Technofrustration
I hate Windows.
So, my PC here at work is b0rked– I think it’s the motherboard. Ever notice how “motherboard” and “motherfuckin’” are really just a root word away from each other?
Since the IT department took the PC away, I do not have my software programs or files to work on today. So…. now what. I feel like I ought to call it a day early, because I can get nothing productive done.
Then, while I was typing a response to my sister, I held down the “Shift” key too long and got a little “accessibility” option turned on which locked my computer into Caps-lock mode and wouldn’t let me turn it off (holding the shift key didn’t even force lower-case– I could not get lower case letters at all). Better still, logging out didn’t solve the problem, so my computer thought my password was wrong. After attempting to login with that password a few times, I rebooted and tried to login again. This time, I was locked out because I’d failed to successfully enter a password that wasn’t composed entirely of capital letters.
I was ready to throw something at that point and went and got help from IT. Again. Now, I like the guys in the IT department, but I hardly know their names, nobody has a name badge on their cubes, and I don’t like bothering them for things that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
Anyway, after they unlocked my account, I was fine, but man, I am PISSED. You know how we all say stuff like “hey, his capslock is broken!” and stuff? Yeah, well– apparently, that’s really easy to do in Windows XP. What a great prank to pull on some unsuspecting boob.
aleriel wrote:
Doesn’t WinXP pop up a confirmation box along the lines of ‘you’ve held your shift key down for 8 seconds, do you want to turn on whatever-it-is’?
Posted on 30-Sep-05 at 10:55 am | Permalink
krikkert wrote:
Yes.
And you can turn it off again in the Accessibility section of the control panel, IIRC.
Posted on 30-Sep-05 at 10:57 am | Permalink
mortaine wrote:
Nope. I searched the Accessibility section and didn’t find any way to turn the bugger off.
Posted on 30-Sep-05 at 11:00 am | Permalink
mortaine wrote:
Yes, and I clicked “ESC” to cancel out of it, and it still turned on. Then, I went into the accessibility options and it wasn’t there to be turned off.
Posted on 30-Sep-05 at 11:00 am | Permalink
aleriel wrote:
Yeah, I don’t think ESC cancels it out… bizarrely enough. I always turn mine off when I first install Windows (and if I forget, I make sure to read the pop up and figure out which button I need to press - because it’s not all that intuitive.)
Posted on 30-Sep-05 at 11:02 am | Permalink
mcnutcase wrote:
What really sucks is the way you have to turn it off in three different places to have it accept that you REALLY don’t want this shonk turning on…
Posted on 30-Sep-05 at 11:15 am | Permalink
halfawake wrote:
Things like these problems are the reasons why I upgraded to Windows 2000 when I came here, not XP. I never did like XP.
Ever notice how “motherboard” and “motherfuckin’” are really just a root word away from each other?
That reminds me, I was meaning to ask someone who uses macs this and you seem like a good person to ask. Someone told me this week not to get a Mac because the motherboards burn out after a while and they eventually become worthless because of that. I just wanted to ask if there is any truth to that or if it is just an urban myth.
Posted on 30-Sep-05 at 4:37 pm | Permalink
alleahna wrote:
The caps lock thing I do to myself all the time and I’ve been typing so fast I have no clue what combination of keys I’ve hit to do it. What works for me is an old manual typewriter trick. Press both shift keys at once. Voila, no more auto-CAPS lock.
Posted on 30-Sep-05 at 4:42 pm | Permalink