Nostr notes by Paul Cantrell

Back in 1999 or so, I was on the team that helped Minnesota ...

2026-08-06T20:04:40Z

Back in 1999 or so, I was on the team that helped Minnesota Public Radio choose a long-term storage format for their (extensive and valuable!!) audio archives, which they were about to digitize.

The conclusion we came to was that there was •no• storage medium that met their long-term preservation goals — true then, and almost certainly still true today. The best approach is perpetual and redundant forward copying of the data, from one physical storage device to another.

An archive isn’t a physical thing; it's a process.

quoting
nevent1q…a0ww
Gizmodo asks “Will We Ever Solve the Problem of Losing Data?”

I love this answer: “I know of one data storage form that can be permanent: a library. Or rather, a world full of libraries. Libraries aren’t perfect storage devices (nothing is), but they are fiercely committed to self-repair. A good library is a collection of people, technologies, and practices that pass an obligation—to remember the things we must remember—from the last generation to the next.”
https://gizmodo.com/will-we-ever-solve-the-problem-of-losing-data-2000792386 #libraries

I assume after HuggingFace comes BurstingChest, the next stage of ...

2026-07-27T05:42:23Z

I assume after HuggingFace comes BurstingChest, the next stage of the parasite’s lifecycle?

I am now in my…uh…43rd (I think?) year of writing code, and: ...

2026-07-11T03:20:12Z

I am now in my…uh…43rd (I think?) year of writing code, and:

Same. This is accurate.

quoting
nevent1q…axfs
I’ve been working with computers for five decades. Some people view me as an “expert” in certain subjects.

And I can tell you that when I am learning a new technology I still feel like the dumbest newb on the planet. I make tons of mistakes. I go down stupid rabbit holes of my own making. I have tons of self doubt.

So give yourself some grace. Everybody goes through this phase. Take a deep breath. Believe that you can do this.