Those of us who [work in tech support / fix our own computers / use computers with some proficiency / own a computer / wear glasses] have a reputation amongst the technically unsavvy in our [families / workplaces / schools / favorite watering holes] of knowing everything that can possibly be done with a [computer / i-Thingy / cocktail blender].  But the truth is that there are so many programs, operating systems, and interfaces out there that no one person can possibly know them all.  And yet we are called upon to “fix this stupid thing” whenever a group of two or three gather anywhere, anytime, for any reason.  And let’s face it my geeky friends, as annoying as it can be sometimes, we do relish in the myth of our own technological omnipotence, don’t we?

Well, the good folks over at XKCD have let the cat out of the bag, exposing the secret of our tech support prowess in wonderful flowchart form.  And we love them for it, because it’s XKCD and to say anything less than praise for them would seriously hurt our geek cred. 

So, here it is:  XKCD #627 – Tech Support Cheat Sheet

Background

My 5-year-old daughter has always been fascinated with computers.  This is not surprising since she sees Mommy and Daddy on their computers every day.  When she was only three, we began making a game out of typing words that she was learning in pre-school, and soon she began picking out the letters of her name on the keyboard.  She would giggle for hours as we helped her identify the letters in words she knew and helped her type them on the screen.  She was typing her name like a pro long before she ever learned how to handwrite it.  Not long afterwards, I installed some age-appropriate games on my computer so she could begin developing her hand-eye coordination by operating the mouse to manipulate the characters in the game.  However, as her skills and enjoyment increased, so did her demand for time on MY machine (these demands always seemed to occur when I was in the middle of a website, photo, or video project.)  So, when I upgraded to a new desktop a few months ago, I knew that it was time for my little girl to take over my old one. Here are some of the issues I considered when setting up her computer:

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Most of the public has no idea that a political battle has been brewing in Washington over the idea of Net Neutrality:  the principle that your Internet Service Provider sells you unedited access to the internet.  No matter what site you visit, you get the same speed downloads from that site as you would any other.  However, in recent months, some of the big ISP’s (who also happen to be phone and cable companies) have announced plans to throttle your bandwidth when you use certain services (like voice-over-internet calls, or video downloads) from the web.  Needless to say, this exposes a major conflict of interest on the part of your ISP.

This video (from 2007), does an excellent job of explaining just what Net Neutrality is and what the current threats to our online freedoms are:

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