Archive for February, 2009

Just Check Your Future Memory Online

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

So there’s this great website called Wordle that makes wordclouds out of websites. Here’s mine:

justcheckfuturememory1

False Memories

Monday, February 16th, 2009

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine “…are closing in on the exact procedures for creating false memories in individuals in a wide variety of circumstances”

Scary! But fascinating! Read more here.

Update: Of course this idea is already at play in popular culture — hello, Dollhouse! Check out this excellent blog post about why this series is and yet isn’t and yet is worth watching.

I Love Elizabeth Gilbert

Friday, February 13th, 2009

It’s true, I do. Check this talk out — she has some great wisdom to share.

I tried to embed the video and once again, failed. It’s not me, it’s WordPress…honest. Anyhoo, follow the link. It’s worth it.

Do Modern Memoirists Dream of Electric Memories?

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

Back in December ‘08 I visited an exhibition staged by the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. This is when all the ITP students showcase their work. My NYS (New York Sister), Amanda Bernsohn, is a student in the program. Just for background, the ITP website describes the course as “a living community of technologists, theorists, engineers, designers, and artists uniquely dedicated to pushing the boundaries of interactivity in the real and digital worlds.”

To which I can only say: Yay! Looking at all the exhibits was like walking around inside a bunch of intelligent, creative minds. Now, I’m not an overly technical person, so much of the programming part of what these people were doing was totally beyond me, but what I found so fascinating was that they were all making interesting connections. Taking a concept from one area of thought and applying it somewhere else. Twisting ideas around to get new, more interesting ideas. And, along the way, quite possibly coming up with products that will be part of our daily lives in the near future.

Take Amanda’s project for example: Urban Windchimes. It’s so awesome. Check out the website for more info, but the basic concept is that, in our urban environments, people don’t always want to listen to other people’s windchimes. With this invention, you can place a wind sensor on your window ledge or fire escape and pay the chimes through your computer. There’s the possibility of placing sensors all over the world — ever wanted to listen to the wind on Mount Fiji? Or in the Bahamas? How cool would that be?

Then there were a few projects that were dealing, in one way or another, with memory. And this got me thinking about the connection between memory and technology, and how the digital revolution means we might well remember things differently in the future. This, in turn, has some pretty interesting consequences for future memoirists.

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For the Love of Blog

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

I have come to a realization: in order to be a successful blogger, you have to blog for the love of blog. Doing it as a professional development exercise doesn’t work. Guilting yourself into it out of loyalty to your readers (Hi Alison!) doesn’t work. You have to find rewards in the process itself. It’s like writing that way. Perhaps this is obvious to some people — it only took me, um, six months to get there. This is hard won wisdom, guys!

This realization reminds me of when I started online dating. My first profile was so obviously reluctant, making it clear that I wasn’t comfortable with the process of putting myself out there, that I got very few responses. Then I figured it out, revamped my self presentation, and met my husband. Again, basic writing lessons apply: in order to make it as a freelance writer, you have to match your content and voice to the task at hand. Ecce signum.