Making Light :: BOFH and the Nigerian 419 :: comments http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/002133.html#comments Language, fraud, folly, truth, history, and knitting. Et cetera. en Tue, 26 Nov 2002 11:38:19 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.34-en <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/30/28234.html">BOFH and the Nigerian 419</a> I am The PFY, otherwise know to you as the Pimply-Faced Youth, assistant to the Bastard Operator From Hell.... I am The PFY, otherwise know to you as the Pimply-Faced Youth, assistant to the Bastard Operator From Hell.... http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/002133.html BOFH and the Nigerian 419 -- comment #1 from Paul Riddell comment from Paul Riddell on 26.Nov.02 Oh, the BOFH brings back lovely memories. Now that I work in a place where everyone used to be a BOFH and knows what to look for, we're actually able to get quite a bit done. However, when you work for some hellhole like Sprint, where the managers all alternate between scheduling meetings to prepare for meetings and surfing "Star Wars" sites all day, being a BOFH was the only way to keep your sanity, especially if you were a contractor. (At Sprint back in 1999, contractors had no rights, and the only right the non-exempt employees had was to read all of the "Left Behind" books on company time with the blessings of management. We always took that as a definite comment on Sprint's Y2K program and its expected level of efficiency.)

I have only one thing to add: beware the Bastard Tech Writers From Hell. We're the real menaces, because we can usually come up with horror scenarios that make the BOFHs gasp with admiration. (At Sprint, for instance, I wasn't the person who decided to teach the manager the importance of not redoing a four-month project as a "multimedia" presentation with a two-week deadline, but I was the one who suggested that the manager would crack if someone kidnapped his "Star Wars" action figures and held them for ransom. He didn't think we were serious until he found that little Darth Maul head atop his keyboard...and the body, sans limbs, on his SUV radio antenna...)

]]> <p>Posted November 26, 2002 11:38 AM by Paul Riddell</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/002133.html#13043 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/002133.html#13043 Tue, 26 Nov 2002 11:38:19 -0500 BOFH and the Nigerian 419 -- comment #2 from Roger Burton West comment from Roger Burton West on 5.Dec.02 The chap who actually came up with the O'Really designs has a web site at http://bofhcam.org/co-larters/ . The shirts are also available from copyleft.net.

(Now let's see if this thing will let me post a comment even though I don't allow Javascript on the machine...)

]]> <p>Posted December 5, 2002 7:03 AM by Roger Burton West</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/002133.html#13079 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/002133.html#13079 Thu, 05 Dec 2002 07:03:52 -0500