Computer Skills

Links…..

Computer Knowledge

Document Generation

• Almost all of my involvement on the computer has been for research purposes and in the production of documents, usually for the making Booklets……i.e. at least this is the case in the last two or three years, therefore I consider it my only skill. Using ‘tables’ for the advantage of organizing information i found very helpful……so, many documents i have made, do have tables in them.

Pages

• Pages is the preferred document Mac program to work with. On a scale of 1 to 10, am probably at a 5 or 6, I would say 7 or 8, if using the Inspector to make tables and columns. Might get better if had the time to do brochures or things. Have investigated, read and done all, if not all of the potentials with Pages including the Media of Photos, Audio and Links and Hyperlinks. But…would have to slow down and re-read, re-study each of them…to do them and get them done correctly, excepting for documents and booklets. The thing is, I did not want to include many of the extra features in my documents……having said that, i do anticipate a likelihood I will have to include all of these features in the future.

Computer Books

• Am mostly self taught on the Mac. Have read the following books to try to learn how the Mac operates and consider myself a very slow learner i.o.w. i don’t retain how to do something on the computer if i have done it once…..or twice. I have to have done the same thing or similar type of thing at least 7-10-15 times before computer retention actually occurs with me……and that same thing has to be done in relatively frequent occurrences every few months in order for me to ‘just go ahead’ and use it….otherwise what happens often is, i have to review and study the entire process again before implementing certain things. Being a busy person it has been difficult to ‘get back to the similar type of activity’, hence, i have to review things again prior to the actual doing of them, hence, I have to say, gradually, i have improved my general knowledge of the Mac, making documents, saving them, emailing them as PDF’s and despite having done scanning, making a video, doing a Keynote Presentation, creating a Numbers document with formulas…….i cannot just up and do the same or similar thing again. One of the more important things i have done is create several booklets on how to do these various things…….which was done so i did not have to resort to going to the library and getting another book:lol; in other words my booklets are well written in detail as how to do these things and if following the directions in themi would be successful in doing what needs to be done to spice up the document. Posted several of these on the internet and received many comments on how ‘well they were done’, so glad someone got the benefit of them! Often the purpose of doing such booklets are specifically so that the ‘review’ is “nearby at hand”! Recently,i have just completed making about 15 poster-board charts with directions on how to do much of the basic MacIntosh stuff. Still,i have certain things to learn.
  

  Books Read and Studied for the Mac…..

  • Mac OS X10 – J. Ray & L. Ray

  • iWork 09 – The Missing Manual – Josh Clark

  • Switching to the Mac – The Missing Manual – David Pogue

  • MacBook Pro – Portable Genius – Dwight Spivey

  • iLife 09 – Teach Your Self Visually – Mike Wooldridge

  • iPhoto, iMovie, and Other Useful Mac Programs for Seniors – Visual Steps

  • How To Do Everything with Online Video – Andrew Shalat

  • How To Do Everything with YouTube – Chad Fahs

  • YouTube for Dummies – Doug Sahlin & Chris Botello

  • Blogging for Dummies – Susannah Gardner & Shane Birley

  • Facebook for Dummies – Carolyn Abram & Leah Pearlman

  • The Rough Guide to the iPad – Peter Buckley

  • iPad – Portable Genius – Paul McFedries

  • Your iPad at Work – Jason Rich

  • iPad 2 Fully Loaded – Alan Hess

  • Blog Design Solutions – Friends of ED

  • Stylin’ with CSS – A Designer’s Guide Third Edition – Charles Wyke-Smith

   

  A Few Booklets I have made in iPages…..

  • YouTube – 80 pages

  • Book 1 -How To Make an iMovie and Publish It To YouTube – 107 pages

  • Book 2 -How To Make an iMovie and Publish It To You Tube – 58 pages

  • Mac Lessons Booklets

    • Lesson 1 – How To Place a Document on the Desktop – 30 pages
    • Lesson 2 – How To Organize Your Documents – 33 pages
    • Lesson 3 – How To Create A Document – 29 pages

   

  Numbers on the Mac…..The Mac’s Spreadsheet Program

  Numbers on the Mac is the equivalent of Excel……pretty much. I never anticipate doing great, detailed spreadsheets anymore therefore decided that whatever i learn about spreadsheets i will learn it on the Mac using Numbers. It is part of the Mac’s iLife Work Software Program and comes installed when purchasing a Mac.

  First, A Note on Excel……. I read a few books on Excel however had a difficult time learning it; i did develop a bit of skill in putting information into various columns and add them up, perhaps include a few basic type of formulas and was able to print them out in tables which looked pretty good, but i was no expert and could not go and do what the average mid level excel worker is supposed to know how to do that works for a company…..however, i believe could catch it up quite quickly if shown by the right person. The best thing that occurred was that the printing did come out correctly!

  I was fortunate in 2010 to meet a young man who was proficient in making Excel spreadsheets. This was during a time i had designed an important spreadsheet ……and he took the many 30 or so hours in various meetings to teach me and make sure i did learn what i was doing “at that time”…….especially in formula creation, checking whether the formula worked properly etcetera. He did such a good job and i was a good learner. Having said that, if presented with having to do a similar project, i would definitely have to review the directions again and again…..to feel confident to go ahead and actually create another spreadsheet…or even to use that same spreadsheet.

  Distinction with the Numbers Program (at least for me!~)) -Designed and Created an 11 page Spreadsheet on Purchasing a Commercial Property. Designed for Investors such that once appropriate number data was input the spreadsheet could act as a presentation tool to the interested investor giving the investor an accurate and detailed snapshot with the numbers that are vital and important to him to make clear the decision whether he considered the deal a good deal for him to be involved in. Also, the same spreadsheet could be emailed as a PDF to keep an investor aware and updated with the property the investor had invested in as to his status and profits as well as projected profits.

  For me, I added to this Numbers Spreadsheet “Comments” that included every detailed aspect on the process of purchasing a commercial property……equivalent to about some 300 pages of information. I did it this way so it provided a checklist at each stage of the purchasing process to eliminate any or every mistake. I would really have to work at it again, probably for some weeks to become proficient with it to use it as a tool. The primary use of it, i understand it to be a collective place where i can go and review everything about How To Purchase Commercial Property.

  Also Designed and Made a 5 page Spreadsheet on Purchasing a Single Dwelling Unit/House. This is also a good spreadsheet with pretty well most every detail involved in keeping track of amounts invested, ROI, rent amount, taxes, insurance and all other expenses etcetera. Would i use this spreadsheet…….yes at least for my own purposes as it is more inclusive than other spreadsheets i have seen available on the internet……..but, i like to give credit to other real estate people who have created very appropriate, very simple real estate assessment and profit calculation tools built in and as presentation tools for an investor…..i would use one or two of their tools available for purchase on the internet because they are so excellent!

Links…..

Computer Knowledge