Free PC Lessons Delivered To Your Email In-Box
Learning to better understand and use your PC requires some investment on your part – possibly a monetary investment, certainly an investment of time. The local college offers a number of fine courses at very reasonable cost. For those who prefer the world to come to their door, there are computer oriented magazines like PC World, Mac World, PC Magazine, or Smart Computing (the latter is more geared to the relative novice but is an excellent tool.) But if you’re like me, you want to explore free alternatives first. I subscribe to a number of worthwhile electronic periodicals that are delivered to me via email on a regular basis. Following are some of my favorites.
The LangaList is written by Fred Langa who has credentials as technical editor, author, and consultant. I first became acquainted with Fred’s work while he was an editor with the now-defunct Windows magazine. In addition to his ongoing work with Information Week, Fred writes and distributes the Langalist each Wednesday and Sunday night. It is generally divided into about a dozen different subjects. Fred offers a free version that includes some ads, and a paid version that strips out the ads and adds about 30% more content. Some of the proceeds from the paid version go to support a number of disadvantaged children throughout the world. This is the one newsletter I fork over the premium fee for, and the one I would keep if allowed only one. Fred selects from numerous questions and tips sent to him by his readers, and adds his experienced knowledge to the mix. This is an all around excellent PC related newsletter. You can sign up at www.langa.com.
Steve Bass is a contributing editor for PC World magazine. He also distributes a free weekly Tips & Tweaks newsletter which covers any number of computer related subjects. What I like best about Steve’s newsletter is his light hearted writing style and humorous approach. In addition to learning something with each issue, I’m also entertained, as Steve finds and links to some of the wackiest videos on the web. To subscribe, try this rather imposing link: http://www.pcworld.com/resource/newsletters/index.asp?sub_source=NL_XB
If you have trouble with that, go to http://pcworld.com and look for the link to their Columns, and then look for Steve Bass. You’ll find the above link there ready for clicking.
The Internet Tour Bus focuses, not surprisingly, on worthwhile places to visit on the internet. Written jointly by Patrick Crispen and Bob Rankin, the semi-weekly newsletter focuses on one particular subject (vacation travel, for instance) and provides a wealth of internet links to explore the subject in depth. The authors have already scoured the web for useful resources so you don’t have to. Both are tech writers, programmers, and lecturers, so they know their stuff and are happy to share. Get a flavor of their content and sign up for the free mailings at www.tourbus.com. Patrick has a companion website at www.netsquirrel.com
In a prior life, Mike Elgan shared editing duties with Fred Langa at Windows magazine. Mike now sends out a free ad-less newsletter on an irregular basis which focuses on the broader field of technology news. What makes Mike’s List unique is that the content roams far from the beaten path. As Mike says in his intro, the newsletter is based on a single proposition: technology is funny. To that end, he reports on stories not featured in the mainstream press. You’ll find Mike’s List to be, well, different. Explore and subscribe at www.mikeslist.com.
My last recommendation really has less to do with PC education and more to do with sociology. Randy Cassingham publishes a number of newsletters, including a summary of frivolous law suits called The Stella Awards, named for Stella Liebeck, the woman who sued McDonalds for having the nerve to serve hot coffee which she proceeded to spill in her lap. Randy sends out a weekly newsletter named This is True which reports on bizarre-but-true news items from legitimate newspapers (never "tabloids") around the world. Each story ends with one of Randy’s pithy taglines. I usually start my Saturday mornings with a trip to my PC to read the week’s installment. You’ll find an interesting “Honorary Unsubscribe” detailing the passing of someone deemed less than noteworthy by the mainstream press but who had an impact on society. And you’ll be treated to a “Bonzer Website of the Week” linking you to an unusual website worth visiting. You can have true stories of human weirdness sent to you weekly by e-mail for free by visiting www.thisistrue.com. Randy does push his paid version which skips ads and provides more content, and he helps defray costs by selling his famous Get out of Hell Free cards modeled after Parker Bros. famous Monopoly community chest card with a slightly different name.