What scares me most

[Philippe]

It's hard to top this one

Well, I'll try.
A few days ago, I've received a letter - a real one, with stamp & envelope.
I looked at the sender: it's a customer. So I was a little scared. I opened the letter and guess what was inside:

A printed copy of an email!

This guy couldn't send it so he printed it & mailed it to me... The icing on the cake: his house is across the street...
(Edit: spelling)

 

[britechguy]

Well, I'll try

You win! I guess . . .

 

[Sky-Knight]

Always remember, these people can vote too!

 

[britechguy]

Always remember, these people can vote too!

I know this was said in jest, but I truly worry a lot less about that, as "this type" seems to be a lot more in touch with "the real world" than many of our devices-glued-almost-to-their-noses crowd are.

The promise of the internet as a great spreader of information has not been met, and the spread of disinformation keeps climbing and climbing and climbing while the use of critical thinking skills is virtually non-existent.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I know this was said in jest, but I truly worry a lot less about that, as "this type" seems to be a lot more in touch with "the real world" than many of our devices-glued-almost-to-their-noses crowd are.

The promise of the internet as a great spreader of information has not been met, and the spread of disinformation keeps climbing and climbing and climbing while the use of critical thinking skills is virtually non-existent.

Certainly, I was just messing around. Politics are messy, because life is messy. And I'm not advocating for any sort of real change that would limit who votes and when.

Even though people like this:

Really...

 

[lan101]

Well, I'll try.
A few days ago, I've received a letter - a real one, with stamp & envelope.
I looked at the sender: it's a customer. So I was a little scared. I opened the letter and guess what was inside:

A printer copy of an email!

This guy couldn't send it so he printed it & mailed it to me... The icing on the cake: his house is across the street...

Classic lol. I had someone ask me once how much postage costs to send an email lmao.

 

[callthatgirl]

Live a day in my world, almost all my clients have the most jacked up configs in Outlook and I wonder 'who this set this disaster up" and then it's always a mystery for them when I go to setup a new profile, they are like "deer in the headlights" come on, you set this up, you know how to do it lol

 

[sapphirescales]

Since it's a repeat customer, I e-mailed the detailed response that follows.

You're nicer than I am. I would've insisted on a remote session to physically show them how to do it and charged my minimum remote support fee for new issues ($49).

You'd be amazed how little you get bothered if you charge them for their stupidity. Most of them actually figure it out themselves, or realize that the "issue" they had wasn't so important after all.

If you've got a real problem (i.e. computer won't turn on, pop-ups everywhere, etc.) then by all means, call me. But don't expect me to teach you how to use a computer for free. That's like taking in your car for repair then demanding the mechanic teach your kid how to drive for free! Or buying a used car and insisting the salesman teach you how to drive it and go get your license for you.

 

[OrCrush]

My favorite is the "I don't take password security seriously" crowd.

I was troubleshooting a connection issue for a partner in a criminal defense attorney's office. He was outside in the lobby talking to a guy who was in handcuffs. I asked him if he could come in and type in his password for me...instead he hollers across the office "My password is [redacted, to protect the idiot], I use it for all of my accounts. Yes...he used one simple, stupid password on everything from his network logon to his county, banking, etc etc etc. And he announced it to all of his staff and the accused criminal in his lobby. (/facepalm).

The scary part? He's no longer an attorney...he's now a judge!

 

[OrCrush]

You're nicer than I am. I would've insisted on a remote session to physically show them how to do it and charged my minimum remote support fee for new issues ($49).

You'd be amazed how little you get bothered if you charge them for their stupidity. Most of them actually figure it out themselves, or realize that the "issue" they had wasn't so important after all.

If you've got a real problem (i.e. computer won't turn on, pop-ups everywhere, etc.) then by all means, call me. But don't expect me to teach you how to use a computer for free. That's like taking in your car for repair then demanding the mechanic teach your kid how to drive for free! Or buying a used car and insisting the salesman teach you how to drive it and go get your license for you.

Or when you're at their office, and you finish up with their last issue of the session and they pay the bill. On the way out the door they ask for you to have a look at 'just one more thing' then are aghast when you charge them for the additional time..

 

[Porthos]

We call this the "Columbo Moment".

Dating yourself there a bit.

 

[glennd]

Dating yourself there a bit.

You mean like Emma Watson?

 

[Porthos]

Just one more thing.

 

[JoeTech]

Last week I had a lady come in with a disabled iPhone she just bought. She said it keeps asking for a pin number. I told her when setting up her phone, it would ask to enter a 6 digit number as her pin number. Her response "Oh I didn't think that was important so I just put in random numbers and never wrote them down." Luckily she had her correct apple id and password so we could restore it back for her.

 

[Porthos]

I told her when setting up her phone, it would ask to enter a 6 digit number as her pin number. Her response "Oh I didn't think that was important so I just put in random numbers and never wrote them down."

 

[britechguy]

. . . Her response "Oh I didn't think that was important so I just put in random numbers and never wrote them down."

And we're right back to the well-known, and oft-stated truth: The end user is the most substantial risk factor for security compromises - the weakest link in the security chain.

Yesterday's Twitter breach is a vivid demonstration of that fact.

Not bothering to keep track of your own PINs/Pass Codes/Passwords is a big security issue. And that's whether you're giving them to other people or not knowing your own when it's needed.

 

[OrCrush]

Years ago I had a Mac user complain that her system had slowed to an extreme crawl. On checking the machine I found her hard drive was 99% full. I emptied her trash and she got back more than 40% of her drive. Problem solved yay! She was a friend of my moms so I didn’t even charge her because it was literally a 3 minute job.

I’m sure you can guess what happens next...

Fast forward to the next day when she calls freaking out. “where are all my files?!? I keep them in the silver bucket where I can easily find them and it’s empty!”

 

[Porthos]

Years ago I had a Mac user complain that her system had slowed to an extreme crawl. On checking the machine I found her hard drive was 99% full. I emptied her trash and she got back more than 40% of her drive. Problem solved yay! She was a friend of my moms so I didn’t even charge her because it was literally a 3 minute job.

I’m sure you can guess what happens next...

Fast forward to the next day when she calls freaking out. “where are all my files?!? I keep them in the silver bucket where I can easily find them and it’s empty!”

I had the same with a Windows client.

 

[britechguy]

I had the same with a Windows client.

This is one of the reasons I never presume that the Recycle Bin or its equivalent is being used for what the designers of same intended.

If I ask about emptying it, and get a horrified reaction, then the client gets a faux horrified reaction (for effect) and a calm explanation that the Recycle Bin is not, and never has been, intended as a location for permanent file storage. Then I show them how to set up meaningful (to them) folder structures and how to move things into them.

It really does astound me, decades after the introduction of Windows and other OS GUIs that use iconography that directly imitates the real world objects of individual files (sheets of paper), folders, and the like that some people just don't get it. Even the ancient jokes about so-and-so's incomprehensible filing system were based on the common knowledge of files, folders, cabinets and the concept of "a system" involving them. Why does this remain so opaque to some when it comes to a computer?

 

[alexsmith2709]

I've been caught by the recycle bin before, so now i dont delete it as part of my standard cleanup but i will see how much is stored in it and inform the customer.
What i dont understand is that the icon is a bin, do these people store important paper work in a real-world bin?