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Help I think my computer is taking over my life!!
Often times I wonder, and get asked, how fast and powerful will computers get? Moores law has been working for some time now the power has gone up, and cost down just about exactly as predicted. If it continues to hold we may as well give up now, just admit defeat and let the computers take over, we are doomed...Of course that is a bit of exaggeration ..maybe.. but there will come a time when computers are so powerful and fast that they will mimic, and may even have, intelligence. We of course are all doing our own little part to help in this as we create ever smarter programs to take advantage of the ever more powerful hardware. We are also creating this wonderful web we all use and love to connect all of these powerful programs and computers ..can you say Skynet...Borg..Terminator..
In any case in our lifetimes we most likely do not need to worry about our PCs reaching out to take over but we are defiantly in a time of ever changing power and functionality. Someone reading this article most likely will have a conversation some day with their computer that will be so close to talking with a person that they will basically forget they are talking to a computer. There have been programs in the past that were specifically designed to mimic thought and intellect. In the future these will not be specificlly designed to do this but will just have this capability as a normal course of events. When that happens we will start to really blur the line between interacting with a computer and interacting with a human.
We already have the ability built in to be able to talk to our PCs and have them talk back to us. This capability is actually fairly sophisticated and capably today. We are just a few steps away from a more meaning interaction. With multiple core processors, cheap ram, fast clocks, we are a few software strokes away from what could pass as a real interaction with our technology.
So you may ask yourself why do I bring all of this up...From time to time we have to remind ourselves that this is technology meant to make the human existence better. We should not loose site of the fact the we have been around a lot longer that computers and we do need to be mindful of allowing them to control to much of our lives. We all in our own way are working to make computers more capable. Even if you are not in the industry simply using a PC and buying software supports that evolution. They can do awesome things and are an integrated part of our lives now, like it or not. Unless you live in a shack in the woods and don't have electricity your life is touched every day by the technology. Use it, enjoy it, but keep it in perspective.
HELP MY WINDOWS WON'T OPEN!
When I hear those words it is usually not due to someone wanting some ventilation in the house it is due to someone’s computer locking up, I only wish it was someone wanting a breeze. Windows … Hmmmm the blessing of computing for the masses has resulted in the mental torment of the masses. Normal humans (not techno geeks like us….) gain enormous pleasure in getting the application of the week to run on their PC and call the kids, call the wife, girlfriend to see the results of their handiwork. We have all had it happen, the excitement of showing off the new software package dashed by a Windows crash. It did bring me a small level of satisfaction when Bill Gates was doing a Windows demo in front of a huge audience and got the infamous blue screen of death. When it happens to you it is less public but no less frustrating. The stability of Windows has always been it’s real Achilles heal and with the release of Windows 7 we are ever hopeful, yet again, that THIS version of Windows really IS stable. (Yes I am a dreamer). To put it in biblical terms Windows 95 begat Windows 98, and we saw that it was sort of good. Windows 98 begat Windows 2000 and we saw that it was good. Windows 2000 begat Windows CE Windows ME and Windows NT, and we saw that it was not so good. Windows CE ME NT begat Windows XP and we saw that it was good. Windows XP begat Windows Vista and we saw that it was BAD and immediately went back to XP! Windows Vista begat Windows 7 and we HOPE it is good!
PC Moder has been testing Windows 7 since the beta came out and yes PC Moders there is hope. So far we are impressed with the interface and the ease of installation. The systems seemed stable and at least as good as XP was…(isn’t it sad when we hope something is a good as an old version). So keep the faith PCModers, we have seen the Windows 7 Beta and now the release of Windows 7 and so far….it is good.
Is Linux Ready For Prime Time?
I my 40 some years I have witnessed and used many PC operating systems. Some of these have been from almost the beginning of time (computing) itself (man am I old). I have used almost all OS flavors at one time or another since the start of the PC revolution. My son, now 15, often wonders how we could survive without a computer as he has never know life without one. In any case most of the original operating systems were burned into what most of you younger folk would know as the BIOS or CMOS...the BIOS WAS the OS. Those PCs like the Timex Sinclair, TI 99-4a ( Click here to see what it looked like ), etc. were very limited in RAM and CPU speed. My very first PC was the TI 99-4a it had 16k.....yes I said 16k...of RAM, the first 16 bit processor..WOW!! It ran at a whooping 3 MHz and I LOVED it...It had a form of BASIC programming built in and I could make use of every single bit available to me...In those days the OS was just that, an Operating System. It handled the memory, external media (tape drive in the olden days, I did not even have a floppy) and the CPU...The OS made the PC OPERATE. 
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