If you poke sticks through the bars at the lion long enough, he’ll finally be provoked beyond endurance, wait his moment, reach out a paw and smite your head off, as Control Data has finally realised: Air Force officials reached the paw through the bars stage the other week after the company had nagged them non-stop for months over that contract awarded to Honeywell bidding a couple of top-end NEC 1000 mainframes, and CDC has suddenly got the message that it had better belt up if it ever wants any more Air Force business – it has suddenly abandoned its vociferous campaign to have the bid reopened.
