Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It
Historian and loudmouth Jason Scott shares stories of technology, retrocomputing, documentary filmmaking, and general schennanigans from his decades of travels and research. From experiences on the road while shooting documentaries to often-obscure points of order, Jason keeps a fast-moving pace and even he doesn't know where we're ending up at the end.
The Internet Archive Downtime Episode
The Internet Archive Downtime Episode: Not About the Archive, Downtime, What My Job Is, Switching Gears, Finding Purpose, A Chain Instead of a Pile, Two Hours, Purpose, Other Shifts.
A rumination on what I even am, when the Internet Archive experiences an extensive downtime. It turns out, what I am is satisfied.
The Setback Comeback Episode
The Setback Comeback Episode.
A rumination on working through dark periods, set to a cadence of strength and resilience but recognition of the realism of life. I'm breaking the usual rule and making this one public immediately on here, for patrons to send to anyone who needs to hear it.
The Shockwave of Proximity Episode
The Shockwave of Proximity Episode: A Short Trip, Los Angeles, Giving the Best Interview, Honks and Sounds, Return and Forget, Documentary Release, Scrubbing and Watching, The Shocking Revelation, The Arc of Dreams, The Blessed Golden Dias.
The name of the documentary I mentioned, "Games that Rocked the World" is currently available at this URL:
https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/793efb00a33ba64bbcb44fa4981ca1a2
The Ever-Present To-Do Episode
The Ever-Present To-Do List: The Giving of Advice, Piles, To-Do, Addressing the Options, Understanding the Trudge, The Pile Behind Instead of the Pile Before, The Moments of Confusion, The Dedication, 90 Percent, The Final Tally.
Advice and thoughts on dealing with what can feel like an infinite, ever-present to-do list. Since moving to the new office, things have been very productive, but even at 10x productivity, the concerns still reign.
The Dan Ackroyd Episode
That time I met Dan Ackroyd. Maybe.
The Infocom Auction Episode
A Large Collection, Stories in a Collection, Capturing Infocom, Financialization, Families and Friends and Grief, Using The Skills You Have, Settling With Your Choices.
Someone tried to sell an awful lot of Infocom and Infocom-Related items on auction and is trying again, and I had some related thoughts about collecting, selling, and using opportunities.
The Contingency Episode
No Tragedy Ahead, A Quick Exit, Expectations of Childhood, Stability and Home Base, Approaching the World, Valets and Storage Units, Where The Thinking Takes You, Fainting Spell, Possibilities and Paranoia, Talk Changes, Finding the Stability Regardless.
A rumination on my constant contingency planning, ever-present, in everything.
The Bob Cooper Tapes Episode
Setting Up Tapes, The Bob Cooper Collection, Bob Cooper Biography, Imaging 3/4 Tape, Fuzziness and History, A Lost Era of Television, Everything Falling Apart, Aiming for the Best, Fixing Without Perfection.
I was sent a massive amount of boxes of Bob Cooper, who did Satellite Television related material for years, and who recorded many neat videos in doing so.
Bob's site, still working: https://bobcooper.tv/
The Bob Cooper Collection at Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/bob-cooper
The New Office Excitement Episode
Officially at the New Office, The Advantages, The Size, The Dimensions, Multiple Projects, Facing Your Own History, Trash and Treasure, Walking Down My Own World, Physical, Deep Storage, The Hope.
A few thoughts about the new office, which is nearly 8 times larger, has every project and piece of myself in it, and will hopefully, although not guaranteed, help me finally kill my backlog.
The Dying Computer Museum Episode
Hearing of the Living Computer Museum, Illegally Parking, Artifacts and Items, The Paul Allen Story (Short Version), A Conversation with Stephen Jones, The Grand Plan, Delchi's Consoles, The MADE, Cryosleep, Highest Bidders, The Billions, A Part of History, The Lessons Learned
The Living Computer Museum is not returning and its contents will be auctioned. At least, the big ticket items. I'm not happy about this and neither is anyone else, but here we are. At least there's some glimmers in the darkness.
Following my general credo of "Always Take Pictures", here's two Flickr galleries of...
The Legacy Speech Episode (Part 2 of 2)
The Second Part, HOPE's Second New Year, Attendance, Location, Improvements, A Striking Walk Through Classrooms, The Legacy Speech, Friends, Lore, Legacy, Ed Piskor, Cheshire Catalyst, Kevin Mitnick, Sinitar, What We Leave Behind, The Extra Effort, A Summary.
I had a wonderful time at HOPE 15 (2024) and consider it my home hacker conference now. I wore three suits and made many new friends, and I'm sure the recordings will be a joy to watch.
The New Office Episode
Finding A New Space, Failure to Communicate, New Home, Aspects I Like, Enclosed Spaces, The Grand Plan, The Far-Reaching Intentions, One At A Time, Potential Helpers, The Finances, The Future.
With the addition of a new office space, I intend to jettison into a new layer of what I do. Let's hope for the best.
The 300th Episode
Hitting 300 of Anything, Humble Towel Beginnings, Possible Audience Rotation, What Drives The Tales, Finding Subjects, Broken Strings, Eagerness and Dread, An Invisible Audience, The Future.
An episode celebrating 300 episodes of this podcast, with a specific bent to telling people how the audience is what matters - while I have what is now dozens and dozens of hours of talking about myself and the world, it needs listeners to be meaningful.
As I mention in the episode, I considered ending things here at 300, but I'm still enjoying the process enough to keep going. Here's to more.<...
The Rack of Magazines Episode
Procrastination By Sorting, Memories of Magazines, Computer Awareness, Obscurity and General Interest, Compute!, Creative Computing, Reader Service, The Gained Bricks of Foundation, The Waterfall of Text, A Prayer of Appreciation.
Whenever I sow seeds of doubt something good has happened with the work I do, I just look at the magazine rack at the Internet Archive and love walking its stacks and collections. Here's some thoughts on that.
The Legacy Speech Episode (Part 1 of 2)
Giving a Speech at HOPE, The Concept of Legacy, The Approach to Subjects, Ed Piskor, Cheshire Catalyst, Best and Worst Speech, Short Deadlines, Light Work, Where I Intend to Go, The Awaiting Deadlines, The Truest Legacy.
I'm giving a speech at HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth) this year, and I figured it might be fun to describe this situation before and after I do it. Here's the before.
The Robert A. Harris Episode
Going To A Show, Meeting Robert Harris, Film Restoration, The Brittle Nature of Film, Film Is Dead All Hail Film, Meeting Mister Harris, Inspirations and Permissions, The Prickliness, Living Your Version of the Dream.
I was lucky enough to meet Robert A. Harris, who is a film restorer par excellence and who I'd looked up to for decades. What a gift!
The Chaotic Office Episode
Edging Into The Office, Stacks and Wires, Process and Teardown, A Version of a Version, Dreams of the Next Process.
As I wind up the current office and move to another one, some contemplations on how messy it is right now.
Susan.
Susan Lyn Sadofsky, 1948-2024
The SOFTWARELIBRARY_MC10 Episode
Emulation, James Gerrie, Weak Specifications, The User Interface Wall, Press SCRL LCK and F2, The Tiny Pipe to the Shot Glass, Inspiration, Kind of Finished, The Relentless and Inspiring Curation.
Some appreciation for someone being so dedicated to a machine (the Tandy MC 10) that they got it working at the Archive and are adding hundreds of new software titles to it across the days. We need this kind of energy, especially as computers age out.
The End of the Office Episode
Saying No to the Renewal, Moving Into The Office, A Blank Canvas, Choices Made, The Thousands and Hundreds, The Separation of Home and Work, FInding Limits, Future Unknowns.
A small meditation on the office I work in, as I choose not to renew the lease. I'd like to thank Kay Savetz and FAXZERO.COM for being a major supporter of it so that the real estate costs didn't crater my bank account.
The Galloping Ghost Episode
An Uninteresting Square Building By The Road, $25, Far as the Eye Can See, Walking the Games, The Usual Experience, Endless Rooms, Experiencing Videogames Again, Memories of Internet Arcade, Broken, Real Arcades, The Joy of the New to Old.
A memory of visiting the Galloping Ghost Arcade in Illinois, billing itself as the largest arcade, but at the very least, an absolutely insane amount of hundreds of unique games that you can all-you-can-play.
The Font and Lines Episode
All-Sport, Megagym, Racquetball Camp, Benches, Numbers, Lines, Designs, Waves Not Blocks, Frog Design, Attachment, The Font.
A rumination on a font and some lines that had an effect on me.
I mention Frog Design, here's an example of the kind of pages out there:
https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-early-apple-prototypes-2014-6
The DX-Peditions Episode
No Specific End, A Couple Boxes, Expeditions, Ham Radio, QSL Cards, The Tapes Arrive, Digitizing for a Week, Exotics, Blur, VHS Feel, Preservation.
A pleasant surprise as a pile of "DX-Peditions" showed up in the inbox. The resulting collection, done by me and Kay Savetz, is here:
https://archive.org/details/dx-peditions
The Sellout Episode
What is Selling Out, This Podcast, The Facts of Working for Money, The Forks and Compromises, Thoughts and Concerns For Others' Journeys, Crossroads, Consistency, Your Own Conclusions.
Some thoughts on what "Selling Out" means.
The Lost Media Episode
Reminding Myself of a Lost Media Show, What is Lost Media, What is Lost, Turn-on, The Thrill of Finding, Endless Uploads, ZIPs inside ISOs, That Old Razzle-Dazzle, Campfire Stories.
Never let it be said I won't talk about a show without telling you where to find it. The Lost Media videos I'm talking about are here on Youtube, scary music and all:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKM8YX6ZzGblS97Y2llFP-HsNKFvlqy7C
And here's the "Lost Media" of TURN ON:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn-On
https://www...
The Horizon Talk Episode
A Talk Accepted, Rare Appearances, The Gist of Software, The Accomplishments and the Achievements, What's Next, What's Coming, What Will We Do, The Challenges, The Possibilities, The Purpose of a Talk.
About a talk I'll be giving this year, where it is rare that I'm doing any sort of talk that isn't just a (fun) advertisement for the Internet Archive. What's next with emulation and game preservation?
The Conspiracy VHS Episode
A Double-Tape UFO Conspiracy, A Life of Forbidden Knowledge, The Assumption of Presentation, The Ease of Misdirection, A Momentary Pause, Handing to Next Generations. Plus: An Hour with Wayne Green.
Some thoughts that ran through my mind while I was digitizing a UFO Conspiracy tape.
The GDC Expo Booth Game Episode
Attending the Game Developers Conference, the Expo Floor, The Booths, The Floor, Pamphlet Game, Meeting Manifestos and Dreams, The Mag Chain.
A discovery of a new way to approach a conference floor and make it into a game, which I enjoyed playing very much at the GDC Expo.
The Sockington Currency Episode
An Invitation to a Scheme, Some Thoughts on Lemonade, Wash Trading, The Ultimate Plan, A Special Little Cat.
Some charlatans tried to get me to enter into a scheme around the memory of Sockington. This is about to go very not-well for them, but I wanted to share my thoughts on it before going full firestorm. All Hail Sockington.
The Splash of Cold Water Episode (Part 4 of 4)
Yet More AI, The Eye of the Storm, Little Computer People, Eliza, The Sims, SIGGRAPH, Imagination Overload, Analysis, Excitement, Empathy, Curious, Forever.
A rumination of the echoes of revolution, told from one person's life. Part 4 of 4.
The Bright and Blinding Light Episode (Part 3 of 4)
A Computer Lab, Browsers, Surfing, Electronic Zine, Endless Linking, What's New, Web MUD, Extensions and Add-Ons, CENTER Heresy, TEXTFILES.COM, Early Blog, Finger Servers, Growth and Complication, Lost Taste, Simplicity Underneath, Money Money, Walking Away, My Waiting Piano.
A rumination of the echoes of revolution, told from one person's life. Part 3 of 4.
The Distant Glow Episode (Part 2 of 4)
Before My Time, Meetings and Considerations, Terminus, Command Line, FTP and Gopher, UNIX Lingua Franca, MUDs, Endless Time, Waiting for Me, Ghost in the Present, Fragile and Permanent, Doomed to Disappear.
A rumination of the echoes of revolution, told from one person's life. Part 2 of 4.
The Spark in the Darkness Episode (Part 1 of 4)
Fishing, Night, Truck, Grandfather, Empty, Modem, Moments, Boards, Phones, Fear, Elation, Soul, Duality, Broken, DIscord, Heights, Memories, Places, Heart, Simple, Enjoyment.
A rumination of the echoes of revolution, told from one person's life. Part 1 of 4.
The Transcription and Summarization Episode
The Transcription and Summarization Episode: LLMs, Modems, Magic, Technology, Infinite Toys, Change, Promises, Reality, Tascam, Amiga, Manuals, Summarization, Weird But Tireless, Always a Revolution.
Some quick thoughts on the world of LLMs as they start entering my life (and many others) from the point of view of a half century of technology.
The UMATIC Gems Episode
The UMATIC Gems Episode: A Small Hot Room, The Mechanisms, The Robots, 40-50 Years, Sony and From Another World, Tensions and Read Heads, Tapes and Decay, The Lifespan, The Future, The Joy of Saving, The Potentials and Possibilities, Mark Pines.
A rumination on the UMATIC tape decks in my office, which are large, loud and hot.
The Bad Review Episode
The Bad Review Episode: 2 Stars Out of 5, Bad Cinematography and No Effort, The Timeline of the BBS Documentary, Choices Made, Experiences Lived, 10 to 15 Minutes, A Crew of One, The Unknown End, The Results, GET LAMP, Your Project's Future.
A rumination on a 2/5 review I got in 2017 on Amazon for the BBS Documentary. Believe me, I'm quite sure the BBS Documentary is quite fine, but it was nice to remember how weird and unknown the project started out as.
The Appreciation For Spaces Episode
The Appreciation For Spaces Episode: A Moment of Recognition, A Time of Containment, The Best Separation, Thanks to Sponsorship and Gifts, The Rooms I've Travelled, A Consistency of Inconsistency, A Moment For You.
Perhaps a well-needed acknowledgement of the time of the moment where I have a lovely office to do my work and get things done.
Thanks, by the way, to FAXZERO.COM who throw money each month so I can stream from the office without sweating rent as much.
The Industrial Spaces Episode
The Industrial Spaces Episode: Hurricane Electric, Ikea Paramus, Customers and Hybrid Customers, Beach Chairs, 19-Inch Racks, Content Delivery Networks, Approaches to Space and Cost, New York Conveyor Basements, Payments in Pain. And Mangoes.
A rumination on a few industrial spaces I recently spent time in, as well as a greater and perhaps too-late respect for the costs of poor environments.
The Teraleak Episode
The CLIVE Episode
The CLIVE Episode: Introduction To The CLIVE, Our High School Parents, Not Just a Salesman, Where Are They Sitting, Working With The CLIVE, Lessons and Learning, The Other End of Layoffs, Reading the Room, Thanks To The CLIVE, A Final Domain Gift.
Memories and thoughts about THE CLIVE, the father of one of my high school friends, who was the best salesman I ever met.
