[PSA] The Internet Archive

[Termer]

The Internet Archive
[This should be a sticky]
View archived version of this post! (Just for fun!)​

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The Internet is a fantastic resource, especially for things that are no more. But what happens when a part of the Internet is no more? That's where the Internet Archive comes in!

What is the Internet Archive?​

The Internet Archive is a organization that archives websites. Like Google, it finds websites and indexes them. But instead of just indexing them, it crawls each and every site it finds and archives that website for later viewing. This allows us to view websites as they were a long time ago! For instance you can check out Nintendo.com as it was in 1996!

But... What use is that to me?​

Well, let me name some examples:
Citation: Besides viewing automatically crawled webpages, you can also make it archive any webpage, site, or otherwise file that you want at any given moment, then use cite that as a static source.
Fixing Broken Links: This is where the Archive really shines. Say you're looking for a piece of software for the PS2, but not surprisingly, the link to that software is broken. Well, at this point you have two options: Curl into a ball and cry, or search the URL in the Archive. If you chose the latter, you most likely have found the resource you are looking for and are very happy. Now, I cannot guarantee that you will find what you are look for, after all, the Archive cannot capture the whole Internet, but there is a good chance it has found what you are looking for.
File Mirroring: The Archive also saves files! If you want a file from a particular date, or a file from a website that is down, you can often get it from the Archive. Many people have gotten kernels for their old R4 cards this way. By the way, the Archive has a DMCA exemption, so it can mirror DMCA'd files without fear of them being taken down. This also allows you to visit archived versions of warez sites without being tracked, and download 100% safely, provided that the downloads themselves are safe. Please note: I do not condone piracy, and I am only providing a plausible example of a use of the Archive.

How can I contribute to the Archive?
You can contribute to the Archive by saving webpages that will be of help or benefit to people when the webpages go down eventually. By doing this you can make the Archive more complete and more helpful to others.

I hope this article has been of help to you, and I encourage you to contribute to the Archive!​

 

[hobbledehoy899]

The Internet Archive is a ROM site.

 

[Scarlet]

So... Why the PSA..? There's nothing new here. And I don't understand why this should be stickied, everything here is common knowledge. AND you're trying to promote it as a means of piracy. There are just so many questions to be asked here.

 

[Carnelian]

Thanks to this site i could recover a deleted youtube videos.

 

[Lightyose]

Soo.... I never knew this!

 

[Termer]

So... Why the PSA..? There's nothing new here. And I don't understand why this should be stickied, everything here is common knowledge. AND you're trying to promote it as a means of piracy. There are just so many questions to be asked here.

You'd be surprised how many people don't know this. And about the piracy, I didn't mean to promote it. I was just laying out the facts.
I am sorry if you do not agree with this, but I believe that it should be posted for everyone to see.

 

[migles]

i try to help internet archive..
when buying games on humble bundle i select to donate 90% of the money into them..
not sure if humble bundle is to be trusted, but i really hope the money really goes to them, they are really usefull and deserve it

 

[Termer]

i try to help internet archive..
when buying games on humble bundle i select to donate 90% of the money into them..
not sure if humble bundle is to be trusted, but i really hope the money really goes to them, they are really usefull and deserve it

I'm sincerely glad to hear that! I didn't know Humble Bundle had that as an option. I'll have to remember that!

 

[Termer]

A note to everyone: I do not condone piracy, and in the part of the article I mentioned it I have added a similar note. I included the bit about archived warez and DMCA because it is a good example of a plausible use of the Archive. If you still deem this inappropriate, I will consider removing it, but I believe it should be left alone. Thank you!