Ahh, a reminder of days gone by...

[neferde.livejournal.com]

About three years ago I had a roommate in the dorm who'd just gotten a new laptop but didn't have a long enough ethernet cable to reach from the jack (conveniently located directly above the in-room sink of all places) to her immovable desk. So, being a do-it-yourself farmgirl, she found two ethernet cables, one blue from a friend, one yellow from the garbage, and proceeded to do as she always did at home when the electrical cables weren't long enough... She spliced them. And then wrapped the connection in bright shiny silver duct tape. I still feel sorry for the techs who kept coming in every week to examine her computer to try and figure out why it was repeatedly crashing the entire dorm network with what they were calling "bounce-back". They never did find anything wrong with her computer... but every one of them stepped over that pretty blue/silver/yellow splice!

I still have that multicolored cable as a reminder when I'm doing tech support that sometimes it's really not the user or the computer that's the problem, it's the little things that get taken for granted and overlooked. Of course it's also useful for playing pranks on unsuspecting network techie friends too since it has yet to meet a network it can't cause major problems on!

what should I have done?

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

I work at the computer help desk at a small college. The other day, I get a phone call from a telemarketer.
Me: Computer user services, this is [me]
Telemarketer: Hi, can I speak to the person in charge of laptops and purchasing?
Me: *with telemarketer-o-meter going off* May I ask what about?
Telemarketer: I have a laptop security product he would be interested in.
Me: Let me put you on hold.
I do so, and tell the nearest full time staffer that I have a telemarketer on the line selling laptop security.
Full timer: *shouts to our boss* Do we need any laptop security products?
Boss: What? No? What?
Most of us at the desk are in favor of just keeping the guy on hold until he gives up and goes away. Instead, I tell the guy that nobody around is authorized to make any purchases and since he wants to know, tell him that he can call back later, and write a ticket warning those who have the later shifts.

So. Telemarketers. Ever gotten one at work? How did you handle it?

( and two people who just don't understand security or privacy )

Enterprise or not, theres one in every department...

[lions-tambua.livejournal.com]

( Engineers... Graduated engineers )

Time for a funny...

[redqueenmeg.livejournal.com]

This one's from last year.
Note: I work internal tech support at a company with nearly 150,000 employees in all 50 states and in many foreign countries.
The caller wanted a ticket written to have a new computer delivered to him.


ME: Where should the computer be delivered to?

HIM: My desk.

ME: (duh, idiot...) Where is your desk, please?

HIM: Maryland.

No sh*t? That'll be easy to find, then!

I'll just go up to Maryland and shout for you when I get there, shall I?

(x-posted to customers_suck and my journal)

BOFH

[dysan27.livejournal.com]

A recent comment made me realise that I havn't heard anything about the 'Bastard Operator From Hell' on this community. Which is strange since he could almost be our patron saint.

While I suspect that many of you have heard of him, I wanted to inform the uninformed.
Read about his exploits here and earlier here.

Also, if there is a sudden rash of managerial replacements, it's not my fault.

Foamy Rules!!!

[tanuki-green.livejournal.com]

Check out this weeks Foamy The Suqirrel!

Two more WTFs

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

Again: small college computer help desk monkey

The writing help center operates in the computer building. On the main floor of the building, there is a gigantic sign taking up half the hallway that says "WRITING CENTER" in big letters, with an arrow pointing to the door. And yet we will get person after person wandering down the hallway, peering at every single door, especially the ones that go to darkened offices. They usually walk past the CUS desk (within feet of the Writing Center sign) before finally asking us where the writing center is located. Sometimes they even ask us if we are the writing center, but that isn't the frustrating part. Can people not read signs? Can they not see the signs? Are people blind? Really.

Most of campus has wireless access. The older apartments have some of the best wireless of all the on-campus housing, even though it's not perfect in every room. I suppose it is because of the inconsistency of the wireless signal that Paul (not his real name) set up a wireless router in his apartment. In any case, it's plugged into his ethernet jack, and available for other kids to use.

This would be bad even if we weren't running a security system that assigned static IPs, although I am admittedly a bit shaky on why. In any case, Paul's wireless router brings down the wireless in the apartments on a regular basis. Network Services has asked him repeatedly to take it down, and checks during the day to see if he has. His tech-saavy neighbors (my coworkers) have talked to him too. Many parties have tried to convince him that he is the reason for the network outages.

What does Paul do? Turn on his router at night, when NS is not checking up on him!

It's briliant. And by brilliant, I mean that NS is going to shut down his wired access if the apartment wireless goes down again.

Meanwhile, other big chunks of campus have swotty wireless because NS is chasing down fuckers like Paul (and there are others who think they are being so leet with their own personal wireless (Airport Express can bite me).