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Road Rage on the Information Superhighway
Manuka writes "A CNN Story about people venting their frustration on their machines. Those of you that work support jobs already know about this problem :)"
I just swear a lot. It would be amusing to record me some
afternoon when I have a crashing server. It certainly would
deserve an R rating.
yes, i've found that if I call my server a whore, it recovers faster. astute of you to notice that.
Every time MS-Winders crashes my machine, I just :(.
boot to Linux and chill for fifteen minutes, but
then I have to go back and do work
I hear ya. I also deal with this at work. I do tech support for a large "ISP" im sure all of you know... the one with 16 million members. You wouldnt believe the the stupidity of these people! thankfully im done with it in 1 day!!! whoo hoo!
Is there a better viewer or format of this classic?
yeah. quicktime. =)
Yea, I really believe that you could fit "HUNDREDS" of checks into a floppy drive.
This story looks like it was researched by reading urban legends on Usenet.
Well I work for a rather large company that makes soundcards. You might have heard of it. Some of the people are rather... gifted, like the man who licked his power supply (not joking) to see if it worked.
This article is unique in so far as it managed to cite urban legends and computer folklore in toto, without a shred of actual investigative reporting. Amazing.
They even got the part about motivation wrong. My strongest impulse to bash the sh*t out of my box is when I know *exactly* what it is doing. The prime exmple is friggin ms devstudio, which grabs focus about 14 times during launch. Can't do a anything on the machine until its launched itself. Thats when I want to bash it hard. I usually go get a cup of coffee instead...
ciao,
--mtngrown
i used to forkbomb our servers where i used to work.
before you say 'thats mean', they were luddites who scream & rant when 'the internet goes down'. kinda hard to keep sane.
Funny, I never get that smash-the-computer feeling unless I'm running a Microsoft product. On the occasions I do it's fairly common tho.
Microsoft should start distributing Bill Gates voodoo dolls complete with needles with their products for all those frustrated users. Or maybe Copyleft should add it to their product line.
All I can say is that I am glad that airplane pilots are required to know how to use the tools for their jobs :)
>> WordPerfect TECH
>>
>> This is a true story from the WordPerfect help line.
>> Needless to say the help desk employee was fired .
>> This is from the taped conversation leading up to
>> dismissal:
>> "WordPerfect Technical Desk, may I help you?"
>> "Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."
>> "What sort of trouble?"
>> "Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden
>> the words went away"
>> "Went away?"
>> "They disappeared."
>> "Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"
>> "Nothing."
>> "Nothing?
>> "It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type."
>> "Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?"
>> "How do I tell?"
>> "Can you see the C: prompt on the screen?"
>> "What's a sea-prompt?"
>> "Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the
>> screen?"
>> "There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept
>> anything I type!"
>> "Does your monitor have a power indicator?"
>> "What's a monitor?"
>> "It's the thing with the screen on it that looks
>> like a TV. "Does it have a little light that tells
>> you when it's on?"
>> "I don't know."
>> "Well, then look on the back of the monitor and
>> find where the power cord goes into it..
>> Can you see that?"
>> "Yes, I think so."
>> "Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged
>into
>> the wall."
>> "Yes, it is."
>> "When you were behind the monitor, did you notice
>> if there were two cables plugged into the back of
>> it? Not just one?"
>> "No."
>> "Well, there are. I need you to look back there
>> again and find the other cable."
>> "Okay, here it is."
>> " Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged
>> securely into the back of your computer."
>> "I can't reach."
>> "Uh-huh. Well, can you see if it is?"
>> "No."
>> "Even if you maybe put your knee on something and
>> lean way over?"
>> "Oh,it's not because I don't have the right angle -
>> it's because it's dark."
>> "Dark?"
>> "Yes -the office light is off, and the only light I
>> have is coming in from the window."
>> "Well, turn on the office light then."
>> "I can't."
>> "No? Why not?"
>> "Because there's a power outage."
>> "A power... A power outage? Aha, Okay, we've got it
>> licked now.
>> " Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing
>> stuff your computer came in?"
>> "Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."
>> "Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack
>> it up just like it was when you got it. Then take
>> it back to the store you bought it from."
>> "Really? Is it that bad?"
>> "Yes, I'm afraid it is."
>> "Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?"
>> "Tell them you're too fucking stupid to own a computer."
>>
A tech support person fielded a call from a luser whose computer didn't respond to keyboard commands, even the screen was dead. After some trouble shooting, said luser volunteered that the lights weren't working, and the microwave oven wouldn't heat his coffee. TS person stifled his laughter when he realized the computer didn't respond because the power was out.
He patiently explained to luser to box up the computer with all the materials, and take it back to the store for a refund. Luser asked what reason he should give for the return. "Here's what you tell the return clerk - 'I'm returning this because I'm too damn stupid to own a computer.'"
TS person was fired over this. I used to think this was just an urban legend, but now I'm not so sure.
One of my coworkers uses Printmaster for WinBlowz 31. It requires the CDRom be put in the drive to run - it's basically copy protection. One day the program wouldn't start up. She had put it in the floppy drive. I put it were it belonged, but she had scratched it beyond usability.
Tough luck. She should be formatting her newsletters in HTML anyway. Maybe Darwinism has its good points.
Ty should market the Bill Gates Beanie Baby, nicknamed Crash.
By the way, Ty has a penguin BB, Waddles. It's really cute, my daughter has 3 or 4 of them. It could be the Linux mascot.
I don't agree with the article that it's just frustrate beginners who don't understand computers. I've been working with computers for over 7 years and have a Comp Sci degree, and the damn things still frustrate the heck out of me. Every second word out my mouth is a swear word, especially when I'm trying to set stuff up, but also in general. It's much worse when I'm dealing with the various brain-damages of Windows (restarting over 10 times just to set up a new motherboard?!?!?! When Linux boots first time OK on the new motherboard!?!?!) But it's also under Linux that I get frustrated and swear. Just not as much.
I honestly believe that the real reason there is so much frustration amongst computer users is Microsoft software.
Then I wouldnt have to swear as much.
... is the one language all programmers know best, eh?
NeXT would make the world a better place. Even under VMS I still have frustrations. And to be fair, all my Windows problems are my own damn fault; that is, all the programs that I write.
If you shake the computer while harddrive access is going, you could damage it, I guess.
When I get upset at work, I take a mouse by the cable and smash it. Pieces fly everywhere. Makes me feel better and I'm more productive for the rest of the day. Mice cost about $5. Seems well worth it to the company.
Unique? That is typical for the media. I refuse to watch the news because of the blatantly irresponsible/malicious reporting. I don't miss it (I make up for the violence by watching all of the "world's scaries police chases" specials on fox), but it is strange when I find out about major events weeks late.
PPP never gave me problems... now X server configuration on the other hand, I just don't want to go near that.
I don't care how well you know your tools, if your tools are faulty, then you won't get the job done. Microsoft is the king of unproductivity. Turn on computer - open Excel - cut and past some numbers and suddenly you're our of resources and must reboot. Who's fault is that? You have 65 megs of ram on a fast computer, where the Hell is Microsoft putting your resources? True, it could be hardware related, but on several different computers?!? I believe that many a poor souls out there know their tools very well - that's why they save often and skip lunches. The ONLY time I've ever become verbally abusive regarding my computers was when dealing with Microsoft - and I am a computer manufacturer (I certainly hope I know my tools since I make a good living at it). Linux, on the other hand, brings peace and serenity back into the picture. If an app segfaults, you know that it's the app - which more often or not is alpha or beta anyway. Stable apps are just that - stable. Their failure is very rare. You don't have to restart the system, just restart the app. Your mouse doesn't freeze up, and you don't get the blue screen of death. Messages about low resources are non-existant - and I really beat up on it too, and it just keeps ticking happily away...it keeps me out of therapy. :)
:)
More power to Microsoft - they're the best advertisement Linux has had...
WHY DO THESE PEOPLE EVEN HAVE JOBS??????? Sheesh...the minute I learned I'd hired someone THAT stupid, they'd be out the door!
Just to say, thanks. It was a great laugh!
I know. I worked for the company where it happened at the time it happened. One or two details here are "off" though.
To my knowledge, the techie never was caught, much less fired. He/She didn't give a name. As a result of this call, all techs in the company were forced to give first and last name at the start of every call taken.
So you can remove that one from the Urban Legend list, folks. I was there. Another techie at this same company managed to successfully get away with the techie's dream: telling a caller to f*** off (yes, we all paid for that too). Other classic idiots from my personal experience:
--The airline pilot (I refuse to divulge the airline, but I won't fly with them) who couldn't figure out how to insert a diskette
--The Canuck who couldn't understand why he couldn't dial up with his one Winmodem to two numbers simultaneously
--The woman who lied repeatedly over whether there was a floppy in the drive, only to finally admit that the machine booted too fast without it in there (I am not making this up).
It's a frightening world.
It was hard the first time, but that was because I was an ignorant doofus. Now that I'm no longer ignorant (just a doofus), it's not hard. I didn't get angry with the box at all. It wasn't the box's fault that I was ignorant.
Now, if I'd had documentary evidence that I was doing everything right and it STILL wouldn't work...
good thing you don't have a job, then.
knowing an AC like yourself is in management does not brighten my day.
Once I had a call about a screen problem.
:)
I went and guess what.
the windows background and forground color was blue!
back = blue, font = blue
the guy couldn't see anything on the screen.
yep:
mpegtv
look for it on freshmeat.net
peace
Sure, it took a while the first time (since that was in the good (bad?) old days when you had to read a fair amount). That was a question of my lack of knowledge tho. Lack of knowledge does not make me want to smash the computer.
Now, things that *do* make me want to smash the computer is when I fire up notepad and try to save an empty file. 'No, you must type something'. Well, I want an empty file, I dont want to type anything. Things like that, and a gazillion other annoyances (including crashes, frozen apps, and things not working despite following the documentation, etc) with Microsoft products make me want to smash the computer.
I know what I want to do. I dont give a shit what some Microsoft code drudge thinks I *should* do. When their worthless moronic lame excuses for crapware tell me what to do I get rather annoyed and want to shove a number of shrinkwrapped Windows NT boxes up their ***.
I dunno, I worked support at SGI for a while, and I had one guy I helped get fired about a week later for killing his Indy. Apparently he launched it down a flight of stairs in the loading bay. Of course, he wasn't so bright (that's why he was working in the loading bay) -- his question was about the Netscape "lock" file...
I was in China with my mother for 6 months during desert shield/storm. We hardly heard about it until we got bach to the usa. It was weird; like reading a history book.
That would be funny too, except that my mom did the same thing.... and she's an electrical engineer at MIT.....
Definitely.
I just got a voodoo2 card mostly to play half-life. After installing, my first test was to play quakeII under linux. Sweet as can be.
Half-life under windoze, however, I *STILL* cannot get the thing to run properly in a video mode other than 640x480. Since I only have a Pentium 200, the machine can't handle that res, even with the voodoo. Every attempt to change and windoze directx puts me into 1024x768 with the window of the game the size I specified. Yeah...that really helps the performance problem, NOT!
stupid stupid stupid. I friggin' HATE directx.
I smashed a lot of things trying to install Linux for a week. I finally gave up and booted into NT.
My co-worker(also good friend) are the only two techies in my company and whatever we says goes... So we can use whatever the hell we want. Heh, switched all our servers to linux, he and I use linux on our workstations... now only if we can convince everyone else to learn to use linux...
heh, right. The other day I had to turn someone's computer on for them, they couldn't figure out why the screen was blank...
Well, I've had people type the word "Enter" instead of hitting the key. I've also had people who couldn't coordinate holding down the or keys while tapping another key.
...than the equipment, Ace. Do some reading before you try it next time, or try Red Hat 5.2. It's an even easier install than NT (I know because I've installed and reinstalled NT more times than I care to count).
The first time I installed Linux I didn't find it to be wildly easy either, but Red Hat's installs have gotten better and better.
Who would issue the licenses, the government? If it's anything like car licenses, then no thanks.
.. "How many computers do you own? May we see your computer license?" Of course, some bright spark would also decide that having "computer cops" would also make it much easier to start checking peoples' computers for illegal stuff (pirated software, illegal porn, copyrighted music.)
.. or re-register the license .. your computer could, for example, be tied to the license via (say) a PIII ID number. Then they could check that only licensed people are using the Internet.
.. like the frog in boiling water analogy, nobody would really notice until we really were living in a big-brother world. The PIII Id's are one of these small steps.
I can just imagine having to stand in lines for hours, fill in numerous forms, deal with civil servants and beauracracy just to apply for the license. You would probably have to wait "4 to 8 weeks" for the license to be issued, and until then, you wouldn't be allowed to use your computer. Everyone would probably have to write really lame tests (reminiscent of "what does the DIR command in DOS do", only probably worse) before being allowed to get the license.
Then it would have to be policed as well. I can imagine door-to-door "computer cops"
When you buy a new computer, you might have to produce your license
Sure this all may seem like total paranoia. But a computer license seems like a step in this direction. Changes like this happen slowly, one by one
The difference between Microsoft products and linux is the cause of the swearing ..
With linux, you swear as you're installing and configuring it. Once you're done, you never swear again.
With Windows, it's relatively easy to get it installed and working. The swearing comes in when something inexplicably stops working for no apparent reason and you have to fix it somehow.
Seeing as how Netscape is statically linked against Motif and takes a godawful hell of a long time to load under Unix, I can understand the urge to launch the thing down the stairs.
.. Netscape has detected a /home/you/.netscape/lock file ...
Click icon, wait wait wait wait wait wait
I've been looking for a dead CD-ROM drive to use as a cupholder - it'd compliment my AOL coasters. Only thing is, the only dead drives I've found so far either take a caddy or have the laser built into the tray...
With computers, abuse can sometimes be used to rectify past abuse. Some of the keys on my laptop's keyboard don't seem to work unless the system is bent at a certain angle; although it looks like I'm abusing it I'm actually trying to use 'g', 'h', '\'', uparrow, and escape. It first happened after the computer fell
I've also run into monitors that go whacked until whacked - one has a funny green channel, the other (at school) has a slightly less funny red channel.
With computers, abuse can sometimes be used to rectify past abuse. Some of the keys on my laptop's keyboard don't seem to work unless the system is bent at a certain angle; although it looks like I'm abusing it I'm actually trying to use 'g', 'h', '\'', uparrow, and escape. It first happened after the computer fell off a table under a load of books... the same accident broke the CD-ROM drive so it has to be taped closed.
I've also run into monitors that go whacked until whacked - the one downstairs (attached to the computer I fried the BIOS of) has a funny green channel, the other (at school) has a slightly less funny red channel.
Thank god!
I thought people were just getting meaner, but I guess it's just stupidity. It's one thing to give tech support to someone who genuinely doesn't understand computers and will admitt it. It's another when you have to help someone who doesn't get it and is pissed off about it!
Does anybody want to start a computer/psychological research lab/company with me? This would be an excellent area of psychological research!
-------------------------------------------- It looks just like a Telefunken U-47! -Frank Zappa
Funny, I never get that smash-the-computer feeling unless I'm running a Microsoft product.
I take it you've never tried configuring PPP on a Linux box.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Posted by stodge:
/.
I think I read somewhere that Stephen Hawkings suggested we will eventually build computers as complex as our brains. Does that mean they will also have arms and hands, and can then slap a face with a wet kipper when they do something reaaaaaly stupid??
rm -rf
*SLAP*
DOH!
Posted by The Mongolian Barbecue:
This shit sounded just like a user friendly cartoon. I always figured those were jokes, and that no one was truly that stupid. My god. "Mouse click"? That lady must have had the IQ of a small rodent. If I were called out there on something like that, I wouldn't stifle a guffaw, I would slap the moron.
WHY DO THESE PEOPLE EVEN HAVE JOBS??????? Sheesh...the minute I learned I'd hired someone THAT stupid, they'd be out the door!
You'd be surprised what kinds of idiots recieve MCSE's...
I had a boss that was working on an atx powered machine, he has a MCSE, A+ Cert, MCP, and a BS in CE. (lots of initials, you're about to find out how little they mean)
For a good 6 hours on a sunday, he was working on this box... about 4 hours into it, I can hear him grumbling in the other room, so I figured I'd poke my head in there and check it out, the lines were slow (i was tech support there). He was with another MCSE, with the fully built machine, pushing hte power, seeing nothing happen, and griping. I asked if I could help, but because I wasn't part of the MCSE club (and pointedly told him I wouldn't be), I couldn't help.
About 2 hours later, he leaves, still not getting the machine to work, so I figure I'll go in and check on it.
On all ATX power supplies (as most of you know), there's a "soft" power switch on the front of the case, and on a "hard" power switch on the back of the power supply.
I flicked the one on the back, and went back to my tech support calls. He comes back in an hour, hits the soft power-on, and thinks god has smiled on him or something, because, obviously, the machine started up.
I've never experienced such silent gratification in my life. The Linux sysadmin got quite the laugh too.
(you konw, the type of sysadmin that doesn't know anything because he doesn't know NT, but if he left the job the ISP would fly like a lead balloon)
-Erik-
When there's a tie for second (mice and monitors), the next available position is fourth, damnit...
Mashed potatoes can be your friends!
Take the standard 3 tier model. Level one people answer the phone and follow a procedure which involved them taking down user information and plugging it in to an expert system to try and diagnose the problem, I equate this to putting groceries into the bags. Sometimes a little more skill is needed but you can often give this job to a highschool dropout who has never touched a computer before. If you're a more advanced user I imagine that unless you have some special gift of patience, you'll blow a fuse at this job after a while.
Level 2, these are supposed to be more sophisticated tech guys but are often only slightly more advanced than level 1 guys. They know the standard problems and some tricks usually. Depending on the company, these guys can just end up being middle men who play keep away. The level 3 guys are in development and they don't need to spend time doing techsupport so the level 2 guys do everything they can to keep the caller from reaching level 3, sometimes including sending them back to level 1 to get "more information"
Not the same kind of stress but we give our tech support guys a hard time when they esculate problems to us that aren't worthy of our time... heck we give them hell period.. Either way, they've got it comming from both directions, and when you burn the candle at both ends...
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
"People will pay big bucks for the luxury of ignorance."
I do support at an Investment company.
I'd have to say one of my most interesting calls was this one guy who needed help with his mail.
As soon as i awnsered the phone, someone was on the line, and I also heard hold music. He told me that he was currently waiting to speak to a technician from Netscape.
A lot of the departments use Netscape Messanger for their e-mail, which is why he had contacted them as well. Once the Netscape tech came on the line, the guy started explaining his problem.
He had one of those cell phones with e-mail capabilities, and he wanted to know how to access our imap server with it.
Gah.
Took me a while to explain to him that since our mail servers aren't accessable on the internet, it wouldn't work. The Netscape guy never did figure out what he was doing on the phone with us.
Translation from user to actual terms.
:)
CPU - Actual Computer, case and all
Hard Drive - see above
Screen Saver - Windows Background
There are more, but i'm too tired to think of them
I have badday.mpg and it does not jive too well with xanim (choppy frames and random junk.) Is there a better viewer or format of this classic?
I have not seen rage. Links?
These people would be much happier if they were not running Windows. My computer doesn't crash at all, when it runs Linux. :-)
;-)
Last year NY Times had whole section about people placing crystals next to their computers so that their computers wouldn't crash. Naturally they were from California...
...richie
...richie - It is a good day to code.
(Sheesh, lusers are being allow to *vent*? What will be next? Demand to be treated like human beings?)
a computer licence.
same thing happened long ago with cars. the first cars were all driven by the techies who knew exactly how the car worked and who knew exactly what they were doing. then cars became gradually easier to use and cheaper, and dummies started to drive cars... and that's why the drivers licence was born.
so why not have a computer licence? and an internet licence as an extention to it.
then you can split users up in people who have a licence and people who don't have a licence, and from the people with a licence you can expect that they have at least the basic skills needed to use a computer or to use the internet so you can just give those people quick tech support if needed. and companies could require their employees to have a computer and/or internet licence.
I mean, currently tech support assumes zero intelligence and zero computer knowledge in their clients. let me tell you a tech support story...
I tried to get Forsaken to work on mplayer, but somehow it always failed to launch correctly. so I asked around on mplayer, nobody knew. I dug through the FAQs and help files, nothing there. so I send a message to the mplayer tech support. I get an automatic reply to read the FAQ, and to reply on that message if what I need to know weren't in the FAQ. so I smack reply. a week later I receive a message from mplayer tech support lecturing me on latency and packetloss and the basic workings of the internet! so they didn't even actually read my mail, because I specifically said that it couldn't possibly be a latency or packetloss problem. so I told them that in a reply, and !#$^&!#$^ again I get that automated RTFFAQ message.
now if there were computer licences they could have had seperate tech support for people with and people without licences, and ofcourse having an internet licence means you already know about the workings of ping and packetloss and that you already know to read the FAQ first so they could have just given me direct on topic tech support.
oh well...
)O(
the Gods have a sense of humor,
Never underestimate the power of stupidity
To err is human, to moo bovine
nt
)O(
the Gods have a sense of humor,
Never underestimate the power of stupidity
To err is human, to moo bovine
well uh, I had the situation in mind as it is here (in the Netherlands). you take driving lessons, and when you think you're ready you apply for a driving test. usually your exam will be within two weeks, but in prime time (end of the summer holiday) it might take a month. when you've passed the test you get a certificate with which you can immedeately pick up your drivers licence at the city hall (if it's open), and in most city halls the waiting time is less than 15 minutes.
door to door computer cops? then you really misinterpreted me. you could use a computer without a computer licence. what I propose is kind of like a diploma. of people with that licence/diploma you can expect a certain base knowledge about computers and the internet so you can give quick and to the point tech support if necessary, and so companies could require it just like any other diploma/licence/degree.
and as for writing tests... hellooooo, it's a COMPUTER licence, so you'd probably do it on a computer.
disallowing somebody without a licence to use a computer is evil, and simply can't be done. perhaps the word licence was ill chosen and diploma would be better, because that's the general idea I had in mind.
)O(
the Gods have a sense of humor,
Never underestimate the power of stupidity
To err is human, to moo bovine
That reminds me of a story I read a while ago about a person who called his computer manufacturer and wanted to buy a new cup holder for his PC because the old one was broken.
After some confusion, the man at the company wanted to know where the cup holder had been placed before. The guy explained, and it was clear that for about half a year he had used the moveable part of his CD-ROM as a holder for his coffee cup. Then it broke.
Strange world.
.sig: SEGV
Seems like it didn't. =:-)
.sig: SEGV
My computer use has been calm sailing since I switched over to Linux from Win95 since Win95 found a creative way to erase my hard drive.
My only headaches have been alternate drivers for sound cards - but that hacking is for a later date.
at least, the one i've seen (rage, i believe) is obviously fake. you'll notice his keyboard isn't actually plugged in, among other things. ignoring the fact that there seems to be a high quality color camera pointing directly at one persons cubicle.
PPP???? What are you smoking?
;)
The first time I did the text configs manually. The HOWTO gave me everything I needed. I even got diald working on the first try.
The second time I found the RedHat GUI utilities very usefull. Point, click, dial, done. Worked great from the control-panel RedHat wrote as well as LinuxConf. I hear KPPP works well too, but I have DSL now so I don't care.
Is the reason that my keyboard can no longer be put up on its little leg-things. After the d*mn thing failing to install 5 times, I misclicked, it started to grind and refused to respond. My ESC key took quite a beating, as I was getting very, very ticked off.
Friends don't let friends use MSExchange
A lot of people think the case is the hard drive. I've learned to just make the translation from the context and not even ask.
-Steve
To:anonymouscoward@slashdot.org
I'm sending you this email privately so as not to overload www.slashdot.com. I think your story was really funny. I had the same thing happen to me just last week. The power went out and it took me the longest time to figure out why my recompile of glibc-2.0.7 didn't seem to be getting anywhere. I finally realized, and after about 20 minutes the power came back on and the compile finished up with only minor warnings about my checking to see that the power cable was securely plugged in (and a few 'blah' may be used unititialized warnings). I'm using kernel 2.2.3. with the apm module enabled. Anyway, thanks again.
-Steve
>So you can remove that one from the Urban Legend
>list, folks. I was there. Another techie at this
>same company managed to successfully get away
>with the techie's dream: telling a caller to f***
>off (yes, we all paid for that too). Other
Once upon a time, I worked as a bicycle mechanic. It doesn't pay as well as programming, and you get
dirtier, but the hours are better... At my shop,
we had a rule that we were allowed one fsck off a month. That is, once a month, if we felt the necessity, we could tell a really STUPID customer to fsck off. The only problem is that the store owner kept using his up early, and had to borrow mine... I still think it was a pretty good system.
It's not a bug, it's a feature...
hrm? I've done that twice. First time was in 94, and it involved a fair amount of doc reading, but ended up working nice enough. last time was a month ago, and it just involved going through a couple of menus to put the phone #, account name, etc.
Yes, on the odd occasion, Linux (even RedHat) can be severely annoying.
On the whole, however, I find that NT is much more annoying than Linux.
NT:
Total time: ~3 hours per machine (assuming about 2 minutes to fully reboot a machine).
Linux (or Solaris x86, for that matter)
Total time: 30 minutes.
-------------
On another note, I'm having a slight problem. By boot disk (a new IBM 4.5G SCSI) has more than 1024 cylinders. My boot partition is below the 1024 limit. A normal RH 5.2 install works fine, and boots OK, however:
-Erik
There are always four sides to every story: your side, their side, the truth, and what really happened.
I hope everyone here has seen the AVI/MOVs "Bad Day" and "Rage". Watch them, you'll feel better.
I find slapping my CPU around like it's my ho makes it run faster, puts a shine on it and puts a sparkle in my eye. I need to, the bastard refuses to OC.
Nah... Just kick the lower left-hand corner of the machine...
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'We have no choice in what we are. Yet what are we,
but the sum of our choices.' --Rob Grant
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'We have no choice in what we are. Yet what are we,
but the sum of our choices.' --Rob Grant
Actually, userfriendly is alot closer to Real Life (tm) (c) (r) then most people seem to realize...
The last time I had a hard drive die, I kept the dead drive. Since I live in a dorm room where most of the flat surfaces are concrete, I can just pick up the dead drive and throw it at the wall with impudence =]
-Cheetah
i actually get extreamly violently mad at my college admins.. its a two way thing
Scott Aaron Bamford (vpp) "We`re giving you the chance to skrew it up in a whole new and exciting way" sab@clara.net
You'd think beating in the case would rank higher than a user taking out his hard disk and punting it around :-)
Unfornately, I too have to deal with the denseness of the 'great unwashed masses' on a daily basis. However, before I can laugh at them TOO much, there have been times I've found myself, late at night, pointing a shotgun at my computer to make it do what I want it to do, not what I tell it to do.....
Never ask a geek why, just nod your head and slowly back away. -Rob Malda
Ain't that the truth...
And then I have to hide from mirrors from sheer shame for at least an hour.
It even bugs me when people call the whole box the CPU. There is even a little sign telling you that it has 'Intel INSIDE' on the case. Oh well its not really that big of deal.
As far as hard drive damage goes, I find dissassembly to be the best revenge. Slow, methodic removal of all parts, followed by burial. Bits to bits and sand to sand. Next time an important disk has a head crash, Im even making a tombstone.
that I have to deal with these problems all of the time at work.
Well accually I can understand people calling it a CPU because it is the Central Processing Unit in a very Vague sorta way. Also alot of intro to computer classes teach people to call it the CPU, so you really can't blame the user. Now on the Hard Drive thing (I remember the other day when someone at work ask me if it was a bad idea for their printer to be ontop of their harddrive, I would never have figured what they where talking about had I not put it there myself), or the thing about the Screen Saver, accually I remember the other day a user asking me why the screen saver wasn't working I went through the screen saver and couldn't discover a problem till I found out they where talking about screensaver.com (It was down) Hey Does anyone have a link to a site that has a list of translations like GrenDel made. If not we need to start something like that. It would help alot.
You need to work for a cool company that lets you use Linux. Hopefully in the future more companies will.
Cool Linux PC Badges!
I worked for a major long distance company not too long ago and spying on employees was common. We had many occurances of stolen computer hardware/software and it began costing the company quite a bit of money. Their solution was to install security cameras (during a holiday weekend) into vents and lighting fixtures to keep an eye on the employees.
Because of space limitations, the security monitors/recorders were located in a storage area in our server room. We got to see employees doing silly/stupid/crazy things. "Computer abuse" was quite common; pounding on keyboards, slamming mice on the desk, slapping monitors, even one guy who took a leak into his computer then turned it on. He'd been wanting a faster machine but his position didn't require a fast machine; all he did was e-mail and wordprocessing.
You might want to think again, the next time you sit in your cube, if you think no one is watching you. I'm surprised no one has come up with "America's Funniest Office Antics" TV show.
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
The CNN hack who wrote the story is only slightly less ignorant than the hopeless end lusers he wrote about. He refers to users kicking in "hard drives." From having worked Help Desk for the past six months I know that many end lusers refer to the CPU, or more appropriately, box as the hard drive. This CNN story was pretty weak.