How do you explain more advanced computing concepts to a non super user?

Posted by EvilChookie on Super User See other posts from Super User or by EvilChookie
Published on 2009-10-06T15:40:10Z Indexed on 2010/04/17 8:53 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 351

Filed under:

users

|

beginner

|

analogy

|

subjective

I often have to explain computing concepts to non super users, and I often do it by relating computing concepts to real life situations.

I wouldn't mind seeing how other super users do it, and some really good explanations might come in handy instead of me having to wing it.

So, how do you explain advanced computing topics to the 'normal' people?

Notes: One explanation per answer, and let the best float to the top. CW turned on, since this is subjective. Also, feel free to edit my tags if you can think of better ones =)

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about users

rake migration aborted: could not find table 'roles'

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I just inherited code that I'm attempting to run the migrations for but I keep getting a rake aborted error. I've come across others that have what appears to be similar issues, but most involved Heroku and I'm trying to run this locally (to start.) I've tried troubleshooting using both PostgreSQL… >>> More
Including an embedded framework using a cross-project-reference: Header no such file or directory

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm trying to create a Cocoa framework by using a cross-project reference in Xcode. I have 2 projects: one for the framework; one for the application that will use the framework. This framework is not intended to be stored within the system; it is an embedded framework that lives within the application… >>> More
Spork servers super slow (>3m) to start for RSpec & Cucumber BDD

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I recently installed a fresh development setup on my laptop and now notice that my instances of spork take several minutes to start up. This is also most likely of the RSpec and Cucumber tests start up times running super slow. I ran in diagnostic mode with the -d flag and received the output below… >>> More
Sinatra and XML POST request

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I don't know is it my mistake or no. So i have that code: <code> post '/singin/get_token' do content_type :xml puts request.body.read puts xmlRequest xmlRequest = REXML::Document.new(request.body.read) ... </code> And when i post something like that: <code> <?xml… >>> More
Exception with RubyAMF and Ruby 1.9 although code works

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm getting an exception with RubyAMF using Ruby 1.9 and Rails 2.3.5. Although code afterward executes normally I'm not very comfortable with seeing such exception in the log file. Do you know what is causing it: >>>>>>>> RubyAMF >>>>>>>>> #<RubyAMF::Actions::PrepareAction:0x0000010139ff48>… >>> More

Related posts about beginner

assembly registers beginner

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
So I've been getting into a bit of assembly lately and I'm a beginner so i was wondering if someone could clarify something. I take it every process has it's own set of registers, and each thread can modify these registers right?. How then do multiple threads use the same registers without causing… >>> More
Beginner learning assembly preserving esp after function calls

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm a beginner learning some assembly, when preserving the ESP register before a function call does it matter if you do it by adding or subtracting? hard to explain, consider the following mov esi, esp sub esp, 12 // on 32bit OS this would mean that there are 3 arguments to the function // push,… >>> More
I am a beginner to C and this is the dumbest question..Confused about getchar() function

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Sorry if I am not supposed to post beginner level questions here..I am new to this site Please read the code below first I am confused about getchar() 's role in the following code.. I mean I know its helping me see the output window which will only be closed when I press enter key So getchar()… >>> More
Top 10 Reasons SQL Developer is Perfect for Oracle Beginners

as seen on Oracle Blogs - Search for 'Oracle Blogs'
Learning new technologies can be daunting. If you’ve never used a Mac before, you’ll probably be a bit baffled at first. But, you’re probably at least coming from a desktop computing background (Windows), so you common frame of reference. But what if you’re just now learning… >>> More
Would you recommend Head First Programming for someone new?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
My brother is just starting out college. He's studying the same thing I am here in Bolivia; Systems Engineer which is the equivalent of what a CS degree is in the US. Being his big brother and a programmer myself I really want to guide him and give him the right material to learn and become good… >>> More