Besides contributing at @TheDailyWTF, I write DevDisasters for Visual Studio Magazine, and involved in various side projects including child rearing and marriage.

Have your own fun support stories? Send 'em on over!

Mr. Keyboard (from Derek)

I used to be a Genius™. Not an actual genius, mind you, but just a tech support guy who worked at the Apple Store and, therefore, got the prestigious title of Genius™.

One day, a gentleman came in with his brand-spanking-new Mac complaining of keyboard troubles. He had just set his computer up, and from the moment he took it out of the box, the keyboard never worked properly. Whenever he tried to type, seemingly random gibberish appeared.

I plugged in his Mac and verified the problem: none of the letters corresponded to what was on the keyboard. The computer seemed to be working perfectly otherwise, so I was at a loss. I showed a fellow Genius™, and he too was stumped. Bad keyboard? Corrupt drivers?

And then I noticed something: the man’s last name was “Dvorak”. Acting on a hunch, I clicked around until I found the keyboard layout. Sure enough, he had selected Dvorak, presumably because it matched his own name, as his default keyboard layout during the initial setup of the computer.

Problem solved! I shared the story with my fellow Geniuses™, so now they should know what to do if they ever meet someone with keyboard problems whose last name is "Armenian -- HM QWERTY".

Mr. Internet (from Gabriel Luci)

My team does internal support for the Ontario government and recently, a coworker had a very interesting help desk ticket...

****************************************************** * TICKET #2402-811 *CLOSED* 2010-02-24 * ****************************************************** * * * ASSIGNED : n/a * * DEPT CODE : AAV * * CUSTOMER : 84125, James A------ * * WORKSTAION: BCDM-643843 * * SITE : M/BCD * * * * * * __ ISSUE __ * * * * Client called in stating: "My name is on the * * Internet, and I don't want it there." * * * * ~ Client approved VNC connection * * ~ Remoted to client's PC * * * * __ TROUBLESHOOTING __ * * * * Client did a search, and was upset that his * * name came up in search results * * * * I educated client as to the nature of the * * Internet, and that if you look up any persons * * name, there will be some result * * * * Client stated that they did not want this, and * * requested that I remove it * * * * Informed client that I did no not have control * * over what information is on the Internet * * * * Client asked to speak to supervisor * * * * Advised ------ about issue; she declined to * * accept call since she also did not have control * * over what information is on the Internet * * * * Advised client to contact Internet for further * * assistance; could not provide phone number * * * * Client not satisfied with resolution. * * * ******************************************************

Mr. James (from Paul V)

My ISP, Clear Internet, was having some issues with DNS resolution, so I went to the online tech chat. The tech support rep (Mr. James) was confident it was on my end, and proceeded to walk me through resolution steps.

Mr James: Finally, I would like to manually enable your PC Card, which will disconnect you from chat. Please write these steps down, and complete them in order, then if you are still unable to get online, please call our tech support team between 9am and 10pm at 888-253-2794. 1. Right-click on My Computer. 2. Select Properties. 3. Select the Hardware tab. 4. Select Device Manager. 5. Select Expedience Wireless Broadband Non-line-of-site (NLOS) Internet Access Device. 6. Right Click and select Properties 7. Disable, and then Enable the driver. 8. Select OK. 9. Close all open windows and reboot your PC. paul: I have a mac. paul: those directions are for a pc. Mr James: What kind of Mac computer do you have, Paul? paul: macbook pro, 10.6.2 Mr James: You should still be able to follow those steps.

I decided to wait it out the DNS issues after that.