Try to click on this link.

If it works for you, it should contain a user-generated map I inadvertently discovered while looking up a local theatre, the Spotlighter. The map is centered around an “artist” living/work space in Baltimore, called the CopyCat building. And the map contains bits of information tagged to geographic locations around that vicinity about a homicide.

Now fast forward that in your brain a bit, add in augmented reality (free-floating graphics) technology to our world, and say you’re walking along this ghost data trail somebody tagged about an event which occurred in this location at such and such a time. If the user-tagged data-eventwake were accurate enough, you might be almost able to recreate or somehow vivid replay an event in history.

Now imagine computers are the ones doing all the tagging.

Been talking with a friend lately a lot about the JFK assassination. I’m personally a firm believer that one specific event did occur at that time-space location in history, though I don’t know which story is the “accurate”. Though I do believe there is one. While I may be out there at times, I don’t really believe in a quantum past possible universe - just because it doesn’t help me on my day to day life. But the thing about the JFK assassination is that so many people have so many different theories. Which means that you could go through Dealy Plaza with augmented reality equipment, or else just tag a Google map, and re-build what actually happened on that day. But you could also build completely contradictory versions of what happened that day, all based strictly on factually-available information, but spun in a different way because of perceptual filters applied by competitive “theories.”

History, in other words, is argued over. And in some sense, should be. Especially if the history in question is where you were on such and such day at such and such time. If we’re going to have the ability to tag reality™, then we’re invariably going to have the option to tag it wrongly. Who gets to decide where you were and what you did? You or a cloud of autotagging bug robots with tiny cameras scanning you randomly throughout the day?

What about memory spam? When your brains and lives are all stored digitally, or at least have significant digital perceptual anchoring elements, who’s going to stop your memories from being tampered with, removed, sold or altered?