This amused me. I tried to access gmail, and got this message instead:
Gmail is temporarily unavailable. Cross your fingers and try again in a few minutes.
That kind of honesty is refreshing. No gobbledygook technical jargon, and no offer to send a message to gmail to alert them to the problem.
All that stuff is just smoke & mirrors, in my opinion. It’s like the “door close” button in an elevator — there aren’t any wires attached to it; it’s there only for the placebo effect.
“Cross your fingers.” There’s an instruction I understand.
And it worked! I can access my inbox! How ’bout that.
Dec 23, 2005 @ 16:21:00
Yes, Gmail support staff truly take a low-tech and non-geek speak approach to working with their clients. What a refreshing attitude!
(I wonder what they’re up to)?
Dec 23, 2005 @ 16:21:00
I also like google’s “I feel lucky” search button. Yes, they’ve got a good sense of humor, those Google folks.
Dec 24, 2005 @ 09:32:00
Is the door close button on the elevator true?
Oh my.
Thats…
wow.
Dec 24, 2005 @ 12:05:00
Heather:
I don’t have any inside information about door close buttons on elevators. It’s just that I ride an elevator to the 21st floor several times a day at my workplace. It seems to me that the door takes exactly the same amount of time to close whether you push the door close button or not.
And then I noticed that it was probably true of a lot of other elevators, too: you push the button, you wait a noticable interval, then the door closes.
But maybe I’m just being cynical. Which isn’t a good attitude during Christmas — mea culpa.
Q
Dec 24, 2005 @ 15:24:00
Just popped in to wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas. I hope it’s a good one.
Dec 24, 2005 @ 15:41:00
Thanks, Mrs. Aginoth. Merry Christmas to you and Mr. A., too.
Q
May 16, 2007 @ 13:34:38
The door close button on my elevator here in Cyprus activates it instantly.
Hope that helps!
May 16, 2007 @ 13:40:40
Since writing this post, I have found one local elevator with a functional door close button. But I still think most of them are placebos. Maybe Cyprus is different!
May 16, 2007 @ 13:53:53
Just in case you fancy making it your lifetime’s achievement to get to the bottom of this possibly placebic problem and do an international case study, I just popped out and had a look at my lift – it’s made by a Spanish company called Orona
I may have invented a word somewhere in the middle of that!