In most scenarios of the future a personalized virtual butler appears. This butler not only performs communication and coordination tasks but also gives recommendations on how to handle everyday problems. The aim of this book is to explore the prerequisites of such a personalized virtual butler by asking: what is known about the capacities and the needs of aging people; which information and communication technologies have been used in assisting/conversing with persons, especially older ones, and what were the results; what are the advantages/disadvantages of virtual butlers as mainly software programs compared robots as butlers; and which methods, especially in artificial intelligence, have to be developed further and in which direction in order to create a virtual butler in the foreseeable future?

Longlisted for the Reading the West Book Award For the right price, you’d risk your life. Wouldn’t you? Cole, Bart, and Teddy, the three principals of True Triangle Construction, are hired to finish a project for a mysteriously wealthy homeowner. The grand house is unlike anything they’ve worked on before, and they’re sure it’ll put their name on the map. But the owner is intent on having it built in a few months, an impossible task made irresistible by an exorbitant bonus. Up against the critical deadline and the threat of a harsh Wyoming winter, the trio will do anything to get the money, even if it means risking their lives…or each other’s. With heart-pounding danger and high-stakes action, Godspeed is a gripping thriller about greed and violence that asks: How much is never enough?

The Pulitzer Prize–winning author shares an “exceptionally nuanced, tender, funny, tragic, and utterly transfixing portrait” of one man’s troubled century (Booklist, starred review). At 115 years old, former newspaperman Sam Cunningham is also the last surviving veteran of World War I. As he prepares to die in a Chicago nursing home, the results of the 2016 presidential election come in—and he finds himself in a wide-ranging conversation with a surprising God. As the two review Sam’s life, the grand epic of the twentieth century comes sharply into focus. Sam grows up in Louisiana under the flawed morality of an abusive father. Eager to escape, Sam enlists in the army while still underage. Though the hardness his father instilled in him helps him make it out of World War I alive, it also prevents him from contending with the emotional wounds of war. Back in the United States, Sam moves to Chicago to begin a career as a newspaperman that will bring him close to the major historical turns of the twentieth century. There he meets his wife and has a son, whose fate counters Sam’s at almost every turn. As he contemplates his relationships—with his parents, his brothers in arms, his wife, his editor, and most importantly, his son—Sam is amazed at what he still has left to learn about himself after all these years.

This book includes a selection of articles from The 2019 World Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (WorldCIST’19), held from April 16 to 19, at La Toja, Spain. WorldCIST is a global forum for researchers and practitioners to present and discuss recent results and innovations, current trends, professional experiences and challenges in modern information systems and technologies research, together with their technological development and applications. The book covers a number of topics, including A) Information and Knowledge Management; B) Organizational Models and Information Systems; C) Software and Systems Modeling; D) Software Systems, Architectures, Applications and Tools; E) Multimedia Systems and Applications; F) Computer Networks, Mobility and Pervasive Systems; G) Intelligent and Decision Support Systems; H) Big Data Analytics and Applications; I) Human–Computer Interaction; J) Ethics, Computers & Security; K) Health Informatics; L) Information Technologies in Education; M) Information Technologies in Radiocommunications; and N) Technologies for Biomedical Applications.

On title page, the 'i' in the word 'bullshit' is represented by an asterisk.

Part biography, part tribute, offers a blueprint for a creative life from the perspective of award-winning science-fiction writer and "MacArthur Genius" Octavia E. Butler. It is a collection of ideas about how to look, listen, breathe--how to be in the world. George not only engages the world that shaped Octavia E. Butler, she also explores the very specific processes through which Butler shaped herself--her unique process of self-making. It's about creating a life with what little you have--hand-me-down books, repurposed diaries, journals, stealing time to write in the middle of the night, making a small check stretch--bit by bit by bit. Includes photographs of Butler's ephemera (personal notes, library call slips, etc.) taken by George from hundreds of boxes of Butler's personal items.

“Hats off to that brave soul daring to write what might be called speculative literary fiction . . . [with] a big beating heart and a mind all its own.” —Joshua Ferris, author of The Dinner Party and Then We Came to the End In this “dazzling debut” (Publishers Weekly), the moving story of one man's quest for happiness is interwoven with speculative tales of the Before and After, resulting in a profound yet playful literary journey into the ache and wonder of being human. In the Before, humankind is created with a hole in its heart, the designers not realizing their mistake—if it was a mistake—until too late. Elliot Chance is just a boy, and knows nothing of this. All he knows is that he doesn't feel at home in this world, and his desire for escape becomes more urgent as he grows into adulthood, where the turbulence of life seems to offer no cure for the emptiness. Desperate and lost, he stumbles upon a support group on the edge of Manhattan. There he meets two other drifting souls—Sasha, a young woman who leaves coded messages in the copy she writes for advertising campaigns, and Bannor, whose detailed depictions of the future make Elliot think he may have actually been there. With these two unlikely allies, Elliot launches into the business of life, determined to be happy in spite of himself. Yet the hole in the heart is not so easily filled. “Beautiful, heart-wrenching prose.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Alluring. Magical. And painfully real. Will make your heart ache in all the right ways.” —Matthew Quick, New York Times–bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook

The implementation of virtual environments in education has been rapidly increasing in frequency after the COVID-19 pandemic. As these technologies rise in popularity, it is essential to understand the roles digital technologies play in fostering connections and learning, the affordances of digital texts and spaces for virtual classroom experiences, the difficulties educators have faced and how these practices have been crafted to meet these challenges, and more. Innovations in Digital Instruction Through Virtual Environments advances knowledge about the pedagogical decisions and lived experiences of researchers and educators both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It features research from those who have worked to sustain and develop digital/media pedagogical practices. Covering topics such as active learning environments, emotional labor, and textual engagements, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for educators and administrators of both K-12 and higher education, pre-service teachers, teacher educators, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

This book brings together Sociologists, Computer Scientists, Applied Scientists and Engineers to explore the design, implementation and evaluation of emerging technologies for older people. It offers an innovative and comprehensive overview, not only of the rapidly developing suite of current digital technologies and platforms, but also of perennial theoretical, methodological and ethical issues. As such, it offers support for researchers and professionals who are seeking to understand and/or promote technology use among older adults. The contributions presented here offer theoretical and methodological frameworks for understanding age-based digital inequalities, participation, digital design and socio-gerontechnology. They include ethical and practical reflections on the design and evaluation of emerging technologies for older people, as well as guidelines for ethical, participatory, professional and cross-disciplinary research and practice. In addition, they feature state-of-the-art, international empirical research on communication technologies, games, assistive technology and social media. As the first truly multidisciplinary book on technology use among ageing demographics, and intended for students, researchers, applied researchers, practitioners and professionals in a variety of fields, it will provide these readers with insights, guidelines and paradigms for practice that transcend specific technologies, and lay the groundwork for future research and new directions in innovation.

An empowering and necessary picture book about a young girl with Down syndrome who gains confidence and independence through a visit to her grandparents. It's Kate's first time visiting her grandparents on her own at their lakeside home. She's nervous but excited at the adventure ahead. She helps her grandfather with his grocery deliveries by boat, where she meets all the neighbors, including a very grumpy old man named Walter. And she makes best friends with her grandparents' dog, Parbuckle. Her grandmother even teaches her to pilot the boat all by herself! When her grandfather takes ill suddenly, it's up to Kate -- but can she really make all those deliveries, even to grumpy old Walter? She has to try! Based on the author's sister, Kate is a lovable, brave, smart and feisty character who will capture your heart in this gorgeous and moving story about facing fears and gaining independence.