Jason Scott's Weblog
I am an extremely lucky person. I’m lucky for a host of reasons, but in this particular case, I’ve been matched up with the Perfect Job very early in my life – my 40s. Some people get earlier, of course, but many more get it later, if at all. Life at the Internet Archive is […]
Stuff just keeps falling in place with JSMESS. As of this moment, we have a version that handles sound. If you want to test out if your browser/machine/audio setup works well, you can’t do much better than clicking on this link and seeing if you’re hearing a ColecoVision play Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal. Assuming you […]
Huge breakthrough this week. JSMESS now supports USB-connected Joypads. In a few browsers. If you do the right thing at the right time. With luck. Here’s how it works. First, you need a browser that’s compatible with something called the Joypad API. As of this exact moment, that would be Google Chrome (most recent versions) […]
A few weeks ago, I got a mail asking for help tracking down documents: Hi Jason, I am trying to locate three computer manuals. I just need the title page, copyright page, and date stamp showing a date received from 1996. I have already checked several library resources. A librarian colleague suggested I contact […]
If you live within 30-60 minutes of Hopewell Junction, NY and the prospect interests you, I’m seeking volunteers to run a book scanner at my Information Cube that will allow us to scan a large amount of materials extremely quickly. Please hit me up at bookscanner@textfiles.com to discuss it, suggest people, or otherwise line up for […]
On Thursday, the 24th, (1024, in computer vernacular) I was part of a raft of announcements from the Internet Archive for the coming year. Reviews of great things that happened, great things happening, wonders to be shown. If you want to watch the whole event with pomp and circumstance (surprise guest and all), then […]
If perfect is the enemy of done, scanning has whipped out a switchblade and standing next to perfect, ready to kick done’s ass. Scanning is probably the number one thing I deal with, in terms of a process that folks can do themselves and which everyone has completely wild ideas about. How to scan, what […]
My work in saving computer history and other materials means I’ve been spending a lot of time in a lot of rooms. In these rooms, I’m either on stage (if there is one) or in the audience. The room might also be a conference room, at which point I’m in a corner or somewhere in […]
What an amazing few weeks it has been! We made improvements to improvements. We refined refinements, and refined them even more. We found shortcuts and qualities and features. And eventually, it came down to a day when an automatically running script slammed through a list of every functioning platform MESS supports and created a […]
I know, three postings in a row is a bit much. When I get into a topic, I keep going, just never stop. It’s the kind of mindset that can end up with something like the BBS Documentary – just one guy slamming away at getting things done, day in and day out. In this […]