It's a mouse, sir, not a foot pedal.

December 9, 2005 11:47 AM

Stupid Computer Tricks. Photo array of one computer service employee's favorite customer problems. Don't miss the intense AOL user, the sealed floppy, the floating hard drive, and the extreme case mod.
posted by brain_drain (21 comments total)

Related.
posted by brain_drain at 11:47 AM on December 9, 2005

I don't think there's going to be much data transfer on this guy's network - at least not from this computer.

NERD!
posted by mikrophon at 11:56 AM on December 9, 2005

What's wrong with a floating hard drive?
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:59 AM on December 9, 2005

Funny, I've done the floating hard drive thing without the duct tape.
posted by knave at 12:03 PM on December 9, 2005

I really liked the VISA one, but there are a few that I'm just not geeky enough to understand.
posted by arcticwoman at 12:06 PM on December 9, 2005

floating hard drive here too. it works.
these were amazing btw, thanks
posted by ackeber at 12:36 PM on December 9, 2005

The floating hard drive thing would have been cool with blue neon, water-cooled duct tape.
posted by tommasz at 12:39 PM on December 9, 2005

It would be better if the hard drive really floated but I don't really see much of a problem with it as it is. But I did like the AOL user guy.
posted by fenriq at 1:14 PM on December 9, 2005

Save time - insert two CDs at the same time!

Oh dear. I've done that before albeit, as a mistake - I didn't look at the tray before tossing a CD onto it.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 1:45 PM on December 9, 2005

After the first credit card, I bet the person's bank got an irate, confusing call. After the second...well, you know what they say: can't get fooled again.
posted by plexiwatt at 2:33 PM on December 9, 2005

"Counter code has changed. Please update your code."

Ah, irony.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:37 PM on December 9, 2005

Damn you, mrgrimm!
posted by Optimus Chyme at 2:40 PM on December 9, 2005

I've had that USR device overload thing. It is caused by a buggy piece of hardware.
posted by Mitheral at 2:51 PM on December 9, 2005

And this reminds me of those old macs that had slots for two floppies but only installed one drive. Inserting a floppy in the wrong hole meant it fell into the case.

And this is caused by users accidentally drag clicking my computer and then not knowing how to delete desktop icons.
posted by Mitheral at 2:57 PM on December 9, 2005

The guy has such a lame dorky sense of humor.
posted by I Foody at 3:16 PM on December 9, 2005

Exactly. I used to do the sneering elitism thing too, until I stopped working for the helldesk, and got into other subjects where I was the n00b. At that point I realized that we all have things that we just want to have "work", and don't have time to become nerdy hackers about. To point and laugh is just annoying, pretentious, and ultimately reflects badly on the person doing it.
posted by NucleophilicAttack at 4:42 PM on December 9, 2005

Save time - insert two CDs at the same time!

Hell, I did that this afternoon, and I'm a computer science major! (They were stuck together, I swear)
posted by Who_Am_I at 5:11 PM on December 9, 2005

i bet %75 of these were done by kids with a parent who knows little about computers. as soon as the floppy starts rattling because little Dakota put a quarter in it, mom does what she does with the auto mechanic: take it to the shop and don't fuck with it.

(which is better than dad, who pours oil into the radiator while trying to fix the rattling noise)
posted by xthlc at 8:05 PM on December 9, 2005

I kind of like his lego concentration camp photos better.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:20 PM on December 9, 2005

My, those old Windows computers were ugly. But some of these stories really made me laugh — especially the fan of AOL.

At least the guy didn't find any snakes in the computers.
posted by LeLiLo at 10:15 PM on December 9, 2005

I think Mr. Spock said it best:

"Faaaaascinating."
posted by deusdiabolus at 5:30 AM on December 11, 2005