If the time available for melting
is equal to the time required for a plate to travel down a slant
distance of 700 km at a speed of 2.5 cm/year, about 10E15 s, the
inferred fusion rate is:

lambda = (10E6 J/kg)/(3x10E20 d/kg x 8.6E10-13 J/fusion x 10E15 s)
f
lambda = 4x10E-18 fusions/d/s (6)
f

This requires only about 0.3 percent of the available nuclear fuel.
The limit on the available heat is therefore the fusion rate constant,
rather than the scarcity of fuel.

While some of the earth’s heat must certainly derive from several
sources, “cold” geological nuclear fusion could account for steady-
3
state production of considerable heat and He in the earth’s interior.
3 4
High values of the He/ He ratio are found in the rocks, liquids, and
gases from volcanoes and other active tectonic regions [9].
3
Primordial He will be present from the formation of the earth [9],
but some may be generated by terrestrial nuclear fusion. The
discovery of cold nuclear fusion in the laboratory, with a rate
constant comparable to that derived from geologic thermal data,
supports our hypothesis.

Based on this new concept, we predict that some tritium should be
produced by d-d fusion in the earth (see equation 1). Since tritium
3
decays according to t -> He + beta with a 12-year half-life,
detection of tritium in volcanic emissions would imply cold-fusion
production of tritium. This is supported by the following
observations. A tritium monitoring station was operated at Mauna Loa
on Hawaii Island from August 1971 to the end of 1977. We have found
strong correlations between tritium detected at Mauna Loa and nearby
volcanic activity in this period of time. Figure 4 displays data
compiled by Ostlund for HT gas measured at the Mauna Loa station in
1972 [10]. Similar data taken at Miami, Florida, are provided for
comparison. A striking spike in the tritium level is clearly seen in
the February-March 1972 Mauna Loa data. Ostlund notes that these
significant tritium readings over a several-week period have not been
previously understood; in particular, the timing and shape of the peak
is inconsistent with hydrogen bomb tests in Russia five months earlier
[10]. However, this signal is coincident with a major eruption of the
Mauna Ulu volcano [11] 40 km to the southeast. Furthermore, winds in
March 1972 carried volcanic gases northwest, towards the Mauna Loa
station and on towards Honolulu 200 km away: “Trade winds [from the
northeast] were infrequent and the southerly flow that replaced them
occasionally blanketed the state with volcanic haze from an eruption
on Hawaii Island … High particulate matter measurements in Honolulu
confirmed the northward spread of haze from the Mauna Ulu Volcano
eruption on Hawaii Island.” [12]

This remarkable set of circumstances permits us to estimate the amount
of tritium released during the February-March 1972 eruption of Mauna
Ulu. Based on the distance to the Mauna Loa station and average 8 mph
winds [12], we estimate that on average 100 curies of tritium were
released per day for 30 days. An accidental release of this magnitude
of manmade tritium sustained for several weeks on a nearly
uninhabited island is highly unlikely. We conclude that this volcanic
eruption freed tritium produced by geological nuclear reactions.

Other HT data from the Mauna Loa station, such as the high reading in
the latter half of 1972, are also coincident with volcanic activity,
although a tritium-releasing bomb test also occurred in Russia in late
August. A major spike in the atmospheric HT observed near Hawaii in
Dec 1974 – June 1975 [10] coincides with another large volcanic
eruption on Hawaii Island, but the significance is again obscured by
H-bomb tests. Finally, no significant deviations in HT reading are
noted in 1976 or 1977 [10] when no volcanic activity is noted, except
for “gentle” activity at Kileau on September 17, 1977 [13].

OTHER EVIDENCES FOR COLD FUSION

Further evidence for cold nuclear fusion in condensed matter comes
3 4
from studies of He and He in diamonds and metals. Using laser-
slicing of diamonds, H. Craig (private communication) has measured the
4 3 4
absolute concentrations of both He and He. He was found to be
smoothly distributed through the crystal as if it were derived from
3
the environment. On the other hand, He was found to be concentrated
in spots implying in-situ formation. Cold piezonuclear p-d or d-d
fusion provides a plausible explanation for these data.

3
Concentration anomalies of He have also been reported in metal foils
3
[14]. The spotty concentrations of He suggest cold piezonuclear
3
fusion as the origin of the observed He. Note that electrolytic
refining of the metals in deuterium-bearing water could have provided
conditions for cold nuclear fusion. Among several possible
explanations, the authors [14] suggest an “analog” of muon catalysis.
We think they were close to the mark!

Cold nuclear fusion may be important in other celestial bodies besides
earth. Jupiter, for example, radiates about twice as much heat as it
receives from the sun [1]. It is interesting to consider whether cold
nuclear fusion in the core of Jupiter, which is probably metallic
hydrogen plus iron silicate, could account for its excess heat. Heat
is radiated at an approximate rate of 10E18 W, which could be produced
by p-d fusions occurring at a rate of 10E20(1/s) [1]. Assuming a
predominately hydrogen core of radius 4.6x10E9 cm, having a density
= 10 g/(cm*cm*cm) and a deuteron/proton ratio of roughly 10E-4, we
deduce a required p-d fusion rate of lambda = 10E-19
f
fusions/deuteron/second–in remarkable agreement with cold fusion
rates found in terrestrial conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

A new form of cold nuclear fusion has been observed during
electrolytic infusion of deuterons into metals. While the need for
off-equilibrium conditions is clearly implied by our data, techniques
other than electrochemical may also be successful. We have begun to
explore the use of ion implantation, and of elevated pressures and
temperatures mimicking geological conditions.

If deuteron-deuteron fusion can be catalyzed, then the d-t fusion
reaction is probably favored due to its much larger nuclear cross
section. Thus, while the fusion rates observed so far are small,
the discovery of cold nuclear fusion in condensed matter opens the
possibility at least of a new path to fusion energy.

We acknowledge valuable contributions of Douglas Bennion, David Mince,
Lawrence Rees, Howard Vanfleet and J. C. Wang of Brigham Young
University, and of Mike Danos, Fraser Goff, Berndt Muller, Albert
Nier, Gote Ostlund, and Clinton Van Siclen. We especially thank Alan
Anderson for advice on the data analysis and Harmon Craig for
continuing encouragement and for use of his data on diamonds before
their publication.

The research is supported by the Advanced Energy Projects Division of
the U.S. Department of Energy.

REFERENCES

1. Van Siclen, C. D. & Jones, S. E. “Journal of Physics G. Nucl.
Phys.” 12, 213-221 (1986).

2. Jones, S. E. “Nature” 321, 127-133 (1986); Rafelski, J. & Jones,
S. E. “Scientific American” 257, 84-89 (July 1987).

3. Jensen, G. L., Dixon, D. R., Bruening, K. & Czirr, J. B. “Nucl.
Inst. and Methods” 200, 406 (1984); and paper in preparation.

4. MCNP: Monte Carlo Neutron and Photon Transport Code, CCC-200.
Available from Radiation Shielding Information Center, Oak Ridge
National Laboratory (Version 3).

5. Bowman, R. C. Jr. in “Metal Hydrides” (ed. G. Bambakides) 109-144
(New York, Plenum, 1981).

6. Jones, S. E., et al. “Physical Review Letters” 51, 1757-1760
(1983).

7. Fyfe, W. S., Price, N. J., & Thompson, A. B. “Fluids in the
Earth’s Crust” (Elsevier, New York, 1978).

8. Chapman, D. S. & Pollack, H. N. “Earth and Planet Sci. Lett” 28,
23 (1975)

9. Craig, H., Lupton, J. E., Welhan, J. A., & Proveda, R. “Geophys.
Res. Lett.” 5, 897 (1978); Lupton, J. E., & Craig, H. “Science”
214, 13 (1981); Mamyrin, B. A. & Tolstikhin, L. N., “Helium
Isotopes in Nature (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1984).

10. Ostlund, H. G. & Mason, A. S. Atmospheric Tritium 1968-1984,
Tritium Laboratory Report No. 14, University of Miami, Miami,
Florida; Ostlund, H. G., private communication.

11. Bullard, F. M. “Volcanoes of the Earth”, 2nd ed., (Univ. Texas
Press, Austin, 1984).

12. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, “Climatological Data, Hawaii” 68, 29
(1972).

13. Smithsonian Institution, “Volcanoes of the World”, (Stroudsburg,
P. A., Hutchinson Ross Publishing Co., 1981).

14. Mamyrin, B. A., Khabarin L. V. & Yudenich, V. S. “Sov. Phys.
Dokl.” 23, 581 (1978).

0

FS417: Recycling Used Motor Oil In New Jersey, By Theodore B. Shelton, PhD. And Michael T. Olohan

FS417

RUTGERS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
NEW JERSEY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

Recycling Used Motor Oil In New Jersey

Theodore B. Shelton, PhD.
Extension Specialist in Water Resources Management
and
Michael T. Olohan
Public Information Coordinator
Navesink River Watershed Project

The Problem: A Wasted Resource

According to the United States Department of Energy, nearly two-thirds of all used motor oil generated in the United States comes from “do-it-yourselfers” who change their own oil. If improperly disposed of, these 350 million gallons of oil can do substantial, immediate, and long-term harm to humans and animals, streams, lakes, estuaries, vegetation, and the quality of our air and drinking water.

In New Jersey, the Association of Petroleum ReRefineries estimates that 19.5 million gallons of used oil are generated yearly. Of that, nine million gallons are generated by do-it-yourselfers. A study by the Service Stations of America found that do-it-yourselfers recycle only 14% of the waste oil they generate. Moreover, 62% of all petroleum-related pollution is estimated to be from used oil products.

However, recycling of this valuable resource via rerefining into once-again reusable motor oil offers a significant means of reducing pollution, may eventually lower demand for foreign reserves, conserves finite natural resources, and protects the environment.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of rerefiring capacity nationwide, nearly 80% of all used oil collected is reprocessed and burned as a fuel oil substitute and not rerefined. Nonetheless, the reuse of used motor oil is a vital component of any comprehensive recycling program.

State law requires that all used motor oil be recycled. Used motor oil is the largest single source of oil pollution in our harbors and our waterways.

What Makes Used Motor Oi

0

FS397: Slugs And Snails In The Vegetable Garden, By Gerald M. Ghidiu, Specialist In Vegetable Entomology

FS397
RUTGERS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
NEW JERSEY AGRICULMRAL EXPERIMENT STATION

Slugs and Snails in the Vegetable Garden

Gerald M. Ghidiu, Specialist in Vegetable Entomology

Damage:

Slugs and snails both feed on young, succulent plants and seedlings, particularly during wet or moist conditions, or in areas that have been well irrigated. Slugs and snails have rasping mouth parts, and damage plants by scraping plant tissue, leaving irregular-shaped holes in leaves, flowers, stems and fruit. During severe infestations, leaves may become shredded. Snails and slugs leave a clear or silvery slime trail on stones, walks, soil, plant foliage, and fruit, often seen before their damage is observed.

Description:

Several species of slugs can be found in the garden. The gray garden slug (the smallest) is dull gray with black spots, and 1 to 2 inches long. The spotted garden slug is grayish with black spots or faint black longitudinal bands on its back, reaching almost 4 inches in length.

Three species of snails are commonly found in
vegetable gardens: brown garden snail, European garden snail, and decollate snail. All are smaller than slugs, and the two garden snails have a rounded or globular spiral shell, while the decollate snail has a cone-shaped spiral shell.

Life History:

Slugs and snails are found in moist, shaded
locations, or areas that have many weeds or organic
trash. Most species overwinter in the egg stage,
hatching in early spring and feeding immediately.
most species live one season or less, and adults may
deposit eggs throughout the season.

Nonchemical Control:
1. Slug populations can be reduced by good garden
sanitation (foliage, trash, and weed removal) to improve air movement and ventilation and to reduce moist habitats. Fruit-laden plants, such as tomatoes, should be staked to keep fruit from contacting the ground.
2. Slugs are mainly a problem during a wet season or in the spring. Hand picking, especially at night or during early morning, is tedious but effective.
3. Since slugs and snails like to congregate in sheltered areas, place small, thick wooden boards on the soil surface of infested areas and check under them during the day to remove and destroy slugs.
4. Grapefruit skin can be placed in the garden upside down on the soil surface. Slugs are attracted to, and will congregate under them. Turn over and remove slugs each day.
5. Wood ashes can be sprinkled around plants to
discourage slugs and snails. A ridge of ashes, 1 inch high and 3 inches wide, is an effective barrier. Rain or irrigation impairs the performance of ash barriers.

6. “Snailproof,” a commercial product consisting of ground incense cedar sawmill byproducts, is effective as a ground covering.

7. Home remedies such as wine, vinegar, ground glass, sand barriers and ethyl alcohol traps are not effective and dangerous.
Chemical Control:

1. Poison baits, called molluscicides, are available for slug and snail control in home gardens. Ready-to-use baits containing metaldehyde (Buggeta, Deadline) and carbaryl (Sevin Bait) are available at garden supply centers, hardware stores, etc.

2. Pesticide sprays and dusts are generally ineffective, partially due to the protective layer of slime covering these pests.

3. Slugs are attracted to stale beer. Bury pie tins in the soil so the lip is just below the soil surface, then fill with beer. Remove drowned slugs from the pans each morning. Empty the beer and refill every 3 to 4 days.

*Information in this reference appears with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by RUTGERS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION IS IMPLIED.

750789
RUTGERS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
N.J. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
NEW BRUNSWICK

Distributed in cooperation with U.S. Department of Agriculture in furtherence of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. Cooperative Extension work in
agriculture, home economics, and 4-H. John L. Gerwig, Director of Extension. Rutgers Cooperative Extension provides information and educational services to all people without regard to sex, race, color, national origin, or handicap. Rutgers Cooperative Extension is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
��

0

A Large Selection/Choice List Of Must-See Paris Things

::Title: Paris compilation
::Compiled by: Mark Nowak
::Filename: europe/fr.paris-misc
::Date: 1993 January
::Type: Compilation
::Note: Volunteer needed to edit/organize this file!
::
This and other rec.travel guides are available by anonymous ftp from
ccu.umanitoba.ca in the directory /pub/rec-travel.

For information about the rec.travel archive project, please contact
Brian Lucas .

Please do not send me additions to this file. I do not have time to
keep it up to date. Volunteers are needed to maintain/organize this
and other files in the rec.travel archive.

========================================================================

From markn@comm.mot.com Wed Jan 13 10:34:32 1993
Return-Path:
Received: from motgate.mot.com by ccu.UManitoba.CA
(4.1/25-eef) id AA04933; Wed, 13 Jan 93 10:33:44 CST
Received: from pobox.mot.com ([129.188.137.100]) by motgate.mot.com with SMTP (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4/MOT-2.6 for )
id AA25059; Wed, 13 Jan 1993 10:33:13 -0600
Received: from comm.mot.com ([145.1.3.2]) by pobox.mot.com with SMTP (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4/MOT-2.6 for )
id AA00592; Wed, 13 Jan 1993 10:33:10 -0600
Received: from ssd.comm.mot.com (ssd-ether1.comm.mot.com) by comm.mot.com (4.1/SMI-4.0)
id AA13586; Wed, 13 Jan 93 10:36:16 CST
Received: from crater.ssd by ssd.comm.mot.com (4.1/SMI-4.0)
id AA21836; Wed, 13 Jan 93 10:37:11 CST
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 10:37:11 CST
From: markn@comm.mot.com (Mark Nowak)
Message-Id:
To: lucas@ccu.UManitoba.CA
Status: OR

From: llw@med.unc.edu (Laurie Weakley)
Subject: SUMMARY Paris Favorites (Long)
Date: 15 Apr 92 20:32:03 GMT
Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine

Hello,

As promised, here’s the summary to the responses
for my post about Paris Favorites. Thanks very much!

Original Post:

>>Date: Mon, 06 Apr 92 17:49
>>Hello,
>>I’ll be in Paris for 10 days in September.
>>I’m interested in your favorite Parisian experiences:
>>hotels, restaurants, sights, whatever.
>>What did you really enjoy about Paris?
>>Any restaurants you’d gladly return to? Any sights
>>you’d not miss for anything?
>>I promise to post a summary! I posted a similar
>>request for a trip last year, and the response was a big help.
>>Thank you,
>>LLW

>From @vm.gmd.de:RFLOOD@ESOC.BITNET Wed Apr 8 02:52:54 1992

Go to the metro station “Denfert-Rocherau” (not sure about the spelling
so check it – but it’s on the southern side of Paris.) Follow the sign
to the catacombs. Pay for a ticket, go down the stairs, and be prepared
for a *strange* experience. (Also lots of walking, and it can be a bit
muddy in places…).

Go on a river boat – surprisingly cheap for an hour’s trip. But watch for
the
little boys who stand on the bridges over the Seine and spit on you ! Boats
leave from near the Eiffel tower.

Go up the Montparnasse ‘skyscraper’ and have a coffee at the top. Don’t pay
right to the open air viewing gallary, go to the floor below where the
cafe
is
and sneak up to the top when the watchman’s not looking ! Much cheaper….

>From dlf@rti.rti.org Wed Apr 8 09:28:24 1992

In article you write:
>From LLW.HSL@mhs.unc.edu Mon Apr 6 17:58:44 1992
>
>I’m interested in your favorite Parisian experiences:
>hotels, restaurants, sights, whatever.
>
>What did you really enjoy about Paris?

Paris is my favorite place. We lived there in the early 70’s and I
have been back several times. My favorite thing is to just walk
around the streets. The parks, the museums, even the department
stores are all very interesting. Food is very expensive, but there
are lots of small cafes (especially on the left bank) where you can
get a reasonable meal – and you can buy bread, cheese, and sausage
and have a picnic for lunch. The best place I ever ate was at Tour
d’Argent – but we had to make a reservation from here (I had a
travel agent in Durham do it – they found someone who could speak
French).

There are also plenty of day-long excursions outside france –
reachable by train – mostly to castles. The countryside is
beautiful.

I’ll be happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

>From btr!btr.com!jbauman@fernwood.mpk.ca.us Wed Apr 8 10:38:41 1992
Don’t miss the Bateaux Mouches (the name for the Seine boat excursions).
Take it at night — or dusk).

The Paris catacombs are something else — skip the sewer trip for this one.

There’s a little known museum at Les Invalides. It contains scale models
of a hundred or so French cities made about 200 years ago. The French
army used them for strategic planning.

Have fun!

>From @aifh.edinburgh.ac.uk:kk@aisb.edinburgh.ac.uk Wed Apr 8 10:40:12 1992

In article you write:
>
>What did you really enjoy about Paris?
>Any restaurants you’d gladly return to? Any sights
>you’d not miss for anything?

The Picasso museum.
A trip to St Germain en Laye on the train with a picnic.
Fresh baguette.
Aimless wandering.

kathleen
———————————
Kathleen King (kk@uk.ac.ed.aisb)
Dept of AI, University of Edinburgh,
80 South Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1HN.

>From price@ab00.larc.nasa.gov Wed Apr 8 10:58:49 1992

Laurie –

We spent 3 days there (before a trip through the wine country) back in June
of ’85 and left totally frustrated because of all we missed. We therefore
returned to Paris for 10 days in November of the same year. That was much
better!

A few reccomendations:

Of course you will want to spend time in the Lourve and other museums. If
the

weather happens to be good at first, use that time to visit sights that are
dependant on good weather and save the museums for either bad weather days
or nearer the end of your stay if you are lucky enough to only have good
weather. I had a hard time convincing my wife that we really would get to
the Lourve, but it turned out to be good that we did wait.

It’s expensive, but a dinner at Restaurant Jules Verne, halfway up the
Eiffle Tower, was an unforgetable experience. The carpet, walls, ceiling,
all furniture, wine glass stems, place plates, bud vases, and single
rosebuds
on each table are ALL BLACK. There is a black long-arm-desk-type lamp
shining
down on each table, which had a very pale grey tablecloth. No other lights
were
in the room, and, of course, the outside walls were all glass. All you
could
see was the food on the table and the lights of Paris all around! It was
rather dramatic and the food was equally spectacular.

Other restaurants that we went to that were in the same class (food & $$)
were
the Carillion Hotel at Place de la Concorde, La Tour d’Argent overlooking
Notre Dame, Guy Savoy out past the Arch de Triumph, and one other I can
picture in my mind and know what I ate, but can’t remember the name. For
all
of these, we wrote ahead and asked the concierge at our hotel to book
reservations in advance. I asked her to space the reservations about every
other day during our stay and I didn’t care which one was on which day. I
also said NOT on the first day! She handled it perfectly. I highly
reccommend
Gault-Millieu as the best guide to the best restaurants in France.

For less-fancy and more affordable meals, Le Polidor, near le Sorbonne, is
a
historic, neighborhood bistro where the natives eat that was fascinating.
We
did not have a bad meal there – eating at many bistros – even at the corner
drugstore near our hotel!

Speaking of hotel, we stayed at the Madison Hotel, directly across the
street
from St. Germaine des Pres, on Blvd. St.Germaine, on the left bank. The
location was fabulous – right in the middle of the left bank activity and
easy walking distance from everything! There was also a metro stop at the
front door. Our room (both times – by request the 2nd time) was 81, which
was the “garret” overlooking the rooftops of Paris! It was great and cheap
at the time. They were rehabbing the place during our second visit and
that
is now complete, so it is more expensive. However, I read that it is still
a good buy. The dollar is not what it was then, so all prices are much
higher.

The obvious sights, I will assume you know about. Others we enjoyed were
the chapel that is inside the gates at the Police station near the city
hall.
Go only on a bright sunny morning. The windows are spectacular! The
Rhodin
(sp?) Museum was good. The Orangerie near the Lourve – Monet’s
Waterlillies
in two round rooms in the basement level are fantastic. Be sure to go to
the
top of Notre Dame if you can take a long spiral staircase.

Take comfortable walking shoes, you can walk just about everywhere. For
longer trips, get a week (or 10 day?) “orange card” pass for the metro. It
is fast, cheap, and easy.

I’m envious. Paris is my favorite city! Have a great trip!

Mac Price
price@abi0.larc.nasa.gov

>From matz@drutx.att.com Wed Apr 8 11:47:28 1992

Laurie,

I just returned from a week in Paris. I have some favorites –
The Rodin Museum – in the 7th – near Invalides – wonderful !!!

Restaurants –

I can get the exact names and addresses for you if you like – my documents
are at home – but:

1) In the Museum D’Orsay (modern Art) – don’t miss the restaurant
Palais D’Orsay on the upper floor – fantastic Belle Epoque decoration – I
mean
fantastic !!! They have a lunch buffet deal called the Formula Rapide for
69
francs that includes wine and desert a great way to break up the day there.

2) Les Philosophes – a drop-dead cute little restaurant with excellent food
in the 4th – a few blocks east of the Pompidou Center/Les Halles area. I
love
this restaurant – small semi-formal little room with pretty art on the wall
and good mood music, very attentive woman proprietor who speaks fine
English,
and fine, fine, fine food. We had wonderful spinach/mushroom/gruyere
salads,
full plates of perfectly cooked beef tenderloin slices with wine sauce,
vegetables, and a half liter of house wine for a total of 163 francs !!!!

3) Cafe Breteuil – on Place Breteuil in the 7th – (2 blocks from Metro
Duroc)
Wonderful lunch menu – a beautiful floor-to-ceiling windowed restaurant
looking out over a beautiful open area in an upper class neighborhood.
The menu is 165 francs per person – but includes a full bottle of excellent
Bordeaux (worth > 100 francs). We had the best escargot we’ve ever been
served
– large portion, salads, fine veal main course, fine desert and espresso
for the menu price – definitely a splurge lunch at $60 for two – but I wish
I could eat there every day.

4) Restaurant Thomieux – on St. Dominique in the 7th – great and very
economical
5) Poule au Pot – also in the 7th – I think on Universite – their specialty
is a chicken stew served in a heavy huge copper pot – the chicken breast
covers a wonerful piece of pate’ (wow – tasty !!!) about 200 FF for two
dinners

6) Willi’s Wine Bar – in the first near the Louvre/Palais Royal – really
neat
American hangout

Gosh – there are a million places – I love Paris !!!!

mail me if you want me to natter on and on.

Dave Matz

>From seb1@druhi.att.com Wed Apr 8 13:41:43 1992

I have only been to France once and I spent 6 days in Paris. I loved
it! It was one of the most wonderful cities I have ever visited. What
I liked best about Paris is walking around it. It’s not that big so
you can walk most places. And all the other spots you can get to with
the metro. Bring good walking shoes and walk, walk, walk.

My favorite museum was the Orsay, but I’m into Impressionist art. More
my speed than the Louvre, though the architecture of the Louvre is
very impressive. I was somewhat overwhelmed by all that old European art.

As far as restaurants, we didn’t eat in any bad ones. Two that I liked
a lot were L’Epi D’Or which is near the Palais Royale and the Bourse,
and Juveniles. L’Epi D’Or is a bistro sort of place and the food is
wonderful. It was the best meal we had in Paris. The atmosphere captured
Paris dining out (not the high-class kind) to a t. Juveniles is a wine
bar and the food there was very good. I had duck on a bed of greens and
it was the most delicious duck I’ve ever had. After eating in France, I
was thoroughly convinced that you could not get a bad meal there.

Sharon Badian
seb1@vader.att.com or seb1@druhi.att.com

>From pete@chomsky.sps.mot.com Thu Apr 9 10:45:01 1992

Laurie –

By far, my favorite restaurant (in the lower mid price range)
is “Le Cafe Du Commerce”. It is located at 51 Rue Du Commerce. It is
very easy to find, just take the metro line 8 heading for BALLARD and
get off at the COMMERCE stop. You will exit into a park. Just hang a
left on commerce and walk about 1 1/2 blocks.

A great place to just hang out is Luxembourg Park. For a fun
walk to the park, take the metro line 4 to the CITE stop. This will
put you on the island near Notre-Dame. Then walk up through the
Sorbonne (many students and cool shops) and in a few blocks you will
find yourself at one of the park’s entrances.

I love Paris — and try to spend 5-6 weeks a year there. Have
a great trip!

Pete Percosan
Motorola DSP group
pete@chomsky.sps.mot.com

>From leafusa!zurich.HQ.Ileaf.COM!fal@uunet.UU.NET Thu Apr 9 13:02:06 1992

I go to Paris a lot and lived there 5 years. I have a file I give]
to friends who are going for the first time, but it is kind of long
(14 pages). It also has a compilation of restaurants and hotels from
people on rec.travel.

Let me know if you would like me to send you this document.

>From cag@hpescag.fc.hp.com Thu Apr 9 14:44:04 1992

>What did you really enjoy about Paris?
>Any restaurants you’d gladly return to? Any sights
>you’d not miss for anything?
>
My wife and I were there last September. Some of the highlights:

Au Trou Gascon: A one-star Michelin restaurant. Fairly cozy with very
nice service, not stuffy. Great food and a great wine list. It’s
expensive, but not for this class of restaurant in Paris. This was
my favorite meal of the vacation.

Au Pied Du Cochon: A really lively bistro in the 1er arrondissement.
You’ll probably stand in line to get in, but our waiter was friendly
and funny and the food was very good. Try the fruits de mer if you’re
brave.

Willi’s Wine Bar: Despite the yuppie/nouveau riche American crowd, this
was a great place. The food is good and there are great wine selections
by the glass and bottle. The staff is pretty down to earth. Not cheap,
though.

The view from Sacre Coeur: Not to mention the climb up to the top
through narrow spiral staircases.

The Musee D’Orsay: To me it was much more interesting than the Louvre,
mostly because it’s easier for me to appreciate 19th century art than
earlier painting. However, the Louvre is certainly worth seeing for the
“big name” stuff.

The Hameau at Versailles: Sort of a monument to how out of touch royalty
can be. It’s really pretty.

We were a bit underwhelmed by the parks in Paris. They tend to have sand/
gravel in most of the walking areas, and very little grass in general. It
ended up being fairly dusty and not nearly as pretty as some of the parks
in London. I should add that we didn’t go to lots of the more famous parks

like the Bois de Boulogne, Jardins de Luxembourg, etc. They may be more
impressive.

I’d recommend buying Patricia Wells’ Food Lover’s Guide to Paris. It’s
a great book and we did well with her recommendations. Get a good map with
a street index, too. We lived by the Metro – it’s easy to use, reasonably
safe and clean, and you get around very quickly.

Craig

>From tw1u+@andrew.cmu.edu Fri Apr 10 18:26:13 1992

Hi, here’s what I sent someone else on the net a few weeks ago. It’s a
bit long.

I lived in Paris for 2 years, and returned just this late summer.

Do I have favorite places to recommend?– gobs! a couple good friends
just went there to see a relative in the Olympics– too bad I didn’t
save my notes to them…

I worked there, so the places I went to will be a little more expensive
than you might be willing to pay as a traveller. But I think they give
a fairly good taste of Parisien eating. I also have no idea how long
you’ll be staying, so don’t be overwhelmed by what follows if you’re
spending only a weekend there.

For lunch (and dinner)…
There’s Le (or la?) Taverne de L’arbre sec, in the 1st arrondissement.
You take the metro to Louvre (and NOT Palais-Royale) on line 1, and
you’ll be a block away. It’s located at the corner of rue st honore and
rue de l’arbre sec. It is where Roxane is to have proclaimed her love
for Christian to Cyrano, in Cyrano de Bergerac. The owner is Bernard
Blanc– you can tell him I recommended him, should you go. His father
runs the bar, has big big bushy eyebrows. He used to offer a lunch for
75FF (salad, main course, dessert– the best was their creme cafe).
They might be closed on Sun/Mon. This is near the Louvre, Les Halles,
right in the center of town.

Nearby, for good views is going to the top floor (11th?) of the dept
store St Maritaine (the way up to the ‘vue panoramique’ is well marked).
In fact there’s a cafe/rest on top but bound to be touristy and tres
expensive. My other favorite spot around here is Pont Des Arts– you’ll
recgonise it because it’s a foot bridge that looks like it’s ready to
fall apart, directly between the Louvre and what was the Ecole de Beaux
Arts I think (big dome). It’s a neat bridge with artists and a few
musicians.

Another decent lunch place is calle Aux Gamins de Paris, in the Marais,
on rue vieile du temple– perhaps near where rue de rosiers is– on the
left side of vieile du temple if you’re walking away from the Seine
(North). This is a nice little wine bar/resto with a fairly non-tourist
international crowd (it’s where hip Americans and hipper French hang
out). This whole area is great, esp the architecture and in particular
–I don’t know what you call them– they’re pieces build on corners,
like turrets. The Marais (‘swamp’) is where the bourgeois used to live
(like Roxane), in ‘hotels’, and now is populated by Jews and fashionable
Parisians. If you read Eco’s “Foucault’s Pendulum,” the street names
here refer to the strange orders of knights he talked about in the book.
It’s hip and alive on Sundays when the rest of Catholic France is
spending it in the countryside or in parks. Be sure to go to Goldberg’s
Cafe for some Eastern European food. My favorite was a falafel shop not
far away– I don’t recall the street. It’s a small area and i’d suggest
walking east through it from Centre Pompidou to PLace de Voges (Victor
Hugo’s house nearby and neat street musicans), and eventually onward to
Bastille, another really neat up-and-coming district. Back at the
Centre Pompidou (be sure to go up for other great views) is La Dame
Tartin, if I recall. A really reasonably priced place that specialises
in open face sandwiches. It’s a bit touristy but also appeals to many
locals, and of all the places I went to I always ran into to people I
knew there. It’s right next to the fountain with all the wierd
sculptures in it, not far from some church (St Merri, or something).

Another cheap thrill is of course Sacre Coeur, where you’ll find other
tourists looking at the view. We once went to a rest. nearby, called Le
Tartempion or something like that– but that was many years ago and it’s
probably gone tourist. Be sure to walk around the hill behind the
basilica because there are lots of nice views from there. In that
general area (the 18th) is a large black African population– on the
street corners you’ll see great big african women beautifully swathed in
colorful batiks (sold in nearby stores– boy I’m really beginning to
sound like a travel guide) selling fried corn on the cob. If you wander
into one of the small unmarked pharmacies specialising in nothing but
African herbal medicines, be sure to try to listen to what their
speaking. On the northern edges of this area is the great flea market
with lots of neat things to see. Watch out of pickpockets.

For a distant view OF Sacre Coeur, go behind the big clocks (where cafes
are) in Musee d’orsay.

Another good view is from the top of Notre Dame. The entrance (have to
pay) is on the left side, facing the cathedral. Note that you can go to
the very top of one of the towers. Also (I never made it here) is going
to the top of the dome of the Pantheon, in the 5th.

If you’re looking to spoil yourself I’ve 3 recommendations for dinner,
in order of price. One is L’Enfance de Lard– maybe 100-150FF/person,
located on rue de guisard. Hard to find, in the 6th. Probably the best
way is to get off at metro St sulpice, walk north toward the edge of the
square, where the storefront for YSL is. Walk into one of the small
streets leading out of the square, with the YSL shopp on your right.
Take the first right, and the rest. will be on your right. If you like
escargot, they have a very nice escargot en profiterole (or something
like that)– escargot in a pastry drenched in (yep!) butter (but this is
koay as long as you drink red wine). This place was recommended to me
by a friend who thinks of nothing but food (as most French seem to do).
You’ll notice this whole area is very student-ish with lots of nice
boutiques and sometimes touristy. But on warm summer nights it’s
definitely festive.

The second restuarant is Chez Julian, in the 10th, at 9 rue Faubourg St
Denis. Take line 4 and get off at Strasbourg St Denis. Walk west then
north to go through the Porte de St denis, and NOT porte de St martin.
(You will exit from the metro south of the portes) They look like mini
versions of the Arc de Triomphe. Going through Porte de St Denis you’ll
be on rue Faubourg St Denis, and after a bit the rest will be on your
right. It’s a neat bustling brightly lit place decorated in the belle
epoque style of art deco. A friend of mine spotted Madonna here. After
11pm, they have a special 4 course meal for 90FF. Waiters are NOT surly
but efficient. You usu have to wait. But there’s a small bar there and
in the past they’ve been known to offer free kirs (white wine mixed with
a fruity liquer). In general this is an interesting area with a strong
N. African influence. It looks a bit seedy, but like most of Paris,
it’s safer than any American equivalent.

Lastly, my all time favorite is– I never knew the name– we called it
chez Patrick, right next to La Taverne de l’arbre sec. It’s on rue de
l’arbre sec, no. 64 maybe, 2 doors before La Taverne going toward rue st
honore (you can ask Bernard). It’s closed Mon and Sun I think. This is
a tiny place (intime) so you ought to make reservations– you can do
that earlier in the day. Patrick and his water and bartender are all
really nice. It’s expensive– maybe 250-300FF/person for a full meal
including several bottles of wine. But it’s really good and definitely
not a ripoff. Tell Patrick that a friend of Jennifer’s recommended him
to you, if you go.

Note that most places in Paris will have a menu located outside so you
can check without getting seated first.

A street to visit that has a market everyday is rue de mouffetard (I
understand there are youth hostels here too). Artsy, with bookshops and
little papershops, it winds down (south) from metro Cardinal Lemoine to
a church, st Mediard where on sunday pm (usu 4pm) they have free
classical music concerts. In fact on sundays all over paris there are
free music concerts in churches and the way to find out about them is to
buy a Pariscope (3FF) at any kiosk on the Thrus preceding the weekend.
It’s a way to visit the city. Another fun and cheap thing to do is to
take the metro line 6, say from metro stops Italie, or Montparnasse,
toward the eiffel tower. Because in the portion to the line that
approaches then crosses the Seine the train is elevated and you get a
really neat view in crossing (you’ll have to see a map to see what I
mean).

There’s always the bateaux mouches for about 50 FF or maybe less you go
a on a tour of the river.

Whelp, I just notived your other posts, so it looks like you’ll be
backpacking it, ergo perhaps on a limited budget. So perhaps some of
these places will be a bit really expensive. I think you can always try
to look under 25, as most backpackers are. They don’t always card. And
you cvan act dumb. On e thing you should bring is any (current or past)
studnet ID. That usu wokrs.

About taking a night train from London to Paris, I had a friend who ran
into trouble because of a strike (welcome to France!– in fact once I
was ‘stranded’ in Venice with my sister because of a train strike and I
was supposed to go back to work soon- so we went to Florence- tough
choice huh?)

Well I hope you have a nice trip. I hope to get back there someday myself.

Good luck and bon voyage!!

Tse-Sung

>From laural@cbnewsl.att.com Mon Apr 13 11:37:01 1992

In article you write:
>From LLW.HSL@mhs.unc.edu Mon Apr 6 17:58:44 1992
>I’m interested in your favorite Parisian experiences:
>hotels, restaurants, sights, whatever.

Hotels:

Don’t stay at the Ceramic on Ave. Wagram. It’s got a great location,
a great price, and the shower was private, hot, and strong, but the
bed was terrible and the street was too noisy to allow good sleeping.

>What did you really enjoy about Paris?

Cafes. Cafes. Cafes. And the overall romantic atmosphere. I went
last August with a friend of mine from London that I’ve always had a crush
on, and the legendary atmosphere of Paris worked its magic . . .

We’d get up, decide what part of the city we wanted to start sight
seeing in, and take the Metro out there. Then we’d look for the first
likely looking cafe for breakfast. After a very long breakfast of
bread, tea, chocolate, croissant, or whatever, we’d do our sight seeing,
and then wander into another cafe for beer, wine, whatever. Just sitting
outside watching the world go by. Ahhhh. I’m going back in 3 weeks,
this time with a female friend — so I’ll get some shopping in!

>Any restaurants you’d gladly return to?

Yes. There is a chain called Hippopotamus, which has good food for good
prices. The best meal I had was at this place called the Drugstore (well,
whatever the French word for Drugstore is). It’s above a drugstore (a
rather chi chi one a that — they sold fancy perfumes and cosmetics). I
can’t remember where it is, though. Somewhere in the Latin Quartier I
think.

>Any sights
>you’d not miss for anything?

Before I went everyone said “don’t bother with Sacre Coeur”, but I
disagree vehemently. Also, don’t miss the stained glass in St. Chappelle.
But here’s a trick to avoid long lines: go down to the Concergerie (where
they imprisoned Marie Antionette before they guillotined her) and buy a
combined ticket for the Concergerie/St. Chappelle. No one goes to the
Concergerie it seems, so you won’t have to wait to get in. Then go over
to St. Chappelle and bypass the long ticket line to walk right into the
chapel.

I didn’t make it to the Louvre, but went to the Musee d’Orsay instead.
Incredibly sculpture on the ground floor. The Impressionists on the top.
Don’t miss it.

Laura

�

0

How To Succeed In Freelancing Without Being ‘trying’

HOW TO SUCCEED IN FREELANCING WITHOUT BEING “TRYING”
By Douglas Arnold, Executive Producer, Quantum Productions

It seems that everybody wants to be a freelancer today. The least amount of
film or video experience suddenly transforms a novice technician into a
freelancing professional anxious to take on any and every job.

As a producer and director, I’ve hired and fired my share of freelancers. I
often thought that if only someone would give these men and women some idea of
what the real world is like, they would be able to advance their careers with
fewer headaches — both for themselves and for the producers they work for
during a project.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of ideas, opinions or recemmendations,
but I think it is a good start. Freelancers, regardless of age or experience,
can benefit from some or all of these ideas presented. I welcome your comments
and hope other producers and directors will contact me with other ideas to
expand on this document. I will update it as often as I get new material.

You will find three subchapters entitled “How Much Do You Really Know You
Know?”, “The Business of Freelancing” and “Preparing for an Assignment.” It
takes about ten minutes to finish the entire article.

So, let’s begin at the beginning:

1. HOW MUCH DO YOU REALLY KNOW YOU KNOW?

O.K., you went to college and have a degree in communications/ speech/
journalism/ theatre/ etc. You know how (or should) to walk around a studio or
set and turn on some fancy equipment. You know the difference between 3/4″ and
1″, as well as how to point a camera at a subject. But how many assignments
have you really been on? How much tape have you edited or shot? I, as a
producer hiring experienced people, want to know your level of experience in
hours of tape shot, not numbers of cassettes!

Regretfully, there are more recent grads out there than jobs. Most experienced
producers can spot them in a New York second — age 21 to 24, full of
enthusiasm, a resume padded heavily with co-op assignments, charity activities
and some “hands-on” internships.

Most of these novices are looking for their first real break in commercial
production and they freelance to stay alive until a real 40-hour a week job
opens up. If they have a demo tape it is of their college extra-credit
assignment, usually of kids, animals or old people.

These are not criticisms, just observations. I’ve seen dozens – more than a
hundred – resumes of this type. The University of Missouri Journalism School
is about 100 miles from here and it turns out some of the best grads anywhere.
Most return home to St. Louis and eventually I get their resume. Most are
heavy on education, light on experience.

If you are a recent grad with limited professional (as in “I got paid money for
this job”) experience, don’t try to dazzle people with your resume. It will
show through immediately.

So you don’t have years, or even months, of experience. Producers will
consider young talent if they are mature, willing to following orders,
recognize their limited economic value and have an positive, hard-working
attitude.

Maturity is simple to define. Be on time. Be neatly and appropriately dressed
for your duties. This means a suit sometimes, and jeans sometimes. Being
mature is knowing when to do things. Know when to keep quiet and when to
speak. Most immature freelancers run at the mouth constantly; and in front of
clients this can be a problem to the producer.

Willingness to follow orders is vitally important. I was recently on a shoot
and my gaffer would not light the scene the way my director wanted it lit. The
gaffer was a professional — he told my director his opinion of how it should
be lit. This is not only fine, but I expect my professionals to make good
recommendations, even if it is not the way I originally planned.

He was polite and direct, no beating around the bush. My director listened to
the gaffer’s idea. I like this director a great deal; she knew the man had
lighting experience and respected his knowledge. However, when he was through
explaining his recommendation, she said it was a good idea but not appropriate
for the mood the script called for. The problem resulted when the gaffer
refused to set up the lights the way the director wanted them prepared. He
wanted to set them up his way and show her the effect.

Now my director was quite experienced and could mentally visualize most
lighting situations. She also knew that we were on a tight schedule — and
translate that into every additional hour meant hundreds of dollars spent by
the client.

The two went back and forth for about ten minutes before the diretor called me
and explained the situation. She was not authorized to fire the gaffer; I was.
I heard her side and asked the gaffer for his side. (A good producer mediates
everything and should always hear both sides before making a decision) I
respected his opinion but felt the director had a better understanding of the
overall “look” and “feel” of this production. Her lighting set up was to be
prepared immediately and the gaffer was informed that he would follow her
orders on this shoot without getting me involved again.

I told him that if was to work for me again, my directors were the final
authority on everything that occurs on a set. He understood, but more than 45
minutes were lost on a very busy day. And he knew that my directors were in
charge of all creative decisions before he took the job.

Creative recommendations are important. They should be expressed, but when
prima donna directors, scriptwriters, gaffers, shooters, and talent clash one
— and only one — person will ultimately be in charge. Know who that person
is and do what that person wants done.

Recognize that you have limited economic value to the producer. What does this
mean? Simply put, the producer is going to spend more of the client’s money on
experienced professionals than for young professionals still learning the
business. Most young people don’t understand the principle that you don’t get
paid for the amount of work you do, you get paid for how you do your work.
This relates to the saying “Work Smarter, Not Harder,” but for most apprentice
workers you must work smarter and harder.

A young production assistant stopped me during a shoot several years ago and
said he did not understand why he got only $90 a day for being a production
assistant (a.k.a. “go-fer”/grip/driver/etc.). He complained that he was
working his ass off doing grunt work when he knew more than the videographer
doing the shooting.

I reminded him that he was hired as a production assistant and that he knew he
was a P.A. when he signed on to the shoot. I didn’t need two shooters, I
needed a shooter and a P.A. and he was the P.A.

He did not like the fact the shooter was getting $150 a day for a lot less
“sweat work.”

Maybe he was a better shooter. Today, I know he is a better videographer. But
he was hired as a P.A. and he was paid P.A. wages. I make sure my crew knows
what they are to do and what they get paid before they work for me.

New grads are not going to get paid the same as experienced, older workers.
These workers usually know tricks of the trade, shortcuts and pitfalls to
avoid. Younger workers are expected to learn while they earn, but earn less.

Many producers won’t hire new grads at all. They don’t want to be bothered
with overly enthusiastic, under-experienced people on a set. I must confess,
if the client is going to hover over a shoot, I don’t want a novice doing
something foolish in front of my bread-and-butter. There are jobs where new
grads are welcome, and their are jobs where they are best avoided.

Now, the subject of working hard. Really, I mean working “harder”, usually
harder than anyone on the crew. I look for young people who are willing to do
any job, large/small, heavy/light, minor/major with the right attitude.

A person succeeds in life partially because of their attitude. I like
positive, upbeat people on my crews. I want my crew’s spirit to be high. This
sends a message to my clients that we are confident, capable and creative.

Hard workers surface in every profession. They go the extra mile, do the
little things, and follow up on every detail. It is hard to explain, but it is
easy to see when someone is a hard worker. Usually it is in contrast with
other workers who just aren’t putting 100 percent into their task. The hard
worker is obvious.

I remember a videographer who did not carry or move the camera equipment on the
set — that was left for P.A.s to do. He was a bit of a prima donna, but
outstanding creatively. He worked hard finding the right angles, the right
lighting, the right movement for each shot, but he rarely touched the camera.

When our day of shooting was over and we were breaking the set, he walked over
and picked up some trash that was blowing across the floor. He helped pitch in
loading our grip and offered to take one of our gaffers home, even though it
was out of his way. He had worked hard doing his job during the day, and after
the shoot continued to be a team player by offering to do more.

A producer looks for people with maturity, the ability to follow orders, a
solid grasp of their true economic value and the ability and willingness to
work hard.

2. THE BUSINESS OF FREELANCING

Many freelancers don’t know there is more to freelancing than just working.
Much more.

First, the IRS is interested in your work, or more appropriately, the fruits of
your labor. If you make more than $600 from any one job, the producer who
hired you is obligated to file a Form 1099 with the IRS. This lists all money
you earned on the freelance job along with your social security number and
address. Failure to report income could be hazardous to your freedom and
future.

Keep good records. Know who you worked for and when. Know precisely how much
you were paid and get be sure to invoice for jobs completed. Even if you were
paid in cash, you must keep good records.

Most producers today are faced with considerable liability burdens. Insurance
rates for production have gone up dramatically. If you are independently
insured as a freelancer you may be able to find more employment. This is
because your insurance reduces the cost normally paid by the producer to insure
crew and equipment on a shoot. Be sure to discuss this with your insurance
agent before telling a producer you are covered. It is vitally important that
you have special coverage for your liabilities when working — equipment
damage, injuries to you or other parties, etc. Having such insurance coverage
is a good idea anyway.

If you do not have special coverage you may be asked to sign a waiver of
liability. I get one from all of my freelancers who do not have insurance
coverage of their own. It simply states you will not hold the producer or
client liable for any accidents that occur during the production. It may also
state that the freelancer will be held responsible for any and all damage and
injuries that occur while he or she is operating or responsible for equipment
during the duration of a production.

I always get a signed letter of agreement from freelancers prior to an
assignment. This letter spells out the terms of payment, when and where the
work is to be accomplished, the duties and responsibilities of the freelancer
and other details (dress code, safety, travel, insurance, etc.) that may be
necessary. This way the producer and freelancer know precisely what is to be
expected during a job. The successful producer lives by the motto “NO
SURPRISES!”

So should the successful freelancer.

3. PREPARING FOR AN ASSIGNMENT

I can tell precisely how professional a freelancer is by his or her interest in
a project during the initial contact. Most of my most trusted freelancers are
eager to prepare for an assignment.

Doing one’s homework involves several things. For the production crew it means
reviewing the script and shoot list well in advance of the actual day of
shooting.

For the creative workers it is important to have some understanding of the
client — who they are, where they are from, what they do, who their customers
are, what their services or products are, and what their services and products
do.

I always have client literature available for my “eyeball” people – directors
and videographers. These people must be able to “see” the video production
from the very start. Of course, if I don’t write the script or produce the
project, my scriptwriters and producers work with such resources first.

Quite often there are previous films, videos or slide shows available that help
define the visual personality of a company or institution. These should be
reviewed before scripts or storyboards are prepared. Freelancers who can
identify such traits such as logoes, packaging identities or other visual
“corporate signatures” are very valuable to me and other producers.

It is also expected that the freelancer know the equipment that is going to be
used on the shoot. Often the producer packages a variety of rental equipment
from a variety of suppliers for a project. This means that all personnel who
will handle equipment should be familiar with the technology used.

I would rather have a freelancers say “I’ve never worked with a JVC 4900, but
I’ll get the book immediately,” than pretend he or she knows how to operate the
same. Handbooks, directories and guides should be made available prior to the
shoot so freelancers can familiarize themselves with the machines that will
capture the images desired.

Most rental houses will provide the original guides on cameras, recorders,
editors, etc. and these resources should be reviewed. Nothing will ruin your
reputation faster than messing up a shoot. If a director expects you to know
how to operate an “Iki” or any other type of equipment you better be ready to
shoot efficiently on the day of production.

Novices who tinker and fuss around a camera or recorder trying to get it to
work usually have limited careers as freelancers. Know thy equipment!

Freelancing can be a profitable and exciting way of making a living. I hope
these few ideas help you and others discover what producers and directors look
for and expect from freelancers.

A good friend has been a professional freelancer for more than 18 year in St.
Louis – which is known to be a tough market. He has shared some of his
experiences with me and and after more than 18 years his mother, to this day,
tells all of her friends that her son makes a living as a video “freeloader.” I
hope your freelancing prospers and grows.

Best wishes.
Douglas Arnold (76456,2630)
Executive Producer
Quantum Productions
Suite 320T
225 S. Meramec
St. Louis, MO 63105

0

Freud On Seuss By Josh LeBeau

Freud on Seuss
a book review by Josh LeBeau

(copied from the Koala, UCSD’s humour newspaper, which has no
copyright notices in it anywhere)

The Cat in the Hat
by Dr. Seuss, 61 pages. Beginner Books, $3.95

The Cat in the Hat is a hard-hitting novel of prose and poetry
in which the author re-examines the dynamic rhyming schemes and
bold imagery of some of his earlier works, most notably Green
Eggs and Ham, If I Ran the Zoo, and Why Can’t I Shower With
Mommy? In this novel, Theodore Geisel, writing under the
pseudonym Dr. Seuss, pays homage to the great Dr. Sigmund Freud
in a nightmarish fantasy of a renegade feline helping two young
children understand their own frustrated sexuality.

The story opens with two youngsters, a brother and a sister,
abandoned by their mother, staring mournfully through the
window of their single-family dwelling. In the foreground, a
large tree/phallic symbol dances wildly in the wind, taunting
the children and encouraging them to succumb to the sexual
yearnings they undoubtedly feel for each other. Even to the
most unlearned reader, the blatant references to the
incestuous relationship the two share set the tone for Seuss’
probing examination of the satisfaction of primitive needs.
The Cat proceeds to charm the wary youths into engaging in
what he so innocently refers to as “tricks.” At this point,
the fish, an obvious Christ figure who represents the
prevailing Christian morality, attempts to warn the children,
and thus, in effect, warns all of humanity of the dangers
associated with the unleashing of the primal urges. In
response to this, the cat proceeds to balance the aquatic
naysayer on the end of his umbrella, essentially saying,
“Down with morality; down with God!”

After poohpoohing the righteous rantings of the waterlogged
Christ figure, the Cat begins to juggle several icons of
Western culture, most notably two books, representing the Old
and New Testaments, and a saucer of lactic fluid, an ironic
reference to maternal loss the two children experienced when
their mother abandoned them “for the afternoon.” Our heroic
Id adds to this bold gesture a rake and a toy man, and thus
completes the Oedipal triangle.

Later in the novel, Seuss introduces the proverbial Pandora’s
box, a large red crate out of which the Id releases Thing One,
or Freud’s concept of Ego, the division of the psyche that
serves as the conscious mediator between the person and
reality, and Thing Two, the Superego which functions to reward
and punish through a system of moral attitudes, conscience,
and guilt. Referring to this box, the Cat says, “Now look at
this trick. Take a look!” In this, Dr. Seuss uses the
children as a brilliant metaphor for the reader, and asks the
reader to re-examine his own inner self.

The children, unable to control the Id, Ego, and Superego
allow these creatures to run free and mess up the house, or
more symbolically, control their lives. This rampage
continues until the fish, or Christ symbol, warns that the
mother is returning to reinstate the Oedipal triangle that
existed before her abandonment of the children. At this
point, Seuss introduces a many-armed cleaning device which
represents the psychoanalytic couch, which proceeds to put
the two youngsters’ lives back in order.

With powerful simplicity, clarity, and drama, Seuss reduces
Freud’s concepts on the dynamics of the human psyche to an
easily understood gesture. Dr. Seuss’ poetry and choice of
words is equally impressive.

��

0

Category: Other Nonsense & Spam

How To Beat Single Deck Blackjack Version 1.01 By Michael Hall (1991)

How To Beat Atlantic City Blackjack, By Michael Hall (1991)

Glossary Of High Energy Weapons Terms

Introduction To Playing A Highlander Role-Playing Game

UNESCO’s World Heritage List (The 10-12 Most Historic Sites)

The Cut-Up Method Of Brion Gysin

Hazardous Chemicals In Your Home: Proper Use And Disposal, By Theodore B. Shelton, Ph.D. And Michael T. Olohan

Some Suggestions For A Handyman

A Simplified Half-Board Game Using A Chinese Chess Set By Roleigh Martin (January 18, 1994)

The Quite And Dirty Guide To Japanese

Accommodations, Airplane Rides And More For Youth Groups

A Severe Strain On The Credulity (Reprint Of 1920 Editorial)

Collection Of Varied And Miscellaneous Abbreviations

The Truth About The German Language Becoming America’s Language

Feline Genetics, By R. Roger Breton And Nancy J. Creek

What Someone With Mineral Lore At 51% Knows

Additional Information About Gems

Collection Of Information About Various Gem Types

The Lore Of Gloranthan Gems And Near-Gems, By Martin R. Crim (1992)

Installing A Gable Vent For Your House

The Game Of Y, With Cool ASCII Illustration

The Game Of Chess

One Solar System? What Good Is That? By John M. Ford

Fusion Principles (1994)

Observation Of Cold Nuclear Fusion In Condensed Matter, By S. E. Jones, E. P. Palmer, J. B. Czirr, D. L. Decker, G. L. Jensen, J. M. Thorne, And S. F. Taylor (March 23, 1989)

FS417: Recycling Used Motor Oil In New Jersey, By Theodore B. Shelton, PhD. And Michael T. Olohan

FS397: Slugs And Snails In The Vegetable Garden, By Gerald M. Ghidiu, Specialist In Vegetable Entomology

A Large Selection/Choice List Of Must-See Paris Things

How To Succeed In Freelancing Without Being ‘trying’

Freud On Seuss By Josh LeBeau

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

18+ Content

Recent Posts

Recent Comments