By Alan
"Don't Forget..." - this phrase is often used, especially from parents to their kids so that they remember to do something, pick up something, don't do something, or remember some life lesson. The proper response is:
- Okay, Mom, I will.
- Oh, Mom!
- How could I forget that?
We get annoyed that we can't find our phone, that we forgot to take out the garbage, or to remember the homework due tomorrow.
But, what if you _couldn't_ forget?
What if everything was stuck forever in your head? Good events are great to recall, but what if you remembered every minute after your grandmother died, or you couldn't forget the sadness after missing old friends, or taste of bad food.
Last spring, a woman named Jill Price showed up in the media as someone who almost considers her total recall of life events to be a curse, not a blessing.
We have new studies that say that your brain doesn't forget, even if you can't retrieve that memory.
But, what if everyone else _wouldn't_ forget?
What if everyone else could recall everything about you? The embarrassing haircut you had in 5th grade? The dumb thing you said once without thinking, but immediately regretted it?
Regular people never had to worry about such things. Friends at the party might remember a drunk girl, but since they didn't know her name, they'd forget about the event. Nowadays, 15 cellphones would have taken pictures or even video, and would deliberately have the most embarrasing pictures up on Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, and Twitter.
A pair of Microsoft researchers have tried to make a "digitally augmented memory" by saving everything they do on the net. They've written a book called "Total Recall" that might be interesting, but definitely geeky.
And there's the problem. Once video, pictures, stories, chats, or _anything_ gets posted onto the web, it's there. Forever. Let's repeat that. FOREVER. The net doesn't forget.
You might think that it's safe, because it was sent as a private message to only one person, and you trust that person not to spread it around, but you can't guarantee that everything will be perfectly safe and private for all time. You can't even guarantee that TXT messages will always be private.
So many people make a "My Boss Sucks" comment online, without realizing that boss might actually find out about the comment. Not a great career path.
Now consider those that are running for office? Well, if they do _anything_ that might be embarrassing at any time, then if it's on the net, it will probably be found, and unfortunately, it becomes public. President Obama warned students about that very topic in a recent talk to school children.
If you can't risk having what is posted, or Twitter'd, TXT'd, IM'd, Direct Message'd, Twitpic'd, FB'd, YouTube'd, or blogged showing up on the biggest screen in Times Square with your picture, home address and telephone number right next to it, then you need to watch what you post.