Some worry about the Web making us dumber or lazier, but not me. I'd be lost without it.
Lately, I've been reading reports about things the Web has ruined and whether or not this or that part of the Web is making us dumber. One report targeted Google, but, thankfully, it assessed that the massive search engine is not, in fact, shaving off our IQ points. Wow. What an “aha!" moment. Of course the Web isn't making us stupid, any more so than the appearance of a library on your street would make people in the neighborhood less intelligent.
Access to information is always good. Period. In fact, I contend that the Web as a whole is enriching our lives. It makes me smarter, more efficient, and, generally, happier. Certainly, I sometimes use it to waste time, but more often than not, it's the vehicle I drive to get things done.
Recently, I stumbled on a few situations that reminded me of why I love the Web so much.
Reason #1
I've been planning to give my two-year-old HP Pavilion Elite 9040n PC a memory upgrade. It shipped with 3GB (a half GB shy of the max you can address with a 32-bit OS). I started the upgrade process late last year, converting from a 32-bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate to a 64-bit Windows 7 Professional. The switch to a 64-bit OS means my PC can now address as much memory as I can install (for my system, that's 8 GB).
I decided to go online and see what sort of prices I could find for RAM upgrades. When you upgrade memory, you can't simply run out, buy some DIMMs, and drop them into your PC. You have to match the format and speed, and you need to make sure that you're getting them in matched sets. I couldn't find the paperwork on my PC, but when I visited the Crucial.com Web site, I found a little online utility that promised to analyze my system for me. I accepted the install and within moments, it told and showed me my exact memory configuration: 3GB RAM comprised of two 512MB DIMMs and two 1GB DIMMs, using all available slots. The memory modules were PC2 6400 DDR2 DIMMs. Next to my current configuration was a recommended update, as well as a half-dozen other configuration choices. The site even reminded me that I'd need a 64-bit operating system if I wanted to install more than 3.5GB of RAM. I had all the information I needed to purchase new memory from Crucial's Web site, or to print out and take to a retail shop (I ended up doing the latter).
Did I mention that I love the Internet?
Lately, I've been reading reports about things the Web has ruined and whether or not this or that part of the Web is making us dumber. One report targeted Google, but, thankfully, it assessed that the massive search engine is not, in fact, shaving off our IQ points. Wow. What an “aha!" moment. Of course the Web isn't making us stupid, any more so than the appearance of a library on your street would make people in the neighborhood less intelligent.
Access to information is always good. Period. In fact, I contend that the Web as a whole is enriching our lives. It makes me smarter, more efficient, and, generally, happier. Certainly, I sometimes use it to waste time, but more often than not, it's the vehicle I drive to get things done.
Recently, I stumbled on a few situations that reminded me of why I love the Web so much.
Reason #1
I've been planning to give my two-year-old HP Pavilion Elite 9040n PC a memory upgrade. It shipped with 3GB (a half GB shy of the max you can address with a 32-bit OS). I started the upgrade process late last year, converting from a 32-bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate to a 64-bit Windows 7 Professional. The switch to a 64-bit OS means my PC can now address as much memory as I can install (for my system, that's 8 GB).
I decided to go online and see what sort of prices I could find for RAM upgrades. When you upgrade memory, you can't simply run out, buy some DIMMs, and drop them into your PC. You have to match the format and speed, and you need to make sure that you're getting them in matched sets. I couldn't find the paperwork on my PC, but when I visited the Crucial.com Web site, I found a little online utility that promised to analyze my system for me. I accepted the install and within moments, it told and showed me my exact memory configuration: 3GB RAM comprised of two 512MB DIMMs and two 1GB DIMMs, using all available slots. The memory modules were PC2 6400 DDR2 DIMMs. Next to my current configuration was a recommended update, as well as a half-dozen other configuration choices. The site even reminded me that I'd need a 64-bit operating system if I wanted to install more than 3.5GB of RAM. I had all the information I needed to purchase new memory from Crucial's Web site, or to print out and take to a retail shop (I ended up doing the latter).
Did I mention that I love the Internet?
