So, one of the greatest things about working in IT service/support is that you get to deal with the genuine a-holes of every industry. Why you ask? Because those are the people that get f'd with when they aren't looking. These are the people that get their cars keyed in the parking lot, their coffee spit/peed in, their chair settings modified, and best of all... their computers f'd with.
One of my favorite tricks is very simple, yet will almost always cause a service call because most helpdesk scripts don't include checking this very innocuous little switch.
I'm talking of course about the voltage select switch that is built into every power supply out there. It has two settings, 110v and 220v. If you are in North America and change the setting to 220v it won't damage the computer, but it won't boot up until it is set back to 110v.
One point of note, don't use a ball-point pen to flip the switch. That was how we eventually caught on to the king kamehameha beyotch down at NIH. If her 'adversary' had used a paperclip or flat-head screwdriver she would have wound up with a new system eventually.
Anyone else have non-malicious compy tricks to share? Should there be rules?
If there are rules I'd say that no administrative access to the box would be necessary to perform the trick. That's not to say you couldn't take advantage of an unlocked system, but you wouldn't want an abuse of admin rights on your record for any of this.
One of my favorite tricks is very simple, yet will almost always cause a service call because most helpdesk scripts don't include checking this very innocuous little switch.
I'm talking of course about the voltage select switch that is built into every power supply out there. It has two settings, 110v and 220v. If you are in North America and change the setting to 220v it won't damage the computer, but it won't boot up until it is set back to 110v.
One point of note, don't use a ball-point pen to flip the switch. That was how we eventually caught on to the king kamehameha beyotch down at NIH. If her 'adversary' had used a paperclip or flat-head screwdriver she would have wound up with a new system eventually.
Anyone else have non-malicious compy tricks to share? Should there be rules?
If there are rules I'd say that no administrative access to the box would be necessary to perform the trick. That's not to say you couldn't take advantage of an unlocked system, but you wouldn't want an abuse of admin rights on your record for any of this.
