"How do you know all of these things?"

I'm a tech geek. Have been since my dad brought home a 486x with Windows 3.1. So too often (and some of you will identify with me), I get teck-related questions and phone calls from family and friends. And let me tell you, I've got a pretty big family. But every so often, someone will ask me, "How do you know all of these things?" So to answer that question, I'm gonna list a few resources. The first requirement though, and I can't stress this enough because I've seen it in toooooooooo many cases: learn how to use your damn device! Learn to look around and explore!

OK...Now that I have that out of the way, great places on the net that can help you keep up with developments as well as learn something in the world of technology are news blogs like engadget. The great thing about blogs like these is that they get their information from a bunch of other sites, they produce a ton of articles everyday and they're usually entertaining to read. But if you're into being entertained and have ADD when it comes to anything literature, then you might want to look at podcasts like those on the TWiT network (audio) or on the Revision 3 network (video). They have a variety of shows that cover many of the areas in tech. Other web-based shows you might want to look at (and incidentally pretty ladies) are Webb Alert, GeekBrief, Mahalo Daily and Command N. Wikipedia is another great resource because chances are that watching these podcasts or reading these blogs, you're not going to understand everything they say. So hit pause and look it up! Another great resource for news, reviews, tips and tricks is CNET.

But lets say you're having a problem with one of your wily devices, chances are someone else has had that problem before you. To be honest, when someone calls me, I don't have the solution to all their problems right away. Sometimes it requires research. Tech forums are a great way to find solutions to problems from people helping each other out. You can try looking through those forums for someone with the same problem or you can type in a question into the ol' Google and chances are a forum will come up. If no one has your problem, you can always post a question on a forum and hopefully someone will get back to you very soon. So if any of you reading know me (you know who you are!), you'd better think twice before giving me a call next time you have a problem and try a few of these resources.

D.E.