The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -- June 5, 1998 A Mysterious New Hero Emerges In the Battle of Man vs. Machine By NICK WINGFIELD THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE EDITION Call it cinema verite for the Information Age. A 25-second video clip of an anonymous office worker clobbering his computer is making its way, via e-mail, to thousands of other offices around the world, tapping into a powerful undercurrent of techno-rage. The video -- which could have been taken by a security camera in any office setting -- shows a bulky, mustachioed Everyman in a short-sleeved shirt hunched over a computer terminal, looking puzzled. Suddenly, he strikes the side of his monitor in frustration. As a curious co-worker peers over his cubicle, the man slams the keyboard into the monitor, knocking it to the floor. Rising from his chair, he goes after the fallen monitor with a final, ferocious kick. Reaction to the video -- known simply by its file name, "badday" -- has been intense, particularly in the cubicles of Silicon Valley. Workers huddle around computer monitors to see it. It's spawned German, Spanish and at least two English language Web sites. "He did what everybody wanted to do just once in a life but [didn't] have the guts to," one user wrote in a posting on a Web site. "He's a hero." The video's murky origins have caused some to question if it's a staged outburst. In a shot-by-shot analysis worthy of the Zapruder film, one Web site shows still photos of the man with a slight smirk on his face, suggesting he was in on the gag. Bob Frankle, an engineer who analyzes videos of bank robberies and other crimes for Exponent Inc., points out that the man's keyboard is unplugged. "It wouldn't surprise me if this were a 'Candid Camera' exercise," Mr. Frankle says. Staged or not, the video clearly resonates with people. "It's a shame he couldn't have done it more publicly," says technology critic Kirkpatick Sale, who has smashed numerous computers during interviews and lectures. "It's quite a gratifying thing." Copyright © 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -- June 8, 1998 Video-Security Aide Is Culprit In Computer-Bashing Mystery By NICK WINGFIELD THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE EDITION The mysterious computer-bashing man made famous by a popular video zinging around the Internet is a mystery no longer. The man is Vinny Licciardi, 35 years old, operations manager at a security-video software company in Durango, Colo. Until now, Mr. Licciardi's identity has been as obscure as the origins of the video, a 25-second shot from a surveillance camera that depicts a heavy-set, mustachioed man in an office cubicle mercilessly savaging a computer. The video, called "badday," has captivated thousands of Internet users as a vivid document of mankind's frustration with machines, a powerful reminder of the violent impulses nearly everyone has felt at one time or another when a monitor goes dark, a keyboard clunks out or a word processing document simply disappears. But, as some suspected, Mr. Licciardi's tour de force was pure acting. About two years ago, Mr. Licciardi's employer, Loronix Information Systems Inc., asked him to play the role of a disgruntled employee who batters his office equipment. (Another video not yet available on the Internet features Mr. Licciardi filching computer equipment from a warehouse.) Loronix sent a CD-ROM, which contained the office video and other promotional materials, to its customers and sales force several months ago. Loronix executives speculate that the video was posted to the Internet by someone who received the CD-ROM, and that other people eventually began copying the clip over to their own Web sites. By last week, the video had mesmerized untold numbers of Internet users, who passed it around in e-mail chains. Although his outburst -- which includes a furious keyboard whack that topples a monitor to the floor -- wasn't genuine, Mr. Licciardi's technique was pure method acting. "I went back and experienced the feelings I've had before," he said. "I just let it go. I was quite pleased with myself." The identity of the anonymous cyberspace vandal didn't surface until late Friday after a Wall Street Journal article on the video led to its airing on national television. Peter Jankowski, a founder of Loronix, who wasn't aware of the Journal article, said he was startled to see the two-year-old footage of Mr. Licciardi on CNBC. "I couldn't believe it," Mr. Jankowski said. Eventually, Loronix was identified as the source of the video through a message a company employee posted to a Web site devoted to the video. Mr. Licciardi was equally surprised to learn of his new celebrity. "I'm sitting at home and no one knows who I am and suddenly everybody is looking for me," he said in an interview Saturday. "It blew me away." "Vinny loves his computers but he does get frustrated," said Jon Lupia, chief financial officer of Loronix. "He can get upset when things don't go his way." But Mr. Licciardi isn't likely to blow his cool inside the Loronix offices anytime soon. According to Mr. Lupia, the company has stationed about 20 security cameras around its headquarters so it can show off its product to potential clients. Copyright © 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.