After my initial shock that a simple command like “right-clicking” wasn’t obvious to someone I realized I had to slow down and communicate as visually as possible to get my point across.

I then had to explain items like using the Start > Run command.

We then moved onto what to look for when searching for “Properties” of a file and to look for tabs to get to different areas of the interface.

There was even a little bit of time spent on the discussion of file path structure and the differences between backslashes \\ and forward slashes //.

All-in-all the exercise was good for me. It was an eye-opener to look at things very differently and try to understand how different users may look at applications or interfaces I may create. It got me thinking though, what does the average computer user really know?

Image: sxc.hu

Post from: EveryJoe

Getting Back to the Basics

Here’s what they listed as their tips:

• Shrink Your URL’s
• RT = Retweet
• Direct Messaging
• Use the @ Sign
• Search For Your Friends
• Categorize Your Tweets for Added Exposure
• Share Pictures
• Tweet from Your Phone
• Pick a Good Desktop Client
• Download a Mobile Client

Maybe you agree with me and think these are more instructions and not real “tips”. What tips would you suggest for people? Here are a couple of mine to get you started:

• Tweet First, Follow Later – at least have a few tweets in your history before you start following more than a handful of people. People won’t follow you unless they can see what you’re talking about
• Update Your Avatar – give yourself a personality and let us see who you are or put an image with your tweets. It makes following you and recognizing you much easier as you tweet
• Complete Your Profile – more details about who you are will convince me to follow you or not

Now, what are your tips for users? Let us know in the comments!

Post from: EveryJoe

What Are Your Twitter Tips

Image: istockphoto

First video had embedding disabled, but here is the link. The first thing I see wrong here is he isn’t meeting the exercise, he’s kind of shying away from the curls to start off with. When you go for a lift, meet it head on. In fact, you its sometimes good to exaggerate the movements to get the full effect.

Second, the weight is way too heavy for this guy. He comes right out of the gate rocking. A lot more bicep and a lot less body is needed. Third, I’m not exactly sure what his last 1/5th reps were going to accomplish, especially sense he rocked with them too. Another huge flaw was the music but hey if Wild Thing gets you going, well there you go.

Always take advice you get from people in the gym with a grain of salt – even trainers and even me. Everybody has their own agenda and opinions and some people don’t even know what they’re talking about. Its disappointing a lot of teens on YouTube want to start lifting weights and are looking to these videos on guidance and the people making the videos are hopped on steroids, don’t know what they’re doing, and/or are creating false impressions for beginners. There are even some weight lifting videos from kids 13, 14 and younger which is unfortunate because its really too early for them to be hitting the iron.

I think any age before 15 should be engaged in activities to be physically fit, but weight training should be left out of the equation. At the very most, weight training should be very, very light at this age.

Post from: EveryJoe

Improving Lifting Technique