Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Need Help? … Find It on the Internet

fragment of the Creation by Michelangelo, enhanced by Michael Pastore

May the new year 2008 bring you Health and Happiness. Resolve to improve yourself and to help others. Never lose hope. And whenever you need hope, or help, do not be shy: call a friend or a member of your family.
The Internet, too, may help you, in these 5 ways:

  1. Forums let you log in and ask questions, which may be answered by experts, novices, and everyone in between. For computer and technology help, visit Tech Support Guy at http://www.techguy.org . Whenever I get viruses, spyware, malware, and other electronic plagues, the generous vounteers there have solved the problems.
  2. Groups are similar to forums: you ask for help and people provide free answers. Google Groups are my favorite: start exploring here: http://groups.google.com
  3. Experts Websites. When you enter All Experts http://en.allexperts.com or Get Satisfaction http://getsatisfaction.com/ you are answered by a person skilled in her/his area of expertise.
  4. Websites in General. Here, you don't ask questions, but instead you can look at information, or links to information. Examples: Epublishers Wiki Health Sites and About.com http://www.about.com and Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.com
  5. Fast and Easy Access to Information for Local Help. Use the Internet as a super yellow-pages or white pages, to find resources in your own community. If you're hungry in Tompkins County, it takes just 10 seconds to Google for "free food" — and you'll find the Tompkins County Food Distribution Network at http://www.tompkinsfood.org/