Tips on How to Use a Search Engine the Right Way
I thought I’d share the following infrographic (Image courtesy of HackCollege) which gives you tips on how to use Google and other search engines more effectively.
The guide has a bunch of good tips, many of which I share in my related video lessons in my Easy Internet course (see links below image).
I do have to mention that I disagree with one part of the information below: they say never to google questions, but that CAN be useful sometimes.
The times you want to type questions into a search engine is when you’re looking for a forum or discussion where someone has asked the same question that you have — you will often find your question has been answered in the discussion!
So while they’re right that you don’t need to phrase your searches as questions, it can be helpful sometimes.
The guide is written with students in mind — it turns out about 75% of students have no idea how to use Google properly — but has tips most computer users will find useful.
Something else to keep in mind: if 3/4ths of college students, all of whom grew up using computers, don’t know how to use a search engine correctly, it kind of puts to rest the stereotype that “all young people know how to use computers”.
I mention this because many of my older students who grew up before home computers were widespread (or before they even existed) often think they’ll never learn to use the computer as well as their kids or grandkids because of this.
The fact is, from what I’ve seen, the majority of people do not really know how to use their computer that well, regardless of age.
This isn’t a criticism, just a simple fact. People who grew up with computers have the benefit of feeling more comfortable using them, but that doesn’t make them any better automatically.
It can help because they have fewer limiting beliefs about their ability to learn, which can make a big difference, but it can actually make things worse because it’s very common for those people to assume they know far more than they do.
Take a look at the infographic (instructional image) below and see what tips you can learn about how to use Google to search more effectively:
What is a USB Flash Drive – Computer Terms in Plain English
In this audio lesson & transcript, I’m going to take a question from Mark. He writes and asks, “What’s a flash drive?”
Transcript of computer lesson begins:
A flash drive is a type of storage device for a computer. A storage device is the broad or general term for anything that is used to store data or files.
A hard drive in your computer is a storage device. An old floppy disk is a storage device. A CD-ROM or DVD is a storage device, and so is a flash drive.
A lot of people call flash drives by specific brand names. They think that is the correct name for them. Sometimes they’ll refer to them as a thumb drive, jump drive, go drive, key drive or any number of things. These are actually all brand names or partial brand names that people have mistakenly thought was the correct general term for that type of device.
A flash drive is a
Computer Question: What is a Bookmark – Basic Computer Term Explained
This computer question comes from Mahakali Ramesh Kumar, who writes:
“Dear Worth Godwin,
I want to know what is Bookmark in internet or in computers.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully Mahakali”
TRANSCRIPT BEGINS:
That’s a pretty simple thing to answer. A bookmark is sometimes also known as a favorite, although originally it was known as a bookmark in most web browsers. Those are the programs you use to navigate around on the internet.
It’s really Internet Explorer that refers to them as favorites. I think they did this originally because they were concerned about avoiding copyright infringement. I’m not positive about that. At any rate, a favorite or bookmark is the same thing.
When the web was created in the early to mid ‘90s, the way we thought about it is like pages like pages in a book. If you have a book you’re reading and you want to get back to a page in that book, what do you do? You bookmark it. It’s the same basic idea.
Computer Question About Ubuntu and Free Open Source Software
I received a computer question by email from a subscriber named Willa Valdez, who is wondering what I think about Ubuntu and Open Source software in general. Here’s her question:
“Dear Worth,
Mahalo Nui Loa for your Newsletters. Your computer lessons have helped me tremendously.
I am thinking of purchasing a netbook. They both have the operating system Ubuntu (latest version) already installed. I am a newbie when it comes to Linux but I am curious about how how this system works. I installed Ubuntu via WUBI along side VISTA, however, my computer would freeze when I chose to boot with Ubuntu. I was able to boot with Ubuntu a couple of times and liked the Gnome desktop. Unfortunately, some of the applications I use were not supported i.e. Skype. I did not delve into learning the Command Line just yet.
I would appreciate your thoughts on Ubuntu and your general opinion on the Open Source concept.
Again, thank you for expertise and assistance.
Aloha,
Willa Valdez”
Below is a partial transcription of the audio:
What do I think about Ubuntu and open-source? There are a few things. Let’s start with some definitions.
Computer Question: What is Grounding & Can Electrostatic Damage Hurt Your Electronics?
This time I’m going to take a question from someone who asks, “What is grounding? I’ve heard it phrased in so many places but don’t know what it is.”
Use the audio player above to listen to the plain English explanation of this computer term, or read the transcription of the audio below:
– Compute training audio transcription begins –
Grounding is something that is important for electronics. As usual, I’m going to give you a nontechnical answer. Ground or grounding is the main way it’s called in the United States. Elsewhere, such as in the UK, it’s often referred to as earth or earthing. It’s the same thing.
This refers to draining off excess electricity. That’s basically what it’s about.
I’ve talked about how it’s important for someone working on the inside of a computer or any kind of electronic device that they be grounded.
If I work on a computer, take it apart and am upgrading or repairing it, any time I have the case open and am working in the inside of it, I’m always making sure that I’m grounded. The way I do this is
What is a Video Card – Computer Terms Explained in Plain English
Video Lesson Transcription Begins Here:
I want to explain the computer term “video card.” I’m answering a newsletter subscriber’s question about what a video card is. I’m going to explain to you what a video card is and what it basically does. I’m also going to give you a few suggestions on choosing the right video card for your computer.
I will not be going into specific makes and models of video cards because things change very rapidly. One of the fastest changing components in a computer is the video card because computers are putting greater and greater demands on it. Anything I could talk about that is specific to a particular make or model will be obsolete soon, so I’m not even going to get into that.
What I will do is give you the general ideas and principles that will always apply.
Computer Question About How To Find And Work With Pictures on Your Computer
Today I want to answer another computer question, this one coming from Leslie G. who writes:
“Dear Mr. Godwin, I have been enjoying and learning a lot from you, I wonder if you can help me. I used to be a very good photographer. Not a pro but I liked taking pictures. I would love to mess around with photography on the computer but I lose my pictures once I put them from my camera to the computer, plus I seem to have to download all my pictures all over again every time which is probably taking up a lot of my space somewhere. Do you know a simple process that I can follow so I can find where my pictures are and then play with cropping and stuff? And also I’d love to be able to erase all the duplicate videos and pix that are on my computer.”
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Worth
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