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Conference thebay::joyoflex

Title:The Joy of Lex
Notice:A Notes File even your grammar could love
Moderator:THEBAY::SYSTEM
Created:Fri Feb 28 1986
Last Modified:Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1192
Total number of notes:42769

1090.0. "Can you help my mom?" by CAPNET::PJOHNSON () Tue Feb 22 1994 11:19

My Mom is involved in a thing that needs to know

what is the longest word that can be formed using the state
abbreviations and DC and PR?

Abbreviations must be left intact. Examples are MAINLAND and CALAMINE.

Can you come up with any others?

Pete
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
1090.1DRDAN::KALIKOWInfo Highway Construction CrewTue Feb 22 1994 11:432
    Hmmm...  Why do you think PJohnson came to *us,* JoyOfLexers?? :-)
    
1090.2PASTIS::MONAHANhumanity is a trojan horseTue Feb 22 1994 23:363
    	Can someone provide a list of state abbreviations for non U.S.
    people, so we can play too. I understand the concept, but I only know
    about a dozen out of what I suppose should be a list of 50?
1090.3...state your name|name your state...CPDW::CIUFFINIGod must be a Gemini...Wed Feb 23 1994 05:3575
    
 The list. * Note that while not a state DC is included. ( Perhaps the 
             contest includes DC? )    

 AL     ALABAMA                                              
 AK     ALASKA                                               
 AZ     ARIZONA                                              
 AR     ARKANSAS                                             

 CA     CALIFORNIA                                           
 CO     COLORADO                                             
 CT     CONNECTICUT                                          

 DE     DELAWARE                                             

 FL     FLORIDA                                              

 GA     GEORGIA                                              

 HI     HAWAII                                               

 ID     IDAHO                                                
 IL     ILLINOIS                                             
 IN     INDIANA                                              
 IA     IOWA

 KA     KANSAS
 KY     KENTUCKY                                             

 LA     LOUISIANA                                            

 ME     MAINE                                                
 MD     MARYLAND                                             
 MA     MASSACHUSETTS                                        
 MI     MICHIGAN                                             
 MN     MINNESOTA                                            
 MS     MISSISSIPPI                                          
 MO     MISSOURI                                             
 MT     MONTANA                                              

 NE     NEBRASKA                                             
 NV     NEVADA                                               
 NH     NEW HAMPSHIRE                                        
 NJ     NEW JERSEY                                           
 NM     NEW MEXICO                                           
 NY     NEW YORK                                             
 NC     NORTH CAROLINA                                       
 ND     NORTH DAKOTA                                         

 OH     OHIO                                                 
 OK     OKLAHOMA                                             
 OR     OREGON                                               

 PA     PENNSYLVANIA                                         

 RI     RHODE ISLAND                                         

 SC     SOUTH CAROLINA                                       
 SD     SOUTH DAKOTA                                         

 TN     TENNESSEE                                            
 TX     TEXAS                                                

 UT     UTAH                                                 

 VT     VERMONT                                              
 VA     VIRGINIA                                             

 WA     WASHINGTON                                           
 WV     WEST VIRGINIA                                        
 WI     WISCONSIN                                            
 WY     WYOMING                                              

* DC     DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA                                 
    
1090.4PENUTS::DDESMAISONSpress on regardlessWed Feb 23 1994 06:473
	Can they be used more than once?

1090.5DC, PR, and once onlyCAPNET::PJOHNSONWed Feb 23 1994 06:495
I think that the list can include both DC and PR, and no abbreviation
can be used more than once.

Thanks!
Pete
1090.6.4 of course notATYISB::HILLDon't worry, we have a cunning plan!Wed Feb 23 1994 08:068
    .4
    
    > Can they be used more than once?
    
    No, since neither th nor ey are state abbreviations, they can't be used
    at all.
    
    :-)
1090.7OKFINE::KENAHNobody knows you're a dogWed Feb 23 1994 08:133
    re .3:  Kansas is KS, not KA.
    
    					andrew
1090.8PENUTS::DDESMAISONSpress on regardlessWed Feb 23 1994 08:574
	.6  cute, baldrich.  ;>


1090.9CSC32::S_BROOKThere and back to see how far it isWed Feb 23 1994 09:2017
Shame you can't add teh US postal abbreviations for Canadian provinces
in a N. American sample ...

this would add

BC	(British Columbia)
AB	(Alberta)
ON	(Ontario)
QE	(Quebec)
NS	(Nova Scotia)
NB	(New Brunswick)
NF	(Newfoundland)
PE	(Prince Edward Island)

and a few I can't remember ...


1090.10JIT081::DIAMOND$ SET MIDNIGHTWed Feb 23 1994 17:465
    Indeed... why doesn't Postes Canada Post have a set (or two) of
    abbreviations for U.S. states, differing from the U.S.'s own
    abbreviations, eh?
    
    -- Norman Diamond
1090.11ATYISB::HILLDon't worry, we have a cunning plan!Thu Feb 24 1994 00:538
    .8
    
    .6   cute, baldrich.   ;>
    
    My personal name is quoting one of our new senior VPs, 
    i.e. what BP calls an Officer.
    
    So why the reference to Baldrick (note spelling)?  8-)
1090.12SMURF::BINDEROmnia tibi dicta non credeThu Feb 24 1994 06:248
    .11
    
    Surely you know why the ref to Baldrick, Nick.
    
    For them as doesn't, Baldrick is a character in the Blackadder series
    from Brit TV.  He's the dumb one.  His "I have a cunning plan" has
    become a cult thing among Blackadder fans, and I have a sound clip of
    it on my Macintosh.
1090.13Baldrick, VP of errmmm...ATYISB::HILLDon't worry, we have a cunning plan!Thu Feb 24 1994 07:4621
    Dick
    
    Re .6 .8 .11 .12 and my personal name....
    
    Yes, of course I know why the reference to Baldrick !!!!
    
    More, for them as doesn't know, about Baldrick.  When
    things have got really tough he says "Don't worry, my 
    lord, I have a cunning plan".  This is the precursor to 
    a plan so stupid that the audience know two things:
    
    1  It has no chance at all that it'll work, and
    
    2  The script will twist in such a way that, in defiance
       of all logic, it nearly does work.
    
    This struck a chord when a new member of BP's "Gang of 26" 
    said that he had a plan -- I thought a change of personal
    name on Notes was called for.
    
    Nick
1090.14CSC32::S_BROOKThere and back to see how far it isThu Feb 24 1994 08:2822
Actually, not so many years ago, Canada post DID accept different
abbreviations for US states ....  Like Canadian province abbreviations,
they were 2, 3 or 4 letters long, if abbreviated at all!

RI = Rhode Island
Mass = Massachusetts
NY = New York
Col = Colorado

Ont = Ontario
PQ  = Quebec (Province Quebec)
Alta = Alberta
Yuk = Yukon

etc etc


Actually, Postes Canada Post has NOT actually mandated any abbreviations
for provinces or states ... but seem to accept whatever.  Perhaps for
presorted mail there are rules.

Stuart
1090.15down with digramsRAGMOP::T_PARMENTERUnsung SuperstarThu Feb 24 1994 09:033
    I thought I read last year that the USPO no longer requires those
    singularly unevocative digrams.
    
1090.16PENUTS::DDESMAISONSpress on regardlessThu Feb 24 1994 09:466
	re Baldrick - sorry about the misspelling - it looked
	strange to me with a "k", for some reason. 

	di

1090.17Long-winded reply about digrams et al.SMURF::BINDEROmnia tibi dicta non credeMon Feb 28 1994 09:0966
    Re .15
    
    The USPS has a tight set of guidelines for what you should do in re
    addressing business letter mail; the guidelines should be followed for
    personal mail, but there's no penalty for not following them beyond
    slowed or mistaken delivery.
    
    The bar-code area should be empty (4.5" wide by 0.625" high at the
    extreme lower right corner of the piece.)
    
    To qualify for quantity discounts, business mail must be sorted by ZIP
    code, in lots of 250 or more pieces, and preprinted with POSTNET-coded
    ZIP+4 bar code plus DPBC (an additional two digits of bar code, making
    11 digits plus a check digit).
    
    Addresses should include ZIP code or, better, ZIP+4 code.  The lines of
    the address block should contain increasingly more specific addressing
    from bottom to top - roughly this:
    
    ADDRESSEE'S PERSONAL NAME
    DEPARTMENT/MAIL STOP
    COMPANY NAME
    SECONDARY ADDRESS (IF P O BOX, COULD BE STREET)
    DELIVERY ADDRESS (STREET OR P O BOX - IF P O BOX, USE THAT NOT STREET)
    CITY STATE/PROVINCE ZIP/POSTAL-CODE
    COUNTRY
    
    There are more lines designated, actually - I think the number of
    possibilities is 11.
    
    When the USPS started automating its sorting, one criterion was cost of
    the OCR and bar-code readers.  The POSTNET bar code was designed to be
    read by *very* cheap readers and was hence rigidly specified.  For
    business mailers, the address block should be in an OCRable typeface
    without serifs, such as Geneva, Univers, Avant Garde, or Helvetica. 
    The first version of the OCR software required all uppercase letters
    with minimal punctuation; the current version of the software can read
    mixed-case text with punctuation, and this is why they can now handle
    states that are named by other than the digrams that Tom finds
    anathema.  But the digrams are preferred for reliability.
    
    If the POSTNET bar code is not in the preferred location as I indicate
    above, it can be attached to the address block; there are guidelines
    about where it can be and what spacing is required.
    
    The USPS's sorting process for business mail is this:
    
    1.  Pass through a bar code reader.  If no bar code, ship to OCR.  If
    	there is an invalid or unreadable bar code in the preferred area,
    	spray it and ship the piece to OCR.  If bar code is present and
    	complete, place in outgoing bag.  If code is present but not
    	complete, ship to OCR.
    
    2.  Pass through OCR.  If there is a readable, valid address, and there
    	isn't anything mucking up the preferred bar-code area, spray on a
    	bar code.  If there is a valid address and a partial bar code, add
    	the rest of the bar code, beginning with the last two digits of the
    	code that is present.  If no valid address, ship to a human.
    
    3.  Human mis-sorting.  :-)
    
    All the mail I send from home is computer-addressed with the full
    ZIP+4/DPBC 11-digit bar code, and the addresses are all standardized to
    the USPS rules.  I have found that doing this usually gets my mail to
    its recipient a day quicker.  I'm using a Mac with ClarisWorks and a
    bitmapped POSTNET font that I created.
1090.18NOTIME::SACKSGerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085Mon Feb 28 1994 13:086
>    CITY STATE/PROVINCE ZIP/POSTAL-CODE
>    COUNTRY

Mail addressed to foreign countries that have 5-digit postal codes tends to
get routed to the matching U.S. post office.  It's supposed to help if you
put the postal code before the city.
1090.19WH AT WA ST HE QU ES TI ONWMOIS::BLANCHARDTue Mar 08 1994 09:317
    Well, it's so nice to see that after only 18 responses, we have so many
    words created from the list of abbreviations of States!!! :) At this
    rate there will be three new States by the time we answer the original
    challenge.
    
    Steve
    
1090.20Hey -- what *was* the question?OKFINE::KENAHOne centimeter equals 17 kronerTue Mar 08 1994 10:0810
    >Well, it's so nice to see that after only 18 responses, we have so many
    >words created from the list of abbreviations of States!!! :) At this
    >rate there will be three new States by the time we answer the original
    >challenge.
    
    Welcome to the wonderful world of notes, where digressions, ratholes,
    and sidebars are the rule, not the exception!
    
    					andrew
1090.21NOVA::FISHERTay-unned, rey-usted, rey-adyTue Mar 22 1994 09:0611
    Since ratholes are the rule rather than the exception :-)
    
    I was thinking last week that creativity ought to be allowed, e.g.,
    
    BM for 'Bama
    NP for North Pole
    
    Of course it would only mess up an already too complicated problem. 
    :-)
    
    ed
1090.22In re .0SMURF::BINDERUt res per me meliores fiantWed Mar 23 1994 07:223
    If names are allowed, MARINELAND contains 10 characters.
    
    At 8, LANDMINE matches the length of MAINLAND and CALAMINE, cited in .0.
1090.23DRDAN::KALIKOWIDU/W3: So advanced, it's Simple!Wed Mar 23 1994 08:337
    Good GOD man, what do you MEAN by un-ratholing this note!  The veddy
    IDEA!
    
    Relevance, PAH!!
    
    :-)
    
1090.24SMURF::BINDERUt res per me meliores fiantWed Mar 23 1994 11:072
    Forgive me, DrDan, it's been a very bad day and I just lost track of
    where I was.  Thought I was in a real notesfile.
1090.25"Smek Smek!" (to the cheeks) (facial-type)DRDAN::KALIKOWIDU/W3: So advanced, it's Simple!Wed Mar 23 1994 13:5014
    (just so you know you're being disciplined, but in a militaristic
    rather than poivoited way.)
    
    *Don't* let it happen again!!!!!
    
    Aside:  "(How DOES he let it happen in the first place?)
    
                                (Ain't he the "anagram idiot savant" to boot?)"
    
    Now, having meted out punishment to ya both physically & emotionally, 
    I think my work here is done...
    
    :-)