Stupidity at the airport

[sprocket79]

"Oh yeah, sure. Just get back on the road, take a left at Ebay, keep going and turn right at Craigslist. Amazon is conveniently located between Google and Facebook."

Funnily enough, except for Amazon, all of the other companies you listed are relatively close to each other in the San Francisco Bay Area (Silicon Valley). Amazon is the odd man out, because they're in Seattle. Although, I think they do have some small offices in San Francisco and Santa Clara. Orbitz is in Chicago, in case anyone cares.

[EricKei]

Probably because it requires thinking, reading, following directions and paying attention to what you are doing, all of which are concepts a lot of people have difficulty with nowadays.

Case in point: I used to train people on accounting software packages and do tech support for them. The ratio of people to whom I had to slowly explain concepts like "Desktop" and "right mouse click" was positively frightening...And these are the people who are in control of their company's finances?

[Moirae]

Case in point: I used to train people on accounting software packages and do tech support for them. The ratio of people to whom I had to slowly explain concepts like "Desktop" and "right mouse click" was positively frightening...And these are the people who are in control of their company's finances?

I can go you one better. When I did tech support for Comcast, I had to replace a modem for a lady who dropped pop on her modem, filled the bathroom sink with water, dunked the electronics in "to clean it", then plugged it back in the wall and she was mad because it wouldn't work anymore. Yes, seriously. How anyone could EVER think that water and electricity mix I'll never know.

[Andara Bledin]

And these are the people who are in control of their company's finances?

Accounting is a lot of know-how that has nothing to do with computers.

Then again, you could be like whoever programmed the system we use and be amazing with computers and not know enough about accounting so that your program allows the people using it to do things that aren't actually legal with their books...

^-.-^

[Jester]

I love stories like this. Especially when I'm about to head back to Phoenix for a nice vacation, and while a car is required to get about Phoenix, I won't have to rent one, because my friends have an extra one they always let me use. Phoenix equals no rental cars and no hotels for this guy. (Which is why I'm able to afford a nice ten day vacay there!)

Customer, it's your money, why aren't you paying better attention where it's going?

I don't get why the internet is so hard for some people to use.

How anyone could EVER think that water and electricity mix I'll never know.

The answer to these and many more questions is really very simple:

People are STUPID. Really, really STUPID.

Just remember that the next time you start wondering how someone could do something so dumb.

It really is pretty self-evident when you think about it.

Accounting is a lot of know-how that has nothing to do with computers.

Then again, you could be like whoever programmed the system we use and be amazing with computers and not know enough about accounting so that your program allows the people using it to do things that aren't actually legal with their books...

Many people have talents in one field but not another one, even if it's related.

For example, I am a "Days of Thunder" driver. Just like the lead character in that movie, I am a damn good driver, and know what the hell I'm doing behind the wheel. However, if something goes wrong with the vehicle, I am forced to use very basic language to explain it to my mechanic, but it usually ends in "something's wrong with it, I don't know what." Which actually is how the conversation usually ends with my roommate whenever something goes wrong with my computer.

[dalesys]

...train people on accounting software ... slowly explain ... "Desktop" and "right mouse click" ... in control of their company's finances?

One mistake was using the term "Right". Accountants only know "towards the window = debit, away = credit."

[EricKei]

program allows the people using it to do things that aren't actually legal with their books...

^-.-^

Heh. But then, that's why you take it to the CPA once a year. His job is predicated upon making sure you're keeping things on the up-&-up ^_^ My job was supporting the progs; we didn't design them, tho i am still well-connected enough there to get design ideas pushed to the right people if need be (I am a "civilian mod" on their forums).

One mistake was using the term "Right". Accountants only know "towards the window = debit, away = credit."

Touche, Sir ^_^

One thing I did like about QB over PT (the only two accounting progs that compete at this level (bottom up thru SMB level): in QB, it is physically impossible to enter a true one-sided entry. The database would actually break if you could. It's possible to fudge it by manipulating double-entry txns in a very particular way, but the specifics on how to do so is well beyond what my pay grade was at the time.

PT makes it possible -- especially in the DOS versions (yes, enough people still use them to make supporting it viable) -- tho since about 2006 it became next to impossible, as this, too, would break the database. If you have a file that's been in used since before then, however (whyyyyyyyyy? -- PT cuts off transaction access after two fiscal years. There comes a point where you're better off starting a new file with only the last 2 fiscal years' worth of live data in it), these sorts of things can get grandfathered in. Even tho they will STILL break the database sooner or later if you poke around in the corresponding accounts.

Oh well. Having to know both did allow me to make really detailed recommendations on what to use ^_^

QB is easier to use (and MUCH more popular as a result, especially among non-CPA's), faster, is easier to make reports in, and is less prone to crapping out on you for no apparent reason. PT is a bit more robust as a program, it LOOKS like an old-school ledger book, and can do a few important things that QB cannot (Cash Basis, FIFO; more in-depth Job Costing). It's just that the database engine is more likely to lie down and die if the network so much as looks at it funny.

QB support calls tended to be either errors which were really Windows or network-related, or "how to I pay a Bill?" questions.

PT support calls tended more towards the "Hey, nobody can get in and I got this error that says 'Hahaha you Lusers, your data be proper fucked right about now'. What does that mean?" ... Being a computer geek, I actually preferred the latter. They took longer (paid by the minute, so call time wasn't a problem -- but yes I did try to get them done quickly anyway), and I got to the point where I no longer had to look up what most of the errors MEANT ...Which is kinda sad, come to think of it >_> (e.g.: error X: Rebuild the database. error Y: Tell that idiot in the corner to switch out of single-user mode and delete these helper files. error Z: Yes, your data is FUBAR (there are at least 2 error codes which mean literally that), here's the price chart to get it fixed...unless you actually *snort*guffaw* actually make regular backups, then you can just Restore that)

[Teefies2]

Hey Jester enjoy your vacay!

[Shalom]

EricKei, you've probably spoken to my father at some point. He's been using PT since oh, about 1989 or so. In fact, I was over at his house a couple weeks ago, and I saw that he still has the 5-1/4" install set on the shelf in his office. Never mind that he hasn't had a computer with a 5-1/4" floppy drive in ten years. I can't imagine what he wants that for.

That's what he used at larger clients; for smaller businesses or personal use, though, he preferred a DOS-based program called MoneyCounts. Great little piece of software, with the emphasis on little: the entire thing, executable and overlays, fits on a single 1.44MB floppy, and it does pretty near everything the big boys do, but for whatever reason it doesn't play nice with XP. I did get it running under DosBox, but I haven't figured out how to get it to save yet.

(Of course it's not Y2K compatible. This doesn't matter so long as you don't mind producing reports with dates like September 14, 19111.)

[earl colby pottinger]

My problem

Case in point: I used to train people on accounting software packages and do tech support for them. The ratio of people to whom I had to slowly explain concepts like "Desktop" and "right mouse click" was positively frightening...And these are the people who are in control of their company's finances?

People are not born naturally understanding computer terms that they have never learnt before. "Desktop" and "right mouse click" need to be explained sometime to people.

BBBBBUUUUUUTTTTT!

While doing computer-printer support when the printer does not print and if the error message panel says "Out of Toner" I am not surprised that I have to explain that toner is like ink. However, if the error message panel says "Out of Paper" why is it they still dont understand why the printer can not print? No paper means nothing to print on!

[mikoyan29]

Every time I get a new computer I have to ask where the punch cards go. Only to be told that computers haven't used punch cards in a long time. Damn, that means I need to get a newer copy of Star Trek.

[Geek King]

error Z: Yes, your data is FUBAR (there are at least 2 error codes which mean literally that), here's the price chart to get it fixed...unless you actually *snort*guffaw* actually make regular backups, then you can just Restore that)

I'm the guy who does all our backups at work. Trust me, even when you restore the data, the people who use the database will whine about the day or so (backups run for ~30 hours, so I run them every other day) of data they have to re-enter.

[EricKei]

Swerving back on topic briefly : I've used Orbitz before...well in advance of when I wanna go anywhere...and not had problems. That being said, If I wanna talk to them, I'll look up their # on the website, not try to drive to Chicago x.x

======================================

GK: These programs both have internal, *automatable* backup utilities that back up the data files/linked files such as reports, and nothing else. Unless the database is so huge that it takes 20+ seconds to login, db backups and restores should take no longer than 1-3 minutes, depending on network and computer speeds. By "so huge", I'm talking a 7-10 years of heavy use here, with a filesize in excess of half a gig...and yes, I once saw a user on PT 2002 with a file that large on maybe half a gig of RAM under XP. Not sure how it was even RUNNING PT at that point. On both programs, an "empty"/framework-only file with no data weighs in at 30-40mb, tops. FWIW, on both programs: 100 mb is "normal", less than that is "ideal". 200mb is "getting large". 250-400mb is "time to purge some data or start fresh". 500mb is "Wait, it's not corrupted yet?". 1GB is "The file is corrupted, you just don't know it yet" (this from the guy who wrote the ODB driver that outside progs use to access QB datasets). If using the high-end QB/PT ($1000+/user rather than $100-300/user), add ~50% to each size, but anything over a gig will still slow the uber-versions down and allow for corruption due to sheer bulk.

The most common PT error was probably "account does not foot" -- Translation: The running tally (like what you would write down in your checkbook ledger) does NOT match the actual calculated sum of the transactions in the account. This is a bad thing, but easy to fix. Much like finding that your Balance sheet is out of balance, this should be physically impossible within the db structure, and is a dead giveaway that something is wrong. It doesn't help that, when closing out a fiscal year in PT, an "OMG you are totally screwed! restore your backup NOWNOWNOW!"-level critical failure is always followed by the default Closeout screen that says "your Close completed successfully" >_< As of last fall's yearly release, this was still a known issue that causes MAJOR problems and data loss. The longer it takes to be detected, the worse it gets. Dead giveaway: The TXT file error log is several megs rather than a few dozen KB, and is filled with errors referencing nonexistent accounting Periods (months) like Period -1. The built in fixit tools can permanently hose a file, too >_<

The places that do Server backups often either did not know how to restore them (o_O) or decided to "restore" the accounting data by themselves, file by file, making things worse. Neither one uses "just one file" for their data, and the files are in different locations, you see...Leaving out one file can corrupt the whole thing, as they're interdependent. In geekery terms, EVERYTHING the user sees within an accounting program is the result of a Query that hits no fewer than 3 tables, and sometimes many more. If any one of those tables is missing, BAM! Daiiisyyyy Daaaiiiisyyyyy.......x.x

Shalom - to be fair, I send PT DOS users to our DOS lady ^_^ I think she's the only one in the country who does it anymore (she's technically a 1099 but the place where I worked has a contract that gives their calls priority). Note that PT DOS v11~13 run just fine on XP Pro.

[Andara Bledin]

I'm the guy who does all our backups at work. Trust me, even when you restore the data, the people who use the database will whine about the day or so (backups run for ~30 hours, so I run them every other day) of data they have to re-enter.

What a bunch of babies.

My company once lost about 2 weeks worth of data because the guy in charge of backups wasn't really getting them done when our system decided to eat it's own hard drive. >_<

It took us another week before we were current again.

^-.-^

[EricKei]

2 weeks worth of data

I considered my clients lucky and wise if they backed up the accounting data that often. Maybe 20% did it daily or weekly (based on volume), 60% one to 6 times a year, mayyyybe monthly, the rest: "Backup? What's a backup?" >_< or "The server guy does backups".

If a server backs up literally everything, fine. If not, these progs don't always store data files in commonly backed up folders...