While I hatch a plan to make these blogs less confusing, for now a sideways look at an infamous chestnut that affects all of us who rely on working with computer equipment. That request from computer technical support folk to try ‘turning it off and on again’ that usually triggers an almost audible roll of the eyes.

The other day my mother had some technical issues with her computer and, as is her habit in spite of constant objections from me, she threw the switch at the wall rather than shutting it down safely. I have a habit of attempting to describe to her how computers like to do things by a ‘night night John-Boy’ allusion to the old TV series The Waltons.

This analogy does not stick in her head.

So this time I tried a different one.

Computers are simpler than they appear to be with all the multiple things going on and sometimes they get confused with their multi-tasking and need to start things off again. The restart is far from being the sop that it appears to be!

The analogy I chose I think worked quite well, and seemed to get the message through to her. It involved a cute Norwich terrier dog.

Years ago, I worked in an office that was converted from farm buildings. The atmosphere, even in chilly winters, was idyllic. Next door was a manor house. The ‘Lord of the Manor’ was young Stubbs, that Norwich terrier.

Stubbs would accompany any of us who were around on walks at lunchtime and had a habit of visiting us in the morning as well.

He had a set routine of who and where he went to and in what order. Some of these visits involved treats, but not all. Those who he visited treatless were walking chums and we were all greeted with a ‘wowowo wo’ and a waggy tail and big grin as he spoke.

I ran the office library as well as the computer network and this meant that in my ‘zone’ he might run into people out of his usual order as they browsed for books or sought guidance. This he found perplexing and his route got confused and muddled and he would miss people out. He needed to do this morning session in the right order or effectively he would abort it too soon.

And this is a simplistic version of how computers behave with their startup code. Newer computers have a bit more brain power to handle possible codes launching faster than others, but it is still possible for them to get as confused as Stubbs and sit with the circle of frustration spinning with nobody home, or do weird things that aren’t expected.

And if you come across a BT Openreach engineer who has a problem because he/she haven’t got a blue ladder, this is not aesthetics but safety. Blue ladders are safe to use on power carrying telegraph poles…

What seems daft isn’t always as daft as it appears…