

Unemployed Programmer Kept Sneaking Into Apple to Finish the Job - landonhowell
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/132066

======
nathos
Link to the actual programmer's account of the story:
<http://www.nucalc.com/Story/>

and a Google Tech Talk video of Avitzur telling his story:
[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7497796873809571567...](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7497796873809571567#)

------
radicalbyte
1\. Dig up old stories from slashdot.

2\. Write a blog post summarizing them.

3\. Post to HN / Reddit.

4\. PROFIT.

Smart business plan.

~~~
doktrin
For what it's worth, I appreciated reading this story. Just because it may be
old hat to HN and/or ./ veterans doesn't necessarily mean that it's not a
reasonable contribution.

However, I assume you are inferring that the OP made this contribution
specifically to boost his/her karma points - a practice I do not support
either.

~~~
scott_s
Read the original, linked at the top. This version lacks the insight into the
process and the thrill of the hack.

------
brittohalloran
You know you have a good company when people sneak in to do more work after
they're not being paid anymore

~~~
relix
You know you have a bad company when you fire people who would sneak in to do
more work after they're not being paid anymore

~~~
bob_kelso
But he wasn't fired. His project was cancelled so Apple offered him to work on
something else and he declined.

I don't get why the manager would want to throw him out though. A capable
employee working for free sounds like every managers dream.

~~~
bryanlarsen
A facilities manager was the one who wanted to throw him out. They've got a
very different mindset. Software & hardware managers actively aided his cause.

------
smsm42
Some people would have open-sourced the code and then there would be no need
to sneak into Apple headquarters and lurk in the bathrooms waiting for
facilities people to leave. But I guess in 1994 it might not be as natural as
it is now. I wish more companies would open-source their "not quite worked
out" projects instead of just burying them.

~~~
FrojoS
Good point.

Would it be preinstalled on 20 million computers, though?

Also, it seems like they needed to work at Apple because:

\- They needed access to an unreleased computer (hardware). \- They needed
feedback from other Apple employers.

------
bryanjclark
Here's This American Life telling the story (very, very entertaining):
[http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/284/s...](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/284/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go?act=2)

------
Jacobi
A link for downloading the Graphing Calculator program
<http://www.pacifict.com/FreeStuff.html>

~~~
Someone
That is the viewer. It does not allow you to input the functions to plot. Fun,
but not half as much as the real tool.

Max OS X has Grapher (in Applications/Utilities). That likely is a descendant
of this tool.

------
thematt
Would this even be possible nowadays? As soon as your badge gets disabled
typically any access you have to systems gets disabled as well.

~~~
mikeryan
From a few weeks ago.

 _Eric Simons spent two cash-strapped months living inside AOL's headquarters
while trying to build his start-up. He explains how he played outside of the
rules._

[http://www.inc.com/john-mcdermott/eric-simons-interview-
youn...](http://www.inc.com/john-mcdermott/eric-simons-interview-young-
entrepreneur-squatted-at-aol.html)

~~~
mc32
I don't think that example is equivalent. The ex-AOL guy was working on his
own stuff and was basically squatting on AOL property. It's not clear he was
accessing AOL computer systems and resources and making changes to or
contributing to AOL projects. Basically, place to sleep, munch, shower and
perhaps free wi-fi.

------
wissler
There's something to think about comparing this story to the entrepreneur who
sneaked into AOL:

[http://news.cnet.com/8301-32973_3-57440513-296/meet-the-
tire...](http://news.cnet.com/8301-32973_3-57440513-296/meet-the-tireless-
entrepreneur-who-squatted-at-aol)

