By PRIS SEARS
Some of my friends think the life of a tech support nerd must be a spectrum of tedium. Not so!
I find myself learning something new every day, whether I want to or not. Let me tell you about a typical fascinating morning in the office.
My work day starts with turning on my main desktop computer. I log in with a sense of satisfaction because I know my password is pretty good.
When I went to the hacker-detection conference last month, we tried out a lot of tools that hackers use, including a password cracker. You point it at a password and it starts guessing. A common word found in the dictionary or someone's first name can be guessed in a matter of seconds. I left the program running on my password for three hours and it didn't crack.
It's not uncrackable, though. If someone threw enough resources at it, they would get it eventually, but it's not trivially crackable. Most hackers aren't going to work for days on one password; they look for the low-hanging fruit.
If you want a good password, start with a phrase, maybe "I hate Microsoft Word with a burning passion." Then take the first letters: "IhMSWwabp" and use that as your password. It's easy for you to remember but very hard to guess. Unless you keep it taped to your monitor.
Once I get logged in, my colorful widget sets from widgets.yahoo.com pop up, showing me the weather, the phase of the moon, my CPU usage, the rise in Google's stock price and the fall in Apple's.
My roommate may never forgive me for installing widgets on his laptop. He found himself one that will let him generate and play Sudoku puzzles. Now he's getting even less work done on his thesis.
My desktop diary comes up and shows any meetings or appointments I have. Nothing I have to get to immediately, so I turn to a non- working PC that someone brought in. It boots up but the monitor stays black. I unplug everything and grab my screwdriver. Open up the case and -- ooh, spider webs and a whole herd of dust buffaloes.
I reach for a Benadryl and my trusty cordless DataVac and suck all the junk out. My office mate looks in. "Sounds like a dentist's drill!" I start sneezing.
I pull out the video card and clean it up. Still not working. I pull out my box of cards, looking for the right kind of video card. Nope, nope, nope.
I take my screwdriver and start stalking around the offices, eyeing other people's computers. Finally I find an old PC in my own office that has the right kind of card. I raid it, pop it in the non- working computer. Success!
While I'm running diagnostics on the PC to see what else might be wrong with it, I call Dell's tech support line. They've shipped a bunch of computers to campus that have bad DVD drives and I've got one of them. I'm a little frustrated.
The first fellow I talk to makes me give him a laundry list of information, and then tells me I'm talking to the wrong department. He says "I'll transfer you; here is the phone number and extension in case we get cut off." I wait, then get a computerized voice, "The extension you have called does not exist."
I punch in the extension he gave me. "The extension you have called does not exist."
I hang up and call the 800 number he gave me. "The number you have called is not in service."
OK. I call the main Dell number again, vowing to not sound irritated lest I am again diverted to a telephonic black hole. For some reason my office is getting pretty hot, so I climb onto a desk to open a window. I get another tech support guy on the line and explain my problem. He's very helpful and apologetic about the problem I'm having.
The wind blows the window-screen in and knocks over my Amaryllis; its lush green leaves are mashed against an old slide scanner. As I scramble to gather up the plant, I knock its water over. Note to self: liquids need lids!
The Dell guy is worried, "Are you all right?"
He probably thinks I'm under attack in my office. "I've got some issues," I mutter. He gives me a return confirmation number and says he'll have my new drive in the mail right away.
I get some paper towels. Nothing's damaged but now I have a clean spot on my desk. Close the window, put the plant back. My first hour at work is done and I have countless intriguing tasks ahead of me.
Pris Sears grew up in Florida, lives in Blacksburg and works among Virginia Tech's computers.
(c) 2006 Roanoke Times & World News. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Roanoke Times & World News