My "real job" is helping folks solve their computer problems. I am a Tech Support Helpdesk (available at aplusca.com) and a repair technician. Writing Tech--for Everyone is a passion, but it does not generate my income, is my point.
I truly enjoy helping people, and I love solving puzzles. Troubleshooting is an art, and it's a challenge, and I actually get a kick when someone presents me with a new problem.
However, as I mentioned in my article on pebcak's, the problem usually turns out to be operator error, and this is due to the user not fully comprehending the technology they're using (they didn't read the manual). Because of this reality, I often wind up giving brief "how to" lessons, and not actually repairing a machine.
In a classic example of not understanding the technology, the other day, to help diagnose their machine, I asked a client to boot into "Safe Mode with networking" (a special, minimal version of Windows) and they replied, "but I am not networked."
Now, I understood that they were saying they only have one computer, but it illustrates a common public misconception-- just what is the Internet? It is one vast network, made up of my machine(s), your machine(s), and everyone else's machine(s). They "talk" to each other over the telephone lines.
Websites? They're just documents sitting on a machine that has been configured to be a "server" (no special trick); this "server" could be my old P-III that I keep in my basement, or a expensive model in a back room at GigantiCorp, or some hacker's laptop. Most of the time, they're pages stored on Hosting company's "servers", which they rent out to people.
So, yes-- if you go online you are "networked" -- with the servers at your ISP, and hundreds of thousands of machines (potentially) in every country on the globe. The Internet is populated with every type of person there is.. good, bad, and indifferent. Please, remember this, and practice safe surfing.
Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.
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