When you get an email like that you really have to wonder about why said person gave you their email address in the first place. I mean if you email me, that means you have given me your email address and I can email you back. This is an obvious. So this chick complains that I emailed her and to ‘take me off your list’. I don’t have a list. I simply replied to a mass email that she replied to and _she’s_ mad? Some people are just way too clueless to use email, let alone a computer. And God forbid them getting into a car!
Morons like that need to take responsibility and use some damned ‘nettiquette. (For those who are less than technically inclined, that’s an amalgamation of InterNet and Etiquette). Now the biggest problem really comes down to education and people just taking the time to freaking learn something. Blind Carbon Copy (BCC). That protects everyone’s email address you use. And if you don’t use it then be prepared to be hit with a “Suck it up Princess!” response!
Something else people should use….a password book! In the world of ’security’ (term used very loosely) sites/programs/operating systems keep asking people for passwords. (I have some for sale btw) People get so lazy they will actually use something like ‘password’. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve guessed that and gotten into systems when I get called for a ‘lost password’. I keep telling people to use something they either already know (like their postal code) or something they should know (like their driver’s license number). I had one lady tell me “I can’t remember my license plate!” I think you’d want to know it while in the mall you hear “Would the owner of 789 NST please come to the info booth, your car is on fire…”.
Speaking of license plates. Why do people insist in ‘blacking out’ their car plate in a picture they post online? Is this supposed to protect you in some form? Do you believe that some nefarious criminal lies in waiting just to ’steal’ something from you?? What is absolutely ludicrous about this is the fact that these people _drive_ their cars……in public. Thousands of people see it everyday! So how does hiding it online when the stupid thing sits on the road in plain view? Geeze.
And finally a favourite topic of mine….Bell Canada. I’ve been a geek for 30 years. I know computers pretty damned well and yet I have a hard time dealing with Bell Computer reps (I _refuse_ to call them technicians. Those people in India only know how to read a script and not really solve a damn thing). I was at this client’s place and I installed a router for them. Then I proceeded to setup their email but they had forgotten their password for their email account. So, painfully I called 310-SURF (side rant: using letters is annoying….just give me the numbers ok? I don’t want to have to think which numbers to press for each letter…). I get this clueless representative on the line and I tell them that I need the password for said email account. He asked who I was, I told him I was a local technician, I just installed a router and am setting up an email account for my client. Well, that was a big mistake. He then proceeded to say that they don’t support third party hardware. What?? I told him this has nothing to do with the router and I just needed the password reset for their email account. 15mins later and 3 MORE TIMES I had to tell him that all I needed was the password reset, I finally got it. Bell has seriously lost a lot of clients because I tell everyone who’s moving/getting internet, to go with ANYONE but Bell.
So, if a well educated technician has trouble dealing with Bell reps, how do you cope? I’ve heard horror stories of 4-5 hours on the phones with these people. The problem lies in the people they use. Not that there is anything wrong with using another country, but they should at least be real technicians. Their entire training consists of ‘here’s a script, follow it and it’ll solve all the problems’. Funny how real computer problems never follow a script though…
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