Open letter to all computer users

[tv1217]

You only NEED antivirus if you're an idiot. I've gone without it on this computer for 3 years and it runs like the day I bought it.


I'll occasionally install the latest version of Avast or whatever and do a scan and it just find benign stuff like tracking cookies.

 

[Westside]

I have a dedicated INGO computer and then a separate one for business, games, porn, hacking .gov sites, etc.

If one of these has a problem, it really is an emergency.

I'll go hug a random* IT employee where I work next week. That should reset the balance of the universe.




*By random, I mean of course the cutest female in that dept.

give that random* person a piece of bacon as well to show you are sincere

 

[Scutter01]

When I worked for AT&T we'd get idiots calling in repairs all the time for slow Internet. No idiot, your computer just sucks. So I'd bring in the Toughbook(more like ****book) and say watch *plug in Ethernet cable/connect to wireless* Oh look, internet no slowy now, durrr.

AT&T doesn't get a free pass with me. I had to drive to all the way to Evansville (about an 8-hour round trip) a few months ago because they hosed their ADSL IP address database. They re-IP'ed a bunch of static IP accounts, which killed all the internet connections in a 1-mile radius. I later found out that they had over 600 open tickets for it, but that after they "fixed" their database they didn't test it. They just checked to see if they could loop the modems. Since the modems and the circuits were all technically working, they just closed out all the tickets and pretended that it never happened.

Not one person on the phone would admit that there was an issue. It wasn't until I actually got an AT&T tech onsite that I discovered this. He'd been spending the whole week re-provisioning DSL circuits over it.

 

[Fletch]

"So Fletch, why did you leave tech support and get into development?"

See above.

 

[Scutter01]

how the hell did he now which file was which.

You would be astonished at the convoluted lengths to which the average user will go to avoid learning a better way to do something. It's not uncommon, when asking for a screen shot, for the user to take a photo with their phone, upload it to their computer, print it out, scan the printout, save it into Word, then export the Word document to an Adobe Acrobat PDF, then print out the PDF and hand-deliver it. Yes, this actually happens, and no, I am not exaggerating. If it were one person that did this, I guess I could almost understand, but it happens all the time.

 

[tv1217]

Yeah, they stock quite a few idiots at their call centers. Combined with the lazy CO techs, it's not hard for a cluster**** to surface. Field techs get stuck chasing their tails.

 

[Bunnykid68]

Scutter I feel your pain. I only tinker with computers and it always the same two guys. I tell them the same thing everytime, your computer is old and works fine, until you start downloading crap and things you think will make your computer faster and like you said, get a 2nd computer just for the kids, duh.

 

[GBuck]

You would be astonished at the convoluted lengths to which the average user will go to avoid learning a better way to do something. It's not uncommon, when asking for a screen shot, for the user to take a photo with their phone, upload it to their computer, print it out, scan the printout, save it into Word, then export the Word document to an Adobe Acrobat PDF, then print out the PDF and hand-deliver it. Yes, this actually happens, and no, I am not exaggerating. If it were one person that did this, I guess I could almost understand, but it happens all the time.

That gave me a headache just reading it..

 

[Westside]

You would be astonished at the convoluted lengths to which the average user will go to avoid learning a better way to do something. It's not uncommon, when asking for a screen shot, for the user to take a photo with their phone, upload it to their computer, print it out, scan the printout, save it into Word, then export the Word document to an Adobe Acrobat PDF, then print out the PDF and hand-deliver it. Yes, this actually happens, and no, I am not exaggerating. If it were one person that did this, I guess I could almost understand, but it happens all the time.

ok that is just bad!!!

 

[Stschil]

The cup holder on my computer won't come out when I push the button any more. Can you fix it on the 4th? Its my only day off.



Love the Rant, though. It actually applies to many professions.

 

[Scutter01]

That gave me a headache just reading it..

ok that is just bad!!!

Somewhere along the line, they get it in their head that "All printouts have to be from PDF" or something. It never occurs to them that they could stop at the "print out the original photo" stage because "All printouts have to be from PDF". The only way they know of to get a photo into a PDF is the method they've worked out in their head, and come hell or high water, they will not deviate from that method.

 

[TaunTaun]

Somewhere along the line, they get it in their head that "All printouts have to be from PDF" or something. It never occurs to them that they could stop at the "print out the original photo" stage because "All printouts have to be from PDF". The only way they know of to get a photo into a PDF is the method they've worked out in their head, and come hell or high water, they will not deviate from that method.

A lot of what I'm doing at work right now is assisting the floor supervisors and department head with paperwork, data analysis, etc. I find it easier to just do it myself and then forward it to them for eventual distribution.

As a result, a temporary contractor without a college degree essentially runs operations in a plant belonging to a Fortune 500 company.

Although, that has slacked off a bit because the new boss is at least computer literate (He showed me a couple tricks with MS Access! Can you believe it!? A boss that knows how to at least setup and use basic databases!!)
.

 

[Roadie]

I feel your pain..
I worked Tier II support for RCA years ago, taking all escalated calls for Tech and/or Customer Satisfaction issues on their DirectTV boxes.. This was back when DirectTV was pretty new, so we would have Farmer Joe calling in for help setting up his DSS himself..

The "Mute" button saved my butt many times, either because I was laughing or growling in frustration at the utter stupidity.

No, your Dish will not work bolted to your entertainment center in your trailer
Yes, you will have to mount the Dish outside to get reception
No, I don't know if WalMart will give you a refund because you "ain't bolting nothing to my trailer"

No, you can't find the signal with your wife in the backyard holding the Dish, you have to mount it to something stable first

Yes, installing your Dish on the ground in the winter with no leaves on your trees, then having trouble getting signal in the spring does mean the leaves are blocking the signal and you will have to mount the dish higher.

Yes, the TV has to be plugged in to show the channels from the DSS Receiver

 

[Ericpwp]

I use to do side jobs at doctors offices. It was always a fight to get paid. Was not worth dropping everything because "Eric, I need you here now!". I ate the last bill and gave them the one finger wave.

AT&T sucks too. There was a kink in a route somewhere between a whole neighborhood drop and a hospitals Comcast enterprise connection. I got absolutely nowhere with that ignorant idiot that I spoke with at AT&T. Needless to say, the doc has Comcast now and hasn't been happier.

 

[hornadylnl]

Scutter, I think your screenshot printers are the same people that developed RSLogix. I'm training on it at work now. We use mostly ethernet to connect to plc's. You have to open one piece of software to see if you can see the processor. We use different ip addresses for different areas so if the laptop isn't on the right ip address, you will never see it. Some equipment has the ip address written down, or you can see it on the scanner. Some of the equipment doens't have it written down so you have no idea what it is. Once you figure out the address you need, you have to change it in the laptop which seems half the time you have to restart the computer. Once it restarts, you have to open the same software to find it, select it, minimize it, and then open yet another piece of software to get into the logic.

All of that and I can buy a printer at walmart, plug in the usb cable, and print.

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

In most cases, it's one of those Chair/Keyboard interface errors.

 

[TaunTaun]

In most cases, it's one of those Chair/Keyboard interface errors.

I prefer using a obscure weather/medical phenomina called "Cranial-Rectal Inversion"

 

[printcraft]

give that random* person a piece of bacon as well to show you are sincere

Known better as "porking".

 

[Mosinguy]

Hey Scutter, I heard if I delete system32 from my laptop it will run faster. Is that true?

 

[Scutter01]

Scutter, I think your screenshot printers are the same people that developed RSLogix. I'm training on it at work now. We use mostly ethernet to connect to plc's. You have to open one piece of software to see if you can see the processor. We use different ip addresses for different areas so if the laptop isn't on the right ip address, you will never see it. Some equipment has the ip address written down, or you can see it on the scanner. Some of the equipment doens't have it written down so you have no idea what it is. Once you figure out the address you need, you have to change it in the laptop which seems half the time you have to restart the computer. Once it restarts, you have to open the same software to find it, select it, minimize it, and then open yet another piece of software to get into the logic.

All of that and I can buy a printer at walmart, plug in the usb cable, and print.

I was hoping I'd never have to hear "RSLogix" again. Thanks for bringing up an old wound. I used to work on PLC's running Windows NT. I don't need to tell you how scarily-bad most of that PLC software is written. Most PLC's have security holes you could drive a truck through.