Is Your Personal Tech Device Alive? How Long Until You Change Your Mind On That Answer?

There is a big debate as to when a computer actually becomes alive. When does it develop its own consciousness? How do you know when that will be? Is it like the definition of artificial intelligence and the Turing Test - being able to fool a human into thinking they are talking to a real person? Because if that is the test, I would say that an Apple iPhone with Siri or even some of these advanced chat bots are already there.

Now then, if you interact with your personal tech device as if it is alive, and treating it as if it is alive or your own personal friend, then in a way you've made it alive in doing so. Yes, this is an intriguing line of philosophy and thinking, and there are two very good books I think you might like to read;

"Simulation and Its Discontents," Sherry Turkle, MIT Press, Boston, MA, 2009, 217 pages, ISBN: 978-0-262-01270-6.

"Evocative Objects - Things We Think With" edited by Sherry Turkle, MIT Press, Boston, MA, 2007, 385 pages, ISBN: 978-0-262-20168-1.

Sherry seems to have been working on these philosophical conundrums for quite a while using her understanding of psychology to interview a multitude of different people on this topic as they use their own personal tech devices, computers, and electronic toys. She's worked with robots that are programmed with human personality traits to really dig into where that threshold lies. That is to say when does your personal tech device, robot, or computer become alive?

Many have said that the answer is; never. But of course, there we go again as you should never say never, therefore I dare to ask you a personal question; how long until you change your mind? And, what would it take for you change your mind on this topic? If you are already talking to your iPhone as if it is a person, asking questions, and getting replies, and the more and more you have a regular conversation with it the more likely you will see it and relate with it as if it was an actual entity.

Surely, you would agree that at that particular point in time judging from our current technological advances in this space, it shouldn't be more than a few more generations of Apple's iPhone series. At the rate they've been coming out with new products that could be as close as just a few years away. Right? Thus, maybe it will be as much as five years away, but it won't be forever, and your first answer just doesn't jive with reality; never say never.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

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How to Become Computer Literate

For people who have been conducting business through more old-fashioned means, computers and technology can be intimidating. Putting your personal information into an online and sometimes insecure network can be a confusing concept. However, for those who have even a basic computer literacy, it can make life and business that much easier. Here are some simple steps to take if you would like to become more familiar with computers and technology.

Get a Basic Desktop

There is no point in spending thousands of dollars on an advanced computer system. Oftentimes, the extra costs go towards processing speeds and gaming software. These are things that casual computer users can do without. Instead, invest in a basic yet still reliable machine with a good amount of storage. The processing speeds on basic units are more than adequate for casual users.

Learn How to Use Office Software

While there are a lot of software programs out there, the most important ones help you to make memos, draft bills, and write essays. Most computers have some sort of built in office program that should be easy to use. Make sure that you learn how to use it properly and efficiently.

Learn How to Send Emails

The concept of someone not knowing how to send an email can seem pretty ridiculous in this day and age. But amongst older business owners, it is actually surprisingly common. If you do not know how to send an email, sign up for an account and fiddle around. You should also learn how to attach documents since this can help with business transactions.

Become Familiar with Social Media

People who ignore social media are making a huge mistake. Traditional advertising is becoming less and less relevant in today's society. Instead, people now advertise businesses and services that they love through their social media accounts. You need to learn how to use basic social media so that you can advertise your business and promote any future events.

Get IT Help

If you have purchased a computer and are still completely unaware of how to use it, it might be time to hire a professional. There are IT employees who also do freelancing and they can teach you how to use a computer. They can cut out the trial and error process and simply show you how to use your device properly.

Becoming computer literate does not have to be a difficult thing. It should be looked upon as a tool as opposed to an intimidating piece of technology. Learning the basics can increase your business and your efficiency to previously unforeseen levels. It might be the best business decision you ever make.

Hope you enjoyed reading this article. Are you located in Los Angeles? If you need IT and Computer Support or require help with computer repair - I highly recommend http://www.itwithiq.com/

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Facebook Has Allowed to Change the Custom Page URL Second Time

As you remember that Facebook has allowed to set custom vanity URL for the Profile and Pages couple of year ago. At first they allowed people to set custom vanity URL and that was for the people who has opened their profile in certain period of time.People was so much excited getting this opportunity.

So much queries came out to know how to set up Facebook custom vanity URL.Later on Facebook lifted the restriction of time period.May be they imposed this restriction to avoid server congestion.You know profile was ugly to see with a big number. On the other hand custom vanity URL is so much attractive,small,good-looking and of-course easy to remember.

Later Facebook also given opportunity to page admins to set custom URL to their pages. But that time there was a limitation and which was you must have 25 fans of your page to set custom vanity URL.This limitation also lifted by Facebook. Now you can set the custom username of your page immediately after creation of your page.

Previously Facebook did not allow page admins to change their pages custom username. So if you had set your page URL wrongly, you had no option to change that name.So you had only option and that was delete your page, loose all your fans and then create a new page, then collect new fans.It was like heart breaking.

Now Facebook allows page admins to change their pages custom vanity URL for second time. Please remember that you can change your Page's custom URL only once. So you have to be careful when you are ready to change the Page's username.

You can change the Page's username by following steps -

1) Log into your Facebook Account.

2) Select your page. Like www dot Facebook dot-com/your page URL.

3) Click "Edit Page".

4) Click "Update Info". After clicking "Update Info" a dialogue box will appear.

5) Click "Change username".

6) After clicking "Change username" you will be guided to change the username.Enter your newly desired name into the box and click "Check Availability".

7) If the new name is not taken yet, it will be prompted to confirm the change.

9) If you like new name, click "Confirm" button. If you do not want to change the current username, then click cancel button.

You have successfully changed Facebook Page's Custom URL.

More articles at Online Tutorial

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The Dreaded Blue Screen Of Death!

If you have ever experienced one of these you know how scary it can be. Immediately you think you have lost everything. After crying uncontrollably for about 10 minutes, you finally calm down and decide you have to do something about this. Ok, what is the first thing the I.T. guy at work always tells you to do when you have a problem with your computer? Reboot. And in this case, cross your fingers. Please load, please load, please load... BSOD! Again... @%$#

Now it's time to get serious and do some real troubleshooting. Before doing any research on the issue, you should consider if anything has changed recently on your computer. Did you add new hardware or software? Usually the BSOD is caused by an incompatible driver or a hardware failure. If you have recently installed new hardware, try removing the new hardware from your computer and boot back up. If it's software that you recently installed or a driver, that's a little more tricky since you need your computer running to uninstall the software. The good news is Windows allows you to do this by starting your computer in Safe Mode. To do this, restart your computer and tap the F8 key repeatedly every second or so until you are presented with the Boot Menu. Choose Safe Mode. In Safe Mode your computer will only load the bare minimum drivers that it needs to run. Once it's running, go to the Control Panel, uninstall the new software, and restart.

If you are running Windows 7, you can try to restore to a previous state. Again you will need to boot in Safe Mode. Go to the Control Panel, choose System, Advanced System Settings, System Protection, System Restore. Make sure to choose a restore point from a date and time when the computer was working. This process has worked very well for me in the past.

If you are still reading this you must still be staring at that ugly blue screen. Now it's time to get dirty. If you are lucky the error message on the screen will give you some idea as to why this is happening. Sometimes it will even list a driver that may be the cause of the problem.

Look towards the top of the screen for a message similar to IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM, INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE, etc. Type the error into Google exactly as listed for more information. You should be able to find someone else who had the same error and what they did to resolve the problem.

Luckily Microsoft Windows has gotten better over the years. Windows XP was a pretty solid platform and when they came out with Windows 7 they added the driver compatibility feature that warns you when installing drivers that haven't been tested with that version of Windows.

For more information or if you still need help, visit http://www.auroraitpros.com/ or send us an email at info@AuroraITpros.com. We are professionals when it comes to computer support and repair.

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VIPRE Anti-Virus review - My Honest Opinion

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of GFI for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you have been a victim of viruses coming from the Internet and you have countless cases of your Windows computer crashing and having the constant need to reformat your system in order to delete the viruses, then you should get yourself a reliable antivirus.

 

VIPRE delivers comprehensive protection against today's highly complex spyware, viruses, Trojan, Worm and blended malware threats.

I’ve heard many times about VIPRE AntiVirus before but haven’t really had a chance to try it out. Through a campaign at SocialSpark, I installed and gave it a go in my system. I am SO happy to have Vipre Antivirus!  I can already say that it is well worth the money to buy this, since it caught a virus the very first day.  I could not believe it!  Two days later, it caught another one.  Trojan viruses are a total pain for us computer users.  High threat levels scare me, and both times that's what they were.  It puts these trojan virus directly into quarantine, eliminates them, and lets me look at the threat level and other information about the virus.  It has a pop up that tells me immediately when it finds a threat, which is great since I can identify the problem in real time.  It has eliminated MANY instances of malware and adware...too many to mention here.  I like the way it identifies the threats and eliminates them without me having to do a thing.  And it always tells me what it has done. Shoot, all I had to do was download the software, which was relatively easy.  I had a little trouble figuring out where to enter the code after the download, but after I figured it out, it was a breeze.  Vipre ought to be really proud of this antivirus. I know I am proud to have it.  I feel so much more secure being online now.  I was having so much trouble with my computer (or what I thought was my computer) until I installed Vipre Antivirus.  Now I can do searches and it tells me if it is a good or bad site right there on the search results page.

 

Visit http://www.facebook.com/GFIVIPREAntivirus for more info. And I encourage you to give this antivirus a go. There’s a trial version over at their website.