by Kevin J. Fry

Closing : Keeping up with upgrades

As your computer gets older, it gets slower for some reason. I could be the amount of information put on the computer, the number of programs you have running, or the newer software requirements where your system reaches the bare minimum of what is required. A computer, in the right environment could run for years with no problem, if you just decide that you're not installing anything else, you turn it off when not in use, and you have enough space, your computer should not fail, but there is always that chance. If you do run out of space on your hard drive, you can always install another one. But may I suggest to always back up your information again. Another way to improve your computer is to add more RAM. This will allow programs to load faster and have more applications open at the same time. Video card upgrades will increase your ability to play games through faster video processing, and you may even be able to watch TV on your computer. There are sound cards with specific software you can purchase that will allow you to hear crisp and clear sound through your multimedia speakers and plug in your instrument to make your computer a digital recording system. Upgrading your system depends on your needs, what you're doing, and how fast you want it to be doing things.

Closing : Computer Recycling

If your computer is old, or just not needed any more, check your local yellow pages or go on-line to find out more about computer recycling or find out if your local charity would have a purpose for such an item. Actual manufactures have set up recycling programs where you can send the parts back to the manufacturer after you have no need for them. The office store Staples, has even set up a program where you can get money off of your next purchase of an ink cartridge if you bring in your old one. What you'll have to do is keep and ear and an eye out until you hear of one that can assist you in your effort. If you do use paper, you should recycle the used material after you have finished with the material. Not only is computer recycling a necessary part of how you should think, but it's also the paper we use, the energy we use, and the toxins we place in our own atmosphere. yellow pages and companies listed on-line, how to search for these companies

Closing : Making everything work together

Everything on the computer can be saved onto your hard drive, backed up, and even placed on the Internet. Through the Internet and different operating systems and software programs, you can share information with anyone in the world. But as computers have progressed, certain companies have created standards in which we go by to make the formats viewable and information accessible to more people by creating standards. These standards are in formatting so that you can see a picture from your digital camera, listen to an mp3 on your computer and your iPod, see a web page using Netscape, just like you do with Internet Explorer. You should learn what these are, so when sharing information across a network, you will be able to see the information, just like the other person sending it. Some examples of these formats are JPG files for images, XML files for databases and XLT for displaying this information, the PDF is like viewing a sheet of paper on your screen. These are just some of the file formats accepted around the world as document standards.

Closing : Teaching others how to convert

If you have converted to a paperless environment, and if you have the patience to teach someone else using what you've learned in this book, you can teach another, or even a group of people to convert their paper documents into a digital one. When teaching others, you may want to know more and more about the software you will be using. It's always good to know more than what you teach to answer questions that your students may have. If you're teaching about the monotonous scanning in of documents, you will need to know about DPI, the different scanners, ADF, the software, and why you would save file names a certain way. I’ve done some teaching about computers with others as a class, and individual teachings as well. Everyone has a different skill level with computers and many know different aspects of the computer. If you know the basics of computers, you will find out how to teach others these basics. Some like the features of graphic editing. And those whom can not afford all of the features that Adobe Photoshop has, as an alternative choose Jasc Paint Shop Pro. Those who would like all of the features of Microsoft Office, would choose Open Office as an alternative. To every brand name solution, there is an alternative. The main thing when teaching everyone how to convert, weather on a personal level or as a group, you must keep things simple by having consistency. Teaching others to convert could be a costly initial process. One main thing to consider is scanner technology. The great thing with scanners and other multi-function devices is that it already comes with software to play around with. You play around with it because you really need to learn about what you can do with the applications provided. ScanSoft, now Nuance provides great solutions for OCR technology. OCR is optical character recognition. With this technology, the image you scan into your computer can become editable text in the software program of your choice. But teaching others how to convert needs to have the foundation of what kind of scanner to get, what types of software to purchase, if any, and how do go about scanning in document after document. When teaching someone to do something, the key thing is to prevent them from asking you questions when the class if finished. You’ll want to go over things thoroughly and possibly quiz them to make sure they understand how to do something. If you went over the process of everything once, they may not even know where the scanner is supposed to go, or even how to set it up. I would recommend setting up several machines, and if the time and resources allow, making the student set everything up two or three times. This way, full understanding of the computer and what they are doing is present. Part of teaching is having a lot of patience, everyone is not at the same skill level and could quite possibly could get frustrated with any problem that could come up. At the same time, students are all at different levels of what they do and do not know. Some may know hardware and operating systems, and others may know software and the different functions like that. With computers, it’s a combination of everything put together to make sure the student understands and is capable of doing the process of what you’re teaching on your own. Since we’re talking about paperless environments, you can type up the lesions and how tos, and save the files onto flash drives, or some other media, and have them be able to reference the file if they so happen to get lost when actually doing the process on their own. Computers can be an amazing tool. Some schools actually require the parents to have their children do certain projects on the computer because it is the way of the future, and how we teach with computers is hands on experience that skills are required in almost every industry you’re in. Even the cash register is like a computer in some instances. These computers are terminals or node computers, but they’re still computers. By teaching these valuable skills will help your child in the future.

Closing : Rethink paper

When everything is tied together, we have re-thought how we use paper in our daily lives, and how we can convert these paper forms of media and convert them into digital forms of media, for the digital world we live in. As technology increases, the need for paper decreases, but it seems we fall into a deeper trap of since it's so easily done to make fifty copies of this newsletter, I'll do that instead of scanning it once, and e-mailing it to everyone in the office. If your children start to develop a manner of thinking where they cut the use of paper in their daily lives, there's a chance that the next generation will be even less apt to use paper. Our children can use Photoshop to color in coloring graphics instead of using coloring books; and this constant thinking of not reading a bedtime story book, but viewing the book on the ceiling as they're going to sleep; and after school they just learned to write all of their alphabet, and decided to scan it onto the computer. A digital story book comes alive through the computer for a child that grows up into adulthood. Every file has a date to it, along with a meaning, and the adult sees a preserved copy of his/her entire life saved on a computer. Imagine if you had a blog from the day you were born up until now. Welcome to the 21st century.

Appendix I: Dictionary

definitions used from webopedia.com ADF - Automatic Document Feeder Blog - A web log, like a diary, which is located on the Internet DPI - Dots per inch, used in printer and scanners to define how fine the device can input or output an image. eFax - GPS - Internet - A network of information accessible and publishable by anywhere in the world through various servers Intranet - A local network of computers used in an office type environment to access information just on that small network. iPhone - iPod - A device created by Apple Computers to listen to music through a small device Netscape - A software application used for browsing the Internet Paperless - An idea where there is no paper in an environment PC - Personal Computer PDA - Personal Data Assistant used to store personal information such as a calendar, address book, notes, recordings, etc. Photoshop - A software program created by Adobe to edit graphics PHP - PHP Hypertext Preprocessor POS - Point of Sale RAM - Random Access Memory used inside computers as a temporary memory storage Wi-Fi - XML - Extendible Markup Language - Formatted text that holds information like a database

Appendix II: Pictures / Diagrams

Appendix III: Computer Related Companies

Hardware Dell - Personal computers using IBM compatibility and Microsoft Operating System IBM - Personal computers using IBM compatibility and Microsoft Operating System Hewlett Packard (HP) - Personal Computers, copy machines, printers, scanners, fax machines, and multi-function devices Macintosh - Personal computer manufacturer based on the Apple Operating System Xerox - Copy machines, printers, scanners, fax machines, and multi-function devices View Sonic - Computer Monitors Lexmark - Copy machines, printers, scanners, fax machines, and multi-function devices Software Adobe - Graphic development Macromedia - Web site and flash development Microsoft - Operating systems, office applications, games, etc. Norton - Anti-virus software Symantec - Anti-Virus software Open Office - An open-source (free) office application. Red Hat - Linux operating system developer. Internet Google - Search Engine EBay - An on-line auction site PayPal - An on-line payment processor. C|Net - A network of news sites, computer reviews, and computer references Publishing O'Reilly - Computer related programming books Zino - Magazine publications available through the Internet AventGo - News, weather, sports downloadable onto your PDA or computer

Appendix IV: Resources

Author, Title (publisher, date), page. Geoffrey Peters, A Society Addicted to Paper – The Effect of Computer Use on Paper Consumption School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, March 12, 2003, pg 5-6 Wired Magazine - Oct, 2006