[1] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

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


see also:
scratch monkey dec field circus droid pm 

[2] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

scratch monkey
     
        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.
     
        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
     
        jargon file
     
        1994-12-15
     
     
see also:
scratch monkey field circus pdp-11 pm jargon file 

Monkey >> M Words
Monkey, definition of term: Monkey
monkey_pag1.html

Scratch >> S Words
Scratch, definition of term: Scratch
scratch_pag1.html

Monkey Wrench >> M Words
Monkey Wrench, definition of term: Monkey Wrench
monkey+wrench_pag1.html

Monkey Nut >> M Words
Monkey Nut, definition of term: Monkey Nut
monkey+nut_pag1.html

Monkey Jacket >> M Words
Monkey Jacket, definition of term: Monkey Jacket
monkey+jacket_pag1.html

Monkey Bread >> M Words
Monkey Bread, definition of term: Monkey Bread
monkey+bread_pag1.html

Monkey Bridge >> M Words
Monkey Bridge, definition of term: Monkey Bridge
monkey+bridge_pag1.html

Squirrel Monkey >> S Words
Squirrel Monkey, definition of term: Squirrel Monkey
squirrel+monkey_pag1.html

Spider Monkey >> S Words
Spider Monkey, definition of term: Spider Monkey
spider+monkey_pag1.html

Old Scratch >> O Words
Old Scratch, definition of term: Old Scratch
old+scratch_pag1.html

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