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Tech Support to the Stars
Carl Bialik writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Prince, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Bon Jovi, and U2 all have used technical support when on the road, when their Wi-Fi or Xbox or Sidekick needs servicing. The Journal takes a look at the lives of the essential, if overlooked, members of the entourage, the support tech. Joshua Kapellen, of Best Buy's Geek Squad, has been on the road with U2 since 2004. From the article: 'Last March, lead singer Bono needed his Xbox connected while the band rehearsed in Canada. Mr. Kapellen got a call. He hooked up the contraption and a few minutes later was playing videogames with Bono. "It was one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me," says Mr. Kapellen.'"
It's bad enough having good natured people on the other end of the phone line, can you imagine what it would be like with a total ego-maniac? For sanity's sake son, run like hell.
Why on earth anybody, anywhere, in the history of the world, would ever care enough about this to utter "mrh?", let alone write a news story about it?
In other news: celebs are human!
In other news: celebs take dumps!
In other news: celebs eat food!
In other news: celebs breath air!
In other news: celebs use tech support!
Being a geek (especially on the squad) is certainly underrated.
I would like to die like my grandfather did - sleeping. And not screaming in terror, like his passengers.
After all, he now owns BioWare.
""The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Prince, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Bon Jovi, and U2 all have used technical support when on the road, when their Wi-Fi or Xbox or Sidekick needs servicing."
Are these the people who's music is suppose to be crap? Or is that a different group?
Bono presents an image of himself as social justice incarnate, yet can't get by without a Microsoft product. Get real.
FTFA **Mr. Kapellen got a call. He hooked up the contraption and a few minutes later was playing videogames with Bono. "It was one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me," says Mr. Kapellen.'"**
Cool would have been winning $1000 off of Bono playing video games!!
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I'm not sure I'd want to be doing tech support for this guy.
... turning to the 3-D map, we see an unmistakable con
You're talking about Mark Cuban, aren't you? :)
only if Bill Gates needed help connecting his XBox :^)
I bet that there were strings attached when Bono played Xbox with that guy:
Bono: It'd be pretty cool if you could play this with me, right?
Kapellen: Yeah.
Bono: Alright, then we'll play -- but you have to promise to cure AIDS as soon as we're done.
Kapellen: (mulls it over for a minute) Yeah, okay.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a socially constructive application of the power of celebrity. I bet that Kapellen guy is half way to a bachelor's degree in Biology by now.
... turning to the 3-D map, we see an unmistakable con
Steve? Is that you?
I am sorry, but defining a few minutes with a celebrity as one of the best times in your life is just pathetic. Stop living off other peoples' lives. The tech support probably required more brains and talent than most celebrities have...
Some celebrities do good things, but most "ordinary" people do way more useful things. When is the last time you described spending time with someone like a doctor or nurse as an amazing time? To me, they are way more important people than any celebrity.
Seriously, what's people's thing with celebrities? What, exactly, lends a higher level of "cooleness" to playing a video game with a celebrity? Is there something about the way an over-the-hill rocker says "bastard!" when you steal the ball in NBA 2K6 that's significantly better than the way your friends do? Is there something about being in the presence of giant egos that makes the mundane feel exceptional? I end up working for a lot of film and TV people at work and frankly, if it wasn't for the fact that they pay well (and reliably), I wouldn't work for most of them. In fact, we won't work for Nicholas Cage again because he's an annoying nutcase. Maybe it's just my proximity to them that lets me see what bratty, childish gasbags most of them are. Do people in "flyover country" really go this ga-ga over these folks?
Conclusion: the Empire squashes the Federation like a bug. Accept it.
I used to work at the studios for a major TV station in NYC and I'll tell you, the "talent" are easygoing and are easy to deal with. Its the over-eager assistants that will drive you insane. I believe that the people right under someone "important" (including people right under executives) make dealing with the "stars" a lot more headache-inducing than it needs to be.
Sound waves should be free!
It is pretty sad when one of the coolest things that has ever happened to you is working for someone else fixing a irrelevant video game system.
When I worked at Apple tech support (for all of three weeks) many years ago, there was dozens of celebrity names in the database that had called in for help. It's just a name, folks. Why aren't we hearing about how Snoop Dogg calls the plumber, too?
For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
It would be one thing if these guys were trying to swap service-for-service. But, inevitably, they want tangible assets.
By the time you've been offered 2 front-row tickets in exchange for product, you wish the wrath of the IRS on them.
Too close to John Lovitz playing Picasso in the SNL sketches where restaurants get napkin scribbles instead of cash.
Caveat emptor, Bono. I wouldn't let those Geek Squad guys within five hundred yards of my computer: "Here's why it won't boot, dude, it needs a new ATI Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB graphics card. We sell 'em with only a 400% markup."
// This is not a sig.
Oh, that's why we created HDMI... just one plug, only goes in one way. But you know someone's going to try and force it in backwards and then complain that it won't work.
How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
"Let's face it, computer repairmen are at the bottom of the food chain," Mr. Stephens says, but these glamorous job opportunities "give hope to every geek out there."
Right... Any geek with an ounce of brain would realize that the slim chance of "glamor" does not justify the low pay. Let's pretend that 100 celebs go to the Geek Squad. The chances of being one of those servicing a celeb is still less than 1%. And how much is the chance of playing the XBox with Bono worth? No thanks. I'll take a 6 figure salary and no chance of working for a celeb. It's kind of sad when the coolest thing to happen to Kapellen is playing XBox with Bono. Are geeks that desperate for recognition and popularity?!? Sorry Mr. Stephens "these glamorous job opportunities" does not give this geek any hope. Working for a cool tech company or doing cool research might.
EvilCON - Made Famous by
Indeed. It's not just television stars. It's the same with vice presidents and other high-level underlings in corporations.
Often times CEOs are very intelligent, good-willed people who are easy enough to deal with. It's those under them who make it difficult. Sometimes the best thing to do with those type of people is to tell them flat out, "Fuck off. We have serious issues to deal with. We don't have time for your political shenanigans. They do not improve the efficiency of our firm."
Nothing scares such management more than the idea that they're impeding the financial success of their firm, especially if they're fairly high up in management.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Rosco P. Coltrane, you're quite a celebrity here at Slashdot. There are many here who admire you. I only wish there was a story you could tell us about how you used your celebrity to absolutely make the day (if not the entire year) of some young tech support technician.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
...cooler if it wasnt Bono... Had he asked me to stick around, i would have bailed. before I felt the urge to knock him unconcscious and wipe / shave that dirt on his chin
The phrase "more better" is acceptable English. suck it grammar Nazis
The whole point of Geek Squad was that you called them, they came over immediately, and they fixed your problem for a flat fee. A large flat fee. That's why they got celebrity clients. Not that many people are willing to pay $1000 or so to have their laptop fixed at 3AM. Now, as a unit of Best Buy, they mostly do home LAN installs.
Today's article sounds like a Geek Squad puff piece from about five years ago.
He must have nothing better in his life than to fawn over celebrities like some sort of salivating moron.
But can you really blame him? Take a look at his life growing up in America. There is a very good chance that he would have been bombarded by years upon years of pro-celebrity propaganda.
Much like somebody in Middle Ages Europe would have been subservient to the Catholic Church, the vast majority of Americans have had Hollywood as the main influence in their life.
He has been taught all along to get excited about celebrity. While those of us who put more emphasis on education and scholarship do not care about Hollywood and pop culture celebrity, he knows nothing else. Thus it is understandable that he'd get so excited about meeting Bono.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Am I the only one who read the title to this article and though this would be about space and tech support? I was thoroughly dissapointed when it turned out to be just about Bono having to call someone to plug in an X-Box...
The wii is the revolution, comrade!
I've had the 'pleasure' of providing technical support to several high-profile personalities. In some cases, I dealt with an assistant and in others, with the actual 'star'. In both scenarios, I was promised payment by submitting an invoice to the appropriate person or agency. Good luck trying to collect on those invoices; while I billed at an hourly rate that I would any other client, it has been close to impossible to collect payment. I'm tempted to chalk it up to typical 'star' arrogance, but I'm just plain pissed that they feel they deserve free services simply because they are well known. If they asked for a favor, I would have done so, but in every case, I was promised payment. You just gotta wonder...
very true...
"Tech support for celestial bodies of plasma" (aka: the stars)
Wait, wasn't tech support (or someone posing as a tech claiming to support her) why we got to see even more embarassing pictures of her anorexic bod, plus got to learn Fred Durst's home phone number?
I've worked for a major ISP before and now schlep for a cellular provider. Calls from government wigs and celebs (rather, their right-hand people) are nothing new... you get the wheat with the chaff.
And yes, I do have a signed photo of Jack LaLanne because of my old tech support joint.
Laughter is the Spackle of the Soul.
I will laugh so hard when one of these celebs have to call the Geek Squad because he/she gets locked out by the DRM on his/her own songs, movies, etc.
EvilCON - Made Famous by
If the "geek squad" were really geeks they would have decent jobs, instead of working for Best Buy!
for the time I spent working tech support at a college, all I know is that some of the faculty teaching computers was more computer illiterate than a lot of the students. All the faculty knew how to do was teach from a book, nothing more.
For example, one graphics arts teacher who taught photoshop thought that our server was just a group of files that we copied to each computer and assigned that group of files a drive letter.
Another ( I am not joking ) Assumed that email was printed out and delivered to various faculty on campus by the recipients secretaries. (His, actually did that from time to time.)
Then the Dean of Information Technology would tell one person to do something, turn around and tell another person to assist but what they told the person who was supposed to be assisting was two completely different things, and latter one of the two would get asked why they didn't do what was asked of them.
With as much moolah as some of these stars rake in, I am seriously surprised that they dont retain their own tech support to go with them and live with them.
Who needs technology when you have someone to do it for you.
Am I the only one that thinks that seems a bit strange? IT is really all you need for standard technical assistance. CS tends to deal more with the code and mathematics/science behind the code (not pretty), and unless he's writing special software for Ludacris, it would seem unnecessary. Although a CS person can do stuff like that (and IT can do basic programming a lot of the time), I would think he learned more then he needed to know. Oh well. Maybe it was just a general word, and he meant IT courses (I've seen very few if any courses that would help him with basic tech support in my uni's CS curriculum (fairly large)).
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
I helped Steve Ballmer hook up his xbox, and all i got was this lousy chair!
I think that the only people who give a rats rear about the "celeb" lifestyles are those that don't have a life in the first place. Look at all the idiotic cable tv shows, magazines etc... There must be a market for that crap, or they wouldn't be out there, but it is sad that people care more about the celebs than what is going on in REAL life.
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
Tech Support to the Stars
Damn, and I thought outsourcing to India was bad enough!
Andrea just learned to do email a few months ago. She admitted it during an interview, whereupon sister Caroline told her, "Don't tell people that!"
I could have been the one to teach her! Unfortunately, the only result would have been that she would have been able to email her much younger boyfriend, Shaun Evans, more easily.
Plus, they seriously need to comprehend the possibilities of digital downloads, since their manager, John Huges, is an old music war horse who apparently thinks all downloads are piracy. Given their lack of penetration in the US market, they need help understanding the Net.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
I used to work at a big BIG computer store right next to all the LA studios, back in the late 1980s, we were known as "the Computer Store to the Stars." But that was mostly because we had a good reputation for treating the stars like regular people (there is a fine line between being polite and being obsequious). Plus we were discreet, we kept everything strictly confidential, no matter how outrageous (like for example when I attempted to recover data from a famous scriptwriter's floppy disk that had a hole burned through it from a piece of crack that flew out of the pipe's bowl).
But, you have to draw the line sometimes. Anyone below the level of Producer was almost guaranteed to be a nice, normal person that you could work with easily, but above that, egos are totally out of hand, and I wouldn't hesitate to tell them to get out of my face. I call this problem "Producer Syndrome." Producers that have the power to order people to set up $2 million in equipment in a corner of a building, and who lose tens of thousands of dollars per minute for production delays, tend to lose perspective.
Contrary to what the Slashdot group think profess, it is not necessary to earn a CS degree in order to achieve developer status. I'm living proof of someone that worked my way up the ladder without any degrees whatsoever.
Don't get me wrong, a degree can provide you with useful skills but it cannot give you the thirst to learn or the drive to succeed and it is no substitute for inherent talent.
Have you ever wondered why there are people with college degrees flipping burgers or waiting tables? They are there because they lacked the drive to succeed and the humility to start in a junior position.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
(...)
"It was one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me,"
This is one of the coolest things I've ever read!
Definitely "News for nerds, stuff that matters" material. Thanks!
"For the stars" is always just another phrase for "What is the most expensive/luxurious method/device", that seems really like what people are interested in, the fact that it involves stars is probably arbitrary. After all, people are so fickle about who gets to be in the limelight that it really is 15 minutes of fame, and if it isn't, you're probably washed up.
Totally.
I don't understand why they do that, either.
Obviously they have never had a REAL technology problem or the Geek Squad guy would be in way over his head.
First you don't want to provide the camel and now you want to get his goat!? *shock*
:)
My oh my life must be hard in Prince World (formerly known as lala-land)
--
this additional sig includes a portrait of Mohammed in support of freedom of expression, feel free to reproduce it
this comment is provided "as is" and without any express or implied legibility or congruity [...]
I'm not suprised Bono needs tech support to get his Xbox to work...
;)
After all, he doesn't even even know how a U2 ipod works.
In my day, any roadie worth his minimum wage could handle any equipment the band brought with them...
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Prince, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Bon Jovi, and U2 all have used technical support when on the road
Used tech support? With all their money you'd think they could afford new tech support.
"Grab them by the pussy" -- President of the United States of America
Maybe you missed this blurb in the article:
when Best Buy Co.'s Geek Squad of computer repair people asked him to accompany the Irish band and provide tech support to the 120 people traveling with the "Vertigo" world tour. He has been on the road in North America and Europe ever since.
That they contracted with Best Buy instead of hiring directly pretty much sums up business these days. Doesn't lessen the fact that they had full time tech support with them throughout the tour.
That just happened, IIRC. I think it was Spielberg over in Europe for one of the film festivals. The movie review samples they were distributing failed to work on the reviewers' machines because of the DRM. They had to order a whole new batch without the DRM.
Many bands are pissed off that their fans can't play their music on their iPods or whatever. A couple of them have stood up to their labels and said, "No DRM on our stuff!"
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
I work for Geek Squad. It's not that bad, really great part time job while I study Computer Science. Helping people who don't have time to learn all the details of technology can be rewarding, knowing you can actually teach or show a person something that will benefit or at least entertain them.
The rest of the time, you have paying customers who would gladly part with their money for you to just "make it work".
Celebrity or not, Bono is just like any other Best Buy / Geek Squad customer.
Today is actually today is my 364th day of Tech support for the third Largest ISP in Australia, To date i've had some big named people call me including a news presenter / sports commentator, band members, minister of states and so on just to name. They've all been great people to help and is often a delight to speak too and are happy for assistance. Only one guy tried to use his poltical status to bypass the need for password verification.
Technically not "Geek Squad", but at a company named The Answer Group - they handle BBY's phone support (ie, their warranties) and Geek Squad phone centers)... anyway, having been there, I can say that we did have celebrities call us up, they have a special entry in the database system that makes their personal info private and pretty much requires special attention. The only thing I can say to the company's credit is that celebrities had to pay - we had Shaq call once, and he was an utter ASSHOLE because he couldn't believe that he had to pay to have someone come out to do some service for him. He ended up bitching and whining and not having anyone go out.
Geek Squad is a neat idea, and I can say that with regards to the original members (of which some of the phone support guys had badge numbers with very low numbers indicating they'd been there quite some time) they are very passionate about what they do and treating people right. Josh was also the guy in charge of Geek Squad's web forum where the agents would post questions and comment about some of their more... odd jobs, most of which were hilarious. CLosed to the public though, and not sure if top brass officially knew of its existence.
If I had just "made it" as a star, or more likely as some rich guy in the public eye, I would be very angry if my tech support guy told a newspaper about his experience. Especially if it made me look dumb. Doesn't his company have a privacy policy? I'm pretty sure the privacy policy (if it existed) was violated for the purpose of writing a "fluff" news story. If I were a manager, there is NO WAY I would let an employee talk about all the famous people they have served without prior permission to do so. Just imagine the consequences if that was permitted.
Personally I think the article was made up. That's because I'm generally a cynical bastard, and it's also a fact that sometimes there are slow news days.
I used to work for a company in Santa Monica and did work for one of the stars of the NBC show ER. It was a bit surreal but the star and her husband were very cool. Her publicist was a bit annoying though, I don't think he ever was off the phone the few times I was there. Too bad last time I went there something went really wrong and I had to take the PC back to the shop to fix it. Ooops, dam HP all-in-ones. Before I left LA I did always used to think how cool it would be to get linked into the celeb network and be a "tech to the stars".
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
I used to sell the odd PC to people through word of mouth when I was working south of Sydney and a few times had brushes with local celebrities (well known tv anchorman, news reporter, singer). And they were a pain in the ass to deal with because they thought they were the business. Two of them attempted to not pay the invoice (I actually got the line "do you know who I am??"), but paid well into 120 days after my persistance. The singer used to go out in public wearing big dark sunglasses and covered almost every part of herself with clothing to try and cover up her identity. I wouldn't be surprised if she had a balaclava in her purse for when she does the weekly groceries.
On the other hand, I used to live on the same road as Eric Bana in Melbourne. Top bloke. Never did computer work for him, but you could tell he'd pay his invoices on time.
Task Mangler
I was working a wireless project at a venue and the talent wanted wireless in the dressing room. Dressing rooms weren't in the spec. We added it temporarily as we were still doing installs.
I ended up on stage during the sound check helping the keyboard tech get access to the net over our wireless network so he could do his email and stuff. I also ended up at the apron of the stage for the duration of the show and had an all access pass for the evening.
Thing is, I still don't know whether he spells it MeatLoaf or Meat Loaf.
Still, it was an awesome show and I had a great time.
-- There is no sig line, only Zuul.
When I was consulting in Los Angeles about a decade ago I did computer work for Alex Trebeck and Shirley Maclaine (among others). I never met Ms. Maclaine but her business assistants (who I dealt with) seemed nice enough.
I worked with Trebeck a bunch of times and found him to be a very nice, very bright (didn't know much about computers but was a fast learner) and just fine to deal with.
Celebrities are just people -- some of them a bit eccentric I suppose -- and I don't really get what all the hub-bub is about. If I didn't know Trebeck was a big game-show host he'd have just seemed like a nice guy with an impressive collection of sweaters. (and a ton of money)
-Coach-
Perhaps the world's greatest tragedy is that ignorance is not impotence.
Go, daddy, go!
Polk High sucks!
They could have found better tech support. Although the geek squad has just enough knowledge to hook up a a/v cable to a xbox so I guess it works out.
"Hello Geek Squad? This is Brittney Spears, I need to hire someone to turn my TV on and off."
I've had to explain it to my boss many a time that just because you "know computers" doesn't mean that you can fix a totally-screwed-over Windows Server 2000 box, code up a wave analysis routine in C++, modify a Linux kernel, call a TWAIN routine using JNI in a Java applet, upgrade a printer driver on an XP box, spec out and order up a rack-mount dual-Xeon server with dual RAID-5s, draw up a requirements spec., manage an outsourced EJB3 project, yell at the Fanatical(tm) Rackspace tech support, and fix their kid's Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 game.
Wait, I have done that... never mind.
DT
Is this thing on? Hello?
when I was moving up in the world, I had a chance to get in with this company on the ground floor in '98 or 99 - being a Minnesota based company and all...
their old geek squad mobiles were 50's and 60's classic cars, and then they started using VW beetles - new ones.
They told me the story about helping the Rolling Stones with something and then those guys pretty much tagged along the rest of the tour.
Glad to see someone made it big - I went the networking route - no playing video games with rock stars...damn. -
RB
----------
ah honey, we're all resplendent - Bill Mallonee
First they start tracking where cracked software go, now they're training sys admin's to be astronauts...
I am unique, just like you, and you, and you...
Yeah, yeah... listen to you...
"I work with celebrities--but I don't like it. No, sirree. I don't like working with celebrities... Like Nicholas Cage. I don't like working with Nick. He's kind of clingy and he keeps asking for my autograph. Did I mention I work with celebrities?"
Bono preseumes to lecture world leaders about how the world's economic problems should be handled, yet he's incapable of plugging an XBox into a television set?!? You could literally train a chimp to do this in less than five minutes...
fixing an Ipod for Steve Jobs.
fixing an Xbox for Steve Balmer
and ultimately:
giving a bikini wax to Monica Belucci.
I swear I'd give mySelf a bikini wax with the same equipment right after.
I love humanity, it is people I hate
I would say it is Bob Parsons (http://www.bobparsons.com/) of godaddy.com
It was region coding, which isn't really DRM at least the way I understand it.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=173921&cid=144 68157
nuff said
I work as a techie in NYC. Since the late nineties the starting salaries in NY were $55k a year! My last job lasted 5 years and I ended up making $65 a year.
"Technicians like Mr. Kapellen are paid about $32,000 a year, the industry average for computer technicians, according to the Association of Support Professionals.
Could this be a regional issue? Or is $55 the norm for computer lackeys in the Big Apple because soda in 20oz bottles go for $1.50 a pop and generally that's an analogue to how expensive everyithing else is making the same work provide the same quality of life (virtually speaking) in NYC as it does for the Geek Squads in Demoins Iowa? Or are the Geek Squads just generally extremely underpaid.
I'm on the job hunt now and have had some balk at $65, but just recently dropped my price by $10gs just get hired. At the $55 level, people don't even blink. The only reason my my compensation rose so high was because I'd mastered an arcane level of Ghost on the Enterprise level which streamlined efficiency to a high degree. But try explaining that to a shop that has never used Ghost and they just go..."Uh huh".
But what puzzles me is that $55k seemed the norm in 1998???!!! So, how can it STILL be the norm starting price, in addition to all the experience I've gotten since then be priced at that level? That doesn't even keep up with inflation!
And added to that, wouldn't anyone feel underpaid for this stressful job at merely $32 a year? I understand there are different costs of living around the country but this seems like a dramatic difference!
Quod scripsi, scripsi.
since he invites a brother of a popular comedian and his friends to play basketball with Prince's band while they are wearing the same clothes from the club not to mention he served the guests pancakes the morning after.
The sound man for AC/DC rode his bike five miles to the store where I work to get a zip drive, but got the wrong kind. He called back and gave us two tickets and back stage passes to bring him the correct drive.
I still remember a time when rock stars had groupies for when their Sidekick needed "servicing".
I did side work a long time ago for the head of our HR Department. I set up a new PC he had bought for his home. I transfered all of his apps/settings/docs over from his old win95 box to his new box (which ran WinME). This included all of his quickbooks records, and a plethora of other very important business applications related to a business he owned on the side. That was great, but the thing that made his day was when I transfered his Freecell stats over. He had 13,000+ games on record.
IIRC, it was just a single registry key.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
could probably literally kill you and tape the event and never go to jail for it.
Are you a cowardly person by nature? If working for wealthy, powerful people makes you nervous to the extent that you think they might kill you if you make a mistake, you might want to check in to your local psychiatrist.
being a geek....is underrated...
being a geek on the "squad" is overrated. have you ever seen the "geek squad pc repair cd" that you buy in best buy? The paths on the disc are broken. You guys call yourself geeks? Stop it, you're giving us all a bad name.
What the hell are you talking about? The guy is using a really really common literary technique which is generally used to give perspective. For example 'the kinetic energy in a grapefruit falling from orbit would be enough to create a crater the size of Arizona' is intended to draw the reader's attention to the awesome power of gravity rather that imply that the author has an unhealthy fear of falling citrus. The key point here is the use of the word 'could' which indicates a theoretical ability rather than 'would' which would have indicated intent.
If you really did not understand that I would suggest a course in basic english comprehension, if you did understand it but chose to ignore it in favour of making a childish personal attack on the OP then you may need to get someone to look at your own mental health.
ah common... its just a customer... just a number in the ticket tracker... unless he pays more theres no reason to be "stressed". The fact that some people got much money cause:
;)
1. they got it from their parents
2. they are overpaid
3. they have good marketing (riaa and similar bullshit)
doesent make em high priority customers... one xbox... one computer... low priority... unless of course he pays me my lost nerves in platinum
The Independent: Reverend Spooner Arrested in Friar Tuck Incident - ISIHAC, Historical Headlines
Wonder if the auction would look like this
Go daddy, go, go!
Go daddy, go, go!
Daddy, Be good!
OR
Be good, be good, be good,
Be good, be good, be good,
Be good, be good, be good,
Be good, Daaaaddy.
Sorry
Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
Fucking kill you.
i used to work out of Future Shops head office, which was also purchased by Best Buy. i occassionally supported the in-store techs, which are fairly low caliber - at least the ones i spoke too. One guy who had been a tech for a year had his own pc go BSOD and called head office, he had never seen a Blue Screen before, had no idea what it was. IMHO if you have not seen a BSOD before, you need to step away from my PC.
Now, if only he could sing, or could at least pick good music and hire someone else to sing it for him.
Just goes to show that money and fame can't fix everything.
The two most vivid memories of the time when I was selling and fixing PC stuff would have to be a (at the time) well known German talk show host being one of my customers (only bought stuff like software, never fixed his PC) and a not-at-all famous vet for whom I once had to crawl under a table with a dead, half-rotten dog once to install some BNC/COAX cabling.
;)
So, can't claim that celebrities are bad customers in comparision
Oh, and then there was one of the presenter girls from VIVA (once a German competitor to MTV) in my drivers license class.
In restrospective, none of them was nearly as famous as Bono, but I have to say it was surprising how normal and down to earth those were. Plus, I am surprised I ever got my driving license coz my eyes were NOT on the chalkboard most of the time *grin*
No one is as brave as Chuck Norris.
http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/
You have much to learn.
Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
At the end of the day if you treat the mail room guy the same as the CEO eg all the same there shouldnt be any problem Also remember that YOUR the admin and the are the Lusers :)
So, what have you got against Linux users?
Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I have personally witnessed the (permanent) HEAD of a Computer Science department at a large state-run University (~30k students) do the following:
1. Repeatedly: Type his full first name, middle initial, and full last name as his Win2k domain username, *without* a password... He seemed to have no concept of usernames & passwords and expected the computer to just recongize his full name. (I thought maybe he was more of a unix person, but this doesn't seem very likely)
2. Be completely inept at using Powerpoint... He had extreme difficulty in opening a presentation and flipping through the slides... Now I realize the HoD may not be a wiz at creating presentations in Powerpoint, but he should at least know how to give them.
3. Need help in turning a laptop on... (And that was after he located the power switch)
Oh, and did I mention that for some strange reason, this "flagship" university does not have an accredited CS department??
Prince is the guy who said "in this life, you're on your own"! You mean he doesn't actually believe that?
Lets face it, there are only four ways you are going to get that call.
1. You already know the star, or someone who knows the star.
2. You work for Geek Squad or some other large tech support chain.
3. You happen to be at the right place at the right time.
4. You hack the star's equipment and insert your name under their before-never-noticed tech-support entry in their address book.
Lets rexamine number 2. Stars travel a lot. So how do they find you when they happen to be in your area? You need to be able to list yourself somewhere as being in that area AND be able to make a "star quality" ad that intriques them. The only way I know of to do that is to list yourself for free in Page's Computer Services Directory.
Disclaimer: I do work for Page Computers, but I hope the posting was funny and on topic.
Kapellen: Play a game with you? Yeah! That'd be awesome!
30 seconds later...
Bono: So, (boop beep boop) have you considered the problems in Ghana?
Kapellen: Well, err...no. Not really. (boop beep)
Bono: Well, you should. (beep beep) Do you know how high their interest rates are on (boop) Monetary Fund loans are? (beep)
Kapellen: Um, yeah. (boopity boop) That sucks for sure.
Bono: And the starving children, (beep) with flies on their lips and distending stomachs (boop boop) are crying out in pain while the bloody worms are boring holes in their eye-sockets just so they can get an outside view of the world. (beepity boop)
Kapellen: Well, I...
Bono: And even the worms are starving (boink beep) because there isn't enough meat on a starving child's large intestine to make a dent in their hunger.
Kapellen: Ugh. I think I'm getting sick...
Bono: You're getting sick!? Have you ever had to experience (beepity boink) a bad case of Ebola? Have you? (beep boop boink)
Kapellen: Ummmm...
Bono: Have you ever (beep) had to smell the bloody stool and vomit of a child whose parents were hacked to death with machetes by roving bands of warlords? Have you?!?
Kapellen: *baaaarf* Oohhhh...
Bono: Yes! Yes! Just like that. (boink beep boink)
Et cetera...
Man, you guys really *are* a bunch of geeks... that's a freakin' *dream* job, right there, fo' shizzle!
Let me ask - when did you last tweak your network settings? Replace your DNS server? Patch a web server? Install a new printer and/or driver? Upgrade your anti-virus server? Find a way to run a one-off application written 25 years ago on new hardware? Roll out 20 new systems in 5 days? Dig through vendor documentation of a commercial product to find out WHY it won't work the way the cusomer thinks it should, and find an acceptable replacement?
You were right about one thing, tech support is not CS. CS is a "deep" subject and tech support is "shallow" by comparison - but it's a damn sight "wider" than you think. You get to develop solutions to problems, while we support folks just have to find them ... and we have a lot more problems to solve.
If your definition of geekiness is esoteric knowledge about system internals, I'll call your bet and raise you $50 - I build systems every day at work & at home, I keep current on trends & threats in hardware AND software, and I actively test new applications & OS's. What makes your CS degree (attained ~n years in the past) such a great signifier of geek prowess?
How does the Earthlink commercial go - "nerds & geeks know about computers, but geeks get things done"? I am definitely a geek. You?Hmmm. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
I just had to say something. Again, sorry.
I do this for a living. They are just like any other people, and we treat them that way. I'd say most of my client list are celebrities or gov't officials but we respect their privacy and don't go touting about how we fix such and such's computers, or hang out with them. It's just unprofessional. No wonder all he can get is a job working for the Geek Squad. "Client confidentiality" just isn't in their vocabulary.
I worked for a technology company in the early 1990s that
had celebrity clients as customers.
You would definetely recognize two high profile clients.
One was a high profile television show that lasted in
excess of ten years. The other was a legendary musician.
Oddly enough, I had no stories about tirades or anything.
The TV show guys needed us to help them achieve their ends
in many cases and were fairly easy to work with.
The legendary musician was actually cooler to deal with
than most of our customers.
It was a fun gig while it lasted.