My first tech-related job I was working as an assistant network administrator for a decent-sized computer company out of Missouri -- we basically built computers and sold them. Most of the employees were completely computer ignorant, and a few you would think had mental disabilities, but there was one which was loathed more than any other, not only because of his sheer stupidity, but because he was so rude. Despite being hated so much, we were still polite to him in the networking department -- mostly because he was one of the highest-ups in the company. I want to talk about three separate stories involving this man, I'll call him Mr. MacIntosh.

The first story actually spans different days, because the same thing kept happening to him over and over. Essentially he would somehow drag the taskbar in Microsoft Windows to the side of the screen and then could not figure out how to move it back. After doing it the first time I went to his office and showed him how to fix it, no big deal because this kind of thing has happened with other employees before. However, after about the third time, I ask him how he thinks this keeps happening, and he replies "Well, I move it out of the way because everything is too big and it gets in my way." That is, because his resolution is so low (apparently he has a hard time reading anything higher than 800x600) and some program he uses has a large window size, he has to drag the taskbar out of the way, but somehow manages to completely forget how to move it back. Despite explaining to him that it is moved back the same way he moved it in the first place, he calls back on this issue a few more times.

In story number two Mr. MacIntosh acts more like himself and comes storming into the networking department office:
"I CAN'T LOGIN TO MY ACCOUNT" he screams at John (my manager) and me.
John asks him "did you recently change your password?"
He replies "YES! BUT THAT'S NOT IT!"
I then ask "Did you try logging in with your new password?"
He screams at me "DON'T BE AN IDIOT, THAT'S NOT IT, I WAS USING MY PASSWORD!"
I have to ask again "I understand that, but the password you were using, is that the new one or the one before you changed it."
"IT'S NOT THE NEW ONE, I CHANGED IT BUT DIDN'T WANT TO USE THAT PASSWORD"
John and I look at each other, and John gives me this look saying "Don't laugh", then proceeds to explain to Mr. MacIntosh that once you change your password, you have to use that new password to login -- at least on Windows.

Some time had gone by, and HR, higher ups, and so forth were really getting to me -- they made it clear that everyone in the networking department was walking on egg shells because, as one stated "you can all be easily replaced." I was really thinking about quitting, and something finally set me off to just leave.

It was Mr. MacIntosh again, and he was having trouble with Excel, so I go down to his office to see what the matter is. He shows me that when he attempts to type in a number, the focus moves to another cell instead of typing a number. I look at his keyboard, and of course his numlock key is off. So, I turn on the numlock key and this fixes his problem, and he essentially demands from me how I fixed it. I explained how numlock works and that he may have accidentally turned it off, and if that the problem happens again, he should just hit that button again.

The next day I get hauled into the office of the manager who manages the managers of the networking department (needlessly complicated), you know the kind, completely ignorant about computers or how anything really works. He explains to me that I was asked to help Mr. MacIntosh yesterday, but I didn't help him or fix his problem. I asked him to elaborate, perhaps I forgot something, and he explained the Excel problem to me. I then tell him the story about numlock and so forth and why it isn't really a problem with the computer, but with the user himself. The manager goes on and on about how I still didn't fix the problem, and at that time I was so annoyed I told him "Well, it isn't my fault he's too much of a fucking idiot to understand how numlock works, and I explained to him how to turn it back on if he turns it off again. I can't help that many of the employees at a computer company can't even grasp the basic concept of on/off. I quit, fuck you all." and I left for good, I don't even use these people as a reference.

You know, there are times you just have to shoot a lame horse.  This was one of those times.  Glad you had the guts to pull the trigger.

Don't hold back-- tell us how you really feel...

 

I feel I can contribute here.  I know what you are feeling in some small way, so I will share this story with you.

 I was working as a (computer) lab monitor for the dorms while I was in college.  Mostly helping people print stuff and the like.  There was this girl who came in asking about some particular software she needed on her *home* computer.  Normally we aren't supposed to help people with their home computer problems, but we weren't busy, and a friend of mine was there (he was a coworker as well), so we thought we'd be nice.  She kept saying how dumb with computers she was, and we kept telling her that asking for help is not dumb at all, especially when you don't know.  After about 45 minutes of instructions on how to install Adobe Reader from the CD she had for a class (it took a few tries to get through to her), she went on her way.

A couple days later, I get called by the boss (who is as computer illiterate as they come) to explain why this girl went and filed a complaint against me for calling her dumb.  I told him the story, and that I had a coworker there who would back it up.  He said "I don't care who you say was there," and tried to make me apologize to the girl.  I said that I would not apologize for her *thinking* I called her dumb when I didn't, and now, I really do think she's dumb.  He tried replacing me, but, since noone wants to work that crappy a job, he kept me on.

The real WTF is obviously that in the head of a manager chance someone is right is about this:
P(Customer_is_right) > P(Highest_manager_under_me_is_right) > ..... > P(Lowest_employee_under_me_is_right)
Were P(Customer_is_right) << 1 and P(Lowest_employee_is_right) << 0

dtech:

Filed under: Stupid editor thinks "<<" is the start of a HTML tag

Hmm.. I wonder why. Maybe because it does BBCode and HTML?

AbbydonKrafts:

dtech:

Filed under: Stupid editor thinks "<<" is the start of a HTML tag

Hmm.. I wonder why. Maybe because it does BBCode and HTML?

Ye, I know, I use the bare-boned editor. But it is still a WTF.
<< is not a valid tag, especially not since it isn't followed by a >
But wait, I use the bare-bone editor. So maybe it's a IE (Other computer) WTF or ít's just a mug for me cause I don't follow the HTML standards. (Anybody know's for sure?).
I'm gonna insert some pearls here: see what the HTML is CS returns, then I know if it's CS's fault, IE"s fault or mine.

<
<<<<<>>>>>>>
<>

>, <, &, and " all have special meanings in HTML and cannot be used as literal characters. You have to escape them by using the equivalent HTML entity. &gt; &lt; &amp; &quot;

 

joe.edwards:

>, <, &, and " all have special meanings in HTML and cannot be used as literal characters. You have to escape them by using the equivalent HTML entity. &gt; &lt; &amp; &quot;

><&"

This is a message forum not a bloody HTML source document there's ways of dealing with this ...

medialint:

This is a message forum not a bloody HTML source document there's ways of dealing with this ...

Not when there are ^{some of us} who use the plain-text editor and have to _manually enter HTML for formatting purposes.

helpfulcorn:

He explains to me that I was asked to help Mr. MacIntosh yesterday, but I didn't help him or fix his problem. I asked him to elaborate, perhaps I forgot something, and he explained the Excel problem to me. I then tell him the story about numlock and so forth and why it isn't really a problem with the computer, but with the user himself. The manager goes on and on about how I still didn't fix the problem

 

Well, you could always rip off the numlock key  from keyboard and patch it with some tape, that way you'd solve Mr McIntosh's problem and kept the job...

</hahaha> 

medialint:

This is a message forum not a bloody HTML source document there's ways of dealing with this ...

The raw HTML mode is just that -- raw HTML.  If you don't know HTML, you shouldn't be using it.  This is a PEBKAC, plain and simple.  TinyMCE is a WYSIWYG editor so it handle escaping entities for you. 

AbbydonKrafts:

medialint:

This is a message forum not a bloody HTML source document there's ways of dealing with this ...

Not when there are ^{some of us} who use the plain-text editor and have to _manually enter HTML for formatting purposes.

How you make them words all fancy?! <fancy words>Did this work?</fancy words>

bstorer:

How you make them words all fancy?! <fancy words>Did this work?</fancy words>

<words modifier="fancy">FAIL.</words> 

morbiuswilters:

bstorer:

How you make them words all fancy?! <fancy words>Did this work?</fancy words>

<words modifier="fancy">FAIL.</words> 

<cfangrywords>Fuck!<cfangrywords<

Moderately more on topic, though, I think this forum should drop TinyMCE altogether.

bstorer:

Moderately more on topic, though, I think this forum should drop TinyMCE altogether.

You prefer FCKEditor?  Honestly, Tiny isn't beautiful but it's pretty decent.  WYSIWIG in a browser is flawed no matter how you cut it. 

morbiuswilters:

bstorer:

Moderately more on topic, though, I think this forum should drop TinyMCE altogether.

You prefer FCKEditor?  Honestly, Tiny isn't beautiful but it's pretty decent.  WYSIWIG in a browser is flawed no matter how you cut it. 

This is an IT forum, we should be able to handle a little HTML. Frankly, I prefer plain text, like back in the good ol' days. Why, in my day, we had to code with punch cards...

bstorer:

This is an IT forum, we should be able to handle a little HTML.

Have you even read any posts but your own?  95% of the people here are so stupid they'd impale themselves on the pointy HTML tags and end up screwing up the page for everyone else.  Consider the WYSIWYG editor a security feature against the maliciously idiotic people who post here, not a convenience. 

morbiuswilters:

bstorer:

This is an IT forum, we should be able to handle a little HTML.

Have you even read any posts but your own?  95% of the people here are so stupid they'd impale themselves on the pointy HTML tags and end up screwing up the page for everyone else.  Consider the WYSIWYG editor a security feature against the maliciously idiotic people who post here, not a convenience. 

Oh, come on. What kind of idiot could screw up something so simple?

helpfulcorn:

I'll call him Mr. MacIntosh.

Steve Jobs? 

bstorer:

morbiuswilters:

bstorer:

This is an IT forum, we should be able to handle a little HTML.

Have you even read any posts but your own?  95% of the people here are so stupid they'd impale themselves on the pointy HTML tags and end up screwing up the page for everyone else.  Consider the WYSIWYG editor a security feature against the maliciously idiotic people who post here, not a convenience. 

Oh, come on. What kind of idiot could screw up something so simple?

...

You really want to ask that question, don't you?

bstorer:

Why, in my day, we had to code with punch cards...

...and reading forums meant browsing through a stack of those... Wait, I actually did library search by looking through a bunch of those library cards...

bstorer:

How you make them words all fancy?!

Simple. Just hack into the Matrix.

pstorer:

I think this forum should drop TinyMCE altogether.

Agreed. IT forums shouldn't provide brainless end-user tools. Work for your fancy replies! W_ee^ee_ee^ee!