My mother is a relative newcomer to the world of computing, but in no time at all she’s learned how to save all her documents to the desktop. I’ve attempted to clean up her mess a few times but soon realized it was a lost cause.

Now I completely adore my mother, however I often wonder (and cringe) about the very unique set of computing rules that she seems to follow quite faithfully. As a tribute to her, I thought I would share just a few of them with you. I also strongly encourage you not to adopt any of her practices. As I already mentioned, top on her list of computing tricks is:

1. Save all files on the desktop. The more icons on the desktop, the more clutter, the better.
2. When eating in front of the computer, pull out the keyboard. It will catch crumbs and this will prevent any from getting on the floor.
3. Always blame someone else when something goes wrong with your computer.
4. Install all software on your computer even if you never plan on using it.
5. Email the same file from your office to your home as many times as possible in one day.
6. Do not waste your time using help files. Call someone else and have them come over and do it for you.
7. When you do call someone for help, be sure to leave the room as they are doing it so you do not learn how to perform the task on your own.
8. Do not bother to remember any passwords. If you can not log into an account refer back to rule #3.
9. Open all emails regardless of who it is from. If it contains a virus again refer back to rule #3.
10. Just press the power button on the computer to shut down. It is much faster than clicking Start and clicking Shut Down.

[tags]computer problems, computer humor, senior computing[/tags]