Technology Survival Skills

 Technology -- a word that used to conjure images of only geeks and nerds. Now technology is part of every minute of every day: wireless laptops, cell phones, digital TVs, high speed Internet, "I-Ming" and PDA's.

It is now about how to conquer every piece of equipment or software, what is important is not to be afraid to try to learn and to incorporate the technology into your daily life and assignments.

Work Smart Tips:

One of the most vital things you can do for yourself is to have Firewall, Anti-Virus and anti-Spyware software on your desktop or laptop computer. Keep it up-to-date. It is worth every penny for the software and update subscription; because if your hardware becomes infected with a virus or worm, it can cost hundreds of dollars to reclaim it and you may lose that all important term paper or semester project in the process.

The of the other most vital things you can do for yourself is to backup your data often. If your school allows students to backup to the school's hard drives, also backup to some sort of removable media. If it is a vital document, such as a huge project, then make two copies. Reason: even large school's hard drive or backup systems have been known to succumb to viruses or mechanically fail and if you don't have your own copies, you've lost all your work.

About those e-mails: if you don't know for sure who sent you an e-mail, do NOT open, delete them. Use a spam filter program either from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or a separate piece of software. Be very careful of e-mails, that at first glance, look like legitimate companies and try to get you to turn over your various account information. This technique is called "phishing".