This is not the Psychic Hardware Diangosis Network.

[laptop-mechanic.livejournal.com]

Cross posted from my normal LJ:


Dear $random_student:

A few thoughts:

• No, I cannot tell you what is wrong with your machine with any certainty at the check-in counter. If I could diagnose machines merely be laying hands upon them, I certainly would not be working here.  Unless you have a blatantly obvious problem (and you don't), anything I tell you at the check-in counter is at best an educated guess, and at worst a WAG. 
  
• Yes, I am fully aware that you need a machine to take your tests on. Yours will be fixed as quickly as possible. I explained this to you as nicely as possible, using small words even a 3 year old could have parsed without difficulty.  Calling afterwards to complain to the shop manager that you were not sufficently coddled after the fact was very poor form. But since I am a professional, the machine will get fixed on time anyway.

Comments

[ptomblin-lj.livejournal.com]

"Smite evil" requires a physical component, a "+3 disk of Ubuntu".

[egearman.livejournal.com]

Or maybe it crossing the 'Intertubes' (yeah, heard that one recently) to smack malware writers.