Week 8: Is dedicated to Ms. Evelyn E. Craft & her Living Headstone Memorial

I would like to start this week’s blog by first offering my condolences to the Craft family.  This week is a continuation on social media and some innovative uses of Quick Response Code (QR Code) technology.

But first I would like to share my journey on how I came upon this technology.  It began when I read the Doonesbury comic strip in the Sunday, October 16, 2011 Washington Post.  The comic caught my attention as I began to make plans to visit my father’s grave site for the 10th anniversary of his death.  The strip features Daisy B. Doonesbury’s headstone with the following website printed on it, http://www.daisyd.com./  Although the link isn’t active, Mr. Stanford, Duty Officer, Doonesbury Town Hall, shared with me that the comic strip temporarily hosted a unique website for the character Duke when he ran for President in 2000.  

I learned this by going to the Doonesbury website http://www.doonesbury.com/ where the thought of writing a blog on the transition of printed media to the internet came to mind; especially with the recent liquidation of Borders Book Stores.  The site led me to a contact page where I submitted a query inquiring about the technology identified in the story.  While there was no original example, the response provided the following YouTube site reflecting on the similarities between life and art and vise versa.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd2_FG06vnI&feature=autoplay&list=FLjCkN6Crvwly4i8vsnFu9kQ&lf=autoplay&playnext=3

My natural progression was to go to http://www.monuments.com/livingheadstone next; however before doing so I digressed to learn more about the 1^st “Animated Tattoo” in order to determine whether to include it in any future commentaries.  Since it deals with QR Code technology and is inexplicably mesmerizing I am including the link here.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3qv2dSXQXk&feature=related. 

Ultimately I returned to the Living Head Stone website www.monuments.com.  I planned to expound on the company’s innovative use of QR Code technology but the following excerpt from the site says it best.

“Quiring has created a new type of headstone which connects people regardless of where they reside.   Our ‘Living Headstone’ memorial blends the timeless traditional value of granite headstones with the newest technology available, to provide an interactive ‘living’ memorial legacy for future generations.

 Similar to a personal Facebook page, a ‘Living Headstone’ archive site contains information you and friends can add about your loved one, such as: an obituary, family heritage and history, photos, comments by friends and relatives and even a map to locate the memorial in the cemetery.”  

The technology can be applied to existing as well as new grave sites.  Will additional advances in technology lead to further evolutions of grave sites as we know them?  Will subsequent generations be able to view more than a memorial stone?  I believe as long as technology continues forward and history doesn’t experience another “dark ages” where advances in current technology are lost, the concepts espoused should carry on.  Perhaps we may even see interactive holograms of our departed loved ones?

With Warm Sympathy – CDamian (11-03-2011)