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Personal Encyclopedias

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191–197 of 197 posts

Re: Personal Encyclopedias

#191

Post by lanevich »

garciansmith wrote: post #131
JKCalhoun wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It reads like AI was just collaborator. Author did the fun part, AI did the tedious connecting of band records, Shazam recordings to places, songs. That's the use-case I enjoy with AI. Let it do the heavy-lifting, I'll enjoy the rest.

Making those connections are what builds a narrative: writing history is looking at the sources and constructing a narrative around that you think is significant. And if you really do find a connection so tedious, maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe the, for example, list of songs played one night at some event doesn't have any significance at all, it's just an unimportant detail pointlessly padding out the story. AI here…

[dead]

Re: Personal Encyclopedias

#192

Post by Breza »

bonoboTP wrote: post #161
wdrw wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand there may be an emotional desire to get rid of something unpleasant, but some descendants e.g. 5 generations down the line may feel very differently about this. Given how easy scanning is these days (there are literally companies that will do it for you if you send them a box), and given how good the technology for sifting through mountains of text is becoming, and given that it's literally irreplaceable…

No, the dead can't exert such influence from the grave. You're dead. It's the next generation's turn. If you were the kind of person whose diary the kids or grandkids want to see thrown in the trash, then that's how it is. You had your time on the face of the earth, you don't get to haunt the descendants. You got erased, that's it. Or your story gets retold in filtered ways in the fog of the past. Im perfectly conten…

Preserving the past is how we learn, adapt, and grow.

I got into family history fifteen years ago. As a history buff, it was a fun hobby. I even put together family trees for several friends. When I read old newspapers, it's incredible how similar many problems seem to what we face today.

There's also a practical aspect. Last year the Canadian government declared that I can get a Canadian passport if I can prove my links to that country. Now I've reactivated my Ancestry account and would love it if I had a box of personal diaries to sift through for evidence of my heritage.

Re: Personal Encyclopedias

#193

Post by Breza »

bonoboTP wrote: post #168
T-RN-R wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is frankly a selfish take. Society is a compact between the dead, the living and the yet to be born. Having a piece of someone’s deepest thoughts is a treasure for future generations. By deciding to destroy, you choose to destroy the past that the future generations might value.

No, its the natural cycle. What passes away fades away. Anything that is kept up needs to be kept up actively by the generations. That which is valued needs to be preserved, such as wisdom, knowledge, art, science etc. All your drama and idle musings, maybe not. Unless you're deemed worthy by the next ones. I understand that this is a scary thought but our impact is only kept if we act such that the next generations…

I disagree strongly with your broader point. We now have the technology to sort through the minutia of the past and learn deep things. Here's one tiny example. I was able to find out where one of my ancestors lived because someone sent him a letter via General Delivery around 1900 that he didn't pick up. The Post Office listed everyone with letters waiting for them. The smallest detail, but it proved useful for me in tracing my family's origins across the Wild West.

Re: Personal Encyclopedias

#194

Post by stonecharioteer »

When does a man die? When he is shot in the heart by a gun? No. When he eats a soup made of a poisoned mushroom? No. You cannot kill me. A man does not die until he is forgotten! I might stop breathing today, but I will live on in memory.

Dr. Hiruluk

Re: Personal Encyclopedias

#195

Post by 72deluxe »

fuzzy_biscuit wrote: post #67
72deluxe wrote: post #57

I am starting to do this with actual physical books. I have thousands of photos going back over my life, and I am putting them together in Scribus to then go and print a physical book for each year or event or holiday along with some relevant text. Ideally square books that can go on a coffee table. At least when I am dead there will be some part of my existence in physical form, unlike all the digital things we spen…

Won't the SD card data decay in a relatively short time? Maybe convert some part of that video into a flipbook for another piece of physical media?

Good idea, thank you. A DVD and SD card it is then!

Re: Personal Encyclopedias

#196

Post by 72deluxe »

codazoda wrote: post #92
72deluxe wrote: post #57

I am starting to do this with actual physical books. I have thousands of photos going back over my life, and I am putting them together in Scribus to then go and print a physical book for each year or event or holiday along with some relevant text. Ideally square books that can go on a coffee table. At least when I am dead there will be some part of my existence in physical form, unlike all the digital things we spen…

I love making Zines, but I don’t make enough of them. That might be a nice medium for something like this. I’ve also done some light-fast testing. Laser prints (both B&W and color) survive a long while in direct harsh sunlight left in the window of my Utah home. All types of pen I tried were faded within a couple years but Pencil survives. A 360 degree stapler is a fantastic tool for quickly binding them.

I am hoping that Canon's promise of 100 years for the Selphy prints holds true. The printer applies a final clear protective layer. I will monitor!

Re: Personal Encyclopedias

#197

Post by 72deluxe »

modo_mario wrote: post #77
72deluxe wrote: post #57

I am starting to do this with actual physical books. I have thousands of photos going back over my life, and I am putting them together in Scribus to then go and print a physical book for each year or event or holiday along with some relevant text. Ideally square books that can go on a coffee table. At least when I am dead there will be some part of my existence in physical form, unlike all the digital things we spen…

How's the cost for the books? I'd be tempted to DIY those to save cost but Ive been a bit short on time in recent months.

Not very cost effective really, unless you go for those online sellers that offer books from phone JPEGs at awful quality. I am doing it slowly and within a budget, that's for sure.
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