Shuffle off to Buffalo - 4. Prompt 4 - Degradation of Memory

It's as if their life together is being erased. This is scarily good.

I can imagine people getting electronic memory and processor augmentation implants in the not-too-distant future. Naturally, they’d be linkable to computers, smart phones, tablets, smart watches, and other devices. And theoretically susceptible to computer viruses.

I love technology, but I don’t use Siri or any of the other Assistants. I don’t trust Google and Amazon. And I’m terrified of the evil intentions of the Smirking Weasel™ in the hoodie.

Oh... this was done so well, I'm almost chilled. That would be my worst nightmare, so I will believe this takes place in some future time, and the 'glitch' will be fixed.   I'd say you're back on the horse now, Cole, definitely.   Cheers... Gary....

Just now, Headstall said:

That would be my worst nightmare…

Backup your photos to multiple locations and different formats.

If a fire damages your computer, you might not be able to recover the hard drive. Cloud services are vulnerable to hacking. All of those fancy devices are easily stolen. The more valuable they are to you, the more places they should be stored.

Friends and relatives who you’ve shared pictures with are good sources for recovery if you’ve lost everything.

35 years ago, my sister-in-law had a fashion photographer friend take pictures of her wedding to my older brother. Unfortunately something went wrong and the photos were ruined. Fortunately, my family loves taking pictures, so there were many pictures of the ceremony itself. But none of the other traditional wedding photos. It was a somewhat similar situation – and they’re still married.
;–)

On 8/14/2019 at 8:06 PM, dughlas said:

It's as if their life together is being erased. This is scarily good.

I think so too.  I thought the degrading of our collective memories by the disintegrating library would be like a couple losing their past.  In a way, it's the effect of societal loss of the past for a community.  It's experimental, but I liked the idea of making it very personal to see how it felt.  

Thanks for the wonderful comment.  

On 8/14/2019 at 8:08 PM, droughtquake said:

I can imagine people getting electronic memory and processor augmentation implants in the not-too-distant future. Naturally, they’d be linkable to computers, smart phones, tablets, smart watches, and other devices. And theoretically susceptible to computer viruses.

I love technology, but I don’t use Siri or any of the other Assistants. I don’t trust Google and Amazon. And I’m terrified of the evil intentions of the Smirking Weasel™ in the hoodie.

That's so true.  I see degrading silicon memories much like human memory loses.  Over time, the copies we make of our past memories begin to fade and lose definition, like book molding and disintegrating into the earth.  

Thanks for the insightful comment!

22 hours ago, Headstall said:

Oh... this was done so well, I'm almost chilled. That would be my worst nightmare, so I will believe this takes place in some future time, and the 'glitch' will be fixed.   I'd say you're back on the horse now, Cole, definitely.   Cheers... Gary....

Thanks so much Gary!  Yeah, but don't we see the past slowly slip away, in human memory, in books, in computer chips over time.  It's like the copies of copies of copies that fade into obscurity.  That's what I saw in the picture.   It made me sad, as you said, and made me think and treasure what we can preserve.  

I appreciate your kindness!

21 hours ago, droughtquake said:

Backup your photos to multiple locations and different formats.

If a fire damages your computer, you might not be able to recover the hard drive. Cloud services are vulnerable to hacking. All of those fancy devices are easily stolen. The more valuable they are to you, the more places they should be stored.

Friends and relatives who you’ve shared pictures with are good sources for recovery if you’ve lost everything.

35 years ago, my sister-in-law had a fashion photographer friend take pictures of her wedding to my older brother. Unfortunately something went wrong and the photos were ruined. Fortunately, my family loves taking pictures, so there were many pictures of the ceremony itself. But none of the other traditional wedding photos. It was a somewhat similar situation – and they’re still married.
;–)

Very true.  However, there is so much history which is lost if it isn't preserved and honored.  That's like a library going to seed.  

Great ideas!  Thanks!

Back around ’88-90, I volunteered for an AIDS education and support agency. They weren’t very careful about maintaining original copies of documents we used regularly and they didn’t have access to the document source (created by a larger, more established non-profit). So Xeroxed copies of Xerox copies meant that the text was not as sharp and clear as it should have been and there were sections that were missing due to sloppy copying methods.

These days, documents are more likely to be generated on computers and printed out fresh and clean. Or they remain in electronic form. But as platforms and formats evolve and change, old data is not always migrated and is sometimes lost in that manner…

Interesting. Poised at the event horizon of a micro-miniature black hole passing through the solar system, our heroes watched in awe as reality was rewritten before their very eyes!

Unfortunately, the new book was without an index, leaving our heroes wishing desperately for a Cliff Notes of their lives!  

Thanks!

This is like an episode of the Twilight Zone! Scary and thought-provoking. 

This is spooky. I may not want to go to bed tonight, 'cause of the dreams I might have. Well done.

23 hours ago, droughtquake said:

Back around ’88-90, I volunteered for an AIDS education and support agency. They weren’t very careful about maintaining original copies of documents we used regularly and they didn’t have access to the document source (created by a larger, more established non-profit). So Xeroxed copies of Xerox copies meant that the text was not as sharp and clear as it should have been and there were sections that were missing due to sloppy copying methods.

These days, documents are more likely to be generated on computers and printed out fresh and clean. Or they remain in electronic form. But as platforms and formats evolve and change, old data is not always migrated and is sometimes lost in that manner…

There is degradation of electronic files just like there is with pen and paper.  We are seeing older electronic records losing cohesion after twenty or thirty years.  

22 hours ago, Geron Kees said:

Interesting. Poised at the event horizon of a micro-miniature black hole passing through the solar system, our heroes watched in awe as reality was rewritten before their very eyes!

Unfortunately, the new book was without an index, leaving our heroes wishing desperately for a Cliff Notes of their lives!  

Thanks!

 

Hahaha!!!!  I love it!  That sounds like an interesting concept to explore.  Perhaps and index should be made!

Thanks Geron!

2 hours ago, Parker Owens said:

This is spooky. I may not want to go to bed tonight, 'cause of the dreams I might have. Well done.

It is spooky, but that is the way of history, memories, consciousness.  It tends to slide toward entropy without constant care and preservation.  

Thanks Parker!

2 hours ago, Parker Owens said:

This is spooky. I may not want to go to bed tonight, 'cause of the dreams I might have. Well done.

Don’t worry, you won’t remember them in the morning anyway!
;–)

This was a nightmare upon a nightmare, upon a nightmare up...

On 8/18/2019 at 11:50 AM, aditus said:

This was a nightmare upon a nightmare, upon a nightmare up...

I'm glad the nightmare aspect is apparent.  I wrote it to ponder memory and the fleeting nature of it over time which is scary.  

Thanks Addy!!