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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!tektronix!ucbcad!notes
From: notes@ucbcad.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.jokes
Subject: ERROR 17 - (nf)
Message-ID: <492@ucbcad.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Oct-83 07:06:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbcad.492
Posted: Thu Oct 20 07:06:33 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 23-Oct-83 05:35:28 EDT
Sender: notes@ucbcad.UUCP
Organization: UC Berkeley CAD Group
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#N:ucbesvax:4300009:000:766
ucbesvax!turner    Oct 20 00:13:00 1983

On the subject of bizarre error messages: Berkeley used to have a home-
grown time-sharing O.S. for the CDC 6400.  At the time, they had taken
to referring to a system routine or utility as a "bead".  A "bead" that
had been stubbed off, but kept around for temporary compatibility (or
some such ridiculous reason) was a "ghost"--hence the term "bead ghost".
When some hapless code stumbled across such, it issued the warning:

	@BEAD GHOST HERE<ding>

Enough to make yer hair turn white.  Some of our high school hackers took
to exclaiming "At! bead ghost here" whenever you said something that they
found confusing or imbecilic.  Or whenever they felt like it.  (I used to
know some pretty weird people in high school.)
---
Michael Turner (ucbvax!ucbesvax.turner)