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When I go to write a letter, I use some software that allows me to put together words on a semblance of a page and then print it. The tool is called a "word pro

When I go to write a letter, I use some software that allows me to put together words on a semblance of a page and then print it. The tool is called a "word processor" When we live our lives, we leave all these digital footprints and clues all over the web. It seems to me that somebody should invent a "life processor" that would collect these traces of our former selves and allow us, after death, to somehow more actively participate than we've ever done before. If nothing else, it would be a central repository of things that we left behind -- words, images, songs, memories, etc. Yes, I know GMail and Facebook do some of that, but a lot is in chat, on blogs, in comments (like this one), and spread all over the place. After all, they're my thoughts. Shouldn't my descendants be able to easily browse and use them? I would think that with a bit of computational magic, there could be all sorts of new things coming out of our thoughts after we pass on -- if only there was a central repository of data to start with. I liked this article a lot. It reminded me how important the traces of our digital lives are. Or rather, how important those traces can be.

lylejohnson 15y ago
> It seems to me that somebody should invent a "life processor" that would collect these traces of our former selves and allow us, after death, to somehow more actively participate than we've ever done before. All I could think after finishing the article was, "I sure hope she has those messages backed up somehow." Too many horror stories of Google locking up someone's account with no hope of getting it back. (And yes, that could happen with any service provider, she just happened to mention that she's using Gmail).
corin_ 15y ago
Shouldn't my descendants be able to easily browse and use them? I'm not so sure... there's a lot of things I've written that, looking back a year or two later, I wish I hadn't, yet alone other people reading them too. And I'm not talking about the generic big examples that people talk about like "that picture of you on facebook throwing up" or anything, just small things, whether it's an MSN conversation where I over-reacted and acted like a complete dick, flirting with someone on MSN in what is later obviously a really embarassing way, or that time I told my friend that my mum/child/brother was boring/annoying/whatever me. And of course secrets, whether they're ones I want to keep from certain people, or something private that I don't want anyone knowing, but for some reason wrote about in a not-for-public-eyes personal diary sort of way. I don't know how much there is that I don't want other people seeing, but I know I've seen old stuff I've written/said/done/made that I cringe at now, and I'm sure there's plenty more that I just haven't noticed.
- danso 15y ago
  I've thought that. But when I look at those things 5 years later, I realize that it all wasn't such a big deal, and I kind of cherish the ability to see how I thought back then (sometimes I'm more ashamed at how little has changed in 5 years as far as my thought-process and writing style goes).
- Qz 15y ago
  I'm not so sure... there's a lot of things I've written that, looking back a year or two later, I wish I hadn't, yet alone other people reading them too. And yet there's also value in seeing the change in someone's thoughts over time. We're not born perfect, but we can try to get better.
- tdfx 15y ago
  I've often done similar cleaning of chat logs and emails from times when I thought I had acted stupidly or naively. But that's just us trying to live up to the idealistic visions that we have of ourselves. Having a record of who you actually were, not who you wished you were, could be refreshing.
littlegiantcap 15y ago
Actually one of the guys I go to school with is looking to do that. He's creating a site that aggregates all of your social networks among other things and stores them creating a sort of digital timeline. I'm not real sure on the details as he's still developing it, but the way he described it to me is that social networks focus on the now while his site is meant to preserve the past.
- cwe 15y ago
  I'm working on the same thing! Where are you guys located?
  - littlegiantcap 15y ago
    Iowa. How about yourself?
    - jonpaul 15y ago
      This is a concept that interests me... where are you in Iowa? I'm in Lincoln, Nebraska.
  - vimes 15y ago
    This is a concept that I've (also) thought a lot about and started hacking on, but right now it looks like http://lockerproject.org/ http://lockerproject.org/ has a head start.
- Raphael 15y ago
  He knows about Friendfeed, right?
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
krevis 15y ago
The name for this concept is "lifestream". Lots of projects have attempted it, but nothing has really taken off yet AFAIK. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestreaming http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestreaming
- pratikjhaveri 15y ago
  http://memolane.com/site/ http://memolane.com/site/ seems to have done a great job and will possibly only get better.
  - tuhin 15y ago
    We are trying to bring together the past and the present (realtime) memories together with http://momment.com http://momment.com Other great example is http://1000memories.com http://1000memories.com but this is more of analog memories to digital artifacts as far as I see.
hernan7 15y ago
Sincerely, I'd prefer all my digital remains to be cremated.
- icebraining 15y ago
  Same here; I do like to keep an archive for myself, but it's safely stored in a truecrypt volume and I don't think I'll ever share that password.
  - georgieporgie 15y ago
    Your grandchildren will be able to crack that in seconds. :-)
    - minikomi 15y ago
      Haha.. a nice thought. Moore's law as time capsule.
dvdhsu 15y ago
The main problem I have with this lifestream idea is with how all the data is in one central location online. Because it is connected to the internet, there is always the possibility that it could be attacked. It would be a relatively enticing target. If the lifestreams of thousands, not to mention millions, of people were mined, the information found in there would be priceless. Of course, if it is a piece of software you can run yourself, and you can save your whole lifestream on your own storage devices, I think it is a wonderful idea.
jeffool 15y ago
I think this could work. Create an offline repository of logins, and agree to only access them after a hundred years (or proven notice of death). It would be opt-in of course. Maybe ran by Archive.org? Or as a for profit venture, promising to pass your info on to your family after you die. Of course, ideally, they would worth in union with service providers. So they would agree to keep your data safe that long, and so that it could be deleted after your death, so no one can pose as you. Maybe it should be a site like LastPass or PassPack that regularly logs in for you and backs up your data for eventual dissemination post-death? Providing the password service in the meantime?
tonio09 15y ago
google does this. They know everything about you. they know you better than you know yourself. and they have never fading memory with infinate storage

lylejohnson 15y ago

> It seems to me that somebody should invent a "life processor" that would collect these traces of our former selves and allow us, after death, to somehow more actively participate than we've ever done before. All I could think after finishing the article was, "I sure hope she has those messages backed up somehow." Too many horror stories of Google locking up someone's account with no hope of getting it back. (And yes, that could happen with any service provider, she just happened to mention that she's using Gmail).

corin_ 15y ago

Shouldn't my descendants be able to easily browse and use them? I'm not so sure... there's a lot of things I've written that, looking back a year or two later, I wish I hadn't, yet alone other people reading them too. And I'm not talking about the generic big examples that people talk about like "that picture of you on facebook throwing up" or anything, just small things, whether it's an MSN conversation where I over-reacted and acted like a complete dick, flirting with someone on MSN in what is later obviously a really embarassing way, or that time I told my friend that my mum/child/brother was boring/annoying/whatever me. And of course secrets, whether they're ones I want to keep from certain people, or something private that I don't want anyone knowing, but for some reason wrote about in a not-for-public-eyes personal diary sort of way. I don't know how much there is that I don't want other people seeing, but I know I've seen old stuff I've written/said/done/made that I cringe at now, and I'm sure there's plenty more that I just haven't noticed.

danso 15y ago
I've thought that. But when I look at those things 5 years later, I realize that it all wasn't such a big deal, and I kind of cherish the ability to see how I thought back then (sometimes I'm more ashamed at how little has changed in 5 years as far as my thought-process and writing style goes).
Qz 15y ago
I'm not so sure... there's a lot of things I've written that, looking back a year or two later, I wish I hadn't, yet alone other people reading them too. And yet there's also value in seeing the change in someone's thoughts over time. We're not born perfect, but we can try to get better.
tdfx 15y ago
I've often done similar cleaning of chat logs and emails from times when I thought I had acted stupidly or naively. But that's just us trying to live up to the idealistic visions that we have of ourselves. Having a record of who you actually were, not who you wished you were, could be refreshing.

littlegiantcap 15y ago

Actually one of the guys I go to school with is looking to do that. He's creating a site that aggregates all of your social networks among other things and stores them creating a sort of digital timeline. I'm not real sure on the details as he's still developing it, but the way he described it to me is that social networks focus on the now while his site is meant to preserve the past.

cwe 15y ago
I'm working on the same thing! Where are you guys located?
- littlegiantcap 15y ago
  Iowa. How about yourself?
  - jonpaul 15y ago
    This is a concept that interests me... where are you in Iowa? I'm in Lincoln, Nebraska.
- vimes 15y ago
  This is a concept that I've (also) thought a lot about and started hacking on, but right now it looks like http://lockerproject.org/ http://lockerproject.org/ has a head start.
Raphael 15y ago
He knows about Friendfeed, right?

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

krevis 15y ago

The name for this concept is "lifestream". Lots of projects have attempted it, but nothing has really taken off yet AFAIK. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestreaming http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestreaming

pratikjhaveri 15y ago
http://memolane.com/site/ http://memolane.com/site/ seems to have done a great job and will possibly only get better.
- tuhin 15y ago
  We are trying to bring together the past and the present (realtime) memories together with http://momment.com http://momment.com Other great example is http://1000memories.com http://1000memories.com but this is more of analog memories to digital artifacts as far as I see.

hernan7 15y ago

Sincerely, I'd prefer all my digital remains to be cremated.

icebraining 15y ago
Same here; I do like to keep an archive for myself, but it's safely stored in a truecrypt volume and I don't think I'll ever share that password.
- georgieporgie 15y ago
  Your grandchildren will be able to crack that in seconds. :-)
  - minikomi 15y ago
    Haha.. a nice thought. Moore's law as time capsule.

dvdhsu 15y ago

The main problem I have with this lifestream idea is with how all the data is in one central location online. Because it is connected to the internet, there is always the possibility that it could be attacked. It would be a relatively enticing target. If the lifestreams of thousands, not to mention millions, of people were mined, the information found in there would be priceless. Of course, if it is a piece of software you can run yourself, and you can save your whole lifestream on your own storage devices, I think it is a wonderful idea.

jeffool 15y ago

I think this could work. Create an offline repository of logins, and agree to only access them after a hundred years (or proven notice of death). It would be opt-in of course. Maybe ran by Archive.org? Or as a for profit venture, promising to pass your info on to your family after you die. Of course, ideally, they would worth in union with service providers. So they would agree to keep your data safe that long, and so that it could be deleted after your death, so no one can pose as you. Maybe it should be a site like LastPass or PassPack that regularly logs in for you and backs up your data for eventual dissemination post-death? Providing the password service in the meantime?

tonio09 15y ago

google does this. They know everything about you. they know you better than you know yourself. and they have never fading memory with infinate storage