posted on October 25, 2001 09:33:30 AM new
From the LA Times, 10-25-01
SAN FRANCISCO -- An Internet archive containing more text than any library in history will open its digital doors today, giving researchers and the public access to just about everything posted on the World Wide Web over the last five years.
The free archive, created by a San Francisco computer entrepreneur named Brewster Kahle, allows academics to conduct the electronic equivalent of archeological digs, rooting through reams of material illustrating the evolution of the Web and its role in American society.
The Internet Archive, informally called the Wayback Machine, holds more than 10 billion Web pages dating to 1996, including millions that had vanished as dot-coms collapsed, big companies scaled back or updated their offerings, and hobbyist Webmasters lost interest. Researchers and academics have likened Kahle to a modern-day Andrew Carnegie, the steel baron who endowed many of the nation's finest libraries.
“With over 100 terabytes and 10 billion web pages archived from 1996 to the present, the Wayback Machine puts the history of the World Wide Web and the sum of all human knowledge at your fingertips. “
The site ebay.com is blocked, but it is interesting to check out sites like PayPal and AuctionWatch and to see their evolution. You will run into several non-working links, but you can view many of the pages.
posted on October 25, 2001 09:45:39 AM new
This guy must move the market for hard drives all by himself.
Just remember when you post here that someone may come back to you about it 30 years from now because of archivists.
posted on October 25, 2001 09:45:39 AM new
Pretty funny. I just tried your link to the Wayback Machine, which "puts the history of the World Wide Web and the sum of all human knowledge at your fingertips" and got this:
The page cannot be found The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
posted on October 25, 2001 10:32:00 AM new
Thank you James. I have corrected the link too. I was called away just after posting this and did not check it.
spazmodeus, as always - I'm glad to contribute something that may amuse you.
posted on October 25, 2001 10:34:43 AM new
Thanks for posting it. I've already shared this link with someone who was astonished/ amused/ horrified to find her personal wage page in all its versions there. I'm pretty astonished/ amused/ horrified myself.
posted on October 25, 2001 11:33:49 AM new
James – I’ve been looking at some stuff and it is just amazing. The potential implications are staggering.
I’m sure in years to come you will be able to checks out “mom’s” pictures back when she was involved with the “Hot Young College Dorm-Cam LIVE”. There’ll be some ‘splainin’ to do then, I’m sure!
There are means to block your site from the archive:
Q: I don't want my site's pages in the archive. How do I remove them? By installing a robots.txt file on your web server, you can exclude your site from being archived, as well as block access to them on the archive.
