Chapter 4

Filter for: <DATE RANGE = >

Every appliance in the house used to have an on/off switch. There was always some means, either direct or indirect, to turn the power off. Not so any more. The days of sitting back

waiting for the Zenith to warm up are over. Remember when your dad would walk over to the TV, pull the on/off knob, return to his arm-chair and have time to light up a Newport before the set actually warmed up? Well, that was before the days of Instanton. Today, devices are designed to remain near operating conditions, so that when actuated, the wait time is minimized. Your toaster is only sleeping.

This need for instant gratification has resulted in an interesting evolution of the appliances around us. From a functional point of view, your toaster is looking more human every day. Everything is softly running in the background now. Its all powered up - all the time.

If we stop in time and look over our shoulder at the evolution of the computer, we have been creating an analogue all along. We are on all the time. Unfortunately, this constantly powered-up state means that we are receiving sensory data 24/7. The data

keeps streaming, and this is our total orientation. Our code is written to run continuously.

Because we are constant-on, we have no way to un-ring a bell. Any elephant that walks in the room, stays in the room. And

because we are constantly collecting data on both the conscious and subconscious level, the analogue in mEmail terms is pretty stunning. It brings to mind the scene in Miracle on 34th street, where the mailmen dump the letters to Santa on the floor. In our little version of the movie, the line of mail-men is continuous, wrapping around the globe, all waiting to deposit junk mail through the hole in our front door. Remember? Neither sleet,

nor hail, nor dark of night shall stay this courier from his appointed rounds.

It has been estimated that we think on the order of 40 50,000 thoughts in a waking day. Thats 40-50,000 separate mEmails. It is also said that 80-90% of these are repetitive.

This is a great place to inquire, who wrote the OS? like to know who is responsible.

Id really

The human OS started out simple and pristine. Millions of lines perfect code. By the time your version booted, the code had evolved. Because the OS is an open-source project; the code contained in your DNA represents generations of users, all adding, modifying and editing the code; the greatest open-source project of all time.

And because it is an open, collaborative project, at times it appears to be coded by a really angry teenager. This is not far from the truth. The continuous stream of mEmail was indeed written by a teenager, and before that a ten year old, and before that a 5 year old. You can trace the history of the code all the way back to the very first time the FTU reached out into the phenomenal world and started to receive data(and perhaps even before that).

Steady now, because the next question to ask is: When was the OS last updated? Sure, I hate it when that little prompt appears on the screen telling me that there is an update available, but I always take time to do the update. What about the OS in my head? Its never been updated. No new operating system was released to eliminate the old commands that were no longer needed. ALL the old code is running. Much of it was written by an angry teenager. Every mEmail you ever wrote or received is sitting in

the in-box. Not only does this information stay resident, it is available for immediate recall from RAM. Every time you read it, you experience the emotional content contained in the attachment.

Years later, I am still getting random mEmail from when I was 5 or 10 or 15 or 20, ancient mEmail that has been knocking around the inbox for years, each one with an attachment - an emotional attachment. You read the Subject line, you open the message body and Wham! You feel the same emotional content that was there when the mEmail was first saved to the HD.

The key thing to keep in mind is that you are the Sys-Op. You alone have administrator privileges. You are logged in and logged on. You are capable of cleaning up the programming and making permanent changes in the system architecture. And most importantly, you have finally broken down and purchased the users-guide.

Of course you have been taught never to monkey with source code, any changes can have disastrous consequences. We have to proceed cautiously, setting up systems that we can actively control to carefully clean up the code we dont need, and delete unwanted mEmail starting with the oldest entries first.

Heres the first key. Read the date code. Every mEmail has a date code, but you are not in the habit of looking for it. Remember, you are constant-on - You go right to the subject line, forgetting entirely that you have read this mEmail a gazillion times before.

The following is a copy of a mEmail that has been appearing in my inbox for years. It is somehow attached to an appointment in my outlook calendar, because it has been sending me irritating little pop-up reminders since I was 9.

Date: 09/12/1968

To: Self Fr: Dad Re: Grades What is up with these grades? What kind of slacker are you? Dont you realize that if you dont get good grades, you will never get into college? Dont you know that your performance reflects badly on your mom and me? etc. etc. etc.

Notice how small the date marker is? We never noticed it before. But its there. Like metadata, it is automatically saved every time a mEmail comes in. And now, for the first time, we are

checking dates, and filtering for mEmail for a specific date range, or from a particular sender or both.

Simply copy the following code and cut and paste onto your command line:

<FOR EACH mEmail RECEIVED, READ DATE FIRST>

This one simple new line of code will dramatically reduce the number of mEmail in the inbox. This code will set the autofilter to archive older items. All you have to do is read the date to execute the macro. The OS has been updated to filter out all mEmail that has been in the inbox longer than XXXX days.

Please add step #3 to your daily startup routine for mEmail.

Step One Read Subject Step Two Authenticate Step Three Check Date Step Four Evaluate, Store or Delete

Me-mail is an interesting pointer. It's a way to visualize the mechanics of mind using an external model that we interface with every day.

By adopting some of the best practices from our interface with the silicon world, we can effect some startling changes in functioning of our own OS.

Take a nanosecond when the next a mEmail comes in. Hear the soft voice of the AOL guy whisper Youve Got Mail. Check the date and if it has been clinging to the walls of your inbox for 14 years, dont worry, once you read the date, it will autoarchive. You can just hit <DELETE>.