The

memory of bits
We are becoming the authors and consumers of a new, non-territorialized, fragmented and collective memory. February 02, 2011, 6:11 PM By Ricardo Murer B.S. in Computer Science (USP) and Master's Degree in Communications (USP). Specialist in digital strategy and new technologies. Follow@rdmurer Alzheimer's Disease. Degenerative disease that causes memory loss. In a short period we forget things, friends and who we are. We should not live in the past yet it is what defines us, gives us bearing, and helps us to understand the present. Less serious than the disease, yet lethal to our memory, is the forgetfulness, which includes dates, names, sentences and moments that once meant something in our lives. Having forgotten the art of mnemonics, we must rely today on external objects to arouse our memories. However, even our "architecture of memory", the museums, the libraries and files are fragile when subject to the effects of time. On the other hand, forgetfulness does not exist in cyberspace as the information is saved therein in multiple databases replicated and strategically located in different places. In this parallel universe, Mnemosyne, the memory goddess, reigns absolute. Therefore, as we digitize our lives (photos, diaries/blogs, letters/emails, telephone conversation, videos, etc), we move our memories into these binary temples, becoming authors and consumers of a new, "non-territorialized", fragmented and collective memory. The implications of the topography of this new memory are many. Let me share my reflection on two aspects: Collective Memory If formerly memory was private property bound by the tridimensional boundaries of each one's brain, it is now shared within a "collective" digital architecture. Memories, once in digital format, are linked, tagged, edited and copied from a network dynamics, where everything is updated and potentialized by the second without criteria or control. The problem stems from digital memories posted without the authorization of their creators. Under copyrights law "Nothing can be reproduced without the prior and express authorization of the author." Despite the lack of clear and defined laws to govern the digital universe, to share or make collective anyone's memory without due authorization can be considered a crime.

The evoking of memory The second reflection relates to the virtual mechanics of "evoking memory". To find digitized memories we use search engines based on key-words, spiders (automated programs), and a relevance classification for each page. While these tools are useful to find pre-visited websites and files, they fail to work in finding Human Digital Memories (HDMs). To achieve this, search engines must meet other criteria such as authorship, context, geolocation and "timelines". Indeed, the reminiscences of our past are running loose in cyberspace and to find them still requires the proper tools. The fact remains that digital or not, some memories we want to remember while others we simply want to forget.