This agata fagata, you know, it’s a real head-scratcher. My old brain ain’t what it used to be. But I’ll try my best to tell you about this thing, make it simple like. It is about how to use a computer, I think. All these buttons and what-not. I heard folks talking about it down at the market, seems like everybody’s got one of them these days. Back in my day, we just had a pencil and paper. But times change, gotta keep up, I reckon.
First, you gotta turn the darn thing on. Find that power button, it’s usually got a little circle with a line on it. Give it a good push. Then you wait. It takes a while, like waiting for water to boil. Sometimes I just go make a cup of tea while it’s doing its thing. Then the screen lights up, all bright and colorful. Shows you all sorts of pictures, it’s like magic! They call them “icons,” I think. Little pictures that do things.
These young folks, they’re so fast with their fingers, clicking and typing. Me, I just use one finger, poke, poke, poke. Slow and steady, that’s my way. They have this thing called a “mouse,” it’s like a little animal that runs around on the table. You move it, and a little arrow moves on the screen. It’s supposed to help you point at things. I saw them do the same with their finger on the screen. They call that “touch screen”.
They say you can write on this thing. No paper, no pen, just type on the keys. Like those old typewriters, but fancier. You can even change the letters, make them big or small, different colors. It’s all very confusing to me, but the young folks seem to like it. They are so good at it. I only type one letter at a time.
There’s this thing called the “internet,” it’s like a big library, full of information. You can find anything on there, they say. Recipes, news, pictures of cats. It’s all in there, somewhere. But you gotta know how to find it. And there is this thing called “search engine”. You type things in it, and it finds things for you. They say it is so easy. But I still don’t know how to do it.
They use this thing called “stickers,” these are little pictures. They put them on the page when they write. Makes it look pretty, I guess. Like putting flowers in your hair. They say it’s easy, just “Open Insert” and “select Stickers”. But I don’t know where is the “Insert”. Where is the stickers?
- This agata fagata, it has so many things.
- First, you need to click this, click that.
- You can make the words big.
- You can make the words small.
- You can even draw on it.
And there’s this thing, they call it a “window”. It’s like a window in your house, but on the computer. You can open many windows at once, see different things. You can make the window on the right of the screen, also can make it on the left. So many tricks, they say it is called “Windows Key”.
They also talk about this “cell” thing. It’s like a little box on the screen. You can put words in it, numbers too. They say “click a cell to select it”. What’s a cell? It sounds like the place they keep bad guys in! But when you click, they say the cell is highlighted. Like you put a lamp on it.
This “visual makeover”, what does that even mean? Sounds like putting lipstick on a pig to me. But they say it makes things look pretty. These young people and their fancy words. They all like to make things look good. They put stickers on the page, like putting flowers on a cake. Make it look all nice.
They say millions of people use this thing every day. For all sorts of things. School, work, finding out what the weather’s gonna be. It’s like having a whole world inside that little box. “Millions of people use Google search every day”. My grandson, he uses it for his schoolwork. Says it helps him learn. He’s a smart boy.
There is this other thing called “team”. They say a team is like people who work together. You can make a team, and you can join a team. “By default, teams appear in the order that you joined or created them”. That’s what they said. So many teams, like a big family.
This agata fagata, it’s a lot to take in. But I’m trying. Maybe one day I’ll figure it all out. Or maybe I’ll just stick to my knitting. At least I know how that works. But I guess it is good to know these things. It is a new world. Even an old lady like me needs to learn some new tricks. The young people are always on these computers. Maybe I should ask my grandson to teach me. He is a good boy, always willing to help his old grandma. Yes, that’s what I will do. I will ask him to teach me about this agata fagata.
