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Wasting Time Fixing Computers
An anonymous reader writes "Interesting experiment by Marshall Brain, where he tracked every time-wasting error, repair, annoyance on his home network for one month. He logs 11 hours and 20 minutes of crap, everything from driver problems to forced upgrades, spam overflows... you name it. Anyone on /. is experiencing the same thing. Is it going to get better or worse in 2004, and how much time are we all wasting?"
I spend half of that time reading Slashdot everyday :-/
If he only found 11 hours of stuff to fix, he obviously isn't utilizin his full imagination.
I suggest overclocking, attempting to run a computer submerged in pure water(maybe those two at the same time), or extending the range of a wireless network with items purchased at a hardware store.
Summary: Writing all this stuff -- time spent: 2 hours.
You're in samsara. The Matrix has you. Things go wrong. You have to fix them.
:')
I've found personally that I spend a lot less time screwing around with broken things now that I'm running MacOS X, but YMMV - for example, my father has a dual-cpu G4, and he's getting frequent UI freezes right now (possibly system crashes - we don't know yet, because he hasn't done the latest diagnostic I asked him to do yet).
This represents a nasty trend, actually - as soon as your own geek foo is good enough that you run out of your own problems to fix, people start to notice that you have supreme geek foo, and then you have to fix *their* problems. So there is no hope. Give it up. Get used to fixing computers. It is your karma.
Unfortunately for me, I am the tech savvy person in my family. I have a brother who is certainly not dumb, but when it comes to the compter, he regards it as a "magic box" or something. On more than one occasion, he has felt the need to box it up and ship it to me. So, not only do I get the priviledge of repairing his PC on my oown free time, I get to pay to ship it back to him.
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES!
It's not "time wasting", it's called "utilising expertise".
If things never screwed up we would all be out of a job.
It once took me 36 hours to install Gentoo, KDE and Xfree. Does that count? (the GRP has brought thta down to a nice and comfortable 45 minutes or so).
The other way to look at this is: "Gee, a free PC arrived in the mail! I've always wanted an extra server box." Soon, requests for your time will disappear.
"Now I'm too old..."
:)
I don't know why, but for a moment there I thought you were Ben Kenobi.
Need more coffee...
Log 1) Time wasted on /.
/., on the other hand...
Log 2) Time wasted on pr0n
Time is not wasted on pr0n.
(On the other hand? That's why we have two.)
RTFM; please, I beg you.
They ALL have Windows problems. 50 - 60% of the girls just don't want to see you again.
No, I will not fix your computer.
'nuff said.
A Minesweeper clone that doesn't suck
I have a few that need help....
A laptop with a wireless problem.
A multimedia box with a video card problem....
A serveer that's at the end of it's redhat life....
A firewall that needs some review/attack/work/love...
A game machine that needs a new driver.....
Some guest box'es that need everything!
uuummm i give up.. too much to fix...
let them all die...except the game box... he he....
Oh! Did I mention the TV that keeps crapping out and the washer that needs a new clutch and the car that needs a new clutch and the drier that has a bad thermistat and the washer that's agitating instead of spinning and the 32inch TV with 18volts power rail instead of 12volts and the house wireing that has a bad ground (but not the servers on their own circuit) and the truck that has a bad carb... oh yeah did I mention the pile of old computers waiting for a job to keep them busy just like me....
Oh yeah... I have a job and a house but I'm still hungry... Please help....
Oh yeah and I need a girl friend...
Oh Foo...
I just gave away the real problem...
SWM.. Looking for a SWF..GEEK!
All aplications accepted and reviewd...
talk gordon@gordon.mossweb.com
gramer aces need not apply...
um.. wait.. all acceped!!!!!!....
I don't want a pickle; I just want a Motor-Cycle! A four foot cop arrived with a five foot gun!
I once spent a month tracking how much time I was spending at /.
...
This guy doesn't have ANYTHING to worry about
Slashdot? Oh, I just read it for the articles.
Oh man, I feel for you - they so totally don't appreciate you. I mean why did they bring you into this world if they were going to force you to use cheap ass Belkin network router hardware that can't support ... what was it, 10 computers under the same roof? They need to learn to -appreciate- you, to take into account your elite skills and contributions to the household. Heck, they ought to be paying you to live there, because it isn't like either one of them could keep their computers running and fully operational, free of spam and virii, kernels patched and drives defragged.
Angst - it is a harsh reality for a guy trapped under the iron thumb of a couple of people that just don't understand. We feel for you, and we are pulling for you. Once you taste the sweet nectar of freedom you get in the real world, you will never want to go back. Good luck surviving next semester under such emotional traumatic conditions.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
Okay, but what happens when the cup or the strings break? :P
Stop the Slashdot effect! Don't read the articles!