By Alan Combs

Do NOT under any circumstances consider that there is anything autobiographical about this one.

As is the case with Rodney Dangerfield, computer savants don’t get no respect. Personally, we can only bemoan this tragic situation, but sometimes it is deserved when computer nerds get out of their specific areas of expertise. A recent example occurred in a local unnamed department.

One of the department members wanted to place a large graphic into a color presentation. The picture was very large and there was some question as to whether it should be imported as a PICT, as a TIFF, or in the graphics interchange format. The so-called expert suggested that the latter was most appropriate and made the conversion. The trouble came when importation of this file was attempted. The file size was over 10 mbytes, and it blew the computer out of the water. In fact, the resulting problems did not go away until the operating system was re-installed.

There is an obvious moral to this tale of woe: beware of geeks bearing GIFs.