In response to last week's column on technological change through out the generations, I received an e-mail from a reader asking for advice.

"Let me know if there is any book you can suggest that is simple but deals with basic stuff," he writes. "Most books are no good, they don't start at the bottom. When I trained infantry from all over the place & all walks of life, I started rifle training by explaining which end the bullet went in and which end it came out. See the picture?"

I sure do. I have felt the same way about many books and even manuals. There are often a lot of assumptions about the prior knowledge of the reader. And sometimes I think tech writers themselves are blinded by their own knowledge. What is 'obvious' to them is not so obvious to others.

For those in a similar situation to the reader I can suggest some various ways to ease the burden of learning how to use all the new technologies to your advantage. First, to understand the basics try the online guide www.howstuffworks.com There is great basic information in the "Computers", "Communications" and "Electronics" sections.

Another decent site is www.computing.net, which contains forums run by IT experts and contributors. There you can search for answers to a particular problem, or find out how to do tasks using the equipment and software you already have. If the answer is not readily available. You can post a query on the relevant forum.

ComputerHope.com bills itself as the "location for free online computer support and computer related information. Computer Hope has been designed to assist all types of computer users with any of their computer related questions as well as a great location to learn more about your computer and its hardware and software.

Geekstogo.com offers similar help. "With over two hundred thousand members, Geeks To Go Tech Support Forums have hundreds of technology experts that donate time to answer your computing questions. Member helping member. Fast, friendly and free!"

I can vouch for such sites. Two contributors at Geekstogo.com guided me over the course of two days in how to recover the entire content on a hard drive that was in a dead computer. They suggested various strategies, and I ended up hooking up my hard drive to another in a working computer and successfully recovered all the content I had neglected to back up. They then guided me through reconfiguring the hard drive until I had a working computer. I felt as if I owed them the world, but they were happy with just my appreciation.

Generally the IT people who contribute to such sites really understand if you do not have the background. But you must be patient with them and explain exactly what occurred. On one site you are required to use a particular piece of software so they can get a readout of what is occurring on your problem computer. Keep track of all the error messages and numbers and provide them for the best diagnosis.

If you use Microsoft products, you can also try the company's online guides, which I have also found useful. Try www.microsoft.com/athome/ Microsoft also has a help and support section (http://support.microsoft.com) which I have used with some success in the past. You will find many useful sections, including technical forums and useful downloads. For each Microsoft product you can usually find a series of training courses in how to use its software.

For hard copy guides many people recommend the "Dummies" series of books on computing and software. I have glanced through a few of them, and used the one on Excel with some success. But I think only the most dedicated of learners can force themselves through such tomes if all you want is a quick start guide, or a means of finding out how to fix problems.

Recent publications in the Dummies series includes those on Office 2007, Power Point and Vista.

Even more basic, why not try the Computer Society of Bermuda (www.csb.bm)? The organisation has a list of community classes on the basics, which for a fee of $100 you can take a course on a range of computer-related subjects.

By the way, the reader who sent in the query says of himself: "I am 81 and when I first retired was prior to the web. I have spent the last few years trying to catch up...I have lost my spell check,erased my Microsoft Office by mistake, lost my "Word" for documents, & have trouble scanning with my all in one printer. I am still at it, but (it is) frustrating."

Don't worry I say. We have all been there before, regardless of age. I would not be surprised if some technically inclined person in Bermuda would be willing to donate some time to helping you and perhaps even others like you, from time to time. Any takers? Just send me an e-mail and I will pass it on to this reader with a hunger to learn.

Perhaps someone can set up a technical help forum for Bermuda, to which many local IT experts would be willing to contribute from time to time.

Send any comments to elamin.ahmed@gmail.com