Maybe you're like them and you feel silly asking questions. Or maybe you work with technology people and have questions you feel foolish asking. Or maybe you just want to seem a bit more savvy than your colleagues.
If I had just one piece of advice for my Mom or co-workers afraid of technology, I'd say this: be fearless. Ask even if you feel stupid. Google it if you don't know. Discover searching for things on Wikipedia, the online dictionary. Spend a few minutes each week on a blog like this one, and you'll be astonished how quickly you can come up to speed. Welcome to the new hyperdigital age.
The Gartner Group, a fancy high technology consulting firm that Chief Information Officers pay to tell them what they already know, calls it "hyperdigitization" and there's plenty of money for those smart enough to sell services to people this new age.
But where do you start if you don't understand technology? Google.
How to use Google to search: secrets to help search better:
Did you know you can search for weather by typing weather 14127 or weather Buffalo on Google to find weather near a zip code or city?
Did you know you could enter just a stock ticker symbol into Google to get an update? Search using the market name for best results, enter this into Google: NASDAQ:AAPL
Try these other tips for easy Google searching: search for a phrase by typing "Tech In Plain English" with double quotes around the phrase you're seeking. Google isn't case sensitive, so if you want capital letters to work, use this: search engine.
Want to find the definition of a word? Enter define operose into Google to see a quick definition.
Need to find something on a single web site? Enter site:cnn.com Colombia to find stories about Colombia on CNN. Remember, no spaces after "site:" and your search will be restricted to just the site you enter.
You can also search for files of a specific type on Google. Need a quick PowerPoint or Word document? Search for filetype:ppt Colombia to find all files that are PowerPoint files that contain the word "Colombia." Microsoft's PowerPoint software saves files on your computer with the last three letters of .PPT or .pptx just like Microsoft Word documents are stored with the last three letters appended as .doc or .docx. Use the last three letters of a file's type to find files on the Internet.
Want to exclude something in your search results? Put the dash in front of the search, like this, Colombia -drugs will find items about Colombia without reference to drugs.
Want to dive even deeper? Check out Google's detailed search help here.
Try these other Google sites for even better results:
Search scholarly journals:
http://scholar.google.com
Search digitized books:
http://books.google.com
Search maps & geography:
http://maps.google.com
Search images/photos/drawings:
http://images.google.com/
Search the news:
http://news.google.com/
Search videos:
http://video.google.com/
Although the kids growing up these days are supposed to be smarter and somehow wired differently, the research shows that they, like the rest of us, don't always understand a foundational element of evaluating search results: trust and credibility. Discernment and common sense are required in greater quantities to be able to process or trust the results of a search. The credibility of a site and the information it contains still causes many people to go wrong when they search.
Ask yourself these non-technical questions before visiting a site or trusting the content:
- Who wrote it?
- Are there multiple trusted sources cited?
- Does the web address clearly identify the author for full accountability?
- Does the site's web address belong to a credible organization?
- Does the information found make business sense?
- When you search for the site or the information presented does it check out as legitimate or does a quick Google search present a different story?
- Does the site present facts or opinion?
- Is the site endorsing a product or company?
- Every opinion has an opposite viewpoint, does the article present all sides?
- Are the facts correct? Can they be verified?
CNet’s Molly Wood has even more tips here:
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