The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

cyborg:
I do cheap comments. Best in down. Ping me for a quote.

I ned the cheep cmts. Do u twit? Wat ip 2 pin! #WatQot

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

I actually fixed a "bogotesting" bug on my calculator app a couple months ago. There was an animation triggered by keypresses that wasn't thread safe. Since the animation lasted 1/8 of a second, you had to be typing over 96 words per minute to trigger the bug, which pretty much only happened if you were randomly mashing in numbers for testing.

Those can be some of the trickiest bugs to both detect and fix, but I guarantee a customer will manage to trigger it. I would hold onto that tester if I were you.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Raugturi:
RE: My Report Won't Print! ... and sometimes they lie.

They always lie. At least when I worked at AOL tech support they did. Especially the Mac users.

"Hi, I'm computer illiterate, so you'll have to bare with me. <giggle> AOL says it can't connect." <troubleshoot for a while> "Do you have a modem?" "Oh yeah, I have a modem! I plugged the phone cord into it." "Where you plugged the phone cord in, did it fit exactly or is there some room to spare and it wiggles around?" "Oh it fits, but yeah, the hole was kind of too big for it." <this was before the advent of "that's what she said"> "Sorry to tell you this, but you don't have a modem, you have an ethernet port."

captcha - consequat: A hybrid fruit created by combining an AOL user with a Mac user on an original iMac kumquat flavor, uh, color. It's the fruitiest of them all!

Covarr · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

sorry i cant help it i just cant be arsed

So apparently "lazy" is both unavoidable and an acceptable excuse. Good to know

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Ozz:
It never ceases to amaze me the number of people too stupid to figure out that power-cycling the screen is not the same as power-cycling the system, but who can somehow manage to complete a 4-page list of registry hacks to run their pirated copy of $latestgame

Agreed, but those are usually a case of "Objects on Google are more dangerous than they appear"

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

DQ:
Actually, I once had a problem in Windows where the system really did ask me to select an application when I double-clicked an .exe. Don't remember what I did to get the problem or how I got rid of it, but it can happen.

That was a nasty virus. It changed the registry so it thought that EXE weren't executable. The fix was to run COMMAND.COM, then within the command prompt run REGEDIT to fix the file associations.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Leo:
You missed the part where he offered to install a pirated OS for ten bucks.

And happily agreed to remove the "Windows Defender Virus".

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Me:
DaveK:
It's called "Monkey testing", and Theo should have heard of it if he's working in QA.
Edit: or even if he isn't.

I used to call it "monkey emulator". Back in the late 80's I was part of a team developing DOS serial communication software and this was a standard testing procedure. Once we reproduced a bug by keeping a key pressed (using a pen cap) while data was continuously sent to the PC.

The intented WTF when submitting this was our QA performs these tests manually. Also, they don't adequately track their steps. This makes reproducing the bugs extremely difficult even for the tester that opened the issue.

I wasn't trying to dispute the usefulness of "monkey testing."

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

I'm surprised that last one didn't pull the "but I'm dyslectic, you ass" card.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

I'm finding that when anything goes wrong, they say "It crashed".

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Velociengineer:
I have said this often. If you don't care enough about what you are saying to say it clearly, why should anyone else care enough to try to understand you?

You what?

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Wow ... that facebook thing is something that I found back in 2011, took a screenshot of and posted on my wall. Not sure how it made its way onto the daily WTF. Here is the comment that I posted to accompany it:

Where do you start with this guy? Let’s see … first there are the spelling and grammar issues:

“cheepest in town” “gave me a call for a quote” “if that dont work” “tryed to just install” “its a easy fix” “usualy” “if that dosn’t work” “windows 7 home premiom"

Then there are the technical issues.

He suggests downloading a driver from RealTek without even knowing what sound card the user has. I’m guessing that all of the computers this guy has dealt with had RealTek cards in them and so, by applying inductive reasoning, he has concluded that all computers have RealTek cards.
He answers an ambiguous question regarding a video card with, “you might need to clear your bios”. In reality, it is not clear from the question whether the user is having trouble uninstalling their old video card’s driver and software or whether they are having trouble physically removing the old card from the computer. Neither of these problems would be solved by clearing the BIOS.
When the user who is experiencing difficulties with their audio asks for further clarification in regards to which driver to download, he suggests some random driver that, I can only assume, he chose by pulling model numbers out of a hat.
He claims that for only $10, he will install a new copy of Windows 7 Home Premium on a user’s computer without even knowing if their system meets the minimum hardware requirements that are necessary in order to run that operating system. In addition, since Windows 7 Home Premium currently sells for about $170, I can only assume that he intends to use a pirated copy. This being the case, one wonders what his plan will be when the product refuses to activate due to having been installed on too many computers.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

The 'local talent' and 'u c wat...' stories are frankly frightening. What are those peasants doing away from their turnips?

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Blake:
Then there are the technical issues.

It is alleged to be a small town. You don't know that he has not personally worked for each of these users recently, and therefore may know a great deal more about who has what hardware/licenses/configurations than is evident in the original post.

Some WTFs stand alone; others require context.

captcha: eros - I don't think so.

Coyne · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Misspelled his name. Should be spelled "coolkidiq23".

chubertdev · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

I need to fire up AIM when I get home. I swear that I have coolkid123 as a friend, a bloke named Blake.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Anon:
RichP:
Frank's on the ball. Note that he's already arranging to meet Jennifer. Bethany, on the other hand, is married, so he's adding $$$ to the total. We can't see Kadie's profile, but it's safe to assume that she just doesn't do it for Frank.

I see, you're saying Frank is NOT actually the "Amazing local talent" referred to.

Well, he is a "talent", it just may not be an IT talent. After all, "IT expert" sounds so much more dignified than "pool boy".

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

I have seen that happen several times...Malware messes up the .exe association and things won't run. Fortunately it's not too hard to fix...but probably quite difficult to Google search for the answer if you don't know how to speel thinsg. ;-)

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

"i kno uahve 2 us .bat script "

I thought all that was the captcha for posting a comment.

xaade · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Archimedes:
Blake:
Then there are the technical issues.
It is alleged to be a small town. You don't know that he has not personally worked for each of these users recently, and therefore may know a great deal more about who has what hardware/licenses/configurations than is evident in the original post.
Some WTFs stand alone; others require context.

captcha: eros - I don't think so.

That and, I don't see anywhere he's claiming to be an expert.

I don't get what the problem is.

If people want to get off their horse and run to that town and help for pennies on the dollar because they are superior, then do it.

This is just some guy who is applying what he has learned. No different than a handy-man working on plumbing; you didn't hire a plumber, so if he can't fix it, then you move on, but if he can fix it, you saved 50%.

At $30 a fix, I highly doubt it is the guys main job.

I don't see anyone laughing at McDonald's workers for not knowing the parts on a custom DIY smoker.

I'm far more concerned at what I see when I pop open Microsoft C# code, or see a question on StackOverflow from a user that's obviously writing code for a bank by lieu of SO answers only.

Addendum (2013-05-23 14:55):

Blake:
Wow ... that facebook thing is something that I found back in 2011, took a screenshot of and posted on my wall. Not sure how it made its way onto the daily WTF. Here is the comment that I posted to accompany it:
Where do you start with this guy? Let’s see … first there are the spelling and grammar issues:

“cheepest in town” “gave me a call for a quote” “if that dont work” “tryed to just install” “its a easy fix” “usualy” “if that dosn’t work” “windows 7 home premiom"

Then there are the technical issues.

He suggests downloading a driver from RealTek without even knowing what sound card the user has. I’m guessing that all of the computers this guy has dealt with had RealTek cards in them and so, by applying inductive reasoning, he has concluded that all computers have RealTek cards.

He answers an ambiguous question regarding a video card with, “you might need to clear your bios”. In reality, it is not clear from the question whether the user is having trouble uninstalling their old video card’s driver and software or whether they are having trouble physically removing the old card from the computer. Neither of these problems would be solved by clearing the BIOS.

When the user who is experiencing difficulties with their audio asks for further clarification in regards to which driver to download, he suggests some random driver that, I can only assume, he chose by pulling model numbers out of a hat.

He claims that for only $10, he will install a new copy of Windows 7 Home Premium on a user’s computer without even knowing if their system meets the minimum hardware requirements that are necessary in order to run that operating system. In addition, since Windows 7 Home Premium currently sells for about $170, I can only assume that he intends to use a pirated copy. This being the case, one wonders what his plan will be when the product refuses to activate due to having been installed on too many computers.

In what's likely a period where (given low budget machines) likely the processor is the same, which means likely the motherboard manufacturer is the same, which means likely the on-board sound/video cards are all the same. You can't blame the guy if 90% of the $500 towers in the early 2000s were the same sound card.
It's a logical guess. If he's assuming the user has physically removed the card, but it's still showing up in windows devices, bios has a lot of settings for determining hardware attached and which harddrive to boot from, etc. For $10 to look at the machine, it's not a bad deal. Plus, he gave that advice without asking for money.

Not near as bad as the consultants that get paid 6 figures for 3 months and leave without producing code.

See #1.
Windows 7 runs smoother than Windows Vista for most. And this is past the XP era. Pirated copy shared of Windows are rampant in small towns, so it doesn't surprise me. Besides, if there's something wrong with Windows, Microsoft leaves the home user hanging, no support.

xaade · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

xaade:
1. In what's likely a period where (given low budget machines) likely the processor is the same, which means likely the motherboard manufacturer is the same, which means likely the on-board sound/video cards are all the same. You can't blame the guy if 90% of the $500 towers in the early 2000s were the same sound card.
...

Windows 7 runs smoother than Windows Vista for most. And this is past the XP era. Pirated copy shared of Windows are rampant in small towns, so it doesn't surprise me. Besides, if there's something wrong with Windows, Microsoft leaves the home user hanging, no support.

So your argument hinges on this being a Facebook post about Windows 7 from both the early 2000s and also past the XP era? Nice.

chubertdev · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Regarding the low cost for a fresh install of Windows: assuming that the user had a legit copy before, Microsoft doesn't care if you have all the install files for every version of Windows that they've ever made, they just want to make sure that you purchase the license. So if Frank has the install discs, he can just find out what was on there (what the user's license key is valid for), and reinstall using that key.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Thanatos Complex:
xaade:
1. In what's likely a period where (given low budget machines) likely the processor is the same, which means likely the motherboard manufacturer is the same, which means likely the on-board sound/video cards are all the same. You can't blame the guy if 90% of the $500 towers in the early 2000s were the same sound card.
...

Windows 7 runs smoother than Windows Vista for most. And this is past the XP era. Pirated copy shared of Windows are rampant in small towns, so it doesn't surprise me. Besides, if there's something wrong with Windows, Microsoft leaves the home user hanging, no support.

So your argument hinges on this being a Facebook post about Windows 7 from both the early 2000s and also past the XP era? Nice.

Just because the computer is from the early 2000's, doesn't mean the post is.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

DQ:
Actually, I once had a problem in Windows where the system really did ask me to select an application when I double-clicked an .exe. Don't remember what I did to get the problem or how I got rid of it, but it can happen.

I don't remember the system asking for the application to use to run .exe files, but in the late 90's/early 2000's I remember a nasty virus that caught even some of our tech people and changed the registry association for .exe. Obviously whoever wrote the virus didn't program during the DOS era, because he only hijacked the .exe extension, thinking that it was the be-all and end-all of executable extensions. All I had to do was rename regedit.exe -> regedit.com and I was able to get into the registry and fix the association.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Lone Marauder:
Thanatos Complex:
xaade:
1. In what's likely a period where (given low budget machines) likely the processor is the same, which means likely the motherboard manufacturer is the same, which means likely the on-board sound/video cards are all the same. You can't blame the guy if 90% of the $500 towers in the early 2000s were the same sound card.
...

Windows 7 runs smoother than Windows Vista for most. And this is past the XP era. Pirated copy shared of Windows are rampant in small towns, so it doesn't surprise me. Besides, if there's something wrong with Windows, Microsoft leaves the home user hanging, no support.

So your argument hinges on this being a Facebook post about Windows 7 from both the early 2000s and also past the XP era? Nice.

Just because the computer is from the early 2000's, doesn't mean the post is.

Who said the computer was from the early 2000's? Frank didn't. The user definitely didn't. Not even xaade did -- he was talking about the time period and saying you can't blame the guy for making an assumption about the sound card because 90% of computers had the same sound card...in 2000.

Anyway, according to Blake, this exchange took place in 2011. Why would either Frank or xaade assume the computer was a decade old?

cybersaga · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Mark Johansen:
It was at this point that I discovered that by "the report won't print" she meant "the numbers printed are not what I expected".

It's incredible how many people don't realize that saying words doesn't mean you're communicating.

ObiWayneKenobi · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Other than the "yokel" vibe and perhaps the fact he might be pirating software, what's wrong with the Frank story? He's helping people out and providing a service, and making a few bucks on the side whilst doing it.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

ObiWayneKenobi:
Other than the "yokel" vibe and perhaps the fact he might be pirating software, what's wrong with the Frank story?

Um...everything Blake said?

chubertdev · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

"You get what you pay for" tech support.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

DiskJunky:
You'd also get that "Select Application" dialog if coolkid123 was running a linux based OS. Not all that much of a WTF given that the author didn't bother to ask

The kid himself said he was running Windows. It's not the dev's job or responsibility to make sure he knows what he's doing.

Matt Westwood · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

RecoveredTechSupportAgent:
Raugturi:
RE: My Report Won't Print! ... and sometimes they lie.

They always lie. At least when I worked at AOL tech support they did. Especially the Mac users.

"Hi, I'm computer illiterate, so you'll have to bare with me. <giggle> AOL says it can't connect." <troubleshoot for a while> "Do you have a modem?" "Oh yeah, I have a modem! I plugged the phone cord into it." "Where you plugged the phone cord in, did it fit exactly or is there some room to spare and it wiggles around?" "Oh it fits, but yeah, the hole was kind of too big for it." <this was before the advent of "that's what she said"> "Sorry to tell you this, but you don't have a modem, you have an ethernet port."

captcha - consequat: A hybrid fruit created by combining an AOL user with a Mac user on an original iMac kumquat flavor, uh, color. It's the fruitiest of them all!

"you'll have to bare with me. <giggle>"

Er, she asked you to take your clothes off with her? Then she giggled? Man, that's harsh ...

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

I'm glad I read this post at the END of the day. I now have a migraine from missing vowels.

Captcha: Asci. Almost!

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

TroelsL:
If you can get a crash from spamming the keyboard, I'd blame the developer, not the tester.
Especially since the devs were able to reproduce and fix the issue.

Isn't testing all about blaming the developer? I can't imagine too many bugs found in testing would be the tester's fault.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

"sorry i cant help it i just cant be arsed 2 type out whole and perfect sentences like this, it gets really boring u understand?"

Oh, Great Spaghetti Monster! I sometimes wonder what drugs these kids' parents were doing when they were gestating.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

pjt33:
DiskJunky:
You'd also get that "Select Application" dialog if coolkid123 was running a linux based OS. Not all that much of a WTF given that the author didn't bother to ask
Given that coolkid123 expects all software to be installed via setup programs he isn't using Linux or OS X.

And in case of the impossibility that he was, show me one non-windows user who would be stupid enough to choose the "Windows" option when downloading http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Not the brightest crayon in the box.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

RecoveredTechSupportAgent:
Raugturi:
RE: My Report Won't Print! ... and sometimes they lie.

They always lie. At least when I worked at AOL tech support they did. Especially the Mac users.

"Hi, I'm computer illiterate, so you'll have to bare with me. <giggle> AOL says it can't connect." <troubleshoot for a while> "Do you have a modem?" "Oh yeah, I have a modem! I plugged the phone cord into it." "Where you plugged the phone cord in, did it fit exactly or is there some room to spare and it wiggles around?" "Oh it fits, but yeah, the hole was kind of too big for it." <this was before the advent of "that's what she said"> "Sorry to tell you this, but you don't have a modem, you have an ethernet port."

I have received that particular call. It usually goes hand in hand with "when I plug the phone cord in to the modem, the phone line stops working!"

Turns out an Ethernet card has a low enough resistance on the center pair that the phone company thinks the phone is off the hook...

On one hand, I'm so glad those days are over with. On the other hand, I miss the days when operating systems were simple enough that you could fix just about any software problem in the span of a few minutes.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

TRWTF is JAVA amirite?

chubertdev · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Suite:
TroelsL:
If you can get a crash from spamming the keyboard, I'd blame the developer, not the tester.
Especially since the devs were able to reproduce and fix the issue.
Isn't testing all about blaming the developer? I can't imagine too many bugs found in testing would be the tester's fault.

No, it's always the spec writer's fault.

"You wanted to defend against SQL injection vulnerabilities? You didn't say that in the spec!"

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Norman Diamond:
I fail to see the difference between the amazing local talent in a small, rural town and the amazing local talent in a large, rural town. Let alone the amazing global talent in a global, urban farm of the sort normally featured on this site.
Oh wait, I see the difference: the number of digits in the prices.

I assumed the point of that one was to show "closed world" theory. Frank seems to think that his world is his small town, so FB is also just limited to his small town, and noone in the rest of the world will see his bargain Win 7 - and question the legitimacy of it. He seems keen to offer free advice, which he could make some money off too....

I might send him a message saying that all the words I type are misspelt - I wonder if he's aware of any tools that can help with that (maybe he's coolkid123 all grown up)

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Anon:
ereh-emaNrouY:
I love the solution to removing a video card... update the BIOS!
His final answer to solving a virus. I'll clean it for $10 AND I'll give you a Windows 7! (No mention of price = illegal copy)

Not always. Could just be a reinstall. He's probably the one what sold it to her in the first place.

Is it illegal to give software to people for free? Surely not, provided someone's paid the appropriate cost of it in the first place (ie, provided Frank {or someone} is wearing the cost that should be charged, then the fact that it's free for Bethany {I assume} does not make it illegal - at least not down here. If it is, I could be in some serious trouble over last Christmas).

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

xaade:
Norman Diamond:
I fail to see the difference between the amazing local talent in a small, rural town and the amazing local talent in a large, rural town. Let alone the amazing global talent in a global, urban farm of the sort normally featured on this site.
Oh wait, I see the difference: the number of digits in the prices.

That's what I was thinking.

I grew up in a small town, and you just have easier access to people who are that tech illiterate. People welcome you into their homes if you live in the same small town as they do. Everyone is a 2 minute drive away. So, all I see is someone living up to the needs of the community. Maybe the guy is more skilled than we can tell.

He assumed the person needing to uninstall their video card physically did so and the machine still registered the card. From reading it, I can tell it's likely they didn't remove the card.

Jennifer can't find the drivers. Not his fault.

Bethany can't afford $30 to change her backlighting.

Bethany identified Windows Defender as a virus.

The amazing talent didn't see a problem difficult, didn't claim to be amazing (just cheap and honest, which we find out is true), and lives in an area with naive people (which also live in cities in hordes).

We don't see the tech illiterate in big cities because they just all bring their problems to Best Buy and pay $500 for a $50 job.

That, and the cities have more semi-tech people who can often assist them gratis (next door neighbours and the like). When your next door neighbour lives 3 mile up the road, and spends 12 hours* in the fields each day, it's not really worth the walk just to find out that he's never actually used a computer, but he's third cousin once saw a picture of one in a magazine.

*I don't mean to start a war with farmers who insist it's 16 hours. 12 was just made up as an estimate, and may be out by up to 12 hours.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Mike:
It is a sad day reading the post where apparently Bethany has to wait for her husband to get a bonus check to afford a $20 fix. Also sad that on a apparently public forum a computer tech will offer to install a "new" copy of Win 7 for $10. We know this stuff happens but please be smart enough not to broadcast it on public forums, gesh.

I thought that too, but I'm thinking I'm misreading it.

He offered to det rid of "Windows Defender" (and I read that to be he understands that Windows Defender is saying there's an issue, rather than what the OP actually said) for $10. He also offered to install Win 7 for nothing. Perhaps he knows (read: assumes) that this person has a legit Win 7 license, and is running Win 7, but he's offering to re-install a fresh copy to make sure he definitely gets rid of the virus.

TRWTF is that often farmers complain about how little they make, but their friends in town offer them reasonable support for almost nothing. I know few places that would charge $60 straight up before they even take into account the time taken (typically over $100 per hour) - oh, they're not computer shops though wink

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

SomeSignGuy:
The broken .exe thing happens with a couple of those fake antivirus programs, I had to clear a few up between 2008-2010. The cleaner program wouldn't fix the associations automatically but we had a script that would fix them. Can't remember where we got the fix, but I kept it on my flash drive for years even after I left that job.

That may well be, but it still seems a little odd to me that a cool kid wouldn't understand the concept of an Exe.

Then again, I guess DOS is quite old now, and MS has been hiding extensions since Win 95 (or 98, or something) so I guess todays 18 year old may never have seen one - and a cool kid is presumably younger than that again. Never mind, peeps, carry on.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

RecoveredTechSupportAgent:
Raugturi:
RE: My Report Won't Print! ... and sometimes they lie.

They always lie. At least when I worked at AOL tech support they did. Especially the Mac users.

"Hi, I'm computer illiterate, so you'll have to bare with me. <giggle> AOL says it can't connect." <troubleshoot for a while> "Do you have a modem?" "Oh yeah, I have a modem! I plugged the phone cord into it." "Where you plugged the phone cord in, did it fit exactly or is there some room to spare and it wiggles around?" "Oh it fits, but yeah, the hole was kind of too big for it." <this was before the advent of "that's what she said"> "Sorry to tell you this, but you don't have a modem, you have an ethernet port."

captcha - consequat: A hybrid fruit created by combining an AOL user with a Mac user on an original iMac kumquat flavor, uh, color. It's the fruitiest of them all!

Where's the lie?

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

SamC:
DQ:
Actually, I once had a problem in Windows where the system really did ask me to select an application when I double-clicked an .exe. Don't remember what I did to get the problem or how I got rid of it, but it can happen.
As a few others pointed out, this is usually caused by a virus; if I recall correctly, its the "FakeAV" rogueware series (WinFixer/Windows Protector/WinAntiVirus/AVGold/Antivirus 360/MacaFree/etc) that will do this. It's usually caused by attempting to remove the virus, but sometimes happens right after infection (your best bet cleaning it is to just do a classic "backup, reinstall, restore" maneuver, it's simply faster). It's quite common; working PC repair, I've made at least a few grand total off this one alone, usually stemming from the question, "What do I need to open Program X with to install it?" It has hundreds of other names, and variants on the same idea (CyberDefender/DoubleMySpeed/MyCleanPC/FinallyFast/STOPsign) are still circulating. What a mess..

TRWTF is EXE? File extensions are a (semi-)useful convention, but they shouldn't be a rule. That is, I find it helpful when people name a file README.txt so I (ie a human) can guess at the format, but it shouldn't be assumed by programs - unless, of course, noone can modify it or fake it - but that just don't happne

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Blake:

He suggests downloading a driver from RealTek without even knowing what sound card the user has. I’m guessing that all of the computers this guy has dealt with had RealTek cards in them and so, by applying inductive reasoning, he has concluded that all computers have RealTek cards.

Or maybe he knows that the semi that comes in 4 times a year to supply his small rural town only ever delivers stuff with realtek in it

Blake:
2) He answers an ambiguous question regarding a video card with, “you might need to clear your bios”. In reality, it is not clear from the question whether the user is having trouble uninstalling their old video card’s driver and software or whether they are having trouble physically removing the old card from the computer. Neither of these problems would be solved by clearing the BIOS.

The question is a bit vague, and I think he made the wrong assumption, but he's right that they might need to clear thei BIOS

Blake:
3) When the user who is experiencing difficulties with their audio asks for further clarification in regards to which driver to download, he suggests some random driver that, I can only assume, he chose by pulling model numbers out of a hat.

Again, random guess at the Sound Card based on what's available in town - or maybe something he's used before as a 'generic' driver for some other hardware...

Blake:
4) He claims that for only $10, he will install a new copy of Windows 7 Home Premium on a user’s computer without even knowing if their system meets the minimum hardware requirements that are necessary in order to run that operating system. In addition, since Windows 7 Home Premium currently sells for about $170, I can only assume that he intends to use a pirated copy. This being the case, one wonders what his plan will be when the product refuses to activate due to having been installed on too many computers.

as many have said before, it's not certain that this guy had never met these other people - he may know (or at least have some level of confidence) that this person has Win7 or at least Win7 license.

As a side note, I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of them were stooges to give the impression that he knows what he's talking about, is cheap and honest (or at least helpful)

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Thanatos Complex:
ObiWayneKenobi:
Other than the "yokel" vibe and perhaps the fact he might be pirating software, what's wrong with the Frank story?

Um...everything Blake said?

I think maybe unregistered posters change their names to stick up for themselves.

2013-05-23 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
Suite:
TroelsL:
If you can get a crash from spamming the keyboard, I'd blame the developer, not the tester.
Especially since the devs were able to reproduce and fix the issue.
Isn't testing all about blaming the developer? I can't imagine too many bugs found in testing would be the tester's fault.

No, it's always the spec writer's fault.

"You wanted to defend against SQL injection vulnerabilities? You didn't say that in the spec!"

Well Played.

-I think Testing (what the tester does) is about blaming the Developer

Bug fixing (what the developer does in response to the Tester) is about blaming the spec writer ("It's not my fault the tester knew what the spec writer wanted, and it was the opposite of what I interpreted)
then the spec writer blames the end user for not articulating whgat they wanted proeprly blah

DaveK · 2013-05-23 Reply Admin

Theo:
Me:
DaveK:
It's called "Monkey testing", and Theo should have heard of it if he's working in QA.
Edit: or even if he isn't.

I used to call it "monkey emulator". Back in the late 80's I was part of a team developing DOS serial communication software and this was a standard testing procedure. Once we reproduced a bug by keeping a key pressed (using a pen cap) while data was continuously sent to the PC.

The intented WTF when submitting this was our QA performs these tests manually. Also, they don't adequately track their steps. This makes reproducing the bugs extremely difficult even for the tester that opened the issue.

I wasn't trying to dispute the usefulness of "monkey testing."

That's fair enough. It wasn't easy to tell from the story whether they were recording the keyboard input in some way or not.

Bogotesting, Amazing Local Talent, and More Support Stories

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