from “Web Stalker” to the Googlization of Literature
Posted: March 11, 2013 Filed under: criticism, digital, history of computing, media poetics | Tags: archives, archiving, net art Leave a comment »I’m nostalgic for a moment I never lived through – when we were concerned enough with monopolies over access to information online that not only did we call the competition between Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator a “browser war,” but there were even competitions such as the Amsterdam-based “Browserday” to design new, innovative browsers.
Nowadays, while there are a few more choices for browsers and still many reasons to be concerned about how our experience of the Web is being framed for us, search engine algorithms are the new, more obvious information gatekeepers. In fact, the 21st century version of Internet Explorer’s monopoly is now so obvious that it’s nearly no longer noticeable, for when we search for data on the Web we are no longer “searching” – instead, we are “Googling.” And so, in line with what Siva Vaidhyanathan calls “The Googlization of Everything,” a new mode of writing is emerging that I call (in the postscript to my book Reading Writing Interfaces) “readingwriting”: the practice of writing through the network, which, as it tracks, indexes, and algorithmizes every click and every bit of text we enter into the network, constantly reads our writing and writes our reading. This strange blurring of, even feedback loop between, reading and writing, quite simply signals the end of literature as we’ve known it. It is the Googlization of literature. And readingwriters (such as Darren Wershler, Bill Kennedy, Tan Lin, and John Cayley/Daniel Howe) who experiment with/on Google are not simply pointing to its ubiquity; they are implicitly questioning how it works, how it generates the results it does, and so how it sells ourselves and our language back to us.
The impetus of this literary critique of Google is clearly aligned with that of early works of net art such as the “Web Stalker” from 1997 – an experimental web browser or piece of “speculative software” created by the art collective I/O/D (consisting of Simon Pope, Colin Green, and Matthew Fuller). “Web Stalker” essentially turns the web inside-out, presenting the viewer/navigator with the html code of a given page and all links leading to and from the page are presented to the viewer as a visualization. It is an artistic tool for drawing attention to the limits and possibilities of a particular reading/writing interface, the web browser. As co-creator Colin Green put it in a 1998 interview with Geert Lovink, “[b]rowsers made by the two best-known players frame most peoples’ experience of the web. This is a literal framing. Whatever happens within the window of Explorer, for instance, is the limit of possibility.” The foregoing is then followed up by Matthew Fuller’s clarification that “Web Stalker” “is not setting itself as a universal device, a proprietary switching system for the general intelligence, but a sensorium – a mode of sensing, knowing and doing on the web that makes its propensities – and as importantly, some at least of those ‘of the web’ that were hitherto hidden – clear.”
Since “Web Stalker” was created sixteen years ago, and runs only on Windows 95 and Mac Classic OS (which in turn usually requires an equally obsolete dialup connection), it’s fairly difficult to get it running and there are also very few high quality images available of it online. Thankfully, Matthew Fuller generously provided me with images which I’m making available here. If you have the technical know-how, you can still download “Web Stalker” here and get it to write a reading of the Web like you’ve never seen before…or at least, not seen since the late 90s.
In-Progress Catalog of the MAL’s Holdings
Posted: December 17, 2012 Filed under: history of computing, media archaeology lab | Tags: archives, history of computing, interface, media studies Leave a comment »With heartfelt thanks to my research assistant Caitlin Purdy and to Kyle Bickoff, a graduate student here at CU Boulder, the Media Archaeology Lab now has a nearly complete catalog of all its holdings. The catalog is clearly still a work-in-progress and, other than the just the organizational challenges in the document itself, the next step for the MAL is a web-based, searchable catalog. Still, hopefully the list below at least gives researchers a sense of what they can find in the lab. We also haven’t quite worked out a system for documenting material from particular donors and integrating this information into the main body of the catalog – at the moment, items from our most recent donors (Timothy Sweeney and Robert Craig) are listed separately toward the end of the catalog.
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DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE MAL CATALOG HERE.
Print Material
8-Bit Digital Sound Studio: User’s Guide. N.p.: Great Valley Products, Inc., 1992. Print.
Abernethy, Ken, T. Ray Nanney, and Hayden Porter. Exploring Macintosh: Concepts in Visually Oriented Computing. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1989. Print.
ALLC Bulletin 13.3 (1985). Print.
ALLC Bulletin 9.2 (1981). Print.
ALLC Bulletin 9.1 (1981). Print.
ALLC Bulletin 6.2 (1978). Print.
ALLC Bulletin 6.3 (1978). Print.
ALLC Bulletin 4.2 (1976). Print.
ALLC Bulletin 4.3 (1976). Print.
ALLC Bulletin 8.1 (1980). Print.
ALLC Bulletin 8.3 (1981). Print.
ALLC Bulletin 7.1 (1979). Print.
ALLC Bulletin 7.2 (1979). Print.
ALLC Journal 1.1 (1980). Print.
ALLC Journal 2.1 (1981). Print.
Apple II: DOS User’s Manual. Cupertino: Apple Computers, Inc., 1982. Print.
Apple II: Quick File II. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1982. Print.
Apple II Reference Manual. Cupertino: Apple Computer Inc, 1981. Print.
Apple II Utilities Guide. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1981. Print.
Applesoft BASIC Programmer’s Reference Manual. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1982. Print.
Berkowitz, Rob. Inside the Macintosh Communications Toolbox. Ed. Scott Smith and Becky Reece. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1991. Print.
De Jong, Marvin L. Apple II Assembly Language. Indianapolis: Howard W. Sams & Co, Inc, 1982. Print.
The Einstein MemoryTrainer User Guide. Los Angeles: The Einstein Corporation, 1983. Print.
Englebardt, Stanley L. The Worlds of Science: Cybernetics. New York: Pyramid, 1962. Print.
Finkel, LeRoy, and Jerald R. Brown. Apple Basic: Data File Programming. N.p.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1982. Print. Self Teaching Guide.
Frenzel, Louis E., Jr. Crash Course in Microcomputers. Indianapolis: Howard W. Sams & Co Inc, 1980. Print.
Gateley, Wilson Y., and Gary G. Bitter. Basic for Beginners. N.p.: McGraw Book Company, 1970. Print.
Grammer, Virginia Carter, and E. Paul. Goldenberg. The Terrapin Logo Language for the AppleII. Ed. Mark Eckenwiler and Peter Von Mertens. Cambridge: Terrapin, Inc., 1982. Print.
Inside Macintosh. Vol. VI. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1991. Print.
Inside Macintosh. Vol. V. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1986. Print.
Inside Macintosh. Vol. IV. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1985. Print.
Inside Macintosh. Vol. III. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1985. Print.
Inside Macintosh. Vol. II. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1985. Print.
Inside Macintosh. Vol. I. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1985. Print.
Introduction, Complier, Editor. Cary: SAS Institute Inc., 1993. Print. Vol. 1 of SAS/C Development System User’s Guide.
Jenngs, Edward M. Science and Literature. Garden City: Anchor, 1970. Print.
Literary & Linguistic Computing 4.2 (1989). Print.
Literary & Linguistic Computing 5.1 (1990). Print.
Literary & Linguistic Computing 2.3 (1987). Print.
Literary & Linguistic Computing 3.3 (1988). Print.
Literary & Linguistic Computing 3.2 (1988). Print.
Literary & Linguistic Computing 4.4 (1989). Print.
Literary & Linguistic Computing 4.1 (1989). Print.
Luebbert, William F. What’s Where in the Apple: A Complete Guide to the Apple Computer. Amherst: Micro Ink, 1982. Print.
Luedtke, Peter, and Rainer Luedtke. Your First Business Computer. Bedford: Digital Equipment Corporation, 1983. Print. The Desktop Computer Series.
Macintosh Manual. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1984. Print.
Micromodem Smartcom I: Owner’s Manual. Norcross: Hayes Microcomputer Products, 1983. Print.
Parikka, Jussi. What Is Media Archaeology? Cambridge: Polity, 2012. Print.
PC World 1.2 (1983). Print.
PC World 1.1 (1983). Print.
PC World 1.4 (1983). Print.
PC World 1.3 (1983). Print.
Perspectives in Computing 2.1 (1982). Print.
Perspectives in Computing 1.4 (1981). Print.
Perspectives in Computing 1.2 (1981). Print.
Perspectives in Computing 1.1 (1981). Print.
Ratliff, Wayne. dBASE II: Assembly Language Relational Database Management System. Culver City: Ratliff Software Production, Inc., 1982. Print.
Schneider, Ben Ross, Jr. Travels in Computerland. N.p.: Addison-Wesley, 1974. Print.
Smith, George W. Computers and Human Language. London: Oxford University, 1991. Print.
Smith, Jon M. Scientific Analysis on the Pocket Calculator. N.p.: John Wiley & Sons, 1975. Print.
Snell, Barbara M. Translating and the Computer. N.p.: North-Holland, 1979. Print.
Sobel, Robert. IBM: Colossus in Transition. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1981. Print.
Texas Instruments TI-99/4A Computer: Beginner’s BASIC. N.p.: Texas Instruments, 1979. Print.
Texas Instruments TI-99/4A Computer: User’s Reference Guide. Texas Instruments Incorporated ed. N.p.: Texas Instruments, 1979. Print.
Texas Instruments TI-99/4 Home Computer: TI Extended BASIC. Dallas: Texas Instruments, 1981. Print.
Tindall, Peggy Cagle, and Michel Boillot. Transparency Masters to Accompany Developing Computer Skills Using Appleworks. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1991. Print.
Tucker, Allen B., Jr. Text Processing: Algorithms, Languages, and Applications. New York: Academic, 1979. Print.
Turkle, Sherry. The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984. Print.
Volume III. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1985. Print.
Wesson, Robert B. Perfect Calc User’s Guide. Berkeley: Perfect Software, Inc., 1982. Print.
Worley, Steven P. Essence: A Library of Algorithmic Textures for Imagine. N.p.: Apex Software, 1992. Print.
Zielinski, Siegfried. Deep Time of the Media. Cambridge: MIT, 2006. Print.
- – -, ed. Neapolitan Affairs: On Deep Time Relations of Arts, Sciences and Technologies. London: Quay Brothers, 2011. Print. Vol. 49 of Variantology 5.
- – -. On Deep Time Relations of Arts, Sciences, and Technologies. Oberhausen: Printmanagement Plitt, 206. Print. Vol. 35 of Variantology.
- – -, ed. On Deep Time Relations of Arts, Sciences and Technologies In the Arabic-Islamic World and Beyond. Oberhausen: Printmanagement Plitt, 2010. Print. Vol. 45 of Variantology 4.
- – -, ed. On Deep Time Relations of Arts, Sciences, Technologies In China and Elsewhere. Oberhausen: Printmanagement Plitt, 2008. Print. Vol. 37 of Variantology 3.
Software/Games
The Adams Family. Ocean Software Limited, 1992. Cassette. Commodore 64 Game
Agent USA. Jefferson City: Tom Snyder Productions, Inc. Inc., 1984. Cassette.
American Football. Argus Press Software Group, 1984. Cassette. Commodore 64 Game.
Applications Software. Dallas: Texas Instruments Inc., 1981. Cassette. System Unknown.
AwardWare. Plantation: Hi Tech Expressions, 1986. Floppy disc. System Unknown.
Beagle Bros Apple II Software. St. Clair Shores: Beagle Bros, 1992. Floppy disc. for Apple II Software
The Blues Brothers. Titus Software, 1991. Cassette. Commodore 64 Game
Castle Master. The Hit Squad, 1990. CD-ROM. Amiga Game
Certificate Maker. Springboard Stoftware, Inc., 1986. Floppy disc. For Apple II+, Apple IIe, Apple IIc.
Cluedo. Leisure Genius, 1984. Cassette. Commodore 64 Game.
Command Module. Dallas: Texas Instruments, 1979. Floppy disc.
Dollars and Sense. Inglewood: Monogram, 1983. Floppy disc. For Apple IIc
Electric Canyon This Land Is Your Land. Geneva: Polarware. Floppy Disk.. For Apple IIc
Electric Crayon ABCs. Geneva: Polarware, Inc. Floppy disc. For Apple IIc
EPYX Action. EPYX Inc., 1989. Cassette. Commodore 64 Game
Fleet System 2+. Needham: Professional Software, Inc., 1987. Floppy disc. For Commodore 64.
Interdictor Pilot. Supersoft, 1984. Cassette. System Unknown.
King’s Quest II: Romancing the Throne. Sierra, 1987. Floppy Disk. For Amiga.
King’s Quest III: To Heir is Human. Sierra, 1987. Floppy Disk. For Amiga.
Macintosh XL MacWorks XL. Cupertino: Apple Computer, Inc., 1984. Floppy disc. For Macintosh.
Maps and Globes: Latitude and Longitude. Mahwah: Troll Associates. Floppy disc. System Unknown.
Max Headroom. Quickstiva. Cassette. Commodore 64 Game (only 1 of 2 disks present)
Megaworks. San Diego: Megahaus. Floppy disc. For Apple IIc and Apple IIe.
Mitchell, Philip. Sherlock. Melbourne House Publishers, 1984. CD-ROM. Commodore 64 Game
My Label Maker. Menlo Park: MySoftwareCo. Floppy disc. System Unknown.
The News Room. Minneapolis: Springboard Software, Inc., 1986. CD-ROM. For Apple II+, Apple IIe, Apple Iic
Police Quest 1. Sierra. 1992. Floppy Disk. For Amiga.
Police Quest 2. Sierra. 1992. Floppy Disk. For Amiga.
Police Quest 3. Sierra. 1993. Floppy Disk. For Amiga.
Pinpoint. Oakland: Pinpoint, 1985. Floppy Disk. For Apple IIc, Apple IIe.
The Story so Far Compilation Pack: Volume 4. Elite, 1989. Cassette. Commodore 64 Games
Time Out Desk Tools II. San Diego: Beagle Bros, Inc., 1988. Floppy disc. For Apple II.
Back Room Inventory
Smith Corona grey typewriter
Smith Corona blue typewriter
Wollensak 3M tape recorder model 2820; labeled “CU ENGLISH DEPARTMENT” and CU 91218
Panasonic portable CD player model SL-SX320 w/ headphones attached
Sony Radio Cassette Player model WM-FX197
1 Nintendo Entertainment System; Model Number: NES-001; FCC ID: BMC9BENINTENDOETS; Serial Number: N11551290
2 Nintendo Controllers ; Model Number: NES-004
1 Nintendo Zapper; Model Number: NES-005
26 Nintendo Games:
1943: The Battle of Midway, 1985
Battletoads. 1985
Blastermaster, 1985
Blades of Steel, 1985
Contra, 1985
Double Dragon, 1985
Double Dragon II: The Revenge, 1985
Dracula’s Curse, 1985
Dragon Warrior, 1985
Duck Tales, 1985
Excitebike, 1985
From Russia with Fun, 1985
Jackal, 1985
Megaman 2, 1985
Mega Man 3, 1985
Metroid, 1985
Punch-out, 1985
Skate or Die, 1985
Super Dodge Ball, 1985
Super Mario Bros: Duck Hunt. 1985
Super Mario Bros. 2, 1985
Super Mario Bros. 3, 1985
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants, 1985
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 1985
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, 1985
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, 1985
Front Room Inventory
1 Apple IIe Computer
1 AppleColor Composite Monitor; Model Number: A2M6020; Serial Number: S; FCC ID: BCG90QNA2M6020
1 Keyboard; Model Number: A2S2128; Serial Number: E02210ZAS2128; FCDD ID: BCG6DSA2S2128
1 Apple 5.25 Drive; Model Number: A9M0107; Serial Number: KGU9861
1 Mouse; Model Number: M0100; Serial Number: 0435A11E00185
1 KoalaPad+; FCC ID: CN475EPAD001
1 Macintosh Lisa
1 Monitor; Model Number: A6S0200; Serial Number: A4284080
1 Keyboard; Model Number: A6MB101; Serial Number: 1061595
1 Mouse; Model Number: M0100; Serial Number: G512M010001909
1 Box of Imation 2DD, 720KB
1 Apple IIc
1 Monitor; Model Number: G090H; Serial Number: T077678; FCC: BCG966MNTR2CG090H
1 Keyboard; Model Number: A2S4000; FCC ID: BCG9GRA2S4000; Serial Number: F609608A2S4000
1 Mouse; Serial Number: M528M010005151; Model Number: M0100
1 Disk IIc; Model Number: A2M4050; Serial Number: F301954; FCC ID: BC69Z6A2M4050
1 Macintosh Centris 610
1 Monitor (Macintosh 12” RGB Display); Family Number: M1296
1 Apple Desktop Bus Mouse; Family Number: G5431
1 Keyboard; Model Number: M2980; FCC ID: BCGM2980
1 Apple iMac G3
1 Apple USB Keyboard; Model Number: M2452; Serial Number: NK8470XUADL2
1 Apple USB Mouse; Model Number: M4848
1 iMac G4
1 Pro Keyboard; Model Number: M7803; Serial Number: M7803
1 Pair of speakers
1 Macintosh Portable; Model Number: M5120; FCC ID: BCGM5120
1 Macintosh PowerBook 165; Model Number: M4440; FCC ID: BCGM4440
1 Apple MacBook Air; Serial Number: W882609UY5G
1 Apple iBook G4; Model Number: A1054
1 Apple iBook G3; Family Number: M2453; Serial Number: UV949322H6Q
1 IBM Portable Personal Compuer (no ID numbers)
1 COMPAQ Portable III; Model Number: 2660; FCC ID: CNT75M2660; Serial Number: CNT75M2660
1 COMPAQ Portable; Model Number: 2670; FCC ID: CNT75M5401; Serial Number: 1848HN3H0355
1 NeXTcube
1 NeXT Computer; Part Number: 23.00; Model Number: N1000; Serial Number: AAK0004152;
1 NeXT Keyboard; Part Number: 193; Serial Number: AAF 1532557
1 NeXT MegaPixel Display Monitor; Model Number: N400OA; Part Number: 1403; Serial Number: AAA 7026704
1 NeXT Mouse; Model Number: N400A; Part Number: 193; Serial Number: AAF 1532557
1 IBM 5151
1 IBM Keyboard (No ID Numbers)
1 IBM Personal Computer Display; Model Number: 5151; Serial Number: 0889756; FCC ID: AN08ZA5151
1 IBM Personal Computer; Model Number: 5151; Serial Number: 0889756; FCC ID: AN08ZA5151
1 Commodore Amiga 500
1 Commodore Keyboard; Model Number: A500; Serial Number: CA1112119; FCC ID: BR98YV-B52
1 Amiga Monitor; FCC ID: AG19XA-1080
1 SMITH ENG. Vectrex
1 Vectrex; Model Number: 3000; Serial Number: 142309A
1 Vectrex Arcade System (No ID Numbers)
1 VectrexLIGHTPEN (No ID Numbers)
1 Commodore 64
1 Commodore C2N Cassette; Serial Number: 2951548; FCC ID: BR99VMC2N-A
1 Gemstick (No ID Numbers)
1 Commodore 64 Keyboard; Model Number 64; Serial Number: P00961638;FCC ID: P00961638
1 Commodore Monitor; Model Number: 1084S-P; Serial Number: 181231
1 Commodore Single Drive Floppy Disk; Model Number: 1541; Serial Number: BA1A73536; FCC ID: BR98DD-1541
1 KAYPRO II
1 KAYPRO II Keyboard
Storage Room
7 Commodore Keyboards; Model Number 64; FCC ID: BR98YV-64
1- Serial Number: P00571266
2- Serial Number: P01201694
3- Serial Number: P00194582
4- Serial Number: P00523783
5- Serial Number: P5069951
6- Serial Number: P00667703
7- Serial Number: P5206846 (damaged)
6 Commodore Single Drive Floppy Model 1541; FCC ID: BR978H1541
1- Serial Number: BA1C15223
2- Serial Number: BA1C37290
3- Serial Number: AJ1A64384
4- Serial Number: BB1015068
5- Serial Number: AB1308436
6- Serial Number: JA1066169
3 Commodore C2N Cassettes; FCC ID: BR99VMC2N-A
1- Serial Number: 2644906
2- Serial Number: 2244157
3- Serial Number: 2201862
2 Commodore Datassettes; FCC ID: BR99VMC2N-A
4- Serial Number: 372569
5- Serial Number:1419210
1 Maxim Computer Cassette Unit; Model Number: PM-C16
5 Apple II Disk; FCC ID: BCG9GRDISKII; Model Number: A2M0003
1- Serial Number: 2147209
2- Serial Number: 1131734
3- Serial Number: 813903
4- Serial Number: 429981
5- Serial Number: 484451
Donations from Timothy P. Sweeney
1 Startfight Joystick
2 paddle joysticks
2 ATARI electrical cords
1 Atari joystick and STICKSTAND
1 ATARI 400, 16K
Model?# G 16K 441 2137
Serial? # 175 AVO43273-16 10/23 L4 (text ripped off sticker)
1 ATARI 410 Program Recorder
Model# T33589
Serial # 44862
1 ATARI 1050 Disk Drive DOS 3 (with powercord)
Serial # 7VDFF 23960 494
1 ATARI 800 XL
Serial #166528
1 SWITCH BOX CAO10112
Games
Ms. PAC-MAN, Atari Cartridge
MUSIC COMPOSER, ATARI CXL4007, Cartridge
EASTERN FRONT (1941): Computer Strategy Game, ATARI RX8039, Cartridge
BASIC COMPUTING LANGUAGE, ATARI CXL4002, Cartridge
PAC-MAN Computer Game, ATARI CXL4022, Cartridge
SUPER BREAKOUT Computer Games, ATARI CXL4006, Cartridge
Cribbage & Dominoes, for ATARI 400/800
Cassette
Instruction Manual
Sky Writer, ATARI Cartridge
DELTA DRAWING Learning Program, for ATARI 400/800/ALL X LS
Cartridge
Advertising insert for Spinnaker Software
Owners Manual
KICKBACK, for ATARI 400/800
Cartridge
Instruction manual
Flight Landing Simulator, Main Street Publishing, for Atari
5.25″ floppy
Instruction sheet
Microsailing, Main Street Publishing, for Atari
5.25″ floppy
CardWare: Animated Birthday Greeting Disk And All Occasion Card Maker, Commodore ATARI Flip Disk. C64/128 and ATARI 400/800
1 5.25″ floppy
Productivity Software/Blank Floppies/Cassettes
AtariLab starter set with temperature module. a science series for Atari computers. developed by Dickinson College. Atari Inc., 1983.
Owners manual
AtariLab Interface
AtariLab Thermometer
AtariLab temperature module cartridge
SynTrend: Graphing, Statistical Analysis & Forecasting, Atari
published by Synapse, copyright 1983
Owers manual
2 5.25″ floppies
SynFile+: The Ultimate Filing System, Atari
published by Synapse, copyright 1983
Owers manual
1 5.25″ floppies
SynCalc: Advanced Electronic Spreadsheet
published by Synapse, copyright 1983
Owers manual
2 5.25″ floppies
1 Blank Cassette, “Channel Master”
1 5.25″ Floppy, labelled “ATARI DOS 2.05 Single Density Working Disk”, DataTech 1D, Single Side/Double Density
1 5.25″ Floppy, labelled “DOS 3.0″, DataTech 1D, Single Side/Double Density
1 5.25″ Floppy, labelled “Homemade PGMS”, DataTech 1D, Single Side/Double Density
SUITCASE Font and Desk Acessory Liberation (for Apple Macintosh)
1 3.25″ floppy
Copyright 1987 Software Supply
Manuals
ATARI Disk Operating System Reference Manual, DOS 3, Atari Inc., 1983.
ATARI Service Contract: Low Cost Protection For Your Atari Home Computer, Atari Inc., 1983.
An Introduction to the ATARI Disk Operating System, DOS 3. Atari Inc., 1983.
ATARI 1050 Disk Drive Owner’s Guide, Atari Inc., 1983.
ATARI 1050 Disk Drive: An Introduction to the ATARI Disk Operating System, Atari Inc., 1983.
[pamphlet] THE ATARI 400 COMPUTER SYSTEM. COMPUTERS FOR THE PEOPLE. ATARI INC., 1981.
THE ATARI 400 COMPUTER SYSTEM: THE BASIC COMPUTER OWNER’S GUIDE. ATARI INC., 1981.
ATARI BASIC Reference Guide. Atari Inc., 1983.
[photocopied manual in white binder] ATARI BASIC. by Bob Albrecht, Le Roy Finkel, and Jerald R. Brown. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1979.
THE BIG BROTHER THESAURUS. Deneba Software, 1988. no floppy.
FileMaker 4: Setting the Data Management Standard. Nashoba Systems. For Apple Macintosh. 1983.
HyperCard Quick Reference Guide. Apple Computer.
HyperCard: Installation and new features. 1998, Apple Computer.
Write Now 4: POWER Word Processing For the Macintosh. 1993, WordStar International.
HyperCard 2.0 Script Language Guide. 1989, Apple Computer.
Ashton-Tate Learning Full Impact. Owners Manual. 1990, Ashton-Tate Corporation.
MAC PAC ’88 $110 in rebate coupons on these leading products. Envelope with coupons enclosed.
The ATARI 800XL Home Computer Owners Guide. 1983, Atari Inc.
Scram Computer Program: A Nuclear Power Plant Simulation. Atari 400/800. (no cartridge)
Magazines
10 Start Programs, from Family Computing. By Joey Lattimer. For Apple, Atari, Commodore 64 and VIC-20, TI, TIMEX, and TRS-80. 1983.
Family Computing: The Lure of Fantasy and Adventure Games. 1:2 (October 1983).
Family Computing: Preschool Computing: What’s Too Young? 1:3 (November 1983).
Family Computing: A Guide to Word Processing by Peter McWilliams. 1:4 (December 1983).
Family Computing: Computing Fun in the Sun. 2:1 (January 1984).
Family Computing: Computing and Careers. 2:4 (April 1984).
Family Computing: More Power for the Home. 3:11 (November 1985).
The Best of Family Computing Programs by Joey Latimer. 1985. Scholastic Inc.
Family Computing: Improve Your Job: Put Your Computer To Work at Home. 4:2 (February 1986).
Family Computing: Earn Money With Your Computer. 4:5 (May 1986).
Family Computing: Buyer’s Guide to Computers. 4:6 (June 1986).
Family Computing: Writing With Computers Part 1: How to Find the Right Word Processor for Your Needs. 4:8 (August 1986).
GPX Atari Program Exchange. Software Catalog Spring Edition 1982. User-Written Software for ATARI Home Computer Systems.
GPX Atari Program Exchange. Software Catalog Summer Edition 1982. User-Written Software for ATARI Home Computer Systems.
GPX Atari Program Exchange. Software Catalog Fall Edition 1982. User-Written Software for ATARI Home Computer Systems.
GPX Atari Program Exchange. Software Catalog Winter Edition 1982-1983. User-Written Software for ATARI Home Computer Systems.
Antic: The ATARI Resource. Communications special issue. 1:2 (June 1982).
Antic: The ATARI Resource. Printers special issue. 1:3 (August 1982).
ATARI SPECIAL ADDITIONS. Volume 1 Winter 1982. Catalog of Additional Products for your Atari Home Computer.
The ATARI Connection. 2:1 (Spring 1982). A New World of Information.
The ATARI Connection. 2:4 (Winter 1982). How to Introduce Your Child to a Home Computer.
The ATARI Connection Spring 1983. Debut: Atari 1200XL Home Computer
Donations from Robert Craig
1 Zenith Monitor for use with the Osborne computer
Model # ZVM-121
Chasis: 12MB15X
Service # ZVM-121 I5T?? (text unclear because ink is bleeding/fading)
Serial # 4045726
1 Osborne I with attached keyboard and power cable.
Date of purchase: 12/3/1082
Serial No. NA003113
Media
Osborne I User’s Reference Guide (Print)
Pub. 2/22/1982
Osborne User’s Guide – Applications and Programming (Print)
Copyright 1983
Media Master Plus Application – 5.5in Floppy
This two program package includes
Disk-to-disk format conversion software
ZP/EM 8-bit Emulation for MS-DOS
Booklet for Microlink computer program for the Osborne
Guidebook for “dBase II Assembly Language – Database Management System Version 23b”
Manual Revision 1.C 12
12/10/83
For use on the Osborne I
3 Binders
JRT Pascal User’s Guide
185 pages detailing common problems and their solutions for the JRT implementation of the Pascal programming language.
FOG Volumes III and IV
The First Osborne Group’s Monthly CP/M publications, from Vol III No. 8 (May 1984) to Vol IV No. 12 (September 1985)
FOG Volumes V and VI (and parts of VII)
The First Osborne Group’s Monthly CP/M publications, from Vol V No. 1 (October 1985) to Vol VII No.6 (March 1988)
Various Pamphlets/Guidebooks on
82 Space Raiders
Instructions for “Eliza” – Osborne I Version
Ozzy-Man User Instructions
Retail Advertisement/Order form for Portable Software, Inc’s Games, Applications, and Hardware Accessories
Key-Wiz ver 1.01
Gramatik Manual
The Double Density Upgrade for the Osborne one Computer “S/N AA50016um”
The 80 Column Upgrade “S/N BB06912”
Installation Procedure for Osborne Fan Assembly
EXMON external monitor adapter Instructions
Various Hardware for the Osborne I
Replacement back panel/handle attachement
Two screwdrivers – 1 Phillips, 1 specialty hexagonal shape
Two unknown Transistor-like replacement pieces, both 16 prong. Condition and use unknown
One converter, RCA to 20 prong system – possibly for use to convert video outputs
One 24 pronged replacement device
One Two pronged connector replacement piece
1 box of assorted 5.5 in Floppy disks (Some homemade, some purchased)
SS/SD Disk R/O Version 11
FOG – Starter.001
FOG – Starter.002
CPM.010 #1 of 2
CPM.010 #2 of 2
DU Disk Utility, Modem Program, Wash Utility
Grammatik
Addict Pack Disks 1-4
Portable Software Family Pack
Eliza Version 3.0 Microsoft BASIC-80 Version
Robot Gladiators
DBASE II Tutor Disks 1-6
DBASE II disk
DBASE II Zip
DBASE II Sample Data files
JRT Pascal Ver 3.0 Disks 1-3
Key-Wiz Sort-Wiz
Osborne CP/M System
Osborne CP/M Utility
Osborne Wordstar/Mailmerge
Osborne Micro Link
Osborn CBASIC/MBASIC
Supercalc
MLA 2013 Special Session: Reading the Invisible and Unwanted in Old & New Media
Posted: May 15, 2012 Filed under: criticism, digital, e-literature, history of computing, media poetics | Tags: archives, digital humanities, digital media, e-literature, electronic literature, gaming, history of computing, interface, media archaeology, media poetics, MLA 2013, new media Leave a comment »[February 2013: I've posted an extended version of my MLA 2013 paper here.]
Below is the description for the MLA ’13 special session panel that Paul Benzon, Mark Sample, Zach Whalen, and I will present on in January. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to pursue together issues related to Media Archaeology.
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Media studies is growing increasingly visible within the broader disciplines of literary and cultural studies, with several critical approaches bringing valuable shape and context to the field. Prominent among these approaches is a turn away from media studies’ longstanding fixation upon the new or the innovative as the most urgent and deserving site of study. Drawing on methodologies as diverse as book history, media archaeology, and videogame studies, this work on earlier media technologies has forged provocative connections between past and present contexts that hinge upon disjuncture and nonlinearity as often as upon continuity and teleology. At the same time, an increased attention to the material particulars of inscription, storage, circulation, and reception has developed the field beyond an early focus on narrative and representation.
New media scholars now look beyond screen-based media, to a broader range of technologies and sites of inquiry. This panel seeks to consider unseen, lost, or unwanted histories of writing/media. Each of the panelists focuses on a particular technology that is not only invisible to the broad history of media technology, but also relies upon loss and invisibility for its very functionality. In keeping with this dual valence, our emphasis on loss and invisibility is intended to raise questions aimed at our specific objects of analysis, but also at the deeper historical and disciplinary questions that these objects speak to: how does our understanding of media technology change when we draw attention to objects and processes that are designed to be invisible, out of view, concealed within the machine, or otherwise beyond the realm of unaided human perception? What happens when we examine the technological, social, and ideological assumptions bound up with that invisibility? How does privileging invisibility shed new light on materiality, authorship, interface, and other central critical questions within media studies?
The vexing relationship between invisibility and transparency is addressed head-on in Lori Emerson’s paper, “Apple Macintosh and the Ideology of the User-Friendly.” Emerson suggests that the “user-friendly” graphical user interface (GUI) that was introduced via the Apple Macintosh in 1984 was–and still is–driven by an ideology that celebrates an invisible interface instead of offering users transparent access to the framing mechanisms of the interface as well as the underlying flow of information. Emerson asserts this particular philosophy of the user-friendly was a response to earlier models of home computers which were less interested in providing ready-made tools through an invisible interface and more invested in educating users and providing them with the means for tool-building. Thus, the Apple Macintosh model of the GUI is clearly related to contemporary interfaces that utterly disguise the ways in which they delimit not only our access to information but also what and how we read/write.
A desire to renew critical attention on the most taken-for-granted aspect of computer writing and reading is at the heart of Zach Whalen’s paper, “OCR and the Vestigial Aesthetics of Machine Vision.” Whalen examines the origins of the technology that allows machines to read and process alphanumeric characters. While graceful typography is said to work best when it is not noticed–in other words, when hidden in plain sight–early OCR fonts had to become less hidden in order to make their text available for machine processing. Whalen focuses on the OCR-A font and the contributions of OCR engineer Jacob Rabinow, who argued on behalf of ugly machine-readable type that (although historically and technically contingent) its intrinsically artificial geometry could become its own aesthetic signifier.
The condensation and invisibility of textual information is taken up by Paul Benzon in his paper, “Lost in Plain Sight: Microdot Technology and the Compression of Reading.” Benzon uses the analog technology of the microdot, in which an image of a standard page of text is reduced to the size of a period, as a framework to consider questions of textual and visual materiality in new media. Benzon’s discussion focuses on the work of microdot inventor Emanuel Goldberg, who in the fifties worked alongside and in competition with the engineer Vannevar Bush, a seminal figure for new media studies. Benzon transforms the disregarded history of textual storage present in Goldberg’s work into a counter-narrative to the more hegemonic ideology of hypertext that has dominated new media studies.
Turning to an entirely invisible process that we can only know by its product, Mark Sample considers the meaning of machine-generated randomness in electronic literature and videogames in his paper, “An Account of Randomness in Literary Computing.” While new media critics have looked at randomness as a narrative or literary device, Sample explores the nature of randomness at the machine level, exposing the process itself by which random numbers are generated. Sample shows how early attempts at mechanical random number generation grew out of the Cold War, and then how later writers and game designers relied on software commands like RND (in BASIC), which seemingly simplified the generation of random numbers, but which in fact were rooted in–and constrained by–the particular hardware of the machine itself.
These four papers share a common impulse, which is to imagine alternate or supplementary media histories that intervene into existing scholarly discussions. By focusing on these forgotten and unseen dimensions, we seek to complicate and enrich the ways in which literary scholars understand the role of technologies of textual production within contemporary practices of reading and writing. With timed talks of 12 minutes each, the session sets aside a considerable amount of time for discussion. This panel will build on a growing conversation among MLA members interested in theoretically inflected yet materially specific work on media technologies, and it will also appeal to a broad cross-section of the MLA membership, including textual scholars, digital humanists, literary historians, electronic literature critics, and science and technology theorists.
Recovering Paul Zelevanksy’s literary game “SWALLOWS” (Apple //e, 1985-86)
Posted: April 24, 2012 Filed under: criticism, digital, e-literature, history of computing, media poetics, Uncategorized | Tags: Apple II, archives, digital humanities, digital literature, e-literature, electronic literature, emulation, media archaeology, preservation, videogame 2 Comments »
In 1986 – a year after creating a literary videogame called “SWALLOWS” for Apple //e and Apple //+ – writer Paul Zelevansky published the second volume of his by-now rare artist book trilogy THE CASE FOR THE BURIAL OF ANCESTORS: Book Two, Genealogy. Book Two is supposedly the third edition (which is also a fiction since there was only one edition) of a fictional translation of an equally fictional ancient text that is itself a translation of an oral account of the “Hegemonians” from the 12th-13th BCE that was “attributed to a score of mystics, religionists and scholars, none of whom has ever stepped forward.” (ix) The text focuses particularly on the stories of four priests, each of whom is identified throughout the book with a different typeface which Zelevansky claims makes it possible “to build a reading of the text around a typographical sequence.” (xi) Also included in Book Two is a sheet of 16 stamps – a miniature, layered collage of letters and found objects – as Zelevansky puts it in the “Preface to the Third Edition,” “each stamp has a particular part to play in the narrative. It is left to the Reader to attach them, where indicated, in the spaces provided throughout the text.” (xii) And, finally, enclosed in an envelope on the inside of the back cover, the book also comes with “SWALLOWS,” a 5.25″ floppy disk that is a videogame forming the first of three parts in the book. Programmed in Forth-79 for the Apple IIe or II+ (Forth was a popular programming language for home computers with limited memory), “SWALLOWS” was also integrated into the first section of Book Two through a short text/image version.
Since learning about Zelevansky’s work, I have been working through and writing on “SWALLOWS” as a very early, and important, instance of media poetics. And given what a remarkable work it is, and in an effort to contribute to the effort to preserve our digital past, I have made available the original file for “SWALLOWS” that you can run via an Apple // emulator. The existence of this file is entirely due to the work of Matthew Kirschenbaum and the generosity of Paul Zelevanksy. Matthew Kirschenbaum in fact recently made an argument in The Chronicle for the importance of digital preservation by detailing how he accessed “SWALLOWS” via an Apple // emulator and then provided Zelevanksy with the original .dsk file from which he then created a new version of “SWALLOWS” (with audio and video clips mixed in) called “G R E A T . B L A N K N E S S.”
Below are the directions to download the .dsk file and then run it on an emulator. Enjoy!
- download an Apple //e emulator. I found Virtual ][ works well.
- download an Apple // system ROM image. This zip file also works well.
- download the .dsk file for “SWALLOWS” (via Dropbox) and open the file using your Apple //e emulator
