Fun_People Archive
28 Aug
WhiteBoardness - 8/28/96

Content-Type: text/plain
Mime-Version: 1.0 (NeXT Mail 3.3 v118.2)
From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 96 20:12:36 -0700
To: Fun_People
Subject: WhiteBoardness - 8/28/96

Excerpted-from: WhiteBoard News for Wednesday, August 28, 1996

"You're in charge, but don't touch the controls."

What U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid says her colleagues, both Russian males,
tell her each time they leave the Mir space station for a spacewalk.
==========

"We've had a lot of events lately.  The cleaning bills will kill you."

Kentucky Ku Klux Klan leader and grandmother Velma Seats, asked by a New
Yorker writer why she wasn't wearing her robe.
==========

Federal Way, Washington:

When his girlfriend threatened his life, his home and his dogs, he showed
no fear.

But when she threatened him with her impersonation of Lorena Bobbitt, that
made an impression.

According to police, the 37-year-old man got into an argument Monday with
his girlfriend of 10 years.

About noon, the 28-year-old woman threatened to kill him and break all the
windows.  He told police he didn't feel threatened and she left.

About 3:00 PM, she called and said, "If I can't get even with you, I'll kill
your dogs."  The man said she still didn't feel threatened.

About 7:00 PM, she came back to the house they shared, went to the kitchen
and got a large knife.

She threatened to cut him in a very private place "which made (him) fearful
and scared," a police report said.  The man fled the house.

The police were called but the man has refused to cooperate with the police
in prosecuting the woman.
==========

Helsinki, Finland:

Hundreds of online chess brains tried to unite, but Russian world champion
Anatoly Karpov made mincemeat of them in the first open chess game on the
Internet.

Yesterday's match went 65 moves and took 4.5 hours, with Karpov playing
black and consensus playing white.  White moves came from suggestions sent
in over the Internet, with the most frequently proposed move chosen by a
computer.

As many as 300 players submitted suggestions to the worldwide computer
network for the moves.  The game ended when White would have had to
sacrifice its queen to avoid an immediate checkmate threat.

"It was a good game," Karpov said.  "They were serious players."

Karpov played in a dimly lit hall at the Hotel Intercontinental in the
Finnish capital.  The game was reproduced on a large screen, computer
monitors and boards arranged on tables for chess buffs who paid $6.60 to
sit in the same room as Karpov.

At Karpov's request, organizers sped up the game by cutting the time limit
for each move from 10 minutes to seven.

© 1996 Peter Langston