So, this morning, my mom was infuriated that she couldn't access her Microsoft Outlook web based email (something like mail.upmc.edu?? idk) because "Google isn't letting me connect". So I go to investigate. She said that it wouldn't work on Internet Explorer either "because it defaults to Google". This means she tried Google Chrome but it didn't work.
**Side Story here**
While filling out the FAFSA forms (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), an alert popped up saying the browser was incompatible. This threw her for a loop. I asked what browser she was using. She claimed she opened Google. Google Chrome? Internet Explorer and www.google.com? She had no idea and insists she opened "Google". I go take a look. She shows me a quick launch icon she clicked that's just the Google 3 color logo. The icon directly above that quick launch button is the Google Chrome icon. I tell her that FAFSA must not work with Google Chrome and I say to try IE. She asks if we have IE. Yes. Where can I find it? Start>All Programs>Internet Explorer.
There we go. She's all set up on IE to fill out her tax info. I come to check on her in 5 minutes and POOF! she's missing. I find her in another room on her work laptop on IE claiming that IE didn't work on the big computer. Whatever, I guess she completed it.
Anyways, flash forward to this morning, and she's claiming that Google, which has simply changed their logo, like they do daily, to a black box, is blocking her access to her Outlook based web server email.
Sure it is. Because this screen immediately means Google is down and has the power to block your access to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's email server.
Well, now that I've tried it on both Chrome and IE, I figure from the error messages reading something something server connection: closed that it's a server issue and not SOPA or Google messing with us. Especially because today was only the decision date for SOPA. While in Chrome, as it's slowly trying to connect to the server, I open a new tab to show her that Google simply changed their logo, but was still functional. As I typed in Google she flipped out because it wasn't done connecting to her email...tabs mom, tabs. Look. It's all ok.
So I get curious now that she has twice confused Chrome with IE since they open the same homepage, after specifying that she must you IE at work and not Chrome, I ask her if she knows the difference between a website and a web browser. "...no? What are you talking about?" *facepalm* "Mom, a web browser is a program that allows you to connect to and browse the web, hence the name. A website is a place on the web that you access with a browser. All browsers aren't the same and this is why you had to use IE for the FAFSA form. The homepage has nothing to do with the browser. It only 'defaults' to Google because we have set that as our homepage. You know how you can change your homepage?" "I don't have time for this bull$#!+." And she storms off to go watch the news as she drinks coffee before work...right. And I'm trying to help you connect to your email in the 25 minutes between waking up and leaving for school.
And this is why I hate SOPA. Because it will now be the scapegoat for every internet related computer issue, despite the fact that other stuff goes wrong, such as servers being down at coincidental bad times. So, we achieve nothing other than SOPA and Google had it out for her this morning and didn't want her to see her email because regardless of your internet browser, Google has the ability to override that and become your "default", default what? I don't even know what she meant, because it's simply a website, but since it's your default, it can deny your access to email as it chooses. I didn't even want to explain that changing our homepage to www.mcdonalds.com wouldn't make a difference. Because then McDonalds would be blocking her access to email, since it was the "default" now.[/rant]
Something I concluded in Econ today while retelling this story to a computer literate friend and another who works customer service at a grocery store...
"One's people skills are directly related to their tolerance for stupidity." Not ignorance, because that can be fixed, but stupidity: the resistance to learn to change.
**Side Story here**
While filling out the FAFSA forms (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), an alert popped up saying the browser was incompatible. This threw her for a loop. I asked what browser she was using. She claimed she opened Google. Google Chrome? Internet Explorer and www.google.com? She had no idea and insists she opened "Google". I go take a look. She shows me a quick launch icon she clicked that's just the Google 3 color logo. The icon directly above that quick launch button is the Google Chrome icon. I tell her that FAFSA must not work with Google Chrome and I say to try IE. She asks if we have IE. Yes. Where can I find it? Start>All Programs>Internet Explorer.
There we go. She's all set up on IE to fill out her tax info. I come to check on her in 5 minutes and POOF! she's missing. I find her in another room on her work laptop on IE claiming that IE didn't work on the big computer. Whatever, I guess she completed it.
Anyways, flash forward to this morning, and she's claiming that Google, which has simply changed their logo, like they do daily, to a black box, is blocking her access to her Outlook based web server email.
Sure it is. Because this screen immediately means Google is down and has the power to block your access to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's email server.
Well, now that I've tried it on both Chrome and IE, I figure from the error messages reading something something server connection: closed that it's a server issue and not SOPA or Google messing with us. Especially because today was only the decision date for SOPA. While in Chrome, as it's slowly trying to connect to the server, I open a new tab to show her that Google simply changed their logo, but was still functional. As I typed in Google she flipped out because it wasn't done connecting to her email...tabs mom, tabs. Look. It's all ok.
So I get curious now that she has twice confused Chrome with IE since they open the same homepage, after specifying that she must you IE at work and not Chrome, I ask her if she knows the difference between a website and a web browser. "...no? What are you talking about?" *facepalm* "Mom, a web browser is a program that allows you to connect to and browse the web, hence the name. A website is a place on the web that you access with a browser. All browsers aren't the same and this is why you had to use IE for the FAFSA form. The homepage has nothing to do with the browser. It only 'defaults' to Google because we have set that as our homepage. You know how you can change your homepage?" "I don't have time for this bull$#!+." And she storms off to go watch the news as she drinks coffee before work...right. And I'm trying to help you connect to your email in the 25 minutes between waking up and leaving for school.
And this is why I hate SOPA. Because it will now be the scapegoat for every internet related computer issue, despite the fact that other stuff goes wrong, such as servers being down at coincidental bad times. So, we achieve nothing other than SOPA and Google had it out for her this morning and didn't want her to see her email because regardless of your internet browser, Google has the ability to override that and become your "default", default what? I don't even know what she meant, because it's simply a website, but since it's your default, it can deny your access to email as it chooses. I didn't even want to explain that changing our homepage to www.mcdonalds.com wouldn't make a difference. Because then McDonalds would be blocking her access to email, since it was the "default" now.[/rant]
Something I concluded in Econ today while retelling this story to a computer literate friend and another who works customer service at a grocery store...
"One's people skills are directly related to their tolerance for stupidity." Not ignorance, because that can be fixed, but stupidity: the resistance to learn to change.
