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When Users Attack
AdmiralKit writes "Ever wonder how much damage some users can inflict on their computers? This site documents the cream of the crop of parts that have been returned because they are "defective" or "broken." Pretty amazing what people can do to computers in the middle of the information age."
Only 17 comments so far and the server's melted. I happenned to get a few picts myself, but that's about it.
We really need a slashdot cache! Come on commander taco, surely you can program that!
>Do you know the correct usage for its vs. it's?
:-)
Yeah, but when I forget I simply avoid using the words.
>Can you fix your car every time something goes wrong, or do you take it into a mechanic?
Yeah, but when he says "your tires would last longer if you didn't brake so hard" I take his advice.
>Do you know how to ballroom dance?
Nope.
The moral of my story is that if you don't know how to do something with something that is either not yours, or is quite expensive, you have three choices:
- Don't try.
- Learn how to before you try.
- Bring it to someone who can.
The other moral is that when someone who is clearly knowledgeable about something gives you advice you _follow_ it. Especially when it's their personal responsibility to keep that something working.
Last moral: If your job depends on you properly operating a device, you damn well should memorize 100% of its basic functions (in the case of a VP, how to operate a GUI environment, or in the case of a delivery man, how to drive a car).
But hey, maybe I have done something to annoy someone at some point. Ok, I _know_ I have.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
Unprofessional, quick diagnosis: Solder points on the back of the motherboard touched the metal casing (or something else metallic that they weren't supposed to touch).
One time while building a system I failed to fully secure the motherboard against the metal chasis. Somewhere, somehow the back of the motherboard was touching the chasis. When I fired it up, this exact same thing you described happened. Fortunately, it still worked after I put it all together properly.
Sure, but how many people are dumb enough to open the hood of their cars and rip out the distributor or pull on the spark plug wires really hard, just to see what happens? What about kitchen appliances, or the VCR? Most people claim they don't know how to set their clock (and admittedly, they're right they don't know.)
So what are these dopes doing cracking their computer case open, figuring they're smart enough to "repair" a very complicated and delicate piece of electronic equipment? More than likely, figuring that they can just blame it on lightning or play dumb. Whereas, its pretty obvious if you foobar'd your engine by putting coolant into where the oil should go.
Not knowing the difference between "it's" and "its" isn't going to cost the IT department 3000$US to replace a high-end workstation because some dope stuck a pencil into one of the fans trying to make it go faster. You're talking about apples and oranges.
There is very little future in being right when your boss is wrong.
Do average adult people stick peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the slot of their VCRs? No. Denis Leary's kids do, though. Why shouldn't those who know better make fun of total idiots? I suppose you think the Darwin Awards are cruel and mean too? People who don't know what they're doing should either get help, or RTFM. People who think they know what they're doing and are dead wrong have only themselves to blame unless there's a good story to explain their actions.
Is there something you want to tell us about the interesting angles of Mars and Jupiter? Are the lights on your DSL modem blinking messages to you in Morse code again?
Personally, I think we're still very close to the beginning in the scheme of things.
To you or more, the OS might be important, but most people don't care, and why should they? Everytime i get in someones car, i don't look to see what type is, if all i am getting is a lift to the beach!
You are a hard, hard man!
Nice.
Your teacher decided to use the authority and trust inherent in his position to publicly humiliate and victimize some kid... and YOU went along with it like a good little drone.
What made you think something like that was OK? I'll BET the kid has behavior problems. If the teachers did this to him in addition to the abuse you probably heaped on him, it's no mystery why.
Amazing that somebody didn't have the balls to speak up, but I guess you thought it would be cool to have a laugh at his expense. Sounds to me like this Chris could be any geek... young, intelligent, and mostly misunderstood/subjugated/hated by people like you.
Yeah... hilarious... I'll bet Chris thought it was a hoot.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
That story is fucked up, teachers like that need to realize they're not better then other jerk students.
The minimum spec for a CD ROM drive is going to be based on the forces applied by the wieght of a CD, probably on the basis of "This is what a person pushing a CD into place is likely to exert x2 for the usual over-engineering factor." It's reasonable to suggest that someone positioning a large full mug of coffee is going to exert more than that total force. It's also reasonable that a large mug of coffee resting on a CD ROM platter is likely to exert a continuous force that will weaken the system over time through fatigue.
How well, then, a CD ROM drive performs under those conditions will have to do with whether the machine was over engineered, or whether other factors meant it was built to be stronger anyway.
I think it's reasonable to suggest that there are cheaper CD ROM drives in existance that will fail when a user puts a mug of coffee on them. But I am not a rocket scientist...
KMSMA (WWBD?)
John asked him what all the wires were for, and he replied that they helped the computer work the way he needed it to. He proudly showed off the row of dip switches that he'd gotten from old 9600 modems and repurposed for toggling between the printer and his extra hard drive. John, probably in stupified amazement, yanked the rats nest of wires out of the system, told him to format the drive, and that he'd get back to him on the Linux install.
Your friend sounds like quite a dick. Why undo the hard work the guy was obviously proud of? It made the bike shop guy's computer work the way he wanted it to.
Probably stating the obvious here, but could it not be conceivable that the CDROM in this Techie call was not ejecting, and thus the End Luser called about his/her broken 'coffee cup holder'? It's an amusing experiment, but there are a couple different ways for a CDROM to break.
The test assumes the clueless luser broke the tray with the weight of the cup+contents. say it's open, and he's reaching for something behind the system, presses down with his stomach, either just leaning, or with slipped footing. *Crack!* Of course they're overengineered, and can handle lots more weight than a cd. If they couldn't, my kids would have broken off the trays on all of mine by now, instead of just wearing out the open/close racks&pinions.
Well-said, and in far fewer words than I used.
I have a very visceral reaction to this kind of abusive behavior, particularly when it comes from someone in a position of responsibility.
Had a similar incident when I was in elementary school, except I was the butt of the joke... never forgot it either (even 20+ years later).
Like most young geeks, I was socially awkward until college... took a while to grow into my brain, so to speak. A particular teacher was telling the class about a really funny 1-800 number he had called, like a "joke of the day"... something like "1-800-Quick." He assigned me to go call it and come back with the "Joke of the Day." I recognized the number of digits was wrong, and said something to that effect. He told me to shut up and go call it... so I went.
As I sat in the office down the hall trying to find a "Q" on the telephone dial (not realizing there wasn't one... I was only 11 years old at the time), I never even considered the possibility that the "Joke of the Day" was on me. Only after I got back to the classroom and reported my bewilderment at not being able to find a "Q" on the telephone dial did I find out that this "teacher" was really one of the enemy.
There is nothing quite like being forced to stand in front of a whole room full of people while they laugh at your "stupidity," trying not to gag from that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach that says "you've been set up." I actually recommend the experience to the original poster... might teach him some empathy.
As far as I'm concerned, that kind of behavior on the part of any "teacher" is a career-ender, and in the same category as a psychiatrist who sleeps with his patients, or a cop who takes bribes. All should be fired, gone, sacked, history.
Were it my child, I'd be all over the principle like white on rice.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.