Info 202 Fall 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/magazine/09Immortality-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

"The problem isn't putting it all in. The proble is getting it out," says Bell. "When I started, I couldn't find anything!" (1)

Gordon Bell is the Microsoft researcher who became the human guinea pig for the MyLifeBits project, in which he set out to record and store almost all data from his life, in effect creating a memex like the one envisioned by Vannevar Bush in the 1940s. The major problem Bell encountered was that there was no simple way to retrieve specific data, or "memories." Unable to organize the huge amounts of personal data, Bell chose a just-in-time organization sytem, which focusd more on collection, storage, and retrieval of resources than on strict organization.

Bell decided to “make everything miscellaneous. He switched to a database that lets info exist in multiple categories and began full-text indexing, which increased his metadata -- and, therefore, potential search terms -- by orders of magnitude."(2) In creating a database that could perform full-text search or use metadata to find an item, Bell and his research partners established a technology that is now commonplace on computers. (3)

However, the MyLifeBits project requires further developments in data management before "lifelogging" becomes a mainstream activity, accessible to average users. Bell envisions better speech-to-text capability making it easier to search phone or voice recordings. Automatic face recognition would eliminate the need to label photographs. "The ultimate goal is a machine that can act like a personal assistant, anticipating its user's needs."(4) Further research and development into artificial intelligence could help make the prediction aspect of this vision a reality.

1., 2., 4. http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-09/pl_print
3. http://totalrecallbook.com/storage/Scientific%20American%200703.pdf