Proff Rat denies computer scales crack.

[mattd]

Rude remarks out of order
By KELLY RYAN
16jan02
A WAYWARD weighing machine that told a woman "get off fat pig" has been 
hastily removed from a busy shopping centre.
Red-faced operators pulled the plug on the renegade scales after furious 
complaints about offensive comments it added to personal weight details.
The coin-operated scales are programmed simply to print a person's height, 
weight and body mass details.
One man was stunned to read "Fat c---" at the bottom of his ticket.
The Body Weight machine, one of about 20 in Melbourne, was removed from the 
Greensborough Plaza yesterday.
Bruce Hamilton weighed himself on Sunday, concerned he was carrying some 
extra Christmas padding.
The machine told him his weight was up slightly to 79kg.
But his wife noticed the message on the bottom of the ticket.
"I was more worried about my weight than the message," the Greensborough 
father-of-two said yesterday.
"But it is a public facility and some people could have been devastated and 
deeply offended by it."
Supplier Ian Sargent said he believed only one weight machine had been 
maliciously tampered with.
Mr Sargent, who admitted to "a couple of new love handles since Christmas", 
said he would have been offended by the message.
Normally, tickets carry nice messages such as "Happy Christmas" or "Happy 
New Year".
Technicians have now changed a password that allows access to a hidden 
keypad within the machines.
Mr Sargent described the episode as a "cruel practical joke".