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From: ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
Subject: Re: Well, that's unexpected (Speedball reboot)
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Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
> On 11/5/2024 7:53 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> > On Tue, 5 Nov 2024 09:32:10 -0000 (UTC), vallor <vallor@cultnix.org>
> > wrote:
> > 
> >> On Mon, 04 Nov 2024 10:34:44 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> >>
> >>> On Sun, 3 Nov 2024 16:27:15 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
> >>> <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> On 11/3/2024 2:33 PM, Zaghadka wrote:
> >>>>> On Sun, 03 Nov 2024 10:39:13 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
> >>>>> Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> I never had such fun experiences. It was always the usual nonsense;
> >>>>>> program crashes with error (but never bother to read what the error
> >>>>>> message said), or problems caused by malware, or dead hardware.
> >>>>>> Usually the worst was when the user fucked himself (who needs
> >>>>>> c:\windows\system32 anyway?) but it was all pretty ordinary in its
> >>>>>> stupidity.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I think my most memorable support experience was a woman in accounting
> >>>>> (or was it HR?) who was complaining that her column of numbers, from a
> >>>>> database import, wasn't summing in Excel. I banged my head against the
> >>>>> wall for 10-15 minutes trying the usual stuff until it occured to me
> >>>>> to ask her to click the column header and check the "Format..."
> >>>>> dialogue. Sure enough, the entire column was formatted as "text."
> >>>>> (*facepalm*)
> >>>>>
> >>>>> YOU CAN'T SUM STRINGS.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> To this day, I don't know if it was the import software or PEBKAC.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> My boss said, "I never would have thought of that."
> >>>>>
> >>>> When in doubt its PEBKAC.  That said Excel can be very difficult to use
> >>>> sometimes.  It simply has too _much_ functionality, it can do so many
> >>>> things that 99.9% of users would never even think of using let alone
> >>>> actually try.  So sometimes it makes it difficult to use the simple
> >>>> everyday functions.
> >>>
> >>> It's not just that it has so much functionality, it's that Microsoft
> >>> made it so easy (comparatively) to use that even a high-school intern
> >>> can create a script that (mostly) does what it needs to. And then those
> >>> hacked-together scripts -after years of use- suddenly become essential
> >>> business logic.
> >>>
> >>>      [It's sort of the business equivalent of XKCD's dependency
> >>>       meme (https://xkcd.com/2347/) except nobody actually maintains the
> >>>       project or even has any idea its there. And there are a lot more of
> >>>       them than the one]
> >>>
> >>> Eventually, one of these scripts breaks and nobody has any idea how the
> >>> data it output was created (because nobody remembers the script, or
> >>> whose Excel spreadsheet runs it) and when you do find it, nobody knows
> >>> exactly what it's doing or why.
> >>>
> >>> And that's even before you get into the fact that waaaaay too many
> >>> business "databases" are just oversized lists in Excel...
> >>>
> >>> But if you really want to bitch about tech support, I just got one word
> >>> for you. But be prepared: it's a very, very scary word.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> PRINTERS.
> >>
> >> Aaaah!  Halloween is over! ;)
> >>
> >> Seriously, though -- that's mainly a Windows problem.  Printing
> >> is fairly pain-free on Linux and Apple, thanks to CUPS.  Just check
> >> the compatibility matrix, and make sure you have a printer that announces
> >> itself with Bonjour/Avahi/Zeroconf/Aloha/whatever it's called now.
> > 
> > It's not just Windows. Modern printer hardware is absolute shit.
> > They're cheaply made and all those thin-plastic bits can break just
> > looking at it.
> > 
> > But I think even blaming Windows isn't entirely fair. The default
> > drivers that come with Windows are usually fine. It's when you install
> > the bullshit OEM drivers (you know, the ones that now weigh in at
> > gigabytes) that you really start seeing problems. Of course, these
> > drivers are almost always Windows-only, so Windows gets the blame.
> > 
> > And all that before you get into the OEM shenanigins, like DRM on ink
> > cartridges, or forcing you to buy a whole new tray of cartridges if
> > you're just out of black, or nonsense like HP's attempt at ink
> > subscription plans.
> > 
> > 
> >> Scanners, now.  That can be challenging.  I bought a wifi scanner
> >> without first checking for SANE support, and discovered I can only
> >> scan from it with USB.  (Not _that_ big a deal because it replaces
> >> another USB scanner, but I was hoping for the wifi.)
> > 
> > Too many printers these days -especially to SOHO customers- are
> > multi-function scanner/printer/fax machines, so often you'll have the
> > fun of printers and scanner problems all in one machine!
> > 
> Oh, you do NOT want me to get into all the functions our office 
> "copiers" have.  Scanner/printer/fax is just the _start_.

It's annoying to have multiple devices though! Yes, still need fax. :(
-- 
"The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." --Matthew 11:5. Pls vote in https://antsqualityforagedlinks.blogspot.com/2024/10/its-time-to-vote-again.html 4 its USA's election. Crazy NFL game last nite with unstoppable Chiefs.
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