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Microsoft researcher converts his brain into 'e-memory'

By John D. Sutter

(CNN) -- For the past decade, Microsoft researcher Gordon Bell has been moving the data from his brain onto computers -- where he knows it will be safe.

Sure, you could say all of us do this to some extent. We save digital pictures from family events and keep tons of e-mail.

But Bell, who is 75 years old, takes the idea of digital memory to a sci-fi-esque extreme. He carries around video equipment, cameras and audio recorders to capture his conversations, commutes, trips and experiences. Microsoft is working on a Sense Cam that would hang around a person's neck and automatically capture every detail of life in photo form. Bell has given that a whirl. He also saves everything -- from restaurant receipts (he takes pictures of them) to correspondence, bills and medical records. He makes PDF files out of every Web page he views.

In sum, this mountain of data -- more than 350 gigabytes worth, not including the streaming audio and video -- is a replica of Bell's biological memory. It's actually better, he says, because, if you back up your data in enough places, this digitized "e-memory" never forgets. It's like having a multimedia transcript of your life.

By about 2020, he says, our entire life histories will be online and searchable. Location-aware smart phones and inexpensive digital memory storage in the "cloud" of the Internet make the transition possible and inevitable. No one will have to fret about storing the details of their lives in their heads anymore. We'll have computers for that. And this revolution will "change what it means to be human," he writes.
   
Bell, who, along with fellow researcher Jim Gemmell, is the author of a new book called "Total Recall," talked with CNN about the advantages and drawbacks of recording one's life in painstaking digital detail. The following is an edited transcript.

CNN: What have you learned about yourself through this process?

That's been a really hard question to answer. ... The main driver of the recall turns out to be a [computer] screensaver or something where I go looking for [a digital memory] and I find something else. I guess it's the rich set of connections and people that I've been involved with.

CNN: What do you use to record your memories?

In a way, most of what happens during the day is sort of routine -- what you've done before. So I carry the Sense Cam only when I think there's an episode or a sequence or a certain set of events that I want to capture and have automatically photographed. But I tend to always carry a camera with me. I live next to a fire station and I've got lots of photos of the hook and ladder coming out of the house. And I like food so I tend to photograph wonderfully presented food all the time. To me those are very pleasant memories.

CNN: If we rely on computers instead of our brains, will humans become mentally sluggish?

That's certainly one of the concerns. I tend to counter that theory. To me, I feel a lot freer. In a way I feel like I still remember all that stuff, but I generally remember that [the computer is] remembering something for me so I can find it.

People have no memory of phone numbers now because of the cell phone -- their address book is in a cell phone. So I don't think they're getting any worse or any less facile about that. What an e-memory does, to me, is gives me a really wonderful free feeling.

CNN: If we all record audio of our lives, do you think conversations will become stilted and fake?

I think there will be a lot of court cases and lawyering around all of that. I'm personally less hung up about that. Certainly, people my age and Baby Boomers are. But the current X-Generation, [they think] this is pretty natural.

CNN: Are you on Facebook and Twitter?

Yeah, I'm on Facebook and Twitter and occasionally I will tweet something. Somehow my problem is that I don't think I have anything interesting to tweet about.

CNN: Should all of our memories and observations be public?

Absolutely not. Our own memories are our own private thing, and how much you choose to have on Facebook or blogs, that's your thing.

CNN: What does your family think about your effort to record everything?

Gradually, everybody is getting this idea. ... Think of it: You are a librarian for your life. Somebody has to be the family librarian.

CNN: Are you worried about losing your memory?

... Forgetting is not a feature, it's a flaw. I don't think forgetting is an important feature of human memory. I think it's important to be able to remember things accurately.

CNN: Are there any memories you deleted?

No. When we were scanning stuff I had written a memo about a company, an unpleasant company -- probably the only company I was ever ashamed to be a part of. ...

I put a note on that file that said, "Don't ever scan or copy this!" My assistant who was doing the scanning ran across this and said, "What do you want me to do with this?" And I said, "Well, gee. This is my life." I said, "It's OK, just go ahead." So it's all there.

CNN: Do you think it's possible for people to turn away from new technologies? Or are advances like "Total Recall" inevitable?

I think it's inevitable because so much content is being created. Virtually everything is coming in digitally -- everything from your photos to your videos to your music. ... I will love that day when the world is just bits. It's the ultimate in green, by the way.

Pain Management

Living in Pain

Pain has been defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) as “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience which we primarily associate with tissue damage or describe in terms of such damage, or both.”

Pain is inherently subjective, therefore patient self report is the only way to assess the problem for relevant diagnosis or management. Ideally, the description of the pain should characterize its severity, topography, quality and factors that re–emit or relieve it.

Pain Intensity

Measuring pain severity is essential and may have important therapeutic implications. Pain can be measured validly and reliably using simple scales or instruments. For chronic pain, setting a time frame may be useful, such as the past week or the past month, and then obtaining separate measurements for pain in general, pain at its worst, and pain at its least. The descriptions used by patients to describe the quality of the pain are considered to diagnose the underlying pathology.

Pain that appears to be sustained by ongoing activation of pain–sensitive nerves, or nociceptive pains, are generally described as familiar by patients. If the injured tissue is somatic, such as bone, the pain is often described as aching or throbbing, and sometimes stabbing. If injury is to skin, then it is often described as burning. If the injured tissue is visceral, the pain often varies with the structures involved and is described as cramping or gnawing pain pattern and is referred to common cutaneous sites. Damage to other visceral tissues, such as mesentery, is associated with pain that is described as aching, stabbing, or throbbing.

Why Pain Management?

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why do I need another doctor for pain management?” Many people with chronic pain have seen multiple specialists from neurologists, orthopedics therapists to psychologists. They continue to suffer and do not know what to do. There are many reasons why they should see a pain specialist. First, you need to understand the specific reason for your pain, then more focused and individualized treatment can be implemented. This evaluation is as important as all other tests. (MRI, X–ray, etc.). Reassurance and re–evaluating treatment may be necessary. Lastly, if nothing can be done medically, you should begin to live with your pain under pain specialists’ guidance and continue to maintain your physical and medical condition to the best of your capacity.

Chronic pain is not a choice but suffering is. What is the scope of pain management?

Pain management includes different modalities and treatments such as medication therapy, injections or nerve blocks, physical therapy and reactivation, psychotherapy, biofeedback, acupuncture, and other implantable devices. Pain Centers usually offer more than one type of treatment. You may be referred for one specific treatment such as nerve block only.

Minimally Invasive Pain Management Treatments

There have been many times where pain whether in the back area, neck, joints, or knees, has left a limiting scenario on my daily function.  Pain in any of these areas can have a major psychological effect on whether or not a person accomplishes the tasks they have to do.  In many cases these tasks may be mundane or trivial, such as, going to the post office to mail your bills or going to the store for groceries, but the pain may influence the decision of not doing these tasks.  The longer people ignore the pain, the more intense the psychological effect, which in the long run, doesn't help people feel good about themselves.

There is help at your local wellness, chiropractic, or pain management center. The following summaries are minimally invasive pain management treatments that have been proven to have a positive effect on patients searching for pain relief.


Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS):

SCS is a slightly invasive procedure designed to implant a non-obtrusive system into the patient's body. This system is similar to a modern day pacemaker. SCS delivers small streams of electrical impulses to the spinal cord targeting pain. The patient is given a remote to control the frequency
and strength of SCS as needed.

Sacroiliac Joint Injections (SI):

SI's are a trial and error procedure of pain location and management. A mild anesthetic is injected into different areas of the sacroliac joint which is located at the lower base of the spine. If the patient feels relieved from specific injections, problematic areas along this joint of the spinal cord become more recognizable. If the patient feels mild to no relief from specific injections, the doctor will concentrate on other possibilities of pain causation. SI's offer temporary relief of pain but may result in longterm diagnosis of pain management.

Medical Branch Blocks:

Scientific research has suggested that specific back pains are caused by medial branch nerves. A medial branch block is an injection that interrupts the signal between the medial nerve and pain sensation. This is a nonsurgical, semi-permanent procedure.

Manipulation Under Anesthesia (MUA):

This type of procedure is common for a variety of chronic back and neck conditions. The doctor is able to manipulate pain ridden areas that are corroded with damaged tissue while the patient is sedated. Through a series of stretches, kinesthetic movements, and massage, the doctor and
associates are able to break up the tissue afflicted areas.

Radio Frequency Neurolysis (RFN):

RFN is a way of determining which nerve endings along the spinal cord are damaged and causing the patient pain. By locating these destructive nerves through a series of injections and x-ray technology, the doctor is able to pinpoint areas of nerve damage. Once these locations have been determined the doctor uses radio frequency neurolysis to destroy damaging nerve cells resulting in relief from chronic back pain. 

For patient education videos and more information about pain management, visit the New Jersey Center of Spine and Pain Management.

Research on Colon Cancer

By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Laura J. Martin, MD, MPH

March 4, 2010 -- A blood test may soon be able to predict which colon cancers are likely to spread to other parts of the body, according to a new study.

Researchers found two proteins in the blood that may serve as potential biomarkers of colon cancers that are more aggressive and likely to spread.

Colon cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. with more than 50,000 deaths reported each year. Surgery is the main treatment for the disease, but almost half of those treated for colon cancer experience a recurrence of the disease within five years due to cancer cells spreading to other parts of the body.

Researchers say determining which colon cancers will spread is difficult because there are no reliable chemical markers in the body for predicting its spread, known in medical terms as metastasis.

In the study, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, Chinese researchers compared proteins produced by the original colon cancer tumor cells to those of metastasized cells from a single person with colon cancer.

The results highlighted two proteins that occurred at much higher levels in the metastatic cells than in the original colon cancer cells.

Although further research is needed to confirm these findings, researchers say the proteins may bring them a step closer to understanding the disease.

"The identified candidate proteins," write researchers Hua Xue of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, and colleagues, "will facilitate our understanding toward the molecular mechanism of [colorectal cancer] metastasis as well as providing useful biomarkers for cancer prevention, detection and intervention in the future."

elroman29: RENUE – Reading Embracing Nature in our Urban Environment » Video:

elroman29: RENUE – Reading Embracing Nature in our Urban Environment » Video:

Acupuncture as a Pain Management Technique

By Leah Rampolla

Because acupuncture treatment involves the insertion of needles into the skin, many believe this to be a strange and ineffective pain management technique. In actuality, acupuncture can be utilized as an extremely effective pain relief treatment for a variety of ailments. While acupuncture does involve the insertion of needles into the skin at multiple sites on the body, the needles are very small and doweled. Many patients receiving treatment are surprised to learn that the needle has already been inserted into their skin and did not feel any pain during the insertion.

In China, practitioners use acupuncture as a pain management technique for a variety of ailments and Western medicine has begun to embrace this alternative kind of pain management as valid and effective. While there is not a significant amount of concrete data to substantiate these claims, the “clinical impressions” of the acupuncturist as well as testimonials of the patients treated suggest that acupuncture is indeed an effective and valid form of pain management.

Acupuncture can be used to alleviate pain caused by ailments such as rheumatism, arthritis, sprains, headaches; particularly migraine headaches, strokes, neuralgias, nervous disorders, diseases of the digestive system, diseases of the respiratory system, diseases of the heart and blood vessels, obstetrics, and can also assist in addiction treatment. Acupuncture is commonplace in the East and is increasing in popularity in the West. Many patients seek acupuncture as an alternative form of pain management that is natural and side effect free.


Not all diseases respond to acupuncture treatment, but many patients who receive the treatment claim that the pain relief can be felt almost immediately and is long lasting. For more information or a free Acupuncture first visit, feel free to call (732)226-2153 or visit www.advancedwellnessacupuncture.com

Alternative Pain Management Methods

By Leah Rampolla

Those who participate in full contact sports such as roller derby often suffer from sprained and strained muscles, internal and external bruising, abrasions, and the occasional fractured bone. The obvious pain management solution for these types of sports related injuries is traditional Western medicine and methods. A trip to the doctor for a prescription for pain relief in pill form or a trip to the drug store for some encapsulated over the counter pain relief is the general pain remedy for most Westerners.


Alternative pain management methods such as acupuncture are becoming more recognized in the West and the acceptance is becoming more wide spread.

Acupuncture, the Chinese practice of the insertion of needles into specific areas of the body to facilitate pain relief, is becoming recognized and accepted as an effective pain management technique. The Chinese believe that acupuncture is an effective means of pain management for a numbers of diseases and maladies and is practiced widely in the East. Western medicine is becoming more accepting of acupuncture as a pain management technique. Many acupuncture patients claim almost immediate pain relief and no side effects from acupuncture treatments.

Many Westerners are beginning to embrace alternative pain management methods instead of or in conjunction with tradition pain management methods more than ever before. Yoga, crystal healing, and herbal remedies are all increasing in popularity and gaining validity as effective pain management techniques. Alternative pain management techniques such as yoga offer the patient additional benefits such as increased strength and cardiovascular fitness, improved breathing techniques, and calmness of mind. Many little known alternative pain management techniques are often just as or more effective than traditional pain relief methods and are worth exploring.

If your living with pain in New Jersey and want more information feel free to call (732)226-2153.

Searching for Doctor Pain

When I was in the 8th grade, I threw my back out in between bells and have had chronic back pain since.  As a dancer, this did not help my profession.  Now, at 31, I still wake up with the aches.  If I sleep in a weird position, on a different bed (hotel mattresses are the worst), or have my neck elevated even slightly too high or too low, my poor back throbs.  I have tried yoga, Pilates, stretching, massages, flipping my mattress, getting new mattresses, sleeping on alternate sides of the bed, hot showers, you name it.  Not wanting to take a Bayer everyday like an oldster, I began researching other alternatives.  Advancing technology has taken on a whole new spectrum of therapies for chronic back pain.  Surgery may be an option, but now there are many outpatient procedures that provide back pain relief.     Here are important things I have found out in my quest for pain relief - Find a great doctor.

The internet is a wonderful tool in researching doctors in your area and beyond that have the specific qualifications you are looking for.  Do your homework.  When searching for a doctor, make sure he/she is well versed in spine pain management, pain relief, and chronic back pain issues.  Also, treat your first visit with them as a test.  You want your doctor to take your symptoms seriously and show genuine concern.  Your doctor should focus on you, not themselves, and make secure eye contact.  It is also imperative that your new doctor be knowledgeable of advanced therapies and alternative medicines.  Keep in mind that doctors see a lot of patients.  You must place emphasis on your most important issues and symptoms.  Some doctors have a habit of honing in on key words you mention and making quick diagnoses.  It's important that your doctor listen to your specific problems and develop a few different resolutions.  By following these simple practices, you will be able to find a great doctor who can lead you to the road to recovery.

Brief History Lesson on the Closest Idea Out There To The Actual Truth

This is an excerpt from Educational Psychology Interactive by Huitt, W. (2007)


Abraham Maslow (1954)  attempted to synthesize a large body of research related to human motivation. Prior to Maslow, researchers generally focused separately on such factors as biology, achievement, or power to explain what energizes, directs, and sustains human behavior. Maslow posited a hierarchy of human needs based on two groupings: deficiency needs and growth needs. Within the deficiency needs, each lower need must be met before moving to the next higher level. Once each of these needs has been satisfied, if at some future time a deficiency is detected, the individual will act to remove the deficiency.

The first four levels are:
1) Physiological: hunger, thirst, bodily comforts
2) Safety/security: out of danger
3) Belonginess and Love: affiliate with others, be accepted
4) Esteem: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition

According to Maslow, an individual is ready to act upon the growth needs if and only if the deficiency needs are met. Maslow's initial conceptualization included only one growth need, self-actualization.

Self-actualized people are characterized by:
1) being problem-focused
2) incorporating an ongoing freshness of appreciation of life
3) a concern about personal growth
4) the ability to have peak experiences

Maslow later differentiated the growth need of self-actualization, specifically naming two lower-level growth needs prior to general level of self-actualization(Maslow & Lowery, 1998) and one beyond that level (Maslow, 1971).

They are:
5) Cognitive: to know, to understand, and explore
6) Aesthetic: symmetry, order, and beauty
7) Self-actualization: to find self-fulfillment and realize one's potential
8) Self-transcendence: to connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential

Maslow's basic position is that as one becomes more self-actualized and self-transcendent, one becomes more wise (develops wisdom) and automatically knows what to do in a wide variety of situations. Maslow recognized that not all personalities followed his proposed hierarchy. While a variety of personality dimensions might be considered as related to motivational needs, one of the most often cited is that of introversion and extroversion.

Reorganizing Maslow's hierarchy based on the work of Alderfer and considering the introversion/extraversion dimension of personality results in three levels, each with an introverted and extroverted component. This organization suggests there may be two aspects of each level that differentiate how people relate to each set of needs. Different personalities might relate more to one dimension than the other. For example, an introvert at the level of  Other/Relatedness might be more concerned with his or her own perceptions of being included in a group, whereas an extrovert at that same level would pay more attention to how others value that membership.

There is much work still to be done in this area before we can rely on a theory to be more informative than simply collecting and analyzing data. However, this body of research can be very important to parents, educators, administrators and others concerned with developing and using human potential. It provides an outline of some important issues that must be addressed if human beings are to achieve the levels of character and competencies necessary to be successful in the information age.

THE REVIVAL OF A POST-INDUSTRIAL TOWN

While driving through the city of Reading, PA, I can't help but fall into a melancholy mood.  To say that this city has seen better days is an understatement.  The ruins of once thriving textile mills and factories of various industrial products now cast a shadow of gloom over the remaining cityscape.  I try to avoid making that drive because lets face it, who likes to feel sad.  On the rare occasion when I do find myself navigating through this desolate place, I notice trash on the street, dilapidated row homes due to years of neglect and empty lots overrun by weeds and discarded furniture.  I can recall stopping at a traffic light and seeing an old woman sweeping trash out into the gutter and I remember thinking "why not just put it in a trash bag."  That bothered me for a few minutes, but I shrugged it off as city life.  Like many struggling cities, Reading is suffering from high unemployment, poverty and crime.  And this once beautiful town riddled with some of the finest and diverse architecture is left to decay and fade from our memories due in part from a generation or two of devaluation.

   Through the past few decades there has been a steady stream of people from New York City and Philadelphia flowing into town in search of cheap housing.  And there is no shortage of landlords who want to rent to anyone just as long as they are getting their monthly payments. There are two major problems that come from this, especially in a post-industrial town.  The first problem is that "there is barely any homeowners pride in these areas." It's not the property of the inhabitant so why should they worry if the place is in disarray. Problem number two being "what do all these renters do in a town with no industry."  Sit on their front porches and stare at each other I suppose.  If you ask me, there was a lack of strategy on the part of many of these families when making the choice to come here.  Sure, there are cheap places to live in this area, but how are you going to pay for it.  Where are you going to find employment? Are you planning on living off the tax payer's dime? I'll leave that topic for another time.

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  The town of Reading, as well as many like it, is teetering on the brink of failure and is poised for a new identity.  But pointing out the problems is extremely easy.  After you read this, ask the first person you know "what's the solution for your failing town?"  I'm sure you'll get a wide range of answers from volunteer programs to employment opportunity, from crime to respect for the community, from social change to an unoriginal racial joke.  Everyone usually has an answer to contribute but few think their conclusions thoroughly, let alone act on them.  For the romantics out there, there is hope.  And that hope is only materialized through action.

  Stereotypes often litter the general public opinion, which consequentially helps form a blanket impression about all city inhabitants.  Fortunately, there are those, who are willing to act and not just posture in a discussion so the person next to him regards him as insightful.  The forming of ideas and discussing them among colleagues, neighbors, and peers are valuable portions to resolving any challenge, but they are only portions.  Action then becomes required to make these ideas existent.  Through various forms of activism, communities can become revitalized and welcoming.  There are recycling programs, charities and other nonprofit organizations that have progressed past the idea phase and now they are working to make a positive change in these neighborhoods.   Many provide education and social awareness while others provide the means for achieving the revival process.  Take a group called RENUE for example.  RENUE is collaboration of Reading residents working toward the beautification and rejuvenation of their neighborhoods.  Their program focuses on educating communities about damaging and unproductive waste and harmful pollutants.  Despite being a small group, RENUE is making a big impact in the inner city.  Their actions are a testimony of positive values plus cooperation between city residents to achieve a common beneficial goal.  With initiative, there is always success.

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  Secondly, the key to bringing urban areas back to life is revitalizing commercial districts. There are several dilemmas with bringing in businesses.   Many federal guidelines favor a suburban investment.  Also local zoning and tax policies in the city make it less desirable then the suburbs.  One idea would be uniting the public with those in the urban community willing to make a change and create effective partnership between themselves and the city government.  Networks of communication need to be put in place in order to keep the issues on the surface.   Some key issues are commercial district revitalization, adjacent neighborhoods re-beautification and ample security to assure the average suburbanite that all is well.  There will be a need for outreach and education for the existing commercial district and adjacent neighborhoods in order emphasize the importance of improving the area's image.  This will be crucial in attracting new businesses and customers. When this is achieved only then can a technical assistance be provided to help make it happen.  Also, there will be an essential need for federal grants, low-interest loans or both to encourage businesses owners to make the improvements.

  These are just ideas and there are many strategies to overcome demographic and economic stale-mates.  Commercial revitalization initiatives should be combined with education and work force development programs, housing improvement and development, sustained crime reduction efforts and career opportunities as part of a wide range effort to create inner-city revitalization that significantly benefits low and moderate income residents.  The Post-Industrial Town can become that haven for hipsters, the preferred lunch location for the business man, the evening attraction for families, the focal point of culture, music, art and ideas.  Ideas so delicate, saying them too loud will cause them to vanish.  I envision a place of celebrated diversity and mutual respect and prosperity.  This is just an idea but I suppose actions have to start somewhere.