1912: Thermostat

2017-11-07T02:07:54Z

Divec: Explain the exaggeration level

{{comic
| number = 1912
| date = November 6, 2017
| title = Thermostat
| image = thermostat.png
| titletext = Your problem is so terrible, I worry that, if I help you, I risk drawing the attention of whatever god of technology inflicted it on you.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Rough draft, could still use work. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Hairy]] is working at a tech support office, and receives a call from [[Cueball]]. After the scripted greeting, Cueball, who [[1084|has the]] [[1586|weirdest]] [[1700|tech issues]], tells Hairy that his thermostat - a single-purpose device used to adjust the settings of indoor heating and air conditioning - is showing an ''Android error screen'', and asking if he wants to partition the volume. The Android error seems to imply that it is trying to mount a file with {{w|.doc}} extension (most likely a [[1459|Microsoft Word document]]) as the {{w|Boot_device|boot device}}. An added twist is the "(1)" in the filename, which is appended by Windows when a user attempts to copy a file into a directory that already has a file with the same name. Furthermore, the extension {{w|.docx}} has been the default from Microsoft Office 2007 onwards and is generally favored over the preceding .doc extension. The error message suggests a system problem at the core of the device. Not only is the operating system completely missing, but the device is trying to locate the operating system inside a Microsoft Word document, something that has nothing to do with regulation of temperature and should have no way of getting to the device in the first place, let alone be considered as a boot volume. This is so abnormal that Hairy is briefly struck silent, and upon recovering he suggests Cueball {{tvtropes|SuicideBySea|walk into the sea}} as a form of suicide (possibly a reference to {{w|Kate Chopin|Kate Chopin's}} ''{{w|The Awakening (Chopin novel)|The Awakening}}'', or to ''{{w|Eldritch Horror}}'', or to the ''{{w|Exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac}}'') rather than try solve the issue. Hairy might also attempt to interpret the message (partition the volume) more liberally as suggesting the device can part the sea like Moses did in the book of Exodus. This may also be a reference to [[349: Success]]. The title text elaborates that the situation is so insanely absurd that it must be divine punishment, and Hairy does not want to try and help him for fear of invoking the wrath of whatever deity is issuing it. This may be a reference to the character of {{w|Aeolus_(son_of_Hippotes)|Aeolus}} in the ''{{w|Odyssey}}'', who, having made an unsuccessful attempt to assist {{w|Odysseus}} by giving him a bag containing unfavourable winds, refused to provide further assistance on the grounds that the gods were clearly hostile to Odysseus.

Part of the humour is the problem being only a slight exaggeration of real software issues. The symptoms are unlikely, yet just about possible (a thermostat could be running Android and could generate a report as a doc file; given some data corruption, the name of the doc file could get into the boot script and a volume could appear unpartitioned). It would take an expert Android/Unix engineer to fix, particularly on an embedded device with no obvious way to connect remotely or attach a keyboard. In real life, a cheap embedded device whose software was this broken would just be replaced.

==Transcript==
:[Hairy, with a headset on, is sitting in an office chair at a desk with his hands ready on the keyboard of his computer.]
:Hairy: Tech support, how can I help you?

:[Cueball is on his smartphone while looking at a small blinking panel on the wall in front of him.]
:Cueball: The little LCD on my thermostat says <span style="font-size:90%">''Error: Android system recovery: Unrecognized boot volume "/MONTHLY ENERGY REPORT (1).DOC"</span>

:[In a frame-less beat panel Hairy just stares at his screen with his hands on his lap.]

:[Back to Cueball, now with Hairy's reply coming from the smartphone in a box with a jagged arrow pointing to the smartphone.]
:Cueball: It's asking if I want to partition the volume. What should I do?
:Hairy (on the phone): Have you tried walking into the sea.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]

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1912: Thermostat