Knowledge :: FAQups

The Commerce Faculty FAQups section discusses some of the funnier problems that have been referred to the Commerce I.T. department. Names have been changed to protect the guilty parties' dignity.

• Frontpage Online Editing Blunder

I got a call from a lecturer who was having difficulties editing his course site through Microsoft FrontPage. He was logging into the site just fine, but when FrontPage displayed his site, he was confronted by a blank page. Completely stumped, he eventually phoned me, asking for help.

His login details looked fine, so I took a stroll down to his office to see if I could solve the problem. When I got there I couldnt help but smile. FrontPage opens up with a new page displayed when it first loads!

Perhaps it is sometimes better to let the professionals do the work that they are paid for!

Submitted by Craig Lotter
2004/04/29

• Voltage? Err...

We received a PC from one of the staff that appeared to have blown its power pack. When we asked if she had done anything to the PC, she admitted to having changed the voltage switch at the back of the PC from 230V to 115V.

While it was running!

Submitted by Craig Lotter
2004/03/30

• Going nowhere slowly

The Commerce Alumni lab operates from 08:00 to 17:00, Mondays to Friday. Access to the lab is controlled by a glass turnstile that can be locked after hours.

One morning when I arrived for work, I was surprised to find some idiot stuck in the turnstile. It appears that the locking mechanism had failed, allowing the door to freely revolve in one direction. Unfortunately for the student, the direction in which it was turning meant that on entering the turnstile, you would have to tread on the pressure mat that locks the door.

So here this poor fellow was, stuck in the turnstile with no one to call for help. The cleaning staff heard his plaintive cries for help, but all they could do was bring the hapless bloke a cup of coffee. He sat there for a good 45 minutes before I arrived for work and was able to set him free.

The important part of this story is the fact that the student completely ignored the posters around the door plainly stating the labs operating hours. He also ignored the fact that there was absolutely no one else in the lab at that time he was trying to enter. Finally, he completely ignored the very bold signs indicating the direction in which the turnstile turns. All in all, he only had himself to blame. But at least he had some quality time to think about his silliness - and inability to read and comprehend.

Submitted by Craig Lotter
2004/03/26

• Not very Bright

A staff member was conducting a tutorial in the labs when he noticed that it was a bit dark in the labs. He walked over to a switch and promptly flipped it. The switch turned out to be controlling the power to the lab and all the computers promptly switched off.

Submitted by Craig Lotter
2004/03/11

• Printing Problems

A call had been logged with the descrpition that my printer has just been in for repairs and now it only prints on half the page. After investigations we found that the user had put in a new cartridge and the plastic strip had not been removed!@#$$ The moral of this story is that you should read the instructions on the box before you log a call and make your name .........

Submitted by Kyle Roberts
2004/03/10

• Call Numbers

Before coming here, I was responsible for a technical support section with a user base of about 1300. Users were required to log calls using an outlook form whereafter the helpdesk would e-mail them back a call reference number. The reply would be worded quite simply as `Call number: 123456`. Within the first two months the helpdesk had been inundated with telephone calls from users complaining that they had follwed the instruction in the e-mail and had called the number but that the number was either engaged or dead.

Submitted by Paul Alexander
2003/12/31