Which is easier, running Windows on a Mac or Mac OS on Windows machine?

phillipthebucket · 22 days

It's fairly easy to get Windows onto a Mac; it's fairly difficult but not impossible to get Mac OS X onto a PC.

GazelleThree · 26 days

If you haven't seen it already, it's worth your time to watch the cookie monster sing God's Away on Business

qznc · 1 month

I'm a big fan of "Computer Machine Whisperer."

NGC1977a · 1 month

These are the worst kind of people

jdharper · 1 month

Attempting to staple something when the stapler is empty. Such an unsatisfying feeling!

icametodropbombs · 2 months

Don't let anyone pour it into your mountain dew. I hear they have to pump your stomach if you drink this stuff.

Fantasysage · 2 months

Use 2003/2007/2010 PST format instead of the broken 2002 format?

spongebob92 · 2 months

</chris rock>

Problem solved.

airija · 2 months

Four of these.

Frankfusion · 2 months

A couple of years ago, I listened to an interview with James Randi, the skeptic who famously exposed faith healer Peter Popoff and who runs the Million Dollar Challenge. This part of the interview, starting at 40:10, made me about as angry as I've ever been. (I've cleaned it up a bit for readability):

Randi: They must see the grief that I have seen. I've attended a great number of these things, always in disguise of course, and to see these people.... Well, after a Benny Hinn performance at Mapleleaf Gardens a few years ago... I sat across the street in a restaurant during a bit of a break, and there was a woman in there sobbing. A very large elderly woman sobbing, and she had her friend sitting with her.

I could hear her clearly, and she was saying "But I've been to eleven of the meetings now. I've followed him all over the United States and now into Canada, and I'm trying to get up on the stage. I need to be healed, I need his help. And they keep me back, they won't let me up there. And I keep giving money. I'm giving money all the time. I've gone into the CD's," I've done this and that.

And her companion leaned across and took her by the hand and she says "But dear, you haven't given everything yet. And Jesus requires that you give your all."

I got up and left the table. I wanted to upset their table. So angry, seething. So angry, it frightens me that I can get that angry. At these people, never mind Benny Hinn! He's only the instigator, the one who's getting the money. These people are being so bloody stupid! To go along with this kind of thing, to allow themselves to be taken to this depth."

Shermer: So this is your answer to the question, "Oh, what's the harm? C'mon, it gives them hope, makes them feel good."

Randi: Yep. That's where the harm is. They begin to depend on it and the begin to believe the crap that's being told them.

guabone · 2 months

You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey/I never saw someone say that before/You held my hand and we walked home the long way/You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

AgentSnazz · 2 months

I scripted up an autohotkey script for just this reason. Now when I hit capslock on my work pc it brings up a box for me to type into. When I hit enter, it appends that line to a text file called [today's date].txt, with a timestamp. When I push Ctrl-Capslock, notepad opens that text file. Super handy for when the customer starts rattling off a phone number or something before i'm ready.

BreatheLikeADog · 3 months

Oh, man. Squirrelly business software is the bane of my existence. I can't understand why people don't keep their activation codes around. At least with office and a couple other programs I can use produkey or belarc advisor to look up the activation codes. And god help you if they want to reinstall office and they used that click to run garbage to install it the first time.

And because you're the computer expert, the customer assumes you have intimate knowledge of their particular software. ::shudder::

BreatheLikeADog · 3 months

Not over a slow computer, not anymore. It's either a fixable problem, in which case I will fix it (run virus/rootkit scans, remove toolbars and other crap, make sure there's enough ram, and defrag, or in the worst case backup/format/reload) or its not worth fixing, in which case I tell the customer to buy a new PC (no sense in spending the time/money to replace/upgrade parts on a 8 year old pc).

No, I only get the stress reaction when it's something I should be able to fix and I can't figure it out. For example, I had a customer who's out of the office message wouldn't work in outlook. Spent hours trying to track down the problem, which turned out to be that their exchange server needed an update.

Here's the thing though: the client didn't think I was stupid or anything. The fact that they've called for help means that the problem was too hard (or too tedious) for them to fix themselves. You are the expert. In fact, many clients seem pleased when it takes me a while to figure out the problem, because it means that their problem is actually difficult: they don't feel stupid like they might if I had solved their problem in 30 seconds.

The only other time I get really stressed out is when the customer is facing data loss. But even then, it's ultimately the customer's responsibility to back up their data. If they can't be bothered enough to back it up and check it periodically, there is not much you can do after the fact.

You do the job in front of you, you do it the best you can, and then you move on to the next job.

tl;dr: Relax; to the customer, you are the expert. It's ok if it takes some time to fix their problems.

drnick5 · 3 months

You're in RI? That's perfect. I work down in Wakefield, RI at a computer repair shop, and we're in the same position you're in. Because of the way our store is laid out and the company is structured, we find it more convenient to outsource anything that needs a soldering iron.

We send all our DC jack repairs to Dave Arruda up in East Providence, and have had nothing but good experiences with them. We actually just call him and one of his employees comes by to pick up the computer and delivers it when it's done.

If you end up using him, tell him that J. D. from The Right Click sent you.

59Fifty · 3 months

A three legged dog walks into a saloon. He tells the bartender "I'm lookin' for the man who shot my paw."

gifforc · 3 months

Naw, man. If you have the option of using a wire you should. It's faster, more reliable, and generally cheaper.

Skyline969 · 4 months

Shadow Copies alone make Windows 7 worth the price of admission.

wheelsAreturning · 4 months

Relevant a softer world

Kutulainen · 5 months

Today I learned that Finnish bread looks like a toilet seat.

Lord_Attikus · 5 months

Helios. Because I had just played Deus Ex when I got my new router.

mcomp · 5 months

I had a lady who was so pleased to have her computer working again that she baked a pie for me and my coworkers, instantly becoming my favorite customer.

jdharper · 5 months

The worst is a server down: panic panic panic because a whole company is sitting more-or-less idle and getting impatient until it's fixed.

Second is trying to diagnose internet connections over the phone. ::shudder::

jdharper

TROPHY CASE

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