xkcd

by **Gandalf** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:28 pm UTC

This would make an excellent t-shirt!

by **Monika** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:32 pm UTC

Mavrisa wrote:I always wonder if I'm strange for finding flow-chart comics some of the most hilarious comics I've ever seen, such as the panflute flowchart comic on tpfd: http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/0206 ... wchart.gif

Yeah

.

Flowchart for figuring out which OS is right for you:

by **mjlachman** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:33 pm UTC

Please PLEASE make this into a shirt!

by **Deadseraph** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:38 pm UTC

Print

Copies: lets see how much paper I have...

by **TheGuyWithTheHat** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:46 pm UTC

mjlachman wrote:Please PLEASE make this into a shirt!

+1 on that!

by **âjray** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:51 pm UTC

Normally XKCD is such a OS-friendly comic!~

But this seems to be windows-specific...

by **Storm** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:52 pm UTC

Awesome comic going on my wall for sure.
Also of note this is trending on twitter now - I think today is going to have a spike in viewership

âjray wrote:Normally XKCD is such a OS-friendly comic!~But this seems to be windows-specific...

That's where you are most likely to end up with people asking these sort of tech support questions.

by **DSDM** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:53 pm UTC

Giving tech support to a computer illiterate relative is like feeding a stray dog. You can never get rid of them after that. Not even by driving them out to the country, pushing them out of the car and yelling "Go! You're free now!"

by **sircheeziusbreezius** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:05 pm UTC

Am I the only one who saw the alt-text coming? Still loved it though.

by **sircheeziusbreezius** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:09 pm UTC

tsujiku wrote:A shirt of this would go perfectly with my "No I will not fix your computer." shirt from ThinkGeek. >.>

Maybe you should get the "I void warranties" one instead, so people may be afraid to ask for your help.

by **Sarda** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:11 pm UTC

Monika wrote:
Mavrisa wrote:I always wonder if I'm strange for finding flow-chart comics some of the most hilarious comics I've ever seen, such as the panflute flowchart comic on tpfd: http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/0206 ... wchart.gif

Yeah .

Flowchart for figuring out which OS is right for you:

-snip-[/url]

I like how it thinks almost every single word is spelled wrong. Somebody deleted their dictionary...

by **Monika** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:20 pm UTC

No, the spell-checker was set to German. I deactivated it and exported again and edited the post after I realized it.

by **neoliminal** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:25 pm UTC

To the people who keep saying they are going to make this into the desktop background for their parents/aunts/grandparents/guncles.... here's what that looks like:

by **valbaca** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:30 pm UTC

Poster prints? I would buy one now!
I think that would be better than a shirt. Your computer-illiterates would still need you around if you're wearing the shirt.

by **Western Rover** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:30 pm UTC

Cal27 wrote:There should be a part about error messages and reading them...
It's far too often that somebody says something like:
"Whenever I try to do something, a thing comes up that says 'Error, no sound device found.' What does that mean!?"

What I see happen more often than that: an error dialog pops up and users immediately dismiss it without reading it, then try to continue doing what they were doing as though the error hadn't happened. Uh, the computer is trying to tell you something...

by **binary010101** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:35 pm UTC

Except that you don't get more than one, and I've gotten into the habit of just clicking through dialogs due to the programs I use.

by **icenine** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:40 pm UTC

neoliminal wrote:To the people who keep saying they are going to make this into the desktop background for their parents/aunts/grandparents/guncles.... here's what that looks like:

That is disgusting. I never understood how people live like that.

by **Cynical Idealist** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:40 pm UTC

Max2009 wrote:So true.
I was the local computer expert for 5 years, only because I knew about this flow chart, with the addition of "check to see if it's plugged in" and "swap around hardware".
And there's a couple of special boxes for printers. "Pull out the piece of paper that got stuck", "reset the printer" and my favorite "hit it until it works". You'd be surprised how often the last one works.

I've needed to apply percussive maintenance to my desktop a few times. One of the fans is clicking against something in its enclosure occasionally (it comes up intermittantly, and sometimes clicks every few seconds, sometimes constantly, and sometimes not at all), so I need to whack at the case right above it a few times to get it to not do that.

I should really see about getting it fixed, but my fix works and I'm lazy.

beinsane wrote:Returning from oblivion to say: yes. This is exactly why when giving computer instructions over the phone, my first instinct is to tell the other party "look, it'd be faster to fly me out there and let me fix it myself

Same here, especially since its usually not even an hour away by car. I don't have stuff memorized, I just poke around at the interface until it works. Usually when I get called for phone tech support, I ask if it can wait until I can get there, or if it can be e-mailed to me (usually its someone trying to fix up a word doc, or an excel spreadsheet, or something like that). If that isn't an option, I beg them to "just look around the menus until you see something that looks like what you need and try it".

Western Rover wrote:What I see happen more often than that: an error dialog pops up and users immediately dismiss it without reading it, then try to continue doing what they were doing as though the error hadn't happened. Uh, the computer is trying to tell you something...

I think they're conditioned by encountering a lot of cryptic dialog boxes to just ignore them. Those, and those damnable fake ones you find as popups sometimes. They either assume that its something they won't be able to understand, or its a fake.

by **linkxsc** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:50 pm UTC

Honestly, doing this is basically how I learned all I know about computers, tahts what makes t so great.

by **rjamestaylor** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:11 pm UTC

Congratulations (?) - Tech Support Cheat Sheet is a current "trending topic" on Twitter.

/golf_clap

Great comic, as usual!

by **Shale** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:18 pm UTC

icenine wrote:
neoliminal wrote:To the people who keep saying they are going to make this into the desktop background for their parents/aunts/grandparents/guncles.... here's what that looks like:

That is disgusting. I never understood how people live like that.

Ask whatever brain surgeon decided to set the default for downloading files to go to the desktop without a prompt.

by **ethereal_fire** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:39 pm UTC

I had to show this one to my mom. She is pretty much the local tech support for my area (with good reason she's ben using them since the dark ages of computers). She's printed to hang over the computer at her work

Its funny cause it really is true. 90% of the time thats all you do. (and like someone else said, the rest of time you try the hardware.)

by **cparker15** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:40 pm UTC

neoliminal wrote:To the people who keep saying they are going to make this into the desktop background for their parents/aunts/grandparents/guncles.... here's what that looks like:

<snip/>

GAAAHHHH! MY EYES!

RealPlayer...
Netscape Navigator?!

It's like a nightmare from the '90's!

by **Freiberg** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:41 pm UTC

Chromana wrote:
Roxymoron wrote:

Age of Empires 2 rocked!

I'm playing AoE3 right now. I wish I could play AoE2, but I have too modern a computer now. Oh well. It rocked. I can't deny that.

by **neoliminal** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:47 pm UTC

cparker15 wrote:
neoliminal wrote:To the people who keep saying they are going to make this into the desktop background for their parents/aunts/grandparents/guncles.... here's what that looks like:

<snip/>

GAAAHHHH! MY EYES!

RealPlayer...
Netscape Navigator?!

It's like a nightmare from the '90's!

And it's all your fault for not helping them install better programs. You've ignored grandma long enough.

by **ducktape** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:48 pm UTC

I would show this to my grandmother, who I help with these issues frequently.
But then I'd lose my primary income.

by **cream wobbly** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:16 pm UTC

Zenexer wrote:Whenever I go out on a tech support job, I like to wear a shirt related to the problem. For example, I have a nice BSoD t-shirt that a friend gave me for Christmas.

Please, please make a t-shirt out of this one.

Wow. You either don't do a lot of work or you sweat a lot.

by **Zorlin** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:20 pm UTC

neoliminal wrote:To the people who keep saying they are going to make this into the desktop background for their parents/aunts/grandparents/guncles.... here's what that looks like:

<snip>

Argh! You've tainted sanctity of the entire topic with that image. And I think I lost some sleep last night over it.

by **celebrian** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:36 pm UTC

I've been waiting for this comic for years. Taped it to the side of the file cabinet at the office.

by **Pizzachu** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:41 pm UTC

Randall was in my head for this one. Helped my mom with something by doing this only yesterday.

by **neoliminal** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:49 pm UTC

Zorlin wrote:
neoliminal wrote:To the people who keep saying they are going to make this into the desktop background for their parents/aunts/grandparents/guncles.... here's what that looks like:

<snip>

Argh! You've tainted sanctity of the entire topic with that image. And I think I lost some sleep last night over it.

Where do you think I dreamed it up?

by **Graber** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:58 pm UTC

Gandalf wrote:This would make an excellent t-shirt!

I think we can all agree on this...
Anyone think it should be the next addition to the store?

by **headsign** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:02 pm UTC

neoliminal wrote:To the people who keep saying they are going to make this into the desktop background for their parents/aunts/grandparents/guncles.... here's what that looks like:

this is so true

by **mootinator** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:21 pm UTC

Best... Comic... Ever...

But seriously, I need a poster.

by **kaitou** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:32 pm UTC

I just realized that the only real use for a flowchart nowadays is for telling jokes. (That includes pointing out the bloody obvious.)

by **ibootindos** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:40 pm UTC

DSDM wrote:Giving tech support to a computer illiterate relative is like feeding a stray dog. You can never get rid of them after that. Not even by driving them out to the country, pushing them out of the car and yelling "Go! You're free now!"

I'm in iraq, and EVERYBODY is constantly asking me dumb questions, most of the time about how to play downloaded or pirated movies! I want to put a sign up on my door that says : VLC/ DivX, get them, or die trying. lol

by **SEE** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:43 pm UTC

sircheeziusbreezius wrote:Am I the only one who saw the alt-text coming?

Nope. After all, the real joke here is about exactly how useless this flowchart is. In about 95% of cases, if a person were psychologically willing and able to follow it, they'd already be doing so.

by **Monika** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:46 pm UTC

ibootindos wrote:VLC/ DivX, get them, or die trying.

by **graeme** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 6:41 pm UTC

bobp wrote:
graeme wrote:"I've never set up a Linux computer to be able to print over a network to a Windows machine, and I'm not really sure where I'd start. It'd take a while..."

stupid- letting your parents run linux like that- dont you know it will blow their minds. and it looks like you could use the flowchart- its about 1 minuite in a distro like ubuntu cos they all share the same print protocol
anyhoo- great comic

It was my computer that had Linux on it, not my parents'. And it wasn't Ubuntu, it was Debian, and it was a few years ago. :-)

Still, at least they understand that some computers run different operating systems. It can be hard to explain something like "no, *my* computer can't run $APPLICATION, you'll have to use *your* computer. Yes, even if it does mean walking all the way downstairs."

by **umop ap!sdn** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:03 pm UTC

The only saving grace with releasing this comic is the people we help out with computer "problems" will not get 99% of the comics here, so the chances of them figuring out our secret are slim to none.

neoliminal wrote:To the people who keep saying they are going to make this into the desktop background for their parents/aunts/grandparents/guncles.... here's what that looks like:

<snip>

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit... BTW, no Bonzi Buddy?

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