Annoying non-computery people

[Discus]

What is it with the stupid sarcastic additude that technophobes have whenever you say anything computer related?

Today at the swimming pool I noticed the E had scraped off the "Fast lane" sign, leaving "Fast lan", so jokingly I drew the attention of a bored spotty pool attendant and asked if it was gigabit, at which point she gave me a dense funny look and walked off.

More annoying is the number of people who won't use a computer because "Everytime they turn it on <insert spyware component here> appears". Then when you JUST SAY "You need to get a spyware removal tool" they start taking the piss out of you for apparently being a geek.

It really annoys me. People's attitude towards things they don't understand.

[RobW]

*Looks in annoyance at Astir and walks off.*

[Flibbo]

*nods in agreement with RobW*

[Dr S]

1.
You went swimming !?!?!?!

2.
Welcome to Pap ... you took a while, general really getting that bad ?

3.
Geek

[Ivanatinkle]

Mabey the girl didn't know what a gigabite was. But just so you still have some sanity and dignity left after all the flamming I found that joke funny, there I said it, happy now?

[mrikasu]

Ivanatinkle, it's gigabit, honestly!

Anyhoo, I tend to get the same response with people just laughing at what I say and saying I am a geek,

But hey, I respect that, computing as a hobby is not yet in the mainstream and you should expect to get the same response as talking to someone about new washing machine components. Sure, they all use them. But they don't give a shit how they work.

I do know what you mean about the sarcastic thing though, I guess that is how the media has told them to react. You don't see David Beckham using computers too often, therefore they are 100% uncool or something.

That doesn't matter though I like being a geek. Then I have geek parties and we all be geeky together etc...

PS. I did actually laugh at that Fast LAN thing.

[Lewiji]

Yeah, I get it occasionally too, but for some reason all of the chavs at my school mostly have an interest in two things: Skinnin' one and computers.
They all come to me when they have problems so I'm "safe" apparently. Of course I make them pay me :p

[Mittwoch]

Gah, I hate non-computary people. Whenever I mention anything at all 'geeky' at school, everyone talks over me. And if I even think 'PS2', I am labeled geek of the milennium. I do rather prefer the term 'socially challenged' :rolleyes: But if people listened to me, they could get all A's and stoof for project and whatnot. But NOOOOOOO, I am a geek. Nerds are better, but NOOOOO I am a geek. *walks off to secret underground lair, muttering about RAM*

[bionic sheep]

I am a geek and proud.

I wear my geek status like a medal.

Anyone who opposes my natural authority gets shouted down. Hey, you'd back down to in the face of such hopelessly technical words as "RAM! MEGABIT! LAN! USB! HUB! GEFORCE MX! SLAAAAAAAG!"

I am King Geek. Don't try and stop me.

[Discus]

I hate it when I say 'PS2' (i.e. P/S 2) to people and they immediately assume I mean the crappy games console and not the peripheral input device interface that it truly is.

[Discus]

(Double post - it won't allow me to edit for some reason)

GEforce MX?
- ARE YOU SICK???
*Opens side panel of case and caresses GEforce 6800*

[bionic sheep]

Yeah, Astir, I know.

I'm but a poor lad, and can only afford a MX 440. :(

If you would care to give me a decent one, I'd be in your debt. :p

[scram]

Computer jokes aren't funny.

And being tech savvy is like anything that requires a high degree of specialist knowledge. If I started talking about complex impedence and Fraunhoffer lines as if you should know about them then you would probably give me a funny look too.

If you're going to wear your geek badge, wear it with pride and don't get pissed at others.

[edit]Two cats on a sloped roof, which one falls off last? The one with the greatest mu.

Only physicists could ever find that funny. Well.... SOME physicists, personally I think it's shite.

Illustrates my point though.

[Dr S]

and you wonder why people call you a geek :p

[keep on rollin']

As Homer simpson so greatly put it, "there are two kinds of people in life, 'Jocks', and 'Nerds', as a Jock, it is my job to make nerds lifes a misery"....................."NERD!"

[weeblsmymum]

Today at the swimming pool I noticed the E had scraped off the "Fast lane" sign, leaving "Fast lan", so jokingly I drew the attention of a bored spotty pool attendant and asked if it was gigabit, at which point she gave me a dense funny look and walked off.


For a start, heeheeheeheeheee! What did you expect? :P

And secondly, you can't have a go at people purely for not being computer-pc!

[Discus]

Two cats on a sloped roof, which one falls off last? The one with the greatest mu.

Only physicists could ever find that funny. Well.... SOME physicists, personally I think it's shite.

Illustrates my point though.

Yay another physicist!
Coefficient of friction; friction acting is the coefficient of friction times the normal contact force.
I'm about to do a masters in physics with computer simulation, I'll be able to make people give me REALLY funny looks after that!

[scram]

It's times like this when I feel glad that I am finishing my course at the end of this year.

Then I'll be able to say something other than "I'm a Physics Student" when asked what I do, avoiding the looks which people give to stereotypical physicists.

On an "unrelated" note, you'll fit in nicely at uni.

Tally ho!

[Lionel]

I'm both a physicist and have a deep affection for computer usage. But I also love sports and captain the cricket team. Help! I'm suffering personality clash!

Am I a Nock or a Jerd?

To veer slightly more on-topic, I agree that there are some people who just can't wait to brand you as a geek. It's sad, but it shows that either they feel like they don't know enough, or they perhaps have had a bad incident with a techie. Also, technically-minded people can sometimes have a bit of a looking-down attitude on people who don't know what they're talking about. So it's a bit of a mixture...

[scram]

Am I a Nock or a Jerd?


You're a Nork.

[Lionel]

Aha! I finally feel like my life's got an aim! I have direction.

Hang on, that's a cheap shot...

:rolleyes:

[C T M]

Heh, I've been doing Computing Science at Uni for 3 years now, and in that time I've hardly talked to anyone about computers (and have actually become slightly less interested/knowledgeable about computers, but maybe in this, my final year, I can become a proper g33k again)...

I have a motorbike now too, and I had long hair till 2 weeks ago, so I bet a lot of people are suprised that I'm a geek just by looking at me. Sometimes I feel worthless because I forget how good I actually am with computers, and that I can be of some use to the world after all this 'studying' (I kid you not, I went to 3 lectures last term, and passed all my exams, though admittedly with crappy marks) crap is over. The boredom is making me seriously, clinically, depressed, and I'm on teh happeh pills now.

But seriously, expecting a pool attendant to laught at a joke about the Fast Lane being Fast LAN? I mean I may find that funny in my head but I wouldnt say it out loud unless I was with 1) A friend, and 2) Someone who knows what a LAN is... so that's my 2 flatmates or maybe 3 other people I know. And my brother. Meh. Sorry but I've learned to restrict my computery urges around mere mortals.

[TEX_Cougar]

I'd class myself as a geek, although i dont know a 'geekish' amount, i know more than most people i know (not here, my knowledge would be pwned :P) and sometimes help with their pc probs. I love computers!
I said to my ex girlfriend once 'i'm a geek' and she thought i was being hard on myself or something.

I started a thread about my parents knowing bugger all about computers, so i shall quote from it:
"Only 30 seconds ago did my stepdad come into the computer room asking what i was doing. I said 'erm, im on the computer' then he's like 'what are you doing? that keyboards messing up the tv'...
erm, ok, so this wireless keyboard is messing up the arial (which is under this desk).
Righto mate.
2 mins later (about 5 seconds ago) he says
" turn that computer off"
"what?? why??"
" i want to see something"
so i burst into a rant of explaining how im on the pc all the time and how its never affected the telly before. Now as i look round, he's moving the tv about, alo and behold, clear signal. Loose arial....

yet, its not good enough. As im typing this he's insisting i turn off the pc.
His stupidity is making me want to cry with fustration."

Its not peoples lack of knowledge that irritates me, its peoples stupid assumptions and lack of common sense that annoys me :(

[DarkTrojan]

There are people out there who don't understand geek jokes? Oh shi...


BTW nice mu joke, scram :D

[flapjackboy]

yet, its not good enough. As im typing this he's insisting i turn off the pc.
His stupidity is making me want to cry with fustration."

Its not peoples lack of knowledge that irritates me, its peoples stupid assumptions and lack of common sense that annoys me :(

Gaaah! Starfish logic. TV signal is bad + someone using wireless keyboard = computer's fault that I can't watch my progrgam.

Tell him to turn the TV off as it's interfering with your wireless keyboard. It's got no more basis in reality than his assertion that the keyboard is affecting the TV, but it'd be good to see the look on his face as he tries to figure that one out... :twisted:

[Lionel]

Heh...whenever my mum's computer doesn't work, e.g. doesn't connect up to broadband immediately, or as fast as last time, she comes over and tells me that I've been fiddling with it. Even when I haven't been around for a couple of months. She just won't accept that sometimes ADSL connection is slow because of the other end, or because there are lots of people using it, or because the cable modem is cold (okay, maybe not).

It gets to me, because she's attacking me for knowing more, without trying to learn more herself! And she categorically won't accept my explanations. For her, ADSL taking 30 seconds longer to connect means it's broken. Strange, huh?

But we should really have patience and just let them see and find out that computing stuff breaks. It took 17 years for my mum to accept that there is such a thing as getting irritation in the gums from eating apples and stop forcing me to eat them. Patience!

[littlefirework]

μ, Scram ;)

I've been on both sides of this issue. When assisting others, I don't know what is worse: someone who is afraid to touch anything for fear of breaking it, or someone who plows through everything with no regard for the damage done. I suppose that's a testament to my impatience, which also makes those trying to assist me insane.

[Discus]

Well, thanks for the consolation guys.
Though even more consolation for ANYONE starting uni, is that Jim (i.e. Jimjimjimjimjim, weebls-stuff general co-mod section with me, and a work and college collogue and a friend for 3 years) has been in touch with me recently and is actually getting along really well with and SOCIALISING with his hall mates at uni.
I mean JIM???? SOCIALISING???? TALKING TO PEOPLE???
99.9% of people get nothing but a grunt from Jim after attempting conversation and never try again. I was one of the 0.1%.
Well there you go. I've no longer got ANY worries about fitting in at Uni.

[MONKEY050]

I must admit, I too, am a computer geek, except half the time I don't show it here. I know all about the gabblegafs and booglyders and .... OK so that makes me sound like i know nothing bout computers, but I do. I animate with MX, do HTML (HyperText Markup Language), and blabblyblah. I do too much with computers. In fact, I know so much about computers that I finally figured out how to hook up a CompactFlash card reader to my brain so that i can fix my bad memory.

edit- I always get annoyed when I help my parents with the computer and they don't remember how to do things the first time I teach them. Yarr. :yarr:

[FishHeadMonkey]

For her, ADSL taking 30 seconds longer to connect means it's broken. Strange, huh?

Yeah, similar thing with my dad. we have Tiscali broadband. What he thinks must happen is for there to be a shortcut to Tiscali Broadband on the desktop, and when you double-click it, an internet explorer window opens, and a smaller window opens giving you the option to connect. Often, when I double-click that shortcut, the smaller window doesn't open, so I think 'Dad's not going to be happy about this, but he probably won't find out about it for ages', and I click Start, connect to, Tiscali Broadband. (The reason he won't find out is because he rarely uses the internet). When he does find out, he starts shouting and swearing about how we kids can't leave the f**king thing alone for 5 minutes without f**king it up, and how he's going to take the f**king thing away if it goes wrong one more time. Once, one of us showed him how to connect without the small window, and he said 'well it's not supposed to connect that way, it's supposed to connect with the small window'. Once, one of us had changed the home page to hotmail.com, so when he next used it he said 'where's tiscali.com? which one of you f**king kids has f**ked this up again?'. Every time it doesn't connect 'properly' or comes up with something other than tiscali.com, he reinstalls it, which takes ages, then says that he's not going to do it again (though he always does). Last time he reinstalled it, he had forgotten the password. Fortunately, I have a sponge-like brain, so I told him the password, and everyone was happy. For some reason, the small window has appeared every time since my sister left for uni, so I wonder who's fault it is?

If I explained this to my mum, she would probably ask if I was cold and offer to get me a fleece or close the window.

[Discus]

Wow, you're dad sounds like a really really nice guy :rolleyes:.
My stepdad just agrees with me everything I tell him about computers.
My mum tries to disagree for as long as possible, even when blatently proved wrong.
And ad-aware finds 300 new spyware components everytime my sisters been on.
BUT I've just bought my own PC that NO ONE ELSE WILL TOUCH.

[Ant2oo4]

Non-Computery people are OK, except the ones who won't accept that they are wrong.
Sometimes I'm trying to explain something to someone and half way through they start getting angry and end telling me to leave them alone because "my way isn't right"

Another things is trying to explain things to Non-Computery people.
One time I was drawing a picture in photoshop which had about 60 layers, I was half way through it and my mother says I have to turn the computer off for some reason or another. So I said to her "but I'm doing a pciture, let me finish it" but she just replies with "no, just save it"
So I spent about 15 minutes explaining that if I save the picture, all the layers will merge into one and fuck up my picture, but she just wouldn't have it! She kept on arguing, saying that it was bullshit. I ended up ignoring her and finishing the picture anyway though :p

[pebble_rebel]

60 layers wow :notworthy
i learnt that lesson too late, i saved an image (happened to be important geography coursework id spent the last hour making) because my computer was getting really slow, and i couldnt find the flush ram button anywhere.

what really pisses me off was when i ended up teaching half my gcses art class how to use photoshop while the ict teacher showed kids the wonders of paint :rolleyes: . education these days. and i go to a technology school as well!!

[RobW]

Once my screen name was:
"And Michael was the only one who laughed when someone wrote <tr></tr> on the school desk."
No-one laughed.

[Playbus]

There are 10 types of people in the world ---- those who understand binary, and those who don't.

It is my job to be a geek.

Where I work, most of the people love computers and technology, but somehow don't at all understand it.

It's great :twisted:

[Beef Magic]

I hate it when I say 'PS2' (i.e. P/S 2) to people and they immediately assume I mean the crappy games console and not the peripheral input device interface that it truly is.


Oh do leave off. I think Sony's fine console is a bit more well known than a computer port. To combat this, say "PS2 port" in future.

[Discus]

PS2's FINE CONSOLE?

CONSOLE AND FINE IN THE SAME SENTENCE?
How much have you had to drink this evening?

*Again, second time in this thread, opens case and caresses GEForce 6800*

[Mittwoch]

PS2's FINE CONSOLE?

CONSOLE AND FINE IN THE SAME SENTENCE?
How much have you had to drink this evening?

*Again, second time in this thread, opens case and caresses GEForce 6800*

CONSOLE WAR! *draws a big, sharp sword*

[Lewiji]

No, I believe it's a general PC vs console debate :p

And ant, if you save in .psd (photoshop's native format) it will save layer data-I'm pretty sure there's an option to retain raster layers in png's, too.

[Snay]

My computing teachers pretty un-computor-ish. He keeps getting pissed off when I correct him. Its his own fault though. He always forgets his notes, and instead of going back t get them, he just makes it up...
He said that a gigabit was 1000 megabits, but 512megabits are half a gigabit :rolleyes:
To this day, we still dont know what a gigabit is.

[sidneylopsides]

A gigbit would be 1073741824 bits
1kilobit = 1024 bits
1megabit = 1024*1024bits=1048576 bits
1 gigabit = 1024*1024*1024 bits = 1073741824 bits



I get this computer illiterate numpty type at work alot, we sell off the shelve pcs to people who have no idea, and they bring them back after a month or two demanding a refund or a new pc because theirs is "going slow". You ask them if they have being running anything to stop spyware, and they tell you "Well it came with norton"
Trying to explain is usually just gets you abuse as you are trying to fob them off or just don't want to deal with it, are talking shit etc. Just becase they don't know anything about it makes them assume niether do you, or that you know even less.
When ever I sell a new pc now I give them a list of programs to download it they plan to go on the internet, including SB S&D, Ad-aware and firefox (IE is still pants).
This has helped on a couple of occasions, where sometime later they have come back for something else and told me how much stuff was already on before they ran the software, and thanked me for it.
The other side of it is people who come in asking for advice on a pc, digital camera and printer, and at nearly everything you say they give you the funny look, even when you are breaking it down to "The processor is like it's brain" you get "thats too technical for me". Thats why I still belive you should have to pass a basic test to own a computer, one that teaches you about how they work rather than how to edit a database. Maybe everyone should be forced to start on DOS?
On a side note, one thing at my work that doesn't help is the information the company gives on it's products, go have a look in a Comet store, or even the website, and read some of the info on monitors, and check the PC guide, you'll have a good laugh at thier explanation of graphics cards. I have tried repeatedly to sort this out for them, but no one wants to listen :rolleyes:
Also, notice that all our pcs come with ram measured in Mb ;)

[Wilson]

A gigbit would be 1073741824 bits
1kilobit = 1024 bits
1megabit = 1024*1024bits=1048576 bits
1 gigabit = 1024*1024*1024 bits = 1073741824 bits



I get this computer illiterate numpty type at work alot, we sell off the shelve pcs to people who have no idea, and they bring them back after a month or two demanding a refund or a new pc because theirs is "going slow". You ask them if they have being running anything to stop spyware, and they tell you "Well it came with norton"
Trying to explain is usually just gets you abuse as you are trying to fob them off or just don't want to deal with it, are talking shit etc. Just becase they don't know anything about it makes them assume niether do you, or that you know even less.
When ever I sell a new pc now I give them a list of programs to download it they plan to go on the internet, including SB S&D, Ad-aware and firefox (IE is still pants).
This has helped on a couple of occasions, where sometime later they have come back for something else and told me how much stuff was already on before they ran the software, and thanked me for it.
The other side of it is people who come in asking for advice on a pc, digital camera and printer, and at nearly everything you say they give you the funny look, even when you are breaking it down to "The processor is like it's brain" you get "thats too technical for me". Thats why I still belive you should have to pass a basic test to own a computer, one that teaches you about how they work rather than how to edit a database. Maybe everyone should be forced to start on DOS?
On a side note, one thing at my work that doesn't help is the information the company gives on it's products, go have a look in a Comet store, or even the website, and read some of the info on monitors, and check the PC guide, you'll have a good laugh at thier explanation of graphics cards. I have tried repeatedly to sort this out for them, but no one wants to listen :rolleyes:
Also, notice that all our pcs come with ram measured in Mb ;)

Amen. It's so frustrating to teach some people about the difference between anti-virus and anti-spy/adware software as it is; it'd probably make me go insane to try explaining it to people complaining that a computer they bought from a store I work at is running too slow.

[Seraph]

I spend alot of my time on this PC.

I spend pretty much the majority of my day on here.

The only people that know that are:


1) Some of you forum people

2) My Family

3) My Boyfriend

4) About 2 of my friends


The only people from there that think im a Geek are my friends, and my family.

I take being called a Geek, a comment.


Them - 'How do you do this and this on this? Ive spent hours and I cant figure it out.'

Me - 'This and this! There!'

Them - 'Geek!'


Are they jealous?

If they werent jealous, why would they care enough to waste their breath calling me a Geek?

Because I spend mass amounts on time on here and have a larger knowledge about computers? There isnt anything wrong with that.

In fact, since i spend so much time on here, I have made loads of money with the Web Design business I started.

Had i never spent so much time on here, and gained so much experience teaching myself various things, I wouldnt be where I am today.


I think people calling people Geeks, Nerds, Etc are just like people calling others Couch Potatos for sitting and watching TV. Doesnt stop people from sitting and watching TV does it?

The difference between being a Geek and a Couch potato tho, is the fact that Couch Potatos tend to sit still and watch TV... or sit, eat and watch.

Geeks, or just people that spend alot of time on their computer, can multi-task.

Listen to Music, Talk to friends, do homework, research, learn about things, draw, design, shop, read the headlines and local news, etc etc etc - all from one little box.. Its such a big world on the Internet, but the people that dont know much about computers just see the back of your head all the time and automatically assume you are just lazy sitting there - Even tho your brain is actually working very hard to do that many things at the same time.

[C T M]

No, I believe it's a general PC vs console debate :p

And ant, if you save in .psd (photoshop's native format) it will save layer data-I'm pretty sure there's an option to retain raster layers in png's, too.

Yeah I was going to say that too. I mean, I hardly ever do graphics stuff but even I knew that :s Some people in here aren't geeky/sensible enough.

And I love the ironic ambiguousity of this thread's title :) eg "how to annoy non-computery people", or "non-computery people are annoying". Both are relevant to the first post :p

Listen to Music, Talk to friends, do homework, research, learn about things, draw, design, shop, read the headlines and local news, etc etc etc - all from one little box.. Its such a big world on the Internet, but the people that dont know much about computers just see the back of your head all the time and automatically assume you are just lazy sitting there - Even tho your brain is actually working very hard to do that many things at the same time.

You can still be lazy while using a computer. I personally never check the news, and only watched the news today because everything else on TV is crap (hardly ever watch TV anymore, unless I go home and can watch Touring Cars/Extreme/MTV2 on Sky \o/ ). And apart from listening to music you're not really doing more than 1 thing at once there, unless you're talking to your friend over a microphone while drawing or something... meh. And if you want to use your brain more then it would probably be better to go to the library... the internet simplifies a lot of stuff like writing essays (ability to delete things easily, spell-checker), and doing research (google! yay).

I agree that a lot of people will be jealous of your knowledge of computers though, but a lot will find it genuinely sad, just like I find trainspotters or lawyers sad - it just depends what you're interested in really :p

[Seraph]

You can still be lazy while using a computer. I personally never check the news, and only watched the news today because everything else on TV is crap (hardly ever watch TV anymore, unless I go home and can watch Touring Cars/Extreme/MTV2 on Sky \o/ ). And apart from listening to music you're not really doing more than 1 thing at once there, unless you're talking to your friend over a microphone while drawing or something... meh. And if you want to use your brain more then it would probably be better to go to the library... the internet simplifies a lot of stuff like writing essays (ability to delete things easily, spell-checker), and doing research (google! yay).



I was just naming things that I do while im on the Internet! :p

I wouldnt think everyone would be doing what I do. I used myself as an example!

What I was trying to get across is, being on the Computer doesnt mean you are lazy. Im not lazy. I weight train and run miles before I settle down on the computer for the night. I also work a 38 hour p/w job, and own my own Web Design business (altho small, still time consuming as I do all the business and design and actual making of each website myself).

Alot of my friends automatically think I am lazy because of the amount of time I spend on my PC... .. Spare time, Nights, Mornings, whatever (Geek-like) - but my lifestyle is not lazy.

[Coach_lmc]

I'm glad the people at my school don't mind geekyness. At least most of them don't. My friends and I all have a hiarchy of 1337ness, since all 9 of us are the only geeks. It's fun, I am the Uber1337, which is pretty much master of us all, then there is 1337er, 1337, Somewhat 1337, n00b, Ubern00b.

As far as my class goes, nobody cares, they come to me in their time of need and I help them, I've ended up doing it a lot. Gone to students and techers house to fix their home comp for generally 30 bucks. Just helping when the class is doing a project on the school laptops.

Then again I try to keep well rounded, I go to games and do some sporty stuff but I still am a geek and proud of it. The last jock who made fun of my friends and I ended up having a mysterious computer crash while on the internet at home :angel: .

If anything most people at our school envy our skill, even the jocks, which is an advantage to going to a small school.

[FishHeadMonkey]

IE is still pants

Yeah, but if I downloaded firefox, my dad would probably say that I broke internet explorer.


I'm pretty sure there's an option to retain raster layers in png's, too.

Sorry, gonna have to do this one:
Why would you want to retain rastafarian layers?

[Discus]

I could never work as tech support.
I'd go insane, "It's a serial advanced technology attachement that needs to be set up on a raid-0. WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?"

I never build computers for people (as a favour) anymore either; they come back crying to you saying you 'did something wrong' because a pop-up ads to doubleclick.net and hornyfucks.com appear everytime they turn their computer on. :rolleyes:

[sidneylopsides]

One of the guys I work for used to be a tech for a small pc company, he replaced a PSU for one of the other guys who used to work where we are now, it had suffered from a lightning strike. Since then ( about 2 years) every time he thinks something has gone wrong, he blams the guy who replaced the PSU. :rolleyes: