
The 1970 Kidnapping of an N.Y.U. Computer - jonbaer
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/nyregion/the-mathematicians-who-ended-the-kidnapping-of-an-nyu-computer.html
======
greenyoda
I used that very computer a couple of years after these events occurred. It
was a CDC 6600.[1]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDC_6600](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDC_6600)

------
cooper12
I don't particularly like the title the NYT chose. The kidnapping ended when
the protestors chose it to end. That, and the fact that when it mentions the
occupation, you would think they used math to do it, when in fact it was
hardly relevant. Not really clickbait, but not the most clear of titles.

Still, an interesting read of perspectives from a specific time in history.
Very interesting that they would choose to target a computer of all things,
though I'm guessing one of the men arrested must have been aware of its value.

~~~
CamperBob2
_The kidnapping ended when the protestors chose it to end_

Well, no, it didn't _really_ end until the staff disarmed the bomb the
protesters left behind.

What a bunch of feckless asshats. Lucky ones, too, since it appears that
nobody served more than three months of prison time as a result.

~~~
cooper12
It is true that they did save it; maybe I'm just being overly nitpicky. And
yeah, these days the improvised bomb part would have gotten then in huge
trouble on its own, though I'm guessing the whole hostage situation was dealt
with more lightly because of the political context of the time.

------
CamperBob2

       “You have to understand we were caught up in this whole 
       movement,” he said last week in a telephone interview. 
       “This was reaction to Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia. 
       There was a wave of protests everywhere. We thought it 
       was important to do as much as we could to register that 
       protest, and that’s what we did.”
    

Wow. The next time there's something as worthy of protest as the Vietnam War,
I certainly hope we're smarter about how we protest it than these nitwits
were.

This story reminded me of the time the Earth Liberation Front protested
genetic engineering by firebombing a greenhouse
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington_fireb...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington_firebombing_incident)).

~~~
CamperBob2
I would _kill_ to hear the explanation behind these downmods.

Because apparently it's cool to employ violence whenever you think it might do
some good.

