It’s coming!

In our last survey, we asked if anyone would be interested in watching WorldStart videos demonstrating our tips and tricks. A resounding 70% told us to go for it, so that’s what we did! (Err, are doing)

Well, we’ve made some progress, and it looks like we’re going to have something for ya in the next week or two. What we’re currently planning is a type of question and answer show. You send in your questions, we answer as many as we can each week. In addition, as we add new tips, we’re planning to add video demonstrations to them. We figure actually seeing how the heck we’re doing something should make it even easier to follow along.

So yeah, that’s the initial plan, but hey, if you have any ideas, we’d love to hear them – make sure you comment below.

Anyway, one of the fun things we’ve already done is to shoot the “intro” that we’re going to use at the start of each video. One of our staff members, Gretchen, is an amazing artist and after a pathetic combination of begging, groveling, and puppy dog eyes, we convinced her to do a cool chalk WS logo on our studio background.

We created a stop motion video by setting a digital camera up on an timer and having it pop a shot every 30 seconds while she worked – for a total of 128 individual shots! Then, we put them into a video, added a dash of Benny Hill, and, well, what do you think?

Like it? Yes? No? Maybe so?

Anyway, now you know one of the things we’re up to. We’re also planning a major change to the Computer Tips newsletter next week, so stay tuned.

~Steve

I’ve talked about my Facebook woes in the past here on the WS Blog, and I’m happy to report that everything worked out fine in that area. My mom and I exchange wall posts, and best of all, she has no excuse in not knowing what’s going on in my life anymore – a problem we’d had in the past. Now she knows everything – right down to the brand of pickles I had on my sandwich last night.

Yeah, it’s all good there, but something’s gotta be done about Nick.

Who’s Nick, you ask? Oh, just an old buddy from back in high school that located me a few months back and asked to be my digital friend. At first it was good to talk to him, but after a bit I noticed a trend developing. Nick was posting songs, videos and random jargon at such an alarming rate that I was unable to see anyone else’s posts -even my moms! If I wanted to see what everyone was up to, I’d have to dig 3 or 4 pages deep to find it! What is this? Myspace!?

Funny thing is that I really didn’t notice how much he had been posting until he announced that he was going “dark” for awhile; not only from Facebook, but any form of electronic communication whatsoever. He said it would be like “being a kid again”; like “being 10 years old and stuck with just your imagination and a few toys” –in his case, books.

And as my other Facebook friends’ posts floated to the top again and Nick’s disappeared I realized something potent:

I could never do that.

I’m sure I’ll be forced to someday, but not for any great length of time (barring a zombie outbreak or nuclear war, that is), so why even hypothesize? I love my technology! I’m actually just about to switch my phone service over so I can use my shiny new Droid as my full time phone. That means Internet anywhere and all the media streaming my brain can handle!

But if I did go off the grid for awhile, I wonder what would happen? I already read quite a few books during a month’s time, so how many could I put down if I didn’t have the Internet, gaming, my Droid, TV and all the other stuff I usually occupy my time with?

The mind boggles…

So what do you think? Could you survive without the Internet for a month? Could you turn off the TV for a few weeks? Share your thoughts! I’d love to read ‘em!

~Andrew

A word of warning on this one. If you can’t take a joke and laugh at yourself, don’t even bother reading this.

Seriously….

Tech support… everyone needs it every now and then.

You know how it goes. You get some program / gadget and the damn thing just won’t work right. No matter what you do, you continue to have trouble. Believe me, I know how you feel.

You see… I know your pain because I am tech support. When it comes to support, I have done it all. Before working for WorldStart, I had several years of telephone tech support under my belt. Within these years, I have heard every last tale.

Today, since I know it all, I am going to share with you the top tech support “no-nos”. Just to reiterate my message above, this will probably offend each and every one of you.

1. You are not a comedian.

A very important thing to remember when calling tech support is that they have heard it all. Starting the conversation with a little joke like “I’m a computer idiot, LOL” or, “I hope you’re ready for a DOOSEY, LOL”  to set the mood is not a good idea. Tech support is not there to be amused by you. Tech support is there to fix your problem and move onto the next person.

2. We don’t care how good you are with computers.

If I had a dime for every time some called me and started by telling me how good (or bad) they are with computers I would be a millionaire. Again, tech support does not care about your skill level. Everyone is treated the same and there is a reason for this. You see, computer “skills” are a relative term. You may be the pro in your house, until I step into the room. I may be the best computer tech at WorldStart, until they hire someone better.

The bottom line is that YOU are calling THEM for HELP. If you are calling them, all you need to do is follow their directions. Your computer skills don’t matter at that point.

3. Errors might not mean anything to you, but they do to tech support.

OK, this might be the single most annoying thing ever for a Tech support rep. I can’t tell you how many calls I’ve had that go something like this:

“I keep getting this error and it says something about the thing not working.”

WOW. That was so informative. I definitely know exactly how to fix your issue (that was sarcasm).

When you get an error, TELL US WHAT IT SAYS.  Every last little detail. Errors weren’t put on your computer just to bug you. They actually tell you what is wrong.

3.5 The Path actually means something to tech support.

This is closely related to #3. When you get an error, usually it gives a path to the bad file. It goes something like this: C:\program files\…

When people call tech support they like to skip this as if it doesn’t matter. I honestly don’t know why. It would be like me calling you and saying “hey come over to my house. My address is 123 blah blah blah numbers numbers numbers.”

Not very helpful is it?

Again, errors are important. Every last word.

4. Details, Details, Details….        Details.

Let me say it again, Details.

Have you ever contacted tech support and said “this thing doesn’t work”? If you have, this one is for you.

I look forward to the day that tech support can read minds and see through the phone, but until that day comes, we’re just going to have to rely on the customer explaining the problem.

I don’t know how else to explain this. WE CANNOT SEE YOUR SCREEN. In order to help properly, you need to tell tech support exactly what is happening. Where did you start, where are you now, what happened when you clicked that button, at what point did you run into a problem and what was the problem?

5. Don’t click unless you are told to.

This kinda goes with number 2.

Calling tech support can lead you into some uncharted computer territory. You might see things on your computer that you have never seen before. You might be asked to click thing that you have never done before. This is why you should never click ANYTHING unless you are asked to.

This happens to me all the time: ME: “Right click on My Computer”. CUSTOMER: “OK, I’m in the device manager. That’s where you wanted me… right?”

UGH. So, it becomes pretty obvious. I can’t read your mind, you cant read mine.

6. Your computer does not actually have a mind of it’s own.

Now this is just hilarious to any tech support rep out there. At least once a day, someone will say to me “my computer doesn’t like me today”, or “My computer doesn’t want to do that”.

Believe it or not, computers don’t have feelings. They are machines. They simply do as instructed by a set of programming parameters.

Tech support will always see it this way. When computers “misbehave” they simply have a conflict with the instructions that they are given. Tech support is there to find the conflict and resolve it. We are not computer counselors, we are computer repair specialists.

OK, that’s all i have for now, but I’m sure there’s more that I’m not thinking of currently.

I know that some of these will come across like me telling you that tech support doesn’t like you. I assure you that this is not the case. Most tech support people, me included, actually enjoy fixing computer issues for people. I can’t speak for everyone, but I truly enjoy being able to resolve a problem for a customer. It is very satisfying to know that I was able to make someone’s day a little better.

The entire point of this post is simply to point out that there are productive tech support calls and there are wasteful, time consuming tech support calls. If you can avoid the 6 and a half “no-nos” above, your problem will be resolved faster. This saves more time for tech support to get to the next person that needs help.

If everyone follows these rules, everyone will get help faster and not wait on hold as long.

One last word (or paragraph) of wisdom about tech support that most people don’t think about. When you are on hold for tech support, the support rep is suffering right along with you. You see, when you are waiting on hold, this means that every tech support rep is currently helping someone else. It also means that as soon as the support rep gets off their current call, another one comes to them immediately after. This is the most terrible thing that anyone can experience. Imagine call after call with no break in between. This gets even worse when every call starts with a complaint about the hold time.

Just think about this the next time you call for help.

~Gary

OK, I promised in my last blog that I’d be in a better mood and have some fun. So, I figured, why not entertain myself by messin’ with your head a little. And I found just the YouTube video to do it.

Somehow, this guy got a set of four wooden balls to seemingly roll uphill. Magnets? Vortex? Aliens? (Hey, they always get in on my conversations, why should this be any different).

Well, take a look at what happens and see if you can figure it out before the trick is revealed. They got me on it, but then again, my kids trick me all the time. Just ask my daughter. She’s the one wearing the new clothes that I swore I wasn’t gonna buy.

Anyway, here ya go – well worth the 1 minute and 37 seconds it takes from your life. Well, unless of course you’re having a heart attack or something.

Cool or what?

~Steve

Well do you?

What is it?

Hi Everyone, Rose here.  I have another question for our readers – what is your hobby?  What do you do to help pass the time? What is the thing you do to help yourself relax?

My hobby is woodworking.  That’s right, I can pretty much make anything out of wood.  However, the current project is something for WorldStart.  See, a couple weeks ago we sent out a survey asking our readers if they would be interested in computer tips on video.  The response was overwhelming, so here I am starting to do my part by build a desk for Steve and Gary to use while they are taping the tips.

Wonder how in the world I got interested in woodworking?

Well it happened when I was in the 7th grade.  The junior high I went to in Ann Arbor had a woodworking shop.  Well, of course I took the class, and did not have any clue what do with most of the tools and machines in the room.

Well, I was a fast learner, though, and loved everything I was doing.  It was so relaxing, and figuring out projects and how to build them came very easy for me too.  There I was, a young girl who just fell in love with chunks of wood because you could make any thing out of them.

I took the classes all 3 years in junior high.  Then I got very lucky because when my parents moved to Toledo the high school offered wood shop.  I jumped all over it! Got to take the classes for the next 4 years.  By the way that is how I met Steve (yes that’s right we are high school sweethearts). Thanks to the public schools I got 7 years of training and my husband (who’s still in training, BTW).

So all these years later I am still at it.  I love it!  I make everything and anything.  I have more custom furniture in my house now then I ever did in the past.  I mat and frame Steve’s photos that we want up in our house.

The best part is Steve’s grandfather, who is 85 years old, likes to do woodworking as a hobby too.  So whenever he is in town for a few days we always come up with something we can make together.  How cool is that? I get to make projects with Grandpa so then every time I look at the finished piece, I think of the time we spent together on the project.

The one thing that amazes people is that I do not draw out plans – most of the projects are done from my head.   Makes it easier to adjust it.  Once I think I have it figured out,  I get started.  It drives people crazy because they just can not see it like I can when I describe it. I just say, “Trust me! It will be done the way you want it.

Yes I still have some of the projects from my school days.  Our daughter Becky has the wooden box I made in ’87.  The doll cradle I made my senior year of high school is sitting in the attic waiting for the next little girl to come along in the family to play with it. (No, won’t be from me!)  That is the great thing about hobbies.  A lot of your work will be around a long time to reflect back on and to be passed along to the next generation.

So here is my question to you  – What is your hobby or what you do to help you relax when you had a long day?

I can’t wait to see what you say.

~Rose

PS -  I wanted to say I loved all the response on the construction barrels in your area.  I was laughing so hard at some of them, Steve came over to see what all the commotion was about!