Post ITT if in your family, you are considered to be the one who is “good with computers.”

Fixing a Relative’s Computer: Myth vs. Reality is a post from: The Inquisitr

In a show of hands, who among us has not hopped on to an open network when desperate for an internet fix?

Generally, the response if unsuccessful is “oh, bummer, these jerks locked their wireless.” Meet Jennifer. Jennifer, at first glance, seems to think that everyone in the world can get access to the internet through what she believes is called a “Linksys.” After a bit of prodding, Jennifer admits that she knows she’s stealing internet habitually, but purchasing her own DSL is price prohibitive. (As an aside, I don’t agree with the “internet as groceries” analogy. I would say signal theft is more akin to standing on your neighbor’s porch every day and reading by their porch light.)

This video has clocked nearly half a million views since it was posted Saturday, and it does raise some important points about secure transfer of data and your internet habits. While Jennifer’s attitude is irritating in its entitlement and basic lack of understanding of how ISPs work, her general stupidity is also a reminder to use open access points sparingly and carefully. That said, while I’d be happy to securely share a signal, I wouldn’t want Jennifer using my wireless because she sounds like a bit of a spoiled douche.

Understanding the internet: you are not entitled to your neighbor’s Wi-Fi is a post from: The Inquisitr

And as soon as you bring them home or terminate the call you waited an hour to be connected on, the problem returns.

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Your electronics are screwing with you: a pie chart is a post from: The Inquisitr

A U.K. tech and gadget help line, appropriately called Gadget Helpline, did a study of 75,000 calls to their service recently and found that there’s a huge gender gap in how men and women approach problems they’re having with their gadgets. Some of the findings of the study are listed below:

1. 64% of male callers, vs. 24% of female callers had not read their instruction manuals before calling the service.

3. Women spent 32% longer on the phone with the help line, but 66% of the staff at the service preferred talking with the women than with men.

Joanna Bawa, chartered psychologist and editor of the Usability News website, told the BBC:

“There is evidence of a gender divide in technology, although a lot of it comes down to interpretation. In general terms men treat technology as something to be understood and conquered while women are more motivated by appliances that benefit them.”

In other words, guys need to RTFM before picking up the phone.

The Gadget Helpline also mentioned that, unsurprisingly, syncing up gadgets to communicate with one another is one of the most common things people call for help with.

I guess the old attitude problem men have on road trips, where even though they have no idea where they’re going they still won’t stop and ask for directions, carries over to their gadgets as well. Not that I’ve ever done that or anything. Really, I haven’t.

Source: The Beeb.

Admit it guys, women are better at troubleshooting gadget problems than you are is a post from: The Inquisitr

WalMart has announced that they will be offering technical support teams in their U.S. locations before the end of October, a move that puts them in direct competition with Best Buy’s Geek Squad support teams.

Under the tech support department WalMart will be using NEW Customer Service Companies to provide their technical support which will range from home theater installation to computer networking services.

Depending on the work required users can expect to pay anywhere from $99 to $339 dollars for service.

Give the large amount of success Geek Squad has managed to pull together it doesn’t really come as a surprise that WalMart would enter the market, however it should be interesting to see if their customer base, largely made up of thrifty spenders will be willing to shell out extra cash for services they could attempt on their own.

WalMart Takes On Geek Squad With New Technical Support Teams is a post from: The Inquisitr

The mom from The Brady Bunch has a new tech support company, designed to help your grandma follow you on Twitter.

Florence Henderson describes the service as “like roadside assistance for computers,” conceived because until not too long ago, Henderson received a cell phone but had no idea how to do anything other than make a call with it. Now Henderson is all up in her lappity-toppity box, Facebooking and Skyping and generally performing all manner of technological feats. And she wants to get other old people in the game, too.

For $250 a year or $25 a month or $50 an incident, people too old to even know how to Google can call in to the FloH club seven days a week from 8 a.m to 2 a.m. Tech support staff will answer all kinds of questions, teaching the elderly to install iPods, network printers, shop online and e-mail you thirty times a day while embarrassing you on Facebook.

Are you old and trying to find the FloH club? Go up to the browser window and type in “www.flohclub.com.” That’s a freebie.

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Florence Henderson starts FloH Club to give seniors tech support is a post from: The Inquisitr

XKCD’s Tech Support Flowchart is a post from: The Inquisitr

The site, claiming 9 million volunteer members, lets anyone sign up and post a problem. Users — who are ranked in expertise and helpfulness by other members — then offer solutions. You can also search existing queries submitted by others to see if the answer you need has already been posted.

During our visit, the solutions featured on the front page included things such as a Motorola phone that wouldn’t charge, a pen drive that wouldn’t accept new files, and a BMW with a flashing engine warning light.

FixYa does also offer a pay-based option in which you can chat directly and immediately with a high-ranking expert via IM or phone. The expert keeps a portion of the fee. Unless you need instant assistance, though, you could just as easily post into the free forum system.

FixYa has been around since 2005. It’s now grown to about 30 employees and claims 10 million unique visitors a month, a rate its founder says continues to increase by about 12 percent every month.

FixYa Offers Free Crowdsourced Tech Support is a post from: The Inquisitr