214 lines
12 KiB
Standard ML
214 lines
12 KiB
Standard ML
..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..
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O O
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O How to Construct a High Voltage Jacob's Ladder O
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O by O
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O ..oooOO Count Zero OOooo.. O
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O O
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..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..oo..
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Greetings...I assume all of you have at one point seen the old Frankenstein
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movies where the lab is filled with an assortment of electronic gadgets, all
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of them sparking and hissing furiously...Well, if you remember, one of these
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consisted of a V-shaped piece of wire, where a spark would form at the base of
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the V and slowly crawl up the wires, expanding until it reached the top..where
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it would bow out and disappear while a new spark formed back at the base...
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Such a device is known as a Jacob's Ladder (from the Bible, I think, where this
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dude named Jacob has a vision of Angels climbing some celestial, firey ladder)
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and was designed especially for special effects use in Frankenstein movies...
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ANYWAY, such a device is SIMPLE to create, and the total cost is only about
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$50....but FIRST I want to explain the theory behind its operation (what's the
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use in building something if you have no CLUE why it works?!?). The term
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VOLTAGE refers to potential, or like water pressure (a decent analogy).......
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CURRENT refers to electrical flow, or like the volume of water flowing thru a
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pipe...a DIELECTRIC is something that resists the flow of electricity until a
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high enough VOLTAGE is created, sort of like fish clogging a pipe until the
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water pressure builds enough to BLAST the fish and rush thru (hehehe..mebbe I
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should have been a plumber)...OK...well, AIR is a DIELECTRIC...and when two
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points in space build up enough VOLTAGE between them, a spark jumps between
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them (like lightning)..AIR is a tough dielectic...it takes about 1 thousand
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volts to create a spark only 1 millimeter long!...BUT..just because you have
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a high voltage DOESN'T mean your CURRENT is large...remember rubbing your feet
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on rugs in the library then going up to the class dweeb and touching his arm?
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Remember that spark that jumped from your finger?..well, you built up a VOLTAGE
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of about 2 thousand volts (2 mm distance, usually)..but the CURRENT was very
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LOW...remember, HIGH VOLTAGE does not always mean HIGH CURRENT...
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High currents KILL....a car battery, with only about 12 Volts, packs some
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SERIOUS current...enough to kill you QUICKLY....while that spark from your
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finger packed HIGH VOLTAGE..but no killing current....remember the old maxim
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"Volts jolt, but mills (as in milliAmps) KILL" *
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*Unfortunately, when you get up to a Voltage in excess of 10 thou, it IS
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enough to kill you...several times over..
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BTW, Amps are the measure of current magnitude...
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Now, a Jacob's Ladder works by building up a Voltage of AT LEAST 10 thousand
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Volts at the base of the V...this initial spark will heat and ionize the air
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directly above it, REDUCING the BREAKDOWN Voltage (normally 1kV/1mm) of this
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air..........basically, it becomes easier for the spark to form in
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this heated, ionized air, and the spark CLIMBS up the ladder..while the spark
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gets LONGER AND LONGER (as a result of the reduced breakdown voltage).......
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This spark grows longer and climbs, hissing and writhing between the wires
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..... until it reaches the top of the V and bows out, extinguishing itself..
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after which another spark immediately forms back at the base.....got it? good.
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ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION....simple...ALL you need is a high voltage transformer..
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this transformer will BOOST the Voltage of your house current from 120V to
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10kV or higher...but, "Where can I get a high voltage transformer?"...simple..
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find a Neon sign manufacturer/seller and ask them if they have any OLD Neon
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sign transformers lying around...tell the dude you NEED an OLD one that has
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an output of AT LEAST 10 thousand Volts...the Current output doesn't matter..
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DO NOT buy a NEW Neon sign transformer...it will not work properly..new Neon
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signs typically use transformers of a low output Voltage, and the Voltage is
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later stepped up with an array of capacitors, etc....SO...if you're lucky,
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the guy will pull out this black, oily, rectangular thing (probably will look
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like a battery)...with 2 ceramic standoffs (those things you shoot with BB guns
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on top of power lines..)..these ceramic standoffs are the OUTPUT...look for 3
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bolts..they will be the INPUT...(and ground)...ASK THE GUY to TRY THE THING...
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make sure he tests it before you buy it...don't get ripped off...OK..now,
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you've got this thing...what do you do?...FIRST..clean it up a bit...if it is
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leaking oil a bit, seal any leaks...this oil inside is NECESSARY to dissipate
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heat...NOW...get TWO coat hangers....straighten them up...attach them to the
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ceramic standoffs like this...
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----- X - 4"- X
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| X X
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| X X
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12" X X
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| X X <------------------ coathangers
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-------- X X
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X X
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X X
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I I
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OOO OOO <------------ ceramic standoffs (OUTPUT)
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---------------
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| transformer |
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| |oooooooooooooooooooooE
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| | ^cord and plug to wall socket
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---------------
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The hangers at the base of the V should be about 0.5" apart...Bend the hangers
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with a pair of needle nose pliers...
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The CRITICAL thing here is the distance and angle of the coathangers....you
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will have to play with them to get them right...the distances given are
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approximations......when you get the distances right, the spark should
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climb all the way to the top..!
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OK..."How do I plug this sucker in?..is it safe for my house?..will I blow
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every fuse on the block?"...first of all, it drains only as much juice as
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an average TV set, so it won't blow any fuses..but it WILL fuck up radio
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and television broadcasts.....(fun with the neighbors!!!!)
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The next thing to do is make a trip to Radio Hack and buy a 3-prong
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plug...YOU MUST GET A 3 PRONG....with exposed wires ..like this...
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oooXXX ....... < to input
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plug > ooo XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX./....... < to input
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oooXXX \............ < to ground
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Attach this cord to your transformer...be sure to ground this sucker!...if you
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aren't sure about which is the input and ground, ASK THE DUDE YOU BUY IT FROM!!
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Wrap all exposed wires on this cord with electrician's tape...(heheh..DON'T
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WRAP the coathangers..they need to be BARE)
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If your coathangers have paint on 'em, sand it off....
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OK..now..PLUG IT IN?...NO...also buy at Radio Hack one of those surge
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suppressing power strips..the kind with a switch built in..ok...plug the
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strip in..make sure it is OFF...then plug in the transformer cord...then stand
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back and turn it on..probably, nothing will happen...UNPLUG the transformer
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and adjust the coathangers (move 'em a bit closer)..try, try again..you will
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eventually get it right!..
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WARNING: I don't think I need to tell you how DANGEROUS this thing is...as long
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as you remain AT LEAST 3 feet away from it, you are in no danger...transformers
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don't blow up....they are very simple devices...BUT, as the sucker is sparking,
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you might notice a strange smell in the air..this is OZONE, produced by the
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ionization..OZONE is DEADLY to humans..at least when it is inhaled....this
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is the same smell you notice after an electrical storm..ALSO, Ultraviolet
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light is produced during the spark's creation...if you STARE at this thing all
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night, your corneas will be phucked up...so if you must, wear UV shades..!
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A note of warning.....high voltage like this will cause every muscle in your
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body to contract...since this is AC high voltage, they will contract
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spastically...let me illustrate...
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"Bob sets up his c00l new Jacob's ladder at a party...Wayne is amazed by it and
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reached out to adjust the coathangers...when he gets within about an INCH of
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hangers, a brilliant blue spark jumps to his hand...Wayne's hand spastically
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clamps shut on the coathangers...all the muscles in his body contract
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violently...with a gutteral scream, his diaphram expells all air from his
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lungs..he empties his bowels, as well as shits his pants...his brain shuts
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down within seconds, but his muscles keep fibrillating...his heart merely
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quivers in his chest, as Waynes eyeballs turn opaque and wither....if Wayne
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is lucky, his leg spasms propell him away from the transformer..breaking the
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connection..but he probably will land on the floor already dead"..
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Get the picture?
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I don't want to scare anyone off, but this IS a SERIOUS device..not a CUTE
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PLASMA SPHERE..not a mythical Blotto box...this thing is REAL and WILL WORK..
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but you must use it carefully and with respect...if you do, you have nothing
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to worry about...heck, it's probably safer to use than to drive down the
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Interstate!....just don't leave it on for more than 5 or 10 min. at a time..
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otherwise it may overheat a bit...
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OK...now you have it...what do you do with it?...show it off at Halloween
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parties....impress your friends...impress your enemies...use it as a project
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for a Science class....generate ozone to replenish the Earth's ozone layer...
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turn it on, turn out all the lights, and marvel at the POWER of electricity..
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we forget what electricity looks like in its RAW form....make it part of an
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art project..a monument to the age of electonics!
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..oooOOooo..
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Some Neon sign manufacturers that PROBABLY have such transformers
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in the Boston area (I live in Boston) include
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Neon Williams
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93 Hano St., Allston
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617/783-9680
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617/547-7001
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Jim Did it Signs
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465 Cambridge St., Allston
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617/728-2410
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The price for an OLD Neon sign transformer should be about $40-50....
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Look in the yellow pages under "Neon Signs"..make some phone calls..
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you shouldn't have too much of a problem locating one....
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Well, it's been PHUN, dudes...this is my first textfile about high-voltage
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gizmos...I plan to write more...too many textfiles out there are full
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of SH!T or outdated or BOTH in regards to electronic devices...I plan
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to try and remedy that situation...I know what I'm talking about..and
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I BUILD everything I talk about....if you have any questions, contact
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me at any decent board in MA.....
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Special Greetings to Darby, JT, Muppet, Magic Man,Madmike, Falcon, George Bush,
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FBI Agent, Canine, Plutus, Old Pink, the Knight, and anyone else I forgot..
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Call ATDT!...Life w/out ATDT isn't worth living! (617)PRI-VATE
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Keep the faith, share the knowledge, and drink Jolt cola...
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..................................
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..oooOO Count Zero OOooo..,MCWS
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..................................
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