Sometimes the Solution isn't Digital

We do a lot of software troubleshooting here.  We're checking folder hierarchies, we're tapping through touch screens, and we're trying to remember which of the Mac's preferences menus we're supposed to be clicking on.

But I already did System Preferences, why do I have to do Program Preferences?  Wouldn't any settings in System Preferences override any setting in Program Preferences?  Why would I need two separate places for changing audio systems?  Who at Apple is so distrusting that they think I wouldn't want GarageBand and Audacity playing out of the same speakers?  Have I already been in Studio 6 for three hours?  Could someone tell my roommates I won't be home for dinner?  No, like, tomorrow's dinner.

That being said, sometimes the issue isn't anything inside any software settings or preferences menu.  Sometimes it's the simplest version of user error.  Two examples and the shorter one is first.

Like jazz, I'll bring you in with something that seems short and uncomplicated, then I'll hit you with something longer and seemingly more complicated.

First thing is Studio 6, a constant source of audio issues, being that it is a constant source of audio work.  If I tried to count the number of hours I'd spent troubleshooting Studio 6, then giving up and looking over Nico's shoulder as he fixed everything, it'd be a number large enough to confuse some early Greek mathematicians.

I've found it!  I've found a way to reliably calculate Dillon's hours!

Which is why when I was in Studio 6 the other day, it was nice to have a simple fix.  The same kind of issue came in.  The user wanted sound where sound wasn't coming from.  I waded into the fray, writing my living will in my head, because I was fairly certain I wouldn't be seeing the outside of Morris Library or breathing the sweet air of Newark on one of the rare days where Kennet didn't make it smell like a zoo of swine and fungi.

Pictured:  A significant reason why I didn't go outside for the first eight years of my life.

You can imagine my relief when I discovered that the reason there was no sound coming from Studio 6's speakers was because Studio 6's speakers were not turned on.  I'm proud to say it only took me an hour and a half to figure that out.

Another example.  Sai and I (which, Sai, by the way, if you were ever going to start an indie band, there's your name) were looking into an issue with the flash on the FujiFilm.  When the user went to take a picture, the flash wouldn't activate.  We spent some time with it, but no matter what we did, the flash wouldn't pop up.  There was no menu button we didn't press in our quest for sudden bursts of light.

I don't need a flash because I carry an active strobe light around with me.  That, and I never want to be unprepared for a rave.

In my desperation I turned to the manual.  Somehow, the two of us had missed the button that manually raises the flash, which was important because on the FujiFilm, that's the only way to actually raise the flash.  It won't pop up automatically like on the Canons.  I maintain that the neck strap of the camera was laying across the button.

Obscurer of obvious solutions since cameras got small enough to walk around with.

We pressed the button, showed the user where it was, and then we didn't speak to each other for the rest of the shift, both contemplating how it was that we were outsmarted by a thin strap of woven cotton/polyester blend.