Who am I?
I'm Earle and I'm the owner/webmaster here. I'm also the network admin at Grand Itasca Clinic & Hospital in Grand Rapids, MN. I also do some part-time work for Computer Enterprises, Grand Rapids MN as their Network Admin and network advisor and as a teacher, and, if someone bribes me really nicely, I have been known to do a little moonlighting.
Before working at Grand Itasca I was the Network Technician for Computer Enterprises. Prior to that I taught PC's at Brown Institute in Mendota Hts, MN. I've been playing with computers in various forms since the mid 1970's.
Many things are easier and quicker when done with the aid of a PC. One of my goals for this website is to help you learn to use a PC more efficiently. At the end of the day, if your PC has not helped you do a faster and more efficient job, then you are either not using the PC correctly, you may have the wrong PC, or you may have the wrong software.
I tell all my students, whether in the classroom or at work, that a PC is just a box of rocks. The PC is made out of plastics and minerals that ultimately came out of the ground somewhere. The PC, BY ITSELF, can do NOTHING! This is often the hardest concept to grasp. PC's are nothing without power and programming and input and output.
Power: Plug it in, turn it on. It won't do any good holding down the desk in the corner, buried under stuff. To be useful, a PC must have power applied.Programming: I hate to say it, but many people regard anyone that can turn on a PC as a mysterious, god-like being. I'm here to tell you that it just ain't so. As a technician (and admin) I try to fix things that are broke. Programmers actually make the programs. Good programs shouldn't break (often). However, programs are so complex, and the people that use them are so complex, and the many, many different types of hardware that the program must run on are so differing, that it is extremely difficult to write a program without errors. So difficult that it may be impossible. They are so complex that it is a wonder that they work at all.
Good programs should be easy to use. Life would be easier if Accounting packages were written by accountants, and Word Processors were written by Secretaries, but that seldom happens. When you can find a piece of software written by a programmer who is also a professional in the field then you have a true diamond, because it may actually do what you want it to do in ways that you expect it to.
Input: If the PC is not fed good data then you can't expect good results. It used to be called GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out. This is where you come in. If you type an "f" then you can't expect a "d" to come out. Make sure the info you give the PC is clean and correct: the PC can't tell the difference between good and bad data.
Output: If the PC says that 1+1=2 then it is so if the programming is good and the input is good. Don't expect good output if you don't give it good input and if the software and hardware may be broken. This is where I usually come in: someone thinks they have given the PC good input but the output is unexpected. I need to decide if the hardware, the programming, or the input is at fault. Folks, I hate to say this, but 9 out of 10 times the input is the problem.