What is
                           Technical Harassment
 
    In our complex technical environment there are many opportunities for a
 competent technical individual to be the subject of technical harassment.
 Sometimes it can be so subtle that you may not even be aware you are being
 harassed. Worse yet, you may inadvertently technically harass another person
 by accident.
 
    Following are some guidelines to help you determine if you are being
 technically harassed.
 
    If you are repeatedly asked the same technical question you may be the
 victim of technical harassment.  While it is most common to be asked the
 question repeatedly within the same conversation, some instances have been
 identified of habitual technical harassment.  Habitual technical harassment is
 not uncommon and has been known to exhibit group tendencies where members of a
 group may ask the same question repeatedly.  Untreated, these instances of
 group technical harassment can continue for years.
 
    If you are asked a technical question by a non-technical person and they do
 not write your answer down it is likely the question is frivolous.  Most
 non-technical people are not capable of remembering a true technical answer
 for more than 30 seconds.
 
    If you are forced into a discussion where a person uses more than three
 (3) buzzwords in one sentence the person is most likely a fake and you are
 the unwitting victim of technical harassment.  One note of caution, competent
 technical people have been known to inadvertently use buzzwords after reading
 mindless drivel like PC Week or LAN Times.  If the person has been known to use
 more common technical terms in the past such as "stuff" and "things", they are
 most likely victim of computer magazine brainwashing.
 
    If during a troubleshooting session a person uses the term "trick".  For
 example "maybe we could trick the database into thinking it has been updated".
 This is a sure sign of technical harassment.
 
    If a person explains that a needed feature will be provided by a vendor and
 that person is nontechnical then you are at risk of being technically harassed.
 If you believe that person, you have definitely been technically harassed, if
 you don't believe them you have only been technically annoyed.
 
    If when trying to resolve a technical problem with a product from a vendor
 and you are instructed to call the salesman that sold us the product you are
 being set up for technical harassment.  It is a common reaction for a
 non-technical person when they have purchased technical equipment to call
 another non-technical person.  The dialogue between two nontechnical people
 usually provides some sense of comfort that they aren't the only ones who
 are confused.