Abby Stokes - Is This Thing On?, revised edition: A Computer Handbook for Late Bloomers, Technophobes, and the Kicking & Screaming

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 photocopyingwithout 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 .

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

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 wasnt to methe 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 basicswhat you need to know to make a sound computer purchase, set it up in your home, and connect to the Internetand 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 , 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 havent bought a computer by then, make sure that youre sitting in front of someone elses before you continue. If youre looking at a computer screen and you find that whats described in the book differs a bit from what you see, dont panic. Websites and computer software change over time, so well figure it all out together.

Take a deep breath and begin your journey. Youre going to be pleasantly surprised at how much easier it is than you anticipated. Before you know it, youll 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, youll 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.

CHAPTER 1

Bring the World to Your Fingertips

Research, find, and buy anything you can imagine, and communicate with loved ones, without leaving homewhat a computer and the Internet offer

My mother still cant reset her cars 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, its 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 didnt 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 Im 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 websitesas 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, youll have many choices available to you. Each website is designed individually, just as books are written individually by different authors.

Anyone can have a websiteeven 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 dont mind piggybacking on another website or having advertisements on your site, you may be able to have a website at no cost.