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1994-03-08
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77 lines
Written by Gears
COMPUTER BOMB ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Sun newspaper (March 6th 1993) carried a story titled :-
IF YOU FIRE ME YOUR COMPUTER DESTRUCTS
The writer, Keiron Saunders (credit to him for bringing this to
my attention) tells of "Computer wizard Charlie Gunn" who took his
rightful (in my opinion) revenge on his bosses in a row over a
money-saving scheme he had devised. So that you can decide what
you think, I have typed out the article below in full.
IF YOU FIRE ME YOUR COMPUTER DESTRUCTS
Computer wizard Charlie Gunn took his
high-tech revenge on his bosses in a row
over a money-saving scheme he devised.
They didn't even thank him when he
gave them the program free, he said
yesterday.
So he bugged the system - which
tracked 2,500 bikes hired out at a
holiday village - to self destruct if
he were fired.
Charlie's bosses did sack him - after
he refused to debug the program. Seven
days later it wiped itself out.
Yesterday an industrial tribunal at
Bury St Edmunds decided he had been
dismissed fairly.
Charlie, 36, said he devised the
computer program (program was spelt
incorrectly here - Gears) in his own
time to check on bikes he was in charge
of at Center Parcs holiday village in
Elveden, Suffolk.
It cut out the need for written
records and saved the firm 45,000
(pounds sterling) in nine months,
he claimed.
COPY
The dad of three, from Hillborough,
Norfolk, said: "I worked really hard
to invent the program." (This was spelt
incorrectly again - Gears)
"I got upset when I saw another
Center Parcs camp might copy it without
paying me."
The tribunal was told Center Parcs have
now bought their own computer system for
bikes.
They disputed Charlie's claim that he
saved them 45,000 (pounds sterling).
I noticed a few things as I read this article, one is that
the headline is VERY misleading .... there was absolutely NO
chance that the computer would "SELF DESTRUCT". I also noticed
that the reporter could not distinguish the word "Program" which,
as the dictionary states is set of `detailed instructions for a
computer' and "Programme" which refers to a TV or radio programme.
Many people get these words mixed up.
I felt that Charlie was right to be annoyed at the company for
not paying him for his program. He should have insisted from the
start that he wouldn't give it to them unless they payed for it. He
may have saved a lot of trouble by officially Copyrighting it as
commercial software and therefore making it illegal for the company
to copy it around. I did like his plan to delete the program....it
was an idea I might have used if I were in a similar situation. I
emphasize, for the benefit of those spying eyes at FAST the word
"MIGHT". The definition of this word is in the dictionary.