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If you don’t know how to use a computer at all, it’s a good idea to get a computer lesson and get started. Even just having a basic working knowledge of how to use a computer and how to use the internet will drastically increase the amount of things you can do and open a lot of doors that would otherwise be shut for you.

Indeed, if you are still working or looking for employment (i.e.; not yet retired) knowing how to use a computer will allow you to do a world of different jobs you never would have been able to before.

You are extremely limited in the kind of work you can do without any knowledge of computers, so it is well worth whatever the fees are for a computer lesson or two.

Of course, if you are reading this you probably already have at least a basic knowledge of computers because you are online right now. Even if you already know the basic skills to use the internet and some simple programs like word processors or spread sheet programs, an additional computer lesson or two can still be very valuable.

Most programs have loads of features above and beyond the more obvious ones. Word for Windows and Excel, for example, may seem pretty self-explanatory initially, but with a couple of computer lesson you can do things you never would have even dreamed before with even such standard programs.

Even operating systems, like Windows XP or the Mac OS series have loads of features and nuances that a few computer lessons can expose for you.

I took some night school classes held at a local high school on the beast of a program that is Adobe Photoshop a while back, and the computer lessons were invaluable to me. I have just begun to crack the surface of that particular program and yet I can do things with photos I never would have imagined before.

Live classes are probably the most effective way to get a computer lesson, but another thing I recommend is buying computer courses in the form of interactive CD-ROMs or DVDs to be played on your computer.

These can be done at your own convenience, in the comfort of your home, and are generally less expensive. One I recommend is ‘Video Professor’. His commercials are kind of annoying, but they are very affordable computer lessons and cover the basics for most programs you’d ever use.

When you use computers and the Internet in your business, it’s all too easy to start feeling like you’re drowning in a sea of nonsense. Computer-related things tend to have a language all their own, and while you don’t need to know all of it, there are many confusing words and phrases that you’re going to come across sooner or later. Here’s a quick primer.

Bandwidth. Bandwidth is the amount of data that your website can send each second, as well as the amount of data that the visitor to your website can receive. If either one doesn’t have enough bandwidth, then the website will appear slowly. For this reason, you should choose a host with plenty of bandwidth, as well as testing that your site doesn’t take too long to download on slow connections.

Browser. A browser is the software (see below) that visitors to your site use to view it. The most popular browser is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, which comes with Windows.

Cookie. Cookies are data files that your site can save on the computer of someone who visits that site, to allow it to remember who they are if they return. You will find that problems people have in ordering from you will almost inevitably be related to cookies — they will need to have them turned on.

Download. Transferring data from a website to a computer.

Favourite. A favourite is a website that a user has stored to look at again, by choosing ‘Add to Favourites’ in their browser’s menu.

FTP. File Transfer Protocol. This is a common method of uploading (see below) files to your website.

Javascript. A common language for writing ’scripts’ on websites, which are small programs that make the site more interactive. Another common cause of problems for visitors.

JPEG. Joint Photographic Experts Group. This is the name of the most popular format for pictures on the web, named after the group that came up with it. If you want to put pictures on your website, you should save them as JPEGs.

Hardware. Hardware is computer equipment that physically exists. It is the opposite of software.

Hosting. If you’ve got a website out there on the Internet, then you’ll be paying someone for hosting. It is the service of making your site available for people to see.

HTML. HyperText Markup Language. A kind of code used to indicate how web pages should be displayed, using a system of small ‘tags’. The ‘b’ tag, for example, causes text to appear in bold, and the ‘img’ tag displays a picture.

Hyperlink. A hyperlink is when a piece of text on a website can be clicked to take you to another site, or another page on the same site. For example, if clicking your email address on your website allows someone to email you, then your email address is a hyperlink.

Programming. This is when the computer is given instructions to tell it what to do, using one of many ‘programming languages’. Programming languages for the web include PHP and Perl.

Server. The server is where your website is stored, and it is the server that people are connecting to when they visit the site. If someone tells you, for example, that your server is ‘down’, it means that your website is inaccessible. Note that server refers both to the hardware and software of this system.

Software. Programs that run on the computer, or that make your website work. Microsoft Word is software, for example, as is Apache (the most popular web server software). Opposite of hardware.

Spider. Don’t be scared if a spider visits your website! Spiders are simply programs used by search engines to scan your site and help them decide where it should appear when people search. It is good to be visited by spiders, as it means you should start appearing in search engines soon.

Upload. Uploading is when you transfer data from your own computer to your website. For example, you might upload your logo, or an article you’ve written. Opposite of download.

URL. Uniform Resource Locator. This is just a short way of saying ‘web address’, meaning what you have to type in to get to your website. Sometimes pronounced as ‘Earl’.