This website:

http://www.seniorsguidetocomputers.com/

… is extremely useful! Have a look!

For all you young’uns out there who haven’t yet shown nanna & grandad how to use a computer, please take the following two pieces of advice very seriously:

1. Be ashamed

2. Be very ashamed

Of course there are exceptions, but by and large our grandparents have done a very good job seeing to the survival of their children and grandchildren over the past decades. Without them, there wouldn’t be any young’uns at all… and of course, there would be no computers or Internet either!

The benefits of showing nan & pops how to use a computer are immense:

1. You can share photos with them
2. Communicating to others on the Internet can be a great cure for boredom
3. They can save money by not buying the newspaper every single day
4. They don’t have to wait in line in a bank and risk catching swine flu or being caught in a terrorist attack

… and the list goes on.

Think back to how your grandfather showed you how to shoot a gun or your grandmother showed you how to bake a cake. Repay that debt! Sharing is caring!

Get granny online!

Visit this website – SeniorNet – by clicking on the this sentence.

SeniorNet provides online tutorials and ‘how to’ guides that you may find very useful!

These include:

• Display a personal photo on your desktop
• Email and receive attachments
• Force Quit a program
• Cell phone buying guide

When you are considering what type of computer to buy, think about the following first:

Rule 1: Do not spend more than $800.

If you look hard enough, you can find all the equipment you need (computer, monitor, keyboard and mouse) for under $800. Stores such as Umart Online (www.umart.com.au) do not maintain expensive displays and publically accessible store-space, but rather provide an online store where you make your order. You then take your order number into the store, present it to a staff member (or computer terminal) and the products you have ordered are retrieved from the warehouse while you wait (doesn’t take long!). You then make your payment and smile as you realise you’ve saved heaps of money.

It is particularly important for seniors to realise that young salespeople may project their own preferences. You do not need the latest and fastest computing power. Yes, you need a late model computer that is relatively virus immune and fast enough to operate the latest peripheral devices such as digital cameras, printers and can play movies, but you do not need the capability of playing the newest 3D games. Well maybe you do, but at least consider this before you go shopping, to reduce the risk of being ripped off.

Rule 2: Consider Laptops -v- Desktops

New laptops can be purchased for under $600, sometimes as low as $400… and these can be a great way to combine the keyboard, mouse, monitor and computer in one package. You can also take the laptop with you, and it can run on battery power. The downside of a laptop is simply that it’s smaller (harder to see) and is probably marginally slower than a comparable desktop (the bigger type of computer you’re probably used to seeing around).

Don’t forget that laptops also usually include multiple USB ports – the small slots on the side that allow you to plug in other devices. So you could purchase a laptop and a larger keyboard and larger screen (monitor). Laptops all also allow a mouse to be plugged in, if you do not like the touchpad way of doing business.

Rule 3: Consider Apple or Microsoft

Read some articles online about the comparative benefits of Apple Macintosh systems versus Microsoft systems. To do this, just type in ‘is apple or microsoft better?’ into Google.com. It is probably no use talking to your friend who has an Apple computer, because (at least amongst my friends) Apple users are fanatical about Apples. Read widely and make an informed decision in that way.

With a few notable exceptions (viruses on the Internet and e-mail attachments, sledge-hammers) it is very hard to break a computer.

Computers are not like washing machines or old cars… if you have a late model computer, it will be very difficult for you to make it malfunction.

Don’t stress about which button to press and when – in most cases, it is best to just have a go.

If you click on the wrong icon or button, or if you type the wrong thing somewhere, there are a few things you can do to get right back to where you want to be:

1. Hold down “Ctrl” on the keyboard, and press “Z” on the keyboard whilst still holding down Ctrl. This is the ‘undo’ function in many programs, and will undo whatever it is you’ve just done! This is particularly useful for word processing, when you accidentally make everything turn purple, or delete everything on the screen by accident.

2. If you have opened up a program that you no longer want, or was opened accidentally, just click the X in the top right of the screen. This will close the program. Don’t worry, if you have been writing something you wish to keep, you will be prompted to save the work first before the program actually closes completely.

3. If you’re on the Internet and you visit a site you do not want to be at, click the ‘Back’ button – the left-facing arrow usually in the top left of the screen. If you can’t go back this way, just close down the Internet program by clicking the X in the top right corner, re-open it in the normal fashion and try again!

4. Have patience! Sometimes websites and computers themselves take a long time to complete certain tasks. Don’t wait all day, but remain calm as the complicated functions are completed by your machine.