Computer Maintainance

[Spooniest]

This isn't a tech support thread, no. It's a thread for jeering at the evil rotten jerkfaces who program the computers we use everyday.

Basically, if your comp has made you mad lately, you may post here about it...a computer-specific rant thread, if you will.

I, for one, just went through the ordeal of installing a new operating system. Gawd that took forever!

You are free to move about the thread...

[Denmark]

computers are just machines that do what users tell them to, and thus are only as smart as their users

[Leigh]

computers are just machines that do what users tell them to, and thus are only as smart as their users

Spoken like a true professional in the IT Industry! :p

Computers can make me mad sometimes, but mostly the internet since it causes me to flick and scan between too many topics within 5 minutes. They're anything but a calming influence. Constant stimulation :(

[Colonel Angus]

It's all Microsoft/Apple's fault. Outside of that, they'd probably be fine.

[Mirage]

What's funny is that the better you are at computers, the less often you get mad at them.

It's been a very long time since my PCs annoyed me.

[Slothy]

What's funny is that the better you are at computers, the less often you get mad at them.

Not really. As I've learned more and more about computers over my lifetime I've gone from being annoyed because something isn't working to being annoyed when some programmer somewhere decided the best way to do something is the stupidest and least efficient way possible, and everyone else on the team just shrugged and went, "sure. That seems alright to me."

[escobert]

My computer maintenance is to give it a good swift kick every month. or a good punch in the case of my laptop.

[Flying Mullet]

I, for one, just went through the ordeal of installing a new operating system. Gawd that took forever!

It took forever to install an operating system on a machine that is a composite of parts from different manufacturers adhering to different standards and each of these standards avoids interoperability for the sake of market dominance and profit? Whodathunkit?

[CimminyCricket]

I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing when I was formatting my new ssd for os prep and I ended up selecting GPT instead of mbr. now I have to switch my drives back over so I can reformat the drive and all this work is my fault.

[Mirage]

What's funny is that the better you are at computers, the less often you get mad at them.

Not really. As I've learned more and more about computers over my lifetime I've gone from being annoyed because something isn't working to being annoyed when some programmer somewhere decided the best way to do something is the stupidest and least efficient way possible, and everyone else on the team just shrugged and went, "sure. That seems alright to me."
I guess. I don't really count that as a problem with my actual computer, though.

[escobert]

I, for one, just went through the ordeal of installing a new operating system. Gawd that took forever!

It took forever to install an operating system on a machine that is a composite of parts from different manufacturers adhering to different standards and each of these standards avoids interoperability for the sake of market dominance and profit? Whodathunkit?

Thats why everyone should just build thieir own PCs and not have to deal with that nonsense! I formated and installed Windows on my new SSD in no time Saturday.

[Lawr]

What's funny is that the better you are at computers, the less often you get mad at them.

Not really. As I've learned more and more about computers over my lifetime I've gone from being annoyed because something isn't working to being annoyed when some programmer somewhere decided the best way to do something is the stupidest and least efficient way possible, and everyone else on the team just shrugged and went, "sure. That seems alright to me."

Yeah pretty much.

Also special shoutout to the jackass at my workplace that now insists on completely restricting his userforms and password locking the macroes on the databases on his pirated copy of Office!

[Spuuky]

Thats why everyone should just build thieir own PCs and not have to deal with that nonsense! I formated and installed Windows on my new SSD in no time Saturday.What? Building your own PC makes you have to deal with it even more. It just so happens that Windows typically makes it really easy and automatic to do so.

[escobert]

not really. If you know what you have and want it's not rocket science... If my uneducated stoner ass can do it anyone can.

[Mirage]

I'm not sure what your point is. Even if you think it's easy, you are still dealing with it more when you're building and installing it yourself, compared to when someone else builds and installs it for you.

[Spuuky]

not really. If you know what you have and want it's not rocket science... If my uneducated stoner ass can do it anyone can.I didn't say it was hard for you, as an end user. The OS has to reconcile all these parts from different manufacturers, though, which may or may not meet various standards and require a bunch of different drivers and things, all of which needs to be basically invisible to you. The fact that the UI makes it simple is the miracle itself.

[escobert]

oh my god. You seriously make me want to smack my head against a wall.

[Shoeberto]

What's funny is that the better you are at computers, the less often you get mad at them.

Not really. As I've learned more and more about computers over my lifetime I've gone from being annoyed because something isn't working to being annoyed when some programmer somewhere decided the best way to do something is the stupidest and least efficient way possible, and everyone else on the team just shrugged and went, "sure. That seems alright to me."

Yeah pretty much.

Also special shoutout to the jackass at my workplace that now insists on completely restricting his userforms and password locking the macroes on the databases on his pirated copy of Office!
Finding out about how the software development industry works is actually another crucial layer to understanding how your sausage gets made, in regards to technology. People tend to get really mad at programmers for not making things JUST WORK, when in reality there are usually insane deadlines put in place for which management types can't (or are unwilling) to change, thus the engineers get shafted.

90% of the time, lead developers at companies know when something is trout (be it a bad workflow or buggy program), but business pressures prevent them from doing things the right way. Same goes for IT support who enact absurd policies. Generally they/we are just being told to make things happen or it's our ass.

Source: Am a programmer who used to work in that kind of environment and got shat on regularly by customers/management.


edit: Not to say that there aren't programmers who are just incompetent. I'm probably one of them. But a lot of complaints about workflow/functionality/"you piece of trout why don't you work" are aimed at generally decent (if not pretty good) works of engineering and said engineers get the shaft for decisions made as a result of business/market pressures.

[Lawr]

What's funny is that the better you are at computers, the less often you get mad at them.

Not really. As I've learned more and more about computers over my lifetime I've gone from being annoyed because something isn't working to being annoyed when some programmer somewhere decided the best way to do something is the stupidest and least efficient way possible, and everyone else on the team just shrugged and went, "sure. That seems alright to me."

Yeah pretty much.

Also special shoutout to the jackass at my workplace that now insists on completely restricting his userforms and password locking the macroes on the databases on his pirated copy of Office!
Finding out about how the software development industry works is actually another crucial layer to understanding how your sausage gets made, in regards to technology. People tend to get really mad at programmers for not making things JUST WORK, when in reality there are usually insane deadlines put in place for which management types can't (or are unwilling) to change, thus the engineers get shafted.

90% of the time, lead developers at companies know when something is trout (be it a bad workflow or buggy program), but business pressures prevent them from doing things the right way. Same goes for IT support who enact absurd policies. Generally they/we are just being told to make things happen or it's our ass.

Source: Am a programmer who used to work in that kind of environment and got shat on regularly by customers/management.

Aw poor Shoe! :aimsad: I deal with a lite version of that with some of my hastily made codes at work. Like, hey if people do exactly what they're supposed to do and absolutely nothing else with it, it'll be fine! Which never happens, and then it's reactive maintenance from then on. But I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here!

I also read about that on Reddit, how business is toxic to anyone who cares about delivering a quality product (and buying a quality product...) versus just making the sales charts look really really nice. My main gripe would be planned obsolescence so companies can make their sales charts look really really nice. It's not the best example, but while I'm here...AT&T comes to mind...and iPhones come to mind, coupled with meaty iOS updates that can eventually turn older iPhones into iPaperweights.

Plus I generally just don't like Apple very much!