Memory Lane
Memory is a fickle thing. As far as my brain is concerned, I didn't exist before age three. Remembering four or five is…
Delay Line Memory: How Computers Remembered Before RAM
Before there was random access memory, there was delay line memory. It was random in a different sense; it involved…
When You're Convinced Your Loved Ones Are Imposters
You're looking at a woman who resembles your mother. She moves and talks like your mother, and she's even dressed the…
Microsoft SenseCam Review: What It's Like to Record Your Whole Life
Imagine a format that lies somewhere between photos and video, and a device that takes that format automatically,…
How To: Hide Your "Collection"
All this talk about preserving digital legacies got me thinking: What about the bits we don't want to leave behind?…
The Life and Death of the Rolodex
Just a few years ago there were no virtual social networks, no synchronized address books, and no smartphones. But…
Does Our DNA Carry the Memories of Our Ancestors?
It seems like something out of a movie (and hey, it is), but there's some scientific evidence that we actually carry…
Halley's Comet, Or Why We Need Photographs
We say pictures can't replace memories, but when Halley's Comet last swooped across the sky, many of us were too young…
Night of the Gun: Remembering Only What We Can Stand To Remember
Before David Carr was my favorite NY Times columnist, he was an asshole.
The Five Stages of Data Loss Grief
So your hard drive just died, and you didn't back it up. I'm so, so sorry. You can expect to go through the following…
The Future of Storage
If you take the guts of a Blu-ray or DVD player, blow it up, and spread it across a work bench, it looks like this. So…
My Childhood Memories Live In Lego's Underground Secure Vault
Nothing brings up memories as smells do. In my case, it's the smell of plastic. Thousands of little colorful plastic…
A War Photographer's Storage Casualties
The size and quality of digital photographs has exploded over the last 10 years. So, we asked our friend and war…
Nostalgia vs. Digital Reality: The Perils of Permanent Perfect Memory
It's easy to claim that the stuff you liked as a kid was way better than the crap kids watch today, because you…
Bill Nye the Science Guy: Don't Worry, Your Phone Isn't Making You Dumb
Talking with Bill Nye the Science Guy is like meeting your favorite HS science teacher in a bar—the conversation might…
Old Websites Sure Are Embarrassing
The Wayback Machine offers an incredible catalog of what the web once was. But unlike that beloved Polaroid of your dad…
"Last summer, I forgot my friend Norman’s birthday."
Dave Pell, on what it means to have our heads in the cloud, as he puts it:
Nasal Spray Chills and Saves Brains After Cardiac Arrest
Consciousness lost, breathing stopped, pulse gone. Someone just slipped into cardiac arrest. In order to preserve the…
Hey, Put Down Your Goddamn Camera
There's something to be said for watching a concert with your own eyes, not mediated by the lens of a camera or the…
This May Be The Only Existing Video of Mark Twain
There's little action, no sound, and the footage is grainy. But this brief clip may be the only existing video of…