II

9/1/2007 7:31:32 AM

I would also like to note that my company programs in VB, not VB.NET. Just the way it is. We'll probably be changing soon, but it'll still be supported for the next few years.

9/1/2007 9:37:04 AM

dude's dsl is being kinda wonky, so we were checking out his modem:

"sir, what kind of modem do you have?"
"it says broadmax yada yada"
"alright, how many lights are on?"
"well *thinks for a minute* I think 6 including the light in the kitchen"

9/6/2007 4:15:31 PM

I just took this call at my work:

Guy- Hi, the lesson CD won't work. The CD won't open.
Me- The cd case?
Guy- No, the CDROM won't open.
Me- Is your computer powered on?
Guy- No
Me- ...

9/13/2007 8:36:58 AM

I think this is stupid call day:

Woman- Something's wrong with my PDA!
Me- What's the problem?
Woman- When I take it off the charger the orange light turns off?
Me- The orange battery charging indicator?
Woman- Yeah.
Me- So, when you take the PDA off the charger, the orange light that's illuminated when you're charging the PDA turns off?
Woman- Yeah. What's wrong with it?
Me- ...

9/13/2007 9:42:29 AM

Crane Drops Networking Supplies - Watch more free videos

9/26/2007 12:41:59 PM

Seems staged. It seemed like the camera man was able to follow the drop far-too easily. Unless the sound (which I can't hear on this lab machine) gives some clue as to why he expected it to drop, the appearance that he knew when it was going to drop makes me suspicious.

9/26/2007 12:54:04 PM

i thought it was entertaining, nonetheless.

9/26/2007 1:05:22 PM

Quote :

"whats funny is in the web administrator for lotus domino, it gives a server uptime. And if its above like 60days it says "Great Uptime! You've got a rock solid server here!""

having a domino server stay up for longer than 60 days is a feat in and of itself.

a week even...

9/26/2007 1:10:12 PM

^^ Oh yeah, didn't mean to kill the fun of it. It's funny because stuff like that really does happen. People don't bother figuring out how much stress they're actually putting on cables and straps like that and BAM.

9/26/2007 1:16:36 PM

odd they were delivering office supplies to the roof...

also if it were planned, there were a lot of people standing very close to the equipment when it fell. It seemed that the ruble came a bit too close, not knowing what was going to happen.

9/26/2007 1:34:38 PM

i went over to this girls house yesterday and her and the roomie were talking about using other ppls wireless. i told her that wasnt exactly the safest thing to do and that someone could fuck her shit up.

thankfully, she let me know that her networked files were "set to private, so only i can open them" and that she bought a nice new sony laptop with all the security frills so no one was going to be able to do anything. i decided to let it go.

10/6/2007 10:20:51 AM

i ordered some furniture not too long ago and i get status emails from the company. the link in the email to view my status is

http://www.furniturelandsouth.com/orders.php?pword=NOTTHEREALPASSWORD&user_num=951710

11/9/2007 9:16:15 AM

Quote :

" thankfully, she let me know that her networked files were "set to private, so only i can open them" and that she bought a nice new sony laptop with all the security frills so no one was going to be able to do anything. i decided to let it go."

oh lawd

11/9/2007 9:25:59 AM

^^I think the real issue is why you would use an insecure password like 'NOTTHEREALPASSWORD'

You should have some numbers and a symbol in there somewhere

11/9/2007 9:26:07 AM

jesus.....
i'm at my in-laws house watching football. My mother in law started talking about HDTVs at Best Buy - i dunno, best buy is no longer carrying htdvs or something. not sure. but she mentioned something about a "government rebate for TVs" because they will "stop working" in a year or two.

she obviously didn't know exactly what she was getting into, but i figured someone at Best Buy had tried to explain the analogue to digital conversion in a year or two. So, in the most basic terms possible, I tried to explain to her the difference between analogue and digital broadcasts - that TV stations have been using analogue for years, and recently they've been using analogue and digital, and next year (or in 2009?) the FCC mandated they have to switch to digital only. So, i think the government might be subsidizing digital tuners for older TVs.

I should have stopped there, but i then tried to go into a little bit about why the conversion from analogue to digital. Instead of using words like "spectrum" and "bandwidth", which would have just confused her, i started using the word "airspace". So I said analogue takes up a lot more "airspace" than digital does, and when TV broadcasts go all digital, it will "free up a lot of airspace for other signals".

"oh, yeah. for, like, airplanes and stuff?" she said.
".... yeah, kind of like that"

11/17/2007 3:25:58 PM

my secretary asked me the other day why she got a ######## when she typed a certain number into her spreadsheet.

*carl face*

11/17/2007 6:01:09 PM

^^ I don't know -- i'm going to side with your aunt on this one. Your explanation sounds dumb, and it's not reasonable to expect non-technical people to understand the subtleties of why digital is different than analogue or the law that will take effect.


You should have just used the series of pipes example. Much easier to explain.

11/17/2007 9:24:58 PM

yea, airspace refers to physical objects, particularly (duh!) planes

you should've said airwaves - she's likely just as familiar with that word and associates it with radio stations

11/17/2007 9:31:31 PM

ok, i'm not actually sure who said airspace first - her or me. either way..... no matter what words I use, you have to be pretty dense to reach that conclusion that stopping analogue broadcasts will free up room in the skies for airplanes....

11/17/2007 10:12:50 PM

well, since you did say airspace, maybe she thought that planes couldn't fly through that physical part of the airspace that was being used for signal transmission, in the same vein as you aren't allowed to use your cellphone, etc. on flights.

just sayin - if you use the wrong terminology, referring to physical space, don't be surprised when she gets confused and interprets physical benefits/ramifications

11/18/2007 1:53:38 AM

pretty technically inept to go with "airspace"

11/18/2007 1:59:29 AM

Quote :

"maybe she thought that planes couldn't fly through that physical part of the airspace that was being used for signal transmission, in the same vein as you aren't allowed to use your cellphone, etc. on flights."

if she, or you, think or believe anything like that, then that's not my problem.

11/18/2007 1:10:03 PM

tales of the communicatively inept technical person

11/18/2007 5:32:49 PM

This thread is awesome.


The thing that pisses me off the most at my job is when people are rebooting their computers and they're like "Why does this take so long to come back on? I have FASTACCESS dsl!" And seriously like one out of every two customers say this.

11/19/2007 1:59:19 AM

there's a difference between ignorance and ineptitude

Complaining that the CDROM won't open when the computer is turned off, or reporting the number of household lights when working on the router is ineptitude

Your story was mere ignorance.

11/19/2007 8:11:01 AM

^ i'll agree with that

11/19/2007 10:53:33 AM

I had a customer ask me which websites are best for downloading sexy movies on a dialup connection

11/27/2007 4:22:24 PM

ah sexy time... veerrrry niiicccceeeee

oh and

YOU BASTARD, YOU MAKE HAND PARTY TO PAMELA!!!!!

11/27/2007 6:04:45 PM

oh, Borat. I get it

11/27/2007 6:14:55 PM

good cause i was laying it on pretty thick there, rhonda

11/27/2007 6:36:15 PM

This lady calls me last night and was like "my speakers don't work."

and I'm like


*crickets*

and then tell her she needs to contact the oem.

so she says:

"but they worked fine until I hooked up my fast access dsl!"

11/27/2007 9:21:55 PM

me: "What's the problem?"

girlfriend: "I get an error message and it won't boot to Windows."

me: "How about you read the error message and troubleshoot it yourself for once?"

girlfriend: "Um... I think the computer needs more DOS."

me: [laughing hysterically over the phone]

She was just kidding, but I thought it was pretty funny and had to share.

[Edited on November 28, 2007 at 9:10 AM. Reason : .]

11/28/2007 9:08:33 AM

wat

[Edited on November 28, 2007 at 9:11 AM. Reason : s]

11/28/2007 9:11:47 AM

started training this guy to take over my old job which consisted of database admin/programming, web application management, and standard IT support. Three things gave me pause:

1) he asked me why i had two monitors setup next to each other. said he couldn't figure out why someone would want two monitors hooked up to one single computer.

2) he said he heard that i had an iphone, and said he would have no use for an iphone. i mentioned one thing i use it for is to check 4 email accounts so i don't have to log into 4 different websites to get my email. he said he would have no use for reading email on a mobile phone.

3) he says he's never replaced any parts inside a computer, but he can "use computers real well." (he's responsible for supporting 80+ users and fixing/upgrading/replacing their computers)

this could bad [for my old employer]

12/11/2007 3:05:23 PM

so basically he gets bad marks for not being a gadget-phile

two monitors can increase productivity in some cases, but i've also seen it become nothing more than a time sink, particularly when co-workers try to get it working on linux

i would have doubts as to YOUR OWN technical acuity after hearing that you wasted your money on an iPhone. also, haven't you heard of email forwarding

12/11/2007 3:13:07 PM

Quote :

"but i've also seen it become nothing more than a time sink, particularly when co-workers try to get it working on linux"

sure, because all businesses run linux

Quote :

"i would have doubts as to YOUR OWN technical acuity after hearing that you wasted your money on an iPhone."

hahaha thats a classic troll if i've ever seen one. gg

12/11/2007 3:23:43 PM

i certainly dont feel the need to check my email on my phone either, nor do i often use 2 monitors (though i do have 2 at work).

12/11/2007 4:21:17 PM

man, web design + dual monitors is key IMO...i can't think of a reason NOT to have them

12/11/2007 4:22:16 PM

^^ what kind of work do you do?

12/11/2007 4:29:10 PM

I definitely see the utility in using two monitors, just pointing out that its not at all necessary. In fact, I propose that using one of the two monitors to enable work from home would be far better than using it at the office.

but, seriously, an iPhone?? give me a break. that shits the kind of thing Michael Scott from the Office would buy because everyone said it was high tech

P.S. http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone

[Edited on December 11, 2007 at 7:06 PM. Reason : s]

12/11/2007 7:05:23 PM

seriously, you're using maddox as a source?

seriously?

12/11/2007 7:38:24 PM

no goddamnit, you know i considered explicitly noting that it wasn't meant as a source, only related humor but you damn idiots will take any website and run with it as a source, won't you

12/11/2007 7:40:53 PM

The iphone has a better UI then any other phone known to man.

You can argue with me on this point and you'll lose.

All other reasons for wanting another phone are moot as all mobile phones suck at trying to be laptops.

12/11/2007 8:08:15 PM

The UI is largely gonna be personal preference. I personally wouldn't like the buttonless keyboard, but to each his own.

Nevertheless, wtf to an overpriced piece of locked-down hardware.

12/11/2007 8:12:09 PM

dude, don't waste your breath arguing anything tech related with this kid. He is quite the moron.

(to sandsanta)

12/11/2007 8:44:49 PM

Solinari, if you want to troll, do it elsewhere. hell if you wanna troll all the iphone owners we have two threads for that: /message_topic.aspx?topic=455104 and message_topic.aspx?topic=493060

if you wanna stay on topic, feel free to stick around. otherwise gtfo.

12/11/2007 8:48:01 PM

my comment isn't so much to bash the iphone, but to point out that its not a sign of technical ineptitude to not see the point in owning one

12/11/2007 8:49:08 PM

i mean you didn't know what target="_blank" did so we don't expect you to know much.

12/11/2007 8:53:02 PM

Quote :

"its not a sign of technical ineptitude to not see the point in owning one"

i never suggested that it was.

i suggest you move along and troll in another thread.

12/11/2007 8:56:32 PM