https:\/\/sg-mktg.com\/MTY5MzUwMTQ2OXxtSDlJdWV3R1ZudDVFbWNhRUtmZ3VBS0laeW9VMU5hWnJyVU45a1hWc2RaRktQX29RcDR1RGoxYnVZb0cxOTljZFVEOFo4eGthMG53TEhkMGtFYjRndVFOTGRNelBrbjRjdS0zUnJjU1JIX28yTlNqeE9aeFIyZUZsSEFUQ0xCTW1Gd1BVN1dzNnFRUXRaX0llVzBvZEQtU243aXIybTBnSWt0MV9CdDF4MmZMcm9IZmt6bTQ1MzJ0aURPRUJuQ3JCTjFmN1Z3VDg3VjVaV01PT3Nzel9SRTlMcDhVZjhGRHRuWHlHTklPbHNYQmFfVUk3Z2oxd0lzPXzFHW64tPutj6UTLtpG5nljmproDN28v9RUHJIbypeIdQ==<\/a><\/p>\nShining a Light on the Digital Dark Age<\/p>\n
Without maintenance, most digital information will be lost in just a few decades. How might we secure our data so that it survives for generations?<\/p>\n
by Adrienne Bernhard<\/p>\n
The Dead Sea scrolls, made of parchment and papyrus, are still readable nearly two millennia after their creation \u2014 yet the expected shelf life of a DVD is about 100 years. Several of Andy Warhol\u2019s doodles, created and stored on a Commodore Amiga computer in the 01980s, were forever stranded there in an obsolete format. During a data-migration in 02019, millions of songs, videos and photos were lost when MySpace \u2014 once the Internet\u2019s leading social network \u2014 fell prey to an irreversible data loss.<\/p>\n
A false sense of security persists surrounding digitized documents: because an infinite number of identical copies can be made of any original, most of us believe that our electronic files have an indefinite shelf life and unlimited retrieval opportunities. In fact, preserving the world\u2019s online content is an increasing concern, particularly as file formats (and the hardware and software used to run them) become scarce, inaccessible, or antiquated, technologies evolve, and data decays. Without constant maintenance and management, most digital information will be lost in just a few decades. Our modern records are far from permanent.<\/p>\n
Obstacles to data preservation are generally divided into three broad categories: hardware longevity (e.g., a hard drive that degrades and eventually fails); format accessibility (a 5 \u00bc inch floppy disk formatted with a filesystem that can\u2019t be read by a new laptop); and comprehensibility (a document with an long-abandoned file type that can\u2019t be interpreted by any modern machine). The problem is compounded by encryption (data designed to be inaccessible) and abundance (deciding what among the vast human archive of stored data is actually worth preserving).<\/p>\n
The looming threat of the so-called \u201cDigital Dark Age\u201d, accelerated by the extraordinary growth of an invisible commodity \u2014 data \u2014 suggests we have fallen from a golden age of preservation in which everything of value was saved. In fact, countless records of previous historical eras have all but disappeared. The first Dark Ages, shorthand for the period beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire and stretching into the Middle Ages (00500-01000 CE), weren\u2019t actually characterized by intellectual and cultural emptiness but rather by a dearth of historical documentation produced during that era.<\/p>\n
Even institutions built for the express purpose of information preservation have succumbed to the ravages of time, natural disaster or human conquest. The famous library of Alexandria, one of the most important repositories of knowledge in the ancient world, eventually faded into obscurity. Built in the fourth century B.C., the library flourished for some six centuries, an unparalleled center of intellectual pursuit. Alexandria\u2019s archive was said to contain half a million papyrus scrolls \u2014 the largest collection of manuscripts in the ancient world \u2014 including works by Plato, Aristotle, Homer and Herodotus. By the fifth century A.D., however, the majority of its collections had been stolen or destroyed, and the library fell into disrepair.<\/p>\n
Digital archives are no different. The durability of the web is far from guaranteed. Link rot, in which outdated links lead readers to dead content (or a cheeky dinosaur icon), sets in like a pestilence. Corporate data sets are often abandoned when a company folds, left to sit in proprietary formats that no one without the right combination of hardware, software, and encryption keys can access. Scientific data is a particularly thorny problem: unless it\u2019s saved to a public repository accessible to other researchers, technical information essentially becomes unusable or lost. Beyond switching to analog alternatives, which have their own drawbacks, how might we secure our digital information so that it survives for generations? How can individuals, private corporations and public entities coordinate efforts to ensure that their data is saved in more resilient formats?<\/p>\n
Organizations like The Long Now Foundation are among those working to combat the Digital Dark Age (Long Now in fact coined the term at an early digital continuity conference in 01998), drawing on open-source software, coordinated action across platforms, transparency in design, innovative technologies, and a long view of preservation. From thought experiments and industry analysis to more concrete projects, these organizations are imagining preservation on a massive time scale….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
*Long Now Foundation. Quite a lot going on for the long term. https:\/\/sg-mktg.com\/MTY5MzUwMTQ2OXxtSDlJdWV3R1ZudDVFbWNhRUtmZ3VBS0laeW9VMU5hWnJyVU45a1hWc2RaRktQX29RcDR1RGoxYnVZb0cxOTljZFVEOFo4eGthMG53TEhkMGtFYjRndVFOTGRNelBrbjRjdS0zUnJjU1JIX28yTlNqeE9aeFIyZUZsSEFUQ0xCTW1Gd1BVN1dzNnFRUXRaX0llVzBvZEQtU243aXIybTBnSWt0MV9CdDF4MmZMcm9IZmt6bTQ1MzJ0aURPRUJuQ3JCTjFmN1Z3VDg3VjVaV01PT3Nzel9SRTlMcDhVZjhGRHRuWHlHTklPbHNYQmFfVUk3Z2oxd0lzPXzFHW64tPutj6UTLtpG5nljmproDN28v9RUHJIbypeIdQ== Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age Without maintenance, most digital information will be lost in just a few decades. How might we secure our data so that it survives for generations? by Adrienne Bernhard The Dead Sea scrolls, made of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"yoast_head":"\n
Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Artmaker Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-03T16:11:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bruce Sterling\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/\",\"name\":\"Artmaker Blog\",\"description\":\"on Toshareproject.it - curated by Bruce Sterling\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/\",\"name\":\"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-03T16:11:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-03T16:11:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f20726ed2761431f3e0ff4e096c3085\"},\"description\":\"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f20726ed2761431f3e0ff4e096c3085\",\"name\":\"Bruce Sterling\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c390e8ed4db57a34278dcf667f928a643cf769a865c8a8632dcd310412bb9a99?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c390e8ed4db57a34278dcf667f928a643cf769a865c8a8632dcd310412bb9a99?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bruce Sterling\"},\"description\":\"Art director at Share Festival, author and journalist\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/toshareproject.it\/tomorrowart\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/author\/brucesterling\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog","description":"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog","og_description":"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog","og_url":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/","og_site_name":"Artmaker Blog","article_published_time":"2023-09-03T16:11:16+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bruce Sterling","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/","name":"Artmaker Blog","description":"on Toshareproject.it - curated by Bruce Sterling","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/","name":"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-03T16:11:16+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-03T16:11:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f20726ed2761431f3e0ff4e096c3085"},"description":"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age | Artmaker Blog","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f20726ed2761431f3e0ff4e096c3085","name":"Bruce Sterling","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c390e8ed4db57a34278dcf667f928a643cf769a865c8a8632dcd310412bb9a99?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c390e8ed4db57a34278dcf667f928a643cf769a865c8a8632dcd310412bb9a99?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bruce Sterling"},"description":"Art director at Share Festival, author and journalist","sameAs":["http:\/\/toshareproject.it\/tomorrowart"],"url":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/author\/brucesterling\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3689"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3690,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3689\/revisions\/3690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toshareproject.it\/artmakerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}