Tuesday, 1 September 2020
The IT Aura
Have you ever noticed that the IT department seems to be immune to omputer problems? They still happen, rarely, but the majority of the time IT department computers work as intended. Now, is this because they are properly maintained (backups, updates, etc.)? Not likely. I, for one, am lousy at practicing what I preach. Instead I have another theory:
Playing Diablo III the other day I toyed around with a Paladin character who has the ability to use Auras. These Auras provide and area of effect to increase protection, cause damage and sometimes even to heal. That got me thinking of O'Brien's Law of Quantum Observation as it Relates to IT Issues. I had said in tha post that perhaps IT techs have the ability to cure computers through the laying of hands. Since then I have realized that I supposedly have resolved issues simply by answering the phone or entering the room where the offending piece of equipment is located.
This leads me to two conclusions - 1) The healing ability is more of an area of effect and 2) This effect can operate over a phone line.
The reduced number of incidents with IT-operated computers seems to support the theory that the IT Aura is in operation. It has been further suggested by one of my users, that stationing IT technicians throughout the building would enable all users to take advantage of this aura and thus reduce the number of incidents throughout the company.
Food for thought.
Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Here, Have a Clue
When you work for a company that has a ticketing system for making requests of IT, you should never have to ask "how do I get _____". The answer is very simple, open a ticket.
How do you get access to a certain folder? Open a ticket
How do you get a new computer? Open a ticket
How do you report a problem? Open a ticket
Do you see the trend yet?
Monday, 18 March 2019
Lazy Questions
How long does it take to type in an email address or a phone number? Not that long. Even less if you copy/paste. So why is it that a simple request to add an email address does not include that information in the body of the email? Why would you expect the person doing the work to hunt through your email thread to find the address you asked them to add? How lazy do you have to be? Would you like it if I responded with something along the lines of "the answer to your question is somewhere in this email". Or better yet, "Here's a word search. Find all the words, then take the unused letters and unscramble them to find your answer."
Friday, 13 April 2018
New Sport: IT Streaking
This is an idea in the making. I will edit this post as ideas come into focus.
This morning I was working with a user at their desk. Once I had finished, I looked for possible routes out of the area that would result in the least amount of "oh, since you're here"-type questions. That is when it hit me, this would make a good sport. I present to you - IT Streaking.
It's simple and safe for work (assuming you set a speed limit)
Goal:
Complete a circuit in the most amount of time without being stopped for help.
Rules:
1. You keep your clothes on as well as any identification that you would normally wear as part of your job.
2. Disguises are not allowed
3. Set a speed limit for safety. I suggest nothing above a brisk walk.
4. Determine a course - start/finish lines, path, etc.
Scoring:
The challenge in IT Streaking is completing the course in the slowest time without being stopped to help someone, but at the same time, the ability to help someone quickly should also factor in. With that in mind, count each stop as a fault (same as missing a gate in slalom) and subtract 1 minute from the total course time. Another option would be to subtract the time spent helping from the total course time.
Score= Total course time - (number of faults * 1 minute) OR
Total course time - amount of time spent helping people
This morning I was working with a user at their desk. Once I had finished, I looked for possible routes out of the area that would result in the least amount of "oh, since you're here"-type questions. That is when it hit me, this would make a good sport. I present to you - IT Streaking.
It's simple and safe for work (assuming you set a speed limit)
Goal:
Complete a circuit in the most amount of time without being stopped for help.
Rules:
1. You keep your clothes on as well as any identification that you would normally wear as part of your job.
2. Disguises are not allowed
3. Set a speed limit for safety. I suggest nothing above a brisk walk.
4. Determine a course - start/finish lines, path, etc.
Scoring:
The challenge in IT Streaking is completing the course in the slowest time without being stopped to help someone, but at the same time, the ability to help someone quickly should also factor in. With that in mind, count each stop as a fault (same as missing a gate in slalom) and subtract 1 minute from the total course time. Another option would be to subtract the time spent helping from the total course time.
Score= Total course time - (number of faults * 1 minute) OR
Total course time - amount of time spent helping people
Thursday, 1 March 2018
Computer upgrades will not cure stupidity
Recent tickets coming in for Excel not autocalculating. The Cliff Clavin caller knows that this is an indication that we should upgrade him to the latest version of Office.
Turned on Automatic calculation in Tools > Options. So much for the upgrade.
Turned on Automatic calculation in Tools > Options. So much for the upgrade.
Wednesday, 7 June 2017
I think we need all email application designers to sign-on to this idea: Prevent users from typing their whole message in the subject line. I'm picturing something like the dreaded Clippy popping up to say something like, "You appear to be typing an awful lot of words into the subject line. Would you like me to copy this to the body of the email instead?" The help system could then further explain that the subject line is a brief summary of what the email is about while the meat of the message is contained in the body. Perhaps it could also point out that people that put more words in the subject line than there are in the body of the message are more likely to annoy those on the other end.
Or maybe I'm just crazy.
Wednesday, 24 May 2017
What happened to "the customer is always right"
In my time on this planet I have dealt with a few different companies and a couple governments looking for customer support. Among that group who would you guess has the worst customer support? You'd think the government, wouldn't you? But you'd be wrong!
Several years ago my company signed on with a mid-sized partner to provide us with phone services. At the time we thought it would be better to be a big fish in a small pond because we would be the most important customer in their roster and would reap the benefits. Looking back through the egg on our faces I'm sure we wish we could hop in the old DeLorean and go slap ourselves upside the head.
It turns out that, not only were we the big fish in their little pond, we were like Otto in A Fish Out of Water - we just kept growing and growing until we were too big for them to handle. Now most companies, you'd think, would take one of two paths; 1) Admit that they had bitten off more than they could chew and bow out gracefully or 2) Step up to the plate and use some of the profits we paid them to improve - better infrastructure, more knowledgeable staff, etc. Turns out that this company was not like the others.They chose option 3) Take the money and run the contract into the ground no matter what.
As things started going south with calls dropping, bad quality, people not being able to hear each other, etc. our support desk found itself escalating more and more issues to our partner's support desk. At least that is what they called it. In the 3 years of the contract they had gone through 4 or 5 support desk managers ranging from the fairly knowledgeable and helpful to the downright ignorant and rude. At one point they practically auto-replied to us with "not it" whenever we pushed a ticket their way.
For example, one day, the 5th day of outages which they ignored the first day, blamed on us the second, finally located the problem on their end on the third, blamed us again on the fourth and then, with their admission of guilt still hanging out there, stopped troubleshooting altogether. The issue had happened before several times and always had the same solution. Instead of taking the road well-traveled, however, they wanted us to, once again, prove that water is wet and step through a series of extra troubleshooting steps. This after 4 days of no phone service and horrible customer support.
Now, I'm no businessman, but I fail to see the logic of treating your biggest customer like a stray dog that just crapped on your manicured lawn. According to their press we made them profitable where they weren't before. They even listed us as 5 different clients on their otherwise paltry customer list. Which means that when we dropped their services they lost over half their customer list.
We have since moved to another provider who has not once blamed us for their own failures and has, on several occasions, informed us of outages before we learned of them from our end-users. Our old partner still has the claims on their website that so amused me back then. I find particular humour in the sentence which reads "we provide exemplary customer support" and even more in the promise of 24-hour coverage. I never once was able to reach anyone outside of normal business hours on their "24-hour support line." It reminds me of Steven Wright's joke about going to the 7-11 to find the owner locking up. "What are you doing? Your sign says you're opened 24 hours" "Yes, but not in a row."
Maybe things have changed and they are finally living up to their claims, but I somehow doubt it.
UPDATE: I found this posting in my drafts folder recently and decided to see what the old company was doing. They went bankrupt in 2015, meaning they lasted longer than I expected, but came to the same end.
Several years ago my company signed on with a mid-sized partner to provide us with phone services. At the time we thought it would be better to be a big fish in a small pond because we would be the most important customer in their roster and would reap the benefits. Looking back through the egg on our faces I'm sure we wish we could hop in the old DeLorean and go slap ourselves upside the head.
It turns out that, not only were we the big fish in their little pond, we were like Otto in A Fish Out of Water - we just kept growing and growing until we were too big for them to handle. Now most companies, you'd think, would take one of two paths; 1) Admit that they had bitten off more than they could chew and bow out gracefully or 2) Step up to the plate and use some of the profits we paid them to improve - better infrastructure, more knowledgeable staff, etc. Turns out that this company was not like the others.They chose option 3) Take the money and run the contract into the ground no matter what.
As things started going south with calls dropping, bad quality, people not being able to hear each other, etc. our support desk found itself escalating more and more issues to our partner's support desk. At least that is what they called it. In the 3 years of the contract they had gone through 4 or 5 support desk managers ranging from the fairly knowledgeable and helpful to the downright ignorant and rude. At one point they practically auto-replied to us with "not it" whenever we pushed a ticket their way.
For example, one day, the 5th day of outages which they ignored the first day, blamed on us the second, finally located the problem on their end on the third, blamed us again on the fourth and then, with their admission of guilt still hanging out there, stopped troubleshooting altogether. The issue had happened before several times and always had the same solution. Instead of taking the road well-traveled, however, they wanted us to, once again, prove that water is wet and step through a series of extra troubleshooting steps. This after 4 days of no phone service and horrible customer support.
Now, I'm no businessman, but I fail to see the logic of treating your biggest customer like a stray dog that just crapped on your manicured lawn. According to their press we made them profitable where they weren't before. They even listed us as 5 different clients on their otherwise paltry customer list. Which means that when we dropped their services they lost over half their customer list.
We have since moved to another provider who has not once blamed us for their own failures and has, on several occasions, informed us of outages before we learned of them from our end-users. Our old partner still has the claims on their website that so amused me back then. I find particular humour in the sentence which reads "we provide exemplary customer support" and even more in the promise of 24-hour coverage. I never once was able to reach anyone outside of normal business hours on their "24-hour support line." It reminds me of Steven Wright's joke about going to the 7-11 to find the owner locking up. "What are you doing? Your sign says you're opened 24 hours" "Yes, but not in a row."
Maybe things have changed and they are finally living up to their claims, but I somehow doubt it.
UPDATE: I found this posting in my drafts folder recently and decided to see what the old company was doing. They went bankrupt in 2015, meaning they lasted longer than I expected, but came to the same end.
Tuesday, 16 May 2017
O'Brien's Law
The term 'observer effect' in Physics refers to the idea that the act of observation changes the phenomenon being observed. Physics being what it is, this effect is usually seen in the microscopic and smaller scale. However, I have discovered a real-world example of this on the macro scale.
Many times in my career I have stepped up to a computer for the purpose of assessment and eventual repair only to discover that it is now working. The user claims it was broken right up until the point I arrived. Usually this is then followed with claims that they are "not crazy" and other things I am not qualified to determine.
I have often referred to this as the "car mechanic" principle, since it follows a similar situation where that annoying thing your car was doing went away once the mechanic got a hold of it. However, in this case the car is usually sitting idle for some time before a mechanic gets to it, so it does not fit the sudden and dare I say miraculous curing of ailing computers simply by arriving on the scene.
Now that I've put it out there, could it be that we IT professionals are somehow possessed of the ability to cure computers simply by a laying of hands? Discuss.
Contrary to the name of this blog, I do not subscribe to any specific religion, so I'll leave the miracles to others. Instead I postulate this:
Many times in my career I have stepped up to a computer for the purpose of assessment and eventual repair only to discover that it is now working. The user claims it was broken right up until the point I arrived. Usually this is then followed with claims that they are "not crazy" and other things I am not qualified to determine.
I have often referred to this as the "car mechanic" principle, since it follows a similar situation where that annoying thing your car was doing went away once the mechanic got a hold of it. However, in this case the car is usually sitting idle for some time before a mechanic gets to it, so it does not fit the sudden and dare I say miraculous curing of ailing computers simply by arriving on the scene.
Now that I've put it out there, could it be that we IT professionals are somehow possessed of the ability to cure computers simply by a laying of hands? Discuss.
Contrary to the name of this blog, I do not subscribe to any specific religion, so I'll leave the miracles to others. Instead I postulate this:
The act of observation of an IT-related issue, by a qualified IT professional, can sometimes resolve this issue.I think this should be called O'Brien's Law of Quantum Observation as it Relates to IT Issues. Discuss.
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
Average and Retroactive Stupidity
Have you ever had somebody say something so stupid that it sucks the intelligence out of everything else they say? As if you are averaging their intelligence across their comments. Or are you averaging their stupidity?
Tech support from our printer supplier emailed me to say the user complaining about a smell and noise when they print may "have no toner cartridge installed." I don't know about you, but my printer doesn't print at when the toner or ink cartridge is removed. The printers are intelligent enough to know this, apparently some printer techs are not.
Their next suggestion was actually very insightful and under normal circumstances could have been considered brilliant. Since the printer was reporting toner level at 0% they suggested that installing a fresh toner may resolve the "burning smell" issue. Of course! Why didn't we think of that before?
Unfortunately the ballast of the first comment is dragging the second one down so it is no longer 'brilliant' or 'insightful'. Instead we just have a 'good idea'.
A similar effect can be achieved by stating something intelligent followed by something stupid. In IT support we often see this from Cliff Clavin-type users who say things like "I ran out of hard drive space. I need more RAM" In this case the stupidity is retroactive.
Tech support from our printer supplier emailed me to say the user complaining about a smell and noise when they print may "have no toner cartridge installed." I don't know about you, but my printer doesn't print at when the toner or ink cartridge is removed. The printers are intelligent enough to know this, apparently some printer techs are not.
Their next suggestion was actually very insightful and under normal circumstances could have been considered brilliant. Since the printer was reporting toner level at 0% they suggested that installing a fresh toner may resolve the "burning smell" issue. Of course! Why didn't we think of that before?
Unfortunately the ballast of the first comment is dragging the second one down so it is no longer 'brilliant' or 'insightful'. Instead we just have a 'good idea'.
A similar effect can be achieved by stating something intelligent followed by something stupid. In IT support we often see this from Cliff Clavin-type users who say things like "I ran out of hard drive space. I need more RAM" In this case the stupidity is retroactive.
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
And you are...?
There are times when I have been able to solve a problem from a brief or poorly worded description. Most of that is experience and intuition getting together for an educated stab in the dark, not clairvoyance or omniscience. Judging from some of the work orders I receive, however, a lot of people think it is the latter.
They must think of us as minor deities to think that we can solve an issue from, "I can't log in." Keep in mind that our ticketing system only identifies the location the complaint is coming from, the rest is up to the person submitting the ticket. We even seed the ticket with reminders, "replace with short description of issue" and that sort of thing. Yet, each day we get tickets with such detailed information as "1 computer not working" when the site has 5 computers.
They must think of us as minor deities to think that we can solve an issue from, "I can't log in." Keep in mind that our ticketing system only identifies the location the complaint is coming from, the rest is up to the person submitting the ticket. We even seed the ticket with reminders, "replace with short description of issue" and that sort of thing. Yet, each day we get tickets with such detailed information as "1 computer not working" when the site has 5 computers.
Monday, 1 April 2013
April Fools' Pranks (Repost)
Today you will be bombarded by April Fools pranks from every quarter. Your local newspaper, TV or radio station will run a bogus headline, your favorite website will post something bizarre of some sort (check out Think Geek for their annual too-good-to-be-true April Fools product), your coworkers and/or family will drive you mad with pranks. So, why not fight fire with fire?
A computer is a wonderful canvas to practice retaliatory or even preemptive pranking. Here's a few relatively safe pranks for Windows (sorry Mac users I dropped out after OS9.1):
Additional ideas:
Put a piece of Scotch tape over the optics of an optical mouse.
Physically swap keys on the keyboard. Be warned, some keyboard keys will not come off easily.
Download Intellimouse and use it to calibrate the mouse incorrectly. The program tells you to move the mouse up, but who does it think it is! Move the mouse in any direction you want.
Download the Sysinternals BSOD screensaver by Mark Russinovich. Unfortunately this has not been updated with Windows 7 load screens.
Use remote access tools to create a ghost in the machine by moving the victims mouse or typing when they type. Takes a fair amount of pre-planning.
DISCLAIMER: Computers are ultimately fickle devices which may or may not take kindly to being the instrument of your amusement. Keep this in mind and choose your victims wisely and with a thought to the consequences of a disaster. Practice responsible pranking and if you do try any of the tricks listed above and they get you in trouble, don't mention my name.
A computer is a wonderful canvas to practice retaliatory or even preemptive pranking. Here's a few relatively safe pranks for Windows (sorry Mac users I dropped out after OS9.1):
Dude, where's my icons?
| Difficulty: Easy | Works On: XP, Vista, Win7 | |
| Tools Needed: None | Risk: Low | |
Built into Windows is the ability to hide all the icons on the desktop, leaving a nice clean unobstructed view of your desktop wallpaper. Instructions: | ||
XP:
|
Vista, Win7:
| |
|
| |
Dude, where's my taskbar?
| Difficulty: Easy | Works On: XP, Vista, Win7 | |
| Tools Needed: None | Risk: Low | |
This prank has two stages:
| ||
XP:
|
Vista, Win7:
| |
| Vista and Windows 7 will not allow you to minimize the taskbar, you can only move it and auto-hide it.
| |
A picture's worth a good laugh
| Difficulty: Moderate | Works On: XP, Vista, Win7 | |
| Tools Needed: MSPaint or similar | Risk: Low-medium | |
A blank desktop is so boring, why not give your victim something to look at...and click on...repeatedly...with no response from their computer. The risk here is that they will assume their computer is frozen and reboot, potentially losing unsaved work. Instructions: | ||
XP, Vista, Win7:
| ||
| ||
Slow and steady
| Difficulty: Easy | Works On: XP, Vista, Win7 | |
| Tools Needed: MSPaint or similar | Risk: Low-medium | |
I discovered this one while helping a high school computer instructor troubleshoot a computer that would allow him to type his login, but then the keyboard appeared to stop working. Three known-good keyboards and 20 minutes later... Instructions: | ||
XP:
|
Vista, Win7:
| |
|
| |
I know something you do not...
| Difficulty: Easy | Works On: XP, Vista, Win7 | |
| Tools Needed: None | Risk: Low | |
...I am not left handed. Even not many southpaws know about this setting, so it is perfect for pranking. A simple checkbox will trade the left and right-click buttons of any mouse. Note: Some mice will have programmable buttons or other options which provide other opportunities for mischief. Instructions: | ||
XP, Vista, Win7:
| ||
| ||
Like a record, baby
| Difficulty: Moderate | Works On: Depends on graphics card | |
| Tools Needed: None | Risk: Low | |
There are monitors that can be rotated 90-degrees into 'portrait' mode, perfect for reading documents a page at a time or for playing Pac-Man the way it was meant to be played. Because they exist, graphics card manufacturers include a 'rotate' function in their settings usually with the ability to add a hot-key combination. Only Intel enables these hot-keys by default. Which brings us to the... Instructions: | ||
Intel on-board graphics:
|
Others:
| |
For a while Dell was exclusively using Intel motherboards with on-board Intel graphics. HP has also used Intel at various points. Note: The computer has to be unlocked with a user logged in.
| You will need to explore the options of the graphics card to see if rotation is possible, assign hot-keys, etc. Look for ATI's CATALYST Control Center, NVIDIA Settings application or...
| |
¡Uno momento! ¡Yo hablo Español!
| Difficulty: Easy-Moderate | Works On: XP, Vista, Win7 | |
| Tools Needed: None | Risk: Low-moderate | |
There is a vast range of languages to choose from for this prank. For a subtle change try using a French Canadian keyboard layout to change a few keys. If, however, you belong to the 'Go big or go home' school of thought, change the input language to Russian. Instructions: | ||
XP:
|
Vista, Win7:
| |
|
| |
Additional ideas:
Put a piece of Scotch tape over the optics of an optical mouse.
Physically swap keys on the keyboard. Be warned, some keyboard keys will not come off easily.
Download Intellimouse and use it to calibrate the mouse incorrectly. The program tells you to move the mouse up, but who does it think it is! Move the mouse in any direction you want.
Download the Sysinternals BSOD screensaver by Mark Russinovich. Unfortunately this has not been updated with Windows 7 load screens.
Use remote access tools to create a ghost in the machine by moving the victims mouse or typing when they type. Takes a fair amount of pre-planning.
DISCLAIMER: Computers are ultimately fickle devices which may or may not take kindly to being the instrument of your amusement. Keep this in mind and choose your victims wisely and with a thought to the consequences of a disaster. Practice responsible pranking and if you do try any of the tricks listed above and they get you in trouble, don't mention my name.
Friday, 28 September 2012
Latest not always the greatest
When Apple released iOS6 I decided to take a look at it before I jumped on the bandwagon and boy am I glad.
The list of "over 200" improvements seemed to hold nary a one that would apply to my Wi-Fi only iPad 2. Even worse was the listed loss of Google Maps and replacement with Apple Maps which a series of useless-sounding features. Better to play it safe and check the reviews, I thought.
The negative reviews of Apple Maps have overshadowed the other features, but they have certainly convince me that "sit and wait" was the better choice.
Meanwhile the executives at work are dumping their iPhone 4s and 4Ss for the iPhone5. As they hand them to the IT department to set up we are discovering that they need an upgraded iTunes which requires the latest update to Apple OS which requires the latest OS which requires money. A sound business plan, but a lousy customer experience.
So here I sit, happily typing away in the last iOS while the update counter on the App Store increases by leaps and bounds and realizing that the latest is not always the greatest.
The list of "over 200" improvements seemed to hold nary a one that would apply to my Wi-Fi only iPad 2. Even worse was the listed loss of Google Maps and replacement with Apple Maps which a series of useless-sounding features. Better to play it safe and check the reviews, I thought.
The negative reviews of Apple Maps have overshadowed the other features, but they have certainly convince me that "sit and wait" was the better choice.
Meanwhile the executives at work are dumping their iPhone 4s and 4Ss for the iPhone5. As they hand them to the IT department to set up we are discovering that they need an upgraded iTunes which requires the latest update to Apple OS which requires the latest OS which requires money. A sound business plan, but a lousy customer experience.
So here I sit, happily typing away in the last iOS while the update counter on the App Store increases by leaps and bounds and realizing that the latest is not always the greatest.
Friday, 16 March 2012
Good thing you told me...
I ran into one of those issues today that just leave you stunned. Usually I do fairly well with reminding myself that not everyone is as acquainted with computers as I am, or computer savvy, or really computer literate at all. In fact, there are folks out there using computers in their day-to-day that really should not be allowed to touch them. You can't do as much damage to life and limb with a computer as you can with, say, a car, but I sometimes wonder if we should license these people. At the very least they would save the IT departments of the world from the sting of constant facepalms.
Case in point. I received a complaint that the email program on this person's computer was no longer notifying them of email via a sound or a pop-up window. I sent a test and was surprised to find that they were not exaggerating the issue - nothing happened when my email arrived. I made sure the settings were configured correctly, restarted the program and tried again - nothing. 'Odd,' I thought.
I recalled that some email rules can suppress the alerts if the email is moved to another folder, so I checked their email rules...and that is when I found it. The most impressive display of blatant ignorance I've seen in quite some time.
Oh they had rules alright, only about 6 or 8, but it's not the number that stunned me, it was their tasks. Each rule was basically the same: If an email came from a specific email address Outlook was to move that email to...wait for it...the Inbox! And the piece de resistance - a rule that would take any message that came in and move it to the Inbox and then stop processing all other rules!
Lo and behold as soon as I turned off the offending madness the email alerts started working again. Still, I have to wonder why they would set up these rules. Where did they think their email was going before?
Case in point. I received a complaint that the email program on this person's computer was no longer notifying them of email via a sound or a pop-up window. I sent a test and was surprised to find that they were not exaggerating the issue - nothing happened when my email arrived. I made sure the settings were configured correctly, restarted the program and tried again - nothing. 'Odd,' I thought.
I recalled that some email rules can suppress the alerts if the email is moved to another folder, so I checked their email rules...and that is when I found it. The most impressive display of blatant ignorance I've seen in quite some time.
Oh they had rules alright, only about 6 or 8, but it's not the number that stunned me, it was their tasks. Each rule was basically the same: If an email came from a specific email address Outlook was to move that email to...wait for it...the Inbox! And the piece de resistance - a rule that would take any message that came in and move it to the Inbox and then stop processing all other rules!
Lo and behold as soon as I turned off the offending madness the email alerts started working again. Still, I have to wonder why they would set up these rules. Where did they think their email was going before?
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Software testing -part 2
The BlogPress folks have anew update which let me actually open the program again. Now let's see if they fixed their other problems. This should be a separate line.
Guess not. Looks like it's time to find another app.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad and then fixed with another program
Guess not. Looks like it's time to find another app.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad and then fixed with another program
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Software testing
Having worked as a Beta Test Team Lead for a software company I find that I have less tolerance for bugs in applications I purchase.
Recently the upgrade to iOS 5 prompted many developers to post updates for their apps. The makers of BlogPress took almost two months to finally release their update and first thing that happened after downloading it -it crashed!
As I started winding up for a tirade about poor testing protocols even after a lengthy wait they posted an slight change on their app page in the store advising everyone to delete the app entirely and redownload. Not a fantastic fix, but enough to stop me in mid-rant.
Unfortunately, my wife may have found another problem with it, that it does not recognize double line breaks to create paragraphs properly. Hopefully this little test post will show that we are still dealing with a WYSIWYG interface.
Apparently not, however. I went to write a scathing review of their now crappy app only to discover that it is no longer listed in the app store. Well big freaking surprise!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad and then corrected using some other app
Recently the upgrade to iOS 5 prompted many developers to post updates for their apps. The makers of BlogPress took almost two months to finally release their update and first thing that happened after downloading it -it crashed!
As I started winding up for a tirade about poor testing protocols even after a lengthy wait they posted an slight change on their app page in the store advising everyone to delete the app entirely and redownload. Not a fantastic fix, but enough to stop me in mid-rant.
Unfortunately, my wife may have found another problem with it, that it does not recognize double line breaks to create paragraphs properly. Hopefully this little test post will show that we are still dealing with a WYSIWYG interface.
Apparently not, however. I went to write a scathing review of their now crappy app only to discover that it is no longer listed in the app store. Well big freaking surprise!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad and then corrected using some other app
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Google by proxy...
Working on a corporate support desk I mostly deal with questions specific to our in-house applications, network or VoIP setup. Occasionally, however, someone puts in a ticket asking for help with MS Office or some other incidental application that we use, but with which I am not wholly familiar.
When I run into this kind of program at home I follow a simple set of troubleshooting steps: 1) Poke around the menus and try various options to see if they do whatever it is I am looking for. 2) Use Google to search for an answer.
I suppose that my customers have simply replaced step 2 with Something along the lines of 'consult resident computer geek.' In some cases I think this method works well for them because I do actually know the answer, but for the more obscure questions I turn to the encyclopedia mundi. I put my question before the concentrated intellect on the Internet and wait. Digging through unhelpful opinions, ignorant rants, pointless trolling and bad grammar I glean the answer from those that have gone before. Dragging the meat of the answer back to my customer and presenting it like a trophy kill from a hunting trip.
An interesting metaphor for which is nothing more, really, than doing the dirty work for somebody else. They get to sit back and relax while I hunt their answers for them. I am the servant typing in their search term and reading the results back to them. It's Google by proxy
There's something about that phrase that sound really cool. I wonder if I could make it into a t-shirt...
When I run into this kind of program at home I follow a simple set of troubleshooting steps: 1) Poke around the menus and try various options to see if they do whatever it is I am looking for. 2) Use Google to search for an answer.
I suppose that my customers have simply replaced step 2 with Something along the lines of 'consult resident computer geek.' In some cases I think this method works well for them because I do actually know the answer, but for the more obscure questions I turn to the encyclopedia mundi. I put my question before the concentrated intellect on the Internet and wait. Digging through unhelpful opinions, ignorant rants, pointless trolling and bad grammar I glean the answer from those that have gone before. Dragging the meat of the answer back to my customer and presenting it like a trophy kill from a hunting trip.
An interesting metaphor for which is nothing more, really, than doing the dirty work for somebody else. They get to sit back and relax while I hunt their answers for them. I am the servant typing in their search term and reading the results back to them. It's Google by proxy
There's something about that phrase that sound really cool. I wonder if I could make it into a t-shirt...
Friday, 16 September 2011
Looks like I'm the guinea pig
Some of the executives in my company have opted to carry an iPad instead of a laptop. Not a bad way to travel considering the differences in weight, but similar capabilities. The unfortunate down-side is that an iPad is a target for theft such that you are not even safe leaving it in view on your car seat while you pop in for a bite to eat.
As a new iPad owner it has fallen to me to troubleshoot some of the problems these executives run into and then try to explain why, in Apple's infinite wisdom, they aren't allowed to do certain things. On occasion, however, I get to test a new gadget or application, all in the name of work.
For example, I am currently typing up this blog on a Bluetooth keyboard I was given to test. While not personally to my taste I'm sure some executive will enjoy adding it to his luggage. That is until they plug in the charging cable and find that the charge port has no support other than its contacts which snap like threads when put under the slightest pressure. In other words, I broke the Bluetooth keyboard when I moved it while it was plugged in to charge.
Oddly enough they haven't given me any more gadgets to test since...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
As a new iPad owner it has fallen to me to troubleshoot some of the problems these executives run into and then try to explain why, in Apple's infinite wisdom, they aren't allowed to do certain things. On occasion, however, I get to test a new gadget or application, all in the name of work.
For example, I am currently typing up this blog on a Bluetooth keyboard I was given to test. While not personally to my taste I'm sure some executive will enjoy adding it to his luggage. That is until they plug in the charging cable and find that the charge port has no support other than its contacts which snap like threads when put under the slightest pressure. In other words, I broke the Bluetooth keyboard when I moved it while it was plugged in to charge.
Oddly enough they haven't given me any more gadgets to test since...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Phenomenal cosmic power...
...itty bitty Living space.
Since the iPad arrived I've spent very little time on my desktop computers. As I thought about that this morning I realized that this little pad probably has more power than half of my towers and it's about the same size as my first computer, a Sinclair ZX80.
I've been doing everything I would normally do downstairs in my office, on my iPad upsatirs instead. I even remote into work through VMware View which connects me to a virtual desktop on our servers.
I'll stop before I start sounding more like an ad for Apple. Let's just say it's cool and I love it.
Since the iPad arrived I've spent very little time on my desktop computers. As I thought about that this morning I realized that this little pad probably has more power than half of my towers and it's about the same size as my first computer, a Sinclair ZX80.
I've been doing everything I would normally do downstairs in my office, on my iPad upsatirs instead. I even remote into work through VMware View which connects me to a virtual desktop on our servers.I'll stop before I start sounding more like an ad for Apple. Let's just say it's cool and I love it.
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Recycling the old can be fun, but...
New stuff is pretty damned good too.
Previously I've written about grabbing old tech as it heads out the door to be recycled. My most recent project involved taking the CPU from one box with a dead motherboard and installing it in another old box that was being put out to pasture. At the end of the day I am proud to say I had a working machine to play games on again and all I spent was $10 for thermal grease. Recycling old tech is rewarding in it's way.
Flash forward to this morning when, during a landmark birthday, I was presented with a new, still-in-the-box iPad. I've been absolutely floored by this. Not just by the new toy, but by the organization and contributions from all those involved in bringing it to be. As I sit and play with it (I am typing this blog on it as a matter of fact) I find myself thinking that, while old tech can still be fun to play with, new tech rocks!
Thank you one and all for your parts in making this happen. I am deeply touched. Now I'm going to go play some more.
Previously I've written about grabbing old tech as it heads out the door to be recycled. My most recent project involved taking the CPU from one box with a dead motherboard and installing it in another old box that was being put out to pasture. At the end of the day I am proud to say I had a working machine to play games on again and all I spent was $10 for thermal grease. Recycling old tech is rewarding in it's way.
Flash forward to this morning when, during a landmark birthday, I was presented with a new, still-in-the-box iPad. I've been absolutely floored by this. Not just by the new toy, but by the organization and contributions from all those involved in bringing it to be. As I sit and play with it (I am typing this blog on it as a matter of fact) I find myself thinking that, while old tech can still be fun to play with, new tech rocks!
Thank you one and all for your parts in making this happen. I am deeply touched. Now I'm going to go play some more.
Saturday, 2 July 2011
The secret...
Some people may think that, by telling everyone that a reboot will solve their problems most of the time, I am giving up a trade secret. Let me answer that in the form of a question:
Your computer is having problems printing and is telling you the printer is not available. The printer is question is a large network printer that you are connected to through a print server. Which do you reboot, your computer, the printer or the server?
Ah! There's the rub. The secret is not so much knowing when to reboot, but knowing what to reboot.
Or at least taking a lucky guess.
Your computer is having problems printing and is telling you the printer is not available. The printer is question is a large network printer that you are connected to through a print server. Which do you reboot, your computer, the printer or the server?
Ah! There's the rub. The secret is not so much knowing when to reboot, but knowing what to reboot.
Or at least taking a lucky guess.
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