(no subject)

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

So, i was voluntold (kind of like volunteering, only i didn't have a choice) to present a class on some radio equipment that we've had kicking around our organization since...well, it's pretty old stuff. Probably early 80's (which makes this technology nearly as old as i am), because the folks that get to spend money around here don't want to join the new millenium.
Of course, as antequated as these radios are, they're still in regular use. One of my jobs is to load encryption and other privacy software into them before they can be of real use.
This class supposed to reduce the frequency of interruptions due to the radios getting out of synch, at which point they come back to me to get reloaded.

Anyway, i started to give a simple, straight-forward class on how these folks can load the software themselves. One guy kept asking me in-depth questions on how the things work. EVERYTHING I SAID was met with an interruption of "but why?" or "but how?"

YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW HOW IT WORKS, GOOFBALL! YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO!

You hook it up the computer, press this button, then press another button. Then, you can push a button and talk.

You DON'T need to know what the privacy softwares does, or how it knows the air-speed velocity of the unladen SWALLOW, for fucksakes. You want to know that, RTFM! Oh wait...if you'd done that, i wouldn't have to give step-by-step illustrations on how to operate the damned thing to begin with.

This moron turned a 20-minute walkthrough into a 3-hour waste of my off-time. Asshat.

The best part? In all likelyhood, i'll have to give another class on how to use out-dated technology again. Because pressing 3 buttons (literally) is SOOO complicated nobody will remember by now. And he'll still be there, asking asinine, off-subject questions.

Comments

[vortex.livejournal.com]

Let them ask a few questions before the class starts, then tell them to save any questions they have until the end of the class. That way you can zoom through and all of the people who either don't care, or are smart enough to catch it the first time can leave and you'll be able to make up an excuse to go at the end of class when you are alone with Mr. 20 questions...

[vortex.livejournal.com]

p.s.

I learned that in the Marines...they actually teach you how to teach classes that way, but you don't realise the value until you actually teach a class or two or twenty...

[abstrak-tokatl.livejournal.com]

wait. are we fucken talking about radio equiptment or a fucken radio?

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

Pardon my vagueness. Radios. Comparable to Motorola Talkabouts. Walkie-freaking-talkies, man! And these people can't figure out how to USE them!

[abstrak-tokatl.livejournal.com]

can i have one?!

if those are the same one's i'm thinking of i used to play with those as a kid! Made around the time when things were just going from analog to digital? beta max to vhs...? has basic computer capabilities and is mostly electrical (which causes the out of synch issue)?

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

Sorry, friend, but i doubt they're the same ones you're thinking of.

Unless you used to play with military radios as a kid.

And i'd probably get in quite a bit of trouble if i gave one away.

[abstrak-tokatl.livejournal.com]

probly not. But the millitary wasn't as strict with computer tech then as it is now. got my hands on a few toys they tossed away. One was a turn of the decade hand held radio with basic computer functions. and for any military that are spying, it was given to me by a computer teach, go after him not me.

can i atleast know the model?

[betawriter.livejournal.com]

There are probably any number of subscriber units that you can buy - mall police use them, for instance.

See? Tons available (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22subscriber+unit%22)

The thing that you WOULDN'T have, which is more expensive, is the Key Variable Loader, which loads the encryption keys into the radios so they can talk to each other.

(guess who wrote the manuals?) :)

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

My favorite word for that sort of information is "parenthetical", as in, "That's pretty parenthetical for the objectives of this class, which are basic operation only. There's a lot more in-depth information in the manual if you're curious." Which is a slightly more diplomatic form of "RTFM".

I've only had to practice redirecting people who never got out of the "but why?" phase of childhood about once or twice a day for the past couple of years. I've gotten *very* good at it. I use words like "focus on the immediate issue" a lot .. and the really annoying ones get to the end of the call and realize a fraction of a second after they said goodbye that I deferred all of their "but why?" questions until the issue was resolved, then let them go. Gotten pretty good at that too. :D

Agreed, it's not something he needs to know to be able to operate the thing. I have to admit, I tend to be curious about such things myself, mainly from a standpoint of what I might need to do if troubleshooting is involved in a contingency situation, but it's rare that I bug a human about that sort of thing. Documentation is one of my best friends.