Hello mark,

Thursday January 13 2022 08:07, you wrote to Mick Manning:

it is beside the ANY key ;)

Funny story: in the late 90s, I was working at Sears TeleServ in Round Rock Texas, just down the road from Dell HQ. I was a tier 2 phone tech: if you bought a computer from Sears and one of their "maintenance asgreements", I was the helpful voice at the other end of the phone to fix what you broke.

I remember around 10 AM on a slow Wednesday morning I had a call put into my queue about someone unable to find the "any key". Some poor Tier 1 script reader put that call through to me. I had to really use restraint from laughing as I informed the woman that there was no "any key".

Hmm, you've given me an idea for a column called "Funny Tech Stories". <G>

-- Sean

... WinErr 002: No error ... yet.
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Outpost BBS Sysop Console (1:18/200)

On 2022 Jan 13 09:28:46, you wrote to me:

I remember around 10 AM on a slow Wednesday morning I had a call put into my queue about someone unable to find the "any key". Some poor Tier 1 script reader put that call through to me. I had to really use restraint from laughing as I informed the woman that there was no "any key".

when i lived in xxcarol's area back when we joined fidonet, we had installed a number of computers with networking and printers in a law firm... i don't remember the exact number but it was a decent sized contract so let's call it 50 systems... in the initial week, we they were getting used to the systems and installing all their software, we fielded several calls a day, generally from the typing pool, about the ANY key... after several days of this, i was told, "go over there and solve the problem once and for all."

on my way over to their location, i stopped in at one of the local drug stores to pick up some supplies for the task at hand... when i arrived on site, i was pretty much by myself as they were all out having their lunch break... about an hour later i was leaving the location, mission accomplished... how? every computer keyboard had a nice golden "ANY" on the space bar curtesy of the letter transfer kits i had picked up at the drug store O:) :lol:

)\/(ark

"The soul of a small kitten in the body of a mighty dragon. Look on my majesty, ye mighty, and despair! Or bring me catnip. Your choice. Oooh, a shiny thing!"
... Beware the do-gooders. They'll screw it up with best of intentions.
---
* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)

Daryl,

Don't forget these:

1) The broken cup holder (CD/DVD Player)
2) The non-working card reader (3.5" floppy drive)
3) The internal power strip (plugged into itself)

You don't need to prove my point ... this is all at least one decade old stuff which has been re-hashed and re-hashed.

If there's nothing relevant to put in an article ... then don't.

\%/@rd

--- DB4 - Jan 09 2022
* Origin: Hou het veilig, hou vol. Het komt allemaal weer goed (2:292/854)

Hello mark,

Thursday January 13 2022 14:37, you wrote to me:

having their lunch break... about an hour later i was leaving the location, mission accomplished... how? every computer keyboard had a
nice golden "ANY" on the space bar curtesy of the letter transfer kits
i had picked up at the drug store O:) :lol:

Hah! Nice idea.

I'll put a funny tech support story into this week's FG. <G>

-- Sean

... Chemists have solutions!
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Outpost BBS Sysop Console (1:18/200)

‡¤à ¢áâ¢ã©, mark!

Žâ¢¥â ­  á®®¡é¥­¨¥ mark lewis (1:3634/12.73) ª Sean Dennis, ­ ¯¨á ­­®¥ 13 ï­¢ 22 ¢ 14:37:

when i lived in xxcarol's area back when we joined fidonet, we had installed a number of computers with networking and printers in a law firm... i don't remember the exact number but it was a decent sized contract so let's call it 50 systems... in the initial week, we they
were getting used to the systems and installing all their software, we fielded several calls a day, generally from the typing pool, about the
ANY key... after several days of this, i was told, "go over there and solve the problem once and for all."

I'm surprised this problem existed in English-speaking countries, where everyone knows meaning of word "any".
In Russia it was much harder, because in 90's most software was not translated to Russian. We even had special job title "anykeyshik" - junior sysadmin who tells users where is "any key".

‘ ­ ¨«ãç訬¨ ¯®¦¥« ­¨ï¬¨, Andrey
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20161221
* Origin: PC Lovers (2:5059/38)

Andrew,

I'm surprised this problem existed in English-speaking countries, where everyone knows meaning of word "any".

Actually, the story of the "any" key is a hoax which eventually started to lead its own life...

\%/@rd
--- DB4 - Jan 09 2022
* Origin: Hou het veilig, hou vol. Het komt allemaal weer goed (2:292/854)

On 2022 Jan 14 03:33:40, you wrote to me:

when i lived in xxcarol's area back when we joined fidonet, we had
installed a number of computers with networking and printers in a law
firm... i don't remember the exact number but it was a decent sized
contract so let's call it 50 systems... in the initial week, we they
were getting used to the systems and installing all their software,
we fielded several calls a day, generally from the typing pool, about
the ANY key... after several days of this, i was told, "go over there
and solve the problem once and for all."

I'm surprised this problem existed in English-speaking countries,
where everyone knows meaning of word "any".

the problem is/was that people were adding "the" to what they were reading... they had been conditioned to hit the keys they were explicitly told to hit so when they were told to "Hit any key to continue" they promptly looked for "the ANY key" instead of "just any key"...

another of our techs had this method of "solving the ANY key problem"... they would tell the user to close their eyes, place their hand, either hand, on the keyboard, choose a finger on that hand, and use it to press any key they felt with that finger... it worked! the really funny part was that users would then look to see which key they had pressed and use that one all the time when they saw the "Hit any key to continue" prompt... sometimes there would even be arguments about which key it was...

on the one hand it was quite funny... on the other hand, it was rather sad but understanding the rote learning and conditioning techniques that are used, it is also understandable since the prompt triggered switching gears from rote repetition to free thinking mode...

In Russia it was much harder, because in 90's most software was not translated to Russian. We even had special job title "anykeyshik" -
junior sysadmin who tells users where is "any key".

understandable... also Russian language doesn't have the articles "a, an, the" so that kinda makes a difference... "a" and "an" are indefinite articles (close a door, eat an apple) meaning any one of them while "the" is a definite article (close the door, eat the apple) meaning that specific one...

)\/(ark

"The soul of a small kitten in the body of a mighty dragon. Look on my majesty, ye mighty, and despair! Or bring me catnip. Your choice. Oooh, a shiny thing!"
... Better to live with one spider than many bugs.
---
* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)

On 2022 Jan 14 05:46:52, you wrote to Andrey Mundirov:

I'm surprised this problem existed in English-speaking countries, where
everyone knows meaning of word "any".

Actually, the story of the "any" key is a hoax

this is incorrect... i remember quite well the first few times i answered a call from a client/user and had to stiffle my laughter and regain control my myself before answering their question... i've dealt with it since at least the mid to late 70's with the TRS-80 Model 1 systems when folks would load programs off cassette tapes, type RUN and be met with a welcome message that ended with "Hit any key to continue."

which eventually started to lead its own life...

this is true...

)\/(ark

"The soul of a small kitten in the body of a mighty dragon. Look on my majesty, ye mighty, and despair! Or bring me catnip. Your choice. Oooh, a shiny thing!"
... Ever wonder why the SAME PEOPLE make up ALL the conspiracy theories?
---
* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)

mark,

Actually, the story of the "any" key is a hoax

this is incorrect...

It is ... I've been in IT since 1970 ...

\%/@rd

--- DB4 - Jan 09 2022
* Origin: Hou het veilig, hou vol. Het komt allemaal weer goed (2:292/854)

Andrey Mundirov wrote to mark lewis <=-

I'm surprised this problem existed in English-speaking
countries, where everyone knows meaning of word "any".
In Russia it was much harder, because in 90's most software
was not translated to Russian. We even had special job
title "anykeyshik" - junior sysadmin who tells users where
is "any key".

I think it's because the average computer user wasn't as educated in using a computer and took the "any key" literally ... looking for a key labeled
"any". <G>

-- Sean

... WinErr 00E: Window open - Do not look inside
___ MultiMail/FreeBSD v0.52

--- Maximus/2 3.01
* Origin: Outpost BBS (1:18/200)

I think it's because the average computer user wasn't as educated in using a computer and took the "any key" literally ... looking for a key labeled "any". <G>

Some people are afraid of touching the wrong key and causing something bad
to happen, too. So, too much choice in what they can touch makes the
anxious. :)

Mike


* SLMR 2.1a * Tongue-tied & twisted, just an Earth-bound misfit, I!
--- SBBSecho 3.12-Linux
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

Mike Powell wrote to SEAN DENNIS <=-

@MSGID: <61E2FF92.942.fidogazette@bbs.mozysswamp.org>
@REPLY: <61E23A80.932.fidogazette@bbs.mozysswamp.org>

I think it's because the average computer user wasn't as educated in using a computer and took the "any key" literally ... looking for a key labeled "any". <G>

Some people are afraid of touching the wrong key and causing something
bad to happen, too. So, too much choice in what they can touch makes
the anxious. :)

Mike

To think that I was like that once. Once in schooled a friend and I worked up tje courage to press the "Apple Key" on an Aplle IIe that we were using.

Nothing happened.



... MultiMail, the new multi-platform, multi-format offline reader!
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
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