Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!island!rich
From: rich@island.uu.net (Rich Fanning )
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: computer follies
Summary: if you drink coffee, don't print
Message-ID: <372@island.uu.net>
Date: 26 Sep 88 19:04:05 GMT
References: <827@cernvax.UUCP> <3276@edm.UUCP>
Reply-To: rich@island.uu.net (Rich Fanning )
Distribution: na
Organization: Island Graphics, Marin County, California
Lines: 38

Back in the mid 70's, I was a member of an IBM Explorers Group.  This was a
program which allowed a couple of dozen high-school students to learn 
about computers at a local IBM building.

We were allowed partial use of a computer room (occasionally pre-empted by
IBM engineers) and had access to three different systems: one was a
single-user system which ran BASIC, one was timeshared APL, and the other
ran batch Fortran jobs on those little System/3 cards.

Our long-suffering leader John had to put up with a variety of pranks that 
hyperactive adolescent males are best at.  My friend Pat figured out how to
punch the System/3 cards to create any pattern.  Since the holes are circles
(not oblong like the big 80-column ones), nice bitmap graphics could
be done, in a limited fashion, of course.  John put up with this silliness
until Pat started passing around cards with the "one finger salute" on them.

Another friend, Todd, loved to run his "line printer screamer" program on the
1401, which printed 132 M's on each line.  This printer, enclosed in a sound-
absorbent shroud, normally didn't arouse attention, but shrieked like hell when
this pattern was printed.  All activity in the room would stop, John would run
over to the console and abort the job, and the rest of us would snicker.

One evening, a bunch of white-shirters came in (IBM engineers) and ran a couple
of jobs on the System/3.  They stood around the printer, tearing jobs off and
looking them over.  After a while, several of them left half-full coffee cups
on top of the printer cover.

I have a feeling that someone made sure that the paper was running low, because
the paper ran out and the printer responded as usual BY LIFTING THE COVER!
By the time anyone knew what was happening, it was too late and half
a dozen cups of coffee slid down the printer cover and splashed all over the
wall, floor, output listings, etc.

Even John had a good laugh over that one.  I'll never forget the embarrassed
expressions on some of those engineer's faces.
-- 
   Rich Fanning           {uunet,sun,well}!island!rich     (415) 491-1000
   Island Graphics Corp.  4000 Civic Center Drive    San Rafael, CA 94903