You are currently browsing the Fixya Blog weblog archives for the year 2009.

Congratulations to Ginko, FixYa’s first-ever Expert to post 10,000 solutions! Ginko has helped an average of 23 people a day, every day, for the past 14 months. And his are no run-of-the-mill solutions- Ginko isn’t just one of FixYa’s most prolific Experts, he has also consistently been one of the very best. He’s been a blessing, both for the people he has helped as well as for FixYa’s staff, who know that they can depend on him to always provide top-notch assistance to our customers and users.

Ginko brought a wide range of skills to FixYa and has also learned some new ones while working on the site, comparing his time here to a year of college courses. He now specializes in a wide assortment of products, from computers to cars to coffeemakers. He takes pride in all of his many successful resolutions and finds it hard to pick a favorite solution or customer.

In his time here, Ginko has become one of FixYa’s most prominent personalities. He has been a voice of reason and a champion of those who might have otherwise been overlooked or mistreated. He hasn’t been afraid to speak out against the crowd or stick out his neck for the sake of someone else, something that is both admired and appreciated.

If you’ve posted a motorcycle problem on FixYa in the last month, chances are that tombones49 has answered it. Tom only joined FixYa in March of 2009, but he has already powered through 753 problems, almost all relating to motorcycles, and all for free. The people who have received his assistance know what an amazing technician he is. But they probably have no idea of what a jokester he can be.

Tom came to our site when a band of Washington politicians kidnapped him and forced him to give advice on FixYa, threatening to withhold food and bailout money. He managed to escape but his wife tied him up again and returned him to his captors, muttering something about peace of mind and debt to society. He has since been a model Expert and is now an outspoken advocate of FixYa’s “Mandatory Assistance Program”, as he calls it.

That’s just one of the tall tales that Tom tells. It can be hard to tell truth from fiction when hearing about his life. For example, would you believe any of the following stories, all of which Tom assures us are the truth?

*When he was 19, Tom married the valedictorian of his high school. After 36 years into what is thus far a 40-year relationship, she decided to become an ordained minister.

This is a quote given in 2007 by the president of Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division, Robbie Bach, regarding the famed ‘Red Ring of Death’: “The majority of Xbox 360 owners are having a great experience with their console and have from day one.”

And this is a quote posted yesterday on Microsoft’s Help and Support site, regarding the increasingly famous E74 error message: “While the majority of Xbox 360 owners continue to have a great experience with their console, we are aware that a very small percentage of our customers have reported receiving an error that displays ‘E74’ on their screen.”

For anyone using an older computer (i.e. any computer more than six months old), it can be hard to tell whether your system is just running slowly due to common minor issues like spyware, adware, and bloatware, or if you’re suffering from something more serious like the Conficker Worm that received so much press recently.

A great many of FixYa’s Experts are self-taught. It’s something that never fails to impress us. But some of our Experts’ tales of how they got started as technicians are truly amazing. Dirinda89’s is one such story, and we were lucky enough to get her to share it with us.

Five years ago, dirinda89 was on chemotherapy. The effects of the chemo were turning her mind to mush, as she puts it. Rather than passively accept this consequence of her situation, she started looking for something new to learn in order to keep her brain active. She had never used a computer before, and she decided to buy a system and start from square one. Every day during the next three years, while she soldiered through chemotherapy treatments, dirinda89 learned more and more about PCs and electronics. She first learned through trial and error, but eventually started taking college courses in Computer Management, then went on to earn her degree in the field.

Her strength and ability to create a positive from a negative experience is inspiring, but it fits right in with her character- dirinda89 is no shrinking violet. Until October of 2008, she drove an armored truck for Brinks and she considers her favorite hobby to be shooting her various firearms. Let that be a warning to anyone made jealous by her status as a Guru at FixYa, and tempted to do a little down-rating! Dirinda89 can obviously handle all comers- she can even take them for a ride on her 40-foot charter bus.