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A quote from John C. Dvorak in PC Magazine: "It always makes me laugh when people equate computers with appliances or assume that someday computers will become devices you can buy and immediately operate. In fact, computers are more like cars. The car has been around for over 100 years and it still requires training to use...Why do we expect that anything as complicated as a computer will someday be trivial to use?"
Message to parents /grandparents from Post Computer Systems
Definitions: (Feel free to print this page)
DOS or MS-DOS:
Once upon a time, in order to
use a computer, you had to talk to it in its own language (1's and 0's
or +'s and -'s). Bill Gates and friends invented/developed something called
"Microsoft Disk Operating System" that allowed you to type English (more-or-less)
into a computer. DOS then talked to the computer in the language it understood.
WINDOWS:
Then he developed a graphical
interface system that allows you to point at a picture with a mouse to
tell the computer what to do. ICON: The pictures that you point at with
a mouse. PC (Personal Computer): Computers originally developed by IBM.
They allowed other companies to develop computers based on their system.
Today, there are many companies (although not as many as there used to
be) building and selling computers based this system.
MAC or MACINTOSH:
A totally different computer
operating system that also uses a graphical interface and a mouse.
DESKTOP:
The entire area of your monitor
screen. It has the icons visible on it. This area is 3-dimensional. Think
of it as a horizontal surface with stuff piled on it - just like your
desk.
TASKBAR:
The bar visible at the bottom
of your desktop. It has the "Start" button at the far left side and the
clock at the far right.
SYSTRAY or SYSTEM TRAY:
The 3-dimensional area that
looks like a tray on the right side of your taskbar. It holds your clock
and several other icons. Microsoft calls it the "Notification Area."
MOUSE POINTER:
The arrow-shaped icon that moves
around your desktop as you move your mouse.
MOUSE ACTIONS:
1. Click - with the left
mouse button (use your forefinger). This selects (or highlights - the
icon will change color) OR this sets down the cursor in a document.
2. Double-click - with the left mouse button. Use this on an icon
to start a program.
3. Right-click - with the right mouse button (use your middle finger).
This will bring up a menu that specific to wherever you are pointing.
If you click with your forefinger outside this menu, it will go away.
4. Drag or drag-and-drop - Click your mouse pointer on something
to select it, and then hold the left button down. Move your mouse and
the object will move. Lift your finger from the button and the object
will be put down (dropped) where you placed it.
5. Hover - Place the mouse pointer over an icon (don't click, just
hover over it) and information about that item will pop up.
CURSOR or INSERTION POINT:
The blinking line or I-beam
shaped line that tells you where you will start typing.
DOCUMENT:
Any item you have created in
your computer - especially in Word.
… or 
Three little dots (…) after
any menu command mean that another window will pop up when you click on
the command. You can always click on the command and safely look at anything
in the window as there will always be a "Close" or "Cancel" button or
you can click on the X in the upper right hand corner ( X means "exit").
If you hover over a menu item
with a triangle another
menu will appear. When you click outside of that menu, it will disappear.
It is always safe to look at all these items as canceling or clicking
outside will get you out of it without making any changes.
DEFAULT:
The settings that your computer
automatically goes to.
HARD DISK:
The disk inside your computer
that stores all your information. This is not removable. Most, now, are
measured in "gigabytes" - you will have a 20 or 40 (or much larger) "gig"
hard drive.
FLOPPY DISK:
The small (3 ½ inch), removable
disk that you use to store data outside your computer. They are called
"floppy" because there is a flexible disk inside the rigid plastic case.
They are cheap and can be bought almost anywhere (Wal-Mart, Staples, CVS,
etc.). Almost any brand is fine (if you've heard of it, buy it - Sony,
Fugi, Maxell, etc., etc., etc.). On the label, look for these words: "High
Definition" or "HD" and "IBM or PC formatted."
You must have a floppy (or A) drive on your computer. Most new computers are sold without this drive. If you want one, you must ask for it (they're cheap).
CD DRIVE or ZIP DRIVE:
Other forms of removable disks.
The CD rom disk looks like a music CD. Depending on your computer, you
may or may not be able to write to a CD. The Zip disk is a much larger
version of the floppy disk (and does not fit into the same slot on your
computer).
There are two kinds of CD roms
- CD-R (wRiteable) You can only write to this once. Once "burned" it can't be changed or added to. These are inexpensive - the more you buy, the cheaper (recently I bought a spindle of 100 for less than 20 cents each.
- CD-RW (ReWriteable) This can be used over and over. They're more expensive - around $1 each.
INTERNET DEFINITIONS
INTERNET:
A worldwide collection of computer
networks that allows people to find and use information and communicate
with others. ISP (Internet Service Provider): A generic term for any company
that can connect you directly to the Internet.
ISP
Internet Service Provider
SERVER :
The big computers at your ISP
that connect you to the Internet
BROWSER (WEB BROWSER):
A software program that enables you to see and hear content on the World
Wide Web. This includes, text, graphics, sound, and video. Popular browsers
are Netscape and Internet Explorer.
PORTAL:
A special web page that you
can set up with personal information like weather for your area, a calendar,
your favorite source for news, etc. The page that opens up when you connect
to AOL or MSN are portals; there are others that you can set up on your
own (Yahoo! for instance)
DOWNLOAD:
Copying a file from another
computer to yours. Every time you access a page on the Internet, you download
the information on the page and temporarily store it on your computer.
FAVORITES or BOOKMARKS:
A saved address of a Web site that has been added to a list of saved addresses.
Instead of retyping an address again, you can go to your favorites or
bookmarks and click on the address to return to the site.
LINK (or "hyperlink"):
A place on a web page that you
can click that will take you to someplace else. It will be a button, an
underlined word or phrase or a picture. It will often be a different color
than the rest of the type and it may change as you pass your mouse over
it or after you click it. When you hover your mouse pointer over a link,
the pointer will change to a "pointy finger" icon.
MODEM:
A device that allows computers
to communicate with each other over telephone lines or other delivery
systems by changing digital signals to telephone signals for transmission
and then back to digital signals. Modems come in different speeds: the
higher the speed, the faster the data is transmitted.
This word has changed and it now means the "box that connects you to the Internet." Even though cable & DSL are fully digital, the box is now called a modem.
SPAM:
An expression for unsolicited
email, generally from a company trying to get you to visit their web site
or an offer to make money.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator):
The World Wide Web address of
a site on the Internet. For example, the URL for the White House is http://www.whitehouse.gov
NEWBIE
A person who is new to computers
or, especially, the internet. Not necessarily a complimentary term.
EMOTICON
An icon that expresses emotion.
Since you cannot see the person's face or hear their voice online (either
email or in a chat), you need other ways to understand that someone is
smiling, joking, etc. The most familiar is the smiley face :) But there
are many others -- the most common, a frowny face :( or a winky face ;)
OTHER ONLINE COURTESIES
You can use abbreviations like
LOL (Laughing Out Loud) or BTW (By The Way)
Don't ever use all capital letters. IT FEELS LIKE YOU'RE YELLING at the other person.
Emy Shepherd
413-267-5210
If you have other questions,
please email me.email
me
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