#Wayback Machine

[theacmecatalogblog]

Save all the things!

Wayback Machine is a GREAT tool. It just has a few issues. The number one issue is that it isn't great at crawling. Normal HTML sites are no problem but more complex sites like forums and especially blogs are hard for it to navigate. It tends to get only very small pieces of LiveJournal for example. The entire official Sims 3 forum from 2009-2017(?) is just gone because Wayback wasn't able to access it.

As I've talked about over the past few years, I'm trying to archive a lot of CC with Archive.org. This works well for most older sites but not so well with newer ones. Plus, I'm focusing on custom content more than webpages and stories.

Stories, that people put hours and hours into, legacies, forum posts, pictures, blog posts, all things that are just TOO numerous for me to even make a dent in on my own.

Buuuut, if I could get a bunch of simmers who were actively viewing blogs and downloading content and reading forum posts to archive every post they viewed that could do something!

Wayback Machine Auto-Archiver is a bot that archives all PUBLIC webpages that you visit to the wayback machine. Think of it as a bot that follows you around taking a shot of every blog you visit. Obviously, this isn't just for Sims content but it would certainly help the community who may go looking for the content that you archived after it's LONG gone from the internet.

The auto-archiver is a simple extension. If you're running Chrome or Edge you simply install it like any other extension and then you surf the web like always.

The more simmers who use it, the more content gets archived. Also, it's entirely anonymous. If you're a lurker and you've never made or posted anyway, think of this as a way to give back!

Download it here and please reblog!

(I will be reblogging this post several times)

[beggars-opera]

One very important note on the immense value of the Internet Archive that I haven't seen mentioned yet:

It crawls major newspapers like the New York Times multiple times per day.

For anything other than one of those scrolling updates breaking news pages, you can access it from the Archive usually within an hour or two of it being published. No paywall. You want international news? You got it. Opinion? That too. Recipes? It's all here. Page not yet archived? There's a button for that and now you got it.

There are various paywall-evading extensions and tricks out there, but they don't always work. This does.

Go forth and read the newspaper.

[muppet-facts]

As someone who has relied heavily on the Internet Archive for research for not only this blog but also professional uses, I urge people to show their support to archive and openlibrary. Make sure if you have an account there, change all of your passwords!! Be safe out there!

[destielmemenews]

"Publishers accused the nonprofit of infringing copyrights in 127 books from authors like Malcolm Gladwell, C.S. Lewis, Toni Morrison, J.D. Salinger and Elie Wiesel, by making the books freely available through its Free Digital Library.

The archive, which hosts more than 3.2 million copies of copyrighted books on its website, contended that the library was transformative because it made lending more convenient and served the public interest by promoting "access to knowledge.""

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[mesopelagic-zone]

Internet Archive and 'The Wayback Machine' are Experiencing an Existential, Legal Threat.

Below is a link to a petition whose goal it is to save one of the most effective tools against digital censorship available to the public.

"At a time when digital information is being deleted, rewritten, and erased, preservation is more important than ever."

Signing this petition is FREE and takes less than 5 minutes.

Recently, user @we-are-astronomer was able to utilize Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to locate and preserve government articles DELETED from the NASA website by Trump Administration censors. For more information, their post can be found underneath the break.

If resources such as these are destroyed, we risk losing every digital article and file deleted under the Trump Administration's censorship. Without a method for restoring erased information, censorship proceeds unhindered. No body, no crime.

Collective action gets results. Do your part to protect public peace of mind.

[pam3pr]

Skullset

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

If there is a page on a US government site that you think has good information, now is the time to save it in the WayBack Machine and save a PDF of it.

Many government webpages on inclusive language or anything remotely related to DEI have been taken down. But it is likely going to get worse. His attack on the health care system and scientifically proven facts mean that soon we may not be able to trust the information on the CDC or CMS websites, or other government health sites.

Here is a link to the WayBack Machine, an internet archive that stores previous versions of webpages:

And here's info on how to Print to PDF:

[ibraidedmybootyhairs]

postal graphics from the rws site

[mindisinmars]

god i love the way back machine

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Yall look what I found on the way back machine

[marinersapartmentc0mplex]

Finding a deleted fic is so fucking hard. Like it’s RIGHT THERE on the wayback machine but I can’t access it?! I’m going insane. Only have 3 out the gazillion fics Minnie had :(

[fionaapplerocks]

An early review of Extraordinary Machine

[moon11-11]

Bullets era, photos from the 2002 mcr website.

(source)

[clarenecessities]

He-man.org will close in 5 days.

He-man.org has been a staple of the Masters of the Universe community since the early days, originating as an email list that worked to document episodes before anything (not footage, not lists, nothing) was available online. It grew into a sprawling, multi-faceted beast of a thing, including an encyclopedia (an in-house wiki), merch lists, a marketplace, forums, anything you could think of.

Several years ago now, the main site went down for updates/maintenance. For a few weeks, we were told, maybe months. The forums remained open for fans to communicate, and barring a period of downtime earlier this year things were going smoothly.

Yesterday, the owner of the site, Val Staples, announced the site would be closed on November 14th, 2023. Six days later. We are currently attempting to contact him, to see if he’s interested in selling, and if he means closed as in “no new posts” or closed as in deleted entirely. Regardless of its eventual fate, the archiving of these forums is essential to preserving the history of the franchise, the fandom, and the brand.

TO SHE-RA (and MotU) FANS SPECIFICALLY: I have personally used these forums to answer questions that could be answered nowhere else. Had I not had access to them, I would never have been able to prove that Purrsia was fake, or found so much unpublished concept art, or discovered that Scott “Toyguru” Neitlich personally wrote Catra’s MOTUC bio (even if he’s put off answering my questions about it for over a year now). Forum members have conducted interviews with the likes of Jon Seisa, Cathy Larson, Janice Varney-Hamlin—essential figures in the very foundations of POP, and those interviews revealed and recorded priceless information for future generations (me! you! us!) to find. Did you know Cathy Larson named Adora? That she originally pushed for “Dorian”, after her own daughter? We cannot let this treasure trove disappear into the ether(ia).

TO THE UNAFFILIATED: Please help. Pretty please. If you’ve ever liked my art or my writing or my haphazard blogging, ever, at all, consider archiving just one board. Just one page. Literally anything helps. I am spiraling into madness & this is my library of Alexandria. The mythical one that was totally unique and persevered nowhere else and was destroyed in a single cataclysmic event. Pretty pretty please help.

HOW TO HELP:

Archive.org has several ways to upload shit but most of them are longer term than “a few days” so we’re focusing on two (which can be run simultaneously): Save Page Now, and browser extensions. From their help page:

1. Save Page Now

Put a URL into the form, press the button, and we save the page. You will instantly have a permanent URL for your page. Please note, this method only saves a single page, not the whole site.

We want to keep outlinks and screenshots wherever possible. The Archive does not keep your IP address, so your submission is anonymous.

2. Browser extensions and add-ons

Install the Wayback Machine Chrome extension in your browser. Go to a page you want to archive, click the icon in your toolbar, and select Save Page Now. We will save the page and give you a permanent URL.

One plus to installing the extension is that as you surf around, when you run into a missing page they will alert you if we have a saved copy.

More extensions, apps, and add-ons:

Firefox add-on

Safari Extension

iOS app

Android app

I strongly encourage you to use these tools even if you aren’t helping with this project/after it ends. Documenting and preserving information is essential in this day and age & The Internet Archive is at the heart of it. Please support them however you can.

I’m serious about paying you, though I may need more communication with folks I don’t know so we can coordinate/verify shit gets done. I think this is a worthwhile pursuit in itself but I recognize your time is valuable & like, people gotta eat. DM me if you’re interested and we’ll talk. I may need to adjust pay depending how many people bite but I’ll do what I can

[transylvanilla]

Some cute retro animated dividers I found while surfing web archives

[heywriters]

Can anyone, anyone name/link me to the artist of this image?

Please! Tinyeye took me to a dead site that WayBack Machine confirmed posted this image in 2016, but there was no image description or artist credit.

I've been using it as a character visual for years and it's become pretty dear to me in how I imagine this character.