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Keep Ruby Weird 2018 - Using Ruby to build a modern Memex! by Andrew Louis Andrew is a software developer based in Toronto. He’s currently working on building a digital Memex as well as researching the history of similar projects. Previously, he was the co-founder and CTO of ShopLocket, an ecommerce startup acquired in 2014. When he’s not coding, he spends his time on obsessive projects such as attempting to bike on every street in Toronto, taking photos of only doors (instagram: @hyfen), and making voxel art.
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In the video titled "Using Ruby To Build A Modern Memex!" presented by Andrew Louis at the Keep Ruby Weird 2018 conference, the speaker discusses his personal project—creating a digital Memex inspired by Vannevar Bush's original concept from the 1940s. The Memex was theorized as a device to organize and navigate vast amounts of personal information, allowing users to traverse their memories and data in a meaningful way. Andrew highlights various key points regarding the project's development, including: - **Historical Context**: Andrew begins by explaining Vannevar Bush's contributions, particularly during WWII, when the explosion of information necessitated a better way to manage and make sense of data. - **The Concept of the Memex**: He describes the Memex as a tool that would store books, photos, and research, featuring a unique navigation system that mimicked human thought processes. - **Personal Motivation**: Andrew shares his obsessive habit of saving personal information, from old journals to digital histories, which propelled him to create his version, called MMX. - **Project Overview**: MMX consolidates data from various sources—YouTube history, GitHub interactions, personal notes, travel logs, and even social interactions—allowing Andrew to visualize and search through his experiences effectively. - **Technological Aspects**: He provides a demo showcasing how users can query their data in a graphical format, visualizing connections and associations between different pieces of information. - **Surprising Discoveries**: Andrew discusses how tracking aspects like coffee consumption correlated with productivity, reflecting on the rich context the data provided about his life. - **Future Aspirations**: He concludes by expressing his desire to open-source the project and explore its potential further, advocating for experimentation in technology similar to the quirky approach of the Ruby community. Overall, Andrew's presentation not only revives interest in the original Memex concept but also illustrates how modern tech can be used to organize and retrieve personal information in an innovative way, echoing the relevance of Bush's ideas today.
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