Chile Forum

I want again to thank my fellow AllChileans for their helpfulness and commend them for their knowledge. My thread on "Modes of Address", for example, may have preserved the job (and income) necessary for me to sustain a new life in this much-loved land.

I need more help, too. (Okay, okay: I need all sorts of help; but I'm writing about help that AllChileans can give!) For a needed second income (comparable to what EEUUNikkeiExpat and perhaps others maintain), I should be computer literate. But I'm not -- I didn't even know enough about "VPN" (I've no idea what those letters represent) to jeer a spammer before Charles wisely blasted the counterfeit post to Kingdom come.

So . . . can anyone recommend a book, a website, anything else reasonably accessible (and, I hope, without cost or nearly so) that as primer or glossary or more will give me an understanding and even a mastery of matters computer?

HELP!

Well, you should get off on the right foot. Search google for "open source", "linux", and any related topics that come up. Starting there, you should be able to eliminate about 99% of your software cost, and about 80% of your hardware cost over the course of your lifetime.

That alone should keep you reading for the next 30 years.

Just like language however, if you don't have a reason to use it, there is no reason to know it.

Best to start with what you want to do, and work your way towards the tools to do it.

by the way VPN is Virtual Private Network, and for most users are of no real use.

The funny thing is I have been in computers so long, and I am so use to the acronyms that I find myself looking them up most of the time in Google. I know exactly what they do, and how use them correctly in a sentence, but can not remember what they stand for or perhaps never even knew. So, just know what they do, and skip the dictionary.

I second what Charles wrote, it's better to start from "use cases," ie. what you want to accomplish. "All things computing" is a very very broad topic. I probably have forgotten more than you'll ever know, yet there are people who know orders of magnitude more about this field than I do. You can't know everything, you have people who spend their life just in specialized apps such as Photoshop, Autocad or Avid. Each is a separate universe.

Basic work-related computer literacy would start with how to use Office applications (sorry Charles in that area Microsoft still rules in my book) and the file system (how to handle files). Depending on what you'll need to do, you may learn how to deal with email proficiently, how to format a letter, how to put together a presentation, an error-free spreadsheet, a basic web page, a photo slideshow... Then depending on your assignments you'll want to drill down and become more proficient in specific areas. Say, if you work for a financial institution, it may be worth your time to learn about spreadsheet macros and pivot tables, but that's way too intense as a way to get started. There are whole books dedicated to, say, how to use Excel for business planning purposes.

What kind of second income do you have in mind?

truth is, the real secret to any "expert" in computing is knowing how to research quickly and efficiently to solve a problem. That is, be able to take a problem and formulate it in to key terms that Google can digest, and then keep following the different threads of information to refine your search. This applies to just about any problem that can be found on the internet, not just computers.

I'd second Charles & otravers on this and ask what do you want to do?

I see the need for computer literacy, but you also mention strategies for resources to enable you to make in Chile - so I'll try to address both.

You've mentioned your academic background - will that be a part of it? Then will you publishing books, texts or otherwise. That's one activity and my publisher could care less where I am as long as I make my deadlines. It doesn't require great computer skills.

Another way to leverage an academic background is to teach online - University of Maryland University College/Maryland is always advertising for adjuncts and again could care less where you are - it's what you do that counts. The Chronicle or HigherEd.org always has listings. Most colleges and universities offer/require a distance education training to familiarize new faculty with their platform. From experience, if you can post, email and do basic operations you'll be fine. I'd steer clear of the for-profit sector - again, from experience, the emphasis is on quantity, not quality. Overall the pay is not great, particularly with the dollar where it's headed but it could help.

A third option might be to start something new - otravers mentioned partnering with MINEDUC or similar agencies in the development of web-based resources - my area might involve multimedia education including distance ed that could serve many rural areas that are increasingly connected. I've also explored similar education + live trainings in areas where I'm not the expert - so I partner with someone who can offer that aspect. A colleague is an expert in metals and specificially welding in manufacturing applications, by hand or machine, and he's done a lot of work in Peru & Bolivia. The multimedia production pre & post is where I'd help.

A strategy separate from computers to consider is several activities - I don't know your discipline, but I've found getting involved with K-12>University>training can yield some small contracts that can add up over time. Being there is half the challenge - cart & horse dilemma - You need the resources to make it, and can't get resources without relationships, time, and effort. Once you are in Chile it's sometimes amazing the opportunity that presents itself - there needs to be X service here, unmet needs, etc. and you can fill a niche a do some good at the same time.

A personal solution has been negotiation stateside with my university. I've switched to a summer/fall schedule so it opens up December to May in Chile. I don't know if your host institution is up for change but its worth exploring.

The net is a lot more friendly now than in the days of the Denver Freenet, or before Netscape ... So I don't have to know how to do everything because their are tools available that help. I'd focus on the what and then it'll seem natural to focus on how.

admin wrote:truth is, the real secret to any "expert" in computing is knowing how to research quickly and efficiently to solve a problem. . . . This applies to just about any problem that can be found on the internet, not just computers.

True. In order to know enough to research effectively, however, the would-be researcher must have a working knowledge of the basic principles of the field and some solid overview as well. I lack that working knowledge and solid overview.

Thanks, Putenio and OTravers, for detailled replies.

I may write. Fortunately, I can type. Wordprocessing (at least, with a decent, tangible manual) is no challenge to my minimal skills.

Teaching at a distance is also a possibility. Thanks, again, Putenio, for pointing me to UMd. This could prove very useful indeed.

Most challenging to my skill in employing computers and the Internet would be financial dealings: day trading, possibly some arbitrage, etc. The mere thought of placing a significant portion of my hard-earned savings at the risk of electronic blips is daunting, but the potential profit (I've done well with research and telephone alone, so I'm not leaning on a merely hoped-for ability) is seductive. It's in this area, most especially, that my lack of computer-based knowledge and skill makes me wary.

Be very careful about day trading, whether it's shares or currencies or whatever. If you don't know what you're doing, it's like picking pennies in front of a steamroller. There are huge players out there working with hundreds of billions of dollars. Be even more careful of leverage, e.g. shorting stock on margin can be very dangerous if you let it go (if you don't have spare cash then a margin call can get you in a world of hurt).

I'm not saying it can't work, but fully understand the risks before being enthralled by the potential rewards.

Good advice, OTravers. To be clear, I'm not contemplating true day trading but, rather, turn-arounds within days or weeks instead of buy-and-hold.

It's worked well with 'phone and paper here in the States, but I don't want to rely on brokers in Chile. Executing the orders more directly myself, through the Internet, is appealling. I just hope that I can get it right: hence, my desire to learn more, much more, regarding electronic operation.

I note that I've been acclaimed a hero of the Forum (owing to having posted a hundred or more comments, I suppose)!

Are we heroes ("we few, we band of brothers and sisters") accorded medals or brevets? Busts in the plazas de armas of our home towns? Could we rename some of the myriad "O'Higgins" places -- something like "Villa OTravers" or "Calle RWS", perhaps?

Yea, from technical perspective online trading is no more or less risky than standing on the floor of the stock exchange other than you can loose your money in real time.

I have used Etrade for years. If you can send email, you can use etrade or any of the other big online trading companies.

Only word of warning about the online trading is to stay away from getting caught up in Spam type pump and dump rumors on the internet. If you would not do it in the real world the old fashion way, don't do it on the internet. Good companies have good numbers.

Yea, I think I might need to raise the Chile forum hero posting requirements because as soon as you guys make hero your heads start to swell. I would not want anyone's head to explode from using the forum.

Now that there are so many posters with 100+ posts, I need to come up with something for like the 500 or 1,000 posts.

Oh, no, Charles! You'll not strip us of our new-found glories, will you?

Too late, I've already started designing the monumental statue to be erected in honor of my many accomplishments. To get an idea, see my new avatar showing Saparmurat Niyazov's gold statue that rotates to always face the sun. Mine will be made of gold and copper for obvious reasons. And bigger of course.

I've looked at the forum guidelines and stripping someone of their Forum Hero status is clearly forbidden. At 500 posts I actually expect a permanent (or rather always-rotating) chorus of virgins to sing my shining glory at the feet of my statue.

I have also ordered next Monday to be a national vacation here in Chile. As You'll see that people actually don't go to work, it should be more than enough to demonstrate the swiftness and effectiveness of my rise to power

Too bad my buddy Kim Jong-Il stopped his blog, it used to be great reading for Friday fun: koreaismine.blogspot.com

(Seems I've used my nonsense quota for at least 50 posts...)