2. Write a blog post summarizing them.
3. Post to HN / Reddit.
4. PROFIT.
Smart business plan.
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.
The '500 mile email' and 'The story of Mel the Real Programmer' are trotted out on a regular basis also.
As long as you can glean the story from the headline, you can ignore it. It's a tiny bit annoying but I'm not asking for a refund.
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.
On the last day of the canceled project, Avitzur’s manager called him into her office to say goodbye. He hadn’t completed the length of his contract, but the company would pay it in full anyway.
“Just submit your final invoice for what’s left,” she told him. That’s when it clicked: If Avitzur didn’t submit the invoice, his contract stayed in the system. And if his contract stayed in the system, his ID badge would keep getting him in the front door.
The article doesn't specify, but I would imagine that he submitted his invoice once his badge was deactivated.
When we discovered him (I was flushing old accounts, and found this guy in our Vax room who shouldn't have been there) we ejected him, and he had the chutzpah to ask for a tape of his directories.
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...
Even in the best systems, there are bugs and human operators.
FWIW, I'm not sure the current culture at Apple would support this either. Every single one of the employees who aided Mr. Avitzur would essentially be putting their careers on the line. Modern day Apple is notoriously stern when it comes to employee transgressions.
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.
Max OS X has Grapher (in Applications/Utilities). That likely is a descendant of this tool.
and a Google Tech Talk video of Avitzur telling his story: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7497796873809571567...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-32973_3-57440513-296/meet-the-tire...
