Just remember that rm -rf * will sure most of their problems…
The number of sys.admins who won’t admit the problem could possibly be with the computer is, in my experience, vastly dwarfed by the number of users who won’t admit the problem might be something they’ve done.
Simon is still writing for The Register. I think he’s gotten a little soft in his old age, but he’s still a bastard.
It’s possible that this apparent result could be influenced by the ratio of system administrators to users.
Or it’s possible that the users really don’t know what I can find out if I were so inclined, and that I just might know that they’re lying.
“I’ll tell him I’ve really been running it every month. How’s he going to know the difference?”
So, rather than assume some computer error or input error, you assume that your customers- upon whose goodwill your non-profit relies- are “liars”? :rolleyes: :dubious:
Do you see them when they’re sleeping? Do you know when they’re awake?
Not only that, but I know when they’ve been either bad or good.
To the OP: a lot of stuff happens that’s “impossible” with computers. Recently, I got a new laptop that due to a serious screw-up had the same name as another laptop on the domain. Yet somehow both of us were able to log on and access all the secured areas of the corporate LAN. The domain administrator told me “that’s impossible - the servers will lock you out by default if more than one instance of a machine name is logged in”. And yet, I was working for weeks like that, as was the other person. And yet, the domain administrator says it’s impossible. Who am I to believe - the fact that I was indeed working for weeks, or the domain administrator who says I wasn’t?
I also used to run an OS/2 machine on an NT domain, which multiple administrators told me was “impossible”. I could access NT resources, print servers, etc. And yet, they said I couldn’t.
I also found a way to bypass the web portal security when it was screwed up and net access was cut off for thousands of people. Even though they told me it was “impossible”. So everyone else suffered without access while I was happily doing work.
I’ve seen people who were locked out of the network work happily away because they were logged onto a machine under someone else’s account, and somehow managed neither to shut the machine down nor crash it for months on end.
I also found out how to print to our LAN printers without a cover sheet appearing every job (thus saving a lot of paper over time) - even though the “printer God” told me that it was impossible because he had “specifically disabled IP printing”. Well, it didn’t take, and he was too busy telling me how “impossible” it was to even check.
Just saying…I’ve seen all sorts of things work that shouldn’t, due to some crazy computer issue or another. Maybe they’re lying to you, or maybe something else is going on.
I hope you didn’t try that with the TPS reports. Didn’t you get the memo?
But since I’m the only one stuck with doing the TPS reports, everyone runs in terror when they see them in the printer tray. No one else would dare claim them and end up doing them…only 2 more years 'till retirement…have to keep going…
We get all sorts of crazy bullshit like that, but I think the OP is more about the general numptyhood of people who do things like:
[ul]
[li]Send an email that basically says “Huh? What?” when you ask them whether they have done something yet[/li][li]Remember what it was that they were supposed to do last week[/li][li]Recall the email message[/li][li]Send another email saying “Have escalated to blahblah, awaiting response, will follow up again tomorrow”[/li][li]Expect this to magically remove all trace of their brain fart[/li][/ul]
General numptyhood? I like that.
It always give me a warm tingly feeling when I can send a copy of a server log to a user and their manager showing that they’re fibbing.
We know when you’re working, and we know when you’re looking at goatse. We also know what’s installed and running on your computer. If there’s a problem with it, I’ll be happy to fix it, but don’t lie to us when we ask you to remove iTunes and your MP3s from the group server and swear you’ve never heard of such a thing.
Unless they’re covering up something embarrassing they did (or failed to do), these sound like lies of convenience to me.
Sometimes it’s just easier to lie. I don’t want to explain that I’ve been running the report on a different system at home for whatever reason, or that I delegated the job to someone else who it turns out apparently hasn’t been doing his job, or any other details about what I have or haven’t been doing. I don’t care if you believe me, just stop asking questions you know the answer to, Mr. Smartypants, and fix the damn machine! 
Allow me to summarize the OP in non-technical terms, highlighting the important issues that were mentioned: blah blah blah … a b-list hottie boinking another b-list hottie … blah blah blah … that hot chick in AP with the nice ass and the belly button ring … blah blah blah