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Not at all an urban legend. Go to Tech Tales so see all the stupid things non-techy people do.

http://www.techtales.com/ttales0303.html#tale25

There's another good collection at http://www.techtales.com/tftechs.html .

Back in the days of 5 1/5 floppies we had a computer test which required the user to create a document (in WordPerfect), then mail it back to us so we could mark his/her formatting, bolding etc.

One user did not have a large envelope, so he folded the floppy in half. Of course it would not stay folded, so he stapled it. Several times.

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Went to a work site which was complaining that there program would not work any more (dual 5 1/4 floppy system). When I pulled out the system disk, the magnetic coating was gone and you could see the mylar. It had never been removed since we had installed it (3 years ago).

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"How do I get a dollar sign on the screen? All I can get is a 4"

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My favourite site for these things is Tech Tales

This is what happens when sysadmins get drunk:

http://www.techtales.com/ttales0303.html#tale25

The whole site is way funny.

http://www.techtales.com/tftechs.html

I know (from experience) that it takes no more than five minutes to explain left- and right-clicking to a three-year-old child.

I see, so then how do you explain all of those adults that cant seem to figure out right and left clicking?

Perhaps the insinuation is that they are dumber than a 3yr old?

given that the powerlines are cut, surely you have a bigger problem than "the internet's down"??? Assuming that you can even tell that it's down...

What happens in the situation where one of the BPL boxes goes kaput due to ill weather (or as someone else suggested, bulletholes)? How is this different from the lines getting cut by a tree or ice?

I remember reading an entry on techtales.com about a confused user who logged in on someone elses machine and couldn't understand why she didn't see her own desktop. Funny, but also insightful. Maybe this is how it'll turn out.. when you log into a computer, you see your desktop, your files, your applications, on whatever computer you happen to be using at the time. Whether this will be through a fast connection to a box you have sat at home or rented storage at some large central repository, I don't know. Imagine if Google took a step further than storing a gigabyte of your email to storing several gigabytes of your documents, desktop settings, licenced applications, etc...?

Probably they'll toss for any criminal convictions, no matter how minor and/or old. Like for example public drunkenness (which isn't even a crime in Nevada, btw). Same for anything else "fishy".

Of course, being drunk while running a network is something that should count against you. :)

Ha! I remeber a tech tale where the guy used WD-40 to create a Slick Connection with his router.

On a side note: what happens to an IBM 'M' if you remove the springs completely ?

yes because people are just so intelegent and capable of handling their computers on their own.

I think this sums it up.

Which may sound far-fetched, but there are tales aplenty of this kind of incompetence at the excellent TechTales.

Even better: This.

There are dozens of stories like that on techtales.com. Have fun.

Then you need to read this!

A technician, upon opening a box to work out modem problems a customer was having, found no modem card, but a phone cable spliced directly onto the main power cord. Upon asking the customer why on earth that was, the customer replied "Well, whoever made the computer forgot to install the the modem card, so knowing a bit about Electrical stuff I spliced in a cable myself.

It never fails to amaze me just how dumb some people are. ;-).

For more calls: Tech Tales

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Jump to Tech Tales

I have done support for a while (a long time ago, in a place far, far away). It doesn't matter how good your product is. People WILL go 'stupid' on you.

No software is foolproof, because fools are so ingenious

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I agree 100%. As much as they may irk and irritate us, the marketing department isn't stupid. They know enough about the technology to sell it, but more importantly, they know enough about the lowest common denominator, the consumer, to know what they're simply not smart enough to grasp.

Don't believe me? Click here. I rest my case.

Someone over at Linux Today was good enough to dig up info on Clive and post it in reply to the article over there:

Clive's bio.

Check out his "previous work". Screams "PHB" to me:

Coming from an end-user background, Mr. Longbottom brings together large organisation experience with extensive IT knowledge to cut through current"flavours of the month", ensuring clients concentrate on the technology required to support business needs.

Oh goodie. Somehow, "end-user experience" gives him the authority to declare Linux too insecure for use in a network...has anyone told him about OpenBSD, or is the IT department over at Strategy Partners tired of having to explain things to him?

I'm an end user myself. This guy just seems like the stereotypical "I'm a tech expert! I know how to change my background and use Windows!"-type "expert" that you read about once in a while over at TechTales.

Here's another hillarious computer site, Techtales.com. It's so fun to laugh at the computer illiterate : )

>So, for most people, windows is easier, but for the rest un*x is.

You've said it right there. That's why Windows will remain strong until Linux becomes easier to use. Like the guy above me said with the modem problems, Linux makes you go through all these weird and confusing steps. I'm not a tech guy, or anything close to a tech guy. Windows is made for the average user, and that's all the average user needs. Tell me, what good would Linux do to the average Joe? Especially the average Joe who calls tech support like the guys over at Tech Tales? I especially like your answer to the guys problem "write your own drivers". I'd LOVE to see Joe Average do that.

Hahahahahahah That's got to be one of the funniest things I've ever read. And I just know that some guy would actually fit that diary. It's probally based off a true story! Here's another tech joke site, TechTales