Michael McDermott

aka Mucko

It's that rush you hear coming from that spot on the back of your head. The one that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. You need it. [...] Listen to that ringing in your ears. It’s the sound of opportunity. And the time to act is now.

If you can't enjoy yourself, work tends to be a real drag. We hate that. So you'll always be encouraged to express yourself, bring in your favorite office toys and generally keep it loose. [...] There's nothing more revered around here than a good sense of humor. An attribute that makes any kind of business that much better.

Quality assurance engineer. Killed 7 of his coworkers at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield MA, on 26 Dec 2000. After the incident, one of the survivors described McDermott this way: "He is a little quirky but a pretty friendly guy." One of his neighbors agreed: "He's well-tempered and very quirky."

And by "quirky" they probably meant "geeky." After all, here was an X-Files fan who read Harry Potter books and apparently enjoyed Dungeons & Dragons well into adulthood. In a 1997 post to rec.games.frp.dnd, McDermott put it this way:

Why do you play *D&D? To rack up experience points? To kill more monsters than your associates? Or to have fun role-playing?

If you wish to play a character obsessed with honorable battle, do so! Recognize, however, the advantages and disadvantages of your choice.

Disadvantages: You will not accumulate experience points as fast as the other members of your party. You will alienate some with your character's actions.

Advantages: You might actually have some fun. Your character will have to come up with creative ways to deal with the grumbling.

If you decide that the advantages are not worth the disadvantages, you'll have to find another way to play your character. Don't expect the others to hold back because you've chosen to fight your second while they are on their twentieth. If you decide they are, go for it!

He was a bone marrow donor and gave blood platelets twice a month. He also enjoyed reading about how to fake mental illness. He bought a copy of Clinical Assessment of Malingering and Deception.

Posted on Usenet as Mucko, 23 times to alt.engr.explosives, 5 times to alt.tasteless.jokes, and 3 times to alt.humor. While his interest in explosives may sound exciting, he says nothing interesting. On the humor groups, generally Mucko repeats funny that he found elsewhere. Example joke:

Q. Name three English clubs with swearwords in their names.
A. Scunthorpe, Arsenal, and Manchester Fucking United.

Timeline