Let me clarify foremost that I don't speak for anyone at the Library of Congress. The following is purely my opinions and thoughts.
You bring up some really good points that may apply to "born digital" or modern works. As for a wax cylindar recording, there may only be a dozen working players in the world and just a handful of people with the expertise to digitize the media in a faithful manner. Part of the preservation is the process by which these works are protected.
What you suggest sounds something like a P2P solution for generating redundancy. On the surface I like the idea, but it still requires some authoritative source to make a good master copy and collect the relevant metadata. Without some authoritative source we would have the mess found in P2P systems today, where files are named inconsistently (or wrong) and there is little notion of where a work fits into its publication. For example, I can listen to nin_head_like_a_hole.mp3, but that doesn't tell me (or someone who picks up the file in 75 years) anything about Nine Inch Nails or the album it was ripped from.
I'll concede this, because I think you bring up a good point: After the master copies are made, it may make sense for the populace to act as a type of backup system. My biggest concern however is that a Master version is unweildy (how many 96kHz x 24 bit audio files do you have?) and therefore people will prefer compressed and lossy versions for day to day use. That could change of course.
The plan is to move the physical copies and house the digital renditions in the Culpepper VA facility. Unfortunately some of the material is reaching its shelf life, so it is a race against time. I'm encouraged by a legion of people who are diligently doing their best to preserve this part of our heritage. The facility itself uses climate control to further protect the works from the forces of time.
I don't know specifics, but I wouldn't be surprised if EMC wasn't on the discussion table. Currently we use an MD5 hash to maintain integrity, but as we all know even that relies on the integrity of the person who works with the file prior to hashing.;) We sometimes joke about preserving our voices or self-images for all posterity, but in reality no one would do it.
Thanks for making the suggestion. I don't personally have any decision making power in this (I'm just developing software for metadata capture) but I'm glad people find it interesting.
I respect your distrust of government, but in this case let me assure that the meaning of "protection" is to protect these works of art from deteriorating. The copyright office in the Library of Congress acts to respect the law, of course, but if the master copies of films acidify, there is nothing left to protect.
For what it is worth, while selecting media formats for preserving audio and film an effort is made to avoid DRM because it can inhibit the ability to migrate the data to newer formats. The people working to convert analog recordings to digital archives are foremost interested in protecting the work from being lost forever. It can only sit on a shelf for so long and it is hoped that a digital, lossless copying method, will protect/preserve the artistic value.
(disclaimer: I work on this project at the Library of Congress)
I think that is precisely the notion of the project, to digitize and preserve these media for long term storage. The biggest challenge (for those of us working on it) is how to choose a media that is transferable and will last. That said, part of the strategy is to encode different levels of quality (Master, Service High and Service Low). This may range from a 96kHz x 24bit WAV to a 256kbs mp3.
It helps a little to understand the raw size of some of this stuff though. For example, a 14 minute audio recording at 96kHz and 24 bits takes up a little over 800mb. DVD storage is simply too small. Most likely the storage will be a massive NAS on the order of which has never been built before.
The article doesn't talk about it, but part of the whole digitization process is the capture of metadata. Catalogers at the Library enter descriptive metadata about the films, recordings and whatnot according to the METS XML standard. Although it would be great to get some volunteer help, the rules for cataloging are arcane and confusing at best.;) I say this with awe and respect for co-workers who do a great job at it.
(disclaimer: I am a member of the Library team who develops software for the project)
The facility is a former military building which is built into the side of a small mountain (more of a hill if you ask me). The first layer of protection is pretty good. It is referred to as a digital vault of sorts.
At this stage of the planning there isn't a much concrete discussion about backup, not because it won't be needed, but rather because the technology is a moving target. If memory serves right, they hope to open the facility in about 3 years. Backups are no doubt on the integration plan, but a lot of the architecture is still in a planning phase.
(disclaimer: I work on this project at the Library of Congress)
I'm a long time (meaning 7 years) Java programmer and I have recently been learning Objective-C and Cocoa. On a whim I decided to use the Java bridge and I was really impressed. I see it as a perfect solution for creating a slick desktop app on the Mac that can benefit from some Java-specific capability.
I believe metadata is a useful additional means to find files, however I would still want heirarchy as the primary storage. For most people the only metadata they ever consider is the name of a file, and this is often poorly named. I applaud the effort of the person who is doing this project though.
I'm not an advocate of hedonism or anything like that, but I've heard a lot of people say the same thing about the family life. I suspect it has it great moments, but then it isn't like you have much choice after the child is born. At that point you might as well consider it "the best thing that ever happened to me" since there is no way to retract.
From what I've seen, having children is a surefire way to grow old quickly (remember when Joe was just a baby, seems like yesterday) and get conservative. The latter concerns me, because you take less risks (for good reason) with a family, which means running the real risk of never owning your own business and working for other people all your life.
I apologize if this offends parents. I'm just calling it the way I see it from the sidelines and I could be wrong.
Speaking as one vegetarian, I wouldn't have an ethical qualm with eating lab-grown meat, but I suspect it wouldn't become part of my diet. I would be overjoyed if the processing costs would make this affordable, but I doubt it.
With regard to tangential things like growing leather, furs & such, I don't think that would make a difference. Many synthetics are superior to leather (barring a few specific examples), yet people like leather. Most people can't tell the difference between a diamond and a cubic xirconian (sp?), but the diamond sells for much more. Don't understimate the power of marketing and branding that these items have.
I agree with what you said (enough to mark you as a friend in my prefs), but I think the main difference is the type of moving target. Fundamentally, the body doesn't change, but our understanding of it expands. Computers and software (or rather the set of problems which software should solve) are constantly changing. The parent thread (whom you responded to) made a nice analogy supposing if the liver were replaced by a new organ.
Maybe Doctors have more longetivity and market value because they are inherently respected as learned people. Our profession(s) still have the public image of code slingers. Software development is an infant discipline and we may be comparible to the barbers who also did dentistry on the side. I don't mean this as an excuse in any way, but rather as an observation and hope that software development finds its footing like other professions. Afterall, the need for software isn't going away.
The company's privacy policy is listed on their site. From a quick read, the only thing that upsets me is that they pass along your info to the recording groups. It appears that only basic contact info is gathered and there is a fairly easy opt out approach. Of course, they can publish a rosy policy and blatantly ignore it.
From what I can tell, they are trying to impress recording labels with an avenue to add value to the CD. I read a lot of ranting about how the music industry is clueless and could leverage the Internet better. Maybe this is a positive more in that direction. It is hard to tell.
I'm a bit paranoid about it as well, but since I use Mac OS X I'll let the Windows people cut their teeth on this one.
Not to nitpick, but by definition if you are able to use something built 20 years ago it is built to last. I'm sure in 2020 someone will be raving about some peice of equipment they bought this year, but until that point we won't know the winners from the losers. Such a person may wax poetically about the good old days in 2002 when stuff worked.;)
"they have 5 kids and going 5 minutes without TV would be worse than cancer"
I haven't seen the ad (as I don't own a television, parish the thought) but I would think that any person who ever had cancer or knew someone who had it (show of hands?) would be offended. Again, I didn't see it, so possibly it is done in a funny way. After all, they did manage to make Hogan's Heroes a comedy, which is about life in a nazi concentration camp. Go figure?
<rant> Personally, I find the TV zone out to be very disturbing, especially with regard to children. I believe there are real consequences to using a television as a baby sitter. It really bothers me to see parents so flummuxed by the consumerist demands of their children (which they repeatedly oblige) that they cave in. Heaven forbid we should experience an interruption in TV service and have to have a (gasp) conversation, entertain ourselves or listen to children.
Yeah, I'm not yet a parent, but I like to believe that a person can be a parent without treating it like a hostage situation. </rant>
A PGP signed message is as good as a signed piece of paper
Possibly in the legal sense where you have the authority to take action, like billing the person or shipping a product, but not in terms of real authentication. Forging a signature (expecially one unfamiliar to you) is easy, but a PGP signed message requires knowledge of a passphrase. I have more trust in the PGP signed message.
(from a person whose mother "signed" a lot of notes to excuse him from days in high school)
I'm considering a starting up a web development firm with a focus on accessibility. I have good relations with the principles of an accesibility testing firm and believe the businesses can compliment each other well. I'm a part owner of a web development firm at the moment that isn't interested in pursuing this market, but I believe there is a significant market.
Can you elaborate on the market for web development firms that focus on accesibility? Aside from the normal perils of launching a new business (which I'm fairly acquainted) can you expound on the market need for firms that endeavor to deliver accessible content.
I'm getting weary of the idea that working hard is some kind of lie that has been foisted upon us. The fact is, until very recently, people simply had to work long hours to survive.
I'm reminded of something my Anthropology teacher told me. If you extrapolate the actual time that hunter-gatherer societes spent "working" to sustain themselves it comes to about 15-20 hours a week. Of course, those were simpler times when the mantra of consumerism didn't dictate that a person becomes happy when they own 3 cars and a 5,000 square foot house.
As our production methods get more efficient, we can make our choice between greater production and more hours off.
The US culture will always choose more production because for some reason it is bad do the same thing two years running. Zero percent growth would panick the US market, but in some circles that is seen as sustainable living.
But indeed, one day we will have robots to do most of our labor for us, and we'll have genetic engineering, clean energy, and all the biotech advances we could ever want, and then I'll be ready to start making the trade for fewer hours. Because at that point our production will have become extremely efficient, and we'll have attained the things I want to see society achieve.
Don't count on it. Consider a simple example: If I use a machine (computer, for example) that lets me produce n number of widgets in an 8 hour day, and then for a modest sum I get a computer twice as fast, shouldn't I only work 4 hours (after paying for the upgrade)? Again, don't count on it. As long as the competitor plans to run the 8+ hour day you will see no difference. Progress doesn't do anything signficant for the employee unless it improves safety and comfort.
I suppose people first felt pretty weird some 50-75 years ago talking into a machine. Yeah, I feel sort of goofy whenever I turn on speech recognition. I start to wonder if my roommates hear me and think I've gone over the deep end, but I don't think twice about answering the phone. Who knows? The social norm may shift.
Mozilla's being standard complaint is good, however on the net lots of articles are written for IE, because of the historical reasons as we know it. So Mozilla should allow the users to make a nicer transition by enabling certain non-standard IE-only features as much as possible.
I would prefer to see more articles describing how to avoid proprietary IE methodologies, like document.all in favor of w3c standards. In most cases there is a standard-compliant way of doing things. If IE has some worthwhile proprietary features maybe we should be encouraging w3c to adopt them, but it is a slippery slope to conform to IE-only features.
I believe these things receive their message from some sort of wireless conduit. Imagine the hack value of broadcasting your own stuff to the LCD. This could be fun.
Yes, my company provides an online service to do this sort of thing. We are in beta right now. email me (ragnar@spinweb.net) if you are interested in some more details, as the marketing stuff on the site is a bit lacking.
I use citibank for my online banking and it works just fine with Mozilla. I'm not sure why The Register listed them as a sinner. Their interface is solid and intuitive as far as I'm concerned.
I wouldn't be too alarmed. Consider the incredible costs associated with drilling for oil and I'll take my chances with the economic side effects of distilling alcohol from plants any day. Only a select amount of regions and nations can produce oil, but it is within the means of most nations to produce to alcohol and to distill it.
Therein lies maybe the biggest obstacle. Powerful nations control the means of production and distribution of oil. If a good alternative really comes along we can expect them to resist it politically, which is unfortunate for the consumers who might benefit from the choice.
I've read the book and eagerly await volumes 2 and 3. It is one of few comprehensive approaches at building serious software. If you learn by example, this is a good book for you.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not disagreeing with you, but the author of the paper is a PhD, so I suspect he values a college education.
Let me clarify foremost that I don't speak for anyone at the Library of Congress. The following is purely my opinions and thoughts.
You bring up some really good points that may apply to "born digital" or modern works. As for a wax cylindar recording, there may only be a dozen working players in the world and just a handful of people with the expertise to digitize the media in a faithful manner. Part of the preservation is the process by which these works are protected.
What you suggest sounds something like a P2P solution for generating redundancy. On the surface I like the idea, but it still requires some authoritative source to make a good master copy and collect the relevant metadata. Without some authoritative source we would have the mess found in P2P systems today, where files are named inconsistently (or wrong) and there is little notion of where a work fits into its publication. For example, I can listen to nin_head_like_a_hole.mp3, but that doesn't tell me (or someone who picks up the file in 75 years) anything about Nine Inch Nails or the album it was ripped from.
I'll concede this, because I think you bring up a good point: After the master copies are made, it may make sense for the populace to act as a type of backup system. My biggest concern however is that a Master version is unweildy (how many 96kHz x 24 bit audio files do you have?) and therefore people will prefer compressed and lossy versions for day to day use. That could change of course.
The plan is to move the physical copies and house the digital renditions in the Culpepper VA facility. Unfortunately some of the material is reaching its shelf life, so it is a race against time. I'm encouraged by a legion of people who are diligently doing their best to preserve this part of our heritage. The facility itself uses climate control to further protect the works from the forces of time.
I don't know specifics, but I wouldn't be surprised if EMC wasn't on the discussion table. Currently we use an MD5 hash to maintain integrity, but as we all know even that relies on the integrity of the person who works with the file prior to hashing. ;) We sometimes joke about preserving our voices or self-images for all posterity, but in reality no one would do it.
Thanks for making the suggestion. I don't personally have any decision making power in this (I'm just developing software for metadata capture) but I'm glad people find it interesting.
I respect your distrust of government, but in this case let me assure that the meaning of "protection" is to protect these works of art from deteriorating. The copyright office in the Library of Congress acts to respect the law, of course, but if the master copies of films acidify, there is nothing left to protect.
For what it is worth, while selecting media formats for preserving audio and film an effort is made to avoid DRM because it can inhibit the ability to migrate the data to newer formats. The people working to convert analog recordings to digital archives are foremost interested in protecting the work from being lost forever. It can only sit on a shelf for so long and it is hoped that a digital, lossless copying method, will protect/preserve the artistic value.
(disclaimer: I work on this project at the Library of Congress)
I think that is precisely the notion of the project, to digitize and preserve these media for long term storage. The biggest challenge (for those of us working on it) is how to choose a media that is transferable and will last. That said, part of the strategy is to encode different levels of quality (Master, Service High and Service Low). This may range from a 96kHz x 24bit WAV to a 256kbs mp3.
;) I say this with awe and respect for co-workers who do a great job at it.
It helps a little to understand the raw size of some of this stuff though. For example, a 14 minute audio recording at 96kHz and 24 bits takes up a little over 800mb. DVD storage is simply too small. Most likely the storage will be a massive NAS on the order of which has never been built before.
The article doesn't talk about it, but part of the whole digitization process is the capture of metadata. Catalogers at the Library enter descriptive metadata about the films, recordings and whatnot according to the METS XML standard. Although it would be great to get some volunteer help, the rules for cataloging are arcane and confusing at best.
(disclaimer: I am a member of the Library team who develops software for the project)
The facility is a former military building which is built into the side of a small mountain (more of a hill if you ask me). The first layer of protection is pretty good. It is referred to as a digital vault of sorts.
At this stage of the planning there isn't a much concrete discussion about backup, not because it won't be needed, but rather because the technology is a moving target. If memory serves right, they hope to open the facility in about 3 years. Backups are no doubt on the integration plan, but a lot of the architecture is still in a planning phase.
(disclaimer: I work on this project at the Library of Congress)
I'm a long time (meaning 7 years) Java programmer and I have recently been learning Objective-C and Cocoa. On a whim I decided to use the Java bridge and I was really impressed. I see it as a perfect solution for creating a slick desktop app on the Mac that can benefit from some Java-specific capability.
I believe metadata is a useful additional means to find files, however I would still want heirarchy as the primary storage. For most people the only metadata they ever consider is the name of a file, and this is often poorly named. I applaud the effort of the person who is doing this project though.
I'm not an advocate of hedonism or anything like that, but I've heard a lot of people say the same thing about the family life. I suspect it has it great moments, but then it isn't like you have much choice after the child is born. At that point you might as well consider it "the best thing that ever happened to me" since there is no way to retract.
From what I've seen, having children is a surefire way to grow old quickly (remember when Joe was just a baby, seems like yesterday) and get conservative. The latter concerns me, because you take less risks (for good reason) with a family, which means running the real risk of never owning your own business and working for other people all your life.
I apologize if this offends parents. I'm just calling it the way I see it from the sidelines and I could be wrong.
Speaking as one vegetarian, I wouldn't have an ethical qualm with eating lab-grown meat, but I suspect it wouldn't become part of my diet. I would be overjoyed if the processing costs would make this affordable, but I doubt it.
With regard to tangential things like growing leather, furs & such, I don't think that would make a difference. Many synthetics are superior to leather (barring a few specific examples), yet people like leather. Most people can't tell the difference between a diamond and a cubic xirconian (sp?), but the diamond sells for much more. Don't understimate the power of marketing and branding that these items have.
I agree with what you said (enough to mark you as a friend in my prefs), but I think the main difference is the type of moving target. Fundamentally, the body doesn't change, but our understanding of it expands. Computers and software (or rather the set of problems which software should solve) are constantly changing. The parent thread (whom you responded to) made a nice analogy supposing if the liver were replaced by a new organ.
Maybe Doctors have more longetivity and market value because they are inherently respected as learned people. Our profession(s) still have the public image of code slingers. Software development is an infant discipline and we may be comparible to the barbers who also did dentistry on the side. I don't mean this as an excuse in any way, but rather as an observation and hope that software development finds its footing like other professions. Afterall, the need for software isn't going away.
The company's privacy policy is listed on their site. From a quick read, the only thing that upsets me is that they pass along your info to the recording groups. It appears that only basic contact info is gathered and there is a fairly easy opt out approach. Of course, they can publish a rosy policy and blatantly ignore it.
From what I can tell, they are trying to impress recording labels with an avenue to add value to the CD. I read a lot of ranting about how the music industry is clueless and could leverage the Internet better. Maybe this is a positive more in that direction. It is hard to tell.
I'm a bit paranoid about it as well, but since I use Mac OS X I'll let the Windows people cut their teeth on this one.
Not to nitpick, but by definition if you are able to use something built 20 years ago it is built to last. I'm sure in 2020 someone will be raving about some peice of equipment they bought this year, but until that point we won't know the winners from the losers. Such a person may wax poetically about the good old days in 2002 when stuff worked. ;)
"they have 5 kids and going 5 minutes without TV would be worse than cancer"
I haven't seen the ad (as I don't own a television, parish the thought) but I would think that any person who ever had cancer or knew someone who had it (show of hands?) would be offended. Again, I didn't see it, so possibly it is done in a funny way. After all, they did manage to make Hogan's Heroes a comedy, which is about life in a nazi concentration camp. Go figure?
<rant>
Personally, I find the TV zone out to be very disturbing, especially with regard to children. I believe there are real consequences to using a television as a baby sitter. It really bothers me to see parents so flummuxed by the consumerist demands of their children (which they repeatedly oblige) that they cave in. Heaven forbid we should experience an interruption in TV service and have to have a (gasp) conversation, entertain ourselves or listen to children.
Yeah, I'm not yet a parent, but I like to believe that a person can be a parent without treating it like a hostage situation.
</rant>
A PGP signed message is as good as a signed piece of paper
Possibly in the legal sense where you have the authority to take action, like billing the person or shipping a product, but not in terms of real authentication. Forging a signature (expecially one unfamiliar to you) is easy, but a PGP signed message requires knowledge of a passphrase. I have more trust in the PGP signed message.
(from a person whose mother "signed" a lot of notes to excuse him from days in high school)
I'm considering a starting up a web development firm with a focus on accessibility. I have good relations with the principles of an accesibility testing firm and believe the businesses can compliment each other well. I'm a part owner of a web development firm at the moment that isn't interested in pursuing this market, but I believe there is a significant market.
Can you elaborate on the market for web development firms that focus on accesibility? Aside from the normal perils of launching a new business (which I'm fairly acquainted) can you expound on the market need for firms that endeavor to deliver accessible content.
I'm getting weary of the idea that working hard is some kind of lie that has been foisted upon us. The fact is, until very recently, people simply had to work long hours to survive.
I'm reminded of something my Anthropology teacher told me. If you extrapolate the actual time that hunter-gatherer societes spent "working" to sustain themselves it comes to about 15-20 hours a week. Of course, those were simpler times when the mantra of consumerism didn't dictate that a person becomes happy when they own 3 cars and a 5,000 square foot house.
As our production methods get more efficient, we can make our choice between greater production and more hours off.
The US culture will always choose more production because for some reason it is bad do the same thing two years running. Zero percent growth would panick the US market, but in some circles that is seen as sustainable living.
But indeed, one day we will have robots to do most of our labor for us, and we'll have genetic engineering, clean energy, and all the biotech advances we could ever want, and then I'll be ready to start making the trade for fewer hours. Because at that point our production will have become extremely efficient, and we'll have attained the things I want to see society achieve.
Don't count on it. Consider a simple example: If I use a machine (computer, for example) that lets me produce n number of widgets in an 8 hour day, and then for a modest sum I get a computer twice as fast, shouldn't I only work 4 hours (after paying for the upgrade)? Again, don't count on it. As long as the competitor plans to run the 8+ hour day you will see no difference. Progress doesn't do anything signficant for the employee unless it improves safety and comfort.
I suppose people first felt pretty weird some 50-75 years ago talking into a machine. Yeah, I feel sort of goofy whenever I turn on speech recognition. I start to wonder if my roommates hear me and think I've gone over the deep end, but I don't think twice about answering the phone. Who knows? The social norm may shift.
I would prefer to see more articles describing how to avoid proprietary IE methodologies, like document.all in favor of w3c standards. In most cases there is a standard-compliant way of doing things. If IE has some worthwhile proprietary features maybe we should be encouraging w3c to adopt them, but it is a slippery slope to conform to IE-only features.
I believe these things receive their message from some sort of wireless conduit. Imagine the hack value of broadcasting your own stuff to the LCD. This could be fun.
Yes, my company provides an online service to do this sort of thing. We are in beta right now. email me (ragnar@spinweb.net) if you are interested in some more details, as the marketing stuff on the site is a bit lacking.
I use citibank for my online banking and it works just fine with Mozilla. I'm not sure why The Register listed them as a sinner. Their interface is solid and intuitive as far as I'm concerned.
I wouldn't be too alarmed. Consider the incredible costs associated with drilling for oil and I'll take my chances with the economic side effects of distilling alcohol from plants any day. Only a select amount of regions and nations can produce oil, but it is within the means of most nations to produce to alcohol and to distill it.
Therein lies maybe the biggest obstacle. Powerful nations control the means of production and distribution of oil. If a good alternative really comes along we can expect them to resist it politically, which is unfortunate for the consumers who might benefit from the choice.
I've read the book and eagerly await volumes 2 and 3. It is one of few comprehensive approaches at building serious software. If you learn by example, this is a good book for you.