#tech-support — Public Fediverse posts

Ah, the groundbreaking "Tidal AI Policy" — a riveting masterpiece revealing the shocking secret to accessing tidal.com: just turn on JavaScript and disable your pesky ad blocker. 😱🤖 Because clearly, the best way to advance AI is to redefine tech support as a cutting-edge policy. 🧠💡
https://tidal.com/ai-policy #TidalAIPolicy #JavaScriptAdBlocker #TechSupport #AIAdvancements #TidalComSecrets #HackerNews #ngated

Ah, the groundbreaking "Tidal AI Policy" — a riveting masterpiece revealing the shocking secret to accessing tidal.com: just turn on JavaScript and disable your pesky ad blocker. 😱🤖 Because clearly, the best way to advance AI is to redefine tech support as a cutting-edge policy. 🧠💡
https://tidal.com/ai-policy #TidalAIPolicy #JavaScriptAdBlocker #TechSupport #AIAdvancements #TidalComSecrets #HackerNews #ngated

Just found out what happened with #Mullvad. Considering that I've heard #Proton is also on the fritz, is there anything facist going on over at #IVPN? I've been a longtime Mullvad user but I will drop any company that uses my money for Facism.

I am experiencing this with #OpenZFS

➜  ~ sudo zpool status -x
  pool: ughetto
 state: DEGRADED
status: One or more devices could not be used because the label is missing or
        invalid.  Sufficient replicas exist for the pool to continue
        functioning in a degraded state.
action: Replace the device using 'zpool replace'.
   see: https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/msg/ZFS-8000-4J
  scan: scrub in progress since Sat Jun 27 18:44:31 2026
        141G / 141G scanned, 11.8G / 141G issued at 184M/s
        0B repaired, 8.39% done, 00:12:00 to go
config:

        NAME                    STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
        ughetto                 DEGRADED     0     0     0
          mirror-0              DEGRADED     0     0     0
            653332104939013944  UNAVAIL      0     0     0  was /dev/sdb1
            sdc                 ONLINE       0     0     0
        cache
          sda                   FAULTED      0     0     0  corrupted data

errors: No known data errors

This has already happened, but at a point where I didn’t mind losing the data, so I destroyed the pool and I recreated it from scratch, with no errors. Now, I would like to try to repair the corrupted data… Any tips? I would hate it if I have to throw away the hard disk, it’s less than one year old and I have been using it only for a couple of months… Is replacing the disk my only option?

#ZFS #systemAdministration #help #sysAd #techSupport #dataLoss #storage #partition #hardDisk #HDD #Linux #filesystem #data #storage

I am experiencing this with #OpenZFS

➜  ~ sudo zpool status -x
  pool: ughetto
 state: DEGRADED
status: One or more devices could not be used because the label is missing or
        invalid.  Sufficient replicas exist for the pool to continue
        functioning in a degraded state.
action: Replace the device using 'zpool replace'.
   see: https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/msg/ZFS-8000-4J
  scan: scrub in progress since Sat Jun 27 18:44:31 2026
        141G / 141G scanned, 11.8G / 141G issued at 184M/s
        0B repaired, 8.39% done, 00:12:00 to go
config:

        NAME                    STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
        ughetto                 DEGRADED     0     0     0
          mirror-0              DEGRADED     0     0     0
            653332104939013944  UNAVAIL      0     0     0  was /dev/sdb1
            sdc                 ONLINE       0     0     0
        cache
          sda                   FAULTED      0     0     0  corrupted data

errors: No known data errors

This has already happened, but at a point where I didn’t mind losing the data, so I destroyed the pool and I recreated it from scratch, with no errors. Now, I would like to try to repair the corrupted data… Any tips? I would hate it if I have to throw away the hard disk, it’s less than one year old and I have been using it only for a couple of months… Is replacing the disk my only option?

#ZFS #systemAdministration #help #sysAd #techSupport #dataLoss #storage #partition #hardDisk #HDD #Linux #filesystem #data #storage

Kennt jemand ne Person/ne Stelle in Berlin wo man nen AM4 Mainboard/CPU testen kann?

Mein PC geht seit paar Tagen nicht mehr an,
laut Status LED beim CPU Initialisieren.

CPU neu einsetzen, anderer RAM/nur einzelne Slots, Mainboard Batterie raus rein, BIOS neu flaschen.
Alles nicht geholfen, bleibt beier CPU Status LED hängen...

und würde gerne wissen ob wirklich mein Ryzen 3900 einfach so aufgegeben hat oder mein Asus B550 Mainboard :/
Oder wer noch Tips?
#PC #reperatur #repaircafe #TechSupport #AMD #Asus

Kennt jemand ne Person/ne Stelle in Berlin wo man nen AM4 Mainboard/CPU testen kann?

Mein PC geht seit paar Tagen nicht mehr an,
laut Status LED beim CPU Initialisieren.

CPU neu einsetzen, anderer RAM/nur einzelne Slots, Mainboard Batterie raus rein, BIOS neu flaschen.
Alles nicht geholfen, bleibt beier CPU Status LED hängen...

und würde gerne wissen ob wirklich mein Ryzen 3900 einfach so aufgegeben hat oder mein Asus B550 Mainboard :/
Oder wer noch Tips?
#PC #reperatur #repaircafe #TechSupport #AMD #Asus

SCC Technical Assistance Program

https://nerocam.com/scc_tap.asp

#HackerNews #SCC #Technical #Assistance #Program #techsupport #innovation #communitydevelopment #assistanceprogram

SCC Technical Assistance Program

https://nerocam.com/scc_tap.asp

#HackerNews #SCC #Technical #Assistance #Program #techsupport #innovation #communitydevelopment #assistanceprogram

“Bob, my printer quality is low. Please come fix it.”

I drove to the client’s office. It’s a small business, about a dozen employees. The VP fills multiple rolls, something that you’ll understand if you’re in a small business yourself. She’s Head of HR, and also Senior Accountant. When I got there, she said, “I can’t print the employee insurance cards. Look at this mess. They’re illegible.”

Thanks, Delta Dental, for issuing insurance “cards” as PDF files where the text on the back of the cards is in about 3-point font. Love you for that.

Anyway, to start, the black toner on the laser printer was out. She replaced it with a toner cartridge that was OPEN, out of its wrapper, laying on a counter. When the first cartridge was installed, the printer had a “low toner” message. With the replacement cartridge, the one that was already open, it showed zero black toner. Now it wouldn’t print the insurance cards at all.

She looked around and found a box with new toner cartridges in it. All four: black, magenta, cyan, yellow. The box still had the form fitting Styrofoam package filler, and each toner cartridge was sealed in plastic. I thought, “Now we’re getting somewhere!” But no. No, we were not getting closer to a solution.

We put the new black toner cartridge in the printer, closed the top, and the LCD screen said, “Insert the black toner cartridge.” It didn’t even recognize it. Can you guess now? They bought a box of off-brand of toner cartridges to save money.

I said, “Okay, there’s nothing more to do here until you get good toner cartridges. I recommend sticking with the manufacturer’s cartridges for the most reliable print quality.”

The VP said, “Those cost too much! I’m not paying for those cartridges!”

So I didn’t fix the company’s printer problem, and I’m fine with that. I correctly diagnosed the problem and prescribed an effective cure.

There comes a point when you can’t blame your problems on Tech Support. You have to own your decisions. It’s your responsibility when you decide that you won’t take action, or won’t spend money on proper repairs.

THIRTY MINUTES LATER...
While I was working on a different problem for one of the other people, about thirty minutes later the VP came out of her office and said, “I just ordered two brand-name black toner cartridges. They’ll be here Monday.”

She just had to mull it over for awhile, I guess, and wrap her head around the idea that quality is worth paying for, if it brings the desired results.

THE LESSON
It’s not always about fixing the technology. Sometimes, it’s about fixing the decision maker.

#CallMeIfYouNeedMe #FIFONetworks +1 206-465-2422

#email #TechSupport #HelpDesk

Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom – VoIP

“Bob, my printer quality is low. Please come fix it.”

I drove to the client’s office. It’s a small business, about a dozen employees. The VP fills multiple rolls, something that you’ll understand if you’re in a small business yourself. She’s Head of HR, and also Senior Accountant. When I got there, she said, “I can’t print the employee insurance cards. Look at this mess. They’re illegible.”

Thanks, Delta Dental, for issuing insurance “cards” as PDF files where the text on the back of the cards is in about 3-point font. Love you for that.

Anyway, to start, the black toner on the laser printer was out. She replaced it with a toner cartridge that was OPEN, out of its wrapper, laying on a counter. When the first cartridge was installed, the printer had a “low toner” message. With the replacement cartridge, the one that was already open, it showed zero black toner. Now it wouldn’t print the insurance cards at all.

She looked around and found a box with new toner cartridges in it. All four: black, magenta, cyan, yellow. The box still had the form fitting Styrofoam package filler, and each toner cartridge was sealed in plastic. I thought, “Now we’re getting somewhere!” But no. No, we were not getting closer to a solution.

We put the new black toner cartridge in the printer, closed the top, and the LCD screen said, “Insert the black toner cartridge.” It didn’t even recognize it. Can you guess now? They bought a box of off-brand of toner cartridges to save money.

I said, “Okay, there’s nothing more to do here until you get good toner cartridges. I recommend sticking with the manufacturer’s cartridges for the most reliable print quality.”

The VP said, “Those cost too much! I’m not paying for those cartridges!”

So I didn’t fix the company’s printer problem, and I’m fine with that. I correctly diagnosed the problem and prescribed an effective cure.

There comes a point when you can’t blame your problems on Tech Support. You have to own your decisions. It’s your responsibility when you decide that you won’t take action, or won’t spend money on proper repairs.

THIRTY MINUTES LATER...
While I was working on a different problem for one of the other people, about thirty minutes later the VP came out of her office and said, “I just ordered two brand-name black toner cartridges. They’ll be here Monday.”

She just had to mull it over for awhile, I guess, and wrap her head around the idea that quality is worth paying for, if it brings the desired results.

THE LESSON
It’s not always about fixing the technology. Sometimes, it’s about fixing the decision maker.

#CallMeIfYouNeedMe #FIFONetworks +1 206-465-2422

#email #TechSupport #HelpDesk

Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom – VoIP

“Bob, one of my employees can send email from his iPhone, but he’s not receiving any emails.”

Well, that’s backwards – usually I see problems the other way around; they can receive, but not send.

I tried working with him on a phone call yesterday morning, but when you can’t see the screen, tech support is more difficult. The client’s main business location is in a town less than an hour from my office, so I went to their location after lunch to work on it in person.

Oh, so many details were left out! It turned out that he wasn’t receiving emails on his iPhone, his iPad, or his laptop – but he could send from the phone and the laptop.

And... the problem started in March, and was continuous from then until now!

Okay. First things first. Let’s log into Outlook on the web and see whether that works. I’m starting to have a hunch that I’ve seen this problem before, with other clients.

Outlook on the web looks the same. So I went into the Rules settings, and there was the culprit. The rule was named “....” That’s it, the only rule, and the rule name was just four dots. I clicked the drop-down arrow to expand the rule. And the rule said, on incoming mail, move it to the Deleted Items folder and mark it as read! So he was receiving email all along, he just didn’t know it.

I looked in the Deleted Items folder, and there were more than 1,300 messages, including my two test emails from earlier in the day. I moved everything back to the Inbox.

Here’s what happened. In March someone had started sending email pretending to be this employee. He changed his email password, and the outbound spam stopped. That’s all the company did. They thought the problem was solved.

Well, that locked the cybercriminal out, but it didn’t delete the rule that the cybercriminal had created to cover their activity. That rule didn’t get deleted until yesterday, June 24.

THE LESSON
If you believe your email has been compromised, after securing your account, log into each device, and especially the web instance, and look for rules you didn’t create. If a device was compromised, the malicious rule may be in Outlook’s rules on the device. This scenario can also happen in other email apps, like Thunderbird, and in other web-based email accounts, like Gmail. Whether it’s web-based or app-based, look for rules or filters that you were unaware of, and delete them.

#CallMeIfYouNeedMe #FIFONetworks

#email #TechSupport #HelpDesk

Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom – VoIP

“Bob, one of my employees can send email from his iPhone, but he’s not receiving any emails.”

Well, that’s backwards – usually I see problems the other way around; they can receive, but not send.

I tried working with him on a phone call yesterday morning, but when you can’t see the screen, tech support is more difficult. The client’s main business location is in a town less than an hour from my office, so I went to their location after lunch to work on it in person.

Oh, so many details were left out! It turned out that he wasn’t receiving emails on his iPhone, his iPad, or his laptop – but he could send from the phone and the laptop.

And... the problem started in March, and was continuous from then until now!

Okay. First things first. Let’s log into Outlook on the web and see whether that works. I’m starting to have a hunch that I’ve seen this problem before, with other clients.

Outlook on the web looks the same. So I went into the Rules settings, and there was the culprit. The rule was named “....” That’s it, the only rule, and the rule name was just four dots. I clicked the drop-down arrow to expand the rule. And the rule said, on incoming mail, move it to the Deleted Items folder and mark it as read! So he was receiving email all along, he just didn’t know it.

I looked in the Deleted Items folder, and there were more than 1,300 messages, including my two test emails from earlier in the day. I moved everything back to the Inbox.

Here’s what happened. In March someone had started sending email pretending to be this employee. He changed his email password, and the outbound spam stopped. That’s all the company did. They thought the problem was solved.

Well, that locked the cybercriminal out, but it didn’t delete the rule that the cybercriminal had created to cover their activity. That rule didn’t get deleted until yesterday, June 24.

THE LESSON
If you believe your email has been compromised, after securing your account, log into each device, and especially the web instance, and look for rules you didn’t create. If a device was compromised, the malicious rule may be in Outlook’s rules on the device. This scenario can also happen in other email apps, like Thunderbird, and in other web-based email accounts, like Gmail. Whether it’s web-based or app-based, look for rules or filters that you were unaware of, and delete them.

#CallMeIfYouNeedMe #FIFONetworks

#email #TechSupport #HelpDesk

Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom – VoIP

I have been having trouble with #Ghost on #YunoHost, and it has been causing me headaches for weeks.

I cannot upgrade to any version after 6.22.1~ynh1, but I must, because there are critical vulnerabilities patches in following versions.

Can anyone please help or give me tips on how to troubleshoot this? Here is the GitHub issue I opened about it.

Thank you in advance 🌻

Cc: @yunohost

#sysAd #Linux #database #MariaDB #MySQL #SQL #systemAdministration #server #selfHosting #techSupport #help

I have been having trouble with #Ghost on #YunoHost, and it has been causing me headaches for weeks.

I cannot upgrade to any version after 6.22.1~ynh1, but I must, because there are critical vulnerabilities patches in following versions.

Can anyone please help or give me tips on how to troubleshoot this? Here is the GitHub issue I opened about it.

Thank you in advance 🌻

Cc: @yunohost

#sysAd #Linux #database #MariaDB #MySQL #SQL #systemAdministration #server #selfHosting #techSupport #help

A reminder: please check the computers belonging to your elderly-but-computer-using #relatives. Ensure there aren't digital nasties on there. And when I say "check", I mean look yourself, don't just ask the #relative about it.

With age, people tend to lose some of their mental #sharpness, but it's not just poor memory or fuzzy thinking. They seem to lose some critical #thinking skills, and become more #trusting than they should, or more naive. I think this is what makes older folk the favourite targets of #scammers.

Yesterday, a relative called me in a panic about their laptop. This is someone who was a very high-ranking federal police officer, in charge of investigations for a large swath of the country - not someone to be easily taken in by smooth-talkers, at least not in the past.

I went over today and asked him what happened. "Some kind of warning came up" -- i.e. the "oh noes, this is #Microsoft, your #Windows is #corrupted, please call us so we can fix it" one. I asked "Did you do anything they asked you to? Download any programs, or run any commands, or anything like that?"

"No, no, I just phoned them and after they started asking for my address I got suspicious, I didn't do anything they said."

1/x

#TechSupportScam #TechSupport #RemoteDesktop

A reminder: please check the computers belonging to your elderly-but-computer-using #relatives. Ensure there aren't digital nasties on there. And when I say "check", I mean look yourself, don't just ask the #relative about it.

With age, people tend to lose some of their mental #sharpness, but it's not just poor memory or fuzzy thinking. They seem to lose some critical #thinking skills, and become more #trusting than they should, or more naive. I think this is what makes older folk the favourite targets of #scammers.

Yesterday, a relative called me in a panic about their laptop. This is someone who was a very high-ranking federal police officer, in charge of investigations for a large swath of the country - not someone to be easily taken in by smooth-talkers, at least not in the past.

I went over today and asked him what happened. "Some kind of warning came up" -- i.e. the "oh noes, this is #Microsoft, your #Windows is #corrupted, please call us so we can fix it" one. I asked "Did you do anything they asked you to? Download any programs, or run any commands, or anything like that?"

"No, no, I just phoned them and after they started asking for my address I got suspicious, I didn't do anything they said."

1/x

#TechSupportScam #TechSupport #RemoteDesktop

@vikki TV Licensing set such a good example!

I have a little #TechSupport story about a misplaced warning.

A customer got an email from TalkTalk saying they'd need to start paying for their email service, outsourced to Everymail, since they no longer had TalkTalk broadband. This migration really is happening, but didn't apply to them because TalkTalk was still their ISP.

Confused, they tried to contact the company, but got so frustrated with their call centre that they cancelled their contract and switched to BT.

When they mentioned this in passing, I noted they *would* now have to pay Everymail before 7 July to keep their old address. "Oh, I thought those warnings were scams!", they said. "Yeah, a lot of them are. Be very careful!", I replied.

Two hours later, I get an email from the customer's now-compromised mailbox saying they've got laryngitis, they're in hospital, the front fell off, they need an Amazon gift card etc. So I had to abandon last night's Star Trek to deal with it all.

I'd like to get some security cameras for my flat, but I would want the footage to be stored locally and not be in the cloud or anything like that. Just for me, not for Amazon

Any recommendations? I'm in the UK

#AskFedi #TechSupport #Cameras #Security

I'd like to get some security cameras for my flat, but I would want the footage to be stored locally and not be in the cloud or anything like that. Just for me, not for Amazon

Any recommendations? I'm in the UK

#AskFedi #TechSupport #Cameras #Security

This is what happens when I upload media to Immich in batch.

I imagine it is not good, but is it tolerable? If yes, up to what point? Most importantly, how do I fine-tune settings to avoid maxxing out the CPU and prevent my homelab from exploding?

This is my hardware. I should have enabled Quick Sync hardware transcoding.

#Immich #techSupport #homelab #CPU #server #sysAd #systemAdministration #selfhosting #selfhost

This is what happens when I upload media to Immich in batch.

I imagine it is not good, but is it tolerable? If yes, up to what point? Most importantly, how do I fine-tune settings to avoid maxxing out the CPU and prevent my homelab from exploding?

This is my hardware. I should have enabled Quick Sync hardware transcoding.

#Immich #techSupport #homelab #CPU #server #sysAd #systemAdministration #selfhosting #selfhost

Today's free #TechSupport at the South Burlington #Vermont library...

1. Windows backups
2. iCloud and Google cloud storage management
2. Copying photos from iPhone to Windows PC
3. Disabling notifications from Chrome
4. Removing apps on iOS
5. Removing photos on iOS
6. Filtering crap on Facebook
7. Adding contacts on iOS
8. Updating iOS
9. Discussion of Linux on a Snapdragon PC

Today's free #TechSupport at the South Burlington #Vermont library...

1. Windows backups
2. iCloud and Google cloud storage management
2. Copying photos from iPhone to Windows PC
3. Disabling notifications from Chrome
4. Removing apps on iOS
5. Removing photos on iOS
6. Filtering crap on Facebook
7. Adding contacts on iOS
8. Updating iOS
9. Discussion of Linux on a Snapdragon PC

I'm encountering a weird issue with my Mastodon instance and I'm wondering if any other self-hosters have encountered this:

My mastodon instance (the one I'm posting from) doesn't seem to be able to reach other subdomains on my domain.

This applies to both link verification and federation with other Fediverse apps. If it's another *.jelliefrontier.net domain, Mastodon can't reach it.

#TechSupport #SelfHosting

What's y'all's opinion of Nixos for home server?

#linux #self-host #foss #nixos #software #linuxdistros #tech #techsupport #homelab #servers #nerdlings #SelfHostedInfrastructure #linuxtips

What's y'all's opinion of Nixos for home server?

#linux #self-host #foss #nixos #software #linuxdistros #tech #techsupport #homelab #servers #nerdlings #SelfHostedInfrastructure #linuxtips

A local client asked for service today, saying that his laptop was giving him a message that his C: drive was out of free space. He’d been living with the error message for a few weeks; it wasn’t sudden. Since he was local, I went to his office instead of connecting remotely. Some things are just easier and quicker if you’re right there.

INITIAL CONDITIONS
Windows 11 Home, 25H2, all updates current.
Drive C: was about 220 GB used, 0 free.
Drive D: was nominally 2 TB, about 1.2 TB used.

I did some checking and cleaned up a little bit on the C: drive, but only recovered about 2 GB.

THE SHOCKER
“Do you ever use Copilot?”
“No, and I don’t care about it.”
Start – Control Panel – Programs and Features – Copilot – Uninstall.
And then drive C: showed 35 GB free space.
Copilot was using 33 GB of his OS disk.

OTHER RELEVANT DETAILS
I went back to the office and uninstalled Copilot on a Windows 11 Pro computer, 24H2, all updates current. I only recovered about 1 GB. In addition to the fact that it was only 24H2 and not 25H2, I had already disabled Copilot features on this particular computer, even though I hadn’t uninstalled it.

“Your mileage may vary,” but if your OS drive mysteriously fills up, it’s something to investigate.

#CallMeIfYouNeedMe #FIFONetworks

#HelpDesk #TechSupport

Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom – VoIP

A local client asked for service today, saying that his laptop was giving him a message that his C: drive was out of free space. He’d been living with the error message for a few weeks; it wasn’t sudden. Since he was local, I went to his office instead of connecting remotely. Some things are just easier and quicker if you’re right there.

INITIAL CONDITIONS
Windows 11 Home, 25H2, all updates current.
Drive C: was about 220 GB used, 0 free.
Drive D: was nominally 2 TB, about 1.2 TB used.

I did some checking and cleaned up a little bit on the C: drive, but only recovered about 2 GB.

THE SHOCKER
“Do you ever use Copilot?”
“No, and I don’t care about it.”
Start – Control Panel – Programs and Features – Copilot – Uninstall.
And then drive C: showed 35 GB free space.
Copilot was using 33 GB of his OS disk.

OTHER RELEVANT DETAILS
I went back to the office and uninstalled Copilot on a Windows 11 Pro computer, 24H2, all updates current. I only recovered about 1 GB. In addition to the fact that it was only 24H2 and not 25H2, I had already disabled Copilot features on this particular computer, even though I hadn’t uninstalled it.

“Your mileage may vary,” but if your OS drive mysteriously fills up, it’s something to investigate.

#CallMeIfYouNeedMe #FIFONetworks

#HelpDesk #TechSupport

Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom – VoIP

@joannaholman @gabriel @bagder @Su_G The other thing that often happens is that the customer is justified at being angry, but not at the customer service worker they're speaking to.

Many, many years ago when I was between uni courses, I had a helpdesk job at Telstra (back when such jobs were still done in Australia).

Under Sol Trujillo.

There were many, many anti-consumer decisions made by management.

The internal business systems were a broken mess that regularly had outages.

They were significantly more expensive than other telcos. "Premium products have premium prices" was a phrase used unironically.

There was stuff going on like outbound telemarketing call centres contracted by the company that were illegally signing people up for products they didn't order. The first some knew they were on a $79 a month plan for 24 months was when the Nokia arrived.

There were KPIs on things like adherence to schedule, conformance to rostered hours, and calls per hour.

And they expected 20% of calls, including for tech support or billing, to result in a sale.

It was also incredibly siloed, so one person couldn't resolve an issue alone.

Awful, horrible place to work.

So you'd end up with customers who'd been transferred four or five times and being told different things by different staff.

Complicated edge case issues often fell through the cracks.

Needless to say, customers were justifiably angry.

And the poor wretch who tried to fix the problem for the person who'd just been transferred four times took the brunt of it.

#Telstra #australia #enshittification #customerservice #helpdesk #callcentre #callcenter #techsupport

@joannaholman @gabriel @bagder @Su_G The other thing that often happens is that the customer is justified at being angry, but not at the customer service worker they're speaking to.

Many, many years ago when I was between uni courses, I had a helpdesk job at Telstra (back when such jobs were still done in Australia).

Under Sol Trujillo.

There were many, many anti-consumer decisions made by management.

The internal business systems were a broken mess that regularly had outages.

They were significantly more expensive than other telcos. "Premium products have premium prices" was a phrase used unironically.

There was stuff going on like outbound telemarketing call centres contracted by the company that were illegally signing people up for products they didn't order. The first some knew they were on a $79 a month plan for 24 months was when the Nokia arrived.

There were KPIs on things like adherence to schedule, conformance to rostered hours, and calls per hour.

And they expected 20% of calls, including for tech support or billing, to result in a sale.

It was also incredibly siloed, so one person couldn't resolve an issue alone.

Awful, horrible place to work.

So you'd end up with customers who'd been transferred four or five times and being told different things by different staff.

Complicated edge case issues often fell through the cracks.

Needless to say, customers were justifiably angry.

And the poor wretch who tried to fix the problem for the person who'd just been transferred four times took the brunt of it.

#Telstra #australia #enshittification #customerservice #helpdesk #callcentre #callcenter #techsupport

@SwiftOnSecurity

Devious hacker move, bar none.

#TechSupport

@SwiftOnSecurity

Devious hacker move, bar none.

#TechSupport

DOJ Lawyers Argue xAI Is ‘Vital’ for National Security in NAACP Lawsuit

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.wired.com/story/doj-lawyers-argue-xai-vital-national-security-naacp-lawsuit/

DOJ Lawyers Argue xAI Is ‘Vital’ for National Security in NAACP Lawsuit

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.wired.com/story/doj-lawyers-argue-xai-vital-national-security-naacp-lawsuit/

(EDIT: sorted this out, thanks everyone, ffmpeg can do everything)

I'm thinking of writing a rust script to create an anki deck given a video file and a subtitle track.

One thing I'm not sure I should do, is how do I get a snapshot from a video file?

Does anyone know a good way to do this?

The script will go through all the timestamps in the provided subtitle file and take screenshots.

#tech #techsupport #SoftwareDev #rust

(EDIT: sorted this out, thanks everyone, ffmpeg can do everything)

I'm thinking of writing a rust script to create an anki deck given a video file and a subtitle track.

One thing I'm not sure I should do, is how do I get a snapshot from a video file?

Does anyone know a good way to do this?

The script will go through all the timestamps in the provided subtitle file and take screenshots.

#tech #techsupport #SoftwareDev #rust

“Bob, I can’t copy and paste from this document.”

A client recently had some difficulty copying and pasting from a PDF document, and the problem was because they didn’t understand the different types of PDF documents. I’ve run across this several times, and it occurs to me that there are probably a lot of people who could benefit from a little tutorial.

PDF TEXT
Take a Microsoft Word document and save it as a PDF file. When you do this, the text is still text. In the PDF document you can select the text, copy it, and paste it somewhere else.

PDF “PICTURE” OF TEXT
Take a paper document, place it on a scanner, and scan it to PDF. You can still see the letters and words in the PDF file. You can still read it. But you can’t select, copy, and paste text from this kind of PDF document.

In the first example, the letters are (often) a series of Unicode characters. The application’s Graphical User Interface (GUI) displays the characters on top of a solid colored background. The background is often, but not necessarily, white. The Unicode characters and the background are literally unrelated to each other.

In the second example, the letters are composed of (say) black pixels organized on a background of white pixels. The letters and the background are integrally related to each other. It is a single, flat, two-dimensional surface arranged of pixels of different colors.

SOLUTION
If you need to separate the text from the background in a PDF “picture” of text, the solution is to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. OCR is a feature included in most modern PDF editors. OCR software analyzes the contrast in pixel colors and deduces the presence of known characters, like letters, numbers, and punctuation. The accuracy of the OCR software depends on the degree of contrast, and the amount of visual “noise” in the file. If you extract text with OCR software, proofread the result carefully, because there may be errors in the output.

#CallMeIfYouNeedMe #FIFONetworks

#HelpDesk #TechSupport

Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom – VoIP

“Bob, I can’t copy and paste from this document.”

A client recently had some difficulty copying and pasting from a PDF document, and the problem was because they didn’t understand the different types of PDF documents. I’ve run across this several times, and it occurs to me that there are probably a lot of people who could benefit from a little tutorial.

PDF TEXT
Take a Microsoft Word document and save it as a PDF file. When you do this, the text is still text. In the PDF document you can select the text, copy it, and paste it somewhere else.

PDF “PICTURE” OF TEXT
Take a paper document, place it on a scanner, and scan it to PDF. You can still see the letters and words in the PDF file. You can still read it. But you can’t select, copy, and paste text from this kind of PDF document.

In the first example, the letters are (often) a series of Unicode characters. The application’s Graphical User Interface (GUI) displays the characters on top of a solid colored background. The background is often, but not necessarily, white. The Unicode characters and the background are literally unrelated to each other.

In the second example, the letters are composed of (say) black pixels organized on a background of white pixels. The letters and the background are integrally related to each other. It is a single, flat, two-dimensional surface arranged of pixels of different colors.

SOLUTION
If you need to separate the text from the background in a PDF “picture” of text, the solution is to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. OCR is a feature included in most modern PDF editors. OCR software analyzes the contrast in pixel colors and deduces the presence of known characters, like letters, numbers, and punctuation. The accuracy of the OCR software depends on the degree of contrast, and the amount of visual “noise” in the file. If you extract text with OCR software, proofread the result carefully, because there may be errors in the output.

#CallMeIfYouNeedMe #FIFONetworks

#HelpDesk #TechSupport

Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom – VoIP

Ah, the classic "turn it off and on again" solution, cloaked in the digital mystique of #JavaScript and #cookies, as if user patience isn't already a rare commodity 😒. #Anthropic must be thrilled to have their existential questions reduced to tech support's greatest hits. 🤦‍♂️🍪
https://www.verysane.ai/p/did-anthropic-ask-for-this #turnitonagain #techsupport #userpatience #HackerNews #ngated

Ah, the classic "turn it off and on again" solution, cloaked in the digital mystique of #JavaScript and #cookies, as if user patience isn't already a rare commodity 😒. #Anthropic must be thrilled to have their existential questions reduced to tech support's greatest hits. 🤦‍♂️🍪
https://www.verysane.ai/p/did-anthropic-ask-for-this #turnitonagain #techsupport #userpatience #HackerNews #ngated

This is for an event that was meant precisely to showcase viable open alternatives to private platforms. I would really like to be able to use #Mobilizon. #techSupport #Help

This is for an event that was meant precisely to showcase viable open alternatives to private platforms. I would really like to be able to use #Mobilizon. #techSupport #Help

Hi. I need some #techSupport with #Mobilizon. #askingFedi

I can't see the participants on the confirmation page. Initially it showed that a few people had already registered, but now it only displays menus and other page elements with a blank space where the participants should be. I am using elementary OS, with Web and Vivaldi browsers. It happens both in regular and private/incognito mode. I tried adjusting the settings but I can't figure it out.

Hi. I need some #techSupport with #Mobilizon. #askingFedi

I can't see the participants on the confirmation page. Initially it showed that a few people had already registered, but now it only displays menus and other page elements with a blank space where the participants should be. I am using elementary OS, with Web and Vivaldi browsers. It happens both in regular and private/incognito mode. I tried adjusting the settings but I can't figure it out.

La intención de la actividad es, precisamente, mostrar que hay alternativas viables disponibles a las plataformas privadas. De verdad me gustaría poder usar #Mobilizon. #techSupport

What is the purpose of the lost+found folder in Linux and Unix?

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/18154/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-lostfound-folder-in-linux-and-unix

#HackerNews #lostfound #Linux #Unix #filesystem #datarecovery #techsupport

Are Android apps fairly painless to install and use on PostmarketOS and mobile linux?

I am thinking of taking the plunge, but there are still a number of Android apps I depend on.

#android #linux #tech #techsupport

🚀 Oh wow, another groundbreaking revelation: turn on #JavaScript and cookies! Who knew the secret to digital enlightenment lay in toggling browser settings? 🤔 Clearly, we're one step away from revolutionizing tech support with this visionary advice. 🙄🍪
https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001061-lockdown-mode #Cookies #TechSupport #DigitalEnlightenment #BrowserSettings #HackerNews #ngated

Edit - case closed! Thank u 💕

Open call for advice. I know someone here on fedi will know exactly what I need and probably even be kind enough to tell me.

Have a 2012/13 Thinkpad. Running win 11. Usable but slow. What's a Linux distro that would be lighter and possibly faster, and what things do I most urgently need to know before diving into it.

I mostly use the thing for web browsing and writing. Nothing heavy. I pretty much just use Opera and Obsidian.

#linux #techsupport #help lol

🚨 Oh, the horror! #HHS is doing the unthinkable: #tinkering with those sacred #scientific manuscripts! 🚀 But wait, is this a #groundbreaking #revelation or just another "enable JavaScript" tech support moment? 🙄
https://www.science.org/content/article/exclusive-hhs-now-weighing-science-nih-grants #Manuscripts #TechSupport #HackerNews #ngated