Examining the cultural and social impact of new digital technologies, Levy tackles the concept of "the virtual," clearly defining it alongside "the real," "the actual," and "the possible." He shows how the body, the text, and the economy, are made virtual. He then reveals how the Internet and web sites are now transforming the virtual into a "collective intelligence" linked to digital communication. Though Levy agrees with many contemporary philosophers of science that these changes are producing a cultural revolution, he is uniquely optimistic. Allaying the fears of those who think technology will dehumanize society, he demonstrates how the virtual has always been an enduring component of the human mind.

This book examines the capabilities needed to transform a globally distributed organization into a virtual organization (an organization that exists and operates across time and distance with the support of global communications technologies such as the Internet). The multidisciplinary team of authors examines virtualization from points of view ranging from the organizational to the technological to the sociological and psychological.

In this age of DNA computers and artificial intelligence, information is becoming disembodied even as the "bodies" that once carried it vanish into virtuality. While some marvel at these changes, envisioning consciousness downloaded into a computer or humans "beamed" Star Trek-style, others view them with horror, seeing monsters brooding in the machines. In How We Became Posthuman, N. Katherine Hayles separates hype from fact, investigating the fate of embodiment in an information age. Hayles relates three interwoven stories: how information lost its body, that is, how it came to be conceptualized as an entity separate from the material forms that carry it; the cultural and technological construction of the cyborg; and the dismantling of the liberal humanist "subject" in cybernetic discourse, along with the emergence of the "posthuman." Ranging widely across the history of technology, cultural studies, and literary criticism, Hayles shows what had to be erased, forgotten, and elided to conceive of information as a disembodied entity. Thus she moves from the post-World War II Macy Conferences on cybernetics to the 1952 novel Limbo by cybernetics aficionado Bernard Wolfe; from the concept of self-making to Philip K. Dick's literary explorations of hallucination and reality; and from artificial life to postmodern novels exploring the implications of seeing humans as cybernetic systems. Although becoming posthuman can be nightmarish, Hayles shows how it can also be liberating. From the birth of cybernetics to artificial life, How We Became Posthuman provides an indispensable account of how we arrived in our virtual age, and of where we might go from here.

Are you ready to change your life and your lifestyle by becoming a virtual assistant? You might have seen ads or heard of someone who was working as a VA and wondered if you could do the same. You can! I wrote this book to teach you all you need to know to start your own VA business. By sharing my own experiences and insights, you will save months or even years trying to figure everything out on your own!I first became a virtual assistant while working remotely for my employer. After only a few months of being a VA, my employer sent out new contracts for the year. I had to make a decision then for the upcoming year. Suddenly my lifelong philosophy of "I will never own my own business" didn't seem like such a bad idea. If I could do what I was doing for my employer, couldn't I do it for myself?With little thought, no business plan, no knowledge of how to run a business, and-crazy enough-no fear, I sent the contract back to my employer-unsigned.I told my employer I felt this was my opportunity, and I had to take it. It was now or never. He understood and was supportive. I finished out my contract and then I was officially on my own. There was one big problem. Where do I find my clients? The question virtual assistants ask the most, second only to "How do I get rid of this client?"Sadly, not all VAs make it through the first year and some are never able to do more than keep it as a side gig ultimately working two jobs. Throughout this book I will answer the most asked questions, including the questions you don't know you need to ask. I will take you from where you are now to owning a successful virtual assistant business in the least amount of time, spending the least amount of money, and get you to your first client quickly. You'll learn how to grow, scale, and reach elite VA status generating income through several different sources all without being chained to a desk.I never had a problem getting a job in my life. Somehow I thought gaining clients would be as simple. I would prove myself wrong. That one problem led to so many others questions that I couldn't answer. And I quickly realized no one could help me. All the mentors, coaches, and guides didn't understand where I was coming from. They had never been an administrative professional. They were not familiar with the mindset of an admin, so they didn't know how to transition my skills to the virtual assistance world.Through trial and error, I learned to weave business principles into the mindset and service-based world of virtual assistance. I figured out how to do what I do best, how to get paid what I'm worth, and how to enjoy the life of being a business owner. I ditched the traditional 9 to 5 job and made my own rules. Being a VA isn't simply about doing the work of an assistant; it is understanding the business side of business.Consider this book your roadmap. I wish someone had given me one! This roadmap will provide you a foundation on which to build your VA business. You will be able to take the principles and guides in this book and personalize them to your own business. While the process won't be linear, each step will reveal another opportunity.I'll share what others won't tell you. They can't. They don't know. I have the unique perspective of matching clients with VAs and consulting others, answering all their questions, listening to what they are looking for and what makes a good virtual assistant. Any VA can make the minimum. You'll learn how to get the premium clients, how to work with the best of the best. Ultimately, you'll be able to live out your wildest dreams.BUY THE BOOK NOW! I've even included a complimentary workbook to help you through the steps. Don't wait another moment. Let's get started now!

She was asking for it. She should have known better. Bekezela (persevere), she was told. It's because I love you, he said. It's not that bad, she told herself. In sharing their experiences from girlhood to the boardroom, from Cape Town's suburbs to the hills of KwaZulu- Natal, women from different walks of life show how chillingly common male violence against women is. Together, their voices form a deafening chorus. Gender-based violence feeds on shame and silence but in this extraordinary collection, brave women reclaim their power and summon the courage in others to do the same. In speaking out, sharing what was once secret, shame's hold is broken. Heart-rending at times, it is the honesty and courage of the writing that truly inspires.

We live in a wired world where 24/7 digital connectivity is increasingly the norm. Christian megachurch communities often embrace this reality wholeheartedly while more traditional churches often seem hesitant and overwhelmed by the need for an interactive website, a Facebook page and a twitter feed. This book accepts digital connectivity as our reality, but presents a vision of how faith communities can utilize technology to better be the body of Christ to those who are hurting while also helping followers of Christ think critically about the limits of our digital attachments. This book begins with a conversion story of a non-cell phone owning, non-Facebook using religion professor judgmental of the ability of digital tools to enhance relationships. A stage IV cancer diagnosis later, in the midst of being held up by virtual communities of support, a conversion occurs: this religion professor benefits in embodied ways from virtual sources and wants to convert others to the reality that the body of Christ can and does exist virtually and makes embodied difference in the lives of those who are hurting. The book neither uncritically embraces nor rejects the constant digital connectivity present in our lives. Rather it calls on the church to a) recognize ways in which digital social networks already enact the virtual body of Christ; b) tap into and expand how Christ is being experienced virtually; c) embrace thoughtfully the material effects of our new augmented reality, and c) influence utilization of technology that minimizes distraction and maximizes attentiveness toward God and the world God loves.

This collection examines education in the light of a politics of becoming. It takes a non-hierarchical transdisciplinary approach, challenging the macropolitics of pre-established governmental and economic agendas for education. Drawing on the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, the contributors consider questions such as how education might engage a politics of becoming, and how education and becoming function in a society of control. Since Deleuze and Guattari contend that a society is defined by its becomings, its transformations, this collection asks how education, itself a process in becoming, may contribute "collective creations" to a society in continual flux. The chapters bring theory and praxis together, deploying power, affect, cartography, space, relationality, assemblage and multiple literacies in order to experiment with music, art, language, teacher education, curriculum and policy studies. This collection is an innovative resource, creating an encounter with the macropolitics of education, and altering teaching, learning, evaluation and curriculum. This book was originally published as a special issue of Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.

In The Modern Invention of Information: Discourse, History, and Power, Ronald E. Day provides a historically informed critical analysis of the concept and politics of information. Analyzing texts in Europe and the United States, his critical reading method goes beyond traditional historiographical readings of communication and information by engaging specific historical texts in terms of their attempts to construct and reshape history. After laying the groundwork and justifying his method of close reading for this study, Day examines the texts of two pre–World War II documentalists, Paul Otlet and Suzanne Briet. Through the work of Otlet and Briet, Day shows how documentation and information were associated with concepts of cultural progress. Day also discusses the social expansion of the conduit metaphor in the works of Warren Weaver and Norbert Wiener. He then shows how the work of contemporary French multimedia theorist Pierre Lévy refracts the earlier philosophical writings of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari through the prism of the capitalist understanding of the “virtual society.” Turning back to the pre–World War II period, Day examines two critics of the information society: Martin Heidegger and Walter Benjamin. He explains Heidegger’s philosophical critique of the information culture’s model of language and truth as well as Benjamin’s aesthetic and historical critique of mass information and communication. Day concludes by contemplating the relation of critical theory and information, particularly in regard to the information culture’s transformation of history, historiography, and historicity into positive categories of assumed and represented knowledge.

The meeting place for the church of tomorrow will be a computer screen. Don’t laugh, and don’t feel alarmed. The real-world church isn’t going anywhere until Jesus returns. But the virtual church is already here, and it’s poised for explosive growth. SimChurch invites you to explore the vision, the concerns, the challenges, and the remarkable possibilities of building Christ’s kingdom online. What is the virtual church, and what different forms might it take? Will it be an extension of a real-world church, or a separate entity? How will it encourage families to worship together? Is it even possible or healthy to “be” the church in the virtual world? If you’re passionate about the church and evangelism, and if you feel both excitement and concern over the new virtual world the internet is creating, then these are just some of the vital issues you and other postmillennial followers of Jesus must grapple with. Rich in both biblical and current insight, combining exploration and critique, SimChurch opens a long-overdue discussion you can’t afford to miss.

Annotation Elizabeth A. Kaye specializes in communications as part of her coaching and consulting practice. She has edited Requirements for Certification since the 2000-01 edition.