Page 5 - index
P. 5
(Continued from page 1) • Working by analogy from similar prod-
• Except for a handful of very popular ap- ucts – every program is different, and
plications, good tutorial books don't ex- few are clones. New ones appear be-
ist. This is especially so for Linux, OS X, cause their developers felt previous
and many cameras. ones had fundamental shortcomings;
few are just old ones with bug fixes.
• The number of brick-and-mortar
bookstores is decreasing, and those re- • Using a new program to work with valu-
maining are continually decreasing the able data – making a mistake here could
shelf space for technical books. Soft- mean you lose the data.
ware is frequently updated, meaning Before you install the software or turn on the
that books quickly become outdated and device, gather the available information about it
public libraries can't keep up. As a re- that appears useful, including: the full manual
sult, it is difficult to find useful infor- (if only an on-line version is available, get its
mation by browsing books URL) not just the getting started guide, reviews
(which frequently provide helpful overviews),
• Information on the Internet is fragment- and Internet articles (or their URLs). If this is
ed, poorly organized, and often wrong. software, make a complete backup of your
computer. This is important if you downloaded
• Tech writers seem to fixate on tasks that the software, especially for Windows users.
don't interest me – they go into elabo- Linux users can install new software on a virtu-
rate detail on things I never do and skip al machine, which isolates any problems. Read
over those I perform almost every day. the reviews and articles you gathered and at
least the introduction and installation sections
• User interfaces are frequently not well of the manual. Create a sandbox in which to
experiment. This can be as simple as a directo-
designed, and not all products have use- ry with a few files you will manipulate with the
ful help features. new software or as complex as a virtual ma-
chine. Set up means of recording notes. I
• Purchased software and hardware usu- use CherryTree, http://www.giuspen.com/
ally includes only a small printed pam- cherrytree/, which is free, but available only for
phlet, containing mostly legal disclaim- Linux and Windows; Mac users can find equiv-
ers in several languages and labeled, alents
“Getting Started Guide,” or something http://alternativeto.net/software/cherrytree/?
similar. Many people assume this is the platform=mac. Screen 1 shows my complete
manual and never look at the real manu- CherryTree notes on QMapShack after an hour
al, which resides on an included CD- or so of use. (This is a mapping program that
ROM or the vendor's Website. works with a GPS.) As you can see, these fit
on a single page, and at this point I had a lot
I have found several ineffective techniques. yet to do.
• Calling a friend – while this is occasion-
ally appropriate, you will soon run out of
friends if you overuse it, and some
friends have more confidence than ex-
pertise.
• Taking random screen shots – unless
you organize these and add comments
as soon as you take them, you just end
up with directories full of useless
graphics. Screen 1. Initial CherryTree Notes on Qmap-
Shack.
• Handwritten notes – unless you organ- By contrast, Screen 2 shows a portion of my
ize these you end up with stacks or use- notes on installing Ubuntu Linux, which have
less paper. been refined for several years. Note from the
(Continued on page 6)
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