Episode description

Topic: Recovering from a Computer Crash. Backups don't always have your back.

Subtopics: Research on the life-expectancy of consumer hard drives; how to download a free (and completely legal) copy of the Windows 7 operating system; why the recovery disk you were told to make when you bought your computer is approximately worthless; awesome videos on youtube by computer experts such as Carey Holzman and Eli the Computer Guy; the value of bootable CDs and USB flash drives; free operating systems such as Ubuntu and Mint; and why having a ridiculously-outdated computer handy can be a lifesaver as an emergency way to get online to: research your problem, download recovery software, and order replacement parts.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 21, 2015 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 33 minutes] This monologue was recorded on January 20, 2015 using the free Voice Recorder app on your host's Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone.

Stephen Euin Cobb has interviewed over 350 people for his work as an author, futurist, magazine writer and award-winning podcaster. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. For the last nine years he has produced a weekly podcast, The Future And You, which explores (through interviews, panel discussions and commentary) all the ways the future will be different from today. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author an ebook about the future entitled: Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science.