Free audiobooks and other strange stuff at the Internet Archive.
Nov 22
If there is one place you should check out for some interesting and crazy content , it has to be the internet archive. Now I know that ‘The archive’ is mostly known by many of you in the form of the “way back machine ” , a sort of time machine that stores old versions of websites. You can have a laugh looking at what yahoo.com looked like in 1994 , or even take a peek at Knightwise.com as it looked like 5 or 7 years ago. There is a lot of interesting stuff. Most of the content on the internet archive is stuff that no longer has any ‘intellectual rights’ tied to it. Meaning that the producers of the content are either dead, that the content is so old even their pet hamster is dead (and so there is no one left to state a claim) or that the creator of the content has donated the content to the public domain. (Like for example .. me !) So I know what you think : The internet archive is just filled with a load of old and useless crap ! .. But there you are wrong. Unlike the movie ‘A night at the museum’ , that still has me waking up screaming at night .. this ‘museum’ of content is filled with the strangest of things. We will tick off 5 interesting finds for you to take a peak at.
‘1984, by George Orwell‘. If you are in IT, Social Media, Management or … are a Biped alive in the 21st Century : This book is a must read. Social visionary Orwell describes a world of total control, zero privacy in a run down reality in 1984 ( Sounds like Myspace ! ) Why read if you can listen .. and why pay Audible some big bucks if you can download the audiobook for FREE
‘NYFD Radio communication on 9/11′ A truly chilling listen : The radio communication logs of the New York Fire department on 9/11. Hearing them go into action , hearing the sirens, the noise and the confusion gives you a chilling feeling that you are part of that day in history … A tribute to the heroic firefighters if there ever was one. A must listen.
‘Cosmos , War of the planets’ A terrible B-movie filled with overacting, poor costumes , horrible screenplay and hilariously stupid aliens. Forget “The Avengers” .. Watch THIS
‘Open Security Training” How about a screen recording of an online tutorial on security ? If you are on the Internet archive .. Why not take the time to learn.
‘Nbc Short Stories‘ Nothing more nostalgic then picking up old radioshows that are by now only consumable halfway on the other side of the galaxy. Their radiowaves have long departed , but you can still listen to them HERE.
So enjoy your little trip through the internet archive. Everything is free and there is no farting allowed in the reading room.
(Thanx to listener Lorddrachenblut for the 1984 tip)
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Nov 18If you haven’t seen the “remake” of the 1980’s show Battlestar Galactica, you should seriously consider going to a therapist and ask them to examine that hairy ball of fur between your shoulder blades. As any self respecting geek with a sci-fi interest will tell you, Battlestar Galactica ( BSG for Short) is one of the “must-be-seen-before-terminator-gets-me-and-shoots-me” tv shows. Along with Firefly it draws the line dividing the best and the greatest sci-fi shows of the third millennium of mankind (Both shows being in the ‘greatest’ department.) The lords of Cobol (or should I say Scifi-channel) have bestowed upon you, whether thou art BGS junkies or total BSG-Virgins, a prequel. How did the first Cylon-Human war get started ? Where did it all begin ? How did Adama get his command of the Galactica and what happens if a toaster shoots at you. Be ignorant no more sweet friends. Behold “Blood and Chrome” …
And the other episodes are also LEGALY available online.
