These are tough times, there is no doubt about that. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about what we can do about it. What I’m interested in exploring is how people like you and me can treat the setbacks of our times as an opportunity to reinvent ourselves.

If you are under 25, this blog is probably not for you (though my own kids, teenagers of the internet generation, could use some of the tips you will find here). If you are in midlife, and have been somewhat complacent and comfortable in your job or career, thinking that “the computer age passed me by,” “I’ll leave all that internet stuff to the younger generations, to my younger colleagues, let them pay their dues” –  If you’re one of those people who have said, “technology is really not my thing, I’ve always been perfectly comfortable with a typewriter, if you can spell you don’t need spellcheck, no one learns English anymore these days,” well, you may be in a little bit of trouble.



The fact is that now many of us are losing our jobs, or are forced to change careers because the industry we were a part of is… about to go the way of the dodo! This has happened to me, and I was forced to reinvent myself, more than once. So I come before you today to reach out and pull all you reluctant luddites into the 21st century, where we all live, and where we all belong.

Those of us who are looking for new jobs or careers have to be able to compete with those young kids who already know everything about computers and the internet (or think they do) and that is what this blog is all about.

Do you want to find out what url means, or how to sign up for RSS feeds? What the hell are RSS feeds, anyway? And what about a uri, how does that differ from a url? Streaming video, upload, download, ftp, there are so many terms, so many acronyms, so many things out there that can scare the pants off us.

This is what this site is meant to fight. FEAR. Not only is knowledge power, knowledge is also our best friend in overcoming fear. Together we will learn terms, concepts, how to turn our computers into useful tools that can help us connect to others, discover useful information, buy things we need quickly and easily, and even find a job. Many computer- or internet-related skills sound a lot scarier and harder than they really are. We will try to dispel myths and conquer dragons. Some things are harder than others, but we will try to use simple, common sense language that anyone can understand, even the dodos.

I love this quote from Picasso: “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”

We should all live by this creed. And allow me to let you in on a secret: the best way to learn something is to teach it. I too can benefit from my own lessons. In order to teach things to you, I will have to make sure I know them very well myself. So we will all be learning together.

For instance, I don’t speak Spanish, or rather, I speak what I like to call “laundromat Spanish.” But sometimes I wish someone would hire me to teach beginner’s Spanish. You can bet that before that first lesson I would make damn sure I could deliver the goods! I’m not going to show up to class without having done my homework!

So let’s take a deep breath and move on to our first topic: signing up for RSS feeds.

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