Create a Glitch Station to Conquer Computer Weirdness

Quick! Look! It’s doing that thing again!

And now it stopped.

There are so many times when the technology does something weird one minute and then stops when an “expert” comes around. Don’t you hate that?!

I feel your pain.

Here is what you can do.

When your computer is doing something odd, stop, pay attention, and take some notes. Sometimes just slowing down will reveal the problem. This will also give you a chance to document the problem.

I advise my people to set up a “Glitch Station” so they can easily document the odd things the computer does. You can do this with an old school paper and pen or (a better option) use a note-taking program on your computer.

Choose a Good Note Taking Program

The program you choose should be easy to access and able to accept images and screen captures.

IDEAL: Word and Google docs work well for this.
OK: Evernote, Onenote, and Google keep are also good.
LESS GOOD: Notepad (PC) and TextEdit (Mac) are not as good for this purpose because you cannot insert images or screenshots.

Master Screen Capture!

The ability to take a screen capture of weirdness is essential for proving and diagnosing a technology glitch. I strongly recommend that everyone become proficient at taking screenshots so when a strangeness happens you can send the image to your favorite techie for quick solutions. Or at least have documented proof that you are not crazy.

Both Mac and PC have an image capture tool automatically installed.

For PC it is the Snipping Tool. To find it just type “Snipping Tool” into the search bar near your Start menu (lower left corner – if it is turned on). When you find it and open it I recommend you pin it to your Start bar/Task bar for easy access.

On the MAC this tool is Grab. To find it click the search icon in the upper right corner of your screen or hit [Command + the Space Bar] on your keyboard and type “Grab” into the search field. When you find it, and open it, I recommend you pin it to your Dock.

There is also a free tool called Loom.com that allows you to capture your screen as a video. It is amazing! Go check it out.

Set up your Glitch Station

  1. Choose your note-taking program and create a file called “Glitch Station”. Be sure to save it somewhere you can easily find it like your desktop (one of the few files allowed on the desktop) or mark it as a “favorite”.
    • You can use my Google Doc template if you like. Make a copy and save it to your own google drive or download it as a Word Doc.
      GLITCH STATION TEMPLATE
  2. Find and open your screen capture tool and save it to your Taskbar or Dock.
    • PC Pin to Taskbar – Right Click the program in the Taskbar and choose “Pin to Taskbar”
    • MAC Pin to Dock – Secondary Click the program in the Dock and choose “Options”, then “Keep in Dock”
  3. Take some time to practice with these tools. Take a few screen captures and save them to your Glitch Station file.
  4. EXTRA CREDIT: Think of a glitch that has been bothering you and document it using this Glitch Station Method.

How to Document a Glitch

But what sort of information do you need to log when you encounter something strange?

The lazy answer is; as much as you can.

Here is a simplified checklist:

  • A description of the weirdness.
  • The program you are using
  • Things you tried to fix it. (FYI In the blog post
    Just make it work! #!@#* I share several things you can do to solve a variety of computer problems.
  • An idea of what you think the problem may be (or what it could be related to).

You may decide to have someone help you with the glitch. They are likely to want the answers to these questions.

  • What kind of computer you have: PC or MAC
  • Your operating system. (Windows 7, Windows 10, MAC OS, Linux)
  • If your operating system is up to date.
  • When you last rebooted your computer. (did it do updates?)

For those of you who would like a quick walk through and help with setting up a “Glitch Station” or if you have a troubling “Glitch” please take advantage of a Topic Tackle.

See the offer below.

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    Nicole's mission is to help feminine professionals gain the technical
    skills they need to grow their business and focus on their missions.
    The focus of Luxcentric is on training practical strategies in the area of the core technologies.
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