[jordanthoms]

Looks like the janitor needed somewhere to plug in the vacuum cleaner again...

[hack_edu]

Not even just the plug. I've had outages from bits flipped simply by the static electricity generated when vacuuming near servers.

[linker3000]

5W walkie talkies in a big sports complex with the RF getting into the keyboard controllers and acting like a maniac was punching the keyboard - would eventually hang the servers.

Fix: Replace cheapened-keyboards-with-mylar-film-(not)-screening with older models that had a full metal cage around the keyboard assembly.

[socceroos]

You have carpets in your server room??

[saganus]

I assume bash.org?

[gknoy]

He might be referring to The daily WTF (worse than failure):

http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/I-Didnt-Do-Anything.aspx

Unintentional Mishap while Contractor Unplugs X to fix/maintain Y is a relatively common theme on their list of horror stories.

edit: I think he might actually have meant this one: http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/I-Told-You-So.aspx

[wiml]

It's a truly ancient anecdote; it probably predates the Internet.

The first example in RISKS is in 1994: http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/15.59.html#subj3.1 but the canonical version of the story is in a Cape Town hospital in 1996: http://web.archive.org/web/20040624065333/http://www.legends...

[saganus]

And I get 2 downvotes for this? really? downvoters care to explain why, just for asking if it was a reference from bash? Wow... Edit: Thanks to the other 2 posters who provided alternative sources. You learn by asking, no? or at least some of us do..