Tech Fails

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my "technical" university

They wanted to introduce an electronic student ID that replaces the current ID, electronic paycard and library card. So far, so good. However, we had to pay for the stupid thing and it recently arrived, more than a semester late. So I got that plastic card in the mail less than two weeks after receiving my regular paper student ID... and it has on the front something that looks a lot like my old student ID plus a photo. On the back, it has the exact same barcode previously found on my paper library card. And I guess that on the inside, it has the very same sort of chip currently found in my paycard. :wall:

Adding insult to injury, I saw an ad for my university (public, mind you) on the train on Saturday. Wanna guess what the most prominent information on that billboard was? "No tuition fees" - those are usually ?500 per semester in public German universities. God, I can't wait to get out of there.
 
In the office I work at...I am the IT department. So if any division has technical issue, I get every single call. Most of them range from "internet is not working" to "I cant stream pandora" (because its blocked....). One time the receptionists computer was acting so slow and inoperable they were begging for a new computer, which ticked my manager off. So I get told to fix the computer...surprisingly enough the last time the computer was cleaned physically and internally was over 5 months ago...so after the cleans and the re-installation of the fans, it starts up flawlessly and no problems at all. On top of that its also used as a personal computer and many of the receptionists are also students(student housing office) so theres tons of .doc files and pdfs of solution manuals and assignments...you would think a bunch of engineering students would be able to realize to fix an ailing computer...nope. Solution? Google chrome and defragging...ugh....
 
my "technical" university

They wanted to introduce an electronic student ID that replaces the current ID, electronic paycard and library card. So far, so good. However, we had to pay for the stupid thing and it recently arrived, more than a semester late. So I got that plastic card in the mail less than two weeks after receiving my regular paper student ID... and it has on the front something that looks a lot like my old student ID plus a photo. On the back, it has the exact same barcode previously found on my paper library card. And I guess that on the inside, it has the very same sort of chip currently found in my paycard. :wall:

Adding insult to injury, I saw an ad for my university (public, mind you) on the train on Saturday. Wanna guess what the most prominent information on that billboard was? "No tuition fees" - those are usually ?500 per semester in public German universities. God, I can't wait to get out of there.

You aren't in Darmstadt by any chance? Because the exact same thing happened to us. And the stupid thing has a weaker RFID chip in it or something, too; one could always use the old paycard without taking it out of the portemonnaie, but the new one won't read properly at most cashiers.
 
You aren't in Darmstadt by any chance? Because the exact same thing happened to us. And the stupid thing has a weaker RFID chip in it or something, too; one could always use the old paycard without taking it out of the portemonnaie, but the new one won't read properly at most cashiers.
Kaiserslautern

I haven't tried the new card yet and to be honest, I'm not looking forward to it.
 
I had to go through quite some trouble getting office 2000 (!) to run under Ubuntu because my mother kept insisting that after trying it for 2 months that Openoffice was WAY too different and way too comlicated for her to work with it. Ubuntu from 2010 is now running a 10 year old MS office ... and I hate her for having me frankenstein that combination together.

I will admit that OpenOffice is actually quite annoying and clunky in comparison with MS Office, I'm not sure how it is now since I tried it three years ago, but at the time, OpenOffice was pretty dreadful even in comparison with Office 2003.
 
I will admit that OpenOffice is actually quite annoying and clunky in comparison with MS Office, I'm not sure how it is now since I tried it three years ago, but at the time, OpenOffice was pretty dreadful even in comparison with Office 2003.

Since then, OOffice has probably gotten better, and MSOffice has definitely gone worse.
 
Office 2010 is a little confusing and intimidating when you first start using it. I've mostly gotten used to it, but it's hard to transition back to the older versions since my school uses 2007 and Grandma's computer has 2004.

Open office isn't terrible, but it's not exactly great either. I would say that it's quite good for being free because world formatted documents from OpenOffice would mostly open up without problem in Word (sometimes a little funky, but it was fixable).
 
I hate the Office 2010 new interface, and they have removed features that I require at my job (editing dbf files).

Installed OOffice last week just because of that.

Sorry for the off-topic, now back to your regular programming.
 
Wait wait wait. Are you telling me that OpenOffice can edit DBF files? Why have I not looked into this?

*job just got a bit easier*
 
My boss this afternoon. Put a CD in the RW DVD drive of his desktop. Then proceeded to try and drag and drop files on to it. Wondered why there were no files on it.

I didn't laugh. Promise. I totally didn't.







Until I got outside. Way to go Mr Business Systems Manager.

I've now taught him about burning CDs.
 
my "technical" university

They wanted to introduce an electronic student ID that replaces the current ID, electronic paycard and library card.
...
I guess that on the inside, it has the very same sort of chip currently found in my paycard. :wall:

Sound like an incredibly effed up decision somewhere along the line, it's certainly not technically impossible to do. Mind you, look at the number of smartcard devices you have on you - bank cards, mobile phone (the SIM), and so on - there's no reason they can't all be on one card, but there's no will from the various industries, let alone the individual players in those industries, to make it happen. Quite the opposite.

the stupid thing has a weaker RFID chip in it or something, too

Probably not RFID, but a contactless smartcard, especially if it's something you load money onto.
 
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That university ID card fail sounds suspiciously similar to what happened at the TU Dortmund. Especially the "using a chip that's been proven insecure a few years ago" part...
 
Taking several pictures with an old analog camera and checking the taken pictures on the non-existing display after each single shot.. damn
 
Mind you, look at the number of smartcard devices you have on you
I think there are some very good reasons for keeping cards apart. With my new university ID, I cannot take the ID with me and leave the paycard at home which is a very sensible thing if you go to e.g. university sports. Likewise, I wouldn't want my credit and debit cards to be in one physical card for security reasons. When, for instance, I have to insert a card into a reader to open the door to a small room with an ATM inside, I never use the card that I pop into the ATM. That way, whoever may have manipulated the entry device and installed a camera above the keypad doesn't get matching data.

This is making me think of the new "smart" German national ID cards. :( If I ever end up with one of the current model, it'll find its way into the washing machine or microwave faster than a career bureaucrat can, ummm... well, what's it that they actually do?

Taking several pictures with an old analog camera and checking the taken pictures on the non-existing display after each single shot.. damn
related: Digital cameras with no viewfinder are a monumental fail. Who needs battery life when they can look like a prat holding their cameras up in the air?
 
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One of our admins just asked our tech guy at work this week if the printer needed the USB connection in order to print something from her laptop. >__________________________>
 
Well, I do still impress my dad (who's 75) every time I print via WiFi at my parents' place. Although I'm guessing that said admin is a bit less advanced in years.
 
I work in IT, so I have seen a few good ones. My favorite however is this:

One Friday, I moved a girl's computer from one desk to other. I waited till Friday after she was gone for the weekend. She knew I was moving the computer. After I had come in on Monday, she came to me complaining that the computer wasn't working. I walked over to her desk and, sure enough, nothing was on the screen. I moved the mouse and nothing happened. I looked at the computer and I put my hand behind the power supply fan. No air was moving. I reached around to the front of the computer and pushed the power button. Instantly the system came on and I saw the screen light up. I said "There you go", walked out of the cube, and facepalmed all the way back to my desk.

I always thought this kind of crap was a joke. It isn't. It is similar to:
 
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^
She had never powered it off before, always left in standby overnight or on w/e. :rolleyes:
 
One of our admins just asked our tech guy at work this week if the printer needed the USB connection in order to print something from her laptop. >__________________________>

Hey! Some of us have only just recently gotten wireless printers, i even now still have to go out to the printer and physically connect via usb if I want to print! :lol:

Mind you, dad finally bought a wireless printer yesterday. And a computer. But he bought the wrong one. I think that counts as tech fail, right???
 
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