Fri Sep 20 07:32:05 UTC 2024: ## Secret Agents and Software Shenanigans: A Tech Support Tale from the 1990s

In a recent On Call column, a reader named Nate shared a humorous anecdote from his days working for a secretive government agency in the 1990s. Nate’s team was responsible for providing technical support to a vessel belonging to the Queen.

The ship’s original onboard tech was plagued by issues, leading Nate and his colleagues to install a basic Acorn Archimedes computer as a temporary fix. To the team’s surprise, the crew preferred the Archimedes to the original system, even when it was functioning properly.

This led to a unique form of maintenance – Nate and his team would drive for hours to reach the vessel, then spend their time polishing the Archimedes monitor, tidying up the desktop, and generally pretending to be hard at work before declaring the computer operational and enjoying tea and conversation with the crew. This elaborate routine allowed them to claim a full day’s off-site work allowance, much to their delight.

However, one incident involved a young coder, known for his coding skills and penchant for insulting everyone around him. Despite creating a crucial fix for the ship’s software, the coder was deemed too risky to send on a service call. Instead, he left a disk containing the update with Nate, who planned to install it during his next visit.

Unfortunately, the software crashed upon installation. Nate quickly discovered the culprit: the coder, after swearing he hadn’t changed anything, confessed to a seemingly insignificant alteration. This “minor” tweak, however, had catastrophic consequences.

Nate returned to the office, reprimanded the coder, and helped him fix the software. He then went back to the vessel, successfully installed the revised update, and once again managed to linger long enough to claim the full-day off-site allowance.

In the end, despite the chaos caused by the rude coder, Nate and his team were able to successfully fix the software, maintain their reputation as “big-brained boffins” with the crew, and enjoy a well-deserved day off. This heartwarming tale of tech support triumphs and mishaps from a bygone era serves as a reminder that even in the most secretive of government agencies, a little bit of good-natured boffinry can go a long way.

Read More