Category Archives: Mind Uploading

Screenshot: Cyril Schreiner (YouTube)

Orbeez, the latest toy that kids are obsessed with, are tiny, multicolored polymer beads that expand like crazy when put into water. Obviously, because theyre meant to appeal to a childs mind, plenty of adults have also discovered that theyre perfect for doing dumb shit with on the internet. Amidst the unexpected, full-blown genre of video that involves putting lots of Orbeez places and uploading the results to social media, a guy in France named Cyril Schreiner has managed to stand out by destroying his bathroomand, he claims, his neighborhoods sewage systemwith them.

@yuqheis tweeted the chain of events with English commentary, beginning with a clip of Schreiner trying to figure out how to dispose of a bathtub filled with Orbeez after making a video with them. He pulls the plug to drain them, causing his toilet and sink to overflow with what looks like clown vomit. An attempt to vacuum up the mess causes his vacuum to break so he tries to use salt to clear the drains.

Geysers of raw sewage then begin to shoot out of the sink, but Schreiner keeps the footage going, showing himself crying and heading outside to find mounds of shit-covered beads collecting outside of manhole covers and into drainage ditches. This last clip ends with him receiving a letter from city hall that the Orbeez have damaged his entire neighborhoods sewers and that police are looking for the people responsible.

Another update shows Schreiner talking to a local official, trying to hide his crimes. He tapes the conversation, captioning it, appropriately enough, Listen, Im in shit!!

This is all, in all likelihood, fake. But, fake when it comes to filling a bathroom with tiny, slippery beads that expand when exposed to water doesnt mean all that much. A parents guide to Orbeez, for example, cautions: Never pour or flush [the beads] down the drain. As a result of their growth in water, the beads can clog pipes and even lead to bursting pipes. Even if Schreiner staged everythingwhich is probable, especially considering that his social channels are comprised mostly of joke videoshe still has to clean out an enormous mess that involves scooping out toilets and finding multicolored balls in every corner of his home for months to come. In short: Yeah, this whole thing is probably a prank, but its the kind of prank thats way more of a pain in the ass for the guy behind it than anyone watching his videos.

[via Digg]

Send Great Job, Internet tips to gji@theonion.com

Continued here:

Man fills bathtub and toilet with Orbeez, pranking himself - The A.V. Club

Spend any amount of time in electronic music-making circles online or in real life and youll quickly realise that all producers can be neatly pigeon-holed into a mere seven categories.

Heres our guide to all of them, featuring extremely scientific analysis of their vital stats, distinguishing features, and habits.

DAW: FL StudioLocation: EverywhereAge: The entirety of Gen Z

Armed only with zero understanding of music production and a laptop recently stolen from a homeless person, Trap Kid knows the only way to avoid being eaten alive by rampant late-stage capitalism is to make a beat that catapults them to super-star status.

A mere three hours after beginning their production odyssey, the Trap Kid will start making their own tutorial content.

Naturally, the highly-motivated Trap Kid is eager to learn, and has two basic questions they need answered: Why cant I get my 808s in tune? and Where can I download synth plugins for free?

A mere three hours after beginning their production odyssey, the Trap Kid will start making their own tutorial content, and after a few weeks will be making no less than thirteen beats per day on top of their three day jobs.

While its easy and fun to deride the Trap Kid, they are the only category of producer whose music is capable of bringing genuine joy to another human being.

Good luck Trap Kid, youll need it!

DAW: N/ALocation: SuburbiaAge: A cool 45

DAWless and, indeed, wifeless, Mid-life Synth Crisis Mans newly single status means he has plenty of time and money to devote to a new passion: synthesizer hardware.

He may generate his hefty disposable income working in the marketing department of a company that develops facial recognition systems for pre-schools, but Mid-life Synth Crisis Man has the soul of an artist: theres nowhere hed rather be than surrounded by an array of music-making hardware and houseplants, jamming out another lengthy ambient drone session.

When you spend all day staring at Excel spreadsheets, the last thing you want to do is look at a computer screen in the evening, meaning Mid-life Synth Crisis Man has never seen or heard of Audacity. As such, he has only ever recorded his $60,000s worth of synth hardware on his phone, which only adds to his lo-fi/hi-cost aesthetic.

DAW: RenoiseLocation: EuropeAge: 30+

Although fully aware of the availability of proper DAWs, 90s throwback Trackerman doesnt have time for their accessibility, attractive design and array of convenient features. Preferring instead to stare at an indecipherable alphanumeric stream like something out of The flippin Matrix, Trackerman creates his intricate breakcore Amen edits by fluttering his fingers over a computer keyboard in the manner of a cyborg.

Trackerman creates his intricate breakcore Amen edits by fluttering his fingers over a computer keyboard in the manner of a cyborg.

Whats fascinating about Trackerman is his duality: hes intelligent enough to wield a piece of software that looks as if its designed to be operated by gifted robots, yet is dumb enough to keep using it.

Hearing this savants presumably astounding music is a tantalising prospect, but he isnt about to reveal his subversive activities to any shadowy extra-governmental agencies so doesnt have a SoundCloud.

DAW: Zoom H4nLocation: Southeast AsiaAge: Quarter-life crisis

Almost certainly running from something dreadful in their past, the City Ambience Uploader is permanently living in far-flung metropolises and has no kit, though they certainly seem to have an awful lot of time on their hands judging by their regular 50GB+ sample pack drops.

If youve ever needed an atmospheric urban soundscape then youre in luck, buddy, because City Ambience Uploader will be uploading comprehensive recordings of every street vendor in Chiang Mai every fortnight for the next 23 years. That is unless they manage to get some gear together, in which case theyll start uploading bumper volumes of Sad Guitar Loops instead.

DAW: ArdourLocation: The imaginationAge: N/A

Theres probably some kind of music software available on open-source operating system Linux, but no one really has any concrete proof of this because theres zero recorded evidence of anyone using the OS to make music.

Sure, you spoke to an Autechre fan at a party once who told you about Linux legitimacy as a music-making platform, and who argued that it offered some kind of vague advantage over mainstream operating systems, but did they play you any of their music? Of course not, because it never existed.

This archetype poses us with something of a koan: If someone has a laptop full of music-making software that theyve tuned to perfection, but has never actually made anything with it, are they still a producer?

We would apologise to any Linux Producers reading this, but bearing in mind the Schrodinger's Cat-style uncertainty over their existence, it feels like a waste of time.

DAW: ReaperLocation: ReaperAge: Reaper

Ask almost any question related to music production online and you can be sure that, before too long, a helpful Reaper zealot will pop up and strongly suggest trying out their favourite DAW.

So why not give it a go? Its free, after all, except not really, though in the inevitable event you dont make any money from your musical endeavours, you can get a cheaper license.

Whats more it has a low resource footprint, can be run from a USB drive, its cross-platform with an (of course) experimental build available for Linux, its super-customisable, and developer Cockos is always putting out updates and listening to community feedback, etc, etc, etc.

Sure, its all very enticing, but the thing the Reaper Evangelist doesnt realise is that not everyone wants or needs that much DAW power, especially not our final type of producer...

DAW: GarageBandLocation: Anywhere there are MacBooksAge: 20s

Proof the neurotypical can produce too, The Normie is a singer-songwriter who just wants to record their songs without having to get a computer science degree, and thanks to GarageBand, the only thing standing in their way is their inability to grasp what an audio interface is.

The owner of a USB microphone, The Normies musical aspirations are advanced by modern music-making softwares accessibility, and theyre happy to use compressor plugins that feature only thee knobs, blissfully unaware how or or even why anyone would use anything more complicated.

The Normie has more social media followers than you by several orders of magnitude thanks to their human face, and as such, their music will be listened to by actual people rather than the same old collection of three bots.

That said, theyll never make a physically-modelled accordion in Reaktor, so you can safely continue to consider them your inferior.

View post:

The 7 types of electronic music producer: which are you? - MusicRadar

Theres a little bit of light in the wake of the weeks tragedies, when Alf (Ray Meagher) decides to propose to ex-wife Martha (Belinda Giblin)!

With the news of Mason (Orpheus Pledger) and Robbos (Jake Ryan) deaths shaking the community, Alf, Martha and Roo (Georgie Parker) reflect on how life is too short for holding back.

Martha tells Alf that if shed realised that years ago, before faking her death, their lives would have been very different.

This gives Alf food for thought, and later on at the candlelit vigil that hes organised on the beach, Alf realises its time to seize the day.

Alf has recently seen more and more of the woman he fell in love with all those years ago, and now he decides to propose. But expressing his feelings in that area is difficult for him, Ray told New Idea magazine. Hes definitely not a salesman of his own feelings!

As they sit together and reflect on their relationship, Alf asks the question, which leaves Martha stunned.

He casually drops it on Martha as if asking her to go to a restaurant, Ray continued in TV Week. It floors her.

Unimpressed, Martha heads home, and the next day theres clearly tension between the couple, which doesnt go unnoticed by Roo.

As Martha reveals what happened the night before, Roo is elated, until realising that Martha didnt actually answer Alfs question.

As far as Alf is concerned, thats a resounding No if ever there was one.

Alf tries to apologise for the circumstances by saying it wasnt exactly planned, but Martha says thats just the point.

Martha later confides in Roo that shes worried Alfs proposal was just a spur of the moment decision, caused by the emotion of everything that was going onthe news of Robbo and Mason, together with Leah being missing.

Shes worried that Alf will change his mind once all the chaos dies down.

Roo relays this to a grumpy Alf, and they return to the house where Roo gives them some space.

Alf explains to Martha that she was right, his proposal was brought on by the devastation that was surrounding them, but only because of his realisation that he needed to live for the moment.

Hed been planning to propose for months, but was too afraid to do so.

After a heartfelt speech, Alf gets down on one knee and delivers the proposal that Martha deserves. Martha tearfully replies that she would be honoured to marry him.

The second proposal is ever so romantic, Belinda told New Idea. They have both been through such a journey, and theyre both more than ready for it.

Alf s thrilled, Ray added. He realised he really wanted to be with Martha, and if he had to change his ways for that to happen, hed do so.

Sealing the deal with a kiss, Alf tells an overwhelmed Roo to come out from her hiding spot and the trio celebrate with champagne.

It wouldnt be a Stewart family occasion without some drama though, and that arrives when Ryder comes home sporting a shiner, having been hit by newcomer Nikau (Kawakawa Fox-Reo) when he tried to warn him to not get involved Jade (Mia Morrissey).

Ryder and Roo agreed to not let on to Alf and Martha about the charges hes facing, following Jades false allegations about him uploading their sex tape.

But Ryder now has no choice when hes forced to explain to his grandfather how he got into a fight.

Alf and Martha are stunned by Ryders revelation, but both vow to support him any way they can.

So when will the wedding of the year take place? Well, we wont have too long to wait.!

Heres a full rundown and video slideshow of this weeks episode spoilers:

Monday 9th March 2020 Season PremiereColby and Dean go rogue to try and save the hostages. Can Robbo convince Scott to spare his life and save Jasmine?

Tuesday 10th MarchHeartache and grief overwhelm the community in the aftermath of the hospital siege. Marilyn is traumatised after witnessing Masons murder. Robbo is rushed into surgery.

Wednesday 11th MarchJasmines world comes crashing down when Colby gives her devastating news. Alfs attempt to create a moment of joy with Martha backfires. Colby does his best to honour Robbos dying wish.

Thursday 12th MarchRoo helps Alf and Martha through their miscommunication. Ryders attempts to warn Nikau about Jade fail. Maggie looks to help others anyway she can.

Friday 13th MarchMarilyn attempts to cover her trauma and focus on helping the Paratas. Toris heartbroken when Justin shares more bad news. The Stewarts rally around Ryder to support him in his case against Jade. Alf and Martha have exciting news.

View post:

UK Home and Away Spoilers - Alf Proposes to Martha! - Back to the Bay

Something for the Weekend, Sir? We all have something to hide. But as I hinted last week, probably the worst way to keep it hidden is by uploading a video of it to social media.

Young people entering the job market for the first time are warned to fillet their social media history as best they can. It's not just a matter of covering up a one-off display of xenophobia or boorish masculine behaviour: even innocent expressions of desire or emotion can be taken out of context.

For example, if British actor and TV presenter Mark Curry should heaven forbid be subject to an attempt on his life by an unidentified ne'er-do-well, you will be regretting that night you staggered out of a pub in Castleford and tweeted: "I could murder a curry."

Not that any of this social media nonsense would apply to me. The last time I was interviewed for permanent employment was in 1992, back in the day when the internet was stored on wax cylinders and there was no social media. Indeed, only 5 per cent of mobile phone users knew how to write an SMS with lower case letters. The interviewer simply read my CV, checked that really was my name in the computer magazines I showed him (I'm no John Smith) and, one hopes, asked my referees to confirm I hadn't betrayed any murderous intent towards late-1980s Blue Peter presenters.

The one thing I wasn't asked to do at my interview was take an exam. I have since learnt that being asked to undergo a live test of competency in the role you are seeking is to be expected.

The first I heard of this requirement was when a "resting" actor, who had been attending one of my InDesign courses in order to seek casual work as a sub-editor, had landed himself a job interview at a newspaper. One morning he kept texting terse queries to my phone such as Word count? or Spell check? and I'd fire back equally curt replies such as Window>Info and Ctrl+I.

Only later did it dawn on me that he'd been surreptitiously messaging me from the job interview while sitting his subbing test.

You can't really get away with such shenanigans when being interviewed for technical jobs. I used to wonder how some drop-file jockey from Human Resources at a big software company would evaluate an applicant's programming skills; ask them to tidy up a code segment or fill in the gaps from multiple choice, perhaps. I can only imagine the text messages I'd get from my coding trainees

Job applicant:

Dabbsy:

Job applicant:

Dabbsy:

Job applicant:

Dabbsy:

Any serious recruiter of programmers these days will, of course, skim off the cream of equally serious contenders through a coding challenge community such as CodinGame. Let the kids have their fun while at the same time proving they can do the business. It certainly beats accepting on trust an applicant who says they have a five-year-old college certificate in Pascal.

What's surprising about applying for jobs in the IT field, though, is that nobody seems to give two hoots about your social media history.

According to data gathered by employment screening company Precise Security, only 5 per cent of recruiters bother to pry into what you've been up to on the likes of Instaspam and Fessbook. A rather more impressive 93 per cent are running public record checks on your criminal history. A not-insignificant 64 per cent don't believe your identification papers are genuine and are actively investigating their veracity.

Some 49 per cent are checking whether you've tested for drug and alcohol abuse. Perhaps that's not so surprising: this is the IT industry after all.

Nor is this an employee-only thing. Freelancers and independent contractors might want to take note that almost 70 per cent of your customers are running background checks on you.

Occasionally, for personal amusement, I apply for a full-time job. It's partly to force myself to update my CV, partly to enjoy the drama of selection process, and not least the opportunity to try out a company's toilets that I would otherwise never get to waz in.

In recent years, however, I struggle to get a rejection letter let alone an interview slot. Is it my age? Are my skills obsolete? I don't suppose being associated with this irresponsible weekly column helps much but I reckon the reason goes deeper. In fact, I suspect that an evil AI has been given the task of investigating my past and one of its evil algorithms has set off evil alarm bells.

Instead of just checking my records, it has been checking my record collection. Now that's what I call evil.

For younger readers, "records" are what we used to call those vinyl music discs that you're all playing. I don't play mine; I don't even have a record player any more. Mme D has been asking me for the last 20 years when I will be donating these records to a worthy cause. Answer: never. Boxes of them even followed me here to France.

And this is my downfall. Because buried in that stack of vinyl is evidence that will incriminate me forever. I know because I only just now got around to unpacking the boxes.

It started gently. At the top of the seven-inch singles was this little gem from 1971.

Ah, Isaac Hayes' Theme from Shaft. Still half a lifetime away from Chocolate Salty Balls.

Skip a couple of years to 1973 and we have another classic, this time the heavy yet spangly glam-rock of T.Rex's 20th Century Boy. And it's still in its original T.Rex two-colour sleeve. To think that anyone could contemplate parting with this irreplaceable masterpiece of antiquity, huh!

OK, there's a bit of a glut of singles around 1977, such as Queen's We Are The Champions

and ELO's Mr Blue Sky

before shifting sideways into Peter Gabriel's first solo hit, Solsbury Hill

by which time I'd reached the age of 13 and in 1978 my musical tastes had changed.

All well and good, I hear you say. But what's this, tucked away among the albums? An early '70s glam-rock compilation in a gatefold sleeve? It certainly looks glittery and it has the word "glitter" on the front.

OK, what's around the back?

Ah... er, surely not. Let's have a look inside.

The horror. The horror.

No wonder no one will give me an interview. For the same reason you can no longer laugh at Dance of the Vampires or recite witty dialogue from Woody Allen films in public, I am forever tainted by a serious error in judgement committed when I was seven years old, standing at the till of Woolworth's music department with a birthday record token in my hand.

I mean to say, nobody in their right mind would "wanna touch" someone even remotely associated with such a ghastly skeleton in their closet as this. The evil algorithms have got me!

Oh yeah?

Youtube Video

NB: No, it's not Joan Jett.

Sponsored: Detecting cyber attacks as a small to medium business

Original post:

Sure, check through my background records but why are you looking at my record collection? - The Register

An staff member of Molson Coors shot and also eliminated 5 individuals on Wednesday at a developing center in Milwaukee prior to eliminating himself.

The 51- year-old shooter, recognized as Anthony Ferrill, took the lives of five fellow workers: Jesus Valle Jr., 33; Trevor Wetselaar, 33; Dana Walk, 57; Dale Hudson, 60; and also Gennady Levshetz,61 Law enforcement police officers are examining the assault and also have actually not launched the shooters intention.

Molson Coors Chief Executive Officer Gavin Hattersley informed press reporters at an interview on Thursday that the victims functioned as giant drivers, machinists and also electrical contractors. But much more significantly, they were partners, they were papas, and also they were pals, he stated.

WisconsinLt Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) called the mass shooting another senseless American tragedy, talking at the website on Wednesday evening. We should not accept this, Barnes stated. We should never grow comfortable in the face of these repeated tragedies across America.

Rep Gwen Moore (D) led a minute of silence for the victims in the UNITED STATE House onFriday She stated in a speech on the House flooring Thursday that she had recognized among the victims very well, given that1992

Theres nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, the congresswoman stated, providing off mass capturings in recent times, consisting of the 2018 senior high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and also the 2015 carnage at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SouthCarolina Moore kept in mind that some individuals indicate mental disorder as a factor.

Theres mental illness all over the world but there are not these shootings, Moore stated.

Here are the boys, partners and also papas that shed their lives in Wednesdays shooting:

Kamil Krzaczynski using GettyImages People go to a petition vigil for victims of the Molson Coors brewery shooting at the Ridge Community Church onFeb 27, 2020, inMilwaukee

Valle, 33, left a spouse and also 2 kids, his sis in rips informed the AssociatedPress

Levshetz, 61, left his better half Alina, 2 kids and also 2 grandchildren.

Gene will certainly be kept in mind as the very best other half, daddy, and also dede, reviewed his funeral notification. He was a kind, caring, and giving person who always put his familys needs before his own.

Wetselaar, 33, had actually functioned as an engine space driver at Molson Coors given that 2018, according to his LinkedIn web page. Previously he was an atomic power plant driver with the UNITED STATE Navy for 6 years. He finished from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2009 with a degree in political science, per a message from the chancellor.

Walk, 57, left 3 kids and also his better half of 35 years, Dori, according to a funeral notification The passionate angler and also songs follower suched as to hang around on the lake and also to service residence jobs.

His family will miss Danas backseat coaching of the Packers to another Super Bowl, the notification read.

Hudson, 60, matured in Wisconsin, participating in Elkhorn Area High School and also Milwaukee Area Technical College, according to his Facebook web page. He was wed and also showed up to appreciate searching and also ice angling, uploading a number of images of those tasks on social networks.

Calling all HuffPost superfans!

Sign up for subscription to come to be an establishing participant and also aid form HuffPosts following phase

The rest is here:

These Are The Victims Of The Milwaukee Brewery Mass Shooting - The Union Journal

In transhumanism and science fiction, mind uploading (also occasionally referred to by other terms such as mind transfer, whole brain emulation, or whole body emulation) refers to the hypothetical transfer of a human mind to a substrate different from a biological brain, such as a detailed computer simulation of an individual human brain.

The human brain contains a little more than 100 billion nerve cells called neurons, each individually linked to other neurons by way of connectors called axons and dendrites. Signals at the junctures (synapses) of these connections are transmitted by the release and detection of chemicals known as neurotransmitters. The brain contains cell types other than neurons (such as glial cells), some of which are structurally similar to neurons, but the information processing of the brain is thought to be conducted by the network of neurons.

Current biomedical and neuropsychological thinking is that the human mind is a product of the information processing of this neural network. To use an analogy from computer science, if the neural network of the brain can be thought of as hardware, then the human mind is the software running on it.

Mind uploading, then, is the act of copying or transferring this "software" from the hardware of the human brain to another processing environment, typically an artificially created one.

The concept of mind uploading then is strongly mechanist, relying on several assumptions about the nature of human consciousness and the philosophy of artificial intelligence. It assumes that strong AI machine intelligence is not only possible, but is indistinguishable from human intelligence, and denies the vitalist view of human life and consciousness.

Mind uploading is completely speculative at this point in time; no technology exists which can accomplish this.

The relationship between the human mind and the neural circuitry of the brain is currently poorly understood. Thus, most theoretical approaches to mind uploading are based on the idea of recreating or simulating the underlying neural network. This approach would theoretically eliminate the need to understand how such a system works if the component neurons and their connections can be simulated with enough accuracy.

It is unknown how precise the simulation of such a neural network would have to be to produce a functional simulation of the brain. It is possible, however, that simulating the functions of a human brain at the cellular level might be much more difficult than creating a human level artificial intelligence, which relied on recreating the functions of the human mind, rather than trying to simulate the underlying biological systems.[citation needed]

Thinkers with a strongly mechanistic view of human intelligence (such as Marvin Minsky) or a strongly positive view of robot-human social integration (such as Hans Moravec and Ray Kurzweil) have openly speculated about the possibility and desirability of this.

In the case where the mind is transferred into a computer, the subject would become a form of artificial intelligence, sometimes called an infomorph or "nomorph." In a case where it is transferred into an artificial body, to which its consciousness is confined, it would also become a robot. In either case it might claim ordinary human rights, certainly if the consciousness within was feeling (or was doing a good job of simulating) as if it were the donor.

Uploading consciousness into bodies created by robotic means is a goal of some in the artificial intelligence community. In the uploading scenario, the physical human brain does not move from its original body into a new robotic shell; rather, the consciousness is assumed to be recorded and/or transferred to a new robotic brain, which generates responses indistinguishable from the original organic brain.

The idea of uploading human consciousness in this manner raises many philosophical questions which people may find interesting or disturbing, such as matters of individuality and the soul. Vitalists would say that uploading was a priori impossible. Many people also wonder whether, if they were uploaded, it would be their sentience uploaded, or simply a copy.

Even if uploading is theoretically possible, there is currently no technology capable of recording or describing mind states in the way imagined, and no one knows how much computational power or storage would be needed to simulate the activity of the mind inside a computer. On the other hand, advocates of uploading have made various estimates of the amount of computing power that would be needed to simulate a human brain, and based on this a number have estimated that uploading may become possible within decades if trends such as Moore's Law continue.[citation needed]

If it is possible for human minds to be modeled and treated as software objects which can be instanced multiple times, in multiple processing environments, many potentially desirable possibilities open up for the individual.

If the mental processes of the human mind can be disassociated from its original biological body, it is no longer tied to the limits and lifespan of that body. In theory, a mind could be voluntarily copied or transferred from body to body indefinitely and therefore become immortal, or at least exercise conscious control of its lifespan.

Alternatively, if cybernetic implants could be used to monitor and record the structure of the human mind in real time then, should the body of the individual be killed, such implants could be used to later instance another working copy of that mind. It is also possible that periodic backups of the mind could be taken and stored external to the body and a copy of the mind instanced from this backup, should the body (and possibly the implants) be lost or damaged beyond recovery. In the latter case, any changes and experiences since the time of the last backup would be lost.

Such possibilities have been explored extensively in fiction: This Number Speaks, Nancy Farmer's The House of the Scorpion, Newton's Gate, John Varley's Eight Worlds series, Greg Egan's Permutation City, Diaspora, Schild's Ladder and Incandescence, the Revelation Space series, Peter Hamilton's Pandora's Star duology, Bart Kosko's Fuzzy Time, Armitage III series, the Takeshi Kovacs universe, Iain M. Banks Culture novels, Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, and the works of Charles Stross. And in television sci-fi shows: Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, among others.

Another concept explored in science fiction is the idea of more than one running "copy" of a human mind existing at once. Such copies could either be full copies, or limited subsets of the complete mentality designed for a particular limited functions. Such copies would allow an "individual" to experience many things at once, and later integrate the experiences of all copies into a central mentality at some point in the future, effectively allowing a single sentient being to "be many places at once" and "do many things at once".

The implications of such entities have been explored in science fiction. In his book Eon, Greg Bear uses the terms "partials" and "ghosts", while Charles Stross's novels Accelerando and Glasshouse deal with the concepts of "forked instances" of conscious beings as well as "backups".

In Charles Sheffield's Tomorrow and Tomorrow, the protagonist's consciousness is duplicated thousands of times electronically and sent out on probe ships and uploaded into bodies adapted to native environments of different planets. The copies are eventually reintegrated back into the "master" copy of the consciousness in order to consolidate their findings.

Such partial and complete copies of a sentient being again raise issues of identity and personhood: is a partial copy of sentient being itself sentient? What rights might such a being have? Since copies of a personality are having different experiences, are they not slowly diverging and becoming different entities? At what point do they become different entities?

If the body and the mind of the individual can be disassociated, then the individual is theoretically free to choose their own incarnation. They could reside within a completely human body, within a modified physical form, or within simulated realities. Individuals might change their incarnations many times during their existence, depending on their needs and desires.

Choices of the individuals in this matter could be restricted by the society they exist within, however. In the novel Eon by Greg Bear, individuals could incarnate physically (within "natural" biological humans, or within modified bodies) a limited number of times before being legally forced to reside with the "city memory" as infomorphic "ghosts".

Once an individual is moved to virtual simulation, the only input needed would be energy, which would be provided by large computing device hosting those minds. All the food, drink, moving, travel or any imaginable thing would just need energy to provide those computations.

Almost all scientists, thinkers and intelligent people would be moved to this virtual environment once they die. In this virtual environment, their brain capacity would be expanded by speed and storage of quantum computers. In virtual environment idea and final product are not different. This way more and more innovations will be sent to real world and it will speed up our technological development.

Regardless of the techniques used to capture or recreate the function of a human mind, the processing demands of such venture are likely to be immense.

Henry Markram, lead researcher of the "Blue Brain Project", has stated that "it is not [their] goal to build an intelligent neural network", based solely on the computational demands such a project would have[1].

Advocates of mind uploading point to Moore's law to support the notion that the necessary computing power may become available within a few decades, though it would probably require advances beyond the integrated circuit technology which has dominated since the 1970s. Several new technologies have been proposed, and prototypes of some have been demonstrated, such as the optical neural network based on the silicon-photonic chip (harnessing special physical properties of Indium Phosphide) which Intel showed the world for the first time on September 18, 2006.[3] Other proposals include three-dimensional integrated circuits based on carbon nanotubes (researchers have already demonstrated individual logic gates built from carbon nanotubes[4]) and also perhaps the quantum computer, currently being worked on internationally as well as most famously by computer scientists and physicists at the IBM Almaden Research Center, which promises to be useful in simulating the behavior of quantum systems; such ability would enable protein structure prediction which could be critical to correct emulation of intracellular neural processes.

Present methods require use of massive computational power (as the BBP does with IBM's Blue Gene Supercomputer) to use the essentially classical computing architecture for serial deduction of the quantum mechanical processes involved in ab initio protein structure prediction. If necessary, should the quantum computer become a reality, its capacity for exactly such rapid calculations of quantum mechanical physics may well help the effort by reducing the required computational power per physical size and energy needs, as Markram warns would be needed (and thus why he thinks it would be difficult, besides unattractive) should an entire brain's simulation, let alone emulation (at both cellular and molecular levels) be feasibly attempted. Reiteration may also be useful for distributed simulation of a common, repeated function (e.g., proteins).

Ultimately, nano-computing is projected by some[citation needed] to hold the requisite capacity for computations per second estimated necessary, in surplus. If Kurzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns (a variation on Moore's Law) shows itself to be true, the rate of technological development should accelerate exponentially towards the technological singularity, heralded by the advent of viable though relatively primitive mind uploading and/or "strong" (human-level) AI technologies, his prediction being that the Singularity may occur around the year 2045.[5]

The structure of a neural network is also different from classical computing designs. Memory in a classical computer is generally stored in a two state design, or bit, although one of the two components is modified in dynamic RAM and some forms of flash memory can use more than two states under some circumstances. Gates inside central processing units will often also use this two state or digital type of design as well. In some ways a neural network or brain could be thought of like a memory unit in a computer, but with an extremely vast number of states, corresponding with the total number of neurons. Beyond that, whether the action potential of a neuron will form, based upon the summation of the inputs of different dendrites, might be something that is more analog in nature than that which happens in a computer. One great advantage that a modern computer has over a biological brain, however, is that the speed of each electronic operation in a computer is many orders of magnitude faster than the time scales involved for the firing and transmission of individual nerve impulses. A brain, however, uses far more parallel processing than exists in most classical computing designs, and so each of the slower neurons can make up for it by operating at the same time.

There are many ethical issues concerning mind uploading. Viable mind uploading technology might challenge the ideas of human immortality, property rights, capitalism, human intelligence, an afterlife, and the Abrahamic view of man as created in God's image. These challenges often cannot be distinguished from those raised by all technologies that extend human technological control over human bodies, e.g. organ transplant. Perhaps the best way to explore such issues is to discover principles applicable to current bioethics problems, and question what would be permissible if they were applied consistently to a future technology. This points back to the role of science fiction in exploring such problems, as powerfully demonstrated in the 20th century by such works as Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four, each of which frame current ethical problems in a future environment where those have come to dominate the society.

Another issue with mind uploading is whether an uploaded mind is really the "same" sentience, or simply an exact copy with the same memories and personality. Although this difference would be undetectable to an external observer (and the upload itself would probably be unable to tell), it could mean that uploading a mind would actually kill it and replace it with a clone. Some people would be unwilling to upload themselves for this reason. If their sentience is deactivated even for a nanosecond, they assert, it is permanently wiped out. Some more gradual methods may avoid this problem by keeping the uploaded sentience functioning throughout the procedure.

True mind uploading remains speculative. The technology to perform such a feat is not currently available, however a number of possible mechanisms, and research approaches, have been proposed for developing mind uploading technology.

Since the function of the human mind, and how it might arise from the working of the brain's neural network, are poorly understood issues, many theoretical approaches to mind uploading rely on the idea of emulation. Rather than having to understand the functioning of the human mind, the structure of underlying neural network is captured and simulated with a computer system. The human mind then, theoretically, is generated by the simulated neural network in an identical fashion to it being generated by the biological neural network.

These approaches require only that we understand the nature of neurons and how their connections function, that we can simulate them well enough, that we have the computational power to run such large simulations, and that the state of the brain's neural network can be captured with enough fidelity to create an accurate simulation.

A possible method for mind uploading is serial sectioning, in which the brain tissue and perhaps other parts of the nervous system are frozen and then scanned and analyzed layer by layer, thus capturing the structure of the neurons and their interconnections[6]. The exposed surface of frozen nerve tissue would be scanned (possibly with some variant of an electron microscope) and recorded, and then the surface layer of tissue removed (possibly with a conventional cryo-ultramicrotome if scanning along an axis, or possibly through laser ablation if scans are done radially "from the outside inwards"). While this would be a very slow and labor intensive process, research is currently underway to automate the collection and microscopy of serial sections[7]. The scans would then be analyzed, and a model of the neural net recreated in the system that the mind was being uploaded into.

There are uncertainties with this approach using current microscopy techniques. If it is possible to replicate neuron function from its visible structure alone, then the resolution afforded by a scanning electron microscope would suffice for such a technique[7]. However, as the function of brain tissue is partially determined by molecular events (particularly at synapses, but also at other places on the neuron's cell membrane), this may not suffice for capturing and simulating neuron functions. It may be possible to extend the techniques of serial sectioning and to capture the internal molecular makeup of neurons, through the use of sophisticated immunohistochemistry staining methods which could then be read via confocal laser scanning microscopy[citation needed].

A more advanced hypothetical technique that would require nanotechnology might involve infiltrating the intact brain with a network of nanoscale machines to "read" the structure and activity of the brain in situ, much like the electrode meshes used in current brain-computer interface research, but on a much finer and more sophisticated scale. The data collected from these probes could then be used to build up a simulation of the neural network they were probing, and even check the behavior of the model against the behavior of the biological system in real time.

In his 1998 book, Mind children, Hans Moravec describes a variation of this process. In it, nanomachines are placed in the synapses of the outer layer of cells in the brain of a conscious living subject. The system then models the outer layer of cells and recreates the neural net processes in whatever simulation space is being used to house the uploaded consciousness of the subject. The nanomachines can then block the natural signals sent by the biological neurons, but send and receive signals to and from the simulated versions of the neurons. Which system is doing the processing biological or simulated can be toggled back and forth, both automatically by the scanning system and manually by the subject, until it has been established that the simulation's behavior matches that of the biological neurons and that the subjective mental experience of the subject is unchanged. Once this is the case, the outer layer of neurons can be removed and their function turned solely over to the simulated neurons. This process is then repeated, layer by layer, until the entire biological brain of the subject has been scanned, modeled, checked, and disassembled. When the process is completed, the nanomachines can be removed from the spinal column of the subject, and the mind of the subject exists solely within the simulated neural network.

Alternatively, such a process might allow for the replacement of living neurons with artificial neurons one by one while the subject is still conscious, providing a smooth transition from an organic to synthetic brain - potentially significant for those who worry about the loss of personal continuity that other uploading processes may entail. This method has been likened to upgrading the whole internet by replacing, one by one, each computer connected to it with similar computers using newer hardware.

While many people are more comfortable with the idea of the gradual replacement of their natural selves than they are with some of the more radical and discontinuous mental transfer, it still raises questions of identity. Is the individual preserved in this process, and if not, at what point does the individual cease to exist? If the original entity ceases to exist, what is the nature and identity of the individual created within the simulated neural network, or can any individual be said to exist there at all? This gradual replacement leads to a much more complicated and sophisticated version of the Ship of Theseus paradox.

It may also be possible to use advanced neuroimaging technology (such as Magnetoencephalography) to build a detailed three-dimensional model of the brain using non-invasive and non-destructive methods. However, current imaging technology lacks the resolution needed to gather the information needed for such a scan.

Such a process would leave the original entity intact, but the existence, nature, and identity of the resulting being in the simulated network are still open philosophical questions.

Another recently conceived possibility[citation needed] is the use of genetically engineered viruses to attach to synaptic junctions, and then release energy-emitting molecular compounds, which could be detected externally, and used to generate a functional model of the synapses in question, and, given enough time, the whole brain and nervous system.

An alternate set of possible theoretical approaches to mind uploading would require that we first understand the functions of the human mind sufficiently well to create abstract models of parts, or the totality, of human mental processes. It would require that strong AI be not only a possibility, but that the techniques used to create a strong AI system could also be used to recreate a human type mentality.

Such approaches might be more desirable if the abstract models required less computational power to execute than the neural network simulation of the emulation techniques described above.

Another theoretically possible method of mind uploading from organic to inorganic medium, related to the idea described above of replacing neurons one at a time while consciousness remained intact, would be a much less precise but much more feasible (in terms of technology currently known to be physically possible) process of "cyborging". Once a given person's brain is mapped, it is replaced piece-by-piece with computer devices which perform the exact same function as the regions preceding them, after which the patient is allowed to regain consciousness and validate that there has not been some radical upheaval within his own subjective experience of reality. At this point, the patient's brain is immediately "re-mapped" and another piece is replaced, and so on in this fashion until, the patient exists on a purely hardware medium and can be safely extricated from the remaining organic body.

However, critics contend[citation needed] that, given the significant level of synergy involved throughout the neural plexus, alteration of any given cell that is functionally correspondent with (a) neighboring cell(s) may well result in an alteration of its electrical and chemical properties that would not have existed without interference, and so the true individual's signature is lost. Revokability of that disturbance may be possible with damage anticipation and correction (seeing the original by the particular damage rendered unto it, in reverse chronological fashion), although this would be easier in a stable system, meaning a brain subjected to cryosleep (which would imbue its own damage and alterations).[citation needed]

It has also been suggested (for example, in Greg Egan's "jewelhead" stories[8]) that a detailed examination of the brain itself may not be required, that the brain could be treated as a black box instead and effectively duplicated "for all practical purposes" by merely duplicating how it responds to specific external stimuli. This leads into even deeper philosophical questions of what the "self" is.

On June 6, 2005 IBM and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne announced the launch of a project to build a complete simulation of the human brain, entitled the "Blue Brain Project".[9] The project will use a supercomputer based on IBM's Blue Gene design to map the entire electrical circuitry of the brain. The project seeks to research aspects of human cognition, and various psychiatric disorders caused by malfunctioning neurons, such as autism. Initial efforts are to focus on experimentally accurate, programmed characterization of a single neocortical column in the brain of a rat, as it is very similar to that of a human but at a smaller scale, then to expand to an entire neocortex (the alleged seat of higher intelligence) and eventually the human brain as a whole.

It is interesting to note that the Blue Brain project seems to use a combination of emulation and simulation techniques. The first stage of their program was to simulate a neocortical column at the molecular level. Now the program seems to be trying to create a simplified functional simulation of the neocortical column in order to simulate many of them, and to model their interactions.

With most projected mind uploading technology it is implicit that "copying" a consciousness could be as feasible as "moving" it, since these technologies generally involve simulating the human brain in a computer of some sort, and digital files such as computer programs can be copied precisely. It is also possible that the simulation could be created without the need to destroy the original brain, so that the computer-based consciousness would be a copy of the still-living biological person, although some proposed methods such as serial sectioning of the brain would necessarily be destructive. In both cases it is usually assumed that once the two versions are exposed to different sensory inputs, their experiences would begin to diverge, but all their memories up until the moment of the copying would remain the same.

By many definitions, both copies could be considered the "same person" as the single original consciousness before it was copied. At the same time, they can be considered distinct individuals once they begin to diverge, so the issue of which copy "inherits" what could be complicated. This problem is similar to that found when considering the possibility of teleportation, where in some proposed methods it is possible to copy (rather than only move) a mind or person. This is the classic philosophical issue of personal identity. The problem is made even more serious by the possibility of creating a potentially infinite number of initially identical copies of the original person, which would of course all exist simultaneously as distinct beings.

Philosopher John Locke published "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" in 1689, in which he proposed the following criterion for personal identity: if you remember thinking something in the past, then you are the same person as he or she who did the thinking. Later philosophers raised various logical snarls, most of them caused by applying Boolean logic, the prevalent logic system at the time. It has been proposed that modern fuzzy logic can solve those problems,[10] showing that Locke's basic idea is sound if one treats personal identity as a continuous rather than discrete value.

In that case, when a mind is copied -- whether during mind uploading, or afterwards, or by some other means -- the two copies are initially two instances of the very same person, but over time, they will gradually become different people to an increasing degree.

The issue of copying vs moving is sometimes cited as a reason to think that destructive methods of mind uploading such as serial sectioning of the brain would actually destroy the consciousness of the original and the upload would itself be a mere "copy" of that consciousness. Whether one believes that the original consciousness of the brain would transfer to the upload, that the original consciousness would be destroyed, or that this is simply a matter of definition and the question has no single "objectively true" answer, is ultimately a philosophical question that depends on one's views of philosophy of mind.

Because of these philosophical questions about the survival of consciousness, there are some who would feel more comfortable about a method of uploading where the transfer is gradual, replacing the original brain with a new substrate over an extended period of time, during which the subject appears to be fully conscious (this can be seen as analogous to the natural biological replacement of molecules in our brains with new ones taken in from eating and breathing, which may lead to almost all the matter in our brains being replaced in as little as a few months[11]). As mentioned above, this would likely take place as a result of gradual cyborging, either nanoscopically or macroscopically, wherein the brain (the original copy) would slowly be replaced bit by bit with artificial parts that function in a near-identical manner, and assuming this was possible at all, the person would not necessarily notice any difference as more and more of their brain became artificial. A gradual transfer also brings up questions of identity similar to the classical Ship of Theseus paradox, although the above-mentioned natural replacement of molecules in the brain through eating and breathing brings up these questions as well.

A computer capable of simulating a person may require microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), or else perhaps optical or nano computing for comparable speed and reduced size and sophisticated telecommunication between the brain and body (whether it exists in virtual reality, artificially as an android, or cybernetically as in sync with a biological body through a transceiver), but would not seem to require molecular nanotechnology.

If minds and environments can be simulated, the Simulation Hypothesis posits that the reality we see may in fact be a computer simulation, and that this is actually the most likely possibility.[12]

Uploading is a common theme in science fiction. Some of the earlier instances of this theme were in the Roger Zelazny 1968 novel Lord of Light and in Frederik Pohl's 1955 short story "Tunnel Under the World." A near miss was Neil R. Jones' 1931 short story "The Jameson Satellite", wherein a person's organic brain was installed in a machine, and Olaf Stapledon's "Last and First Men" (1930) had organic human-like brains grown into an immobile machine.

Another of the "firsts" is the novel Detta r verkligheten (This is reality), 1968, by the renowned philosopher and logician Bertil Mrtensson, in which he describes people living in an uploaded state as a means to control overpopulation. The uploaded people believe that they are "alive", but in reality they are playing elaborate and advanced fantasy games. In a twist at the end, the author changes everything into one of the best "multiverse" ideas of science fiction. Together with the 1969 book Ubik by Philip K. Dick it takes the subject to its furthest point of all the early novels in the field.

Frederik Pohl's Gateway series (also known as the Heechee Saga) deals with a human being, Robinette Broadhead, who "dies" and, due to the efforts of his wife, a computer scientist, as well as the computer program Sigfrid von Shrink, is uploaded into the "64 Gigabit space" (now archaic, but Fred Pohl wrote Gateway in 1976). The Heechee Saga deals with the physical, social, sexual, recreational, and scientific nature of cyberspace before William Gibson's award-winning Neuromancer, and the interactions between cyberspace and "meatspace" commonly depicted in cyberpunk fiction. In Neuromancer, a hacking tool used by the main character is an artificial infomorph of a notorious cyber-criminal, Dixie Flatline. The infomorph only assists in exchange for the promise that he be deleted after the mission is complete.

In the 1982 novel Software, part of the Ware Tetralogy by Rudy Rucker, one of the main characters, Cobb Anderson, has his mind uploaded and his body replaced with an extremely human-like android body. The robots who persuade Anderson into doing this sell the process to him as a way to become immortal.

In the 1997 novel "Shade's Children" by Garth Nix, one of the main characters Shade (a.k.a. Robert Ingman) is an uploaded consciousness that guides the other characters through the post-apocolyptic world in which they live.

The fiction of Greg Egan has explored many of the philosophical, ethical, legal, and identity aspects of mind uploading, as well as the financial and computing aspects (i.e., hardware, software, processing power) of maintaining "copies". In Egan's Permutation City and Diaspora, "copies" are made by computer simulation of scanned brain physiology. Also, in Egan's "Jewelhead" stories, the mind is transferred from the organic brain to a small, immortal backup computer at the base of the skull, with the organic brain then being surgically removed.

The Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard Morgan was set in a universe where mind transfers were a part of standard life. With the use of cortical stacks, which record a person's memories and personality into a device implanted in the spinal vertebrae, it was possible to copy the individual's mind to a storage system at the time of death. The stack could be uploaded to a virtual reality environment for interrogation, entertainment, or to pass the time for long distance travel. The stack could also be implanted into a new body or "sleeve" which may or may not have biomechanical, genetic, or chemical "upgrades" since the sleeve could be grown or manufactured. Interstellar travel is most often accomplished by digitized human freight ("dhf") over faster-than-light needlecast transmission.

In the "Requiem for Homo Sapiens" series of novels by David Zindell (Neverness, The Broken God, The Wild, and War in Heaven), the verb "cark" is used for uploading one's mind (and also for changing one's DNA). Carking is done for soul-preservation purposes by the members of the Architects church, and also for more sinister (or simply unknowable) purposes by the various "gods" that populate the galaxy such gods being human minds that have now grown into planet- or nebula-sized synthetic brains. The climax of the series centers around the struggle to prevent one character from creating a Universal Computer (under his control) that will incorporate all human minds (and indeed, the entire structure of the universe).

In the popular computer game Total Annihilation, the 4,000-year war that eventually culminated with the destruction of the Milky Way galaxy was started over the issue of mind transfer, with one group (the Arm) resisting another group (the Core) who were attempting to enforce a 100% conversion rate of humanity into machines, because machines are durable and modular, thereby making it a "public health measure."

In the popular science fiction show Stargate SG-1 the alien race who call themselves the Asgard rely solely on cloning and mind transferring to continue their existence. This was not a choice they made, but a result of the decay of the Asgard genome due to excessive cloning, which also caused the Asgard to lose their ability to reproduce. In the episode "Tin Man", SG-1 encounter Harlan, the last of a race that transferred their minds to robots in order to survive. SG-1 then discover that their minds have also been transferred to robot bodies. Eventually they learn that their minds were copied rather than uploaded and that the "original" SG-1 are still alive.

The Thirteenth Floor is a film made in 1999 directed by Josef Rusnak. In the film, a scientific team discovers a technology to create a fully functioning virtual world which they could experience by taking control of the bodies of simulated characters in the world, all of whom were self-aware. One plot twist was that if the virtual body a person had taken control of was killed in the simulation while they were controlling it, then the mind of the simulated character the body originally belonged to would take over the body of that person in the "real world".

The Matrix is a film released the same year as The Thirteenth Floor that has the same kind of solipsistic philosophy. In The Matrix, the protagonist Neo finds out that the world he has been living in is nothing but a simulated dreamworld. However, this should be considered as virtual reality rather than mind uploading, since Neo's physical brain still is required to reside his mind. The mind (the information content of the brain) is not copied into an emulated brain in a computer. Neo's physical brain is connected into the Matrix via a brain-machine interface. Only the rest of the physical body is simulated. Neo is disconnected from this dreamworld by human rebels fighting against AI-driven machines in what seems to be a neverending war. During the course of the movie, Neo and his friends are connected back into the Matrix dreamworld in order to fight the machine race.

In the series Battlestar Galactica the antagonists of the story are the Cylons, sentient computers created by man which developed to become nearly identical to human beings. When they die they rely on mind transferring to keep on living so that "death becomes a learning experience".

The 1995 movie Strange Days explores the idea of a technology capable of recording a conscious event. However, in this case, the mind itself is not uploaded into the device. The recorded event, which time frame is limited to that of the recording session, is frozen in time on a data disc much like today's audio and video. Wearing the "helmet" in playback mode, another person can experience the external stimuli interpretation of the brain, the memories, the feelings, the thoughts and the actions that the original person recorded from his/her life. During playback, the observer temporarily quits his own memories and state of consciousness (the real self). In other words, one can "live" a moment in the life of another person, and one can "live" the same moment of his/her life more than once. In the movie, a direct link to a remote helmet can also be established, allowing another person to experience a live event.

Followers of the Ralian religion advocate mind uploading in the process of human cloning to achieve eternal life. Living inside of a computer is also seen by followers as an eminent possibility.[13]

However, mind uploading is also advocated by a number of secular researchers in neuroscience and artificial intelligence, such as Marvin Minsky. In 1993, Joe Strout created a small web site called the Mind Uploading Home Page, and began advocating the idea in Cryonics circles and elsewhere on the net. That site has not been actively updated in recent years, but it has spawned other sites including MindUploading.org, run by Randal A. Koene, Ph.D., who also moderates a mailing list on the topic. These advocates see mind uploading as a medical procedure which could eventually save countless lives.

Many Transhumanists look forward to the development and deployment of mind uploading technology, with many predicting that it will become possible within the 21st century due to technological trends such as Moore's Law. Many view it as the end phase of the Transhumanist project, which might be said to begin with the genetic engineering of biological humans, continue with the cybernetic enhancement of genetically engineered humans, and finally obtain with the replacement of all remaining biological aspects.

The book Beyond Humanity: CyberEvolution and Future Minds by Gregory S. Paul & Earl D. Cox, is about the eventual (and, to the authors, almost inevitable) evolution of computers into sentient beings, but also deals with human mind transfer.

Raymond Kurzweil, a prominent advocate of transhumanism and the likelihood of a technological singularity, has suggested that the easiest path to human-level artificial intelligence may lie in "reverse-engineering the human brain", which he usually uses to refer to the creation of a new intelligence based on the general "principles of operation" of the brain, but he also sometimes uses the term to refer to the notion of uploading individual human minds based on highly detailed scans and simulations. This idea is discussed on pp. 198-203 of his book The Singularity is Near, for example.

Hans Moravec describes and advocates mind uploading in both his 1988 book Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence and also his 2000 book Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind. Moravec is referred to by Marvin Minsky in Minsky's essay Will Robots Inherit the Earth?.[14]

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Instagram It is not precisely the paradigm of naturalness. We all have that, right? Because let's recognize it, with the rise of digital retouching applications, it is quite common that before uploading a photograph we have retouched it to eliminate certain imperfections that we do not like. This is really not bad, as long as you don't go over it, of course. In fact, from the social network they have already begun to take measures and recently announced that they would begin to penalize users who abuse Photoshop in their photos. The one that is sure that this will never happen is to Demi lovato, because it is the vivid image of transparency. He does not mind uploading photos where he is seen to have cellulite (come on, like most women) and it is not uncommon for him to share 'selfies' with his bare face without a drop of makeup. Well, he has done it again, and we have to say one thing about it: we would like to have such a great complexion.

Demi is one of the 'celebrities' who has done more for self-acceptance, as is the case of Rihanna, Sarah Hyland or Hilary Duff. All of them have no qualms about uploading snapshots with stretch marks, grains or spots, attributes that although natural, seem to have no place on Instagram. But come on, we don't see any of this in Demi's last 'selfie'.

"I have not done a #NoMakeupMonday for years, but I have thought that after publishing photos with lots of makeup and very well groomed, it is important to show what is below. This is my appearance 85 and 90% of the time. I am proud of my freckles and me for loving and accepting myself as I am. "

A photograph that has already accumulated more than 8 million likes in less than 24 hours and it has been very well received among his followers. "Thank you for being real", "You are pure inspiration for many women" or "You are beautiful inside and out" are just some of the comments he received.

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Demi Lovato, without makeup on her latest Instagram post: "This is how I look 90% of the time" - Asap Land

These are our top event picks for the week of February 24-March 1. Formore events listings, visitnowtoronto.com/events.

National Theatre Live: Fleabag

Catch a recording of Pheobe Waller-Bridge's solo show that eventually became her hit TV show of the same name on the big screen.

February 24, 25 & 27. Paradise Theatre. $19-$27. paradiseonbloor.com.

The Runner

Christopher Morris's stunning show about a Z.A.K.A. volunteer facing a moment of crisisis back as part of Tarragon's season, with the same teamintact. As we wrote in ouroriginal review, run, don't walk, to get tickets to this riveting show.

February 25 to March 29 at theTarragon Mainspace

Hannah Gadsby

The Australian comedianis coming to Toronto for the first time with her latest solo show, Douglas.

February 27-29. Roy Thomson Hall. $45.75-$65.75.roythomsonhall.com

Brain Storm

Writer/director Taliesin McEnaney's show inspired by Canadian neurosurgeon Dr. Wilder Penfield world premieres at Dancemakers Studio.

February 27-March 8. Pwyc-$60. whynot.theatre.com

School Night Toronto

There's a solid lineup for this edition of the free-with-RSVP Monday night concert series, including the robot funk of Ice Cream and the still-somehow-under-the-radar local R&B/pop singer Sylo Nozra. Also playing: Alex Bent & The Emptiness and Sabby Sousa.

February24. Drake Hotel. 7:30 pm. Free with RSVPitsaschoolnight.com

Refused with Youth Code

Start warming up your voice to shout "CAN I SCREAM?" The long-running Swedish punks Refused are bringing their new noise to Toronto, touring behind the 2019 album War Music.

February 25. Phoenix Concert Theatre.Doors 7 pm. $35.ticketmaster.ca

Cam'Ron

The legendary Dipset rapper recently released Purple Haze 2, the sequel to his beloved decade-and-a-half old album and he's been hinting it could be his last. So you'll want to be at this surprisingly intimate show if you've been clamouring to see him.

February 28. Velvet Underground. Doors 7 pm. Sold out.

The Future Of Work And Death

Sean Blacknell and Wayne Walsh's documentary screens as part of a panel discussion exploring the possible impacts of artificial intelligence, automation and the development of mind uploading to prolong human life.

February 24. Toronto Reference Library. 6:30 pm. Free. eventbrite.ca

Cats

Ladies of Burlesque hosts the city's latest performance-based screening of the instant-camp classic.

February 26. Royal Cinema. 7 pm. $13. universe.com

Toronto Irish Film Festival

Dark Lies The Island, a darkly comic film adaptation ofKevin Barrys short stories, kicks off a weekend of Irish features and shorts.

February 28-March 1. TIFF Bell Lightbox.$15-$25.toirishfilmfest.com

Queerly Beloved

Inside Out celebrates 30 years by screening 18 queer classics at the Paradise Theatre.

March 1-31. $14-$21. paradiseonbloor.com

Western Lights:Isochronal

Artist Fezz Stenton uses 3D projectionmapping and animation techniques to transform the 116 foot-long wall at 809 Dundas Street West (at Palmerston) into textures of ice, molten heat, lush greenery and crystal structures.

February 27-29.7-11pm. The show runs every 15 minutes. Free. trinitybellwoodsdundas.com

Chowder Chowdown

Chef's challenge supports Ocean Wise sustainability seafood program.

February 26. Distillery District Fermenting Cellar. $60. ocean.org/chowderchowdown

Recipe For Change 2020

FoodShare's annual fundraiser puts the spotlight on the culinary artistry and vision of some of Torontos most dynamic Black chefs.

February 28. Toronto Reference Library.6 pm. $150. eventbrite.ca

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What to do in Toronto this week: February 24-March 1 - NOW Magazine

A popular new video-based social media platform is providing local musicians with new opportunities to promote their material but not in the way you might expect.

A few Charleston-based artists have become celebrities of a sort on TikTok and are leveraging their newfound fame to stream more music, sell more merchandise and develop a larger fan base for when they go on tour. They aren't posting videos of themselves playing music, but rather trendy, humorous clips that have garnered viral attention.

Joseph Dubay scrolls through the social media TikTok app at his home in West Ashley on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.

It's similar to Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, offering opportunities to follow and engage with other users and view a personalized feed. But TikTok is skewed toward a younger generation: 60 percent of its users are between the ages of 16 and 24. The largest demographic on Instagram, in comparison, is the 25-34 age bracket, which amounts to 35 percent of the app's users. The average age of a Facebook user is 40.5.

Since launching in 2017, it's become a new tool for content creators, a new way to socialize for teenagers and a new point of interest for marketers. Users open the TikTok app an average of eight times a day and spending around an hour on it, according to recent statistics.

About 90 percent of users are on TikTok every single day to post short video clips (the maximum length for a video is 15 seconds, though content creators can string four videos together) or watch billions of clips posted by others. A live streaming option allows for longer clips.

The app similar to a short-lived predecessor, Vine, but with additional features and algorithms has around 800 million active users in 155 countries.

Its reach provides ample opportunities to promote and sell products, and TikTok-specific marketing blogs have popped up all over the internet trying to explain how to take advantage of the new platform. Advertising campaigns start at $500 a day, while brand takeovers can cost between $20,000 and $200,000. Starting a hashtag challenge a popular way to reach millions of users can cost $100,000 or more.

TikTok's origins lie in music.

The app was formerly known as musical.ly, which was created as a space to make, share and discover short music videos. It was used by young people as a sort of karaoke outlet, to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy and lip-syncing.

Joseph Dubay prerecords a video for the social media application TikTok, where he posts several times a day to his fans. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

TikTok's musical roots might be one of the reasons so many musicians have used it to discuss or perform their songs, upload tunes for use by others as background tracks, or link to music websites.

Charleston-based musician Joseph Dubay, 25, decided to take a subtle approach. He began by uploading comedic videos under the name @emojoseph. He makes them in front of his bathroom mirror, and they usually consist of short and funny one-liners. They've garnered quite the audience.

Some of his videos have gone viral, reaching millions of users almost instantly. As of mid-February, he had 70,000 followers and 2.1 million likes (more than Kevin Jonas of The Jonas Brothers). He posts an average of five or six videos a day and gets about 1 million views every week.

"There's a part of me that feels like I should not be excited by this," Dubay says with a laugh. "I'm a millennial, so I'm conditioned to still think to some extent that social media is bad."

Joseph Dubay tells short jokes in a video in his bathroom for TikTok on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, in West Ashley. Andrew J. Whitaker/ Staff

Dubay's TikTok views indirectly have turned into cash flow. He's been racking up about 300 streams of his songs on Spotify each day and has grown his audience in just a couple of months from 250 listeners a month to almost 900. Fans have sent him money via Venmo and bought his merchandise.

"Social media is the way to build an audience, and you can't be sleeping on TikTok," Dubay says.

He's turned some of his most popular TikTok catch phrases into T-shirts, sweatshirts and coffee mugs phraseslike "Kind & Chaotic," "Chew Your Water" and "I Don't Trust Dolphins." He says he can sell up to $200 in merchandise a week.

Joseph Dubay with his TikTok livestream setup in his room on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, in West Ashley. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

"It's all science," Dubay says. "It does not matter how good you are. You've gotta adapt. As soon as the algorithm says mirrors aren't funny anymore, I will change, and I will survive."

Another local band, Newgrounds Death Rugby, has a member on TikTok with more than 130,000 followers. Graham McLernon, 19, says he's met all his close friends on the app. His current roommate, Daniel Jorgenson, is a member of Newgrounds Death Rugby and was someone he followed on TikTok.

Joseph Dubay prerecords a video for the social media application TikTok, where he posts several times a day to his fans. Dubay is a musician in Charleston who uses TikTok as a way to build a character he developed in the app as well as to showcase some of his music. Andrew J. Whitaker/ Staff

McLernon didn't evenknow Jorgensonlived in South Carolina until they started talking more consistently; before he knew it, McLernon had a new best friend, roommate and bandmate.

"YouTubers andfamous Instagrammers put on a persona," he says. "All of them advertise this perfect, wonderful life theyre living and its so luxurious. But on TikTok, people are talking about bad days, they're finding ways to vent. It shows the good and bad parts, too. I feels like it shows you that no one is perfect and that's fine."

Joseph Dubay holds his guitar with his TikTok livestream setup in his room on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, in West Ashley. Andrew J. Whitaker/ Staff

Like Dubay, McLernon (@toenailterry) promotes his music on TikTok with a degree of subtlety. He mostly focuses on comedy, which has supplied his large fan base. He has 133,000 followers and 5.9 million likes.

"I randomly spitball funny things in my head out of nowhere and spring up and grab my phone," McLernon says with a laugh. "Most of the time, they're very dumb and ironic."

McLernon says his TikTok fans didnt even know he was in a band until the group's album Hideaway was released and he shared it. One song from that album has more than 204,000 streams on Spotify. He admits he loves opening the app and seeing a barrage of hearts and "999+ followers, 999+ comments."

"I thought it was going to crash and burn, like, a year and a half ago, but Ill tell you, it is addicting," McLernon says. "That constant stream and seeing all those notifications is something else."

Joseph Dubay with his TikTok livestream setup in his room on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, in West Ashley. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

Dubay and McLernon aren't the only ones whose music has gotten a boost from TikTok. Lil Nas X, the creator of country-rap hit "Old Town Road" (which has won two Grammys), got a big boost from the app that led to the success of his song.

I should maybe be paying TikTok, Lil Nas X told Time Magazinelast year. They really boosted the song. It was getting to the point that it was almost stagnant. When TikTok hit it, almost every day since that, the streams have been up. I credit them a lot.

Labels are even taking notice of performers on TikTok and signing them.

One example is 21-year-old rapper Stunna Girl and her song "Runway" that inspired the TikTok #RunwayChallenge and scooped up 4.4 million views on YouTube. Capitol Music Group signed a deal with her. Atlantic Records signed Sueco The Child, a blue-haired rapper whose single "Fast" began gaining traction on TikTok.

"It really is a marketing tool in ways that Vine wasn't," Dubay says.

Dubay knows that TikTok can play a role in his musical success, and bears that in mind as he writes new songs.

"Whatever's important to kids and teens is what's important to society," he says.

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These Charleston musicians are TikTok famous and use it to promote their art - Charleston Post Courier

A bulletin board at the community center showcases all kinds of classes offered to the Asian elder community. Photo by Isabel Wang.

Everyone ages, but not everyone ages well. We are born to grow old and will eventually die one day. People in all walks of life are going to face this situation, no exception. The fear of aging may also occur time after time. However, the elements of aging that we fear can be optional. One of the many ways to age gracefully is to have a healthy body. What seldom crosses our mind is the potentially dreadful situation non-English speaking elders in the Asian community might face regarding multiple health issues. This is why Kin On and Asian Senior Concerns Foundation (ASCF) have dedicated decades to assist Taiwanese and Chinese elders in taking good care of themselves by aging wisely.

Kin On is a 35-year-strong health and social services provider for the Asian community. It launched the nations first bilingual Chinese-American nursing home, meeting Asian elders needs. After years of growth, Kin On is still expanding its services. Besides home care and caregiver support services, Kin Ons Social Service Specialist and ASCF Community Center Coordinator Jerry Chang said that the nonprofit organization has also added the Healthy Living Program in 2016 and assisted living and adult family home in 2019.

Chang is Taiwanese and 35 years old, has a degree in public health, and joined Kin On in June 2013. In his time at Kin On, he said his greatest achievement has been to receive lots of support from the client, coworkers, founders, donors and volunteers. He said, They care about what they are doing and believe it is a good thing. I do not want to let them down. Changs passion and enthusiasm reflects Kin Ons core value, which is, True to you.

The volunteer-based ASCF was founded in 2001 by a group of Taiwanese doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers and scholars. In 2017, ASCF merged with Kin On because of the similar goals they share. Kin On Healthy Living Program aims to keep Asian adults and elders active physically, mentally and socially, while ASCF stresses the importance of the why and how to make wiser retirement plans. You have to manage your own aging, said Dr. I-Jen Chen, one of ASCFs founders. Even though getting old, [we] still hope to contribute to the society.

Dr. Chen developed a fishbone diagram when he established ASCF that contained four principles that lead to a healthy post-retirement life: maintain solid health, save the necessary funds, enjoy worry-free recreation and arrange for fitting homes (. Specialized in internal medicine, geriatric medicine and long-term care, Dr. Chen encourages elders to keep learning and joining social networking events. ASCFs purpose is to age wisely, while the spirit is to allow everyone to learn and apply to their own retirement plans. Most importantly, the ultimate goal is to build a Disneyland in twilight years.

After ASCF and Kin On Healthy Living Program came together, they created wellness classes and weekly seminars with diverse themes that take place at the Community Center located in Bellevue. The wellness classes range from fitness, to arts and crafts, to technology, to language learning to health education. When it comes to spreading correct and timely information, the community center serves as a place where elder Asians who do not speak fluent English can receive and get equipped with what they need to know.

With the recent novel coronavirus outbreak, Dr. Chen shared the latest developments in the United States and everyday preventive actions in the weekly seminars earlier this month. Though there is no fixed schedule on when the next coronavirus-related seminar will be, Chang addressed said, If necessary, further updates will be included in the weekly newsletter.

Longtime Taiwanese volunteer Hsu Ba, which means Father Hsu, is the embodiment of how the community center empowers elders. Now 78 years old, he immigrated to the United States in 1983 and opened his own Taiwanese restaurant. He has lived in the United States for decades, but he still finds it hard to blend into the American communities, and he speaks little English. Hsu used to be Dr. Chens patient and joined ASCF in 2004. At first, Hsu was just taking computer lessons and attending seminars. The computer class instructor encouraged him to become a teaching assistant, and he says he went from knowing nothing about computers and online activities to managing Kin Ons Youtube channel and uploading the weekly seminar that he would record and edit.

Hsu Ba is always the first one to open the door at the center. This place is like a second home to meI feel warmth when I can speak my mother tongue, Hsu said, his happiness showing on his face.

Interested in joining Kin On/ASCF Community Center? Visit: kinon.org or contact +1-888-721-3634.

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Kin On and ASCF Community Center build a Disneyland for elders in the Asian community - The International Examiner