Help desk, how can I help you?

Have you ever found yourself playing help desk to your friends and family? I know I have on more occasions than I care to count. Now, as I’ve said before, I love to help but it can sometimes be very frustrating.

One family friend told me all about a phone call she got from Microsoft saying that there was something wrong with her Windows so she used her credit card to pay whatever it was. I cringed as soon as she mentioned the phone call. I did set her right, but it’s sooooo frustrating!

Another family friend needs clearly detailed written instructions on how to do just about anything on the computer. I still remember the day she asked if it would make any difference to her internet if she moved the computer upstairs. Or the time she worried about her files because she was going to get a new monitor.

Patience is clearly the key and I can understand why help desk operators start out on the assumption we don’t know much about computers. I’m lucky that none of my friends or family have been quick to anger either because I do know about the stories of abusive calls to help desk.

Are there any stories that have left you completely baffled as to how they came to a certain conclusion? Anything that makes you wonder whether or not people should pass a test before they’re allowed to buy a computer (like a driving test)?

Contrasts

Waiting for my tea to brew at work, I wandered over to the window and looked down at the street as I’ve done countless times before. This time though I noticed something odd.

Working in the city, you tend to get used to office workers scurrying about in their black suits so you don’t really pay much attention to them in the end. Looking down at the street, I noticed that the majority of vehicles were white and I idly wondered if perhaps it was their way of trying to balance things out.

I think I must be one of the few CDB office workers that doesn’t actually own a black suit. The only black thing I might wear to work it one of my jackets. Most of the time I’m left feeling if my colour choice leaves me fading into the background, but I just can’t bring myself  to wear something that would have me feeling... down... sad... whatever it is, it wouldn’t be happy or cheerful.

Watching all the black suits makes me feel like I’m watching drones or automatons, and then I’ll see someone in bright colours and it does actually feel like it brightens my day.

What would be/is your chosen office clothing colour? If it’s a dark colour, is it because ‘it’s the thing to do’ or you actually prefer to wear those colours? If you lean more towards the lights and brights, how does it make you feel seeing what seems to be a sea of dark clothing?

Besotted by Wednesdays 29-02-2012

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

Everyone knows about the Google cars roaming around trying to get shots of our streets for their street view. Does anyone think about just what kind of things are recorded though? From the mundane store front to the totally weird events that can happen anytime. Jon Rafman is collecting the ones he finds in his project called ‘Nine eyes of Google’.

I’d say most kids grew up playing Monopoly. You probably started with the original version before finding other editions. There’s been quite a lot of different versions through the years, including artistic interpretations of them. Like this Web Lovers Edition.

James Hance has done some absolutely adorable Winne the Pooh & Star Wars mashup drawings, but this latest drawings takes the cake. It’s an ‘Up’ and Star Wars mashup and it’s so stinking heartwarming!

Need a project for the weekend? Do you also need a handy little carryall for your gadgets and cords? I’ve found the perfect thing for me! I mean, you... us... you know what I mean. Now to scour second-hand bookstores for the perfect cover...

One the mashup topic again, they’re releasing a Doctor Who and Star Trek mashup comic. Not really sure how I feel about this. While I am familiar with many things that are Star Trek, I’ve never really been that big of a fan of the franchise. I am though a fan of Patrick Stewart, so maybe it’ll balance out.

I loved playing pinball in my childhood and even though I never knew what to do with the end result, there was a special appeal about gumballs. So when I spotted this, it was a major flashback and it looks like it’d be so much more fun that just sticking 20¢ into a machine and having the gumball plop into my hand.

I know that there are lots of different styles of game controllers out there. Some function well, others don’t. Some feel comfortable in your hand, other’s seem like pure torture. Then there are the ones you look at and think, ‘What in the seven hells were they thinking??’.

Although, as unwieldly as it seems, the chainsaw would be awesome.

IMHO IDK WTF...

Is it just me or are we getting more and more acronyms? Companies and businesses use them. Texting, IMing, and whatever else have you. It sometimes seems hard to keep up. Then there’s the ones that use the same letters, but mean different things. Or maybe you grew up with one version and now it means something else (Lots of Love vs. Laugh Out Loud).

In a world that seems to like things fast, I sometimes feel like I’m the odd one out taking it slower. I’ll be the one waiting for the little green man to tell me I can cross the road, and I’ll be the one actually typing out the words rather than what seems to be the new style of shorthand. OK, so I do use LOL sometimes. Mostly because it looks weird if I comment ‘Laugh Out Loud!’.

Even my mum who frustrates me to no end when I watch her try to do something on the computer, or when I try to show her how to use her mobile phone uses ‘txt spk’. Oftentimes I’ll stare at the screen for a good few minutes deciphering her message. Kind of feel like it’s all backwards.

How do you use acronyms? Do you use it as much as you possible can? Avoid it like the plague? Or have you found that seemingly elusive happy middle ground?

Bugs

I’m not much of a bug person. Sure, when I was a kid I did the typical kid thing and adopt cicadas, stick a whole bunch of ladybugs in a plastic container (with holes of course!) and try to make pets of a couple of worms (sans worm garden…), but now… yeuch. I still like cicadas, ladybugs are beautiful and I feel sorry for the poor worms that get squished whenever it rains a lot around home. Those are the good bugs.

I’m talking about scary looking spiders, cockroaches, flies... you know, the ones most people don’t like. It’s the spider part that brings me to this topic today. See, I have a little courtyard and maybe I haven’t been out there in a while due to being busy and rainy weather. Well, it seems this giant freaking spider thought it would be a good place to weave a humongous web and hang out. (There may be some slight exaggeration there, but it sure doesn’t feel like it!)

Now I’m too freaked out to venture out there. I was never any good at dealing with spiders. Once I rang up my then boyfriend to come over and get rid of the spider hanging out on the balcony of the apartment I was living in. It seems his idea of getting rid of it involved baseball practice with the spider as the ball and his shoe as the bat.

How do you deal with the inevitable creepy crawlies that venture into our domiciles? Do you squeal and run like I do? Or are you made or steelier materials than I?

Note: I tried to get a picture of it, but they're coming out blurry. Mainly because I'm too chicken to get close enough.

Besotted by Wednesdays 22-02-2012

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

I can’t be the only that doesn’t read the newspaper or watch the news on TV because I’m sick of hearing about all the dreadful things. I know that things happen in life, but that doesn’t mean I want to give energy to the bad things. I’d rather focus on the good and wonderful things that happen. Along comes ‘The Optimist’ to present you with news the way I think it should be.

There are times when I’m feeling very nostalgic and I think about things I used to see on TV when I was growing up. The old Cadbury Flake ad with the woman in the boat. Watching My Secret Valley. Being introduced to the Fourth Doctor. YouTube helps a lot, but what if you’re not looking for anything specific, just something from a certain year? Enter, the YouTube Time Machine.

Got a painting project coming up but need help with your inspiration? Colortopia can sort you out. You can upload a photo of your inspiration, or answer a few questions to get colour suggestions.

I love my books. I love reading them several times over. Imagine my shock when I learnt that there are people who only read a book once (‘I’ve already read it, why do I need to read it again?’) or worse, don’t even buy books? They just use the library! Not saying that there’s anything wrong with the library, but to not buy books at all? Well, apparently they’re missing out on some health benefits from only reading a book once.

Warwick Davis has done some amazing work. I first saw him in Willow and I was excited to be able to show him to my daughter when we did the Harry Potter movies. He put out an invitation on his Twitter account to ask him anything and he will answer it. His answers show us his wonderful sense of humour.

Trompe-L’oeil pictures trick us into seeing something that isn’t real. Usually on walls that show us a room, or open area that couldn’t possibly be there but looks so real or mind has trouble believing it’s just a flat area. Couture Deco have these amazing Trompe L’oeil door stickers. So many to choose from, it’s almost hard to decide...

Most people love Superheroes. Generally they have a favourite as well. They help dish out justice in whatever way they can and the town/city/village can feel safe again. They seem immutable. Always going to be there, always going to be the bad guy, always going to help us. Always is a long time though and people age. Even if they have superpowers. A gallery on Behance shows us what it might be like when that day comes.

Food, glorious and wonderful

I’ll tell anyone that I love my food. I don’t stress whether or not something is ‘fattening’ or ‘bad for me’. Everything is bad for you if you’re stupid about it. Eat in moderation. Don’t eat more than your fill. All that jazz. Not much can put me off my food either. I remember in high school while eating some musk lollies, a friend told me that musk is scraped off deer testicles.


‘Fascinating’ I said as I popped another musk flavoured lolly in my mouth.


I don’t see myself as ‘picky’ about my food, although I suppose I am. In a way that I’m about to contradict myself. I know people that are super picky about things. Like they’ll only eat such-and-such brand of chocolate. Or won’t eat something made from a particular country (yes, that’s true).


As long as I’m happy with the taste, I’m not going to worry about brands or country.


That being said though, I don’t like how food is being ‘fancied up’ (My made up term ) I like good, old-fashioned, regular ways of food. Meals that are bigger than a speck on my plate. Something that doesn’t look like I’m ruining an art sculpture. Added herbs and spices that don’t overwhelm.


Even cupcakes. Yeah, those cupcakes with the thick buttercream may look pretty in the store window, but (and I can’t be the only one) that much buttercream makes me want to puke. I enjoy icing that doesn’t make my throat spasm.


Would you prefer something that looks fantastic on display but is mediocre in taste, or would you rather keeps things simple and be in taste heaven?