Crazy things you've heard from ppl

[owiecc]

A guy wanted to have an ethernet socket in each of the rooms of his newly renovated apartment. So he told the electrician that was redoing the electrical installation that the router will stand in one place and he should put the wires from the router to each of the rooms. So the electrician made a nice connection: router --- room A --- room B --- room C. He didn't know daisy chaining is not an option any more.

My brother runs a small IT shop. Once a guy came and his newly assembled computer (he did the assembly) does not start. After opening the case we saw that the motherboard was screwed to the back pane without any spacers shorting everyting.

[bookaboo]

I had a neighbour that does rallying call with me at 11pm one night, he couldnt get his new spotlights working. He had wired them via a fuse and switch and "earthed them to the body".
I took a quick look working by torchlight, couldn't spot anything and we decided to look at it in the morning light before he went racing.

As soon as I saw it in daylight I realised he had "earthed" to the plastic bumper.

[grumpydoc]

So the electrician made a nice connection: router --- room A --- room B --- room C. He didn't know daisy chaining is not an option any more.

I doubt the electrician even realised that the old "10base2" Ethernet was daisy-chained - he probably thought it needed to be wired up like phone extensions.

When I was doing my Comp Sci degree one class project was a multi-tasking OS with various sub-tasks which would run under the OS, one of which was a bean sorter (you know, black & white beans into different hoppers). The guy (John) doing it clearly struggled for about a week but eventually came clean to the rest of us that he couldn't get anything useful out of the opto interface and couldn't get the solenoid to fire.

A quick bit of inspection revealed the problem, the sorter hardware had a separate low voltage supply - which he hadn't turned on 

"If it doesn't work, turn it on" became known as "John's Law" for a while.

[NiHaoMike]

On that note, there are apparently some "audiophiles" (really "audiofools") who think coax is better than fiber. It's a digital signal so it works the same,

Umm, no, it doesn't. Google digital audio jitter, realize that for no jitter, spdif signal requires infinite bandwidth and learn also, that coax has something like 100x the bandwidth of toslink receivers.

but coax can conduct EMI while fiber will not.

This might be true. Some manufacturers cheat on the spec. If done right, spdif coax is shielded and isolated.

Then why would fiber ever be used if cheap coax really is that much better? I once worked for a networking company and if they could use cheap, tough coax instead of expensive, fragile fiber, they will. There are copper (STP) cables for 10G Ethernet and even 40G Ethernet but only for short distances. (Also note that in this context, "long distance" is a few hundred feet...)

I actually had some issues with EMI from a digital amplifier traveling on a coax through a PC and into some sensitive analog device I was working on. Swap the coax for fiber and no problem. (Later, I found out the EMI was because the gate drives weren't designed right and there was an awful lot of shoot through current!)

[Balaur]

Umm, no, it doesn't. Google digital audio jitter, realize that for no jitter, spdif signal requires infinite bandwidth and learn also, that coax has something like 100x the bandwidth of toslink receivers.

What kind of third-world lowly peasant doesn't use a SPDIF reclocker and a master clock generator? How can you even enjoy music in these conditions?

[madires]

A customer told me a nice story. A local carrier was connecting the customer's building to their glass fibre metro network . The outside work was already done, the fibre was installed and only the ADM (Add Drop Multiplexer) was missing. The customer called his painter to repaint the wall where the fibre enters the building before the cabinet for the ADM was going to be installed. When the carrier's technicians came with the ADM they didn't find the fibre. It was gone. The painter has cut off the fibre because it didn't look like a power cable, put on some cement to close the hole and painted the wall . So they had to open the wall and resplice the fibre. The painter had to pay the invoice for the additonal work and I bet he'll never ever again cut off a cable ;-)

[SeanB]

I'm so thankful I've never worked in retail or technical support. Pretty sure I'd end up taking a machete to someone eventually. Pic sums it up.

On the other hand, annoying customers eventually leave. Not so with my new neighbor (never home) and the large dog they keep chained up in the yard, which barks all day and long into the night. Still going now, at 9.30pm.
Does "woof woof wooof woofwoofwoof woof... woof... woof woof woof woowoowoowooooo woof woof..." count as crazy things heard? It's certainly annoying.

The solution is to call the animal rescue and complain about the chained up dog, and they will come and remove it and fine the owner for animal cruelty.

There is another method involving bacon wrapping, but that will not be appropriate here.

[peter.mitchell]

I'm so thankful I've never worked in retail or technical support. Pretty sure I'd end up taking a machete to someone eventually. Pic sums it up.

On the other hand, annoying customers eventually leave. Not so with my new neighbor (never home) and the large dog they keep chained up in the yard, which barks all day and long into the night. Still going now, at 9.30pm.
Does "woof woof wooof woofwoofwoof woof... woof... woof woof woof woowoowoowooooo woof woof..." count as crazy things heard? It's certainly annoying.

The solution is to call the animal rescue and complain about the chained up dog, and they will come and remove it and fine the owner for animal cruelty.

There is another method involving bacon wrapping, but that will not be appropriate here.

There is also another method where you keep letting the dog into the neighbors house while they're not home.

[echen1024]

I'm so thankful I've never worked in retail or technical support. Pretty sure I'd end up taking a machete to someone eventually. Pic sums it up.

On the other hand, annoying customers eventually leave. Not so with my new neighbor (never home) and the large dog they keep chained up in the yard, which barks all day and long into the night. Still going now, at 9.30pm.
Does "woof woof wooof woofwoofwoof woof... woof... woof woof woof woowoowoowooooo woof woof..." count as crazy things heard? It's certainly annoying.

The solution is to call the animal rescue and complain about the chained up dog, and they will come and remove it and fine the owner for animal cruelty.

There is another method involving bacon wrapping, but that will not be appropriate here.

There is also another method where you keep letting the dog into the neighbors house while they're not home.

That would be the preferred method.

[TerraHertz]

The solution is to call the animal rescue and complain about the chained up dog, and they will come and remove it and fine the owner for animal cruelty.

There is another method involving bacon wrapping, but that will not be appropriate here.

That is exactly what is going to happen. (Option #1) Just giving it a _little_ more time.

There is also another method where you keep letting the dog into the neighbors house while they're not home.

Satisfying as it would be, it's a. break & enter, and b. large aggressive & probably viscous dog, that I have no desire to go anywhere near. Not without an axe.

There's actually another option. Some time ago another house across a couple of fences from my place became vacant for a while. Then someone moved in. Some guy who was almost never home, kept a big dog in the yard that seemed to rarely get fed (and barked a lot), and drove a pickup with one of those big lockable deckplate toolboxes on the back. Never did any maintenance on the place, and it started looking very overgrown and neglected.
Then one day the front door had been smashed in and replaced with a sheet of ply screwed to the frame. No dog, no resident. For many months. Then I got a notice in my letterbox of intended demolition of the house. From my backyard I could see into that back yard, and there were a couple of typical metal garden sheds. Phoned the demolition co # listed in the letter, asked for and was given permission to remove the sheds before demolition began. Had one day to do it, and it rained all that day, so it wasn't a pleasant task. But the point is, I could see inside the house. It had been trashed, in very 'extreme police search' style. Apparently enough to make demolition the best option.

Anyway, the general resident behavior pattern seems similar. But it's only been one week. We'll see.

[echen1024]

The solution is to call the animal rescue and complain about the chained up dog, and they will come and remove it and fine the owner for animal cruelty.

There is another method involving bacon wrapping, but that will not be appropriate here.

That is exactly what is going to happen. (Option #1) Just giving it a _little_ more time.

There is also another method where you keep letting the dog into the neighbors house while they're not home.

Satisfying as it would be, it's a. break & enter, and b. large aggressive & probably viscous dog, that I have no desire to go anywhere near. Not without an axe.

There's actually another option. Some time ago another house across a couple of fences from my place became vacant for a while. Then someone moved in. Some guy who was almost never home, kept a big dog in the yard that seemed to rarely get fed (and barked a lot), and drove a pickup with one of those big lockable deckplate toolboxes on the back. Never did any maintenance on the place, and it started looking very overgrown and neglected.
Then one day the front door had been smashed in and replaced with a sheet of ply screwed to the frame. No dog, no resident. For many months. Then I got a notice in my letterbox of intended demolition of the house. From my backyard I could see into that back yard, and there were a couple of typical metal garden sheds. Phoned the demolition co # listed in the letter, asked for and was given permission to remove the sheds before demolition began. Had one day to do it, and it rained all that day, so it wasn't a pleasant task. But the point is, I could see inside the house. It had been trashed, in very 'extreme police search' style. Apparently enough to make demolition the best option.

Anyway, the general resident behavior pattern seems similar. But it's only been one week. We'll see.

I think a "strongly worded letter" to the resident might help some. I did that once to a person that was by my locker at school, and made them cry. I didn't feel all that sorry since they kept on leaving milk and tuna sandwiches inside for extended periods of time. Oops.

[TerraHertz]

I think a "strongly worded letter" to the resident might help some. I did that once to a person that was by my locker at school, and made them cry. I didn't feel all that sorry since they kept on leaving milk and tuna sandwiches inside for extended periods of time. Oops.

When you have a potentially serious problem with a neighbor, and you already know they are an arsehole, it's NOT a good idea to initiate a direct confrontation. Firstly because an arsehole (sociopath, to use the technical term) doesn't care what you think. Secondly because it gives them a tactical advantage - they are not constrained to playing nice (or legal.) Thirdly because they are going to be right there until they move out, which might be many years.

Your 'locker neighbor' probably was just thoughtless, not a sociopath. Or they would not have cried. They cared about your comments, while a true arsehole would just be thinking about how to level up against you.

Much better to apply the Ender's Game principle.

The other parties to this don't deserve to suffer due to the arsehole. That includes the dog, and the owner of the rental property.

When you do things right, no one can even be sure you did anything at all.

[Stonent]

I'm so thankful I've never worked in retail or technical support. Pretty sure I'd end up taking a machete to someone eventually. Pic sums it up.

On the other hand, annoying customers eventually leave. Not so with my new neighbor (never home) and the large dog they keep chained up in the yard, which barks all day and long into the night. Still going now, at 9.30pm.
Does "woof woof wooof woofwoofwoof woof... woof... woof woof woof woowoowoowooooo woof woof..." count as crazy things heard? It's certainly annoying.

The solution is to call the animal rescue and complain about the chained up dog, and they will come and remove it and fine the owner for animal cruelty.

There is another method involving bacon wrapping, but that will not be appropriate here.

Over here you can call the non-emergency line at the police department and file a noise complaint.

[Stonent]

Got a call today about a smoking computer, but they told the helpdesk rep that it wasn't a critical system so no emergency. I head out there and they've all gone to lunch. I find the front panel open on the testing station that all assemblies in that department get connected to before they get installed with one of those high-speed fans blowing into it and it was unplugged.

Anyway I was told by one of my higher-ups that I wasn't to mess with it, I'm assuming because I'm not an electrician and there's some potential for getting shocked since there's a lot of high current power supplies with exposed screw terminals.

So yeah, the testing station that does the pass/fail/rework check on an assembly that weighs a few hundred pounds right before it gets installed is not a critical system I guess.

[SeanB]

Probably not, though the customers would not be pleased if the very expensive thing they just paid for arrives DOA or self destructs and drops bits all over though.

[echen1024]

I think a "strongly worded letter" to the resident might help some. I did that once to a person that was by my locker at school, and made them cry. I didn't feel all that sorry since they kept on leaving milk and tuna sandwiches inside for extended periods of time. Oops.

When you have a potentially serious problem with a neighbor, and you already know they are an arsehole, it's NOT a good idea to initiate a direct confrontation. Firstly because an arsehole (sociopath, to use the technical term) doesn't care what you think. Secondly because it gives them a tactical advantage - they are not constrained to playing nice (or legal.) Thirdly because they are going to be right there until they move out, which might be many years.

Your 'locker neighbor' probably was just thoughtless, not a sociopath. Or they would not have cried. They cared about your comments, while a true arsehole would just be thinking about how to level up against you.

Much better to apply the Ender's Game principle.

The other parties to this don't deserve to suffer due to the arsehole. That includes the dog, and the owner of the rental property.

When you do things right, no one can even be sure you did anything at all.

Oh no. That guy was a definite arsehole. He would do that for fun, and put random shit in various peoples lockers.

[smashedProton]

I remember working at a computer shop 3 years back, and a customer comes in with a broken computer tells me that
"my friend told me it was dirty. So I opened the case up and used some water and a brush to clean it up. I told him that you were never supposed to wash a computer that is on with water and even if it is off to not use water. He stares at me with a blank face and starts cussing me out about how youth these days are so disrespectful. I offer to fix it for him, and on the bill, add a $25 fee. On the side, it is labeled *stupidity and disrespect compensation*"

Your 15 and work at a computer store?  Is it family owned?  holy shit

[echen1024]

It was owned by one of our friends. I just had a summer job there.

[Stonent]

Probably not, though the customers would not be pleased if the very expensive thing they just paid for arrives DOA or self destructs and drops bits all over though.

Part Two of this story, or why you should listen to your boss...

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/getting-a-small-shock-in-a-cabinet-with-ups/msg351114/

[What_NZ]

In a workshop full of experienced Electronics Technicians the first Year Apprentice was repairing a mains powered Audio Amplifier.
During the initial stages of fault finding, he yelled out "Hey this is strange, I've just measured a resistor with negative resistance"
Laughter filled the Workshop......
Since the Apprentice was under my care I went across and explained to him why and to turn the Power to the Amplifier OFF. He was very quiet for the rest of the day.

[VK3DRB]

(1) A young engineer once told me "If you push too much data through a Bluetooth dongle, the chip will literally melt." OK, he was a fresh grad with no experience so fair enough, unlike the following three cases...

(2) An arrogant and rude ex-military technician I worked with once literally screamed, "BULLS**T!!! You don't need a C-Tick mark if you have CE!" He did not know what he was talking about. When he found out he was wrong, he spat the dummy and went into a child-like sulk for a few weeks. He has burnt his bridges.

(3) At an Agilent equipment seminar an army technician said, "Digital CROs are for <expletive deleted>. Real men use analogue CROs. I know all about electronics and no-one who knows about electronics needs a digital CRO." (Note: CRO is an Australian term for oscilloscope.)

(4) An engineer once told me he read in a newspaper that 1/3 of all women in Australia run a brothel from their home during the day when their husbands are at work. At his first day at work he asked me if any Jews worked here. He quit after threatening to bash two managers and said "I don't work with monkeys."

Extreme cases, but electronics seems to attract more than its fair share of d*ckheads.

[Tinkerer]

Extreme cases, but electronics seems to attract more than its fair share of d*ckheads.

Are you kiddin me? Every job attracts its share of dickheads.

[SeanB]

I think I worked with some of those discussed above.........

Then again in the military you found all types of people. Sane was not a common parameter.

[XOIIO]

Had a customer return (at my expense) a 2000w inverter, she said it didn't power her 1000w heater. So I test it when it arrives and it runs 1500w for 3 days no problems.
So I call her and ask her had anyone checked DC voltage and fuses...
- "My husband checked the fuses"
- "Ok, what about the DC voltage"
- "Voltage? how you check that?"
- "At the battery, you may need to ask someone like an electrician if you are unsure"
- ".......battery.....what battery?"

Both the lady and her husband thought the inverter just ran the heater like some free energy device. Apparently the listing wasn't clear.

[logictom]

One of my favourites was when a fourth year student was getting ready to present their final year project and was looking flustered in the lab. I asked him how it was going to which he replied that his board was not working, he was having to refit one of the diodes as "it is a special diode that has to go in the right way round"