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From: scco@ur-tut.UUCP (Sean Colbath)
Newsgroups: net.rumor
Subject: Re: Computer Horror Stories
Message-ID: <397@ur-tut.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 25-Feb-86 14:20:28 EST
Article-I.D.: ur-tut.397
Posted: Tue Feb 25 14:20:28 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Mar-86 01:20:05 EST
References: <14700001@hplabsb.UUCP> <476@mmm.UUCP> <9345@ritcv.UUCP> <1335@osu-eddie.UUCP> <1462@gitpyr.UUCP>
Reply-To: scco@ur-tut.UUCP (Sean Colbath)
Distribution: net
Organization: Univ. of Rochester Computing Center
Lines: 27

In article <1462@gitpyr.UUCP> kludge@gitpyr.UUCP (Scott Dorsey) writes:
>>  Some fun, huh? for the third-shift operator!
>
>   This is true... There used to be software to allow you to
>play music on older IBM line printers.  It turned out that if
>all the correct letters were printed on a line (which was used in the
>1812 overture software that I coded), the printer 
>would blow a fuse.  This isn't good, but it's better than 
>burning out the printer.
>
>Scott Dorsey
>ICS Programming Lab, Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
>...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!kludge

An even more amusing (although probably wildly apocryphal) anecdote was
related by Ted Nelson in his book Computer Lib/Dream Machines.  It seems that
way back in the days when the operator's console was a large panel with 
flashing lights representing the registers and low memory, a sneaky little
program was circulated which would mung the registers and low core to make
*large flashing words* appear in the lights, ala a Broadway/Times Square
billboard.  Apparently several night shift operators had nearly had heart
attacks when they were nearly dozing off and suddenly secret messages 
would come scrolling across the control panel...

Sean Colbath
UUCP:    ...allegra!rochester!ur-tut!scco
BITNET:  SCCO@UORVM