TECH

ID: 121

Tech

WordPerfect Assistant

This is a true story from the WordPerfect helpline. Needless to say, the help desk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the Word Perfect organization for "Termination without Cause."

Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee with a caller:

"Ridge Hall computer assistant; may I help you?"

"Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."

"What sort of trouble?"

"Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away."

"Went away?"

"They disappeared."

"Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type."

"Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?"

"How do I tell?"

"Can you see the C: prompt on the screen?"

"What's a sea-prompt?"

"Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the screen?"

"There isn't any cursor, I told you, it won't accept anything I type."

"Does your monitor have a power indicator?"

"What's a monitor?"

"It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?"

"I don't know."

"Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall."

".......Yes, it is."

"When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?"

"No."

"Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable."

".......Okay, here it is."

"Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer."

"I can't reach."

"Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?"

"No."

"Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?"

"Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because it's dark."

"Dark?"

"Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window."

"Well, turn on the office light then."

"I can't."

"No? Why not?"

"Because there's a power outage."

"A power... A power outage? Ah, okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?"

"Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."

"Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from."

"Really? Is it that bad?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is."

"Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?"

"Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."

ID: 12148

Tech

MORE Haiku Error Messages

ere is a chasm
of carbon and silicon
the software can't bridge.

Yesterday it worked
Today it is not working
Windows is like that

To have no errors
Would be life without meaning
No struggle, no joy

You step in the stream,
but the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

No keyboard present
Hit F1 to continue
Zen engineering?

Hal, open the file
Hal, open the damn file, Hal
Open the file, please Hal

Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.

Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.

The ten thousand things
How long do any persist?
Netscape, too, has gone.

Rather than a beep
Or a rude error message,
These words: "File not found."

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

ID: 13347

Tech

I'm Telling You . . . .

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." - Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

ID: 8781

Tech

The Microsoft Cheesecake

A guy walks into the Microsoft Shop.

Guy: I'd like a cheesecake, please.

Receptionist: Sure.

The receptionist hands him a block of cheese.

Guy: Umm... This is just the cheese. Where's the cake?

Rec: You have to purchase that seperately.

Guy: What the ----? What kind of product are you trying to sell me? Oh well.

Rec: Good. I knew you'd understand.

The Rec hands him the cake.

Guy: So... What do I do with the cheese and the cake?

Rec: You blend it.

Guy: With what?

The Rec hands him a blender.

The guy puts the cheese and the cake into the blender and blends it.

Guy: Now I have a bunch of liquid. What do I do with it?

Rec: Oh ---- you retard, you're supposed to exchange the cake for the batter first.

Guy: For the sake of Pete, what the ----? Fine. Let's start over. So I get the cheese and I get the cake. Then I exchange the cake for the batter, right?

Rec: Yep.

The guy blends it.

Guy: Right... I'm still stuck with a load of liquid.

Rec: You're supposed to cook it.

Guy: With what?

Rec: With this full-sized oven.

Guy: What the ----?

Rec: Yep.

The guy cooks the cheesecake.

Guy: Hey Rec! My cake is hot! Aren't cheesecakes supposed to be frozen?

Rec: Yeah, you need to put it in that freezer behind you for 24 hours. Since you're not an employee, it costs $1 a minute to use it.

Guy: You mean I'm supposed to pay $1440 to freeze my cake?

Rec: Wow! You're good at math! And, yes.

The guy puts his cheesecake in the freezer, pays his over-inflated bill, and leaves.


The next day, he comes back and finds the cake gone.

Guy: What happened to my cheesecake?

Rec: Well, you see, at lunch about an hour ago, there was this guy who was still hungry and saw the cheesecake and ate it.



On a completely unrelated note, the guy's brother bought a computer from Microsoft.

GB: How do I type my work?

Rec: Install Office.

GB: Sure.

GB: Umm... how do I install it?

Rec: You use a CD.

GB: Oh. Whoops, I jammed my cubicle into my case instead. Let's start over. So, I buy the computer and I install Office using a CD. Umm... I don't get how to do it.

Rec: You put the CD in the drive and let it Autorun.

GB: What the ---- is a drive?

Rec: Why don't you leave your computer here and let us do it for you?

GB: Sure.

The guy's brother leaves the computer and goes home.


The next day, he comes back.

GB: Yeah, I left my computer here yesterday?

Rec: No, there's no record of that. There was an extra computer here yesterday, so the shipping people shipped it off to CraCom.

GB: CraCom? As in CrappyCompany? It went bankrupt 2 hours ago!

Rec: Oh, I'm sorry. Would you care to buy a notebook?

GB: I already have one in my pocket, thanks.

ID: 15962

Tech

Zeno's Paradox Re-visited

You might remember Zeno's paradox, but in case you don't here it is again. Zeno argued that motion is an illusion. Now, by motion he meant movement, and not the rude kind that involves bowels but the Newtonian kind. He did this by the Achilles (A) and the Tortoise (T) parable. For argument's sake, say A runs 10 times faster than T can crawl. Then let T be placed 10 meters ahead of A at the start of a race. When A has moved 10 meters, T has moved 1 meter, so T is now still 1 meter ahead of A. Then when A has covered that 1 meter, T has gone 1/10 meter ahead. Etc. So, A will never ever pass T. Poor Zeno, it was reported that he found this logic so persuasive that he did not bother to move again, a kind of ontological constipation perhaps?

But the naughty version of it is a bit sexist (feminists, please reverse male and female roles in this story!). It goes like this. A psychologist wanted to test the difference in logical thinking between engineering and mathematics majors, and for this purpose he set up an experiment in which the subjects were respectively a male Mathematics and a randy male Engineering undergraduate. He showed them into the lab. At the far end of the long, narrow room was a luscious semi-clad bimbo. His instructions were like so: "Fellas, I have in my hands a buzzer that I will sound every minute. Every time I do that, you can walk half the distance that remains between yourself and the lady. Should you ever reach her, you will find her most accommodating. Do you wish to participate in the experimemt?"

Math major: "You don't fool me. This is the equivalent of the Zeno Paradox, so I am not wasting my time. I am going home, 'Bye." [Exeunt]
Engineering major: "Hee, hee! I am staying. I estimate that in 10 minutes, I will be close enough for all practical purposes."

ID: 2139

Tech

Spell Checker

I half a spelling checker,
It came with my pea sea;
It plainly marks four my revue,
Mistakes I kin not sea.
I've run this poem threw it,
I'm sure your please two no,
Its letter perfect in it's weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

ID: 13344

Tech

One of Those Days

Fire investigators on Maui have determined the cause of a blaze that destroyed a $127,000 home last month - a short in the homeowner's newly installed fire prevention alarm system. "This is even worse than last year," said the distraught homeowner, "when someone broke in and stole my new security system..."

ID: 18054

Tech

My Smartphone

I think my smartphone is broken. I keep pressing the Home button, but I'm still working.

ID: 18174

Tech

A Really Big Account

Boy: Will you marry me?
Girl: Are you kidding? You're a geek while I need a man with a big bank account and a nice house!
Boy: I have 1000 GBs in the cloud.
Girl: Come on, that won't even buy us a cabin in Texas!
Boy: You don't know sh*t, my EC2 account can buy a farm in New York if you wish!

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