Thanks HP/Compaq/whoever..
Nothing nearly as bad as the article..
We had standing desks in the shop I worked in, and also many other places the computer was on the desk. Tower cases provide a comfortable arm-rest when you're standing next to a co-worker's desk talk to them. Also if you came in to click on a couple of things or just move the mouse to stop the screen saver when checking a running job on a customer's machine, it was convenient to rest your arm on the machines.
Some HP and Compaq models, and I think some others, had a proud[1] power button on the top front corner of the case, right about where your arm would lie, and of course holding down the power button would stop the machine.
In the end I came with a solution using some old sellotape reels and an angled bit of plastic with a hole in it. The reel was stuck over the hole and the assembly sat on top of the offending machines, the reel allowing easy access to the button while also blocking it from accidental use.
Undone once by a mate I've referred to here as a 'house-wirer' (who I refuse to call an electrician) who visited me at work one day. Took a look at the funny contraption, decided it wasn't anything relevant, and put it down on the desk and rested his arm on the machine that was all-but complete on a day-plus recovery
from a dying disk. I don't think I've ever heard such language as I used at the time to try and educate him about NOT picking up or touching stuff that doesn't belong to him. He still hasn't learned, but others are learning why I have so little time for him these days...
[1] vs flush or recessed, ie the button stuck out.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
