"Got amazing or amusing IT tales, lessons learned the hard way, or war stories from the tech trenches? Do you have a crazy-but-true tale about managing IT, developing apps, or supporting users?"
These are the questions we ask to get readers thinking about their personal adventures in IT. We then publish those stories in InfoWorld's Off the Record blog, keeping the writer anonymous. In the Comments section, readers often recall similar incidents and weigh in with further insights.
[ More Off the Record: Read 12 "IT tales for your summer reading list," and also get a new tech tale delivered to your inbox every week in InfoWorld's Off the Record newsletter. ]
In August, the collection included stories about troubleshooting a blue screen of death and a nightmarish situation when students were given laptops -- complete with admin rights.
And if you have a noteworthy IT experience to share, send it to offtherecord@infoworld.com. If we publish it, we'll send you a $50 American Express gift cheque.
- Efficiency is a no-no for a techie at a law firm attempting to recover data from a partner's broken laptop in "The case of the paranoid partner and the ruined laptop."
- "Blue screen of death strikes again -- and again and again": A student's laptop keeps crashing, and it's up to the first-level technician to figure out why.
- "Who needs an IT department, anyway?" Chaos ensues when a school principal gives every student a laptop and admin rights, but no usage guidelines and no IT involvement.
- A techie lands his first job working at a support center -- and sees the difference between "Computer troubleshooting vs. finding a quick solution."
This story, "Real-life IT tales and lessons learned," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the continuing craziness of the life in tech in InfoWorld's Off the Record blog.