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| | | date = August 24, 2009 | | | date = August 24, 2009 |
| | | title = Tech Support Cheat Sheet | | | title = Tech Support Cheat Sheet |
| − | | image = tech_support_cheat_sheet.png | + | | image = tech_support_cheat_sheet.png |
| − | | titletext = 'Hey Megan, it's your father. How do I print out a flowchart?' | + | | titletext = 'Hey Megan, it's your father. How do I print off a flowchart?' |
| | + | | imagesize = |
| | }} | | }} |
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| | ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
| − | The main point of this comic is that many tech-savvy people may not know much about computers (and certainly don’t automatically know how to do everything someone may want help with). They just have developed an intuition which works in many situations. This intuition is shown here in the form of a diagram. In particular, the chart exposes the computer expert's secret ingredient: trial and error.
| + | In the Tech Support world, many times the problem with the computer can be diagnosed and solved by simply using {{w|Google}} effectively. This flowchart demonstrates what most tech support does when they encounter problems with which they don't know exactly what to do. After showing this to someone, they ''should'' be able to solve most of their computer issues on their own (Stop laughing so loud computer people). |
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| − | A {{w|flowchart}} is an organizational tool for showing process flow. A box is an instruction, a diamond indicates a question, and the arrows control the flow from one symbol to another. Other flowchart comics can be found [[:Category:Flowcharts|here]].
| + | Title Text - Megan's father somehow has seen this and can't figure out how to print it off, so he calls Megan. ''Does Megan's Dad read these daily?!?!'' |
| | + | {{Comic discussion}} |
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| − | The title text is a sad admission that even knowing the procedure for how to fix the problem, many people will not follow it and still call their presumably more tech-savvy children. (In a minority of cases, it may be that the person '''did''' try to follow it, and still ended up at the "Ask someone for help or give up" step.) In this case the father of [[Megan]] calls her to help print the flowchart to put near his computer so he can be the computer wiz...
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| − | This is one of the cases where the name Megan is used, without the character Megan being drawn in the comic.
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| − | ==Transcript==
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| − | :Dear various parents, grandparents, co-workers, and other "not computer people."
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| − | :We don't magically know how to do everything in every program. When we help you, we're usually just doing this:
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| − | :[There is a flowchart there. Numbers are included to improve clarity, and do not appear in the original.]
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| − | :Rectangle: Start.
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| − | :[Go to 1.]
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| − | :[1. Diamond] Find a menu item or button which looks related to what you want to do.
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| − | :[I can't find one - go to 2.]
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| − | :[Ok - go to 3.]
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| − | :[2. Diamond] Pick one at random.
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| − | :[I've tried them all - go to 4.]
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| − | :[Ok - go to 3.]
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| − | :[3. Rectangle] Click it.
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| − | :[Go to 5.]
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| − | :[4. Rectangle] Google the name of the program plus a few words related to what you want to do. Follow any instructions.
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| − | :[Go to 5.]
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| − | :[5. Diamond] Did it work?
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| − | :[Yes - go to 8.]
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| − | :[No - go to 6.]
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| − | :[6. Diamond] Have you been trying this for over half an hour?
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| − | :[Yes - go to 7.]
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| − | :[No - go to 1.]
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| − | :[7. Rectangle] Ask someone for help or give up.
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| − | :[End of flowchart.]
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| − | :[8. Rectangle] You're done!
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| − | :[End of flowchart.]
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| − |
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| − | :Please print this flowchart out and tape it near your screen. Congratulations; you're now the local computer expert!
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| − | ==Trivia==
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| − | This comic used to be available [https://web.archive.org/web/20220125010250/https://store.xkcd.com/products/tech-support as a T-shirt] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20220125023401/https://store.xkcd.com/products/signed-prints as a signed print] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]].
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| − | {{comic discussion}}
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| − |
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| − | [[Category:Flowcharts]]
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| | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] |
| − | [[Category:Google Search]]
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| − | [[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]
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