Technology that sucks ... big time.
 

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com...all_nyr109.jpg


From the great minds at accenture >

A prototype from Accenture Technology Labs, to help individuals who forget names when being introduced to people in a crowd, is seen in this undated photo. The computer continually keeps the last 60 seconds of conversation in its memory, and when prompted with the words "Nice to meet you" will permanently store the last 10 seconds and the next five seconds of conversation for future reference. (AP Photo/Accenture Technology Labs)

Nice to meet you. My name is Andersen.

I've always had that problem, but I use a different technology:
http://www.inceptual.com/images/pen-on-paper.jpg

Call me a neanderthal, if you please, but it works for me. :D

It's sort of a colostomy for people with shit for brains.

<blockquote>
Meanwhile, that little video camera on your handheld can recognize any face it has studied in a couple of seconds. Your pocket computer will know who you're talking to, even if this is a face in crowd. It will know when you last spoke with that person; and almost anything else you care to know.

Big Jim Farley was a New York Tammany Hall politician whose success was partly due to the "Farleyfile": a collection of facts about everyone he ever met. If you went to see Big Jim, by the time you got into his office he knew your name, your birthday, the names of your spouse and children, and what you liked for lunch. It was all on file. Today's small computers can do that, plus recognizing the person so you don't need a secretary to do it for you.
</blockquote>
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/report...originals.html

I actually need this device. Within 1 second of being introduced to anyone, their name is gone from my head, completely and totally erased. Even when reminded over and over again I can't remember. It offends people and is utterly inappropriate in many cases...

But you never forget a username. ;)

Well that's true! I think we process written information very differently from oral information. Once I see a name written down, I remember it.

I'm right there with you UT. No matter how much I try to train myself to remember someone's name, I'll never learn. I recently moved to a new subdivision.. I have met many of my new neighbors, but I only remember one name, and that's because it turns out my fiancee used to work with him and she told me like a dozen times before I remembered.

Where can I order one, Nic?

Tob, you may want to try a pen and 3x5 card first. It might save you a couple bucks. I'm not sure which would get the loon label slapped on you quicker though. I solved the problem by marrying someone with both short and long term memory, but that could be seen as an extreme measure as well.

The problem is that I have to remember that I have the problem <B>at the moment</B> someone tells me their name. If I could remember to write it down on a 3x5, I could remember to do some sort of name-association trick or whatever.

It's not so much that I bad memory. Once I know someone's name, I don't forget it. But when my brain hears a name, it thinks "oh, that's nice" instead of "OK, $name = Bob". As UT said, within a matter of seconds, the data is just gone.

Yeah, it almost feels hard-wired. Sometimes my spouse will remind me of the names of people we are about to see at an event, and that even only helps a little. It doesn't apply to other memory things, either; I can remember names of other things, short-term and long-term... it's just something weird about people.

The fact that I'm borderline social phobic doesn't help, or may be related to the problem, I dunno.

Good one!

Casio QL-10 Combination Cigarette Lighter/Calculator
 

http://pocketcalculatorshow.com/magi...siolighter.jpg

It's a standard refillable lighter about 4" tall, with 4-function calculator,
multi-alarm clock, two time zones and stopwatch. It lasted all of one season
in Casio's 1980 line. Retail: $89.95.

Most users of this thing are gone now, too. ;)

PocketCalculatorShow.com

http://www.hpmuseum.org/01.jpghttp://www.hpmuseum.org/01sv2.jpg
Now, <b>my</b> Secret Lust From The Past was this puppy from Hwelett-Packard back in 1977. I actually met somebody who owned one, and died of envy for many days thereafter.

I'm subject to the same "immediate name erasure" syndrome as Tony is...but to make matters worse I can't do mental artithmetic to save my life. (And since I'm a private pilot I can imagine situations in which being able to do mental arithmetic <i> might</i> save my life.) Oh, well.

So I eventually owned a series of Casio "Data Bank" watches until I actualy got a Palm Pilot. None of which had the pure sex appeal of this (admittedly very butch-looking) bit of mid-Seventies high-tech. My first computer (first one I <i>owned</i> as opposed to first one I <i>programmed</i>) was of the same vintage..an 8-bit Z-80 at 2MHz with 16k of memory.

A lot of folks are gonna say "Calculator watch, big deal." But
read about the tricks this "primitive" gadget was able to do...especially date arithmetic and dynamic calculations. Six chips and three batteries in there. This technology only sucked because it was insanely expensive.

I use my Palm