Loading ...5 Ways to be a Better Computer Geek
Feel pretty comfy about your computer skills? Rest not on thy laurels. If you don’t do something to take it to the next level, you’ll find yourself outdone by some upstart running Gentoo on a toaster oven.
Here are five ways you can become a better computer geek.
1) Learn a new OS.
So you’ve hacked the hell out of your OS of choice. That’s great, and kudos to you. Time to try something new. Skip all the endless hype about which OS is best. (In fact, while the Windows vs. Linux folks duke it out, steal their beer as punishment for dragging on that debate for far too long.) Just get your hands on something you’ve never used before. Haven’t touched Linux? Roll a die with the latest list of the top 6 distros (or ten, depending on the size of your die), and install whatever the die tells you. Haven’t had a Windows box since Windows NT? Load XP (don’t be crazy enough to install Vista) and check out Windows again. Already have a dual-boot system with Windows and Linux? Try Mac OS X. The folks from Cupertino have made mad changes in recent years, and this OS is definitely worth adding to your skillset. Got ‘em all? Try Solaris , or FreeBSD , or…
Start with the simple stuff. Check your email, find the local OpenOffice equivalent (or install it for your new OS), play the cheap installed games. By spending more time in different operating environments, you’ll get a bigger handle on computing at large.
2) Roll your own.
Instead of dropping $600 on the latest Dell, spend a little more and build your new PC from scratch. You could probably still pull it off for less than $1000, depending on how much of a gamer you are, but if you’re a gamer, you were going to spend more than $600 on a new box, weren’t you? If you’ve done this before, but not in the last couple of years, you’re outdated. I thought I still knew what was going on in the hardware world, but then I failed the Geek Quiz in a recent issue of Maximum PC . (Me? Fail a geek quiz about computer hardware?! Wtf?) Looks like I’m building my next box from parts. I may have to solder the boards myself for a chance at redemption.
Nothing will get you caught up (or at least updated) like building a new system and dealing with hardware compatibility issues.
3) Spend some time at the command line.
This is perhaps easier in one of the *nix operating systems, but it’s not difficult to hang out at the command line in Mac OSX or Windows. Might be a little trickier in Windows to figure out how everything executes at the command line (the *.exe files are easy enough, I’ve never found Microsoft’s switches to be all that intuitive) but it’s doable.
4) Join a users group.
Find an online group or a real life group, one that has to do with an operating system you think you know pretty well or one you’re trying to learn. Just get around other people who are doing the same thing. Extra credit: find a women’s group. Extra extra credit: if you can’t find a women’s group, start one.
5) Don’t take the easy way out.
It’s often tempting to use a workaround on some block that’s between you and whatever you’re trying to do. It could be a virus, and instead of removing it, you find someway to just block its effects. Maybe it’s some kind of module or library dependency, and instead of working it out, you just decide you won’t install that package. It could be any number of things, but whatever it is, instead of finding a workaround and leaving the problem behind, try to fix it. Do a little Google research or ask someone in your new users group, but instead of trying to find the quick fix, solve the damned problem.
By trying even one of these five suggestions, you’ll improve your computer skills and learn something you didn’t know before you started.
Got any ideas, or tried one of these steps with success? Drop me a line at ubergeeke@dotfiveone.com and tell me about it.