So I got a call yesterday on my land line from a guy with a heavy Indian accent sounding serious and urgent asking if I have a PC. I explain to him yes I do but its a laptop. He continues very seriously that he is from some technical computer company (cant remember the name he mentions) and that I should stay on the line while he transfers me to his supervisor. 

I have a friend who worked as a pit boss for an online casino house.

I'm a student (have been for a few years now). I'm finishing off very soon and have been trying to find legitimate ways of making money online. This is probably the most ridiculously painful thing I've ever done.

Do you realise how many scams there are out there? It's insane! And frustrating. You spend hours on line, wasting money on internet only to find out that it's useless. I've been lucky in that I'm quite paranoid and careful when it comes to giving away money. But I've seen enough from blogs and complaints on some sites to know that there are more scams out there than there are genuine opportunities.

To those people looking for work online, do be careful. Always... ALWAYS google the opportunity before you send away any money. It might save you not only money but some heartache too.

More and more we interact with bots - small apps - with minimal 'Artificial Intelligence' sitting on a network somewhere that respond to our actions with some sort of intelligent response. Think about call centres with press 1 for ..., press 2 for ...; or intelligent downloads, or on-line stores which can 'direct us' to products we may like and take our money, or even very clever viruses.
In 1950 Alan Turing devised a simple test to determine whether a computer could be said to be 'intelligent' and is the forrunner for which of the philosophy behind artificial intelligence. The test devised by Turing caused a lot of philosophical dissent : from people saying it was too broad or too narrow, too simple or too complex. Some claimed the term 'intelligence' could not be applied without some form of 'self-awareness'. The brighter sparks said the test was useless as using it would 'fail' some (over 50%) people so.

Number one rule on the internet: If it is too good too be true, it is too good too be true.