How can I figure things out on my own?

It is likely that many of the people who read this blog already know this or already think this way, but I thought it was worth mentioning. It took me a long time to think of the Internet as the FIRST place to look when I needed something. This is one of those things that I think is a brain changing thing that technology can do. (good or bad?  I don't know)

Searching the Internet is an amazing way to find out what you need to know about ANYTHING!

I do this often. I go to Google and put in almost any words that apply to my situation. At the end of this article are links to other search engines that are very helpful. Google is not the only search engine, but it is the one that is most commonly used. The best way is to put in ALL of the words that describe it and depending on what you find take out words one by one. 

I am telling you this at the risk of losing business!  However, I am in business to help people to be successful using technology and there are always people who learn best from other people. 

One Example:

My iPad, my iPhone and my Computer are not syncing.

I first try typing in all of the main words of the sentence above and before I have even typed in all of the words the suggestion comes up:

On the first page most of the choices are from Apple Support. I know this because below the title of the page on the first line is the URL of the website.  Most of them start 'www.apple' or 'support.apple' The first page listed may answer your questions. Sometimes the text below the URL will be enough to let you know if this answers your question or not. Apple includes some screenshots and also links to other articles that might answer questions. 

All of the other Apple sites lead to other Apple help pages. They might have the answer to your problem. There is one that says Discussion in the URL. I find these particularly helpful because other people often have the same issue and in the discussion it is solved. 

Finally below the first 7 responses is one from 'lifehacker.com' and then one from YouTube. I usually go then to the YouTube answer because they are often helpful.  Here is the YouTube for this question. 

As I listened to this one I realized that it could be confusing or helpful depending on your prior knowledge and if you use a Mac or PC. 

It does take patience to look through the sites and try things and then keep searching, but you are often able to find a solution this way. It works for me!

Specialized Search Engines

http://momondo.com - Travel
http://kayak.com - Travel

http://jewogle.com - a search for holidays returns Jewish holidays only!
http://seekfind.com - a Christian search engine Returned "Should Christians celebrate holidays" and "Are Christian Holidays Pagan in origin?" among others.

http://pipl.com - people search - search yourself and see what you find...