disabled ethernet sockets

[japester.livejournal.com]

We have a few rooms which are used only for meetings. As such, there is only one network port patched in, of the available three. This caused confusion for the meagre of minded, so in my ineffable wisdom, I cut the ends off some patch leads and poked them into the unpatched wall sockets, with the implication, that if there's only one choice the lusers won't be able to Fuck It Up.
well, I was wrong. I discovered this morning that there was a particularly bright moron who couldn't get their laptop working in one of the rooms, so they unplugged my DeadEnds and then threw them away. *sigh*
Back out there today, with some replacements and some string. They are now tied in place. I wonder how long they will last now? Or maybe, how long will it be before I get to do that to the other meeting rooms?

For the creative, I pulled the faceplate surround off, tied a knot in the ends of a piece of string, wrapped it around the anti-strain flex bits of the plug and put the faceplate back, with the knots underneath it, so they can't be pulled out easily.

Comments

[loosechanj.livejournal.com]

For the creative, I pulled the faceplate surround off, tied a knot in the ends of a piece of string, wrapped it around the anti-strain flex bits of the plug and put the faceplate back, with the knots underneath it, so they can't be pulled out easily.

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."

-- Douglas Adams

In the same vein..

[ace-brickman.livejournal.com]

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning"
-Rich Cook

Re: In the same vein..

[jecook]

And one look at a wal-mart or any other place filled with evilcustomers will rpvoe this theory.

If that doesn't work..

[ace-brickman.livejournal.com]

put play-doh in the network socket. It doesn't damage the contacts on the bottom, and network expansion is only a toothbrush away!

[torkell]

There's only one way to teach them that those sockets are not to be used, and that's to patch them into an etherkiller. I think your company might object to exploding laptops, though.

A more sane way would be to put an "out of order" sticker on top of the non-working sockets, along with some suitable threat for anyone who removes the sticker.

[guinevere33.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how well peons respond to stickers. I stuck one labelled "Please do not remove this sticker" along the outside of our company memo board and it was still there 6 months later. When I asked a coworker about it, she said "Oh, so THAT'S what it was doing there. I was afraid to remove it - I always assumed it was, like, the only thing holding the board together."

[nem0.livejournal.com]

The building I was managing this summer was undergoing asbestos abatement on the fifth floor for about three weeks. We put a big sticker on top of the 5 button in the elevator that said "NO!," along with a sign next to the bank of buttons explaining why fifth floor was off-limits.

The NO sticker had to be replaced no more than seven times in three weeks. Also, even though the entire floor was walled off with plastic, and had a whole system of airlocks to prevent any of the airborne asbestos from leaking out, we had a group of people somehow manage to break into the floor anyway. God knows how much damage that caused.

I hate to be spiteful, but maybe it'd be better for the world if they got lung cancer.

[klytus.livejournal.com]

People who go that far out of their way to engage in stupidity deserve to reap the rewards of their behavior.

[jecook]

I was wondering when someone would suggest the BOFH approach.

And if no one had suggested it, I would have. ::smirk::

I would have taken a creative route: I would have patched all the unused network ports into a standalone 10M hub, so they get link, but no addy or connectivity.

[torkell]

Would this 10M hub be one that has been... modified to support power over ethernet?

[japester.livejournal.com]

yeah, the only problem then, is that we'd still get a call from Jane Stupid saying the network isn't.

[eightofspades.livejournal.com]

I had a projector system set up with a automatic video switch unit that was connected to both a SFF system and a cable for a laptop. If a laptop was plugged into the cable and turned on, the video switch would automatically send only the laptop signal out - otherwise the desktop signal would go out.

It was quite simple. One long cable, from switch to wall duct, to projector in ceiling. Switch is plugged into desktop via two inch cable. One other long cable, leaves switch, other end is bare.

You have no idea how many times I was called in there to "fix" the projector, only to find the laptop input cable plugged into both the laptop input and the monitor output sockets...

There were other variants of stupidity, but that was the most mind-numbing. "Well, did you follow the cable and notice it's essentially plugged into itself???"