Scariest computing moment?
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
Not really computing related but... I used to repair Hewlett Packard Oscilloscopes. One day a job came in from Singapore (I think) and I plugged it in, hit the power switch and noticed it came up very quickly. Nice bright display that just got brighter and brighter. Suddenly I realised that I hadn't checked the power settings. Sure enough, it was set for 110 volt mains and I was running it at 240 volts. Too late! I'd burned a nice straight line in the storage mesh. Needed a new CRT which at the time (1980) cost something north of A$2000 :(:doh: Rob Manderson http://www.mindprobes.net **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
I used to work for an electric utility and I was told that someone entered the command to open a breaker on a high voltage line thinking he was on the development control system. Fortunately, the system was able to mitigate the effects of the load loss and no power plants had to shut down. I'm sure it was a mistake he never made again!
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
Oh, it goes back about 13 years or so. Right after I was hired to be the new "Staff Programmer" We were working on some software on our Apollo workstations. Now for those of you who don't know Apollo.... They were an Aegis (Think Unix) basic operating system by later purchased by HP. Thse suckers were expensive. And, to make matters worse, the software on them was something like $20,000 a seat. These are the kind of machines you don't want sitting idle. So, I'm sitting there working on my program, and boom, machine locks up. Now, I'm just a couple of weeks on the job..... Panic starts in, this is a unix box, you don't just shutdown, restart this babies..... Espically back then.... So, I'm sitting there wondering just what to do... Finally, one of the other programmers comes over and notices I'm starting to panic. He says "Well, you gotta fix it." Big help he was. Finally, he said just call this 800# they'll tell you what to do.... I did, luckily, everything came back up. Front that point on, I made SURE I knew about the specific types of computers I was working on. In case you are wondering, yes, I did do a cold reset on the beast. There is a little white button on the back of them that when you hit it, it resets the computer. Kind of like the PC reset button. Nick This are my own opinions. You know the rest.....
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Not really computing related but... I used to repair Hewlett Packard Oscilloscopes. One day a job came in from Singapore (I think) and I plugged it in, hit the power switch and noticed it came up very quickly. Nice bright display that just got brighter and brighter. Suddenly I realised that I hadn't checked the power settings. Sure enough, it was set for 110 volt mains and I was running it at 240 volts. Too late! I'd burned a nice straight line in the storage mesh. Needed a new CRT which at the time (1980) cost something north of A$2000 :(:doh: Rob Manderson http://www.mindprobes.net **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003
That probably was the only HP scope that ever had a display bright enough to be usable! I hated the things, and the department that ordered them for the company. :mad: "Another day done - All targets met; all systems fully operational; all customers satisfied; all staff keen and well motivated; all pigs fed and ready to fly" - Jennie A.
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
I guess my scariest moment was when my computer kept blue screening giving me some kind of message errors that looked like program bugs. I thought win98se had finally gone kaput on me. I tried to make a dual-boot system by adding win2k on it, but the problem still kept coming up in win2k as well. Turned out some of my memory had finally gone bad. Didn't matter to me, was putting together a new system anyways.
Who am I? Currently: A Programming Student trying to survive school with plan to go on to Univeristy of Advancing Technology to study game design. Main career interest include: Multimedia and game programming. Working on an outside project: A game for the GamePark32 (GP32) portable gaming console. My website: www.GP32US.com
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
Of course there are also the moments when you lie about having completed work, waiting to do it in the quiet and comfort of your own home, and either your home machine bombs, or you lack a critical piece of software that you can't get at 22:00. Memes don't exist - tell your friends
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
I was doing work in the Phone room of a call center and had to pull a rack mounted server out to count how many boards were in it. As I pulled it out to take a look all 16 of the cables connecting the cards to the phone system pulled off the back like a zipper and the call center went silent. Came to find out latter that some technician at the site was bored one day and decide to tidy up the cable mess at the back of the rack so he used wire ties to secure all the cables neatly in bundles and then secured them to the rack itself never giving a thought about the fact this was a server on rails….. I got some very evil looks for a few tense minutes but I have never again pulled out a server. When I go onsite I always have the resident IT people touch their equipment. I am really surprised how many people just pull those servers out assuming that the cables are free enough in the back to allow it.
Paul Watson wrote: "At the end of the day it is what you produce that counts, not how many doctorates you have on the wall." George Carlin wrote: "Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things." Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: If the physicists find a universal theory describing the laws of universe, I'm sure the asshole constant will be an integral part of that theory.
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
I've had a few of these moments over the past 15 years, and they generally fall into one of these categories; 1) Realising you've deleted/updated something you shouldn't have JUST as you press the enter key 2) Locking up a production server 3) Listening to the Hard Disk fail on a (non backed-up) PC or server :rolleyes: Whichever one it is, the feeling is always the same. First, your heart starts racing. Then the adrenalin rush hits you, followed by that light-headed 'I'm not really here' feeling. I always find the 'I'm not really here' feeling helps matters. I think it's a natural defence mechanism. :laugh: John[^]
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
I was around 8-9 years old and I already had Commodore 64 for some 3 years. Now C64 had this massive transformer (or whatever it was) which had one cable coming out and plugging it into the C64 and the other going into the wall. For three years I would grab it by the wires and lift the transformer. One day before going to school (I was banned on playing on it due to my bad marks in the school) I played a bit and to disassemble it and put it away I lifted the transformer by the wires. To my surprise (well not really surprise, the bang startled me and I pissed myself) There was a huge explosion in the transformer and the electricity in the flat went down. The first ten minutes I was cool (but pissed), trying to be smart and to fix the problem. When it got to the point that I would be late for school and still unable to fix the problem I started crying. So I called my mum as she worked closer to the flat than dad. She came home, kicked a crap out me and sent me to school. Later that day (winter time, late, already dark), on my way back I first checked if there were lights in the flat. There were, so the problem was solved. Mum almost gave me additional kicking, but dad said, it's ok, it were only the fuses. Transformer was fixed, C64 was sold. :(( 15 years later I have 5 PC's in the flat, bought with my money. HE HE HE HE HE HE
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
We have 3 Oracle databases running (Dev, Test, and Prod). According to my Unix shell prompt, I was in Test, about to do some major table alterations. For some reason, I decided to do a row count comparison to the Prod tables. Surprise, they were the same:wtf:. The scripts used to change the database pointer were all the same (Prod), and had been for some time. I almost lost tons of production data.:doh: "For all of our languages, we cannot communicate" - Christy Moore, Natives
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
I think the most worrying moment was my first semester in college when I thought about my future locked up in a cube staring blankly at my monitor for 30+ years. I'm doing much better now, though.:) BW CP Member Homepages
"...take what you need and leave the rest..."
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
Jonny Newman wrote: What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Anytime I attempt to restore from a media written to by an IOMega device X| Cheers, Tom Archer Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. * Inside C# -Second Edition * Visual C++.NET Bible * Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
Over the weekend I was trying to see what the hell was making so much noise in my case. I normally have 6 fans going (2 CPU, 4 case) and 2 HDs. I'd unhooked the two top-rear exhaust fans (don't really need all that exhaust in the winter) but it didn't help. So my next thought was maybe one of the HDs is doing it. I first unhooked both HDs, and sure enough it got really quiet. So I hook one HD back up, no noise. Unhook it, hook the other one up, ZAP! :wtf: I had forgotten to power down the computer before hooking up the drive, so I got a nice big spark between the power cable and the pin in the drive's power connector, and the power supply's safety circuitry kicked in and shut the power off. This just happened to be the HD with all my source code on it, and my last backup was too long ago (before Xmas). So, you can imagine how much I was screwed if that drive had been killed. Lucky for me it booted right up and you've never seen me do a full backup so fast. ;) --Mike-- Ericahist | CP SearchBar v2.0.2 | Homepage | 1ClickPicGrabber New v2.0.1! | RightClick-Encrypt There is a saying in statistics that a million monkeys pounding on typewriters would eventually create a work of Shakespeare. Thanks to the Internet, we now know that this is not true.
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Jonny Newman wrote: What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Anytime I attempt to restore from a media written to by an IOMega device X| Cheers, Tom Archer Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. * Inside C# -Second Edition * Visual C++.NET Bible * Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework
Zip drive/discs are the bane of my existance, however its currently the only large capacity diskette storage that is affordable. CD-R's are great, but they are easily damaged and are WORM media. Sure CD-RW are re-recordable, but all the ones I've tried have a limited lifespan and are slow. I have not tried the Predator or the Peerless devices.... Maybe it has no peers because everyone else has discovered that CD-RW,Zip and/or extra hard discs are more efficient and cost effective per Gigabyte (maybe not zip). When was the last time you met someone with a Peerless drive?
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
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Over the weekend I was trying to see what the hell was making so much noise in my case. I normally have 6 fans going (2 CPU, 4 case) and 2 HDs. I'd unhooked the two top-rear exhaust fans (don't really need all that exhaust in the winter) but it didn't help. So my next thought was maybe one of the HDs is doing it. I first unhooked both HDs, and sure enough it got really quiet. So I hook one HD back up, no noise. Unhook it, hook the other one up, ZAP! :wtf: I had forgotten to power down the computer before hooking up the drive, so I got a nice big spark between the power cable and the pin in the drive's power connector, and the power supply's safety circuitry kicked in and shut the power off. This just happened to be the HD with all my source code on it, and my last backup was too long ago (before Xmas). So, you can imagine how much I was screwed if that drive had been killed. Lucky for me it booted right up and you've never seen me do a full backup so fast. ;) --Mike-- Ericahist | CP SearchBar v2.0.2 | Homepage | 1ClickPicGrabber New v2.0.1! | RightClick-Encrypt There is a saying in statistics that a million monkeys pounding on typewriters would eventually create a work of Shakespeare. Thanks to the Internet, we now know that this is not true.
Jesus, and I still worry about letting static loose in my PC case. I normally leave the case plugged in to the wall, but the wall socket turned off leaving it earthed but not powered. I'd never touch that thing while its turned on, mainly because there are so many fans in it that it would probably eat me.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
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Zip drive/discs are the bane of my existance, however its currently the only large capacity diskette storage that is affordable. CD-R's are great, but they are easily damaged and are WORM media. Sure CD-RW are re-recordable, but all the ones I've tried have a limited lifespan and are slow. I have not tried the Predator or the Peerless devices.... Maybe it has no peers because everyone else has discovered that CD-RW,Zip and/or extra hard discs are more efficient and cost effective per Gigabyte (maybe not zip). When was the last time you met someone with a Peerless drive?
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
I've had both zip and jaz and they both failed. I'm now using an iomega cdr that's making some very ugly sounds when working. It's definitely time to check out some alternatives. Cheers, Tom Archer Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. * Inside C# -Second Edition * Visual C++.NET Bible * Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework
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Random question of the day. What's the most worrying moment you've had regarding computers? Examples: Installing the 'new' server software and hoping it doesn't mess up your corporate network? Performing a data 'slide' on your 200GB hard drive? I'm a bit of a chicken and back everything up before doing the slightest thing, however I was really worried one time when modifying the way my forum database structured itself. No backup option was avaliable for me by the host. It was a fairly complicated algorithm for copying records, assigning new ID's and values etc... based on other parameters. All I needed was the server to hang or one step in the process to conflict with something and several thousand records would be damaged or lost. I crossed all possible parts of my body including fingers and touched as much wood as possible.
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman blog.nonny.com [^]
Probably the scariest moment for me was while I was working on something, don't know what, during a summer storm. I had pretty much ignored the lightning outside. Then lightning struck something near my house. I could feel the electrical surge going through my body in the dark. After the ordeal was over (and the power had come back on) I just sat there staring at my black computer screen fearing the worse. Fortunately the system powered back on (my biggest fear), sure I lost what I had been working on but my PC was safe. Other scary moments include: Pointing out the power supply while the system was running I once installed MBM and the temp on my processor said 90C (turned out to be a config error) Convincing my dad he needed a new mobo and then having the same problem with the new mobo installed (ended up being bad ram) Thats all I can think of right now Matt Newman If you chose to continue this discussion, I am fully prepared to make you my bitch. I invite you to ask around, and you'll find out that I'm quite capable of doing so - John Simmons on Trolls
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That probably was the only HP scope that ever had a display bright enough to be usable! I hated the things, and the department that ordered them for the company. :mad: "Another day done - All targets met; all systems fully operational; all customers satisfied; all staff keen and well motivated; all pigs fed and ready to fly" - Jennie A.
lol. The HP 181A storage scope and the 1741A not only provided me with the wherewithal to buy a house, it was also my stepping stone into the HP 8566A DC to Daylight Spectrum Analyser. Which in turn led to my first trip to the USA. Good days those :) Rob Manderson http://www.mindprobes.net **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003