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4 ? 1 Slinky. It's a wonderful toy. Fun for a girl and a boy. If you don't think so, just ask USC student Warren Bazemore. He knows Slinky. jp _ ' - -? Photo courtosy of Warron Bazomoro Young Warren Bazemore at his height of Slinky fame. What do you This weekend, I decided it was time to get some classwork done on my trusty Power Macintosh 6115, so I sat down at my desk and fired her up. But, instead of being greeted by the cheery "Welcome to Macintosh" screen that I know and love, I was chilled to see a picture of the "Sad Mac." For those non-Mac users out there, a "Sad Mac" is an image of a small Macintosh computer that frowns, followed by error codes. Its appearance means that something has gone horribly wrong with your machine, and I knew immediately this "Sad Mac" was going to lead me to become a "Sad Marc." I could already feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Now, I could tell you the terrible tale of technical support lines and Macintosh error codes that consumed my Sunday morning, but I think it might be more beneficial to discuss what you as a user can do when you encounter computing problems. For those of you who have not experienced a se rious problem and are wondering what ifs like, I think it can be justifiably compared to having a root canal done with a blow torch. My tips on handling problems: 1. Preventative maintenance. You can prevent problems from occurring by making backup copies of important data and keeping your equipment well maintained. This means you should backup religiously. It's also a good idea to periodically use a good disk repair program to find and eliminate any bugs that might be creeping up in your system. 2. Remain calm. While the following may sound like it goes without saying, I feel compelled to mention it because I have seen too many people go crazy over computing problems: Do not hit your computer. Do not attempt to throw El IB m Bl "B jfl If ^H9 ! a m9 vi H You may know this face of the guy on the Warren Bazemoro (with friei STEPHANIE SONNENFELD Features Editor Ine con Picture it: you're little. Eight or nine years old. You're watching "You Can't Do That on "It toot Television" on Nickelodeon or the "Smurfe" on down tl Saturday morning. In between heavy plot lines, ^ ithe commercial for "Slinky," the ever popular ?iVe st staple of childhood fun and games, comes on. m Tf You think it's cool that the Slinky on TV rolls get^d0f" down stairs and bounces back and forth. Fun- Wgr ny, you think, mine can't do that. Don't worry, if s not supposed to ? ask USC sophomore War- Althoui ren Bazemore, he should know. He was the lit- __ . J tie kid joyfully extolling his praises on "Slinky" ^age ^ and rolling it down stairs in those commercials showbiz nn that were definitely all illusion. mprrinls fi Although his days as the "Slinky Boy" are Bazemore all gone, they will really never end. Bazemore, siinkvcom a political science major from Irmo High School, "What has been involved in acting since he was four. ne- hbors Bazemore got the opportunity to try out for the ^d he can Slinky commercial after his mentor, Bette Her- j gaw ^ ring, initiated the idea of signing with an agent. know Bazemore's agent got word that James Indus- Columbia 1 tries, the maker of Slinky, was holding open au- gut at ditions in Columbia and throughout the south- he east for the next Slinkv commercials. He Dassed the tip on to Bazemore and the rest is history. fmi ,, Y. "I went in and sang the(Slinky theme) song .1 . , rY and talked to the guy (running the audition). Within five minutes, he said, "you've got it(the ? i part)," Bazemore said. "It was the only audition 0f the who really do whei out of the window. If you must relieve stress, try calling your computer names or shouting at it with four letter words. (I find this works well for me). 3. Use some common sense. Ifs IreBr amazing how ordinarily intelligent and h ,|fP rational human beings become blither- If -JMmk ing idiots when you sit them down in front of a computer. They can become so intimidated by the technology that TcCHNOBABBLE tliov finn't o?on fn/ tn lniripallv fimiro r ?r? < r ""-j "6iuv' iviurc uuruuruciin out the problem. There are documented cases of people calling technical support lines claiming to have printer problems, only to find they forgot to add a little thing like paper. Another classic is when modem users forget to plug the phone line into the modem. If these people had used their heads, they would have had a lot less stress. If you encounter a problem, don't immediately go into orbit. Try and think. Think about what you might have done differently in recent operations to make the problem occur. Reason through the problem before blindly blundering for a ] solution. : 4. RTFM. RTFM is perhaps the most important thing 1 to remember when troubleshooting a problem. Its an acronym 1 born from the Internet that stands for Read The Fu...uh...Man- ' ual. Too many users insanely assume they can solve a problem if they play around with a machine or program long I enough. Ihis can actually create additional unintended prob- 1 lems. Read your manual when you hit a brick wall. < 5. Call technical support. I'm not gonna lie boys and i i ? PCJ Ek W- * ** 1M H * #1 Photo courtesy of Wanrsn Bazsmors i right or you may not. Regardless, he's sophomore id Mike Myers) and he's a part of many's childhood. H| w sned like that." school, amercial consisted ofBazemore singing Now, older and v> 3 Slinky song and rolling the Slinky on his Slinky stint w fairs. of the things about tl : us 75 takes to get it (the Slinky) to Bazemore is that it i le stairs. We spend a lot of money "I saw it (the com sm go downstairs," Bazemore laughed, of last year. Ihadjc ill got the Slinky I used in the com- ting ready to go to da 's something my parents won't let me and heard it [the com Bazemore added. Tve still got the hearing things. I did e in the commercial back home. This and I was like, that'i tuff." Bazemore's conn ?h Bazemore was only in the fourth severed just because ie time of the commercial's initial re- addition to being fes ras already somewhat of a seasoned mercial, Bazemore ^ afessional. He had already done com- other toy manufactur Dr Woodhill Mall and J.B. White's, called Tangles, admits that seeing himself in the Recently, Slink] imerdal wasn't strange at all. niversary and sent I was really strange was one of my Slinky along with a I for many years moved to New York to the Slinky song in ie back home to visit. He said "yeah, "They (the maker (Slinky) commercial last week.' To about doing a 50th: it had been seen in other places than mercial and having al )lew my mind," Bazemore said. the Slinky commerci the time Bazemore filmed the com- something," Bazemoi sing on TV and a part of toy history "Slinky was a ne ng but blowing his mind. Like most fun, but I've never vie ders, fame was essentially the last of my life," Bazemore s mina. inow mat ne s ail re admits that at the time of the com- mains if he ever has < Iming, he thought the "neatest" part them to play with Sli le process was that he got to miss "Til buy the store 1 your hard d girls, it ain't never fun when you have to call tech support at a major company. Chances are you will be placed in a telephone waiting queue, where you will be forced to listen to Barry Manilow for half an hour or so. Personally, I find "Copa Cabana" somewhat annoying when my computer sits before me in ruin, but maybe that's just me. In addition to Barry, you must also deal with numerous computerized voices and phone number options before you have a remote chance of actually speaking with a five person. When you finally get someone on the line, you then must go through the explaining of the problem and having it diagnosed. By this point you will probably be sick of waiting, and sick of Barry Manilow and feel like going off on the tech per sun _yuu ?ut; spetuung wiui. dui, Keep uiings in perspective. It isn't the techie's fault that you have this problem and he or she didn't create the telephone queue either. Be nice to them and you will get much better service. To make your ordeal with tech support more bearable, there are a few things you should do. Be in front of your computer and have it on so you can perform any tasks the techie asks of you. Also, be prepared to give information such as product serial numbers and software version numbers. All af this will help your problem be diagnosed more quickly and hopefully your problems will be solved. 6. Are ya insured? In some cases, problems can be beyond technical support's ability to solve. Something may be physically wrong with your disks, machine, etc. In these casss, it is important that your computer and peripherals be under warranty. Most products come with a warranty of some duration. Often, the store selling them will also have Wednesday, November 8,1991 1 1 iser, Bazemore looks back ith a bit of fondness. One TV6 Still got the le commercial that amazes i?. . s stm aired. Slinky I used in mercial) the first semester the commercial. ist woken up and was getss. I just turned on the t.v. It'S SOIfiettling mercial] and thought I was n't think that was really it Hiy PfllvHlS Tr Asi i, v wont let me get ections with Slinky aren t 7 he's not a kid anymore. In riQ OT? l'V0 Still itured on the Slinky com- ||,n ei.!pi 1 vas also on the box of an- IHC STIIlI a ed by the makers of Slinky W0T6 in tll6 COITh 7 celebrated its 50th an- mercial back bazemore a 14-karat gold TliBe ie t-shirt that had the words nOIIie? miS IS lprinted on it. SIKHUS! Stllff." 3) of Slinky said something ^ anniversary Slinky com- -Political Science 11 of US Who have ever done Sophomore, Warren co^m& back doin& Bazemore, on his memore.s^ , ,. ries of being in the Slinky atthing to do and. was commercial, iwed it as an essential part ; added. grown up the question rea?:i J :n 1 muureii, win lit; encuuifcigt: inky? out," Bazemore said. rive goes soft? a warranty and a return/refund policy. Pay attention to the terms of these. They may bail you out of hot water later. If you have a piece of equipment that is vital to you and your work, consider purchasing an extended warranty for it Many major computer makers often extended warranties, as do many resellers. 7. You're not insured? Ok, panic! If common sense, and manuals and tech support have failed you and your computer isn't under warranty, you aren't gonna be happy. Depending on the severity of the problem, you may have to buy new software, pay a technician to work on your machine or even buy a new machine altogether. In other words, don't go without a warranty unless you are certain you can accept the financial consequences. Tf? /taon OT\17 rtf TT/\l 1 Lmm ilkM J " -Jl iu wwt cuijr VJ1 jruu CUC WUIlUCIillg 11UW U1C OitU iVUlTU Sll/uation turned out, I ended up on the phone with Apple tech support where I waited for half an hour to speak with someone. And yes, I really did have to listen to "Copa Cabana." Tech support finally decided my machine has a bad logic board and possibly a bad hard drive. Since I am still un aer warranty, these are being replaced. So, a happy Mac will hopefully soon be adorning my screen once again. Marc LaFountain, a journalism senior, can be e-mailed at lafountain-marc@sc.edu. To subscribe to an electronic version of this column, send e-mail to listserv@univscvm.csd^c.edu, with the words "SUB T-BABBLE YourFirstName YourLastName" in the message body. BUI