( Ode to sarcasm) Users can do strange things

edwineekelaers2 · 2017-09-22T04:04:35.000Z

Last night while on duty we discovered a strange case of user logic.

In the back of our warehouse we have a desk with computer and a Zebra ZT230 label printer.

Now in that place they don’t need a label printer since the material that passes there has already been bagged and tagged. So we stepped up to the user and asked why he had the printer there and he answered " well when we need a small piece of paper to write on we press Feed and the printer spits out and cuts off an inch long piece of label we use to write on.

So in essence they use a 1200€ printer as a postit dispenser.

My reaction was What The Bldy F* is happening here???

So what’s the craziest semi business related thing your users have done with expensive hardware without destroying it?

DailyLlama · 2017-09-22T05:57:20.000Z

At a previous job we had multiple incidents of people using £900 laptops to carry cups of tea and coffee on, until someone spilled some and their department got the bill. Then it stopped overnight…

edwin10dam · 2017-09-22T06:56:49.000Z

can’t beat that. I’m so lucky with my users …

chrisrhode · 2017-09-22T08:57:34.000Z

Mine doesn’t compare to that but at a previous job I just had end users(teachers) who refused to use the technology that was purchased and installed for their use. One such user insisted on using the old overhead projectors instead of the Epson projector that was installed along with the SmartBoard.

In case some people here don’t know what I’m referencing, one of these.

His argument was that he could reuse the sheets with every class that he taught without having to re-edit the notes that he put on the sheets…

biscuitking · 2017-09-22T10:38:33.000Z

I have nothing to compare to that Edwin. You win.

Mike400 · 2017-09-22T11:07:01.000Z

Edwin - you win the internet today.

Mike400 · 2017-09-22T11:09:16.000Z

chris.rhode:

Mine doesn’t compare to that but at a previous job I just had end users(teachers) who refused to use the technology that was purchased and installed for their use. One such user insisted on using the old overhead projectors instead of the Epson projector that was installed along with the SmartBoard.

In case some people here don’t know what I’m referencing, one of these.

His argument was that he could reuse the sheets with every class that he taught without having to re-edit the notes that he put on the sheets…

My ninth grade algebra teacher would never be able to use a projector. The way he used the overhead systems like you pictured was a work of art. I also had a professor at MIT who would never be able to use a projector. He worked with nine moving blackboards (three stacks of three) and his technique was art as well. Projectors have their place, but I’m not really sure the classroom is one of them.

chrisrhode · 2017-09-22T11:24:15.000Z

When the projector is coupled with the SmartBoards or the smart projectors, the teachers can “write” on their pdf or powerpoint presentation then save the notes that they made for each class. Then the next time that they pull up that presentation, they can click through their notes and have them each individually displayed as if the teacher was writing them again. All of the other teachers that used these products and found innovative ways to teach the lessons and get the class involved with the lessons.

Now, I’m not saying that his method was wrong. It was just that the technology was bought and installed into the room and he did not use it. He was also the very last teacher to go from a hand-written grade and attendance book to the digital one on the intranet. He was a teacher who was just set in his ways and not many people like change.

Mike400:

chris.rhode:

Mine doesn’t compare to that but at a previous job I just had end users(teachers) who refused to use the technology that was purchased and installed for their use. One such user insisted on using the old overhead projectors instead of the Epson projector that was installed along with the SmartBoard.

In case some people here don’t know what I’m referencing, one of these.

His argument was that he could reuse the sheets with every class that he taught without having to re-edit the notes that he put on the sheets…

My ninth grade algebra teacher would never be able to use a projector. The way he used the overhead systems like you pictured was a work of art. I also had a professor at MIT who would never be able to use a projector. He worked with nine moving blackboards (three stacks of three) and his technique was art as well. Projectors have their place, but I’m not really sure the classroom is one of them.

Mike400 · 2017-09-22T12:30:57.000Z

chris.rhode:

When the projector is coupled with the SmartBoards or the smart projectors, the teachers can “write” on their pdf or powerpoint presentation then save the notes that they made for each class. Then the next time that they pull up that presentation, they can click through their notes and have them each individually displayed as if the teacher was writing them again. All of the other teachers that used these products and found innovative ways to teach the lessons and get the class involved with the lessons.

Now, I’m not saying that his method was wrong. It was just that the technology was bought and installed into the room and he did not use it. He was also the very last teacher to go from a hand-written grade and attendance book to the digital one on the intranet. He was a teacher who was just set in his ways and not many people like change.

Mike400:

chris.rhode:

Mine doesn’t compare to that but at a previous job I just had end users(teachers) who refused to use the technology that was purchased and installed for their use. One such user insisted on using the old overhead projectors instead of the Epson projector that was installed along with the SmartBoard.

In case some people here don’t know what I’m referencing, one of these.

His argument was that he could reuse the sheets with every class that he taught without having to re-edit the notes that he put on the sheets…

My ninth grade algebra teacher would never be able to use a projector. The way he used the overhead systems like you pictured was a work of art. I also had a professor at MIT who would never be able to use a projector. He worked with nine moving blackboards (three stacks of three) and his technique was art as well. Projectors have their place, but I’m not really sure the classroom is one of them.

That takes the best of both technologies and creates something new and useful.

Steve9603 · 2017-09-22T13:18:47.000Z

Servers in our remote sites are frequently used as lunch tables for IT staff and management.

CEO wants USD 4000 of soundproofing put in because he can hear other people. Mind, he chose next to the conference room for his office all on his own.

Same CEO wants to spend USD 48,000 for a drop-mic system for the common-area AV system because people passing around a microphone for questions is hard.

Remote Luser wants a USD 700 mac monitor “so if something goes wrong with it I can take it to the Apple store.” We can get her five of our stock LCDs for that, shipped.

conormcgrath · 2017-09-22T14:34:19.000Z

Steve9603:

<…>

Remote Luser wants a USD 700 mac monitor “so if something goes wrong with it I can take it to the Apple store.” We can get her five of our stock LCDs for that, shipped.

“Game, set, match IT. Lets see you get around THIS bit of irrefutable logic!”

One of my trips to Iraq I was talking to my Signal Officer about how nice it would be to have a proper concrete slab with cable channels poured for our operations center. Fast forward a little while and I left for home for my mid deployment break. Came back to find that they had indeed poured a slab with cable channels, but the channels had no rhyme or reason to them and they were just sort of haphazardly zig zagging about. They were also full to the brim with a terrifying mix of power, extension, and data cabling. Data transfer was for shit and I was pretty sure the hole thing was going to catch on fire at any second but Sigo couldn’t wait to show me his new creation and was VERY proud of himself for taking the initiative to improve our topology. I got it fixed up but damn, how the hell does some of this shit make sense to people?

Repairatrooper · 2017-09-22T17:08:53.000Z

Mike400:

chris.rhode:

Mine doesn’t compare to that but at a previous job I just had end users(teachers) who refused to use the technology that was purchased and installed for their use. One such user insisted on using the old overhead projectors instead of the Epson projector that was installed along with the SmartBoard.

In case some people here don’t know what I’m referencing, one of these.

His argument was that he could reuse the sheets with every class that he taught without having to re-edit the notes that he put on the sheets…

My ninth grade algebra teacher would never be able to use a projector. The way he used the overhead systems like you pictured was a work of art. I also had a professor at MIT who would never be able to use a projector. He worked with nine moving blackboards (three stacks of three) and his technique was art as well. Projectors have their place, but I’m not really sure the classroom is one of them.

Seeing a teacher that knows how to use the interactive point and click system is a thing of beauty. Watching the clueless try is similar to the pain I felt last night after trying out one of the ghost peppers from my garden last night (see post in cooking with spice).

edwineekelaers2 · 2017-09-22T17:15:40.000Z

The Repairatrooper:

Mike400:

chris.rhode:

Mine doesn’t compare to that but at a previous job I just had end users(teachers) who refused to use the technology that was purchased and installed for their use. One such user insisted on using the old overhead projectors instead of the Epson projector that was installed along with the SmartBoard.

In case some people here don’t know what I’m referencing, one of these.

His argument was that he could reuse the sheets with every class that he taught without having to re-edit the notes that he put on the sheets…

My ninth grade algebra teacher would never be able to use a projector. The way he used the overhead systems like you pictured was a work of art. I also had a professor at MIT who would never be able to use a projector. He worked with nine moving blackboards (three stacks of three) and his technique was art as well. Projectors have their place, but I’m not really sure the classroom is one of them.

Seeing a teacher that knows how to use the interactive point and click system is a thing of beauty. Watching the clueless try is similar to the pain I felt last night after trying out one of the ghost peppers from my garden last night (see post in cooking with spice).

Trying out ghost peppers for the first time can have some unforeseen side effects…

Another one of the more silly user reactions was a guy saying his screen wasn’t working and out of habit i asked is the pc switched on… He said yes but guess what??

somedude2 · 2017-09-23T19:00:24.000Z

Auto shop guys all sitting in the dark, cause they swiped the battery out of the building’s emergency generator to jump start a car, and didn’t put it back…

And it is dead now…

sampratley · 2017-09-25T11:43:54.000Z

One of the devs at my last company once plugged a Pi 2 into an £8000 projector and played donkey kong using an emulator and £4 USB NES controller from ebay

GeekyLibrarian · 2017-09-29T15:15:07.000Z

Don’t let some of my users hear this. I could see it happen here.