Michael J Phillips asked:




We’ve heard the cliche about the baby born with the proverbial silver spoon in its mouth. The spoon has now been replaced with a tiny, cell phone-turned-portable-computer, the iPod, and its latest sibling, the iPad. The ramifications of their appearance, and the babies born along with them, are staggering. More than any other time in history, technology is advancing faster than our ability to assimilate it. As device after device appears on the scene, each a generational leapfrog over the one just before it, following Moore’s Law relentlessly leads us down an ever expanding rabbit hole threatening to swallow our very humanity.

Digital Generation Gaps

Children of today look biologically much as they did years ago, at least in their birthday suits. But something very subtle and powerful is going on in these new tots. The rapid advances in technology to which they are exposed from an early age is affecting them to the core, and the net result is a larger generation gap than ever. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, the technological advances we are seeing are now coming at us with such speed that they effectively create smaller and smaller generations, or even sub generations, of humans.

I will never forget the day I taught an introduction to computers course, and a 90-year-old man was attending. I explained to the group that if a computer was slow, it might take up to “a whole second” for a menu to open after clicking on it. The 90-year-old man looked at me, mouth open, dumbfounded.

“A second!” He replied, shocked. It was then that I realized what a second must be to a 90-year old. I understood in that moment just how fundamentally different my outlook and expectations on technology are, compared to older generations.

Another technological passing of the baton occurred for me the day a younger student showed me something on his computer, and zipped around the screen 5x faster than I ever could. It was then that I realized that he and I were literally part of a different generation, with a digital divide between us. We had a digital generation gap, even though we were actually only a few “human years” apart.

Moore’s Law and Digital Generations

This leads us to ponder whether we need to redefine human generations in terms of technology, instead of biology. While 10 years is a fraction of a true human generation, a ten year difference between people growing up with different exposures to technology effectively creates a whole new sub generation.

How different were children growing up in 1980, without computers, compared to those in the 90′s, with the explosion of the internet and the digital revolution? Perhaps using Moore’s Law as a loose template, we can define a new human “digital generation” in terms of single decades rather than the traditional 25-30 years.

All of this leads us to that talented group of innocents that inherits this genius, those toddlers standing on the shoulders of great technology. These youngsters, by virtue of their position atop our technology, have a view that many of us older folk simply don’t have. What can they see that we cannot?

What is the effect of having instant communication with almost anyone on earth, available in the palm of the hand, from toddlerhood? What type of mindset is created when one expects to be able to accomplish or experience anything, from business transactions to romantic relations to education, in fractions of a second? How does such ready access to power shape the human mind?

While we may not know the answers to those questions yet, we are about to find out. Introducing the iPad Generation.

The iPad Generation

While Gen Y is defined roughly as the children born between 1980 and the early oughts, the arrival on the scene of the iPod, and now the iPad, herald what will surely be termed the iPad Generation in years to come.

The number one characteristic of the iPad Generation is it is absolutely fearless when it comes to technology. Even more than its closely-related sibling Gen Y, the iPad Generation literally sees technology as an extension of their own bodies. While even Gen Y might balk at having a portable computer embedded into their craniums, the iPad Generation would see this as cool and want to know when they can have it done!

While Gen X and Gen Y were busy building the technology infrastructure that the iPad Generation now takes for granted, the iPad Generation sees it as the status quo, a platform from which to jump. While this has and always will be the case from one generation to the next, the sheer monumental technological advances that have occurred in such a relatively short period of time have accelerated this process exponentially.

Silicon Parents

What of the children of today immersed in this ever-expanding, soul-less technology field that encompasses them morning, noon and night? When entire generations are raised by technology that replaces their primary caregivers, one can only wonder how the precious imparting of wisdom, intuition, and heart-based understanding can take place.

Computers may have limitless potential for computational power, but they lack compassion power. They are soul-less Tin-men whose makers somehow forgot to include a heart–because they were never intended to be surrogate parents.

Can we see the effects of this transference of parenthood from flesh to silicon in today’s students? What of writing poetry, novels, music, creating art, and other expressions of the human soul? If, given the choice, would we want our children to be raised by super geniuses with no heart, or by fallible biological entities whose Compassion Quotient exceeds their IQ? We do have a choice.

iThink, Therefore iWonder

All of this rushing about, yet have we ever stopped to really ponder the simplest questions: what is the purpose of accomplishing everything in a nanosecond? Is the world a better place because we soon will have computing power that rivals that of the human brain, and ultimately unlimited computational power available via the ‘net, or even direct downloads into our brains like in the movie The Matrix?

Perhaps a better question is not how powerful will computers become, but what will we become when exposed to unlimited knowledge or computational power? Will our capacity for kindness, compassion, wisdom, intuition, and interpersonal skills change for the better? Or are we on the fast-track to devolution, becoming a giant brain with no heart? Will history look back on this period and say that our technological growth was inversely proportional to our progress as human beings?

One might argue that the very essence of our humanity, our capacity to feel and respond compassionately, suffers the most, as we become more and more immersed in our own personal technological bubble that threatens to provide everything we need through a digital umbilical cord.

Indeed, the iPad Generation is here, and it is us.

Phyllis

Ed Opperman asked:




One of the worst things you can experience in life is being cheated on in a relationship. It’s a betrayal of trust, love, commitment and family. Computer forensics can uncover adultery. By examining a computer hard drive you can view deleted pics, emails, documents and even chats.

A computer forensics examination of the family computer can reveal a wealth of information regarding exactly what is going on in your relationship. People that cheat spend a lot of time and effort on cheating. They think about their lover. They write to them, exchange emails, pics. They research places to meet and go out. All of this data winds up on a hard drive.

Even an especially sneaky spouse can attempt to cover their tracks but with today’s technology it’s next to impossible to cover all your tracks. They may rely on cell phone communications to hide their infidelity but handheld digital forensics can recover deleted , pics , text messages and caller ID information. Even if they are using secret email accounts, hard drive scrubbers and proxy servers it’s still possible for a trained investigator to uncover evidence of infidelity with a forensic hard drive examination.

It’s also possible to locate secret email accounts, personal ads and secret Myspace pages with an Online infidelity examination. You don’t even need the actual computer or hard drive. The investigator searched the deep web, hidden sections of the Internet to locate secret personal ad memberships and traces of infidelity associated with your spouses email address or name.

If you decide to hire an investigator to look into your spouses Internet life be sure to find one that is experienced in computer forensics and Internet infidelity investigations. You want to have a full investigation into every area of infidelity and while some computer experts are great at hard drive forensics they may not know about Internet investigations and vice versa. Before you hire an investigator do your research and see if the investigator is considered an expert in online infidelity investigations as well as computer or hand held digital forensics.

Very often the right kind of all encompassing investigation into a computer hard drive, cell phone data and Internet infidelity will uncover evidence not only of infidelity but also porn addiction. This kind of evidence can be used in court if the issue of child custody or visitation comes up. That’s why it’s so important to start out this kind of investigation with recognized expert.

Catherine

Michael Baker asked:




A free computer check will help you find and fix errors you may have on your computer, and for no cost. A sign of an error will be some of the following items and issues you are having to deal with: your computer just freezes for no reason, you press a button and a blue screen appears with a code in the upper left hand corner, your computer just automatically restarts for no reason, and your computer is just plain old slow. Any of these problems can be found with a free computer check.

The computer check will look into many locations of your computer, and see what is wrong. Maybe you are missing certain files, which give instructions on how to run the software. Or, you might have some missing shortcuts that would normally tell the computer where to find a program. It will also find issues in what is known as your registry. There could be many things wrong in there, and you should get a scan of your registry just to be sure things are good. If you find anything wrong here, I would get these fixed as soon as possible. Those errors are what are causing all of your computer problems. A quick scan will let you know.

A free computer check will also save you money. There is no need to pay for something if you do not know it will work. I wouldn’t. I like to see it proven first. I personally have a hard time just forking over some money for something I may not even need. If you say something, in this case, software, will fix something, let me see it first before I decide to use it. So, make sure you can scan your computer for free first. Find out what is wrong, if anything, and then you will know what exactly you need to fix it. But, like I said, before you spend money on something, or decide it is the right program for you, see it in action first. Then, if you like it, go for it.

Mitchell

Cody Lloyd Scholberg asked:




Simply defined, a Kindle is an electronic book reader created and developed by Amazon. Right now, there have been three versions released, with the newest one called as the Kindle DX. The purpose of this gadget is to allow users to read and carry copies of their favorite e-books while on the go.

When the Kindle device was first released in November 2007, Amazon reported that it sold out within 5 hours. That product is exclusively intended for the US market only. This only goes to show that more Americans are making the switch from paperbacks to e-books drastically. Although an electronic device, Kindle displays e-books in the electronic paper format, making the experience very similar to reading an actual book, only in a lot more portable way.

Kindle can connect through the internet initially through the local Sprint network. But with the move to market the device internationally, the provider was changed to AT&T. E-books for your Kindle can be downloaded over Amazon’s Whispernet portal, which carries thousands of titles for sale.

Kindle II supports an expansion memory slot, allowing users to add e-books from their computers. However, this was removed with the newer Kindle DX, because it holds much higher memory space. Users that would like to transfer e-books from their computers to the Kindle DX would simply have to synchronize the two devices together.

Kindle supports major book formats such as the Mobipocket books, topaz format books, and of course, Amazon’s AZW book format. It can also read plain text files. The support for PDF is only available for Kindle DX. HTML pages and Microsoft Word files can be converted through Amazon’s email-based formatting service. Since the device can access the internet, one simply has to send the files that they want to be converted into a Kindle readable format to Amazon and attach the file. It will then be sent back to them, ready for viewing.

Sherry

Chris Pine asked:




Amazon’s Kindle was truly a breakthrough device when it was released in 2007. It allows its owners to instantly download books directly onto the device in less than 60 seconds. Even better, the Kindle version of many books usually cost less than the physical version. The majority of New York Times bestsellers are only $9.99, which is often a significant savings over brand new hardcover books. If you visit Amazon.com often, you’ve probably seen the link to instantly download the Kindle version of the book, but were frustrated because you didn’t have a Kindle. Perhaps you don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars for a Kindle when new devices like Apple’s iPad are hitting the market. Whatever the reason, the good news it that you actually DON’T need a Kindle in order to download Kindle books. Here are a few ways you can do it.

1. The Kindle App

This is applicable to owners of the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad. Many users of these devices aren’t aware that there is a free Kindle App available to download in the App Store. Amazon released this App on March 3, 2009, and it has since been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times. Even better, this App is also available for the iPad. This means that iPad owners can use their device to read not only the books that Apple makes available to them, but also Kindle’s library of nearly half a million books.

2. Kindle for PC

Another option is to download Amazon’s free Kindle for PC application. This allows you to download Kindle books directly to your computer and to use the Kindle for PC application to read them. The program is simple to use, and it is probably the best computer reading experience available. The only downside is that you cannot make annotations like you can on an actual Kindle.

3. Kindle for Mac

Until March of 2010, Mac users were left out in the cold when it came to reading Kindle books without a Kindle. However, that all changed when Amazon finally released a third method for reading Kindle books without a Kindle. Mac owners had been disgruntled about this and wondered why it was taking Amazon so long to release such a product, but Amazon finally delivered with the free Kindle for Mac software.

By providing all these methods to download Kindle books without a Kindle, Amazon has opened their library of books to an enormous number of potential customers. It is rumored that they are currently working on an App for Google’s Android cell phone operating system. This will increase their reach even further.

Danny

Chris Pine asked:




With the release of Apple’s new iPad device, many people are wondering if the Kindle is now obsolete. Compared to the sleek Apple device, the Kindle may look like an antiquated relic from the distant past. Should Amazon be worried? Let’s take a look at some of the considerations:

1. Battery Life

Here is where the Kindle may excel. Because the Kindle isn’t backlit, it consumes very little battery power and can last about 2 weeks on a single charge as long as the wireless connection is turned off. The only time the Kindle uses the battery is when a new page is loaded. The iPad, on the other hand, must continuously use battery juice just to keep the screen lit.

2. Full Color vs. Black and White

The iPad definitely wins this one. The Kindle’s black and white screen is nowhere near as attractive as the full color experience that the iPad offers. The iPad can also offer more interactivity that the Kindle can’t match. This might include video interviews with the author or detailed maps.

3. Selection

Without a doubt, iPad users will have a larger selection of books available to them. Why is this? Well, Kindle already has a Kindle App that is available for free for the iPad. This means that any title that is available to a Kindle owner will, by default, be available to an iPad owner. In addition to this, iPad owners will also have access to all the titles that Apple offers through its deals with various major publishing houses.

4. Book Prices

This is another area where iPad owners have the edge. Because iPad owners will have access to both Amazon’s and Apple’s library of titles, they can always comparison shop and get the best price. Kindle owners will only have the option of purchasing the Kindle version of the book.

5. Can the iPad do for Books what the iPod did for Music?

Before iTunes, the music industry was struggling. They were losing more and more sales every year to pirated copies of their songs online. No one had yet figured out a successful business model for selling digital music. Today, Apple is by far the biggest music retailer in the world. Can they do the same for books? The Amazon Kindle has been successful on a small scale, but it has never really gone mainstream. Amazon says that the Kindle is their #1 selling product, but it is rare to actually see someone on the street using one. This is similar to the state of MP3 players before the iPod was released. The iPod revolutionized the music world. Maybe the iPad is next. Only time will tell.

Tina