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"troublshooting"

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Sat 12/01/02 at 16:07
Regular
Posts: 787
If you are ever asked to abit of troubleshooting for an old person or friend, then follow this.

Troubleshooting involves a lot of trial and error (mostly error, actually), and although occasionally effective, this method doesn’t do much for your street cred. So, it is as well to know how to create a convincing air of confidence and competence; real knowledge is obviously out of the question, but there is no reason why you can’t resort to abit of theatre.

Never disappoint you audience

Heed the following guidelines, and you will soon be able to create the appearance of knowledge, even in its complete absence:-

Never smile or utter noises of relief like “Whew!” when something unexpectently works. You are after all, trying to make it look as if your success was the inevitable out-come of a well-planned, logical method. Report all surprises calmly to make it appear that you are just thinking out aloud. Add a touch of rhythmic monotony to your voice now and then, because for all they know, you have done this a million times before. Sniff or rub your nose to hold back a tell tale smile; try to convert each exasperated laugh into a cough or yawn as quickly as possible.

Avoid admitting that you use online help or technical manuals. You will need to resort to these references from time to time, but make it look as though you are simply guiding the helpee through them instead them yourself on the fly. If you find the help page incomprehensible, then say something like “well, here you are, I think you can work it out for yourself from here” and sneak away.

Have a few opinions and criticisms ready to express in mid-troubleshoot. Say things like “Yes, the defilthication tool shouldn’t work like that, but we’ll just have to live with it” and “I’ve always thought that was quite a nice touch” even if you are seeing the thing in question for the first time. Another good trick is to say “yes, that was how it worked in this version, wasn’t it” in the past tense; if the software is old, it will make you look like a seasoned old hand, if it is not so old then it will make you appear very cutting edge.

Type casually with one hand while leaning on the other. This gives the impression that you are not really tying to type fast when in fact you can’t type fast. The illusion is reinforced if you use different fingers of the typing hand – speed isn’t important if you maintain an expression of bored detachment. You can also use the same basic technique with other input devises (e.g., use just your middle finger to move the mouse).

That’s it, thanks for reading.
Sat 12/01/02 at 20:08
Regular
Posts: 3,893
why thankyou
Sat 12/01/02 at 17:19
Regular
Posts: 3,893
Nice one
Sat 12/01/02 at 16:49
Regular
Posts: 3,893
Another good thing to do is point at something with the cursor, and then snigger as if to say, "pants"
Sat 12/01/02 at 16:07
Regular
Posts: 3,893
If you are ever asked to abit of troubleshooting for an old person or friend, then follow this.

Troubleshooting involves a lot of trial and error (mostly error, actually), and although occasionally effective, this method doesn’t do much for your street cred. So, it is as well to know how to create a convincing air of confidence and competence; real knowledge is obviously out of the question, but there is no reason why you can’t resort to abit of theatre.

Never disappoint you audience

Heed the following guidelines, and you will soon be able to create the appearance of knowledge, even in its complete absence:-

Never smile or utter noises of relief like “Whew!” when something unexpectently works. You are after all, trying to make it look as if your success was the inevitable out-come of a well-planned, logical method. Report all surprises calmly to make it appear that you are just thinking out aloud. Add a touch of rhythmic monotony to your voice now and then, because for all they know, you have done this a million times before. Sniff or rub your nose to hold back a tell tale smile; try to convert each exasperated laugh into a cough or yawn as quickly as possible.

Avoid admitting that you use online help or technical manuals. You will need to resort to these references from time to time, but make it look as though you are simply guiding the helpee through them instead them yourself on the fly. If you find the help page incomprehensible, then say something like “well, here you are, I think you can work it out for yourself from here” and sneak away.

Have a few opinions and criticisms ready to express in mid-troubleshoot. Say things like “Yes, the defilthication tool shouldn’t work like that, but we’ll just have to live with it” and “I’ve always thought that was quite a nice touch” even if you are seeing the thing in question for the first time. Another good trick is to say “yes, that was how it worked in this version, wasn’t it” in the past tense; if the software is old, it will make you look like a seasoned old hand, if it is not so old then it will make you appear very cutting edge.

Type casually with one hand while leaning on the other. This gives the impression that you are not really tying to type fast when in fact you can’t type fast. The illusion is reinforced if you use different fingers of the typing hand – speed isn’t important if you maintain an expression of bored detachment. You can also use the same basic technique with other input devises (e.g., use just your middle finger to move the mouse).

That’s it, thanks for reading.

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