"But this helped before..." (was Re: EMERGENCY PROBLEM: Starting filePro)

[Kenneth Brody]

On 3/1/2011 12:48 PM, Brian K. White wrote:
> Never ever use any kind of eraser on electrical contacts!
>
> Bad advice is worse than no advice.
>
> "I'm just trying to help" is absolutely no argument or excuse.
> It may sound virtuous and therefore undeserving of a harsh reaction like
> this, but "I'm just trying to help" reduce the number of people who not
> only unwittingly damage their own things, but go on to forward the
> recommendation to yet more people to damage their things.

On the other hand, it can be amusing at times.

The kids have several Nintendo DSi's, with built-in WiFi.  Apparently, some 
time ago, one of them was having trouble connecting to our router.  I don't 
know if it was a real problem (the house was built in the 1800's, apparently 
without WiFi in mind), or if it was just taking its time to sync, but 
whoever it was started to wave the DSi around in the air, at which time it 
successfully connected.  Now, whenever it doesn't connect right away, the 
kids all start waving it around in the air (like trying to get a better 
picture by moving the rabbit ears around) until it connects.

And, of course, the positive feedback loop says "doing this works".

-- 
Kenneth Brody