4.1235 Qs: Alcuin Riddle; CD-I; Hermes; Addresses... (5/102)

Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Thu, 11 Apr 91 21:35:07 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 1235. Thursday, 11 Apr 1991.


(1) Date: Wednesday, 10 April 1991 2351-EST (40 lines)
From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS
Subject: A Riddle from Alcuin

(2) Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1991 09:00 EDT (30 lines)
From: RKENNER@Vax2.Concordia.CA
Subject: CD-I Interactive Video

(3) Date: Thu, 11 Apr 91 15:03 O (8 lines)
From: <GRAHAM@EGFRCUVX>
Subject: Address query

(4) Date: Thu, 11 Apr 91 09:42 CDT (16 lines)
From: crisp@engr.uark.edu (Crisp Group)
Subject: Hermes Project info wanted

(5) Date: Thu, 11 Apr 91 13:34:51 EST (8 lines)
From: GENE DAVIS <EWD100N@oduvm.cc.odu.edu>
Subject: request for help

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wednesday, 10 April 1991 2351-EST
From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS
Subject: A Riddle from Alcuin

My colleague, E. Ann Matter, recently published an
article on "Alcuin's Question-and-Answer Texts" in
Rivista di storia della filosofia 4 (1990) 645-656.
In the article, Ann mentions the following traditional riddle
that is reproduced by Alcuin in his _Pippini regalis
et nobilissimi iuvenes disputatio cum Albino scholastico_
(PL 101:975-980) -- "from a Pseudo-Symphosius collection
equally widely circulated in Frankland: this is a riddle
which appears without an answer in either the disputation
with Pippin or its original source":

A[lbinus]: I saw a man with eight in his hand,
from these eight he took away seven,
and six remained.
P[ippin]: Boys in school know that one!
A. Vidi hominem octo in manem tenentem,
et de octonis [subito] rapuit septem,
et remanserunt sex.
P. Pueris in scholis hoc sciunt. (PL 101:979A)

Does anyone know what the ancient schoolboys knew?
The best I can do on a quick attempt is to refer
to the first 8 numbers in Greek (ABGDEVZH),
each of which has an alphabetic value. By taking away
all the usually used letters, 7 in number, one is left
with the archaic digamma (coded above as V) = 6.
Thus "I saw a man with eight numbers in his hand,
from these eight he took away the seven letters, and
the number six remained."

Any better ideas? Ann has recently become networked
and can be reached as AMATTER@PENNSAS.upenn.edu,
but she has not joined the discussion group crowd yet.
So in a way you're being tested!

Bob Kraft, UPenn

(2) --------------------------------------------------------------36----
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1991 09:00 EDT
From: RKENNER@Vax2.Concordia.CA
Subject: CD-I Interactive Video

I have recently been asked to participate in an interactive
video project involving the use of CD-I, the new standard
from Phillips and Sony. I am used to doing interactive
video where a computer controls and uses a peripheral
videodisk player. Researching this Phillips system, it
seems to be all in one: computer and player together. It
seems to have the advantage of being able to mix text,
graphics, sound, and video all on the same compact disk.
What worries me is the need to use the native, built-in
computer. I am also worried that the specs seem to allow
for only about 10 video frames per second, which is not
exactly full featured video.
I have four questions that I hope someone out there can comment
on:
1) Is CD-I on its way to becoming a new standard, as claimed,
or is it going to be marginal, or a dead issue?
2) Can it show proper video sequences?
3) Are there software tools out there written for this CD-I
computer, which would allow an author to set up fancy database
retrieval type operations?
4) Can a CD-I unit still be hooked up as a peripheral controlled
by a remote computer?

Roger Kenner
Concordia University
RKENNER@VAX2.CONCORDIA.CA

(3) --------------------------------------------------------------10----
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 91 15:03 O
From: <GRAHAM@EGFRCUVX>
Subject: Address query

Anyone know an email address for Norman Zacour,
a medievalist in Toronto (I think at PIMS)?
Graham White
American University in Cairo

(4) --------------------------------------------------------------24----
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 91 09:42 CDT
From: crisp@engr.uark.edu (Crisp Group)
Subject: Hermes Project info wanted


Please post this query to HUMANIST.

A few days ago someone made reference to an internet legal database called
project Hermes. Can someone out there supply us with the ftp address, e-mail
address, and/or access codes to Hermes?

Please reply directly via e-mail to crisp@engr.uark.edu

Thanx.

cws@rcrisp.uark.edu

(5) --------------------------------------------------------------16----
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 91 13:34:51 EST
From: GENE DAVIS <EWD100N@oduvm.cc.odu.edu>
Subject: request for help


Please post on Humanist: A friend who has written several business
programs for use on a Commodore 64 has been unable to find a conversion
package to make them usable on an IBM-DOS system. Suggestions?