It
is
ve·ry·
ea·sy·
to
get
caught
up
in
the
hype
a·bout·
how
in·te·lli·gent·
com·pu·ters·
are ,
and
how
they ^
can
make
ou·r·
lives
ea·si·er· .
I
have
been
u·sing·
com·pu·ters·
for
o·ver·
30
years ,
and ,
while
I
a·gree·
that
com·pu·ters·
can
make
ou·r·
lives
ea·si·er· ,
if
we
don't
learn
to
use
them
pro·per·ly· ,
they ^
can
al·so·
make
ou·r·
lives
much ,
much
har·der· ,
as
ma·ny· ^
peo·ple·
have
found
to
their ^
cost .
If
you ^
are
a·bout·
to
buy
a
com·pu·ter·
but
ha·ven't·
had
a
lot
of ^
ex·pe·ri·ence· ,
make
sure ^
you ^
get
some ^
in·de·pen·dent·
ad·vice·
on
what
to
buy
be·fore·
you ^
hit
the
shops ,
o·ther·wise· ^
you're ^
like·ly·
to
get
a
ve·ry·
good
deal
on
a
com·pu·ter·
which
is
not
matched
to
your
needs .
It
is
at
least
as
com·pli·ca·ted·
to
drive
a
com·pu·ter·
as
it
is
to
drive
a
car ,
so
make
sure ^
you ^
bu·dget·
for
a
few
le·ssons·
with
us
on
how
to
ma·nage·
you ^
disks ,
and
how
to
pro·tect·
your·self·
when
your
sy·stem·
breaks
down .
You ^
need
this
in·for·ma·tion·
be·cause·
your
ma·chine·
will
break
down
or
crash
-
I
can
gua·ran·tee·
it
-
if
you ^
are
not
pre·pared·
for
this ,
you ^
will
lose ^
a
lot
of ^
your
in·for·ma·tion· ,
and
a
lot
of ^
sleep .
The
know·ledge·
gained
in
just
two ^
or
three
le·ssons·
on
ba·sic·
com·pu·ting·
skills
will
help
you ^
learn
how
to
use
your
com·pu·ter·
more
e·ffi·cient·ly· ,
and
pro·tect·
you ^
from
lo·sing· ^
hun·dreds·
of ^
hou·rs·
of ^
your
work .
Be
just
as
care·ful·
buy·ing·
your
sof·tware·
as
you ^
are
with
your
har·dware· .
Most
com·pu·ter·
pro·grams·
are
ve·ry·
pow·er·ful· ,
how·e·ver· ,
don't
be·lieve·
eve·ry·thing·
you ^
read
on
the
box .
For
ex·am·ple· ,
a·ccoun·ting·
pa·cka·ges·
can
be
ve·ry·
use·ful·
but
they ^
won't
turn
you ^
in·to· ^
an
a·ccoun·tant·
-
if
you ^
put
gar·bage·
in·to· ^
a
com·pu·ter·
you ^
will
get
gar·bage·
out
of ^
it .
Ma·ny· ^
peo·ple·
have
lear·ned·
this
the
hard
way ,
so
don't
be
o·ver·
am·bi·tious· .
A·no·ther· ^
good
stra·te·gy·
is
to
try
to
make
sure ^
you ^
have
a
rea·dy·
source
of ^
help
for
those
times
when
eve·ry·thing·
seems
to
be
go·ing·
wrong .
So
don't
al·ways·
shop
a·round·
for
the
chea·pest·
price
-
it
is
well
worth
pay·ing·
a
li·ttle·
more
for
your
sof·tware·
if
you ^
buy
it
from
so·meone· ^
who ^
will
help
you ^
when
you ^
get
stuck .
We
can
al·so·
give
you ^
ad·vice·
on
lear·ning·
va·ri·ous·
sof·tware·
pa·cka·ges· .
Ou·r·
a·pproach·
to
com·pu·ter·
trai·ning·
is
to
show
you ^
how
to
learn
the
pro·grams·
ra·ther·
than
tea·ching·
all
the
fine
de·tails· .
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