Experiences with non-techies

[Lewellyn]

My grandmother asks about how a computer works. I give analogies.

 

First I give an analogy to a human brain.

 

Then I give an analogy to a water pump system.

 

Then I give an analogy to temporal discontinuation and flux capacitors.

[TechXero]

I got issues with my aunt. She has an iPad calls it laptop. And the laptop she just calls computer. She thinks that by closing lid of laptop her Internet is gonna die. And if iPad stays on charger after reaching 100% it will melt. And you tell her app she thinks it's  fruit. I could go on.... 

[Gr8White_Bear]

I have a 21:9 IPS monitor from LG.  I cringe every time one of my parents points to something on the screen and almost touches it.

[KemoKa]

Trying to explain to a tech-illiterate friend of mine how a graphics card works. In Japanese.
 

That sucked.

[PotatOS - Andrew]

I constantly have to explain to my grandmother that Optimum can't help her with every single problem on her computer.  She called them today about Avast giving her virus warnings.  Even my dad thinks they are advertisements to get you to buy security, but in reality that computer is RIDDLED with viruses, it's most definitely a legit virus warning.  She thinks that we pay Optimum for "the computer," when we pay them just for the internet.  I had to make an analogy how optimum is the water company and your computer is your sink.  If your sink broke, you wouldn't call the water company to come fix it, you would call a repairman (i.e. me).  That actually did the trick this time.  I've been thinking of putting Linux on her computer, it's so sluggish and infected, but it would look different than Windows and last time something looked different, when Optimum changed their look of their email (layout, fonts, etc.), she couldn't use it for DAYS.  So many repetitions of instructions... oh god...

[max_n_cheese11]

My grandmother asks about how a computer works. I give analogies.

 .

Is that a BAK in your profile pic? I can't tell; I'm on mobile.

My dad asked why I needed a different cpu cooler, because the stock one "should work just fine". I didn't explain to him that it was an unlocked cpu and about all te jigahurtez for oc'ing. He also asked why the windforce cooler on my GPU was so damn big and commented that Windforce is something that happens after he eats beans/Mexican food. BUT he does know quite a bit about computers, and used to right manuals for server stuff, and has helped a shitload in my first build.

[Guest andyysplash]

He also asked why the windforce cooler on my GPU was so damn big and commented that Windforce is something that happens after he eats beans/Mexican food

 

That's so dad humour right there

[lucky74dog]

I constantly have to explain to my grandmother that Optimum can't help her with every single problem on her computer.  She called them today about Avast giving her virus warnings.  Even my dad thinks they are advertisements to get you to buy security, but in reality that computer is RIDDLED with viruses, it's most definitely a legit virus warning.  She thinks that we pay Optimum for "the computer," when we pay them just for the internet.  I had to make an analogy how optimum is the water company and your computer is your sink.  If your sink broke, you wouldn't call the water company to come fix it, you would call a repairman (i.e. me).  That actually did the trick this time.  I've been thinking of putting Linux on her computer, it's so sluggish and infected, but it would look different than Windows and last time something looked different, when Optimum changed their look of their email (layout, fonts, etc.), she couldn't use it for DAYS.  So many repetitions of instructions... oh god...

Oh my god that matches my grandma 100%. Just replace Optimum with Verizon and that would be me!

[Puma911]

I work at a popular mostly US electronics retailer (give you 3 guesses) and a woman came in the other day insisting that she needed a micro USB cable for her iphone 6. I finally just opened one and showed her that it didn't fit... sigh.

[Puma911]

Also this was an actual customer I had today. Thought it was worth sharing.

[420istoday]

Buddy just built a gaming PC with some of my old spare parts and some new ones. The first thing he does is pirates Shadow of Mordor, he then asks me how to install it. The way he explained it on the phone was that it was an ISO, so naturally I figured he needed to mount it. Nope, he just didn't realize that "setup.exe" was the installer. That torrent didn't work correctly, so he downloaded a different one, he then failed to pay attention during the install, and installed it in Russian, I had to walk him through to the config file to fix that.

[420istoday]

I was in Best Buy one day, and was in the hard drive/ssd aisle which is located next to the Apple products. I overheard one of the associates talking to a customer.

 

"I was wanting to get a Mac to go with the rest of my apple products."

"Sure mam, are there any specific things you are looking for?"

"No I just want the cheapest one, I don't need anything real fancy."

"Okay mam, that's a great choice. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, I just want to get this because Macs don't get viruses."

"That's true........"

 

After that point I tuned out. I was completely dismayed by the ignorance at hand.

[alby800]

@athesean1's mum just made him unplug his Blackwidow because "she says it might burn down the house with the power it pulls"

 

*FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* *FACEDESK* 

 

[JoaoPRSousa]

- snip -

Holy mother of face desks.

[pspfreak]

@athesean1's mum just made him unplug his Blackwidow because "she says it might burn down the house with the power it pulls"

 

-snippty-

 

She probably thinks light = shit ton of power. My mom is the same way. Yells at me to turn off a light that uses 13w, but doesnt mind that i have 3 computers on all the time

[alby800]

She probably thinks light = shit ton of power. My mom is the same way. Yells at me to turn off a light that uses 13w, but doesnt mind that i have 3 computers on all the time

The funny thing is, it doesn't even have backlighting, it is a Razer Blackwidow non-ultimate

[TonyMarony]

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.

 

Well, maybe you should inform yourself a bit more about this topic, before calling other people names....there is a difference between pc lcds and tv monitors.

 

First of all 120Hz and 240hz (up to 2000hz) do not refer to the native frame frequency of the panel, but to different techniques (they all have different names, "perfect motion" "clear motion" or whatever) that result in motion interpolation, meaning the creation of new frames in between 2 frames from the source material, so it makes the video look more fluid (but creates inputlag). So it doesnt matter at all, what the framerate of the source material is. With the help of motion interpolation you can get a 20fps movie to display much more fluently at 60fps. (If you want to test this on the pc -> google for SmoothVideo Project (SVP)). Some people dont like this, because it makes normal movies look "soapy", but I love it.

 

So the vendors say the display has e.g. 240hz (interpolated), when in fact it only has 50hz (native). Thats called marketing.

 

There is only a handful of TVs that really support a native frame frequency of more than 50hz (85% of all TVs use it). Some use 100hz and about 1% uses 200hz. They keyword here is NATIVE and not interpolated. :-P

And then there are pc monitors which have a native frame frequency from 60-144hz and no interpolation.

 

So in the end, you have no idea and the others as well, sorry.  ;-P

[Guest andyysplash]

The funny thing is, it doesn't even have backlighting, it is a Razer Blackwidow non-ultimate

 

I wonder what makes her think it pulls a ton of power (guessing either multiple cables plugged into it, the price or the fact it's "a professional gaming keyboard"). Is she susceptible enough for @athesean1 to pick another board eg the Chroma - and say it's improved and more power efficient, or from another brand - maybe pick a TKL from Ducky or CM Storm and say it's smaller so uses less power?

 

That would be a great way to get a new board (and a potentially better-built one than the BW)

[alby800]

I wonder what makes her think it pulls a ton of power (guessing either multiple cables plugged into it, the price or the fact it's "a professional gaming keyboard"). Is she susceptible enough for @athesean1 to pick another board eg the Chroma - and say it's improved and more power efficient, or from another brand - maybe pick a TKL from Ducky or CM Storm and say it's smaller so uses less power?

 

That would be a great way to get a new board (and a potentially better-built one than the BW)

Well his mum is in Adelaide and he is only visiting, so he should be back soon (we live in the same town, go to the same school etc), funny thing is, at his dad's (where he is most of the time), he DOES have a Duckey Shine 3 TKL, with blues, so, yea, idk why he bought another one but yea

[Gr8White_Bear]

Yesterday I was talking to a good friend of mine about laptops.  She was considering a Macbook Pro, thinking it was only around a thousand bucks, but then told me her struggle typing on laptop keyboards.  She continued to say that typing on the normal keyboards at the library is easier for her.  I talked with her about mechanical keyboards and... she asked if there was a laptop with a mechanical keyboard...

[FuzzyYellow]

Yesterday I was talking to a good friend of mine about laptops.  She was considering a Macbook Pro, thinking it was only around a thousand bucks, but then told me her struggle typing on laptop keyboards.  She continued to say that typing on the normal keyboards at the library is easier for her.  I talked with her about mechanical keyboards and... she asked if there was a laptop with a mechanical keyboard...

did you give her a link to one?

[Gr8White_Bear]

did you give her a link to one?

actually yes, i did.. she really likes everything about it.

[Guest andyysplash]

actually yes, i did.. she really likes everything about it.

 

I like the concept, but I'd still prefer bringing a tkl or 60% board and using that with a standard laptop.

[Beskamir]

So I'm pretty sure I mention the train wreck of a system called quest A+ right? (If you don't know about it here it is: https://questaplus.alberta.ca/ )

 

Well imagine what could go wrong when:

1. The old system (Diploma login and word), which I whole heartily believe was exponentially better, doesn't just get replaced by this failure of a system but also gets completely wiped (so no backup plan if stuff fails)
2. Quest A+ is not locally stored on the pc that is accessing it. Instead it's stored on some server (highly doubt there's more than one) up in Edmonton.
3. Nobody has the insight to....idk, maybe stress test the server before the day of the diploma...
4. The entire province is writing diplomas on the same day at the same time...

Basically if you've seen enough WAN shows you know what the outcome is.... Yep that's right we ddos'ed the server. So after about an hour of the excuse of solution failing to even load the website that we needed to go to in order to run the program which essentially locks the browser and makes the exam secure (the old system was secure too) the solution those idiots came up with was have everyone hand write the damn English diplomas!

 

Thankfully once most of the people stopped trying to connect to the server I was more than able to connect to it and it worked as well as it normally does. (Which is still shit btw but it's better than not working at all)

 

Oh and back in the first few mins of the exam when everyone was trying to connect one of the supervisors in the room I was writing the exam in suggested that we use IE since apparently there's a difference between using Chrome or IE when connecting to a overloaded website. Sure... /sarcasm

 

Anyways the good thing was we got 45 mins of extra time. Most of which I spent facepalming at such an insane level of stupid but I also used some of it to prepare and plan one of the two essays I had to write.

 

Honestly this is a good example of kiss (keep it simple stupid) and the simplest solution already existed! The ONLY advantage of quest a+ was the "promise" that the essays wouldn't have to be printed and as a result trees would be saved. I gave them the benefit of the doubt back in September but when I was informed on Monday that they were still going to print the essays anyways and then send them to Edmonton...

 

Well lets just say I want the idiots that made and recommended the use of this system to be forced to use this program and nothing else whenever they need to write something for the rest of their pathetic lives. Then we could see how long until they realize that left clicking stuff should be reserved for selecting where you want to type and not for selecting where you want to type AND opening the correction menu. Or assuming they use shortcuts, how long until they realize that shortcuts are ESSENTIAL to quick and easy editing!

 

I am baffled by the fact that someone somewhere approved this wreck to be made and used. I mean in a world where any idiot (ie tunnel snakes) can very easily ddos anything they want this system was broken before it even came out. Although I'm pretty sure that the issues today were from legitimate users the fact that they had any issues at all means that any script kiddy can effectively ddos them at any time and it would make their service unavailable.

 

TLDR: It's a really good rant but summed up in one sentence it would be. Why do idiots always have the urge to reinventing a perfectly functional circular wheel by replacing it with a square and calling it "better"?

[waggythegeek]

Not an experience but it's related: http://xkcd.com/627/

Gotta love xkcd