Hi Doug, Sounds like you are a victim of the sighted having a poor view of the capabilities of the Blind, as so many of us are, only it was aimed at your interests in computers, others it is in other areas, as you know. Anyway, I have always had mechanical & electronic interests, which makes it fairly easy for me. But if you get an old computer, just feel for the screws and open it up, and feel around, and figure out what everything is. It is best if you can do this without a sighted person around, as they will try to put your hands on this and that and tell you what they are, and if you can avoid that, you will learn much more. If you are interested, and have any mechanical aptitude, you will be able to figure out what everything is. I am always amazed at how sighted people who are not that knowledgeable of computers will make labels for the cables in the back. I tell them that there is only one place each wire can go, and if it fits another place, then it does not matter, except for the PS2 ports, where on some computers, it did matter which plug the keyboard went into versus the mouse plug, but if you got it wrong, it was not the end of the world. I remember a friend was watching me work on a computer, and he said that I should use a grounding strap, and I said "Why?", my arm is always on the frame anyway. Maybe sighted folks hold their arms in the air while working on a computer, but I'll bet we all steady our hands by resting our arm on the body of the computer. But, if you know what you are looking for inside a computer, you should be able to find it by feeling around. The only time I have ever needed sighted assistance is if I need to plug in a wire on the mother board, or set a jumper, and those use print markings. Hope you will have the confidence to go for it. Glenn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Smith" <dougsmith1@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup at braille.uwo.ca> Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2007 4:59 PM Subject: Re: ot: the best online computer parts store? How did all of you learn how to build a computer from scratch, or even upgrade one without sighted help? I was always told never to mess inside mine without sighted help, or, better, yet, let someone who can see do it for me. This is what I have always done. How can I learn to build and upgrade a computer without sighted assistance? Thanks. -- Doug Smith: C.S.F.C. Computer Scientist For CHRIST _______________________________________________ Speakup mailing list Speakup at braille.uwo.ca http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
