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- November, the start of the holiday season. Sometimes I hate it; mostly I
- love it. I can relax in front of the computer while I watch football on TV
- and talk with my GEnie friends. The bread machine is busy turning out
- holiday treats, and cookies are baking in the oven.
-
- I anticipate with pleasure a three-generation holiday season. My mother
- tells stories of what it was like when cars were still a dream. My son
- listens eagerly and asks questions to prompt more stories. I enjoy a sense
- of tradition stretching back generations and forward into the future.
-
- The season begins for me with Thanksgiving. In many ways, it is my favorite
- of all the holidays. It's a time to relax, reflect, and be grateful for all
- of the good things in life.
-
- As we travel around GEnie this month, there are a variety of files to enrich
- your holiday season. Some are for reflection, some are for learning, some
- are just for fun. Enjoy! And may this holiday season be the best that you
- and yours have ever had.
-
-
- History: Slightly Twisted .............................................. ERT
- ───────────────────────── Page 405
- You're going to love this view of world history compiled from student
- bloopers. "The inhabitants of ancient Egypt were called mummies. They lived
- in the Sarah Dessert and traveled by Camelot. The climate of the Sarah is
- such that the inhabitants have to live elsewhere, so certain areas of the
- dessert are cultivated by irritation." That's the beginning. It gets better.
-
- File 1351 NEWHIST.DOC History of the world by students 10,752 bytes
-
-
- A Look Back: Hammurabi's Code ...................................... HISTORY
- ───────────────────────────── Page 541
- Hammurabi's Code of Laws dates from circa 1780 B.C. Many of today's laws can
- be traced directly to this codification. Generally speaking, modern laws
- aren't as clearly cast as were those of Hammurabi. Consider this one: "If a
- builder build a house for some one, and does not construct it properly, and
- the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall
- be put to death." Translated by L. W. King, it's fascinating reading!
-
- File 7454 HAMURABI.TXT Hammurabi's Code of Laws 63,872 bytes
-
-
- History: The First Thanksgiving Proclamation ............................ PF
- ──────────────────────────────────────────── Page 545
- "The Council has thought [it] meet to appoint and set apart the 29th day of
- this instant June, as a day of Solemn Thanksgiving...." Thus did the
- governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, declare the first
- Thanksgiving. While we think of the holiday as traditionally being in late
- November, the first Thanksgiving was really in June. For this Thanksgiving,
- you may want to read this short proclamation as you begin your festivities.
-
- File 2289 THANKGIV.TXT The First Thanksgiving Proclamation 3,072 bytes
-
-
- Football: 1994 NCAA Schedule ........................................ SPORTS
- ──────────────────────────── Page 215
- I'll admit it: Being in the high school band left me with an abiding
- fascination for football. When the holiday season arrives, I think football
- almost as much as I think about goodies from the kitchen. This complete list
- of all the 1994 NCAA football games is my constant companion when planning
- my TV viewing. I pop it into my word processor and search for my favorite
- teams. Is your favorite not on TV? Then follow their fortunes on the Sports
- RoundTable Bulletin Board.
-
- File 3838 NCAA94.ZIP 1994 NCAA Football Schedule 31,904 bytes
-
-
- Biography: Famous Chemists ....................................... CHEMISTRY
- ────────────────────────── Page 1876
- This file is a collection of biographies of 27 pioneering chemists including
- Seaborg, Priestly, Pauling, Lewis, Curie, Kekule, Chatelier, Bunsen, Boyle,
- Arrenhius, Avogadro, and many others. It makes good reading and a reference
- for students as well as those interested in learning about the lives of
- well-known scientists. If you're taking a chemistry class, the Chemistry
- RoundTable offers tutoring to help you pass those tests.
-
- File 192 CHEMBIOG.ZIP Biographies of 27 Chemists 171,392 bytes
-
-
- Hobbies: Identifying Stamps ......................................... STAMPS
- ─────────────────────────── Page 1520
- Everyone has old stamps tucked away in a closet or drawer somewhere, right?
- What better holiday activity than pulling them out and taking a look at
- them. But what does Acores, Alderney, or Guine-Bissau mean? This file is
- your Rosetta Stone for identifying the mysteries of those far away stamp
- issuers. It lists most of the keywords on stamps that can help you identify
- their country of origin. For more help, visit the friendly folks in the
- Stamps Collecting RoundTable.
-
- File 193 STAMP_ID.ZIP Help Identifying Stamps 15,572 bytes
-
-
- Future Planning: Social Security ....................................... PF
- ──────────────────────────────── Page 545
- If you live in the United States, chances are that much of your retirement
- income will come from Social Security. And chances are you don't know much
- about how Social Security operates and how your future income is determined.
- These two files will help you learn how Social Security works for you. The
- first explains how you earn Social Security credits. The second is the 1994
- Annual Report to Congress by the Social Security Administration.
-
- File 5357 PUB10072.TXT Social Security Credits 7,808 bytes
- File 5356 REPORT94.TXT SSA Annual Report to Congress (1994) 36,864 bytes
-
-
- Creativity: Sweet Thunder ............................................. MOTO
- ───────────────────────── Page 1155
- Every once in a while I plug a file from my RoundTable. I know most people
- go "Motorcycling? Not for me!" and pass right on. I hope you don't do it
- with this file, Sweet Thunder from the Dewdrop Thunderlizards Newsletter.
- It's one of the most creative newsletters I've seen on ANY subject. After
- all, how often do you find quotes from Yeats, Leonard Cohen, and Raquel
- Welch in the same issue? Take my word on this one and download it. You won't
- be sorry.
-
- File 975 LIZARD_1.GIF 51,456 bytes
-
-
- Space: The Spacecub .................................................. JERRY
- ─────────────────── Page 245
- How'd you like to build your own spaceship -- and fly it yourself? Even if
- you only dream of spaceflight, like me, take the time to download this file.
- The Spacecub is a manned, suborbital rocket meant to be built, operated and
- flown by individual hobbyists. This ZIP file contains text, GIF and Lotus
- 1-2-3 files with just about everything you need to know about the Spacecub.
-
- File 1223 INFOPACK.ZIP Spacecub Information Pack 72,192 bytes
-
-
- Space: Space Station Plans ......................................... SPACERT
- ────────────────────────── Page 460
- Why build an international space station? What benefits can be anticipated?
- Is it really true that every dollar spent will return two in direct and
- indirect benefits to the economy? Find the answers to these questions and
- more in this informative and enjoyable fact book produced by NASA.
-
- File 5580 SSFACT.TXT Why an International Space Station? 18,432 bytes
-
-
- Disaster: Preparing for the Unthinkable .......................... EMERGENCY
- ─────────────────────────────────────── Page 911
- I will never forget the look on the faces of my son and his two friends the
- Christmas night they told me they would have entered a burning house if
- they'd heard people inside. They pounded on the doors and then stood by
- hopelessly as the home was engulfed in flames. The family returned to
- disaster. If the family had this file on how to talk to your insurer,
- recovery from disaster might have been eased. Don't kid yourself; it can
- happen to you. Take a few minutes to prepare for the unthinkable by
- downloading this file.
-
- File 110 INSURE.TXT How to talk to your Insurer 11,776 bytes
-
-
- Holiday Eating: Christmas Goodies to Make and Give .................... FOOD
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────── Page 1150
- This is a collection of edible gifts you can make in your kitchen. There's
- everything from fruitcake and cookies to candy and jams. The recipes are in
- Meal Master format. That means they're easy for anyone to follow. Just
- reading through this file will make you drool and head to the kitchen to
- make this year's holiday gifts extra special. I think I'm going to make the
- English Toffee first. Then the Peanut Brittle Deluxe. Then...
-
- File 684 CHRISTMA.ZIP Christmas Recipes in Meal Master 8,704 bytes
-
-
- Holiday Health: Yoga Postures ....................................... NEWAGE
- ───────────────────────────── Page 1122
- After you've eaten some of those goodies you made in the kitchen, you might
- consider exercise to counter the caloric content of the holiday season. I
- hate exercise but I like yoga. I frankly didn't think it was possible to
- teach yoga postures in words only, but these two files do the best job of
- explaining the postures that I've ever seen -- and I've read quite a bit on
- the subject. These files were enough to inspire me to start greeting the sun
- once more. Try them; you might just discover yoga is for you, too.
-
- File 89 YOGAPOST.TXT 11 Yoga Postures 21,632 bytes
- File 151 YOGAPOS2.TXT 9 Yoga Postures 22,400 bytes
-
-
- Music: Come On, Let's Swing! ........................................ MUSIC
- ──────────────────────────── Page 135
- This is a MIDI file arrangement of "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful", just the kind
- of music to put on your computer to start a pleasant evening. Then, about
- halfway through the song, there's a definite change in tempo and tune. The
- artist, Scott R. Garrigus, calls it "Come On, All Ye Faithful!", a funk
- version of the original. I call it a lot of fun!
-
- File 4055 FAITHFUL.ZIP MIDI Christmas Gift for everyone! 16,768 bytes
-