02-22-2018, 10:42 AM | #31 |
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: France
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Re: What does a computer really do for you?
I like to compare Computer Operation to Driving. Nowadays, most of us have a driving license. We have no problem to take our car to commute work or to drive to the next supermarket ... But what happens when something surprising occurs? A pedestrian suddenly crosses the street where he was not supposed to do it, a road hog cut off the road or even goes through a red light ... This is where having the Driving skill (if only at amateur level) can make a difference. For those who don't, it often end with a crash.
It's exactly the same think with Computer Operation. As long as once only uses the computer programs he knows well, there is no problem. But, slowly, his computer becomes more and more slow, his programs work less and less efficiently and more and more publicity does appear on his computer screen ... His computer accumulated too many cookies, malwares, spywares (sometimes even viruses) and his hard disk is full and fragmented. He doesn't know what to do. Here, a computer user will use a good antivirus, antimalware, defragmentation and cleaning soft to solve all those problems. He will even use them regularly to scan his computer and won't forgot the updates to avoid them before they occur. And, to come back to the main discussion of that thread, I think that if using a computer to run a usual soft like a mail box or a game is easy for everyone, using it to improve his efficiency with another skill like Research, Astronomy or Engineering surely deserves a roll against Computer Operation. |
02-22-2018, 11:16 AM | #32 | |
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Ronneby, Sweden
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Re: What does a computer really do for you?
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02-22-2018, 12:32 PM | #33 | |
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Hmm, looks like Earth, circa CE 2020+
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Re: What does a computer really do for you?
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What I did, however, was do research for news articles for the general public, and research for a text book to be made for undergraduate students. Near the turn of the 20th Century, I was given access to such a service, but found it a waste of time for my purposes. Quite honestly, I couldn't understand half of what I read in those journals anyway. In GURPS terms, my skill level in the fields wasn't high enough.
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Kerry Thornley: Dwarf Planet Eris, Discordianism, and The John F. Kennedy Assassination Without Thornley, there would never have been the Steve Jackson Games edition of Principia Discordia Top 12 Clues You're a Role-Playing Old-Timer My humorous (I hope) article that also promotes SJGames/GURPS GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves My first GURPS supplement |
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02-22-2018, 12:45 PM | #34 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: What does a computer really do for you?
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02-22-2018, 12:47 PM | #35 |
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Hmm, looks like Earth, circa CE 2020+
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Re: What does a computer really do for you?
Agreed; I don't have my players roll on routine use for either one or for routine use of other skills. I'm pretty decent on a computer, but if I had to roll on Computer Operation every time I tried to use a computer, I'd be in trouble.
And if we all had to roll on Driving skill every time we went to work, the store, the movies, and then again coming home, many of us would have a crash two or three times a week instead of filing a claim for a collision about once every 17.9 years.
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Kerry Thornley: Dwarf Planet Eris, Discordianism, and The John F. Kennedy Assassination Without Thornley, there would never have been the Steve Jackson Games edition of Principia Discordia Top 12 Clues You're a Role-Playing Old-Timer My humorous (I hope) article that also promotes SJGames/GURPS GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves My first GURPS supplement |
02-22-2018, 12:57 PM | #36 | |
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Hmm, looks like Earth, circa CE 2020+
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Re: What does a computer really do for you?
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That hadn't completely changed by TL 8. I remember installing The Sims took me hours. But with The Sims 4, I clicked a button and it downloaded for me.
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Kerry Thornley: Dwarf Planet Eris, Discordianism, and The John F. Kennedy Assassination Without Thornley, there would never have been the Steve Jackson Games edition of Principia Discordia Top 12 Clues You're a Role-Playing Old-Timer My humorous (I hope) article that also promotes SJGames/GURPS GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves My first GURPS supplement |
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02-22-2018, 01:31 PM | #37 | |
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(If you have to ask . . .) Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Somewhere high up.
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Re: What does a computer really do for you?
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Most of my co-workers, who work in a computer-heavy industry, don't know how to force a scan disk of their computers. They don't know how to uninstall unneeded programs. Heck, most of them don't know the difference between "cache" and "cookies" and use the terms interchangeably. They're using the Computer Operation/TL8 skill at default. With the +4 for routine operation, they're rolling at IQ level, so they can wiggle their way through about half of the issues they see. For the other half they're calling me or the help(less) desk for assistance. |
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02-22-2018, 01:39 PM | #38 |
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Ronneby, Sweden
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Re: What does a computer really do for you?
I certainly wouldn't assume that the phrase "run a program" includes those other steps. Most computer users in corporate environments aren't even able to install programs since they lack administrator rights, and they surely "run programs". The same is true for anyone using a library computer to do research.
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02-22-2018, 01:50 PM | #39 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: What does a computer really do for you?
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02-22-2018, 03:33 PM | #40 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: What does a computer really do for you?
I think that Computer Operation should be considered the skill to use a computer at the administrative level. When you are talking about database management, you are talking about Computer Operation. When you are talking about ordering a table or a view from an SQL program, or running a regression on SPSS or R, you are talking about Computer Operation. By late-TL8, Computer Operation is a specialized skill because making a mistake can cause millions of dollars of data to be lost (which is why SQL administrator make damn sure that the suits cannot access the database directly). Everything else is just normal computer use for skills in TL8.
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