FlashMeme
Karen’s kindness a couple days ago got me thinking..
What the hell is a meme?!
“The term “meme” (IPA: /miːm/, rhyming with “theme”. Commonly pronounced in the US as /mɛm/, rhyming with “gem”), coined in 1976[1] by the biologist Richard Dawkins, refers to a “unit of cultural information” which can propagate from one mind to another in a manner analogous to genes (i.e., the units of genetic information).
Dawkins gave as examples of memes: tunes, catch-phrases, beliefs, clothes fashions, ways of making pots, or of building arches. A meme, he said, propagates itself as a unit of cultural evolution and diffusion — analogous in many ways to the behavior of the gene. Often memes propagate as more-or-less integrated cooperative sets or groups, referred to as memeplexes or meme-complexes”
Wikipedia helped me out with that one.
Since that video I’ve been trying to think of a way to repay the favor of that awesome chocolate (mmmmm) and funky CD she me out of the blue. Something similar but different and cool, that would make her smile.. hmmm
I had a flash of inspiration whilst in the bath, I have all my best ideas whilst I’m in the bath (something to do with water on the brain) having bought myself a 2GB USB Flash drive only a couple days ago for the tiny some of £8, I could send one of those packed with ‘memes’, that would be geeky and cool.
By why stop there? The whole point of a meme is sharing and propagating ideas and tastes around the world, if once karen had the flash drive she could put some of her digital memes on it and mail it onto someone else, who could then mail it on again, it’s like a chain letter without the lawsuits!
But thanks to years of technology I have a shorter attention span than the life of a flea, I wanted it all to happen faster and bigger.. so why only send one out?
I jumped on the ‘Bay and purchased ten 1GB flash drives for £20, what a bargin! I’ll send them out to 10 different people and get 10 times the effect and 10 times the smiles, and hopefully they will send them on to other people netting even more smiles. Am I starting to sound like a hippy?
So that sounds like a plan, of course it will need some kind of website to keep up with it, how about FlashMeme.com, sounds good!
All I need now is a bit of feedback from you guys:
- What do you think of the idea?
- How do I manage the whole thing?
- Should I give the USB sticks names?
- Do we keep the previous memes on the sticks and add to them before passing them on or start a fresh each time?
- What kinds of content can we put on them?
Hey Andrew,
I think it’s a very cool and unique idea, and if done right could be really good!
Not sure how you would go about managing it though sorry, you’d have to have restrictions on the content and the period of the time the person gets with it.
I think that if the person knows who they are mailing it to then they will maybe be inclined to put certain items on it hence it would probably be more suitable to “start a fresh (one) each time”; that’s what I’m thinking right now.
For content I would say literally anything, suitable ofcourse, as your definition explains it would have to be unique which means that something that is somehow related to the person sending it would probably a gd idea.
My question is, does the person choose who to send it onto? Or is there a set list with people on it? Also will the contents of it be made public one the person receives it or are they just described?
Thanks for reading, great idea I think you have here.
Sasha on April 13, 2007 7:44 pm
Interesting take on the whole meme idea; definitely worth a go.
Definitely name the sticks. I’m a fan of mythological names — all my tech devices have names from Greek/Roman/Norse mythology — but that’s just one scheme.
I don’t know that the drive would need to be wiped with each new person — 1gb is a lot of space to fill. What I’d do is maybe organize it by folders: A-J, or 0-9. Perhaps have a text file at the root level serving as a sort of roster of who’s had it and thus what number recipient you are.
Each successive person puts the files for the next person in their respective folder. Once it passes the ten-person mark, that person wipes the first folder (0 or A) and puts their content in there.
As for what content… anything goes. Music, short video clips, jokes, links, whatever.
Tigerblade on April 13, 2007 7:55 pm
love the idea andrew!
and yes, definitly name them
Adam on April 13, 2007 8:17 pm
Have people sign up for it, and allow other to rate them with feedback (like eBay). That way you’ll know who can be trusted to pass it on. You could even measure how long they took to send it on, and factor that into the ranking.
Maybe you can use PayPal to get the person’s address…that way you have a verified name and address… Maybe people would pay $1 or something, and automatically be paid back when they got a positive review?
Just trying to make sure people don’t run off with the USB keys, or don’t sit on them for a month before sending…
Oh, and I still have no idea what a meme is supposed to be…
That’s one of those x.0 words that I haven’t welcomed into the vocab… 
The Technocrat on April 13, 2007 8:46 pm
oh, and track their trips with the new MyMaps API (or whatever) through Google maps… and maybe include a readme file as to the kind of thing you’re expecting on the USB key… Otherwise I would install Linux on it, and give that experience (with instructions on how to boot off of it) to the next person…
The Technocrat on April 13, 2007 8:47 pm
this is a great idea.
Jeromy on April 13, 2007 9:07 pm
I love the idea. If each one were named, the receiver can go onto flashmeme and see where their driver has been. The person can then upload everything he has received onto the site, so we can all share in what was passed on. I’m imagining a map with drop points where you can click and see a list of what was on the driver.
People who are interested in receiving a driver can sign up on your site. That way, you can choose to pass it on to a stranger or a friend.
You should absolutely run with this one. I think it would be a lot of fun.
karen on April 14, 2007 2:29 am
excellent idea… and yes, name them, and allow users to track them. that would be great (like a timeline perhaps?)
stabani on April 14, 2007 12:38 pm
[…] for all the great feedback and comments about my FlashMeme idea that I posted yesterday. There has a been an overwhelmingly positive response to it and loads of […]
Teabass » More Thoughts on FlashMeme on April 14, 2007 7:57 pm
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