Iuse a managed anti-virus software. Today it popped up a message to say that it had detected a virus in an email and asking if I ‘wanted to manage this incident’ with two buttons: ‘yes’ and ‘no.’

To my mind this is an impossibly confusing message. Of course I want the situation ‘managed’ so I want to click ‘yes.’ But I’m paying for a ‘managed service’ so if I click ‘yes’ does that mean I’m taking over from the a/v software which would otherwise ‘manage’ it for me without any intervention.

I think of myself as a security specialist so if I’m confused what about normal people who just want it to work?

It’s one of those category error brain teasers like “are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist party,” or “do you intend to overthrow the government of the United States by strength or guile.” The ‘or’ in both cases make a simple ‘no’ impossible. Or the warning “Wet paint” which I always want to interpret as an order.

P.S. After writing this I found a good post on Presentation Zen about non sequiturs. It ties in nicely and it’s got a lot more good stuff.