If a Haitian (specifically the one from Heroes) were to suddenly gag me from behind and erase my short term memory in a dramatic display of acting prowess, this is how I would try to spring back to remember the lost memories:
Prior to this occurrence, I would write down my email, social network and blog passwords somewhere where I would eventually chance upon within 24 hours, like the bottom of the lid of my toilet seat or something.
I would log into my Friendster account and view all the testimonials that people wrote. I’d contact them one by one with PMs with a message like “hey you wouldn’t believe this but I’m suffering from memory loss.” (If I accidentally sent it to an ex, she’d prolly slap me online and say “I’d prefer you stay lost!!!”)
I’d look into my LinkedIn profile to see who I’ve worked with in the past. Like that Darren Rowse guy.
I’d log into my Google account page and use the Google Web History tool to see what keywords I’ve typed in and what sites I visited for in the past several months. Have you tried this? It’s freaky. Google History records everything you’ve ever searched for on your browser.
I will check my blog and Technorati trackbacks to see what type of people read my stuff. I will read my blog entries from day 1.
Assuming my phone was dumped, I would buy a new phone and sync it with my Plaxo Online contact list to restore my database of phone contacts.
I would also keep a menagerie of files on my Mozy account. Then I’d restore files I found pertinent to my desktop. Speaking of which, I recently let my .Mac account expire and got myself a Dreamhost hosting account instead. It makes so much more sense in the long run and costs less too if you think about the offerings. So if you have my .Mac email address, it won’t work starting next month.
Lastly, I’d still probably buy a Macintosh 🙂
Well, doing these won’t restore all my memories, but it does give me a big springboard to finding out what happened to me. Technology isn’t very forgiving in these times. It’s actually scary. Anything to add?
4 replies on “A Guide: How To Use Technology To Survive Sudden Memory Loss”
thanks to archive.org, some of your cheesy websites might be archived as far back as 1996. That is if you have an old url stored somewhere for you to start with.
Yahoo chat logs? (So you’ll recall all those girls you had cybersex with?) Hehe. Just kidding. 😛
That’s sad noh, I mean, ung first line of your last paragraph. (But okay, I know that’s not supposed to be sad pero haha I got a bit sad reading it pfft I’m weird that way.) Ultimately, no amount of technology can really restore memory loss. Makes me thankful tuloy that in reality, there are no Haitians, and we’re not DNA-challenged (like them Heroes), and unless we acquire Alzheimers, we will always remember.. and there will always be something (like a place, or a song, or a scent) that will make us remember.
Yuck. Some comment this is. 😛
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Have you seen Christopher Nolan’s Memento? One of my favorite movies.