I'd like to learn the ways of a "Computer Geek"?

Question

Soon I have to start college and, sadly enough, I still have no idea what to do with my life...
Every time I try to think of something I come back to computers. The thing is, I'm computer illiterate and I don't even know where to start trying to learn...

Can anyone give me some advice on where to start?

Answer 1

I'd kinda say it's too late if you're going into college and are "computer illiterate" - I mean, you get good with computers by using them constantly, so normally you'd be good with them by like 15 or earlier.



But I won't say that.



First of all you're going to need passion. You are going to want to be thinking about computers all day long, putting hours a day into learning about them, and preferabely enjoying every minute of it.



Get good using the internet. Search engines, forums, everything practical. You'll need that as you learn (I'm assuming by "illiterate" you mean you really don't know anything about using computers). Know how to use all kinda of basic programs like Microsoft Word - most programs have similiarites, you get good with a handful, you get good with all (most) of them.



Learn to program. Start with a For Dummies book and a language like Liberty BASIC or Python. This will give you the basic programming principles. Once you've mastered that, you can move onto more complex programming languages.



Find a good book that will teach you all about computers from the basic circuitry all the way up to the software that we all use every day. You'll need to find out about the binary numerical system, ie how to count in binary (don't worry, it's less scary than it sounds), and also boolean logic and boolean algebra. At least.



Hit up Wikipedia and spread your general computer culture as far as you can. Find out about all the different programming languages, about old computers, new computers, about how the internet works, about famous computer scientists, algorithms, computer history... everything. Just read up on everything, if you don't understand something just pass over it. Hang out on computer-geek forums and look up anything they talk about that sounds interesting or that you don't understand.



But most of all, you definitely need passion - as with any skill.

Answer 2

For the best background education; primarily on security & technical aspects: entirely free, go to 'Security Now' podcasts with Steve Gibson & Leo Laporte.

These are 1+ hr. 'sit down' chats, that cover current issues, the how & why, with remedies for security issues, related to internet, networking, etc.

Start with the early for computer functions & basics, and occasionally it gets a bit tekky (and very often an 'acronym tsunami'), but Steve & Leo do it in real easy to understand chat format, that makes it painless & interesting (if you like the tech stuff to start with).



College level education, free.

Find it here:

http://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm



Session transcript on same page for printed output.

Answer 3

This is a wonderful essay written by Eric Raymond about "How to become a hacker" (the legal kind not the illegal kind). This is more than just being a computer geek, but it's the core of it. The mindset you need for it.



http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html

Answer 4

Start by taking a basic computer course. Your local community college may offer one for free. If you still have an interest when done, you may be a likely candidate to pursue computer science.

Answer 5

I hope this helps...



If you want to learn more about computers then you can go to a great educational website like Teach ICT because they have a whole bunch of FREE information about computers:



http://www.teach-ict.com/gcse/gcse_topics.html

http://www.teach-ict.com/technology_explained/whatis_home.html



If want to learn Microsoft Office, Windows, XP, etc. then here are a whole bunch of tutorials:



http://www.teach-ict.net/software/excel/excel.htm



http://www.baycongroup.com/excel2003/index.htm



http://www.fgcu.edu/support/office2000/



http://inpics.net/excel03.html



http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/BC/BeginnersComputing.html





Top-Windows-Tutorials is great website for learning about Windows XP and Vista, how to protect your computer with antivirus and firewall, backing up your files and data, etc.



http://www.top-windows-tutorials.com/free-windows-xp-tutorials.html



Also go to YouTube because it would have a whole bunch of tutorials for Microsoft Office, Windows XP, etc.



This website has many tutorials for learning C++, Java, Visual Basic, HTML, etc.



http://www.programmingtutorials.com/cplusplus.aspx



Here is a website for learning about computer networks and computer troubleshooting:



http://www.networktutorials.info/tutorials.html



YouTube also has many tutorials for fixing and maintaining computers and setting up computer networks!



Good luck and I hope you will find this to be useful!

Answer 6

Start with basic free courses. then use advanced free courses.. Google search using keywords. = http://www.gcflearnfree.org/default2.aspx

Answer 7

I would recommend starting by learning XHTML, and then JavaScript.

Then everything else is really simple from there.