scratch monkey

2 definitions found

scratch monkey - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  scratch monkey
  monkey, scratch
  
     <humour> As in "Before testing or reconfiguring, always mount
     a scratch monkey", a proverb used to advise caution when
     dealing with irreplaceable data or devices.  Used to refer to
     any scratch volume hooked to a computer during any risky
     operation as a replacement for some precious resource or data
     that might otherwise get trashed.
  
     This term preserves the memory of Mabel, the Swimming Wonder
     Monkey, star of a biological research program at the
     University of Toronto.  Mabel was not (so the legend goes)
     your ordinary monkey; the university had spent years teaching
     her how to swim, breathing through a regulator, in order to
     study the effects of different gas mixtures on her physiology.
     Mabel suffered an untimely demise one day when a DEC engineer
     troubleshooting a crash on the program's VAX inadvertently
     interfered with some custom hardware that was wired to Mabel.
  
     It is reported that, after calming down an understandably
     irate customer sufficiently to ascertain the facts of the
     matter, a DEC troubleshooter called up the field circus
     manager responsible and asked him sweetly, "Can you swim?"
  
     Not all the consequences to humans were so amusing; the sysop
     of the machine in question was nearly thrown in jail at the
     behest of certain clueless droids at the local "humane"
     society.  The moral is clear: When in doubt, always mount a
     scratch monkey.
  
     ESR notes: There is a version of this story, complete with
     reported dialogue between one of the project people and DEC
     field service, that has been circulating on Internet since
     1986.  It is hilarious and mythic, but gets some facts wrong.
     For example, it reports the machine as a PDP-11 and alleges
     that Mabel's demise occurred when DEC PMed the machine.
     Earlier versions of this entry were based on that story; this
     one has been corrected from an interview with the hapless
     sysop.
  
     A corespondent adds: The details you give are somewhat
     consistent with the version I recall from the Digital "War
     Stories" notesfile, but the name "Mabel" and the swimming bit
     were not mentioned, IIRC.  Also, there's a very detailed account (http://mv.com/ipusers/arcade/monkey.htm)
      that
     claims that three monkies died in the incident, not just one.
     I believe Eric Postpischil wrote the original story at DEC, so
     his coming back with a different version leads me to wonder
     whether there ever was a real Scratch Monkey incident.
  
     [Jargon File]
  
     (2004-08-22)
  

scratch monkey - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  scratch monkey
   n.
  
     As in "Before testing or reconfiguring, always mount a scratch monkey
     ", a proverb used to advise caution when dealing with
     irreplaceable data or devices. Used to refer to any scratch volume
     hooked to a computer during any risky operation as a replacement for
     some precious resource or data that might otherwise get trashed.
  
     This term preserves the memory of Mabel, the Swimming Wonder Monkey,
     star of a biological research program at the University of Toronto.
     Mabel was not (so the legend goes) your ordinary monkey; the
     university had spent years teaching her how to swim, breathing
  through
     a regulator, in order to study the effects of different gas mixtures
     on her physiology. Mabel suffered an untimely demise one day when a
     DEC field circus engineer troubleshooting a crash on the
  program's
     VAX inadvertently interfered with some custom hardware that was
     wired to Mabel.
  
     It is reported that, after calming down an understandably irate
     customer sufficiently to ascertain the facts of the matter, a DEC
     troubleshooter called up the field circus manager responsible and
     asked him sweetly, "Can you swim?" Not all the consequences to humans
     were so amusing; the sysop of the machine in question was nearly
     thrown in jail at the behest of certain clueless droids at the
  local
     `humane' society. The moral is clear: When in doubt, always mount a
     scratch monkey. [The actual incident occured in 1979 or 1980. There
  is
     a version of this story, complete with reported dialogue between one
     of the project people and DEC field service, that has been
  circulating
     on Internet since 1986. It is hilarious and mythic, but gets some
     facts wrong. For example, it reports the machine as a PDP-11 and
     alleges that Mabel's demise occurred when DEC PMed the machine.
     Earlier versions of this entry were based on that story; this one has
     been corrected from an interview with the hapless sysop. --ESR]