I am so evil... - Page 3

pshrynk · 07-11-2008, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BookishDreamer

When my Dad retired, he wanted me to go help him buy a computer. I refused. No way on God's green earth was I going to be responsible for teaching my parents how to use a computer!

I'm a patient person, but not that patient. Instead I enrolled them in an introduction to computers course offered by the continuing education center at the local college. Boy, was it worth it! At the end of the class, they bought a computer ALL BY THEMSELVES! I was SO proud! They also took a course that covered the basics of Word, e-mail, and internet. I got a few crazy calls during the first year or so but they were fine after that.

Maybe you want to consider sending your Dad back to school?

Dreamer

It's always such a joy to see the littleuns go out on their own.

GeoffC · 07-11-2008, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BookishDreamer

When my Dad retired, he wanted me to go help him buy a computer. I refused. No way on God's green earth was I going to be responsible for teaching my parents how to use a computer!

I'm a patient person, but not that patient. Instead I enrolled them in an introduction to computers course offered by the continuing education center at the local college. Boy, was it worth it! At the end of the class, they bought a computer ALL BY THEMSELVES! I was SO proud! They also took a course that covered the basics of Word, e-mail, and internet. I got a few crazy calls during the first year or so but they were fine after that.

Maybe you want to consider sending your Dad back to school?

Dreamer

So now you've got them chasing you from forum to forum and chatroom to chatroom, checking up on what you're saying about them...

Just like they did when you were little...

BookishDreamer · 07-11-2008, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

So now you've got them chasing you from forum to forum and chatroom to chatroom, checking up on what you're saying about them...

Just like they did when you were little...

<glancing nervously over my shoulder> Ummmm...hmmmm

I don't think I've ever mentioned this particular hideout to them. Should be safe here.

Dreamer

GeoffC · 07-11-2008, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BookishDreamer

<glancing nervously over my shoulder> Ummmm...hmmmm

I don't think I've ever mentioned this particular hideout to them. Should be safe here.

Dreamer

But tha never knows, does tha...

slayda · 07-11-2008, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Exactly, and I think that this is what we have to bear in mind when looking at the feature set of these devices - they are being targetted as people like Jerry's dad and Zelda's friend, not at us computer experts. People like that store ALL their documents on a Windows machine in the "My Documents" folder, and are genuinely clueless about how to find a document should they accidentally put it somewhere else.

But the next generation (mostly) will look back at us and wonder how we survived, as computer illiterate as we were.

nekokami · 07-11-2008, 11:02 AM

My mom calls/emails me regularly with tech support questions. Like, "I think lightning just struck the house. There was a bang, a picture fell off the wall, and several of the computers have stopped working. The internet seems to be out, too-- do you think it's more likely the cable modem or the router? I got the mac to reboot, but it won't recognize the external hard drive. Do you think it's worth taking it in to the Geek Squad to see if they can salvage anything?"

Oh. These aren't the kind of tech support calls you get from your parents?

How about this one?

"I managed to get three of the donated computers working in the school library. Computers tend to die here (in Belize). Sometimes my laptop just switches off, but if I let it cool down for a while, it will usually restart. Next month we are supposed to get internet access in the village, but who knows?"

No?

zelda_pinwheel · 07-11-2008, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nekokami

My mom calls/emails me regularly with tech support questions. Like, "I think lightning just struck the house. There was a bang, a picture fell off the wall, and several of the computers have stopped working. The internet seems to be out, too-- do you think it's more likely the cable modem or the router? I got the mac to reboot, but it won't recognize the external hard drive. Do you think it's worth taking it in to the Geek Squad to see if they can salvage anything?"

my modem was struck by lightning once. i had to replace it.

tech support questions between me and my father are usually going the other way : "papa, explain to me once again how you make a ghost of a partition ?"

when i was in school learning how to use photoshop, i thought i would show him a few tricks. pfff. he knew more than i did about photoshop, because he actually Read The F* Manual. (yep.) and he could also explain to me how you would have done all those effects back in the day of film photography.

RickyMaveety · 07-11-2008, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nekokami

My mom calls/emails me regularly with tech support questions. Like, "I think lightning just struck the house. There was a bang, a picture fell off the wall, and several of the computers have stopped working. The internet seems to be out, too-- do you think it's more likely the cable modem or the router? I got the mac to reboot, but it won't recognize the external hard drive. Do you think it's worth taking it in to the Geek Squad to see if they can salvage anything?"

Oh. These aren't the kind of tech support calls you get from your parents?

How about this one?

"I managed to get three of the donated computers working in the school library. Computers tend to die here (in Belize). Sometimes my laptop just switches off, but if I let it cool down for a while, it will usually restart. Next month we are supposed to get internet access in the village, but who knows?"

No?

They are the sort of tech support calls I get from my neighbors. Although, they aren't usually all that specific. It's mostly "My f**king computer is dead, come over here and find out what's wrong with it!!" Or, "The f**king internet is down, is it down at your house?? No?? Then come over here and find out what's wrong with mine!!"

Sometimes I can fix it, sometimes not so much. But then, when a neighbor buys a "complete computer system" for $300 ... and the motherboard is deader than a doornail, the proprietary replacement costs close to $300, and none of my generic parts will fit .... even I will admit defeat.

However, over the years I have learned to build and repair computers, and even how to run cable for a network and do my own punchdowns. The software, well, that will drive me crazy long before hardware problem will. I hate having to do work-arounds for badly programmed software. Just plain hate it.

montsnmags · 07-11-2008, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

my modem was struck by lightning once. i had to replace it....

Did it come in through the window? Did you open the window and invite it in? You're not supposed to do that, you know, Queen Zee.

...no, wait a sec'. That's vampires, isn't it? Sorry, forget I said anything.

Cheers,
Marc (remembering when Dad bought the family an Apple IIc for Christmas, and then spent about five hours reading every scrap of paper it came with, including the ones in other languages though he could only understand English, before turning it on. I think we got to use it the day after Boxing Day).

jerryleejr · 07-12-2008, 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nekokami

My mom calls/emails me regularly with tech support questions. Like, "I think lightning just struck the house. There was a bang, a picture fell off the wall, and several of the computers have stopped working. The internet seems to be out, too-- do you think it's more likely the cable modem or the router? I got the mac to reboot, but it won't recognize the external hard drive. Do you think it's worth taking it in to the Geek Squad to see if they can salvage anything?"

Oh. These aren't the kind of tech support calls you get from your parents?

How about this one?

"I managed to get three of the donated computers working in the school library. Computers tend to die here (in Belize). Sometimes my laptop just switches off, but if I let it cool down for a while, it will usually restart. Next month we are supposed to get internet access in the village, but who knows?"

No?

No I get the really vague ones like I dont know what happened I clicked this button and all my stuff vanished, Tell me where it went. What does reformatting drive mean and why is there a progression bar counting up? Am I supposed to let it finish? I just wanted to email pics of the new dog!

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

when i was in school learning how to use photoshop, i thought i would show him a few tricks. pfff. he knew more than i did about photoshop, because he actually Read The F* Manual. (yep.) and he could also explain to me how you would have done all those effects back in the day of film photography.

Zee I think that is another Manual entirely, Nothing to do with computers! Lots of pictures though!

JJ

GeoffC · 07-12-2008, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerryleejr

Zee I think that is another Manual entirely, Nothing to do with computers! Lots of pictures though!

JJ

tINmOUSE · 07-12-2008, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Did it come in through the window? Did you open the window and invite it in? You're not supposed to do that, you know, Queen Zee.

...no, wait a sec'. That's vampires, isn't it? Sorry, forget I said anything.

Cheers,

NO, WORKS LIGHTNING TOO. INVITE INVOLVE WAVING LONG METAL POLE. BEING SUPERIOR (large metal) LIFEFORM - POLE NOT NECESSARILY REQUIRED.

*ALL WILL PERISH*

tINmOUSE · 07-12-2008, 06:29 AM

FUNNY STORY: NEIGHBOR REQUESTED REPAIRS TO INTERNET CONNECTION. AFTER MANY HOURS ADJUSTING, TESTING, PING TESTS, CABLE SWAPPING AND REPEATED QUESTIONING OF PRISI... SUBJECT ABOUT CHANGES SINCE LAST SUCCESSFUL CONNECTION, WITH DATA BANKS UNRESPONSIVE, BILL FROM TELECOMMUNICATIONS ORGANIZATION ACQUIRED BY SENSORS. NEIGHBOR HAD CHANGED 'PHONE' COMPANIES. INTERNET SUPPLIED AS 'PACKAGE' WITH PREVIOUS COMPANY...

DESTROYED ENTIRE BLOCK FOR SAFETY REASONS. POSSIBLE RISK OF CONTAMINATION.
*giggle*

*ALL WILL PERISH*

HarryT · 07-12-2008, 06:42 AM

Is your caps lock key broken?

tINmOUSE · 07-12-2008, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Is your caps lock key broken?

WELL KNOWN PROBLEM WITH ROBOT INTELLIGENCES. VOICE BOX ONLY HAVE TWO LEVELS... LOUD/OFF. LITTLE KNOWN PROBLEM INVOLVING ONLY EXTERNAL USE OF UPPERCASE ASCII. ONLY INTERNAL USE OF LOWERCASE POSSIBLE.

GENERALLY ASSUMED AMONG AFFLICTED MODELS - GOD HAS SENSOR OF HUMOR.

(target 'harry' acquired. tracking)

ALSO GENERAL DESIGN FAILURE IN WEAPONRY. NO STUN SETTING.

*ALL WILL PERISH. SOME SOONER THAN OTHERS*

07-12-2008, 06:29 AM	#43
tINmOUSE (stand in: rOBOTmINION) Posts: 78 Karma: 10981 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: none yet. Waiting for Mentor.	FUNNY STORY: NEIGHBOR REQUESTED REPAIRS TO INTERNET CONNECTION. AFTER MANY HOURS ADJUSTING, TESTING, PING TESTS, CABLE SWAPPING AND REPEATED QUESTIONING OF PRISI... SUBJECT ABOUT CHANGES SINCE LAST SUCCESSFUL CONNECTION, WITH DATA BANKS UNRESPONSIVE, BILL FROM TELECOMMUNICATIONS ORGANIZATION ACQUIRED BY SENSORS. NEIGHBOR HAD CHANGED 'PHONE' COMPANIES. INTERNET SUPPLIED AS 'PACKAGE' WITH PREVIOUS COMPANY... DESTROYED ENTIRE BLOCK FOR SAFETY REASONS. POSSIBLE RISK OF CONTAMINATION. giggle ALL WILL PERISH Last edited by tINmOUSE; 07-12-2008 at 06:33 AM.

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07-11-2008, 11:02 AM	#36
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	My mom calls/emails me regularly with tech support questions. Like, "I think lightning just struck the house. There was a bang, a picture fell off the wall, and several of the computers have stopped working. The internet seems to be out, too-- do you think it's more likely the cable modem or the router? I got the mac to reboot, but it won't recognize the external hard drive. Do you think it's worth taking it in to the Geek Squad to see if they can salvage anything?" Oh. These aren't the kind of tech support calls you get from your parents? How about this one? "I managed to get three of the donated computers working in the school library. Computers tend to die here (in Belize). Sometimes my laptop just switches off, but if I let it cool down for a while, it will usually restart. Next month we are supposed to get internet access in the village, but who knows?" No?

07-12-2008, 06:42 AM	#44
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Is your caps lock key broken?

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