A NOTE: This blog was originally posted using Wordpress. I'm now moving all of those posts over from WordPress manually, so these were all published over several months originally but will show up here as having been posted over the course of a few days....
This blog, in a nutshell, is designed to help people with little computer knowledge understand the basics of computers, the internet, and other current technology. Unlike so many other sites, I will strive to do it using analogies and simple language so that it can be understood by anyone. Too often the tech press spends too much time focused on the latest advancements in technology without explaining what the old technology was or why the new is better. As a result if you're already lost, you get "loster".
I hope to cover everything from the basics of how a computer works and is organized to computer peripherals, and everything from the basics of the internet to the latest in cloud technology. Though I'm no expert in encryption or video compression technology, I can explain as much as the average user needs to know. Also, I'm a tech junkie. If it lights up and has buttons I've probably at least played with it, if not purchased it. I had a Blackberry before it was a phone, I had it back when it was a two way pager. Back when people still used pagers. So I hope to highlight some of the cool new gadgets that are out there and how (or why) you can (or should) use them.
Now a little about me.
I fall into a weird niche in the tech generation. I started in IT as a second career in my late 20s. I was a little bit older than the average guy who was into computers.
I had a pretty good grasp of computers compared to many people, but no formal training in them. When I was in college only Computer Science and Engineering Majors had computers. And even those were pretty archaic by today's terms. I didn't have one, but my neighbor was an engineer and he had one of the top of the line models. It had two floppy drives instead of just one. No hard drive. A monochrome monitor. The operating system (DOS) was booted from a floppy drive.
My first job in IT was as a bench tech. I actually took apart computers, fixed them and put them back together. Then I moved up to desktop support, helping people with their software problems. I then moved up to network support. I became a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. I installed and configured small networks and servers in small businesses. I then moved on to installing network infrastructure such as routers and broadband internet. Finally I got a little bit of formal training in programming, followed by a lot more self study. I learned some Perl, Visual Basic, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and some other languages.
I got out of IT for a number of reasons, but I have continued to actively follow the latest in technology trends and advancements. I now own a business which has nothing to do with technology, but is probably the most computerized business of its type. All of our systems - production management, accounting, customer relations - are cloud based. We do a large amount of computer based graphics. My 4 person company has 9 computers.
I'm still the go-to guy when my friends and family have computer problems or questions. I'm frequently amazed when someone has difficulty with something I think of as second nature. Especially when their belief in what is happening is so far removed from the reality of the way things really work. I think in a large part that is because the tech industry rarely goes out of their way to talk about things in a way that someone unfamiliar with technology would understand. They often think their audience is made up of people already embracing tech. Yet I see so many ways that peoples lives could be improved by tech if only they knew it existed or understood it. So this blog is for anyone who's been afraid of technology, or felt like it was just too much work to learn new things.
So feel free to ask questions, give me suggestions for future articles, or comment on what has or hasn't helped you.
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