Abby Stokes
Page 1
“Is This Thing On?”
A Computer Handbook for Late Bloomers, Technophobes, and the Kicking & Screaming
Abby Stokes
Illustrations by Michael Sloan and Susan Hunt Yule
Workman Publishing • New York
Copyright © 2008, 2011 by Abigail P. Stokes
Illustrations copyright © 2000, 2011 by Michael Sloan and Susan Hunt Yule
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced— mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying—without written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
eISBN 9780761170938
Author photo © 2000 by Laura Straus, NY
Cover illustrations by Michael Sloan
Cover photos © Chris Richard/fotolia (laptop, front cover) and © Feng Yu/Shutterstock images (mouse, back cover)
Trademarks: All brand names, product names, and logos used or illustrated in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Neither Workman Publishing Co., Inc., nor Abby Stokes is associated with any of such owners and no endorsement by such owners has been made or is implied.
Workman books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for premiums and sales promotions as well as for fund-raising or educational use. Special editions or book excerpts also can be created to specification. For details, contact the Special Sales Director at the address below or send an e-mail to specialmarkets@workman.com.
WORKMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
225 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014-4381
www.workman.com
For Nancy
I dedicate this book to my mother…
who tried and succeeded.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
I thank my lucky stars every day for the incredible group of family and friends that I am privileged to call my loved ones. My lucky stars also have me dividing my time between the most exciting city in the world and a little piece of heaven on the water. Above and beyond my lucky stars I thank the following people: Mom, Eve, and Sherri, whose unwavering support is always felt and appreciated; Dan Tucker, Judy Hirsch, and the late Henry Hirsch, whose sage advice guided me through every aspect of the book; Peter Workman, Suzie Bolotin, and Margot Herrera, who welcomed me back to Workman for the second time, along with their colleagues Heather Schwedel, Jessica Rozler, Amy Lewis, Janet Vicario, Orlando Adiao, Lidija Tomas, Deborah McGovern, Emily Krasner, Jenny Mandel, Oleg Lyubner, Maggie Gleason, and Selina Meere; illustrators Michael Sloan and Susan Hunt Yule; Justin Nisbet, Anastasia Fuller, and Jay Fienberg, who designed abbyandme.com; all of my students, who make going to work a pleasure; and above all, you, the reader, for having enough faith in this book to open your wallet or being smart enough to know someone who would buy it for you.
CONTENTS
A Word Before We Begin
There Is Nothing to Fear but Technology Itself
CHAPTER 1
Bring the World to Your Fingertips
Research, find, and buy anything you can imagine, and communicate with loved ones without leaving home—what a computer and the Internet offer
CHAPTER 2
Hardware: The Thigh Bone’s Connected to the…
A simple introduction to the parts of a computer and how they relate to one another
CHAPTER 3
Software: Feeding the Computer Brain
An explanation of software and how it is used
Where Will It Sleep and How Often Do I Need to Water It?
CHAPTER 4
There’s No Place Like Home vs. Taking Your Show on the Road
Desktop vs. laptop
CHAPTER 5
Creating a Computer Comfort Zone
Tips on finding a comfortable and safe work area
Go for a Test-Drive
CHAPTER 6
Apples and Oranges
Macintosh vs. PC
CHAPTER 7
Would You Buy a Car Without Test-Driving It?
What to look for when you get behind a keyboard
CHAPTER 8
Choosing the Best Route
What software and Internet services fit you best
Let the Shopping Begin
CHAPTER 9
Make Your Purchase
Old vs. new, extended warranties, store vs. mail order, and what questions to ask
Baby’s First Day Home
CHAPTER 10
Counting Fingers and Toes
Taking your new computer out of the box and connecting all the parts
CHAPTER 11
Shaking Hands
Meet your computer and mouse
CHAPTER 12
Getting to Know You
Experimenting with what you can do on the computer
The Newlywed Game
CHAPTER 13
Spanning the Globe
“Surfing the net”—traveling around the World Wide Web
CHAPTER 14
Shall We Dance?
Let’s send e-mail
CHAPTER 15
Mind Your Ps & Qs
An introduction to word processing
CHAPTER 16
Practical Precautions
Secure your identity and your computer
Make New Friends and Keep the Old
CHAPTER 17
Advanced E-mail
Let’s go to the next level—web links, attachments, and more
CHAPTER 18
Picture This
Digital and scanned photos from A to Z
CHAPTER 19
Join the Conversation
Instant messaging, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, online dating and more
CHAPTER 20
Put It All in Order
Create a filing system, organize, and maintain all that lives on your computer
Exploration and Discovery
CHAPTER 21
Detective Work with Your Computer
Get the most out of your searches
CHAPTER 22
Shop Till You Drop
Shopping, auctions, airline reservations, prescriptions, and online banking
CHAPTER 23
The Wide, Wide World of Entertainment
Finding fun on the web
CHAPTER 24
Extra, Extra, Read All About It
The scoop on smartphones, BlackBerry, iPods, e-readers, and the iPad
CHAPTER 25
Troubleshooting
“I think it has a fever”—what to do if something doesn’t seem right
Appendices
Over 200 Recommended Websites
Glossary
Keyboard Shortcuts
Index
A Word Before We Begin
When I was in second grade, I proudly went to the library to sign out my first book with chapters. After finishing the book, I confessed to my older sister, Eve, that I found it a bit confusing. She pointed out what was supposed to be obvious, but obviously wasn’t to me—the chapters were meant to be read in sequence. Who knew?
Read this book in sequence at your own pace and it will take you from the basics—what you need to know to make a sound computer purchase, set it up in your home, and connect to the Internet—and then on to how to master e-mail attachments, online shopping, scanners, social networking, cell phones, e-readers, and much more. This book is intended to demystify the computer, not to explain the gory inner workings of the machine. Every day we use devices such as a
car, the telephone, and the TV, but have no idea how they really work. Nonetheless, we do work them. The computer is no different.
Be forewarned that once you arrive at Chapter 10, it is all hands-on instruction and will definitely be overwhelming if you try to visualize what is being discussed rather than actually seeing it in front of you. If you haven’t bought a computer by then, make sure that you’re sitting in front of someone else’s before you continue. If you’re looking at a computer screen and you find that what’s described in the book differs a bit from what you see, don’t panic. Websites and computer software change over time, so we’ll figure it all out together.
Take a deep breath and begin your journey. You’re going to be pleasantly surprised at how much easier it is than you anticipated. Before you know it, you’ll be skillfully “surfing the net,” e-mailing all your friends, and conquering your fear of technology!
P.S. For the mighty faithful who have read the earlier version of Is This Thing On? and are back again, you’ll see updated material throughout the book, and new information about Facebook, Twitter, Skype, e-readers, iPads, and plenty more to keep you on your toes as you read on.
THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR BUT TECHNOLOGY ITSELF
CHAPTER 1
Bring the World to Your Fingertips
Research, find, and buy anything you can imagine, and communicate with loved ones, without leaving home—what a computer and the Internet offer
My mother still can’t reset her car’s clock after daylight saving time. She just adds or subtracts an hour until I come home for a visit. And the first week after she buys a new car, she only drives it in the Stop & Shop parking lot. Once she feels comfortable enough to take it on the road, it’s still a few months before the windshield wipers stop being activated whenever she means to signal a right turn. Considering her lack of technical savvy and anxiety about new devices, I am incredibly proud of her for joining the community of computer users. Mom had never shown any interest in computers, but like so many seniors, she knew she was missing out on something when she began to notice that every article she read ended with “For more information go to www.[insert almost anything here].com.”
“Peach, what is a website?” she asked me.
* * *
“I had no idea what the computer could do for me, but I knew that if I didn’t try it soon, I never would. Now I use it for everything.… I write the newsletter and maintain the mailing list for my church. I love finding out all kinds of information on the Internet and I’m a big fan of e-mail.”
—Marsha
* * *
“Think of the computer as a combination television set and typewriter. Then think of the Internet as a library. You can find information on absolutely anything you can dream up on the Internet by accessing different websites—as you would books in a library. Just type in what you want to learn about, and it will appear in front of you in the form of pictures, text, and sound” was my answer.
A website is like a book. Instead of going to the library and looking up a title in the card catalog (which is now on a computer), you go to your computer and type in a website address.
Because there can be more than one website for a given subject, you’ll have many choices available to you. Each website is designed individually, just as books are written individually by different authors.
Anyone can have a website—even you. All that is needed is the desire to convey information and the willingness to pay a small annual fee to a company to register the name of your website. If you don’t mind piggybacking on another website or having advertisements on your site, you may be able to have a website at no cost.
A few months after my mother first asked me about the Internet, she visited me in New York and wanted to see a Broadway musical. This was the perfect opportunity to show her what a computer can do, what the Internet has to offer, and how I make my living (I teach computer skills to seniors and others). I turned on my computer, connected to the Internet, and then typed in www.playbill.com (the website address of a company that sells theater tickets), and like magic, their website appeared on my screen. I picked the show we wanted to see and the date that was best for us. Next, the seating chart appeared on the screen and we chose our seats. Then I ordered the tickets and typed in my e-mail address where I would receive the e-tickets and then printed them on my printer at home.
Mom was impressed. I’ve been teaching people how to maneuver around the Internet for more than two decades now, and it continues to amaze me with the infinite ways that it can benefit those who use it. The Internet allows you to track investments, research family genealogy, contact buddies, purchase a new car, auction a coin collection, search for the best deal on airline tickets, and so much more.
* * *
“The Internet allows us to get up-to-date stock quotes, access detailed information on a company of interest, and directly buy and sell stocks any time we want. We even access The Wall Street Journal online. All this has increased our enjoyment and the value of our investments. Who can argue with that?”
—Cy and Ruth
* * *
Convincing Mom Continues…
The ease with which we were able to purchase the theater tickets via the computer had my mother intrigued.
“What else can the Internet do?”
“I can’t tell you everything it can do, Mom, because it’s constantly evolving. I don’t think anyone really knows its full capabilities. But I’ll give you some examples of what I think is fun and practical about it.”
Mom had lost track of a dear friend of hers several years ago and, after much effort, sadly gave up on finding her. I signed on to the Internet and typed in www.switchboard.com (a website where you can search for people and businesses). A form appeared on the screen of my computer, into which I typed her friend’s name and some additional information. Within a few seconds there were seven listings of people with the same name as Mom’s long-lost friend. The listings that appeared included telephone numbers and street addresses. The happy ending is that Mom found her friend. From that moment on, she was sold on the computer.
Shirley, one of my mother’s friends, suffers from a very rare cancer. After she became hooked on the computer, not only did she find detailed information about her specific form of cancer and alternative treatment ideas, but she also found a group of people with the same condition. She now communicates with some of them daily. All of this is done through her computer, which enables her to be involved in the world around her even when she is housebound.
To say that the Internet can give you information on anything you can dream up may sound like a huge overstatement, but it’s true.
A Taste of What Some People Do with the Internet
One of my students, Sophie, always has an interesting list of things she wants to find out about on the Internet. During one lesson, we visited websites with information about renting a house on Martha’s Vineyard, tracked down an artist whose work she wanted to buy, and found a doormat with Jack Russell terriers emblazoned on it.
By typing Martha’s Vineyard rentals in a search engine (which I’ll explain to you later), we came upon more than a dozen websites, many of them with photos of the interiors and exteriors of the houses available. While looking at a photo of one of the rentals, we noticed the words “how to get here” on the screen. We clicked on the words and a different website appeared that offered us driving directions and a map that showed the best route. Sophie printed the directions and set them aside to put in her car’s glove compartment.
Then came the mission of tracking down the artist whose work she liked. First we typed in the artist’s name, but that didn’t work. Then she remembered what gallery showed his work and typed that in. Not only did it give us contact information, but one of his paintings was featured on the website as well.
On to the doormat. That took a little ingenuity. We searched for “doormats” and “doormats with dogs.” We found tons of doormats and a surprising number o
f doormats with dogs, but not the right kind of dog. Then we searched for “Jack Russell terriers.” We found a great-looking doormat and bought it over the Internet with her credit card. It was delivered the next week. We both had ear-to-ear grins of satisfaction.
What More Does the Internet Offer?
Another really great feature of the information superhighway is that you can communicate inexpensively with other people all over the world. I remember when we would call my grandparents and have just enough time to say, “Hello. How are things?” before my grandfather would say, “Okay. Enough, ladies. This is long distance. Say good-bye now.” I don’t mean to make light of the cost of a telephone call or how hard my grandfather worked for his money, but wasn’t that why they invented long distance, so we could talk to each other? Well, thank heaven for computer technology. I have students who communicate with friends and family across the globe everyday. If it wasn’t for the Internet, this would be financially impossible for most of us.
* * *
“I’m sure when my son gave me the computer he thought I might never use it. I guess I wasn’t sure either. But I’ve always been a tinkerer, and the computer became a new challenge. Last month I gave my son advice about websites to check out for buying a new car. That felt good.”
—Peter
* * *
E-mail = ?
E-mail, or electronic mail, is the same idea as sending a letter (now lovingly referred to as snail mail), but rather than waiting for it to go from a mailbox to your local post office, get sorted, sent to another post office, and then delivered by foot to the recipient, you send your message through the computer by way of your phone line or a high-speed connection to the Internet. This all happens in a matter of seconds rather than days.
Still confused? Well, e-mail confused me, too, until I could actually see how it all worked. So if things in this book get a bit murky, have faith that when you get in front of a computer and see what I’m talking about, it will all make sense.