From turning it on, to setting it up, to email, pop-ups, digital photos, video on your computer, surfing the web, spam, words, pictures, you name it. You might be lost in the techno-babble . You might be just looking to up your skills…

I do this because a whole generation of people seemed to get left out when the computer revolution happened. Suddenly the world was full of computers and no ne told you how to use them. My customers are from across the range of ages and backgrounds, although many are older people ’silver surfers’ as they are known. But whoever I help, I talk in English, help in real and practical ways and always try to make it easy and pleasurable.

What is more infuriating than an obstinate box full of plastic and wires. It is tempting to blame the computer for being …well a computer. And there is nothing wrong with that. Computers were supposed make our lives easier, not the other way around. Unfortunately, as true as that is, it won’t get your problem solved. No matter how angry it makes you, it is not going to change the way it does things –  Maybe there is nothing wrong with the computer and you just need a little help with  it.

That is what I am here for. My name is David Yates ‘Dave, the home computer tutor’. I have worked with computers for over twenty years. Initially as a reluctant user to product designer, graphic designer, web designer, multimedia developer and advisor. I was the Global Intranet Project Manager at BP. I was Head of Design at the plc company who built many of the countries online bank, building society and financial services systems and websites. I remember working extensively making parts of the Egg website, Bank of Scotland online bank, Clerical Medical’s website and many others. I have taught computing at all levels from my often less than tolerant  father to groups of novices right up to lecturing undergraduates in advanced design techniques.

As a software, web and interface designer, I became very interested in how the end user felt about all these computer services. Most of the time, they hated them, found them difficult, boring and not at all aligned with the way that would want to do things.

So I employed psychologists, researchers and spent dedicated time in user led sessions exploring these issues. Over time, I began to understand why computer systems naturally alienate most people and how to build websites and software that people found easy to use. I have built on this further and now help people to around some of these strange computer idiosyncrasies and put them on a path to a more harmonious relationship with their computers.

There is however only so much someone like me can do to make things better. Some things abut computers are just fixed in place. But there are good and bad ways of learning how to make all this powerful and wonderful technology work for you. I can show you good ways of doing it. Call me on 07017 343434 and let me help.

There are free computer courses and books by the score, but some of us, sometimes just prefer having a ‘buddy’ we can call or get to drop in and explain it over a cup of coffee. 

Wouldn’t it be great if you could call someone up who would just talk you through the problem, solve it and set you on your way? Maybe they could pop over and sort it out personally and show you on your own machine.

This is what I would call a ‘Computer Buddy’. For a small fee I will be available on the end of the phone and/or to occasionally visit to handle any problems you may encounter.

Just call to sort out problems over the phone

I have been test-driving this concept on my father ever since he bought a computer about fifteen years ago. He lives about a hundred miles away and so most of it is done on the phone.

He probably calls me once or twice a month and from time to time I go over there and take him through one thing or another. Typically the phone will go and he will start the conversation with “This bloody computer…” Then we will talk through and solve things like:

• Internet connections
• Is his ISP ripping him off
• Extracting his address book onto stickers for Christmas Cards
• Getting his iPhone to work on holiday but not cost him a fortune in roaming charges
• Problems with his router
• Getting his email to work
• Stopping Spam
• Getting online services to work
• Digital photography
• Putting pictures on the web
• Editing video
• Lots of other things

Call me on 07017 343434 and I can talk you through how I might be able to help you as a computer buddy.

Amongst its many idiosyncrasies, up to the last version of Windows, it required you to click on a button labelled ‘Start’ in order to switch your machine off. Unfortunately, the genius who dreamt up that piece of interface design, also developed the rest of the system that still runs today. 

This is one reason why many find computers so counter-intuitive. They have been designed by people who have to apply machine logic to their work. What they were thinking was “Let’s ‘Start’ a process called ‘Shutdown’.” However, what we think is “Where’s the ‘Off’ button?”

Windows is the operating system for Microsoft personal computers. If you have a PC made by anyone other than Apple, it will probably we a Windows computer. There are a range of Windows versions out there. The most recent is Vista, which has been roundly deemed a failure since its launch in 2006. The system has a number of little faults, or ‘bugs’, which can cause problems of all styles and types. Because of this many are still using its forerunner, Windows XP. This was considered to be a very stable platform and indeed it is. There are other version of Windows going through NT, Windows 95 and Windows 3.1. If you are running anything olde than Windows XP you really need to upgrade either the operating system o the computer. Call me 0n 07017 343434 if you need any help with this.

All these bugs in Windows tends to make it susceptible to viruses and other problems once running on a machine. If you can steer clear of these with virus protection and properly installed and credible software, you should find that, with a few little tricks and tips, Windows will behave itself and give you trouble free mastery of your machine.

Many prefer them (me included) because they tend to operate in a more intuitive way. However, with less than 10% of the market, the supply and support for Macs an be thin n the ground. I would suggest anyone trying to get to grips with a Mac, or if you you want to use more of its remarkable potential, you should call me on 07017 343434 and I can certainly help with that. 

Apple Macs have been around as for as long as personal computers have – they produced the first viable PC in the early 70s. As others moved into the space, with different operating systems,

Please refer to list of courses on offer.