MOVE to a foreign country and you will soon attempt to learn the language, become familiar with local customs, and then try to catch up with what's happening in that part of the world.
When you decide to become computer-literate and knowledgeable about the Internet, the priorities are very similar.
Unfortunately, until you become familiar with the current jargon,
the customs (usually called Net Etiquette), as well as recent developments,
you will continue to regard yourself as an outsider.
Initially it may seem overwhelming, but if you change your viewing and reading habits only slightly, it is surprising how much information you will assimilate within a short period.
While I wouldn't dream of suggesting you abandon your favourite TV programmes, it is a good idea to start glancing (albeit askance) at all the 'technical' ones you have been strenuously avoiding. At the same time force yourself to read computer related features in your local newspaper. Instead of walking past those stacks of 'dot', '.net' and PC periodicals with a shudder, choose the least offensive and take it home.
Don't be discouraged when it all seems like gobbleddygook. Just
persevere and this too will pass.
It may seem strange to be encouraging these offline activities
when you have just taken this great leap forward onto the Internet
- information's super highway. However you won't want to spend all
your time glaring at a PC monitor (it's not good for you) and secondly,
at this stage you probably relate far better to the printed word
than you do to on-screen text.
At first it was all the tips and 'tricks' that appealed to me, and I kept busy slicing up bits of paper and glueing them into large notebooks (for future reference in the year 2010, no doubt). Then I began collecting articles and other clutter, obtaining great satisfaction when I could come up with an answer after burrowing in my scrapbooks.
A year or so down the line I began opening new files in Word -
called PC Manual, Writing Manual and Web Page Manual - so that I
could lift stuff from the Net the easy way, by cutting and pasting.
These files have now reached mammoth proportions but I check them
out sometimes. Furthermore I have even deleted some of this information
because I can no longer imagine why I wanted to keep such simple,
run-of-the-mill things anyway. That is real progress!
If I had put half as much effort into my schoolwork, I might have
become a Rhodes Scholar, but 'learning' was different this time
around. No-one told me I had to do it (far from it in the case of
my immediate family). This was a challenge I chose willingly and
it proved an excellent way of coping with all sorts of mid-life
crises.
If you are at the beginning of the learning curve you will probably find this enthusiastic burbling hard to believe. But on the day you specifically go to the shops to buy the latest issue of your computer magazine (and you can't wait until nightfall to get at your bedtime reading) then it has got to you also.
Of course there will still be some articles which remain completely over your head, but don't give in. Those are the ones which cure insomnia!
Copyright 2001 Sheldene Chant
Another easy to understand book that shows you how to get the most
out of the World Wide Web and your browser of choice. If you're looking
for an excuse to spend more time online, this book will give you plenty
of opportunities. Learn effective search techniques, utilizing bookmarks,
etc.
