Experiences with non-techies

[Lewellyn]

so i put a harddrive on top of a desktop pc in college today, teacher says the hard drive and the pc will break due to magnetism. I then told the teacher it would highly benefit the class if i was the teacher from now on.

 

I was very glad when my political science teacher knew what Linux was, understood the almost monopoly microsoft has, and knew about different video file formats. She's like "don't you post your short essay on this site as an attachment or you get an F." Almost brought me to tears.

 

on the contrary, she thought that an emp might disable guns (thinking that part of them is electrical) and I as a physics student had to listen to a bunch of people blabber about what an emp is

[brownninja97]

I was very glad when my political science teacher knew what Linux was, understood the almost monopoly microsoft has, and knew about different video file formats. She's like "don't you post your short essay on this site as an attachment or you get an F." Almost brought me to tears.

 

on the contrary, she thought that an emp might disable guns (thinking that part of them is electrical) and I as a physics student had to listen to a bunch of people blabber about what an emp is

everyone has the silly side in them, eg my father is pretty bloody clever yet he doesnt know what semper fi means and he has a lot of friends that are in the army

[Shahnewaz]

I think I have the best story of the year.

I was at work and my co-workers know that I'm a pc gamer. I built and sold a pc to one of my co-workers as well. One of my co-workers, about 28 years old, usually listens to me talk tech as he's pretty intriged by it all. Keep in mind he's a console gamer. Yesterday, he came in and began to excitedly boast about a "new console" that plays both Xbox 360 and Xbox one games. Since I don't keep up with the consoles that much, I thought maybe microsoft released a revision of the bone or something.

So there I am listening to him about this "console" until he mentions "Alienware". It dawned on me, he was talking about the alienware alpha. (He didn't even know the name of it).

I began to explain to him that even though it's advertised as a console, it was really a small form factor pc with windows 8.1 and that it would be impossible for it to run Xbox games. He began to argue that it advertises it can play Xbox games. I assumed he got confused by a PC port and an actual Xbox game. So I explained to him what a port is and that a majority of games are made on both pc and console.

Here's the best part: HE. STILL. DOESNT. BELIEVE. ME. He is convinced it can play his xbox 360 disks and is going to spend $500 on it. I even disproved him by providing evidence from the Alienware website describing that it no where says it can play Xbox games.

TL;DR: 28 year old co-worker is buying an Alienware alpha for the sole reason of playing his old Xbox games because he is convinced it is some sort of next-next gen Xbox.

 

Tell him to keep you updated on his new "console". And keep us updated! :lol:

[Fgtfv567]

so i put a harddrive on top of a desktop pc in college today, teacher says the hard drive and the pc will break due to magnetism. I then told the teacher it would highly benefit the class if i was the teacher from now on.

So the thing I put in my PC and need to store files could kill it?

[christianled59]

Tell him to keep you updated on his new "console". And keep us updated! :lol:

Oh I will. I even offered to build him a pc for 2/3 the price and he said "I don't want a pc." 

[soup]

 

 

on the contrary, she thought that an emp might disable guns (thinking that part of them is electrical)

Well we will have to give her a 'not very often but sometimes' here.

Tasers and such are basically electronic devices (yes I know pushing the definition of gun here).

Some guns have 'smart technology' whereby ciccuitry in (say) the grip is linked to (say)a ring on the shooters hand so that if the weapon is ever wrestled from his hands the 'perp' cannot fire the gun maybe an EMP would affect the circuitry such that no-one could fire it?

 

The sort of thing I mean :-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_gun

 

A very apt quote from that site is:-

"Gun ownership advocate Kenneth W. Royce, writing under the pen name of "Boston T. Party", wrote that "no defensive firearm should ever rely upon any technology more advanced than Newtonian physics. That includes batteries, radio links, encryption, scanning devices and microcomputers"

[Lewellyn]

Well we will have to give her a 'not very often but sometimes' here.

Tasers and such are basically electronic devices (yes I know pushing the definition of gun here).

Some guns have 'smart technology' whereby ciccuitry in (say) the grip is linked to (say)a ring on the shooters hand so that if the weapon is ever wrestled from his hands the 'perp' cannot fire the gun maybe an EMP would affect the circuitry such that no-one could fire it?

 

The sort of thing I mean :-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_gun

 

Nah, she thought that the trigger wouldn't cause the guns to fire because she thought they are electric. It was a class face palm moment.

[soup]

 my father is pretty bloody clever yet he doesnt know what semper fi means and he has a lot of friends that are in the army

Ohh minus eight gazzilion internetz for thinking the phrase semper fi has anything to do with the army.

 

Boring fact bit :-

The phrase semper fiDELIS is the motto of the 11th Infantry regiment of the US army, but in its shortened form of semper fi it is usually associated with the marines.

[brownninja97]

Ohh minus eight gazzilion internetz for thinking the phrase semper fi has anything to do with the army.

 

Boring fact bit :-

The phrase semper fiDELIS is the motto of the 11th Infantry regiment of the US army, but in its shortened form of semper fi it is usually associated with the marines.

lol i know semper fidelis is the full term, i used to have a group in a game called ikariam a long while back with that name. Was fun back the day before the hackers attacked. Also seen the semper fidelis phrase get used outside of the army, its latin or something.

[RedZephyr]

so this one time I was hanging out with my friend who is the manager at a tech shop by where I live and a girl comes in and buys a 2tb hard drive. we let her know that we install hard drives for $1 (the cost of the sata cable we use) and she says "just because I am a woman does not mean I cant work on computers" and leaves in a huff. two days later she comes back in saying that the HDD is not working so we take the computer in to look at it, we open it and the HDD is nowhere to be seen, so we ask her where it is. and it turns out that she scanned it and put the scanned image on her desktop to install the drive. and to top that off she threw away the drive she paid almost $200 for and she wanted us to give her a new one.

 

I LAUGHED SO HARD

[SpaceCore]

I worked on a friends PS3 (power cable from the board to the button was broken) and when I opened up the PS3 in front of him, he almost cried. he said "OMG you broke it! it'll never work again! I've lost everything!" I calmed him down and explained how the insides of the PS3 worked. He thought I was a god, because apprently he thought it worked like magic (his word, not mines) he thought once it was opened and dissasembled no one, not even sony could put it back together. Astonishing.

[Muffinmaddness]

so, my girlfriend was trying to get me into reading and gave me a book, being the tech guy i am, i wanted it on my tablet so i could use all those lovly features, i was already 20 chapters into the paperback, so i buy the book from the google store, and im trying to find the chapter im on, on the tablet ... me there with the physical book and the tablet in hand, she says "why dont you just sync it" ...i was like what? , she said just sync it and it will jump to the page your on..... *facepalm* ... 

[OLYCAT]

I saw a member of staff breaking IT policy rules on internet usage, I politely pointed out that the site she was visiting could get her into trouble and that our IT department monitors all sites visited. She responded with, "Oh, they won't see what I'm looking at, I used google."

 

She honestly thought that clicking on a link in google to access a site would hide that site..... *facepalm*

[soup]

 Also seen the semper fidelis phrase get used outside of the army, its latin or something.

It is Latin roughly translates as 'Always faithfull' (Fidelis as in Fidelity etc[same root; English is full of loan words]).

 

Remember Semper Fi (the usual statement) is the Marines NOT the army, (some would get really upset if you intimated devil dogs were dogfaces).

[PotatOS - Andrew]

I LAUGHED SO HARD

Maybe you've heard this before, but you shouldn't usually quote posts over two weeks (two weeks, right?) old.  Welcome to the forums though!

[RedZephyr]

Maybe you've heard this before, but you shouldn't usually quote posts over two weeks (two weeks, right?) old.  Welcome to the forums though!

 

Oh sorry didn't know , thanks.

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

A friend of mine I knew a little while ago. 

"I broke my 1GB DDR RAM Stick in half, now I have 2GB!" 

Only someone who is telling a joke would say that. Please tell me I'm right...

[NumLock21]

I worked on a friends PS3 (power cable from the board to the button was broken) and when I opened up the PS3 in front of him, he almost cried. he said "OMG you broke it! it'll never work again! I've lost everything!" I calmed him down and explained how the insides of the PS3 worked. He thought I was a god, because apprently he thought it worked like magic (his word, not mines) he thought once it was opened and dissasembled no one, not even sony could put it back together. Astonishing.

I doubt opening up a PS3 is like opening up the side panel of a computer case, it must took you some time and probably with some tools to open it? During that time, your friend just stood there watching you opening up his PS3 and didn't even say anything, but only to scream "OMG you broke it" when you got his PS3 opened? Why didn't he just say "he thought opening up the PS3 will break it", before you even start working on it?

[SpaceCore]

I doubt opening up a PS3 is like opening up the side panel of a computer case, it must took you some time and probably with some tools to open it? During that time, your friend just stood there watching you opening up his PS3 and didn't even say anything, but only to scream "OMG you broke it" when you got his PS3 opened? Why didn't he just say "he thought opening up the PS3 will break it", before you even start working on it?

I was paraphrasing. he was in my brothers room (on the PC) while I was in the livingroom working on the P3. when he came out I had taken out all the screws and plate. so what he saw was: Screws everywhere, top P3 plate on the couch, and dvdrom + mobo safety-plate on the table.

 

The most annoying thing ever. getting all that plastic/metal off the thing just to get to the one cable that was $6 or less, can't remember.

[NumLock21]

I was paraphrasing. he was in my brothers room (on the PC) while I was in the livingroom working on the P3. when he came out I had taken out all the screws and plate. so what he saw was: Screws everywhere, top P3 plate on the couch, and dvdrom + mobo safety-plate on the table.

 

The most annoying thing ever. getting all that plastic/metal off the thing just to get to the one cable that was $6 or less, can't remember.

Ahh I see now.

I thought he was next to you while you're doing it. If he was, imagine him driving to a car mechanic to get his car fix.

Your friend: * drive car into garage* Tells mechanic car has problems, check it out

Mechanic: OK *pops open bonnet*

your friend: *double face palms and screams at the top of his lungs* OMG you broke it!!!!!!

mechanic: Da fuq?! *closes bonnet*

your friend: *clasp hands with sparkles in his eyes, and screams* WOW you fix it!!!!!!

I'm sure he's a great friend. B)

[SpaceCore]

Ahh I see now.

I thought he was next to you while you're doing it. If he was, imagine him driving to a car mechanic to get his car fix.

Your friend: * drive car into garage* Tells mechanic car has problems, check it out

Mechanic: OK *pops open bonnet*

your friend: *double face palms and screams at the top of his lungs* OMG you broke it!!!!!!

mechanic: Da fuq?! *closes bonnet*

your friend: *clasp hands with sparkles in his eyes, and screams* WOW you fix it!!!!!!

I'm sure he's a great friend. B)

lmaoo and yes he is a good friend

[pspfreak]

I just had an argument with someone who thinks it is worth it to buy 120hz and 240hz TV's (not monitors, but tv's) for watching content such as movies, live tv, and sports.They couldn't grasp their heads around the fact that to experience a higher refresh rate, you need content that actually has that many frames in a second. They ended up saying I didn't know anything about buying TV's and the technology because they know people who do. Oh so your friend from work just bought a new tv and they say it looks really good? Ever heard of a placebo effect?

 

TL:DR: Dumbass doesn't understand what a waste 120hz and 240hz tv's are for media consumption.

[vt3c]

Only someone who is telling a joke would say that. Please tell me I'm right...

You're wrong. He was serious. It's so sad.

[Crek]

ok when I was in my teens and naturally couldn't afford my tech stuff, or needed a lot of help, I had to turn to my father for help - poor parents when they have to deal with kids' "crazy" ideas - ( yes it means I've grown and may have my own family soon ) and since he was a computer user as well, whenever I asked for help getting a specific something, it always ended up by him asking me "WHY on Earth do u need this" and what infuriated me was having to EXPLAIN why this is good and the other option that costs half of half  as much wasn't good enough and after really trying to carefully listen to my elaborate and proof backed thesis, I was never too keen to listen to him giving me the same old reply which always meant : "why do u want to get something OUT OF THE NORM, look and see what people are getting", and by other people, he meant people who , like him, use a PC for forums, mail ... maybe Solitaire, and since at the time I was the only tech savvy person around, it was hard, same goes for internet, whereas my needs were about 500 times grater than his, where I also used to get this word : MANAGE !!!, look at me ...

 

2 decades ahead and I'm still a PC Enthusiast, and now I buy and build my dad's PCs, and a bit more to my liking ( he got used to using 2 screens so much he can't imagine using a PC without them, not to mention mechanical keyboards, which he must be just about the only non gamer to appreciate because he types seriously fast and in 6 different languages written in 4 different alphabets, qwerty keyboards may be great for English but the rest ... keys usage is just too different, Dvorak also made with only one language in mind ) oh and my internet needs are now about 50 times that of his, ( he uses a lot more now ), except I now got my own ...

 

A friend of the family decided he wanted to get into the digital arena at 73 and since we're in the same field and worked together before, I helped him pick a laptop that would get him what he'd need and a bit more, but teaching him how to use a mouse pad and what most stuff u see in windows was, turned out to be long and hard, it's still happening, and boy is it hard to explain to an elderly person that the escape key is NOT ON THE FREAKIN SCREEN, LOOK DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN, AT THE KEYBOARD ... NO IT'S NOT ON SCREEN, THERE'S A SET OF PRESSABLE KEYS UNDER THE SCREEN ... UNDER THE START MENU ... WHERE U ACTUALLY TYPE ...OK, JUST ABOVE THE NUBERS THERE'S A SET OF KEYS ... NOOOOOO THAT'S THE TASKBAR ...  :angry:  never mind, I'm coming over, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING, and that's not the worst example, so I find myself having to spend 20 minutes to drive the measly 10 Km to his place and 30 minutes of dogfights to park, to go to his place and find out for example that he finally just found out how to minimize Chrome because his Word document was UNDER IT, but worst of all is that what would take me 10 minutes to explain on the phone takes 3 hours because instead of letting me finish, he has his own theories about it, and that's really the very core of BAD, because I often have to go find out in what digital ditch he landed himself this time, and DON'T get me started on Facebook, having to help with stuff I know is 1 thing, but helping with something I don't know is something else, u see Facebook and I had a divorce about 3 years ago, and boy was it a good riddance ...

 

Still this is all a pleasure because as my own career was taking off, he himself was doing the same for me, only for much more serious matters

 

other random stuff would include being at my friend's computer shop, and some customer walks in inquiring about some small PC for the kids , u know JUST for games,nothing big really, and not more than 300-400 US $, I mean how do u even try telling them what they need, in most cases he ends up telling them that he doesn't have any, so they reply that an other shop down the road has them, and since he's the honest type he'd very much like to explain how wrong that is but the customer being always king, ends with him ending the convo with, "go to the other store and get it, but IF ... I mean WHEN it'll go at 5 frames per minute running even average games, PLEASE DO complain, but NOT TO ME" ... either that or me as a customer try to explain that it costs more, funny how a customer listens to other customers a LOT more than to the person running the shop .

 

as someone really interested in the Image aspect of things, having a TV ( preferably not smart ), to which I hook up a PC is a great thing, for many a thing, not JUST watching movies and shows, so, as I go to some showroom to take a look at some TV sets I see, I ask simple questions really, like does this TV have HDMI 1.3 or lower ? and about 107% of the cases the employee has no idea what u'r talking about but worse, he/she tries to outsmart u in the most ludicrous ways, something like this TV is the very latest tech !!! said in a way to make u feel ashamed to ask more questions because u'r so dumb, this usually pushes me to pester them with more legitimate tech questions, even if irrelevant to me,

- Is this TV DLNA certified ?

- but of course sir, imagine if it weren't

- aha, good could I see the logo on it, or anywhere it's mentioned

and after a bit of time frantically looking for anything that might look like it

- it must be in the manual, but this is really the latest trend in tech

if I had a penny for the number of times a senior officer had to be called ...

 

4K TV, GREAT !, is it HDMI 1.4 or HDMI 2.0 , aka 30 or 60 hz, to which the answer is , u'r living in the past sir, this TV is a 240 hz TV or 900 hz, missing the point, innocently, but finding bigger numbers than the ones u mentioned is always a good selling point

 

it's a bit like having a clerk at a media store who wants to show he's a know it all at u'r expense , normally I ask those for a movie: Mel Brooks' "History of the World Part 2" ( which he hasn't made ... yet ) and let them delve into it for a while at the end of which they tell me they JUST ran out of stock, I do admit once I got a laugh with a clerk who knew

[TechXero]

@Crek 

 

I know how that feels buddy... Been there, done that... One thing you forget, it's the time when you n I were trying to convince you know who, that Samsung ain't the ONLY Android device out there... And that Samsung does not mean Android, that Android is an OS not a phone brand lol