It’s not always easy to spot a computer geek. They often look like normal people. This is the way they’ve been able to invade our society. At first, it was easy to spot them. We simply had to look for the pocket protectors, the eyeglasses with Scotch tape or electrical tape holding the broken frames together, and the briefcase they always carried. Now normal people carry briefcases, contacts have replaced eyeglasses and who the heck uses shirt pockets anymore? Wonder who the geeks are in your neighborhood?

Here are some ways to spot a computer geek……

If they challenge others to a game of “Chicken” but they mean online not on the road.
 
If they have a complete month’s worth of screen savers so their monitor feels well dressed every day.

If the rest of the house has no central AC but they have an industrial sized room unit for their computer.
 
If they can’t wait to get home so they can have some real fun indoors… and they mean with their computer.

If they celebrate the anniversary of the first time they used broadband but can’t remember any other birthdays or their wedding anniversary.

If their monitor is twice as large as the family TV and they wonder why the heck 8 people are having trouble watching a 15 inch set.

If they clean the monitor screen more than 3 times a day and have a HEPA filter in the room to keep the computer healthy.

If  their favorite place to go for some real action is Best Buy.

If  the salespeople at these stores know them by computer model number.

If their idea of cool clothes are those currently worn by the Geek Squad.

If their wife says “It’s twins” And they are disappointed to discover she didn’t mean matching laptops.

If their house is on fire and they grab the only really important thing…their computer system.

If they realize they forgot the power cord and send their wife back inside to get it.

If their mailbox is overflowing outside because they keep forgetting that snail mail still exists.

If they think their favorite RPG is a really awesome life and regular life is a really boring RPG.

If they  are currently found on every server just so they don’t miss anything important.

If they forget to pay their mortgage and car payments but their internet and cell phone are paid up in advance until 2020.

If computer help lines call them for assistance.

If they camp out in line for 2 weeks so that they can be the first to get the latest techno gadget, like the IPhone and don’t even complain that the price dropped soon after. They still think getting mugged and suffering through the flu was well worth being the first in town to use this bad boy.

If they can’t figure out your car tire size, but can tell you precisely how long it will take to ping someone in India or Australia from Seattle, Washington.

If they  really think that Bill Gates is God and Yahoo and AOL are religions

If they gave up reading books because books won’t scroll down.

If they can access their computer while riding their bike

If they can access your computer while riding their bike

If they can’t understand why people are worried about having a little case of pneumonia but have a meltdown when they hear about a new virus that is penetrating firewalls.

If they feel that capital punishment is wrong in most cases but it’s not a severe enough punishment for a person who sent a virus to their computer.

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1. The choice of providers is totally up to you. Landline or computer based both have some good features, just make sure you have great speakers and a headphone. You will find these useful for the next accessory on the list.

2. Online XM radio - For company, amusement or inspiration, this is awesome and a must have for anyone that spends more than a few minutes at a computer.

3. Eye glasses (with a back up when your first pair get misplaced) - This almost made it to the number one slot. Without these eye accessories, you’ll be lucky to get that computer booted up. They used to make controls with bigger lettering, didn’t they?

4. Electrical converters and adapters and an APC unit- this made it easy to group all of these together in their own category. You have to be prepared for anything and having these on hand will let you keep on working through almost any type of unexpected predicament.

5. Ergonomic mouse, chair, and keyboard - Another multitasked group category. These are all necessary to keep the cramps and strain away from your fingers, wrists, back, and rear. Long stretches of time are so much better tolerated when there are some material comforts available.

6.Mouse pad- This needs to be smooth, clean, intact and contain some great picture or saying that will always keep you focused and on task. Mine is a picture of Tahiti, it keeps my dreams alive.

7. Calendar- Every web designer of any note has at least 3 of these in his office at any given time. This is necessary to keep track of projects assignments and meal times. There are always the electronic versions on your computer and I-Pod that you can use, but the old-fashioned ones are pretty cool. These are in full view at all times, so there’s no excuse for forgetting dates anymore, on second thought maybe these aren’t so necessary after all.

8. Caffeine-The way you get this must have accessory is up to you. Sodas, coffee, tea….just stay away from the decaf stuff….that’s a real buzz kill. Only with that caffeine amping your system will you be able to complete all your projects on time.

9. Drink Coaster/Holder-This is necessary for number 8, but make sure you place it in a secure location. Better yet use secure this gadget with some Super Glue.

10. Laptop for those on the go- A lot of people are probably thinking this should have been rated higher, but real web gurus don’t leave home base that often.
 

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These numbers tell you how many colors are on each side of a print piece you have done. For example, if you want a full-color printing job done, you’re going to use black (K, or "keyline" color), yellow (Y), magenta (M) and cyan (C; cyan is a type of blue). So full-color printing is represented by the initials CMYK.

Now, if you’re going to have a full-color piece done, you’ll denote this by using the number "4." If you’re just going to do black and white, the print job is a "1." If you want no printing on one side of your document, you’ll say, "0." So the denotation "4/4" means you want full color printing on both sides of the paper, "4/0" means full color on one side, blank on the other, and "4/1" means full color on the front and black and white on the back.

A bit more about CMYK printing

The four-color print process explained previously (CMYK) uses the four primary colors of cyan, magenta, yellow and black to produce all the colors you see in normal print magazines and books. In some cases, six colors are used, but these are much less common; most printing is produced with the four-color technique.

In fact, most commercial printers use the CMYK method to print full-color. In addition, they can do something called "spot varnish," and then use "spot color" besides, or separate spots of colors beyond that included in the main printed piece. This can make a four-color print job become a six color print job; this is because six colors of ink will be used for the finished product.

RGB printing

If you’re viewing something on your computer, you’re seeing what’s on your monitor in what is called "RGB" color. The colors on your computer screen are designated within three regions: green, red and blue. All of these regions produce the colors you see on your computer screen. Hue, color situation, and other factors also determine the various "flavors" of the colors that RGB can produce.

Each RGB color is given a number from 1 to 255. If the project you are producing for print is done in your computer, then, one of the tasks the printer is going to do is to "translate" RGB colors into CMYK format. To do this, the primary colors (CYM) are taken and mixed to varying degrees with the "K" or keyline color, black. This gives you the finished multi-hued result produced in the printing process.

Differences in cost

CMYK printing is very standard across the industry, and therefore, it may not cost you much more to get this done versus black-and-white. As these types of things become more common and technology improves, costs go down for the most part. Because grayscale or black-and-white printing do just use black for printing, this should cost you somewhat less than full-color printing; however, again, because the CMYK method is pretty cost-effective, check around. You may be able to get full-color printing for relatively little more than you will for black-and-white.

That said, of course, there’s something to be said for the elegance of simple black-and-white in some cases. If that’s you, go for black-and-white or grayscale printing. If not, though, CMYK printing is generally a good deal.
 

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