About the Author
For nearly 10 years, Michael Bremer was the head writer, editor, writing manager and Director of Creative Services at Maxis Software (the SimCity(C) Company). He developed, tested, tuned and taught ways to clearly, simply, quickly and enjoyable communicate complex technical information to normal (non-nerd) people. Bremer is the author of two books (UnTechnical Writing and The User Manual Manual) that share his hard-earned knowledge with other writers.
Now, through the Advice From the Neighborhood Nerd series of books and Taming the Electronic Beast, his writing style, techniques and humor are available to the general consumer audience, to help simplify and humanize computers and technology.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Foreword, We all know at least one person-whether it's ourselves, a friend, a family member or someone at work-who is afraid of computers, or at least too nervous about them to use them, or use them to full advantage. The fear may be mild or strong, and can range from mild dislike to annoyance to total phobia. And some people, for whatever reasons (most of them good), just plain hate computers. For many people, it's no problem. They have no need or desire to have anything to do with those annoying, frustrating, hunks of junk. But for others, it is a problem. The inability to use a computer can hold you back in your personal, professional and artistic endeavors. Taming the Electronic Beast is written for and dedicated to everyone who wants or needs to use a computer for personal or professional reasons, but is held back by fear, anxiety, frus-tration or annoyance. This book launches a four-prong attack on the problem: 1. Simple common sense-Computers are big business. It is in the interest of the computer companies to advertise their computers to be the fanciest-schmanciest high-techiest gizmos you can spend your life savings on. But if you look past the hype- with the help of someone who can clearly explain things-you'll see that computers are just tools that may or may not help you do what you want to do. This book will help you really understand what computers can and can't do for you. 2. A little basic knowledge-We fear the unknown. New people, places and things make us nervous and uncomfortable. When we're out of our familiar element we feel like a stranger. The more we know about something, the more comfortable we feel. This book will supply some basic knowledge about computers that will help you feel like you belong. 3. A little psychology-Fear and anxiety are physical reactions that can be conquered through simple relaxation techniques and other standard methods. This book will show you how to use these methods to relax your way into comfortable computing. 4. A lot of humor-Humor is the ultimate weapon against fear. If you can laugh at it, you have power over it, and it becomes less daunting, less scary. This book will entertain you while it shows you the humor in computers and helps you take control of that stupid-but useful-beast on your desk.
