techrecovery | Foolish humans and their random amusements.

Friday I had two gems worth mention, and found out about another that bears documenting.

One of our products is the software for a gateway appliance. Decently complex stuff that runs on a Linux platform. A guy calls and is interested in installing a myriad of patches and service packs and wants to know what he needs to download. No big deal, as there are many. Now, this guy's assistant had called regarding the same thing a month prior. Evidently his assistant informed him that the previous tech told him not to upgrade to the latest version, as it would "deliver a large amount of pop-up ads and attempt to get [them] to purchase additional products."

...I have no words for this. A several-thousand-dollar gateway SMTP/HTTP/FTP and etcetera-filtering device that will deliver pop-up ads. We have no one stupid enough to say such rubbish, even if being held at gunpoint. I know the person that the assistant spoke with previously; there is literally NO way. At least make up something believable.

Then, there was 70-year-old guy (who was rather nice, just a little loose in the brainpan) trying to install some backend RADIUS authentication software we provide, so that he could SECURE THE WIRELESS CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ACCESS POINT AND HIS TIVO. No other wireless devices, just the AP (not even the Tivo as of yet - he hadn't ordered the adapter!). It took me an hour to figure out that's what he was trying to do. I finally managed to convince him that the software goes on the COMPUTER he wants to secure, and since he's not connecting any COMPUTERS wirelessly, he does not need nor can he even use the software or the service.

Also, I was informed of a call (that someone on another team received) from a guy who threatened to sue us because the anti-spyware module we provide didn't detect the keylogger his wife installed, and she filed for divorce after logging various IM sessions. Yeah.