gjackson@lakecityreporter.com
It might be a sign of the times — The Hacker Company is going international.
Lake City residents might think that means local businessman Roger Hacker is expanding the sign business he has owned and operated in town under different names since 1978.
That’s not the case. Hacker has no plans to open more sign shops but there are big plans for The Hacker Company sign displayed at his business the past five or six years.
In April, Hacker said he received a call from a man who identified himself as Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook founder briefly explained he was interested in buying The Hacker Company neon sign displayed at his business on Baya Avenue.
Hacker, 59, said he thought it was a prank by his nephew, J.J. The two have pulled practical jokes on each other for years, and Hacker believed the phone call was a poor attempt at another one.
“Yeah, and I’m Frank Sinatra,” Hacker told Zuckerberg. “Is this J.J.? And I hung up the phone.”
Two weeks later, Hacker said another Facebook executive called and asked if he wanted to sell his business sign. Hacker’s reaction was disbelief.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” he said. “Let me think about it awhile.”
Hacker told the Facebook executive that sign was handmade by him and his late father and had great sentimental value.
After the conversation ended, Hacker said he didn’t think about the offer until another Facebook executive sent an email a month later.
Hacker offered to make a new sign identical to the one displayed on the outside wall of his business. The executive insisted it had to be the one at his business, Hacker said.
“It was kind of name my price,” he said. “I told him I don’t want to be rude, but I haven’t made up my mind.”
Scott Oligher, Facebook’s facilities manager, sent another email on June 14 to explain why the social network company wanted to display the sign at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.
“Not sure if you know but we consider ourselves a major ‘Hacking’ company and would love to add that to our decor,” Oligher wrote in his message. “Anyway, I would love to buy it if it is for sale, please let me know if you would like to sell it.”
Zuckerberg’s early days as a computer hacker were depicted in the 2010 film “The Social Network.”
Hacker said there were no conditions and nothing in the proposed agreement would prevent him from building a new sign identical to the one he was asked to sell.
After lots of soul searching, Hacker agreed to sell the sign, which will be removed early this week, at the latest, refurbished and prepared for shipping. Facebook officials agreed to handle the packaging and shipping costs.
One thing Hacker still wonders is how Zuckerberg learned of the sign. Did he see it himself or did someone send him a photo? No one at Facebook seems to know either.
Hacker declined to say how much he was paid or how much it would cost to build a new sign identical to his old one. He did say it would take three or four weeks to build a sign like the one he sold.
Hacker said the replacement sign he plans to build will be smaller than the one outside his building, but he didn’t rule out building one identical to the one he sold to Facebook.
“It blows my mind,” he said. “With the economy being the way it is, you do what you have to do. It’s going to a good home.”
Article source: http://m.lakecityreporter.com/articles/2011/10/03/news/doc4e89b832d2540569627417.txt
View full post on National Cyber Security » Computer Hacking