Plausible deniability

This pilot fish is handed a trouble ticket from the help desk: A user can't access a web portal she needs for her job.

"I tested the link myself," says fish. "This is the message I found."

BEWARE OF THE SHARKS IN THE INTERNET OCEAN!!!

You are using Internet Explorer 9.0 which has not been approved for use in this portal. If any part of the portal does not respond or perform as expected while you are using IE 9.0, the portal support desk is not responsible for any missed deadlines or due dates, conflicted data, cakes falling, tooth decay, your kid's failing grade, sunspots or anything else caused by the use of this un-validated browser. It is suggested that you contact your company's IT Department and explain your need to access the portal using Internet Explorer 6.0, 7.0 or 8.0 rather than proceeding but the choice is yours. Bottom line: don't blame us if this shark comes back and bites you where you sit.

"It turned out to be a firewall issue," fish sighs. "The user was on IE 8.0, so never saw this message.

"And despite the warning, the site functions with IE 9.0 anyway."

Sharky guarantees nothing. Well, almost nothing -- but send me your true tale of IT life at sharky@computerworld.com, and I promise I'll send you a stylish Shark shirt if I use it. Add your comments below, and read some great old tales in the Sharkives.

The Best of Shark Tank includes more than 70 tales of IT woe submitted by you, our readers, since 1999. Which all goes to prove, conclusively, that hapless users and idiotic bosses are indeed worldwide phenomena. Free registration is all that's needed to download The Best of Shark Tank (PDF).