Experiences with non-techies

[Commodus]

On 11/11/2020 at 11:27 PM, 2Buck said:

People get any kind of basic certification and think they're Wendell. Just witnessed one of these so called "people" arguing that Wifi is just as good as any wired connection in everything. Latency, stability, speed, etc. They have "Tech Professional" in their bio and use the emoji every time they make a point. He was 100% serious too,

 

Welp, gonna rip out all the cat5e I ran earlier this year and switch to Wifi. All the time I wasted!

Reminds me of my golden rule during my tech support days: someone's tendency to cite their certifications is inversely proportionate to how much they know about the problem at hand. "I have an A+/CISSP/Microsoft cert!" pretty much guarantees they haven't even rebooted their modem yet.

 

I'd say WiFi is good enough for many situations, especially with WiFi 6 in the mix, but... no, there's no substitute for Ethernet in some situations. Certainly not places where 10Gbps Ethernet is virtually mandatory for sharing large files.

[abc_123]

1 hour ago, Commodus said:

Reminds me of my golden rule during my tech support days: someone's tendency to cite their certifications is inversely proportionate to how much they know about the problem at hand. "I have an A+/CISSP/Microsoft cert!" pretty much guarantees they haven't even rebooted their modem yet.

 

I'd say WiFi is good enough for many situations, especially with WiFi 6 in the mix, but... no, there's no substitute for Ethernet in some situations. Certainly not places where 10Gbps Ethernet is virtually mandatory for sharing large files.

 

I remember doing the A+ the other year (220-901, 220-902) and them having questions about the Starter and Home editions of Windows Vista in an office setting, in November 2018. A while ago they changed the cert to only last 3 years claiming it was about making sure people's knowledge is always relevant but the questions seem to be updated a lot less frequently which doesn't seem to support that claim.

 

I think it did have some questions about power cycling though... Maybe those people skipped those questions.
 

On the whole it felt like a waste of time and money, and it's never been relevant in any work or personal situation I've been in. I don't even talk about it around people who are knowledgeable about tech because it's honestly just an embarrassment. Seems to exist solely so that CompTIA can generate profit and to satisfy tech illiterate HR people and hiring managers who think you can't do anything unless you have this and you're also qualified to use Microsoft Word and Excel, a common question I got asked in interviews.

I'm not the only one who has this sentiment and CompTIA lobby against right to repair constantly - here's just one example - so I never want to do one of the certifications again.

[FakeNSA]

1 minute ago, Schnoz said:

Oh and did I tell you about the time I accidentally stuck an SD card in an iMac DVD drive?

Professional editor

[Commodus]

17 minutes ago, Emily123 said:

 

I remember doing the A+ the other year (220-901, 220-902) and them having questions about the Starter and Home editions of Windows Vista in an office setting, in November 2018. A while ago they changed the cert to only last 3 years claiming it was about making sure people's knowledge is always relevant but the questions seem to be updated a lot less frequently which doesn't seem to support that claim.

 

I think it did have some questions about power cycling though... Maybe those people skipped those questions.
 

On the whole it felt like a waste of time and money, and it's never been relevant in any work or personal situation I've been in. I don't even talk about it around people who are knowledgeable about tech because it's honestly just an embarrassment. Seems to exist solely so that CompTIA can generate profit and to satisfy tech illiterate HR people and hiring managers who think you can't do anything unless you have this and you're also qualified to use Microsoft Word and Excel, a common question I got asked in interviews.

I'm not the only one who has this sentiment and CompTIA lobby against right to repair constantly - here's just one example - so I never want to do one of the certifications again.

Agreed. Certainly these days, when the tech is often easy enough to figure out and changes quickly enough as it is. It's also somewhat amusing when they insist on Microsoft Office suite skills when many people have moved on to G Suite... as if software requirements got stuck in 2005.

[Drama Lama]

7 minutes ago, Commodus said:

they insist on Microsoft Office suite skills when many people have moved on to G Suite... as if software requirements got stuck in 2005.

You know there’s only Microsoft office and no other programs for text editing and writing and presentations exist

 

There‘s still people who think Digitalization means stagnation 

[Drama Lama]

16 minutes ago, Schnoz said:

There were multiple instances where people just completely ignored both of those rules, and yes, Jared (not real name), pulling out the SD card when Premiere Pro is exporting your completed project after you finished editing on the SD card will result in data corruption and the complete loss of your project. No, I can't do anything about it.

At least they learned their lessons now and not in University when writing something really really important 

[abc_123]

1 hour ago, Schnoz said:

My middle school had a school news program where segments would be made by multiple groups of people, then edited together to make the broadcast. We used Canon T5i and T6i cameras to film (with SD card slots). So two of the most important rules to follow were to 1. eject the SD card from the computer before removing it and 2. never edit off the SD card

 

There were multiple instances where people just completely ignored both of those rules, and yes, Jared (not real name), pulling out the SD card when Premiere Pro is exporting your completed project after you finished editing on the SD card will result in data corruption and the complete loss of your project. No, I can't do anything about it.

 

Oh and did I tell you about the time I accidentally stuck an SD card in an iMac DVD drive?

 

Assuming Windows was being used do SD cards have write caching enabled by default? I know with USB flash drives you have to manually change the removal policy for the drive to better performance. I think premiere pro would only be writing the output file and not any of the other source files when exporting and in that instance the project should have been somewhat salvageable unless they really messed up.

[JoeCoke]

14 hours ago, Commodus said:

Reminds me of my golden rule during my tech support days: someone's tendency to cite their certifications is inversely proportionate to how much they know about the problem at hand. "I have an A+/CISSP/Microsoft cert!" pretty much guarantees they haven't even rebooted their modem yet.

 

I'd say WiFi is good enough for many situations, especially with WiFi 6 in the mix, but... no, there's no substitute for Ethernet in some situations. Certainly not places where 10Gbps Ethernet is virtually mandatory for sharing large files.

Yup, usually in my experience the minute someone brings up certifications, I worry for their intelligence. If they didn't have something to prove they wouldn't feel the need to bring it up.

 

And yeah, wifi is usually always fine in 99% of cases. Things like games that use delay based netcode however, yeah every last ms counts and ethernet is really the only option (especially in our pandemic world where competitive gaming is all online now.) But for casual gaming... as long as the signal is good, Wifi will do just fine. It's just the statement that "ethernet is equal to or even better" that got me so hard lmao.

[WhitetailAni]

I just did 10th grade course selection and saw this:
Digital Electronics

It's mandatory because of the program I'm in...

Oh no...

[FakeNSA]

21 minutes ago, ragnarok0273 said:

I just did 10th grade course selection and saw this:
Digital Electronics

It's mandatory because of the program I'm in...

Oh no...

I believe in you.

(try not to die of boredom)

[WhitetailAni]

1 minute ago, FakeNSA said:

I believe in you.

(try not to die of boredom)

At least it's next year.

But really, it's just "what is a graphics card, what is a CPU, what is a hard drive, how do you use "advanced program" (really just "Can you use CAD and use ping in a terminal?"

I hope that once my teacher figures out that I know more than what the course teaches he'll let me do other things.

[01101000 01100101 01111001]

I remember a call from a friend back in the Windows 3.1 days.

He was upset as all his text had disappeared!

That was a new one for me.

After about 15 minutes I found out that he had gone into settings and set his text colour to white.

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Dabombinable]

30 minutes ago, Schnoz said:

My school: "We have some i3 and i5 Ivy Bridge and Haswell systems, but we're planning to buy new computers soon. What should we do with these still-functioning computers?"

Me: "I think refurbishing them and donating them to students who don't have a device for online learning would be a great idea."

School: "Sounds great. Off to the e-waste they go!"

Even brand new unused laptop cases got the same treatment at my old school. It was some stupid policy in the education department. Didn't stop me from snagging some parts from the bin though.

Never took anything from their motherboards though - they either had worse Celeron D than my desktop, or LGA775 Pentium D and Pentium 4.

[FakeNSA]

2 hours ago, 01101000 01100101 01111001 said:

I remember a call from a friend back in the Windows 3.1 days.

He was upset as all his text had disappeared!

That was a new one for me.

After about 15 minutes I found out that he had gone into settings and set his text colour to white.

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

True talent right there.

[OscarMike]

i recently got a new neighbor. a really nice guy bless him but he cant do anything with tech. 

he told me his tv was broken. didnt realise to press the "source" button on the remote to choose the correct hdmi output.

later he called me again said its broken again. i unplugged the HDMI cable and plugged it back in and it worked fine. 

got a free beer out of it so was worth it. 

[OscarMike]

ok so we all make mistakes sometimes and ill throw myself under the bus for this one. 

 

i went to work yesterday and needed to clone a drive. i turned on the pc we use for cloning. no picture. so i unplugged the DVI cable and plugged it back in. still no picture. i got a bit mad and as the boss was there i asked him about it. apparently some collogues had used the system to test some hardware which is not allowed as this pc is only used for cloning and such. he knew there was no picture and asked me to fix the problem. so i pulled the graphics card and tried another one. still no picture. the system was booting fine so i didnt know why there was no picture so i started pressing buttons on the monitor. and boom. there was a picture. turns out this particular monitor you have to specify which input is plugged in. vga or dvi. just like a "source" button on your tv. never had a dumb ass monitor like that before which you had to tell it which input to use but hey you live and learn. 

[Bitter]

2 hours ago, OscarMike said:

i recently got a new neighbor. a really nice guy bless him but he cant do anything with tech. 

he told me his tv was broken. didnt realise to press the "source" button on the remote to choose the correct hdmi output.

later he called me again said its broken again. i unplugged the HDMI cable and plugged it back in and it worked fine. 

got a free beer out of it so was worth it. 

 

2 hours ago, OscarMike said:

ok so we all make mistakes sometimes and ill throw myself under the bus for this one. 

 

i went to work yesterday and needed to clone a drive. i turned on the pc we use for cloning. no picture. so i unplugged the DVI cable and plugged it back in. still no picture. i got a bit mad and as the boss was there i asked him about it. apparently some collogues had used the system to test some hardware which is not allowed as this pc is only used for cloning and such. he knew there was no picture and asked me to fix the problem. so i pulled the graphics card and tried another one. still no picture. the system was booting fine so i didnt know why there was no picture so i started pressing buttons on the monitor. and boom. there was a picture. turns out this particular monitor you have to specify which input is plugged in. vga or dvi. just like a "source" button on your tv. never had a dumb ass monitor like that before which you had to tell it which input to use but hey you live and learn. 

Well that sure came back to bite you in the ass.

[WhitetailAni]

Trying to find and fix my IOHW Monitors - no Params Version !! error and found this thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8280895

And this post:

Sure, it's all in the logs. Whatever "Symantec" found does not affect Macs because there are no viruses that affect macOS. Trying isn't the same as succeeding.

 

Do you want to fix your Mac or do you want to defend your decision to purchase and install utterly useless junk? Your call.

 

"There are no viruses that affect macOS"... 

[Rudra Ponkshe]

On 1/16/2013 at 2:14 PM, gliliumho said:

I used to work at shop for IT support and service. Whenever something is with the machine, they'll always ask if it's a virus or not. If the shortcut on the desktop is gone, they would think all of their data on the computer are gone.

My mum isn't non-techy but she just double clicks on EVERYTHING she wants to open. That includes links and buttons on browser. She would double click on the Google searches to open them too and I got really annoyed watching her using the computer at point of my life.

I have another but it's not really non-techies. My friend is a photographer but not much of guy so he bought a netbook(yes, those 10-inches) and brought it to college. Apparently he actually used that netbook to edit photo and do his work. I remember him posting a comment which he thinks tiny are less powerful(true to some extent).

Can relate. 

[Giganthrax]

My 65 year old mom once bought me an USB stick from her work that wasn't an USB stick at all but a USB-to-PS/2 port adapter. 

[Mooshi]

2 hours ago, Giganthrax said:

My 65 year old mom once bought me an USB stick from her work that wasn't an USB stick at all but a USB-to-PS/2 port adapter. 

IT HAD USB IN THE NAME.

 

This is the equivalent of a mom saying every Pokémon is "a Pikachu".

[WhitetailAni]

I... Wh... I just... Whaat.

 

[OscarMike]

so heres another good one from my own stupidity. 

so i got my cousin a second hand laptop for christmass. and im trying to set it up with getting windows and drivers etc. but it wont connect to the internet.

the wifi just wont work. i go into network settings and try turning on the wifi manually. but it keeps setting itself to the "off" position. i use a cable and the internet works fine. i thought it might be the drivers so i install the correct drivers but still no joy. so finally i reinstall windows. start from scratch but still i cant get the wifi to work. at this point i think its a dead wifi chip. untill..... i notice the laptop has a switch at the front underneath which disables the wifi. problem solved.... rip me. 

[WhitetailAni]

I have a laptop kinda like that - Toshiba Satellite L25-S1192.

It was my great-grandpa's, ran Windows XP, had a Mini-PCI WiFi card, and had a button on the front that enabled and disabled the card.

Thing is, it was stupid easy to accidentally press.

I am told this was a daily conversation:

"Bob (my grandpa's name), the Internet isn't working!"
"Press the button."

"It works now."

Repeat 0-2 times a day, at least 7 times a week.

[Mitko_DSV]

11 hours ago, OscarMike said:

so heres another good one from my own stupidity. 

so i got my cousin a second hand laptop for christmass. and im trying to set it up with getting windows and drivers etc. but it wont connect to the internet.

the wifi just wont work. i go into network settings and try turning on the wifi manually. but it keeps setting itself to the "off" position. i use a cable and the internet works fine. i thought it might be the drivers so i install the correct drivers but still no joy. so finally i reinstall windows. start from scratch but still i cant get the wifi to work. at this point i think its a dead wifi chip. untill..... i notice the laptop has a switch at the front underneath which disables the wifi. problem solved.... rip me. 

I've had a similar thing happen. A few years ago my uncle gave us his laptop to fix, after it sat at a PC repair shop for 3 weeks and they did nothing, but wanted payment... Well he got his laptop back and gave it to us to fix, one of the two RAM sticks was dead and removing it fixed the issue. Laptop is working, but WiFi is not. We tried everything we could think of, reinstalled Windows a couple of times, nothing helped. Dissasembled the laptop, cheked all connections, cheked the antenas, no issue. Just as we are about to give up, because we were out of ideas, we noticed it had a WiFi switch in a kinda hidden position, we flipped the switch and the WiFi started working.