ThinkingShift

We all know about MySpace, but did you know about MyDeathSpace.com? A little creepy if you ask me, but this site contains the MySpace pages of members who have died - a virtual graveyard. As CBS News says, the site caters to twin obsessions - memorialising death and prying into stranger’s lives. Around 2,700 deaths are recorded on the site. And I suppose there’s no reason not to have a site that immortalises those who have gone. We have digital biographies, which celebrate the actions and faux paux of the living, so why not a site that leaves behind a trace of someone who has gone with digital eulogies?

Here is a map of MySpace members who have gone and the stories they have to tell are often heart-wrenching and tragic. There’s the story of an 18 year old boy and his friend who were killed when their SUV swerved to avoid a deer in the roadway; there’s the story of a 16 year old boy who fainted in the shower and drowned. The MySpace pages of the departed have been abandoned as though the person had to rush away quickly, without warning. And the date of the last log-in is a telling reminder of how close the person was to exiting this world. I guess it’s like a wake-up call for us all, nudging us to contemplate our own mortality.

Last weekend, I visited a Memorial Park (fancy name we have in Australia for some cemeteries). A member of my family recently died and I’ve been considering the final resting place. As I wandered around, looking for a suitable spot, I was struck by what I think is a newish trend. I have to confess a liking for cemeteries (no, I’m not weird; they interest me from a historical perspective). When I lived in Dubbo (country NSW) in the 1980s, I produced a history of Dubbo Cemetery (not sure what happened to that piece of work, maybe it’s on some dusty library shelf somewhere). The cemetery was crowded with granite and concrete angels, perched high on their pedestals, jostling for position. There were huge, dark looking crypts; cracked tombstones; little concrete lambs sitting forlornly atop a child’s grave. You could read the stories of the silent “selves” - those who had passed from the Spanish flu in 1918; soldiers succumbing to the enemy in defense of country; those fallen to the fickle circumstances of fate or accident. What I didn’t see much of then was photos accompanying tombstones. This seems to be a European tradition - framed photos of fading loved ones, pleading to have you remember that yes, we once existed.

Twenty years later at the Memorial Park, I noticed graves marked by colour photos - snapshots of smiling grandparents; portraits of people who died way too young; images of children cut down by accident. And so MyDeathSpace is an extension of this - a testament to all the different voices of the digital age - the young girl sharing her frivolous teenage fantasies; a young soldier prepared to die in Iraq; young dudes sharing their music and poetry hoping to catch the attention of the music or publishing industry. The MySpace pages of departed ones serve as a memorial wall and no doubt families derive comfort from posting a birthday message as life goes on.

In a twist that has me intrigued from a legal liability POV, MyDeathSpace posts photos of alleged killers on the page of the victim. This has unfortunate repurcussions - a woman who carries the same name as an alleged baby killer was tainted with the brush of accusation even though the poor woman’s profile was taken down. Clearly, this is also a space for voyeurs or those fascinated with the macabre, who are curious about how a death occurred or like to speculate. And the ads that pop up on the site make you wonder about capitalising on death. And so death and grieving becomes public. Let’s just hope it is respectful.

In Australia, we have a saying - “only in America” - meaning it could only happen in America, the land of the free, the bizarre, the (insert whatever word you like). But I have to admit Australia is giving the US a run for its money with our first How Curious story.

Pick up a new skill! If you’re thinking of expanding your skill base, you might consider taking up an Australian company’s offer - be a real life tester for condoms. Reuters tells us that Durex Australia is advertising for condom testers with the snappy advertising line of “Got what it takes to be an official condom tester?” (Mmmm…what’s an unofficial condom tester?). No doubt with a smirk on his face, the company’s Marketing Manager says: “With this job on your CV, it really will be a chance to brag to your mates about the special skills you possess, not to mention that your new role will work wonders with the opposite sex”.

Should you be interested in this “bed-testing position”, you stand the chance to win $AU1,000. Are you up for it?

Fancy a trip to Mars? If you’re in the mood to follow up condom testing with a bit of simulation, then the European Space Agency is looking for you. You’ll need 520 spare days to take part in a simulated mission to the Red Planet. You’ll be able to munch on “astronaut food”, experience the 40 minute delays in transmissions back to Earth; and hunker down in very, very isolated conditions. Once you reach Mars, you’ll be able to check out a faux landscape and it might be handy to speak Russian as the simulation will be carried out in a facility in Moscow. No word yet on whether volunteers will also be able to try out NASA’s new Russian-built US$19 million toilet! Photo credit: NASA images. Source: Space.com.

Check what’s in your freezer before you invite guests! A story from Reuters out of Brussels is extremely curious. A Belgian man threw a dinner party but forgot to tell his guests not to look in the freezer. One guest went to put leftovers in the freezer and found….the bodies of the man’s wife and son. Apparently, the couple argued a lot.

Look carefully at your cat. I have a vicarious cat - the moggy belongs to my next door neighbour. Said cat has 18 toes; I checked it out myself at the risk of being clawed. But UK cat, Des, is very special - he has 26 toes - 7 on his front paws and 6 on the back paws. Apparently, cats with extra digits were once very common in the area around the old county of Cardiganshire and were known as “Cardi-cats”. (Did they ever think to check what was in the cats’ milk in Cardiganshire?!) Des is a bit temperamental - I would be too if I had 26 toes and rather odd-looking, glowing eyes. But maybe it’s not Des’ best photo angle.

Source: BBC News. Photo credit: BBC News.

Is Mickey Mouse a lot older than we thought? Mickey was created in 1928…but maybe not. The Discovery Channel had a wonderful piece that I couldn’t resist sharing with you. In 900AD, a French artist created a bronze brooch that looks like…well, Mickey Mouse. This amazing find was unearthed at Uppåkra in southern Sweden. Although it might remind us of the iconic mouse, archaeologists say it represents a lion. Source: Discovery Channel. Photo credit: Discovery Channel.

Well, the Mayans predicted that the world as we know it will cease on December 21, 2012 (darn…I won’t get any Christmas presents!). If the Mayans are wrong, we could still be wiped out in that year by a comet smacking into Earth. Michael Drosnin, author of The Bible Code, found a hidden message in the Pentateuch (aka first 5 books of the Bible) that predicts said comet. Not sure if this will happen before or after December 21, but either way, 2012 (which is a Leap Year BTW) is not shaping up to be a good year :)- The Earth’s magnetic field is also predicted to reverse in 2012 and who knows what that will mean. Seems an awful lot of people might be smoking whacky tobaccy, which causes them to make dire predictions for 2012. But should we survive 2012, a year that will also include solar eclipses, then we really have to start worrying about 2060.

Now, when you think of Sir Isaac Newton, you think of the father of modern physics and astronomy, a scientist and a rationalist - not someone warning of the Apocalypse. But seems Newton was also prone to the odd crackpot theory. A 1704 handwritten manuscript of Newton’s has just been put on display at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Newton secured a royal exemption from ordination in the Church of England so he would not have to follow Biblical teachings, so it’s somewhat surprising to discover a deeply spiritual side to this famous analytical scientist. Newton analysed the Book of Daniel and predicted the world will end in 2060, exactly 1,260 years after the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire. Well, Napoleon dissolved the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, so I think we’re safe and Newton’s just plain wrong. But it makes you a tad uneasy when you realise that Newton’s predictions about the laws of gravity and the motion of the planets were proved correct.

Maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised about Newton’s religious side because he dabbled in alchemy (the idea that base metals could be turned into gold. Now where’s Newtons’ knowledge management manual on alchemy I ask - could do with the ability to turn things into gold!). He believed that alchemy could reveal God’s secret laws of the universe.

Apparently, Newton believed in the Book of Revelation, which predicts plagues and fires amidst the climactic battle between good and evil. So much so that Newton also predicted that the Second Coming of Christ would follow the calamities and would precede a 1,000-year reign by the saints on Earth - of which he would be one.

Well, forget let’s party until it’s 2012; now we can party until 2060.

This is the second post in my regular feature How Curious! Many stories, articles and news items I come across cause me to mutter “what the?!!” and there are some choice ones for this How Curious! post.

Let’s start off by learning how to survive in a black hole. This may come in handy one day, you just never know. I would think that falling into a black hole (and I’m not talking about working in a KM programme here!) would be some wild trip. Your body would be ripped and pulled this way and that in free fall. Gravitational forces would ensure you didn’t pop out at the other end. You’d be kaput. But two researchers have contemplated whether you could in fact delay death before the inevitable happens (now, this is something to think about when you’re bored). They’ve come up with the idea of a black hole life preserver. You’d need to think ahead and take the preserver with you, but this state-of-the-art life preserver will counteract the stormy forces of the black hole and delay death by about 0.9 second.

Now, the real problem I can see here is that the life preserver ring would apparently need to be as heavy as a large asteroid and could be as large as one of the rings of Saturn. I’d also like to know if it comes in hot pink:)-

I’ve been reading a couple of books on NASA’s space programme and did a post recently on The Magnificent Seven. So I’ve been on the look-out for news on NASA’s Mars exploration programme. Sending a human mission to Mars could involve a flight time of 6 months or more just to reach the red planet. Like me, you might just wonder how the astronauts will take care of certain business. I found the answer about toilets but the answer to the other question - can you have sex in zero gravity? - has eluded me till now. Perhaps when you think of heroic space missions, you don’t think of things like “how do you get rid of a dead astronaut in space?”, nor do you think about “special considerations” on an interplanetary journey.

But science journalist Laura Woodmansee has been probing these intriguing questions for her book Sex in Space and has encountered resistance from retired astronauts and NASA - they just don’t seem to be comfortable talking about this topic. I’ve been wondering about all the tangled relationships that could occur between members of a male/female crew. If you fall in love in space with a fellow astronaut, do you send an sms back to Earth to tell your partner “sorry, met someone else”! One question I hadn’t considered was this one I found in a review of Woodmansee’s book: “Have astronauts and cosmonauts practised “docking maneuvers” while in orbit? Mmm…better ditch my book on Neil Armstrong’s life and read Sex in Space instead (for research purposes of course).

Should you come across a pothole in the ground, you might consider casting your eye around for some ants. Scientists observed that when ants were foraging over rough terrain, some of them used their own bodies to plug potholes. The ants even considered which fellow ant would be the best fit to lie across the hole. This pretty spesh technique provided the fastest route between prey and nest. An ant may remain in place for hours, but once the traffic of ants has crossed, the ant will pop out of the hole and bolt home.

And the following advice will help us through any encounter with a leopard. Should an ageing leopard jump into your bed, as happened to an Israeli man recently, simply lunge at the cat (preferably clad only in your night clothes), grab it by the neck, pin it down and wait for help. To avoid being woken up by a leopard in the first place, consider not taking your domestic tabby to bed with you.

And should the night-time leopard wrestling fail to subdue the big cat, quickly find your mobile phone (but first make sure you have a ring tone that moos, bleats or clucks). Animal ring tones have a soothing effect on leopards. Villagers in India are using mobile phones with great success, recently capturing five leopards and releasing them back into the forest. Sure beats the heck out of using a poor goat as live bait - pretty unpleasant for the goat!

Now, here’s a challenge for the very brave knowledge management practitioner. We all know that corporations (and society in general) is facing generational change. Heaps of Baby Boomers are teetering on the edge of retirement and a major KM challenge is to benefit from their rich experience before they bolt out the corporate doors. But seems there’s a generational change happening in another unexpected quarter.

Nudists in the US are finding it hard to attract a younger crowd and have embarked on a young ambassador programme encouraging college and graduate students with stories of “fun in the buff”. Apparently, the median age for a nudist in the US is 55 years and one nudist club estimates that 90% of its 50,000 members are older than 35 (well, 35 is getting into the gray haired set these days!).

Now, I’ve always suspected nudists of being left-over hippies or strangely suspect people. I for one prefer to see people with their clothes on but as one nudist quipped: “Unlike any other place in life, people actually look at you when they talk to you“. No doubt!

But I did find this an interesting KM challenge: what special knowledge do graying nudists have that can be passed down to younger nudists, who don’t seem to want to embrace the fresh air? if you could do a knowledge audit on nudists: what to ask? so in the interests of KM, I did a spot of research and prepared some sample knowledge audit questions:

• what does your job as a nudist entail? (mmm…or should that be naturalist?)
• what knowledge and skills do you need to acquire to be a nudist?
• what are the costs associated with being a nudist?
• what are your key assets? (knowledge assets of course!)
• what are the benefits of nudism? (guess you wouldn’t get nasty tan lines that’s for sure).

Apparently, the Federation of Canadian Nudists is ahead of me and has prepared a list of 15 reasons to be a nudist. I’m intrigued by Reason #11: Popularity and Confidentiality:

“You’ll be part of a group! Already, thousands of Canadians are nudists. But nudism is totally confidential, so nobody knows. Naturist parks are in discreet, strictly private areas, well back from roads. Those who go accept newcomers’ anonymity. All naturists respect confidentiality. The only people who know you enjoy nudism are those you tell”.

From a KM perspective, I could immediately sense prospects for a community of practice! And Reason #15 is clearly a classic piece of wisdom we can’t ignore: “If people were meant to go naked, they would have been born that way“. Possibly there’s something in that Canadian Rocky Mountains air :)-

Yep, it definitely must be a full moon! in a recent post, I looked at Conservapedia, which is setting itself up against Wikipedia. Poor old Wikipedia is being pummelled yet again and this time is being accused of “Jewish bias”. The “accuser” is Bill White from Roanoke, Virginia, USA and Commander of the American National Socialist Workers’ Party (look up in the sky now to see that full moon!). On White’s Overthrow Blog (not quite sure who or what he’s trying to overthrow), White launches himself into a long rant against Wikipedia, with specific instructions on “How to destroy Wikipedia”.

Now, I sometimes mutter unkind words when reading Wikipedia entries and have talked before about accuracy and transparency issues with Wikipedia, but in the spirit of esprit de corps that Wikipedia exemplifies, I wouldn’t want to see anyone intentionally trying to destroy it. White claims he has found a vulnerability in the Wikipedia software - wireless devices, which don’t have fixed IP addresses. So he reckons Wikipedia cannot ban the IPs without inconveniencing huge numbers of people on an open network. As a test, White openly vandalised some prominent Wikipedia entries. It took around 8 minutes for Wikipedia to ban the IP address White was using and by this time he’d moved onto another IP address. Through some cunning mathematical calculations, White (who bills himself as the “real and original Bill White”) reckons that one crafty user who moves around a whole lot could wreak “355 days’ worth of vandalism for every 400 square miles of territory in the United States’ 3.5 million sq miles, or 8750 years’ worth of vandalism in the US alone per wireless provider“.

Really, does White have nothing better to do? I presume from his blog he’s some sort of “White Supremacist” - didn’t we leave his type of racist attitudes behind with the 1960s?? If he so strongly believes that Wikipedia is full of “Jewish bias”, then why not engage with Wikipedia by providing quality, non-biased and accurate content? but alas, White reckons he’s tried this and has been banned from Wikipedia “for a long time” - wow, wonder why?

If you’ve spent the last few holidays aimlessly wandering around the Masai Mara in Kenya or the Kruger National Park in South Africa looking for that elusive cheetah or that darting shadow of a leopard, then you can look forward to a new type of holiday. Forget the cheetah and the leopard and take a tour around the Kibera slum in Kenya. Whip your digital camera out and snap poverty-stricken human animals in various stages of despair; tread the well-worn slum paths strewn with rubbish and take a whiff of that intoxicating “eau de sewerage” smell.

Honestly, I have not come across a more bizarre or disturbing article than this on slum tourism in Kenya. What on earth??? I’m not sure I can truly imagine anyone who would want to tour the slum so they could proudly say they’d been close to poverty! not to mention the embarrassment, humiliation and indignity that residents of Kibera must suffer as tourists (presumably dripping with accoutrements of global brands) rush through the area asking residents to line up so their photo can be taken.

As a quote in the article said: “…… how do Kenyans themselves feel about this back-handed compliment as the custodians of backwardness, filth, misery and absolute deprivation?”.

We can only hope slum tourism is not about to become the next big tourist thing and that people can come up with far more constructive and helpful ways to alleviate poverty.