«

I hope not.

An acquaintance (call her B) rang me a few weeks ago after her sister
gave her a pc. She wanted net access, finally getting a Clear.net dialup
account. She had no idea how to set it up and I'm too ill to go there at
the moment, so I advised her to ring Telstraclear and try and get
someone around to set her up, which they did.

Monday just gone B brought the pc here as it kept disconnecting. I found
it full of spyware, viruses and a couple of dialling trojans. There was
no firewall (no XP service packs installed), no anti-virus, in fact,
nothing at all loaded to keep out the net nasties.

I ended up formatting and re-installing. I then loaded SP2, Antivir,
Ad-aware and Comodo firewall, with printed instructions on keeping
anti-virus, anti-spyware defs up to date etc.

B rang me about 30 minutes ago saying TC had just rung her to tell her
that there were a number of calls to East Timor from her phone, the last
one on monday morning.

It's good that TC have put systems in place that recognise unusual toll
call patterns which should be checked. B told them she didn't know
anyone in East Timor and she wasn't paying for those calls. I told her
to stick to her guns on the matter, and if they try pressing the issue,
mention something along the lines that the TC tech who set her up
should have at the least advised her to install SP2, activate the
firewall and install an anti-virus.

B isn't the brightest spark, and in all honesty she is the ideal target
for ripping off. The TC tech, unless he is around the same iq, should
have recognised that and not left her pc wide open to attack. I had
thought about it myself when she first asked about getting on the net,
but I was obviously under a misapprehension thinking that a TC tech
would sort her out. IMO, Telstraclear should shoulder those toll
charges. Just have to wait and see what here next account looks like.

</gripemode>
--

Rob
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http://aspir8or.blogspot.com
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Calm down -- it's only ones and zeroes.
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On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:14:54 +1200, Rob S wrote:

> B isn't the brightest spark, and in all honesty she is the ideal target
> for ripping off. The TC tech, unless he is around the same iq, should have
> recognised that and not left her pc wide open to attack. I had thought
> about it myself when she first asked about getting on the net, but I was
> obviously under a misapprehension thinking that a TC tech would sort her
> out. IMO, Telstraclear should shoulder those toll charges. Just have to
> wait and see what here next account looks like.

Surely if your aquaintence wants to own a computer then she should be
sufficently clued up on how to maintain it.

I think that people like her should not be permitted to own a computer
unless they can demonstrate competance in operating and maintaining it!

The fault was hers for not taking control of her request to have a
computer. She is a prime candidate for LART therapy.


--
Jonathan Walker

"You'll have to excuse me — I have a long
bath and a short dress to get into."

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:14:54 +1200, Rob S <Here@home> exclaimed:

>I hope not.
>
>An acquaintance (call her B) rang me a few weeks ago after her sister
>gave her a pc. She wanted net access, finally getting a Clear.net dialup
>account. She had no idea how to set it up and I'm too ill to go there at
>the moment, so I advised her to ring Telstraclear and try and get
>someone around to set her up, which they did.
>
>Monday just gone B brought the pc here as it kept disconnecting. I found
>it full of spyware, viruses and a couple of dialling trojans. There was
>no firewall (no XP service packs installed), no anti-virus, in fact,
>nothing at all loaded to keep out the net nasties.
>
>I ended up formatting and re-installing. I then loaded SP2, Antivir,
>Ad-aware and Comodo firewall, with printed instructions on keeping
>anti-virus, anti-spyware defs up to date etc.
>
>B rang me about 30 minutes ago saying TC had just rung her to tell her
>that there were a number of calls to East Timor from her phone, the last
>one on monday morning.
>
>It's good that TC have put systems in place that recognise unusual toll
>call patterns which should be checked. B told them she didn't know
>anyone in East Timor and she wasn't paying for those calls. I told her
>to stick to her guns on the matter, and if they try pressing the issue,
> mention something along the lines that the TC tech who set her up
>should have at the least advised her to install SP2, activate the
>firewall and install an anti-virus.
>
>B isn't the brightest spark, and in all honesty she is the ideal target
>for ripping off. The TC tech, unless he is around the same iq, should
>have recognised that and not left her pc wide open to attack. I had
>thought about it myself when she first asked about getting on the net,
>but I was obviously under a misapprehension thinking that a TC tech
>would sort her out. IMO, Telstraclear should shoulder those toll
>charges. Just have to wait and see what here next account looks like.
>
></gripemode>

To a telecomms provider gave her free support on setting up a dialup,
and because they didn't recognise other problems over the phone, they
should cop the cost?

The only outcome is for TC to no longer provide free support.

Maybe she should wake up and learn to take responsibility for her own
computer rather than looking for others to blame?

In message <>, Rob S wrote:

> She wanted net access, finally getting a Clear.net dialup
> account.

If all she wanted was basic net access, then she should not be running
Microsoft Windows.

Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
> In message <>, Rob S wrote:
>
>> She wanted net access, finally getting a Clear.net dialup
>> account.
>
> If all she wanted was basic net access, then she should not be running
> Microsoft Windows.
Oh, I agree, but as I said, she's not what you would call bright. She
has already done 4 computer familiarization courses using in Windows (I
think they were all the same course) and there was no way I was going to
install a better os on her machine. In her eyes I would be responsible
for showing her how to use it, and I doubt there is enough time left in
my life to get her to a reasonable level of competence. This is a woman
who calls her pc a modem, and stares blankly at you when you ask her to
right click.
When she first signed up for her net account, she rang me complaining
that nothing was happening 30 minutes after signing up (over the phone).
I said it may take more than 30 minutes for the account to be activated,
and had she plugged her modem into her phone line and had she set up
internet connection on her pc. Her complete bafflement prompted me to
tell her to ring TC and get a technician around to set her up.

Unfortunately she is now ringing me every day with a query. Today's
involved not getting music when she puts a cd into the drive. Of course
she had no pc speakers and had not run a cable from her sound card to
her stereo. I'm seriously thinking of changing my phone number.
--

Rob
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
http://aspir8or.blogspot.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Alcohol and calculus don't mix - PLEASE don't drink and derive.
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On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 13:36:42 +1200, Lawrence D'Oliveiro
<_zealand> exclaimed:

>In message <>, Rob S wrote:
>
>> She wanted net access, finally getting a Clear.net dialup
>> account.
>
>If all she wanted was basic net access, then she should not be running
>Microsoft Windows.

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

Fred Dagg <> wrote:

> On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 13:36:42 +1200, Lawrence D'Oliveiro
> <_zealand> exclaimed:
>
> >In message <>, Rob S wrote:
> >
> >> She wanted net access, finally getting a Clear.net dialup
> >> account.
> >
> >If all she wanted was basic net access, then she should not be running
> >Microsoft Windows.
>
> Meanwhile, back in the real world...

....where the sheep run the world's most insecure OS and then wonder why
things go wrong...
--
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:
> Fred Dagg <> wrote:
>
> > On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 13:36:42 +1200, Lawrence D'Oliveiro
> > <_zealand> exclaimed:
> >
> > > In message <>, Rob S wrote:
> > >
> > > > She wanted net access, finally getting a Clear.net dialup
> > > > account.
> > >
> > > If all she wanted was basic net access, then she should not be
> > > running Microsoft Windows.
> >
> > Meanwhile, back in the real world...
>
> ...where the sheep run the world's most insecure OS and then wonder
> why things go wrong...

Hehee! Careful Jamie, you're stepping close to the "Linux Zealot" line
there. Hate to have to add you to my killfile too.
--
Shaun.

~misfit~ <> wrote:

> Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:
> > Fred Dagg <> wrote:
> >
> > > On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 13:36:42 +1200, Lawrence D'Oliveiro
> > > <_zealand> exclaimed:
> > >
> > > > In message <>, Rob S wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > She wanted net access, finally getting a Clear.net dialup
> > > > > account.
> > > >
> > > > If all she wanted was basic net access, then she should not be
> > > > running Microsoft Windows.
> > >
> > > Meanwhile, back in the real world...
> >
> > ...where the sheep run the world's most insecure OS and then wonder
> > why things go wrong...
>
> Hehee! Careful Jamie, you're stepping close to the "Linux Zealot" line
> there. Hate to have to add you to my killfile too.

Meh I just dislike Windows. Though I don't care what what other
people use so long as they don't complain about it to me or expect me to
fix it, heh. The trouble is they so frequently do...

Regards,
Jamie Kahn Genet
--
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.