News: Are You Noob-Positive or Noob-Negative?

noob - Short for "newbie." Someone with little to no experience or skill. In some gaming communities, there is fierce debate over the distinction between "noob" and "newb"—one being derogatory while the other simply indicates being a novice. While some may argue the semantic differences, "noob" is the most common spelling seen around the internet, for both purposes.

So, with that said, are you or aren't you a computer noob?

1. Do you understand how a computer works? YES / NO
2. Do you understand how the worldwide web works? YES / NO
3. Can you lolspeak? YES / NO
4. Do you know how to keep your computer virus-free? YES / NO
5. Do you know the five essential keyboard shortcuts? YES / NO
6. Do you know how to safely share files online? YES / NO

How did you do? If you answered "No" more often than "Yes", it's time you visited WonderHowTo World, InterNoobs, Friendly Internet and Computer Advice for Total Beginners.

(Haven't heard of WonderHowTo Worlds yet? Then get with it. It's our platform for building your own customized DIY community. It's an amazing tool for sharing DIY projects, writing articles, and exchanging ideas.)

InterNoobs World, the creation of all-things-tech-guru Becky Chambers, is our latest staff favorite. Becky covers topics aimed at fledgling computer users, so if you tested Noob-positive, there's no better teacher to guide you through the basics. Don't be shy—ask any computer or internet related question you like in Becky's forum, and she'll do her best to answer. But before you head over to check out her world, below, a little Q&A with WonderHowTo's new resident Tech Geekess herself.

Q. YOUR PATH TO GEEKDOM?

A. I am admittedly and unashamedly self-taught. I have a very clear memory of being about seven-years-old on my parents' Macintosh Classic, methodically clicking every option in every menu just to see what everything did. In my early teens, I spent a lot of free time learning HTML on Webmonkey (the old school '90s version, mind you), just because I wanted to know how websites worked. And when my CPU fan went on the fritz back in college, I mustered up some courage, took a look inside the case for the first time, and thought, "Yeah, I could fix that."

I'm a PC gamer, too, so I found it helpful to learn all about processors and graphics drivers and whatnot. I'm not any sort of qualified expert. I didn't get my degree in computer science or programming. But I seriously love technology and geek culture. I enjoy sharing what I know and continuing to learn the things I don't.

Q. SPEAKING OF See Jane Pwn—SEE MOM PWN!

A. A few weeks ago, my mom came up to visit me in San Francisco. We went to the Academy of Sciences, one of my very favorite places. My mom's an amazing biology teacher, so she geeks out pretty hard whenever I take her there. After the planetarium show, we were walking towards the exit, and she says to me, "So. Much. Win." Suffice it to say, I lol'd.

Q. LIFE OUTSIDE INTERNOOBS?

A. I'm actually off to Iceland at the end of the month. I've been writing a comic book in collaboration with an artist based in Reykjavik, so we're going to spend some time hammering that out in person. The cool thing about my freelance work is that I can take it with me anywhere, even up to the edge of the Arctic Circle. And InterNoobs will of course be coming along, too!

Q. STELLAR ARTICLES! WHAT'S NEXT?

A. After years of conversations with my eager-to-learn parents and a few technophobic coworkers, I really feel that a lot of people are missing out on so many of the great things their computers can do right out of the box. I'd like to cover more about basic computer maintenance, as well as how to get the most out of your browser and other internet services. Later on, I'd love to get into teaching folks how to identify and correct common computer maladies. People get understandably intimidated by the idea of adjusting system settings, but it's honestly easy to do once you know where to look and understand how your computer works.

I'd also be down to talk about things like tweaking your browser and your system to get things as speedy as possible. The InterNoobs forums have also been really useful for me to gauge the sorts of topics that people are interested in. I'm sure I'll be basing a lot of articles off of what gets discussed in there.