What is Digg?69 Comments
- streetstealth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26Batou! I'm sensing a ghost hack attempt!
- Dugg2Death, on 10/12/2007, -3/+26Blue Screen of ...... *Death*
- Arbus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22They'll have to come up with some kind of DRM for this in case people remember copyrighted songs, videos, images or text. I'd hate for people to be able to back that stuff up and use it freely without the publishers being properly compensated.
- aknowles5139, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17The only thing scary about this is if someone stole this or found it... they will know everything about you. It just doesnt sound safe...
- Toloran, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14I'm glad I am not the only one who thought of GitS:SAC
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16Microsoft Brain Backup 1.0
: Restoring backup...
: Backup Corrupt ...
: Restoring with Microsoft Bob
: Fatal Lameness Error.
: Restoring with Clippy
: User not responding
Microsoft Technical Support: We advise you to reinstall the brain. There will be a service charge of $49.95 for this call. Thank you. - muyuu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I wouldn't want my brain to crash on reboot. I'll wait for iBrain, BSDBrain, or OpenBrain.
kthankyoubai - geoffpado, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Just wait until they make this reversible (data -> brain). You'll be able to remember things you used to perfectly. The downside to this is hackers making you "remember" acts that never happened. Brain goatse *shudder*.
- rogerbannister, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I wonder if they will charge monthly licensing fees to access your own memories in some sort of DRM guarded Windows Genuine Advantage scheme???
- ScoTTeh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10The next step?
Reverting Brain to backup 2005-09-06:
1%
...
97%
98%
99%
Physical Memory Dump. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I thought we already invented memory backup... pen and paper.
- Kibitz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7We'll never have to study again.
- rogerbannister, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Hmmm....could we pay to access someone else's copyrighted memories?? This could take pr0n to new heights!
- burke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9I don't know if I'd go quite that far... but I really wouldn't feel comfortable with that kind of data in the hands of MS software.
- rogerbannister, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6If one server held all the backups, could we then evolve into a kind of "collective consciousness" where we all shared each others' memories ??
- Absolute0, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"If you don't have a license, we'll shut off your brain."
- JaytB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Is the title misleading, or is it just me? I was actually thinking they would hook-up your brain to some electronic device that would register your brain-input activity. It would then be stored on a Giant hard-disk and you could re-input the image, sound, smell in your brain. And... aah never mind, I'll just go back watching Matrix again.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The problem I see is that people these days have a poor enough memory as it is... To have a convenient backup of everything relevant in your life would mean doing even less thinking and memorizing. This will cause parts of it to atrophy.
- 81v3d07g0d, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7This is something I have been looking forward too, ever since I read "age of spiritual machines" the possibilities are nearly limitless. Of course assuming everything goes the right way. But hey all progress is forward.
I would love to know what company exactly has such widely used software like MS but yet works 100% time and has zero bugs.
Anymore people just bash ms to jump on the bandwagon, Ill admit that there are plenty of problems with ms's stuff but most of these people are just regurgitating propaganda. - grooviekenn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Sorry Microsoft.... but I think this is more of a job for Google...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5In the book Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, this is exactly what they did. Regular back ups of their brain with their genome on file. Whenever someone died or had some incurable ailment they'd just be restored from their memory backup to a clone of themselves.
- rogerbannister, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Could we trust Joe Blow Internet User to keep his memories safe, when he can't even keep the Windows XP SP1 system he still runs in 2006 from being pwned on a daily basis ??
Also, this could give the term "zombie botnet" a whole new significance!!!! The Russian mafia types that now perpetrate credit card fraud with pwned systems could now take over the world with pwned people! - mistshadow2k4, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"OS bashers need to vacate this universe."
People who despise others for utilizing freedom of speech need to vacate this universe. I will disagree all day and every day about Windows being a perfectly good OS in any sense of the term, but I will not tell anyone they're not entitled to their opinion or to just shut up.
Welcome to reality -- people can and will disagree with you or hold to opinions you don't like and you just have to live with that. - Xwindowsjunkie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6WGA definition- WIndows Genuine Aggravation
- Arramol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@kashi - Actually, I've been wishing for a long time that there was a way I could use a Google search to figure out what I did with my car keys.
- warbird, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The problem is that OS bashing has nothing to do in these comments about memory backup. As far as I see in the article, it doesn't state anything regarding any OS AT ALL! so WTF? why do you guys start bashing XP? Just because it is a Microsoft researcher thats doing the research? And I don't see any "Linux researchers" working on anything like this, so shut the hell up.
And btw, I see nothing about networking the backups either, so all the "ooh hacking someones memory ffs ftw" ***** is moot.
kthxbai - Dundasbro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Problem I see with this is (if it got put further) for the implications for things to be totally weird. What if your brain was copied and was then chucked into a clone of you? But you are still alive. You are the same person but in the same breath are also seperate entities. You can see another you but you cannot control it, it is not you. It's not like you die and a clone of you becomes you, it's not like you control the clone at all. You die and another seperate you is there. I may sound like i'm rambling but it is because this kind of stuff is too confusing and scary to explain properly. Just try to imagine it the way i have (albeit rather badly) explained it.
EDIT: I also just thought of the legal implications too, "thought crime" could indeed become a reality if the minds contents are digitised. You thought about bombing a place? Welcome to jail. - m0laria, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5DRM in your brain.
- Visnik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"resistance is futile"
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Finally a use for those old floppy diskettes...now where did I put them...
- bluenova, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Knowing Google they are probably just putting the final touches into place before releasing a Beta.
- Dhalgren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Right, this is like the opposite of Brain-Age.
- Dhalgren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3And they want to call the server that holds all our knowledge Skynet...
- frostShock, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3They already backed up my brain. You call it the internet. All that porn and the Chuck Norris jokes.....yeah you're welcome.
- ZenMojo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Too many weird metaphysical arguments concern me about this. Essentially, my collective memory is trapped in a box. Is that consciousness? Is there a psychological clone of me on file in deep, dreamless sleep?
(What if I plugged these memories into my computer? Would the ghost go surfing through my porn?) - Bisqwit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2With the theme of this topic in mind, here's another Digg to remember:
http://digg.com/tech_news/The_Digital_Dark_Age
Summary: How long a lifetime do you expect our digital storage to have? With three-year warranty harddisks, Digital Restrictions Management preventing backups from being made, proprietary encoding mechanisms by companies that can go bankrupt (and thus the documentation on the decoding mechanism can become extinct) and everything, our culture may be forgotten in just a century.
Storing an entire life on a storage that has about five years of expected life time at average, does not sound very useful. - neko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ever get a tune stuck on your head?
Now it'll be literally "stuck" on your head! You can't move it to external memory and you have to forget it within 30 days =D - nicepants, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Now just wait till the RIAA and MPAA get ahold of this...they'll start imposing DRM to limit how much of a song or movie you're allowed to "remember".
- mementh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2thsi sounds like the pendoran system..
NSFW http://www.pendorwright.com/
if your killed and you don't have a backup of your brain on file your dead... if you do they re-grow your body and put your mind in as of the last backup
very interesting - rogerbannister, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@ goblindegook
"the privacy implications of all this are staggering, especially if you're going to rely on a distributed environment"
This is exactly why I will NEVER use GoogleDesktop -- even if Google ever ports it to Linux. - Lane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So Basic Input/Output System takes on a whole new meaning. it would be the spine? so when can i get a new "case" when i turn 50 and start to droop?
- goblindegook, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I did something very similar to this for my final graduation project (just the data collection and storage). It isn't about "backing up your brain", like the title seems to imply --- while that would be useful in and of itself, even if it were possible given our current knowledge and technology, your brain simply cannot remember as much or as well as MyLifeBits can. Think of MyLifeBits as a computer-based memory extension, like Google Desktop on steroids, capable of indexing your files, email, web pages you visit, conversations you have, tv shows you watch, music you hear, places you've been to (GPS data), objects you own or use (RFID tags), and anything else technology allows you to record or track down.
Of course, the privacy implications of all this are staggering, especially if you're going to rely on a distributed environment --- definitely not for the paranoid among you. - Jammerdelray, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Google will plant it's search engine and adsense to sift through the data?
- JaytB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I would be more concerned about my 1TB life-containing HD crashing. Yeah I know, I could probably use about 5 200GB Blu-ray discs or something but still, how many family guys would take regular backups?
- astrotrain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sorry Microsoft.... mine is in JFS2 format... Since you have no idea what format that
is, then **ding** next please! - hapax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you backed up your memory and lost it, how would you remember you had a backup?
On the premise of one forgetting memory backups, someone could offer you a bogus memory dump to restore. "Yep, you just forgot about this one..." - thecodemonk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I dunno...there are some things I don't *care* to remember...
- leopardhunter, on 02/18/2009, -0/+1The concept reminds me of "braintaping" from GURPS.
- Ratteler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Microsoft has determined you do not have permission from the RIAA to access the memory of the song "Happy Birthday". If you wish to pay the $1.99 per use licence to remember this song, please think "YES".
*Sigh* "Yes!" "god damnit."
Hey there!!!! Before you enjoy your memory... how would like to be able to use this, and thousands of other songs whenever you want to think about them?
Now for an easy monthly payment of $39.99 you can have access to our approved library of "thought safe" music, WHENEVER YOU WANT.
"NO!"
,,,and with our new SongFont technology, if you're trying to remember a song not in our library, we can replace it with a simular song that has the same beat and general topic.
"WTF!!!! NO!!!"
So you can enjoy your memories without fear.
"Jesus!!!! I just want to remeber when my high school girlfriend gave me a blowjob for my Birthday!!!"
WARNING!!!! You memory has been determined to involve sexual activity with a minor. You are now being though forwarded to the FBI's Child Pornography TaskForce. Please cease all thought until further notice.
This Service has been brought to by Microsoft Thought.
REMINDER. You $99.99 Monthly Microsoft Thought Bill is due. Have a good day. - uownedge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1From the title, and bits and pieces of the article, it sounds like a good idea...but not quite.
As someone who has a very poor short term memory, a device that could be used as a memory assistant would be great...but it sounds to me that what he is talking about is more of a data management system, not a memory backup. This is something we already have. There are tons of programs out there designed to manage digital assets, and being that it's coming from Microsoft research, I can see this as being just another half-assed proprietary software that only runs on Windows once it's finally deployed.
As far as brain backups go, it would be fantastic if I could put on a device at the end of each day that would store my memories of the days events, and then in the morning pop it back on for a refresher, or even just when I can't find something. It could add ever sought after "search function" for real life that I've been dreaming about for so long. Can't remember where I set my keys down? Pop a space hat on and search for keys. BAM! I know where my keys are. Lots of potential, but lots of room for error and security risks as well... -
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