MORE Conversations From the Professional Front Lines

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Perhaps she thinks 'unplug' means 'disconnect all the peripherals?' With an iron or a lamp there's one cord and no way to 'get it wrong.' With a typical computer there are anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen peripheral ports and plug-holes.

Entirely possible, but I suspect she was just a lonely old lady who wanted someone to talk to, even if it was a random stranger on the other end of a tech support hotline.

[White Haven]

Perhaps she thinks 'unplug' means 'disconnect all the peripherals?' With an iron or a lamp there's one cord and no way to 'get it wrong.' With a typical computer there are anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen peripheral ports and plug-holes.

Which would be a totally valid concern if she were worried about connecting them.

[bilateralrope]

Perhaps she thinks 'unplug' means 'disconnect all the peripherals?' With an iron or a lamp there's one cord and no way to 'get it wrong.' With a typical computer there are anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen peripheral ports and plug-holes.

And some of them have screws to secure them in place.

[Simon_Jester]

Perhaps she thinks 'unplug' means 'disconnect all the peripherals?' With an iron or a lamp there's one cord and no way to 'get it wrong.' With a typical computer there are anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen peripheral ports and plug-holes.

Which would be a totally valid concern if she were worried about connecting them.

It is usually the case that when I unplug a machine, I need to be able to plug it back in afterwards. Unless I plan to never use the machine again.

[White Haven]

Which would be entirely reasonable...however, this customer is going to pay us to go out on-site just to unplug and pick up this computer as well as deliver it and reconnect it once we're done. She's clearly, by word and deed, worried about the unplugging process just as much as anything else.

[Kanastrous]

Once upon a time and long ago I was with a production that had got permission to shoot a service inside a Pentacostalist Church, the real-live deal with our actors as their characters and the congregants as, well, themselves. As it happened this was a primarily Spanish-speaking group and you could immediately tell who among the crew - being on-balance a predominantly Liberal bunch - spoke Spanish when the pastor began his sermon, a real Hellfire-'n'-brimstone bit concerning the horrors and un-naturality of Teh Gays, from the Female Lead (oblivious, big serene smile, hands waving overhead, transported) to the Male Lead (puzzled expression of creeping realization) to the 1st A.D. ("Oh, damn, that looked great but we gotta use audio from another take").

[LaCroix]

You guys wondering why she wanted to do that didn't have a grandma, didn't you?

Mine had the notion that when you don't unplug all appliances that you aren't using, right now, they will eat a gianourmus amount of power while being off or spontenously catch fire while you are asleep. She did unplug the TV every night before going to sleep.

[Elheru Aran]

My mother in law has this notion that if you don't unplug the Internet cord from the computer when not using Internet, it'll use extra power or your bill will go up... something ridiculous like that.

[FaxModem1]

Once upon a time and long ago I was with a production that had got permission to shoot a service inside a Pentacostalist Church, the real-live deal with our actors as their characters and the congregants as, well, themselves. As it happened this was a primarily Spanish-speaking group and you could immediately tell who among the crew - being on-balance a predominantly Liberal bunch - spoke Spanish when the pastor began his sermon, a real Hellfire-'n'-brimstone bit concerning the horrors and un-naturality of Teh Gays, from the Female Lead (oblivious, big serene smile, hands waving overhead, transported) to the Male Lead (puzzled expression of creeping realization) to the 1st A.D. ("Oh, damn, that looked great but we gotta use audio from another take").

Maybe the pastor saw it as an opportunity to preach to a bunch of godless liberals?

[Broomstick]

You guys wondering why she wanted to do that didn't have a grandma, didn't you?

Mine had the notion that when you don't unplug all appliances that you aren't using, right now, they will eat a gianourmus amount of power while being off or spontenously catch fire while you are asleep. She did unplug the TV every night before going to sleep.

Given the state of the art a hundred years ago that actually was not an entirely irrational fear when it came to electrical appliances. There have been considerable strides in safety since then.

[Simon_Jester]

Which would be entirely reasonable...however, this customer is going to pay us to go out on-site just to unplug and pick up this computer as well as deliver it and reconnect it once we're done. She's clearly, by word and deed, worried about the unplugging process just as much as anything else.

In that case you do need to disconnect it from peripheral devices, unless you're planning to bring them with you in the same container.

Now Batty Old Lady's ratio of peripheral devices to basic technical competence is probably quite high.* I'm not sure I blame her.

If she were unplugging the thing at home and plugging it back in, I would think she was being much less reasonable.

*(even "one," divided by a tiny number, is a large number)

You guys wondering why she wanted to do that didn't have a grandma, didn't you?

Mine had the notion that when you don't unplug all appliances that you aren't using, right now, they will eat a gianourmus amount of power while being off or spontenously catch fire while you are asleep. She did unplug the TV every night before going to sleep.

As Broomstick noted, fifty or sixty years ago this was a reasonable concern. For that matter, as far as I know, devices with remote controls DO draw power even when turned 'off.' Otherwise you wouldn't be able to turn them on with a remote control. Likewise for a variety of other devices.

[LaCroix]

I know that it was a reasonable position, back then.
I was just expaining why she most likely wanted to unplug it. Old habits die hard. And with so many cables on he back, she got confused and asked for help how to unplug properly.

[Simon_Jester]

Yes; again, the most obvious reason for her to want help with that is less that she needs help unplugging as that she will predictably need help putting it back if there are multiple peripheral devices. Otherwise, the odds of her accidentally putting a USB device into an Ethernet port or something is rather high.

[Darth Tanner]

Completely off topic but leaving devices in standby does consume large amounts of power at the national level, unplugging them when they are not in use is the best course of action... its just too inconvenient for actual usage for most. Also a wireless router is a significant energy draw, turning it off when not in use does save money and also stops other people logging into your wifi if they have bypassed your likely weak password.

The average UK home spends about £76 keeping devices on standby when they are not in use - thats what $120?

[Raw Shark]

My wifi password is both strong and weak at the same time. It'd be almost impossible to guess for anybody who doesn't really know me, but anyone who does really know me could probably guess it in about 30 seconds. I don't really care because everybody who does really know me is an IT professional who could probably hack it if I had any money and they wanted to.

[Ace Pace]

My wifi password is both strong and weak at the same time. It'd be almost impossible to guess for anybody who doesn't really know me, but anyone who does really know me could probably guess it in about 30 seconds. I don't really care because everybody who does really know me is an IT professional who could probably hack it if I had any money and they wanted to.

If you're running a modern router + WPA/WPA2 then no, the Wifi isn't really hackable.

Homework.work.homework.work. FFS

[Borgholio]

My password is a 60-character long run-on sentence that makes no sense to anybody but me. Easy to remember but good luck hacking it.

[Raw Shark]

HOMELESS HIPPIE: Hey, man, got a light? I've been trying to smoke this joint I found for over an hour.

YOUR DRIVER: Sure, bud. Here you go. Keep it, it's almost empty anyway.

HOMELESS HIPPIE: Thanks! [light up and takes a deep toke, then heaves a contented sigh]

YOUR DRIVER: You just found it laying on the ground?

HOMELESS HIPPIE: Yep. Welcome to Colorado, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GREEN-HAIRED PUNK ROCK GIRL: Thank you so much for coming out of your way to rescue me from that party! Everybody was trying to mack on me and I was starting to get a really weird vibe.

YOUR DRIVER: No problem. You can thank me by remembering that you have my number and calling me every time you need a ride.

GREEN-HAIRED PUNK ROCK GIRL: I will! And I kind of want to kiss you...

YOUR DRIVER: That would be the single bright spot of my night. I'll pull over when we get to-

GREEN-HAIRED PUNK ROCK GIRL: [grabs my head with both hands, cranks it around toward the back seat, and tries to make out with me right then and there]

YOUR DRIVER: Whoa! Whoa! Still driving the car here!

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Somehow, I was able to see the end of your post before I got to the end, Shark. Hopefully the tranny isn't dying on you, but I doubt it highly. I also doubt your company's going to spring for a replacement.

[Raw Shark]

Hopefully the tranny isn't dying on you, but I doubt it highly. I also doubt your company's going to spring for a replacement.

Repair costs are included in the extortionate amount that I pay them daily, but there's no telling how long it will take and the guys in the shop get hourly to work at the pace that they choose, so they have no motivation to hurry unless I bribe them extra. It's like the additional $20/day hotels charge you if they provide "free" coffee and a bagel, whether you use them or not.

[Zeropoint]

My wifi password is both strong and weak at the same time. It'd be almost impossible to guess for anybody who doesn't really know me, but anyone who does really know me could probably guess it in about 30 seconds. I don't really care because everybody who does really know me is an IT professional who could probably hack it if I had any money and they wanted to.

Hmm.

s3xc4b
w0m3nl0v3m3
s1rfucks4l0t

[Raw Shark]

s1rfucks4l0t

~~~~~~~~~~

DENVER BFF: Man, the Weather Channel totally fucked us this weekend.

YOUR DRIVER: Are you actually surprised?

DENVER BFF: Of course not. They've done this to us three times now this winter.

YOUR DRIVER: Yep. It's not even sticking to the road yet, and those bastards said we'd have three feet by now.

DENVER BFF: And it's supposed to be back up into the 80s in a few days!

YOUR DRIVER: As far up into the 80s as Miami Vice and day-glo. If I was a weather man, I'd just predict sun every day here and be right 80% of the time.

DENVER BFF: Right? So, I'm not ready to go home yet. Denny's?

YOUR DRIVER: Are you buying?

DENVER BFF: Always!

YOUR DRIVER: Then yes, Denny's sounds miraculous.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Their pot roast melt is the bomb. Especially with a side of red-skinned potatoes.

And, I've been making too many trips to MacAlester and spending too much time in the Denny's/Flying J in Checoatah.

[Raw Shark]

Ahh, Flying J. The butt of probably 75% of the pot jokes that I've ever made on road trips. I rented a book-on-tape Victorian murder mystery / sex comedy from them that I'd never heard of and don't remember the name of, once, which was narrated by Tim Curry, and he sounded like he was having an awesome time and trying not to laugh his ass off or exclaim, "My goodness, this is scandalous!" the entire time he was reading it. Most notable part of a trip that included Utah geological scenery.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Even though they're the same company now, I'll take Flying J over Pilot. Better restaurants(unless you have a Pilot with an Arby's), and more comfy driver's lounge.