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[personal profile] andrewducker
This just in from someone who shall remain anonymous:
My cubemate Hal, just got off the phone to technical support asking them to reset his password (which involves emailing it to his line manager and checking credentials etc.)
I heard his side of the conversation…

“I need to reset my password….no, I didn’t forget it, it just stopped working…no I didn’t change it…here’s my line manager’s email…”

After a couple of minutes he arrives back with a new password written on a piece of paper and thrusts it into my face, saying “here it is, my new password!”

Followed by a bout of typing and…

“My enter key isn’t working….neither is my C key…oh yeah, I spilt water all over my keyboard yesterday………oh”

Yeah, I don’t think it’s his password that was broken.

Date: 2010-09-22 11:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] poisonduk.livejournal.com
I've done similar - my L key was broken and I got my password reset 5 times before realising! They kep resetting it to something with an L and I kept violating it.

Date: 2010-09-22 11:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] theweaselking.livejournal.com
There's a reason why "type the password into the Username field so you can see if what comes out matches what you think you're putting in" is a troubleshooting step.

Date: 2010-09-22 02:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] skington.livejournal.com
I like the way iOS does this - it shows you the last character you typed, and occults all the rest.

Of course, on a desktop machine you're much more vulnerable to shoulder-surfing this way. But then, if someone can see your screen, they don't have to do much more to see your keyboard.

Date: 2010-09-22 03:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] theweaselking.livejournal.com
My largest peeve about Windows XP and wireless networks was the hidden key *and* the need to type it twice. Seriously, the fuck? It's a WIRELESS KEY, and you're not CHANGING IT, you're just PUTTING IT IN.

Win7 lets you see what you're typing if you want, and only requires the key once because duh.

Date: 2010-09-23 11:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] e-halmac.livejournal.com
Bah-hahahahaahaha!

Akin to the power cut chesnut (seriously paraphrased...), whcih always makes me chortle:
Customer: My PC is broken. It just wont turn on.
Call centre guy: Ok I'll take you through the checklist step by step. Can you please check that the mains power cable is connected to the computer?
Customer: No.
CCG: Why not?
Customer: I can't see behind the PC tower.
CCG: Can you pull a light over to check?
Customer: No
CCG: Why not?
Customer: The power's out.
CCG: ...

Date: 2010-09-23 02:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] theweaselking.livejournal.com
The sad thing about that is that it's not apocryphal.

Or, rather, I'd heard that story for years and years - and then, when I was doing tech support in the mid 1990s, I got pretty much that exact call.

Date: 2010-09-23 03:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] e-halmac.livejournal.com
If it weren't true it would be unbelieveable. Heck, if I hadn't had the conversations I've had with my own parents about tech, it'd be unbelieveable!

Date: 2010-09-23 03:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] theweaselking.livejournal.com
Anyone who does tech support for long enough realises that There Are No Urban Legends. There are only true stories that have been embellished, sometimes only slightly, for comedic effect.

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