May 22, 2006

Younger, More Beautiful Daily

Computers and computer learning are invaluable for seniors over 50. And we're certainly young enough to get it.

A good friend of mine has a pat answer when asked, "how are you?" Her reply..."Younger and more beautiful, everyday."

There's no better outlook. Life is awesome and we have so many tools to keep it there. For me, hooking up with other people is a great tool. We'll do that here in the blog.

For today, let me add some ideas to my computer learning article Grandparenting/Aging.

The article Getting up to Speed on the Info Highway gives pointers on helping your friends learn computer skills. If you're still learning, yourself, here's an explanation of the way PC files are set up:

To demystify Windows software used in most home computing, you have to understand the directory tree. Work you do is stored in a file, pictured in Windows as a cartoon file folder. That cartoon is called an icon.

Each file or document, the work you created, is saved to its folder on the hard drive (usually named C - Drive. That folder is located on a path that includes the name of the program that created it (like WordPerfect), a file folder (maybe named "My Letters") and the name of the document ("Letter to Tom", perhaps).

You ask the computer to find that letter. You tell it to look in the tree called C-Drive for the program MSWord and then the folder My Letters to find the letter to Tom. It looks like this when it's typed: C:/Word/My Letter/Letter to Tom. Each step between the slashes represents a folder.

Windows lets you mouse point at the tree containing those folders, and click on each as it appears on your screen. They open, like Russian dolls that stack inside each other, showing you the next level.

The concept is exactly like diagrams you have seen of family trees or corporate management teams. The top box on the diagram stands alone, the next layer has several branches, the next has a few more and so on. Once you equate the directory tree idea to something as familiar as a family tree, you hold the key to almost any Windows software program. They are all based on this idea.

Here are some places to find online learning opportunities, a great way to learn.

HTML tags - the tools for building Webs. Free tutorials.

How to be a savvy grandparent.

Directory of online classes available.