Too? Is there a story here?Watch it, you too could get your knuckles rapped.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"
- Thread starter B-string
- Start date
- Status
I never want to be the first kid on the block or, for that matter, a beta tester. Even being retired, I have better things to do with my time, just sayin'.
Microsoft's idea of beta testing used to be to shrink-wrap a few million copies and ship 'em out to the stores.
IT Professional example. You might have to click the "pop out" at the upper right or call the help desk.
[This invalid link has been removed]
I'd like to give proper credit for the video but someone sent this to me back in '07 and I couldn't find it on youtube.
[This invalid link has been removed]
I'd like to give proper credit for the video but someone sent this to me back in '07 and I couldn't find it on youtube.
Last edited:
Can't view it. Is it a Facebook thing?
Ah, the classics.
click the pop out icon at the upper right.
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 257,037
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
Which, oddly, makes them one of the white hats
(vs. the black hats like in cowboy movies)
The amount of computing power it would take me in 1973 to make such a catastrophic computing event today with a smrtphn is incomprehensible.
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 257,037
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
This is spectacularly unfunny funny
Oh yeah. Haven't seen that one in ages. We had users that made that guy look smart.
It would have arrived on at least a good-sized truck, and you couldn't have afforded it.
I've been a "beta tester" my whole life for sumthin or other.
I bought 18 new Dell Latitude 3310 two-in-one touchscreen laptops early spring. Along with their WD19TB docks. Getting ready to set up three laptops I got a white BIOS pre boot screen saying, "power adapter is insufficient for laptop. Attach power supply." After trying six docks the last tech rep told me it was an error either in the laptop or dock. The dock was misreporting the amount of power the laptop was receiving. So, we went through the month long process of talking to some replacement return techs and managed to return the most of them. Without admitting mistake, Dell released the "new" Dell dock WD19TBS and I received one for testing. The S means that in the BIOS you can uncheck the setting that says, "stop boot process if low power is detected and ask for permission, or, ignore message and continue on."
Mind you they didn't solve the power supply error, they just provided a switch in the BIOS to ignore the message on boot up. Now the laptops boot but they have a large yellow exclamation point over the battery icon when hovered over says, "battery may take too long to charge. Try different power supply."
We ordered 18 new adapters with the S icon and Dell has promised to eliminate the misreported power issue. After all, the laptops use 45 watt power supplies and the docks are 130 watts! Go figure! 
Wanna hear the fun part? I was supposed to have the 18 laptops deployed by the end of June. The power supplies won't arrive to Dell until mid-July.
Mind you they didn't solve the power supply error, they just provided a switch in the BIOS to ignore the message on boot up. Now the laptops boot but they have a large yellow exclamation point over the battery icon when hovered over says, "battery may take too long to charge. Try different power supply."
We ordered 18 new adapters with the S icon and Dell has promised to eliminate the misreported power issue. After all, the laptops use 45 watt power supplies and the docks are 130 watts! Go figure! Wanna hear the fun part? I was supposed to have the 18 laptops deployed by the end of June. The power supplies won't arrive to Dell until mid-July.
Last edited:
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 257,037
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
Pretty much don't want to know about the people who beta tested the medical procedures used on me. Except for the part that I'm likely a medical beta tester for future generations. 
.
Good to hear that she's talking to you again!
Two tips for a happy marriage:
1. Keep quiet when your wife is talking.
2. Don't talk when your wife is quiet.
Adventures in Tech Support Land: Part of my first IT job was on a 24/7 tech support hotline. We supported users worldwide so you could get calls at any time that could be in several different languages. That made for some interesting conversations trying to diagnose a technical problem with a remote user who didn't speak much or any English. The Korean calls were the most "fun".
Back in the days of dumb terminals on a timeshared network (what used to be Tymshare for you old IT GOFs) and 2400 baud communications, a user called to say his screen was moving very slow. A screen moving very slowly with a max baud rate of 2400 is VERY SLOW. I told him to shut down and make sure that his cables were not kinked up so the data could move freely and call me back. After he unkinked his cables he called back fat dumb and happy that I had fixed his problem.
One Sunday afternoon a woman working at the Pentagon called the hotline crying that she couldn't print a report for a colonel (Klink perhaps?) who needed it immediately. After a couple hours and many calls back and forth trying this that and the other thing with no success she sobbed that the printer hadn't worked properly since it was moved to a new location. Me: "Is it plugged in to the wall socket?". Her, after checking: "No".
After our company was awarded the contract for another multiyear term, the GOV had a contractor from another company call the hotline every hour for 24 hours to check that we were indeed providing 24 hour support. He did and we did.
At one time there was evidence that a user in Germany had their account hacked. I played a small part in the investigation by compiling usage statistics and some other info. It turns out the account was hacked and the culprit was eventually found out. There was a PBS documentary about this incident (mid to late 80's-ish). Some of the folks I worked with and for made it on screen. I remained an unsung background player.
Another user used to call every time they needed to produce a periodic report seeking help on how to generate the report. Your tax dollars at work.
Back in the days of dumb terminals on a timeshared network (what used to be Tymshare for you old IT GOFs) and 2400 baud communications, a user called to say his screen was moving very slow. A screen moving very slowly with a max baud rate of 2400 is VERY SLOW. I told him to shut down and make sure that his cables were not kinked up so the data could move freely and call me back. After he unkinked his cables he called back fat dumb and happy that I had fixed his problem.
One Sunday afternoon a woman working at the Pentagon called the hotline crying that she couldn't print a report for a colonel (Klink perhaps?) who needed it immediately. After a couple hours and many calls back and forth trying this that and the other thing with no success she sobbed that the printer hadn't worked properly since it was moved to a new location. Me: "Is it plugged in to the wall socket?". Her, after checking: "No".
After our company was awarded the contract for another multiyear term, the GOV had a contractor from another company call the hotline every hour for 24 hours to check that we were indeed providing 24 hour support. He did and we did.
At one time there was evidence that a user in Germany had their account hacked. I played a small part in the investigation by compiling usage statistics and some other info. It turns out the account was hacked and the culprit was eventually found out. There was a PBS documentary about this incident (mid to late 80's-ish). Some of the folks I worked with and for made it on screen. I remained an unsung background player.
Another user used to call every time they needed to produce a periodic report seeking help on how to generate the report. Your tax dollars at work.
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 257,037
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
is this what you guys figure out when you're popping Schlitz beers by the pool?
In other words, Don't Ever Say Anything!
- Status
