http://www.hypercrit.net/2008/11/03/digital-dark-age-may-doom-some-data/ Michael Becker writes about journalism, new media and digital culture in general. Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:32:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://www.hypercrit.net/2008/11/03/digital-dark-age-may-doom-some-data/comment-page-1/#comment-994 Michael Becker Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:07:43 +0000 http://www.hypercrit.net/2008/11/03/digital-dark-age-may-doom-some-data/#comment-994 Fascinating. I'll have to look it up. As I read your comment, though, it reminded me for some reason of Borges short stories, especially the one about the library of babel (sp). He always had a way of turning systems of organization and our common frames of reference into mind-bending short stories. Thanks for reading! Fascinating. I’ll have to look it up. As I read your comment, though, it reminded me for some reason of Borges short stories, especially the one about the library of babel (sp). He always had a way of turning systems of organization and our common frames of reference into mind-bending short stories. Thanks for reading!

]]> http://www.hypercrit.net/2008/11/03/digital-dark-age-may-doom-some-data/comment-page-1/#comment-993 Jerome McDonough Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:16:44 +0000 http://www.hypercrit.net/2008/11/03/digital-dark-age-may-doom-some-data/#comment-993 A story of that kind was actually done back in the early 1960s by Hal Draper. It's a short story entitled "Ms Fnd in a Lbry", and documents the work of an alien archaeological team investigating the ruins of human civilization. They discover that humans managed to develop storage technologies which allowed all human knowledge to be stored in a device the size of a shoebox. The indexes into that knowledge, however, grew exponentially. Eventually the discovery of a self-referencing index pointer reveals that the indexes have become corrupt; things went downhill rapidly from there. Not a bad short story if you enjoy references to classification theorists like Ranganathan. A story of that kind was actually done back in the early 1960s by Hal Draper. It’s a short story entitled “Ms Fnd in a Lbry”, and documents the work of an alien archaeological team investigating the ruins of human civilization. They discover that humans managed to develop storage technologies which allowed all human knowledge to be stored in a device the size of a shoebox. The indexes into that knowledge, however, grew exponentially. Eventually the discovery of a self-referencing index pointer reveals that the indexes have become corrupt; things went downhill rapidly from there. Not a bad short story if you enjoy references to classification theorists like Ranganathan.

]]> http://www.hypercrit.net/2008/11/03/digital-dark-age-may-doom-some-data/comment-page-1/#comment-193 Michael Becker Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:07:43 +0000 http://www.hypercrit.net/2008/11/03/digital-dark-age-may-doom-some-data/#comment-193 Fascinating. I'll have to look it up. As I read your comment, though, it reminded me for some reason of Borges short stories, especially the one about the library of babel (sp). He always had a way of turning systems of organization and our common frames of reference into mind-bending short stories. Thanks for reading! Fascinating. I’ll have to look it up. As I read your comment, though, it reminded me for some reason of Borges short stories, especially the one about the library of babel (sp). He always had a way of turning systems of organization and our common frames of reference into mind-bending short stories. Thanks for reading!

]]> http://www.hypercrit.net/2008/11/03/digital-dark-age-may-doom-some-data/comment-page-1/#comment-192 Jerome McDonough Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:16:44 +0000 http://www.hypercrit.net/2008/11/03/digital-dark-age-may-doom-some-data/#comment-192 A story of that kind was actually done back in the early 1960s by Hal Draper. It's a short story entitled "Ms Fnd in a Lbry", and documents the work of an alien archaeological team investigating the ruins of human civilization. They discover that humans managed to develop storage technologies which allowed all human knowledge to be stored in a device the size of a shoebox. The indexes into that knowledge, however, grew exponentially. Eventually the discovery of a self-referencing index pointer reveals that the indexes have become corrupt; things went downhill rapidly from there. Not a bad short story if you enjoy references to classification theorists like Ranganathan. A story of that kind was actually done back in the early 1960s by Hal Draper. It’s a short story entitled “Ms Fnd in a Lbry”, and documents the work of an alien archaeological team investigating the ruins of human civilization. They discover that humans managed to develop storage technologies which allowed all human knowledge to be stored in a device the size of a shoebox. The indexes into that knowledge, however, grew exponentially. Eventually the discovery of a self-referencing index pointer reveals that the indexes have become corrupt; things went downhill rapidly from there. Not a bad short story if you enjoy references to classification theorists like Ranganathan.

]]>