5 Tech Things Every Girl Should Know How to Do

There are certain tech-type things that every girl knows how to do. We know how to upload Facebook photos, and how to listen to music online. We know how to tweet and send e-mails, and how to Skype and iChat. But there are other tech things that often escape us. Things that are less for entertainments and more for academic or professional purposes. Less exciting but infinitely more useful.

By Jenn Inzetta

None of these tricks I’m listing below are rocket science and some of you probably know how to do all of them, some of you none of them, and some of you have probably heard vague mention of them but have shown no interest in actually determining what they are. Which is totally fine. But have a look anyway because these tips and tricks may come in handy some day.

1. Create a compressed a zip folder. Zip folders reduce the size of your files and the space they take up on your computer. And they make it much easier to send files over e-mail because they upload in half the time. It’s especially useful for pictures. All you have to do is right click on the folder, select send to, and then select compressed zip folder. It’s the same for a Mac, you’re just selecting “compress” instead of send to after you’ve selected the folders. Easy and efficient.

2. Back up your files. Backing up your files is essential. Especially once you get to college and you’re working on projects over long periods of time. If you back up that semester long assignment and your computer breaks down two days before it’s due, then you won’t majorly freak out have lost everything. If you have the money I suggest backing your stuff up on a flash drive or an external hardrive.  If not you can back up for free online. 

3. Crop and/or edit your photos. Necessary for fixing red eye, adjusting size and embracing the black and white photo. People get really fancy with this when they use programs like Photoshop and whatnot. But for me it’s simpler and cheaper to just use a free, online resource. Like picnik. No instructions needed. I promise.

4. Attach a file to an e-mail. It seems simple but a lot of people still don’t know how to do this. All you have to do is open the e-mail, click the “attach a file” button, browse your files until you find the right one the same way you would browse them to open a document, select the file, and done. Or you could download Google Chrome and get a g-mail account. Because they now allow the dragging and dropping of files. It’s fabulous. 

5. Save a document as a pdf.  It makes your resumes and your cover letters printable and more professional and it’s nowhere near as complicated as it sounds. All you have to do is select file, then save as, then click the drop down by file format and select pdf. And you’re done.