Dear Users… (A thread for Sysadmin, Technical Support, and Help Desk people) Part 10 - Page 17

alfaniner · 25th January 2022, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by Dr. Keith

To be fair, it should be named “20210101-20211231 Data”.

Originally Posted by Wudang

Collation matters.

My first thought also. Obviously some coders here...

TragicMonkey · 25th January 2022, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by Dr. Keith

To be fair, it should be named “20210101-20211231 Data”.

Not in this case. Everything's on a monthly cycle, so keeping the month first makes it easier to read when all the files are grouped together. Picking out the last four digits of a number is much harder than reading the first four.

Dr. Keith · 25th January 2022, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

Not in this case. Everything's on a monthly cycle, so keeping the month first makes it easier to read when all the files are grouped together. Picking out the last four digits of a number is much harder than reading the first four.

General Rule meet Special Case. General Rule fought in the early tape versus plate wars, Ms Case. But he still can’t figure out how to tie his own shoes. (Audience laughter)

TragicMonkey · 28th January 2022, 02:10 PM

"Yeah, so the changes we asked you for last week, that you spent two days making this week...we asked for the wrong thing. So could you change everything back, then make these other, different changes? Oh, and it's urgent."

On a Friday afternoon? Sure, I'll get right on that. I shall rush it with glacier swiftness.

Norman Alexander · 28th January 2022, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

"Yeah, so the changes we asked you for last week, that you spent two days making this week...we asked for the wrong thing. So could you change everything back, then make these other, different changes? Oh, and it's urgent."

On a Friday afternoon? Sure, I'll get right on that. I shall rush it with glacier swiftness.

Yep, the "Just Before You Go" requests on a Friday afternoon are nasty. I've outlined my response previously: I'll stay and work on it only provided the requester stays with me to test it on completion of my work. If I'm losing home time, so are they...

BowlOfRed · 28th January 2022, 06:13 PM

We have a company-wide escalation term for "stuff is *broken*". All the way from the entire site is down to just some internal stuff that would make engineers unhappy.

If you want something to happen after 4pm on a Friday, you need to open one of these up. Otherwise, we know the risk of breaking something and having the folks who know enough to fix it not be available are too great. Come back on Monday and we'll try it.

Or tell us formally that stuff is broken (and fill out the forms afterward that ask why it got to this point in the first place and be prepared to talk about it next week in the manager review meeting) and we'll do it now.

TragicMonkey · 28th January 2022, 06:27 PM

Originally Posted by Norman Alexander

Yep, the "Just Before You Go" requests on a Friday afternoon are nasty. I've outlined my response previously: I'll stay and work on it only provided the requester stays with me to test it on completion of my work. If I'm losing home time, so are they...

Oh, that's not necessary in this case; I have plenty of time to get onto it next week. Or I would, if there weren't going to be a sudden emergency that will take priority. It's amazing how often those crop up when I'm running low on damns to give.

arthwollipot · 31st January 2022, 12:20 AM

I may have said this before, but here on the Service Desk we have an obligation to resolve 80% of incidents within 3 business days. If you log a job with us and then immediately go off on holiday for two weeks, we're going to try unsuccessfully calling you twice, then your incident will be closed.

It's even more satisfying for me personally if you mark that it is URGENT!!!

TragicMonkey · 31st January 2022, 07:12 AM

"We need to have a meeting to discuss a new and very important metric we need that measures [highly complex thing]!"

...You mean [highly complex thing] like the one I've been doing and sending to you every month for the last 18 months?

a_unique_person · 2nd February 2022, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

"We need to have a meeting to discuss a new and very important metric we need that measures [highly complex thing]!"

...You mean [highly complex thing] like the one I've been doing and sending to you every month for the last 18 months?

It's still not telling them what they want to hear.

arthwollipot · 2nd February 2022, 11:42 PM

"Thanks for your help" she said to the agent who spent almost the entire phone call listening in silence while she resolved the problem herself.

jeremyp · 3rd February 2022, 03:06 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

"Thanks for your help" she said to the agent who spent almost the entire phone call listening in silence while she resolved the problem herself.

Don't knock it. Having somebody to talk to (at) often helps the thought processes find the answer.

Darat · 3rd February 2022, 04:11 AM

Originally Posted by jeremyp

Don't knock it. Having somebody to talk to (at) often helps the thought processes find the answer.

Yeah I've found that to be the case.

lauwersw · 3rd February 2022, 06:49 AM

There's an official term for that! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging

zooterkin · 3rd February 2022, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by lauwersw

There's an official term for that! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging

I can remember my tutor at Poly saying that he could be replaced by a cardboard cutout for most debugging; that would have been 1978 or '79.

BowlOfRed · 3rd February 2022, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by zooterkin

I can remember my tutor at Poly saying that he could be replaced by a cardboard cutout for most debugging; that would have been 1978 or '79.

I didn't get so much Rubber Duck where someone was reasoning it out when I was on helpdesk as our theory that computers were cats and sensed fear and doubt. The helpdesk personnel were mainly there to subdue the computers.

Computers can tell when you know what's going on and they behave. When an expert is watching, they can't get away with mischief as often.

I think 75% of my helpdesk was similar to this:

"I can't print"
"Show me what you're doing"
"I open the chooser and select the printer here. Then I click print here. Then I change the feed type to 'duplex' and hit Print."
"That looks okay..."
"Hey! It's printing this time. But that's what I've done the other 3 times!"

a_unique_person · 3rd February 2022, 11:55 AM

I tell users these are the best problems and not to be embarrassed. Case closed.

Wudang · 3rd February 2022, 11:59 AM

Heisenbugs. Their behaviour changes when observed.

BowlOfRed · 3rd February 2022, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by Wudang

Heisenbugs. Their behaviour changes when observed.

Not sure why, but we only used that term for code issues. Start up the debugger and the heisenbug waveform collapses into proper output.

User activity seemed different somehow. We also used the term "Consultant Hands" for when a system would only work if the consultant/expert was the one "driving".

"Why did it work when you did it?"
"Consultant Hands" (make "jazz-hands" motion)

arthwollipot · 3rd February 2022, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by lauwersw

There's an official term for that! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging

It's cool that there's a term for it, but that's not what she was doing. She was literally just following the instructions that we had already given her.

gnome · 3rd February 2022, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by BowlOfRed

I didn't get so much Rubber Duck where someone was reasoning it out when I was on helpdesk as our theory that computers were cats and sensed fear and doubt. The helpdesk personnel were mainly there to subdue the computers.

Computers can tell when you know what's going on and they behave. When an expert is watching, they can't get away with mischief as often.

I think 75% of my helpdesk was similar to this:

"I can't print"
"Show me what you're doing"
"I open the chooser and select the printer here. Then I click print here. Then I change the feed type to 'duplex' and hit Print."
"That looks okay..."
"Hey! It's printing this time. But that's what I've done the other 3 times!"

There's a related phenomenon, where they claim they routinely perform a completely impossible function, and just want you to make it work again.

arthwollipot · 3rd February 2022, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

There's a related phenomenon, where they claim they routinely perform a completely impossible function, and just want you to make it work again.

Oh god yes. I had someone once get very angry because, apparently, he had been remotely accessing the departmental network for 5 years without a MFA token and now he was suddenly required to have one. I've been working here for close to 5 years now, and in all that time, no-one has been able to use RAS without a token.

gnome · 3rd February 2022, 06:11 PM

My bane for today--an end user for reporting that wants to use "Region" to define something organizational (eg. "The West Team, the East Team") instead of geographic. I'd just say "whatever" and do as she likes, but outside of her domain the other entries on the report need to use actual location-based classification. It's no use asking her to use a different field for different kinds of information, Noooo she wants to make it so that when it's one of her entries it uses one standard, and when it's not another standard is used, with yet another standard needed for scenarios that don't fit neatly now that there are two schemes.

She's going to prevail because she's basically in charge of setting the report requirements, but the conversations around it are exhausting. Not the first time she's overcomplicated a field by insisting that it change definitions based on what data is being looked at.

arthwollipot · 3rd February 2022, 06:14 PM

TragicMonkey · 3rd February 2022, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

My bane for today--an end user for reporting that wants to use "Region" to define something organizational (eg. "The West Team, the East Team") instead of geographic. I'd just say "whatever" and do as she likes, but outside of her domain the other entries on the report need to use actual location-based classification. It's no use asking her to use a different field for different kinds of information, Noooo she wants to make it so that when it's one of her entries it uses one standard, and when it's not another standard is used, with yet another standard needed for scenarios that don't fit neatly now that there are two schemes.

She's going to prevail because she's basically in charge of setting the report requirements, but the conversations around it are exhausting. Not the first time she's overcomplicated a field by insisting that it change definitions based on what data is being looked at.

Heh. "Region" seems to be a management thing everywhere. I've had requests for reports from three different operational areas, each one wanting "region", and each one defining those regions differently. There is no "region" field in the database, only individual locations. Each of these three areas groups the locations together differently for their own purposes! It's madness.

JimOfAllTrades · 3rd February 2022, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by jeremyp

Don't knock it. Having somebody to talk to (at) often helps the thought processes find the answer.

Dear god, yes!

My partner and I did that all the time. He would come into my office, sit on the edge of my desk and start describing a problem he was working on. Sometimes he'd get far enough along for me to ask a question, sometimes not. At some point he'd suddenly describe the answer and go back to his office.

Two hours later I was sitting on the edge of his desk, etc., etc..

JoeMorgue · 8th February 2022, 11:00 AM

Again I will present a ticket, as I have received it, with nothing added, nothing removed.

"We tripped the breaker from having our floor heaters on and it shut down the printer, now it has been rebooting for over 5 minutes and it says do not unplug"

JoeMorgue · 8th February 2022, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

USB C seems to be the one more and more (I won't say "all" and I'm hesitant to say "most" but more and more) devices are defaulting to, at least here in the US.

TragicMonkey · 8th February 2022, 02:13 PM

Dear User: percentages are different from other numbers. You can't just take two percentages and math them to each other and produce a meaningful result.

Blue Mountain · 8th February 2022, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

Dear User: percentages are different from other numbers. You can't just take two percentages and math them to each other and produce a meaningful result.

What's this "meaningful" you're referring to? I just want the numbers!

Wudang · 8th February 2022, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by Blue Mountain

What's this "meaningful" you're referring to? I just want the numbers!

Numbers have meanings now? Why do you geeks have to keep making stuff more complicated.?

Norman Alexander · 8th February 2022, 03:27 PM

Technically, you can, under certain conditions.

E.g. Only 30% of Republicans support Trumpy, and of those, 99% are either morans or certified.

a_unique_person · 8th February 2022, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

Again I will present a ticket, as I have received it, with nothing added, nothing removed.

"We tripped the breaker from having our floor heaters on and it shut down the printer, now it has been rebooting for over 5 minutes and it says do not unplug"

Floor heaters are the work of the devil.

One office I worked in, in one pod they had a floor heater pointing at the ceiling. I managed to control myself and not call them imbeciles.

a_unique_person · 8th February 2022, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/standards.png

This one is good. Micro USB was too fragile. USB C doesn't have a "right way up". Also, the Commie EU forced Apple to join in with the USB C cable standard.

The micro, mini and usb A connectors will be dropped over time. Micro USB couldn't replace USB A because it didn't have the current capacity.

Trebuchet · 8th February 2022, 06:20 PM

Originally Posted by a_unique_person

This one is good. Micro USB was too fragile. USB C doesn't have a "right way up". Also, the Commie EU forced Apple to join in with the USB C cable standard.

The micro, mini and usb A connectors will be dropped over time. Micro USB couldn't replace USB A because it didn't have the current capacity.

Mini-USB was HUGE (i.e. 3x7mm) and good for thousands of connections.
Micro-USB was smaller (about half as thick) and good for more thousands.

But USB-C is thinner yet, reversible, and good for even more connections. Except on my phone, which will talk through its USB-C port only when it damn well feels like it.

a_unique_person · 8th February 2022, 07:18 PM

The only drawback is it gets dust in there. Use a toothpick to clean it out

Dr. Keith · 8th February 2022, 10:36 PM

Originally Posted by JimOfAllTrades

Dear god, yes!

My partner and I did that all the time. He would come into my office, sit on the edge of my desk and start describing a problem he was working on. Sometimes he'd get far enough along for me to ask a question, sometimes not. At some point he'd suddenly describe the answer and go back to his office.

Two hours later I was sitting on the edge of his desk, etc., etc..

The WFH version of this is to write an email to your boss/partner/subject matter expert describing the problem and asking what the next steps are. Half the time I delete those emails.

Wudang · 9th February 2022, 12:29 AM

Originally Posted by Dr. Keith

The WFH version of this is to write an email to your boss/partner/subject matter expert describing the problem and asking what the next steps are. Half the time I delete those emails.

I have a little Groot head my wife gave me for that. It has the added advantage of having a bowl like space on top for odds and ends.

catsmate · 9th February 2022, 02:17 AM

Originally Posted by Wudang

I have a little Groot head my wife gave me for that. It has the added advantage of having a bowl like space on top for odds and ends.

I generally use the cat.

catsmate · 9th February 2022, 02:18 AM

Originally Posted by a_unique_person

This one is good. Micro USB was too fragile. USB C doesn't have a "right way up". Also, the Commie EU forced Apple to join in with the USB C cable standard.

The micro, mini and usb A connectors will be dropped over time. Micro USB couldn't replace USB A because it didn't have the current capacity.

Save the mini-A connection!!!

25th January 2022, 12:24 PM	#641
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sorth Dakonsin Posts: 26,605	Originally Posted by Dr. Keith To be fair, it should be named “20210101-20211231 Data”. Originally Posted by Wudang Collation matters. My first thought also. Obviously some coders here...
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.

25th January 2022, 12:39 PM	#642
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 62,928	Originally Posted by Dr. Keith To be fair, it should be named “20210101-20211231 Data”. Not in this case. Everything's on a monthly cycle, so keeping the month first makes it easier to read when all the files are grouped together. Picking out the last four digits of a number is much harder than reading the first four.
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

25th January 2022, 12:51 PM	#643
Dr. Keith Not a doctor. Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 24,938	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey Not in this case. Everything's on a monthly cycle, so keeping the month first makes it easier to read when all the files are grouped together. Picking out the last four digits of a number is much harder than reading the first four. General Rule meet Special Case. General Rule fought in the early tape versus plate wars, Ms Case. But he still can’t figure out how to tie his own shoes. (Audience laughter)
	__________________ Suffering is not a punishment not a fruit of sin, it is a gift of God. He allows us to share in His suffering and to make up for the sins of the world. -Mother Teresa If I had a pet panda I would name it Snowflake.

28th January 2022, 02:10 PM	#644
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 62,928	"Yeah, so the changes we asked you for last week, that you spent two days making this week...we asked for the wrong thing. So could you change everything back, then make these other, different changes? Oh, and it's urgent." On a Friday afternoon? Sure, I'll get right on that. I shall rush it with glacier swiftness.
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

28th January 2022, 04:44 PM	#645
Norman Alexander Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Gundungurra Posts: 11,749	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey "Yeah, so the changes we asked you for last week, that you spent two days making this week...we asked for the wrong thing. So could you change everything back, then make these other, different changes? Oh, and it's urgent." On a Friday afternoon? Sure, I'll get right on that. I shall rush it with glacier swiftness. Yep, the "Just Before You Go" requests on a Friday afternoon are nasty. I've outlined my response previously: I'll stay and work on it only provided the requester stays with me to test it on completion of my work. If I'm losing home time, so are they...
	__________________ _{...our governments are just trying to protect us from terror. In the same way that someone banging a hornets’ nest with a stick is trying to protect us from hornets. Frankie Boyle, Guardian, July 2015}

28th January 2022, 06:13 PM	#646
BowlOfRed Master Poster Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 2,110	We have a company-wide escalation term for "stuff is broken". All the way from the entire site is down to just some internal stuff that would make engineers unhappy. If you want something to happen after 4pm on a Friday, you need to open one of these up. Otherwise, we know the risk of breaking something and having the folks who know enough to fix it not be available are too great. Come back on Monday and we'll try it. Or tell us formally that stuff is broken (and fill out the forms afterward that ask why it got to this point in the first place and be prepared to talk about it next week in the manager review meeting) and we'll do it now.

28th January 2022, 06:27 PM	#647
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 62,928	Originally Posted by Norman Alexander Yep, the "Just Before You Go" requests on a Friday afternoon are nasty. I've outlined my response previously: I'll stay and work on it only provided the requester stays with me to test it on completion of my work. If I'm losing home time, so are they... Oh, that's not necessary in this case; I have plenty of time to get onto it next week. Or I would, if there weren't going to be a sudden emergency that will take priority. It's amazing how often those crop up when I'm running low on damns to give.
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

31st January 2022, 12:20 AM	#648
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 76,449	I may have said this before, but here on the Service Desk we have an obligation to resolve 80% of incidents within 3 business days. If you log a job with us and then immediately go off on holiday for two weeks, we're going to try unsuccessfully calling you twice, then your incident will be closed. It's even more satisfying for me personally if you mark that it is URGENT!!!
	__________________ Слава Україні Героям слава

31st January 2022, 07:12 AM	#649
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 62,928	"We need to have a meeting to discuss a new and very important metric we need that measures [highly complex thing]!" ...You mean [highly complex thing] like the one I've been doing and sending to you every month for the last 18 months?
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

2nd February 2022, 05:29 PM	#650
a_unique_person Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Waiting for the pod bay door to open. Posts: 44,050	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey "We need to have a meeting to discuss a new and very important metric we need that measures [highly complex thing]!" ...You mean [highly complex thing] like the one I've been doing and sending to you every month for the last 18 months? It's still not telling them what they want to hear.
	__________________ *Continually pushing the boundaries of mediocrity.* Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. “Perception is real, but the truth is not.” - Imelda Marcos

2nd February 2022, 11:42 PM	#651
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 76,449	"Thanks for your help" she said to the agent who spent almost the entire phone call listening in silence while she resolved the problem herself.
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3rd February 2022, 03:06 AM	#652
jeremyp Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha Posts: 1,631	Originally Posted by arthwollipot "Thanks for your help" she said to the agent who spent almost the entire phone call listening in silence while she resolved the problem herself. Don't knock it. Having somebody to talk to (at) often helps the thought processes find the answer.

3rd February 2022, 04:11 AM	#653
Darat Lackey Administrator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: South East, UK Posts: 101,830	Originally Posted by jeremyp Don't knock it. Having somebody to talk to (at) often helps the thought processes find the answer. Yeah I've found that to be the case.
	__________________ I wish I knew how to quit you

3rd February 2022, 06:49 AM	#654
lauwersw Thinker Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 163	There's an official term for that! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging
lauwersw Thinker Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 163

3rd February 2022, 09:24 AM	#655
zooterkin Nitpicking dilettante Administrator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Berkshire, mostly Posts: 52,238	Originally Posted by lauwersw There's an official term for that! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging I can remember my tutor at Poly saying that he could be replaced by a cardboard cutout for most debugging; that would have been 1978 or '79.
	__________________ The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.Bertrand Russell Zooterkin is correct Darat Nerd! Hokulele Join the JREF Folders ! Team 13232 Ezekiel 23:20

3rd February 2022, 11:33 AM	#656
BowlOfRed Master Poster Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 2,110	Originally Posted by zooterkin I can remember my tutor at Poly saying that he could be replaced by a cardboard cutout for most debugging; that would have been 1978 or '79. I didn't get so much Rubber Duck where someone was reasoning it out when I was on helpdesk as our theory that computers were cats and sensed fear and doubt. The helpdesk personnel were mainly there to subdue the computers. Computers can tell when you know what's going on and they behave. When an expert is watching, they can't get away with mischief as often. I think 75% of my helpdesk was similar to this: "I can't print" "Show me what you're doing" "I open the chooser and select the printer here. Then I click print here. Then I change the feed type to 'duplex' and hit Print." "That looks okay..." "Hey! It's printing this time. But that's what I've done the other 3 times!"

3rd February 2022, 11:55 AM	#657
a_unique_person Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Waiting for the pod bay door to open. Posts: 44,050	I tell users these are the best problems and not to be embarrassed. Case closed.
	__________________ *Continually pushing the boundaries of mediocrity.* Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. “Perception is real, but the truth is not.” - Imelda Marcos

3rd February 2022, 11:59 AM	#658
Wudang BOFH Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: People's Republic of South Yorkshire Posts: 14,470	Heisenbugs. Their behaviour changes when observed.
	__________________ "Your deepest pools, like your deepest politicians and philosophers, often turn out more shallow than expected." Walter Scott.

3rd February 2022, 12:33 PM	#659
BowlOfRed Master Poster Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 2,110	Originally Posted by Wudang Heisenbugs. Their behaviour changes when observed. Not sure why, but we only used that term for code issues. Start up the debugger and the heisenbug waveform collapses into proper output. User activity seemed different somehow. We also used the term "Consultant Hands" for when a system would only work if the consultant/expert was the one "driving". "Why did it work when you did it?" "Consultant Hands" (make "jazz-hands" motion)

3rd February 2022, 05:51 PM	#660
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 76,449	Originally Posted by lauwersw There's an official term for that! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging It's cool that there's a term for it, but that's not what she was doing. She was literally just following the instructions that we had already given her.
	__________________ Слава Україні Героям слава

3rd February 2022, 06:04 PM	#661
gnome Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 12,920	Originally Posted by BowlOfRed I didn't get so much Rubber Duck where someone was reasoning it out when I was on helpdesk as our theory that computers were cats and sensed fear and doubt. The helpdesk personnel were mainly there to subdue the computers. Computers can tell when you know what's going on and they behave. When an expert is watching, they can't get away with mischief as often. I think 75% of my helpdesk was similar to this: "I can't print" "Show me what you're doing" "I open the chooser and select the printer here. Then I click print here. Then I change the feed type to 'duplex' and hit Print." "That looks okay..." "Hey! It's printing this time. But that's what I've done the other 3 times!" There's a related phenomenon, where they claim they routinely perform a completely impossible function, and just want you to make it work again.
	__________________

3rd February 2022, 06:08 PM	#662
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 76,449	Originally Posted by gnome There's a related phenomenon, where they claim they routinely perform a completely impossible function, and just want you to make it work again. Oh god yes. I had someone once get very angry because, apparently, he had been remotely accessing the departmental network for 5 years without a MFA token and now he was suddenly required to have one. I've been working here for close to 5 years now, and in all that time, no-one has been able to use RAS without a token.
	__________________ Слава Україні Героям слава

3rd February 2022, 06:11 PM	#663
gnome Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 12,920	My bane for today--an end user for reporting that wants to use "Region" to define something organizational (eg. "The West Team, the East Team") instead of geographic. I'd just say "whatever" and do as she likes, but outside of her domain the other entries on the report need to use actual location-based classification. It's no use asking her to use a different field for different kinds of information, Noooo she wants to make it so that when it's one of her entries it uses one standard, and when it's not another standard is used, with yet another standard needed for scenarios that don't fit neatly now that there are two schemes. She's going to prevail because she's basically in charge of setting the report requirements, but the conversations around it are exhausting. Not the first time she's overcomplicated a field by insisting that it change definitions based on what data is being looked at.
	__________________ Last edited by gnome; 3rd February 2022 at 06:14 PM.

3rd February 2022, 06:14 PM	#664
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 76,449	Fortunately, the charging one has been solved now that we've all standardized on mini-USB. Or is it micro-USB? ****.
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3rd February 2022, 06:21 PM	#665
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 62,928	Originally Posted by gnome My bane for today--an end user for reporting that wants to use "Region" to define something organizational (eg. "The West Team, the East Team") instead of geographic. I'd just say "whatever" and do as she likes, but outside of her domain the other entries on the report need to use actual location-based classification. It's no use asking her to use a different field for different kinds of information, Noooo she wants to make it so that when it's one of her entries it uses one standard, and when it's not another standard is used, with yet another standard needed for scenarios that don't fit neatly now that there are two schemes. She's going to prevail because she's basically in charge of setting the report requirements, but the conversations around it are exhausting. Not the first time she's overcomplicated a field by insisting that it change definitions based on what data is being looked at. Heh. "Region" seems to be a management thing everywhere. I've had requests for reports from three different operational areas, each one wanting "region", and each one defining those regions differently. There is no "region" field in the database, only individual locations. Each of these three areas groups the locations together differently for their own purposes! It's madness.
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

3rd February 2022, 07:24 PM	#666
JimOfAllTrades Muse Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 889	Originally Posted by jeremyp Don't knock it. Having somebody to talk to (at) often helps the thought processes find the answer. Dear god, yes! My partner and I did that all the time. He would come into my office, sit on the edge of my desk and start describing a problem he was working on. Sometimes he'd get far enough along for me to ask a question, sometimes not. At some point he'd suddenly describe the answer and go back to his office. Two hours later I was sitting on the edge of his desk, etc., etc..
JimOfAllTrades Muse Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 889

8th February 2022, 11:00 AM	#667
JoeMorgue Self Employed Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 39,444	Again I will present a ticket, as I have received it, with nothing added, nothing removed. "We tripped the breaker from having our floor heaters on and it shut down the printer, now it has been rebooting for over 5 minutes and it says do not unplug"
	__________________ "If everyone in the room says water is wet and I say it's dry that makes me smart because at least I'm thinking for myself!" - The Proudly Wrong.

8th February 2022, 11:01 AM	#668
JoeMorgue Self Employed Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 39,444	Originally Posted by arthwollipot Fortunately, the charging one has been solved now that we've all standardized on mini-USB. Or is it micro-USB? ****. USB C seems to be the one more and more (I won't say "all" and I'm hesitant to say "most" but more and more) devices are defaulting to, at least here in the US.
	__________________ "If everyone in the room says water is wet and I say it's dry that makes me smart because at least I'm thinking for myself!" - The Proudly Wrong.

8th February 2022, 02:13 PM	#669
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 62,928	Dear User: percentages are different from other numbers. You can't just take two percentages and math them to each other and produce a meaningful result.
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

8th February 2022, 03:17 PM	#670
Blue Mountain Resident Skeptical Hobbit Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Waging war on woo-woo in Winnipeg Posts: 6,981	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey Dear User: percentages are different from other numbers. You can't just take two percentages and math them to each other and produce a meaningful result. What's this "meaningful" you're referring to? I just want the numbers!
	__________________ The social illusion reigns to-day upon all the heaped-up ruins of the past, and to it belongs the future. The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Gustav Le Bon, The Crowd, 1895 (from the French)

8th February 2022, 03:21 PM	#671
Wudang BOFH Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: People's Republic of South Yorkshire Posts: 14,470	Originally Posted by Blue Mountain What's this "meaningful" you're referring to? I just want the numbers! Numbers have meanings now? Why do you geeks have to keep making stuff more complicated.?
	__________________ "Your deepest pools, like your deepest politicians and philosophers, often turn out more shallow than expected." Walter Scott.

8th February 2022, 03:27 PM	#672
Norman Alexander Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Gundungurra Posts: 11,749	Technically, you can, under certain conditions. E.g. Only 30% of Republicans support Trumpy, and of those, 99% are either morans or certified.
	__________________ _{...our governments are just trying to protect us from terror. In the same way that someone banging a hornets’ nest with a stick is trying to protect us from hornets. Frankie Boyle, Guardian, July 2015}

8th February 2022, 04:48 PM	#673
a_unique_person Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Waiting for the pod bay door to open. Posts: 44,050	Originally Posted by JoeMorgue Again I will present a ticket, as I have received it, with nothing added, nothing removed. "We tripped the breaker from having our floor heaters on and it shut down the printer, now it has been rebooting for over 5 minutes and it says do not unplug" Floor heaters are the work of the devil. One office I worked in, in one pod they had a floor heater pointing at the ceiling. I managed to control myself and not call them imbeciles.
	__________________ *Continually pushing the boundaries of mediocrity.* Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. “Perception is real, but the truth is not.” - Imelda Marcos

8th February 2022, 04:51 PM	#674
a_unique_person Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Waiting for the pod bay door to open. Posts: 44,050	Originally Posted by arthwollipot https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/standards.png Fortunately, the charging one has been solved now that we've all standardized on mini-USB. Or is it micro-USB? ****. This one is good. Micro USB was too fragile. USB C doesn't have a "right way up". Also, the Commie EU forced Apple to join in with the USB C cable standard. The micro, mini and usb A connectors will be dropped over time. Micro USB couldn't replace USB A because it didn't have the current capacity.
	__________________ *Continually pushing the boundaries of mediocrity.* Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. “Perception is real, but the truth is not.” - Imelda Marcos Last edited by a_unique_person; 8th February 2022 at 05:08 PM.

8th February 2022, 06:20 PM	#675
Trebuchet Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Port Townsend, Washington Posts: 33,958	Originally Posted by a_unique_person This one is good. Micro USB was too fragile. USB C doesn't have a "right way up". Also, the Commie EU forced Apple to join in with the USB C cable standard. The micro, mini and usb A connectors will be dropped over time. Micro USB couldn't replace USB A because it didn't have the current capacity. Mini-USB was HUGE (i.e. 3x7mm) and good for thousands of connections. Micro-USB was smaller (about half as thick) and good for more thousands. But USB-C is thinner yet, reversible, and good for even more connections. Except on my phone, which will talk through its USB-C port only when it damn well feels like it.
	__________________ Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.