"Jason Scott is an arrogant, self-impressed idiot who thinks he's god's gift to techies because he remembers "the golden days" of BBS's." - Superbanana, Slashdot comment, 2006
The Wayback machine is up, the Blog is up, the Mastodon is up. The staff is working intensely to lock down and clean up the site and the goal is to come back, and stay back.
I fear this may be the peak of my academic career: learning in real time that the Internet Archive is down while giving a presentation on its importance. You can't make this stuff up 🥲
The group that is denial-of-service-attacking the Internet Archive so it is unresponsive is congratulating themselves on Twitter, and also re-posting their attack from May 28, because that is what Twitter is: Their safe space.
Anyway, that's why it's down right now.
x.com/textfiles/st...
I'm digitizing a film I shot for a project almost 30 years ago, and while I'm not sure how it'll come out after I edit it, I realized I'd never checked up on how one of the actors had been up to since then.
Quite a lot. bravo
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_K...
Reading the reviews of my documentaries on Letterboxd once again solidifies my two conclusions:
- I got out of making more at the right time
- I don't like reviews of my movies when they're shallow
Sorry, one other thing, where I'm pulling in my inner Dan Olson: A lot of the reviews of the text adventure and bbs documentary go on about how it's a "boring talking-head documentary". I need, I really do need, to hear what movie you think you'd be watching on those subjects that's not talking-head
"This lack of defined recusal rules could create a chaotic situation if the Internet Archive case is elevated, with some justices choosing to recuse based on their financial relationships with publishers while others choose to hear the case despite their book deals."
I finally set off the 28 episodes of Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It Podcast to syndicate until December. Of course, you can hear them all now:
patreon.com/textfiles
This twitter account is thematically about finding people laying claim to degrees they did not earn; a charge that can be career destroying, so you should be very sure you get it right.
Meanwhile, they IMMEDIATELY leaped from "IA working with Google" to "IA is financially dependent on Google."
That's not just reckless, that's dangerously reckless. That's not what you want to see from an account that claims it's "investigating" anything. That's just weakness personified.
Literally blocked someone because I realize any interaction with them would be the text equivalent of holding a sandbag and swinging, endlessly, until people are telling me to stop.
So, congratulations there. Actually had to block the people who retweet you, too.
Would love to attend a Vintage Computing Festival.
Alas, there's no masking requirement even in the middle of COVID surges. The community is talking a big talk about being inclusive, but it's really not.
Yes, you can run events with mandatory masking, like XOXOFest did last month.
There's always something hilarious about declaring that you didn't like the booky-wook so much because it made fun of your favorite thing that you grabbed the booky-wook, walked its little fanny over to a trash bin, and threw it in. One star! Take that!
www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...
"a vital forum for the exchange of ideas, preservation of history, and the celebration of technological innovation....a place where the spirit of the Apple II lives on, not just as a relic but as an object of ongoing exploration and learning"
That's laying it on so thick it muffles sound.
Worth noting that I had to go run a bunch of tests and walk over the results, consult with people, etc. Even seemingly unserious reviews could reveal a deep issue, which also happened elsewhere earlier this week (items were being mislabelled by a setting).
An absolute genius hit me with a argument in direct messages on Twitter so bright in wisdom I think I have cataracts. I was blocked after they sent it because words back are scary?
That said, I'm glad to hear I'm asking people to lay off Chuck because he's... got me on the payroll
When Don Joyce of Negativland died, Internet Archive took materials to house for years. The tapes are now out to get archival quality captures, and archivist Taylor posted a cut tape from Escape From Noise, "Gun and the Bible", being digitized.
You can see the cuts!
youtu.be/xML3I0j2nQM?...
Good news: You've made all sorts of mistakes, but never the mistake of the absolute dope who is trying to bid on Paul Allen's collection of Byte Magazines for $1,200.
onlineonly.christies.com/s/firsts-his...
I realize some people might not care or know details. This is a stupid price for a collection of Byte Magazine. I had three full sets. They've all been digitized by many different people. They're less than special. Meanwhile actual one of a kind or rare computers are at less. Absolute madness.
NaNoWriMo tried a pivot and it did not go well, and, I mean, I gotta say, you'd have thought they'd know how to write themselves out of a bad situation
There is a long history in the US of white supremacists accepting the trade-off of having less economic dynamism if it means restoring racial hierarchies. Musk, as a privileged child of South African apartheid, also operates within this mentality.
Starting in early September, I'm streaming extensively in the new office, many treasures to be uncovered, on twitch (twitch.tv/textfiles). I'm seeking a sponsor or sponsorship who would get real estate on the stream's screen. Interested parties can mail me at sponsor@textfiles.com.
Before I begin my magic of matching parties, I have been entrusted with finding a home to a personal print shop that is in a basement in the NYC area. Are you a legit, serious, interested party who promises the family you'll continue to make it work, alone or with your group? printshop@textfiles.com
Did Patreon once again invent ways to fuck with their accounts/creators? Let me check... well, it's a year that starts with 2, and traditionally that's when they do it, so yes
Every time someone e-mails me saying that
bbslist.textfiles.com is "false advertising" because it's "not complete", they do a really great job of guaranteeing their e-mail with a correction is not going to stay found.
Having to a listen to a father verbally abuse and berate his son in a Call of Duty pre-game, only to then ignore the entire game to focus 100% on standing in front of Dad Of The Year's character and cause him to have a complete meltdown and a lost game, is going to be my story of the month.
Like, dad letting out a stream of profanity at his kid, over a live mic in a game, and then turn to play Call of Duty like it's way more important than his relationship with his boy, gotta say, that's gonna make me go full PK griefer.
I'm recording episode #300 of my Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It Podcast, which is truly bonkers that I've done so many episodes. It's supported by Patreon: patreon.com/textfiles
You won't want to miss this! Pepsiman, the sweet mascot for Pepsi in Japan during the ’90s, and all of his paraphernalia (games, ads, and even a mini CD) are all available on the Archive. Learn about this and more in our Best of the Archive Newsletter, shared every month: mailchi.mp/archive.org/...
Shot of me on the set of JE SUIS AUTO (2024) which is out in theaters in Austria but soon to go to streaming, but also a shot of me when sites announce they're thanking their users for their "incredible journey"
The question I have for all the candidates is what resources and steps are being taken to track down and stop this Gen X hero figure serial killer that is clearly on the loose
The most amusing part for me about the AI music generators is that they unwittingly have deep knowledge about obscure or complicated subjects. I asked one to write a peppy funk song about the pinouts of an ATX Power Supply.
The Results: suno.com/song/092b7d9...
Despicable Me 4 is exactly the level of what you expect of a sixth film in a franchise, with some of the wheels falling off and no attempt to explain why anything is anything. Minions made me laugh, which is good since they're 40% of the film's screen time.
Plot holes leak out of every pore, there are moments where anyone who saw the previous five films would say would never happen, they finally recast Russell Brand into the sun, and I can't believe this film cost $100 million to make unless it was to pay Steve Carell $49 million.
Was having a nightmare where I was interrupting Flight of the Conchords while they were putting on a show and Jemaine was getting pretty cross, and when I woke I realized Flight of the Conchords music was on my sleep headphones. Sorry, dream Jemaine
So, it turns out that the painting just barely fits into my car with centimeters to spare so I don't actually need the truck. Returning the truck after driving it for precisely a mile and a half and then back has caused me to sit and wait with this guy while he takes 20 minutes to check my car back
IT IS TIME FOR THE LOST PRODIGAL TO COME IN FROM THE COLD
"Howard the Duck" should be welcomed back into official Thomas Dolby musical canon, with open arms
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MOx...
The Minions movie really hits different when you realize the reason the Minions find "sanctuary" in an ice cave and then journey out years later due to "boredom" was 100% to avoid having a Minions movie where they naturally follow Hitler
Yes, yes, you all have hard lives.
But the instructions with one of my new suits appears to indicate that there is absolutely no way to clean the suit, ever. Literally no action will not ruin it and therefore wear it for 6-10 occasions and then throw it out? Starting a GoFundme
Oh, and I see they cracked the back of the mold they bought at auction because they throw and move it around like this 55+ year old artifact is a minute old.
Textfiles dot com got a letter just a week or two ago informing me it was Very Bad I host sex stories and something Should Be Done.
Something is not going to be Done
and even if someone thinks "well I don't like/look at porn so why should it be a priority for me?" it's important to remember that when christofascists say "porn" they also mean age-appropriate comprehensive sex education, media with queer/trans people in it, and picture books about gay penguins.
One country sent me a letter that I was no longer welcome to visit because of textfiles dot com. I've stopped by now and then regardless, and am waiting for the time I get thrown to the ground So I can ask about letting me finish my succulent Chinese meal
the erasure of 20+ years of news stories here is yet another sign that future generations will have much richer knowledge of the 1930s than they will the GW Bush and Obama years. The wayback machine is carrying a lot of weight these days. If that goes, adios: variety.com/2024/digital...
Here's a just-recovered 1985 interview with Apple Computer's Bill Atkinson, talking about the new Macintosh. "When I came to Apple, there were 30 people there." He programmed Apple II, designed software for Lisa, and programmed MacPaint. archive.org/details/the-...
Here's a good example of how hard it is to maintain context on a web that is an interlocked series of handshake deals and text inertia.
I was looking over IMDB and then I saw this review, and I'd initially wondered what they were talking about. Naturally I checked up on the reviewer.
I don't expect people reading the review of GET LAMP to track down that the author of that review and realize he lives in a cinematic spectrum with an Interactive Fiction documentary on one end and SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY on the other. But rest assured, the review on my movie was the only one.
Am I worried this guy is going to stab me? Well, probably a little, but he's barely above background radiation compared to some others. What's more important, though, is that you can't really recount his multi-years antics against people without seeming a bit cracked yourself.