Internet Forensics Issue 03

TAMAGOTCHI EMULATOR

There’s soooo much cool stuff in the Software Library on Internet Archive, including this fully operational Tamagotchi emulator. I forgot these only had THREE buttons. Feed it, play with it, bathe it, forget it, whatever. This inspired me to look into buying one for my keychain to fiddle with in public instead of my phone but they’re all $250 or more on eBay. Here’s a deep dive into Tamagotchis, if you’re interested. - Helen

VIRTUAL DOG POUND

On theme with Tamagotchis, here’s a virtual dog pound from the 2000s. - Helen

JUDITH’S HOME

I don’t know how to describe Judith’s home properly, so you’ll just have to visit. It’s a relic of the early Internet created by an older woman named Judith who shares quite a bit about her life — her career in growing plants and flowers, family photos, music, and her REALLY incredible Internet art she implores visitors to take. I don’t know who Judith really is, or was, or who maintains this site, but it’s been on the internet for DECADES. - Helen

STRANGE SCIENCE

This is suuuuuch a fun find. Michon Scott has been running Strange Science since 1996. The site features incredible imagery of fossils, early humans, cryptids, and more, including what Scott calls the Goof Gallery, where he documents centuries of incorrect artist renderings of mammals, dinosaurs, and monsters. - Helen

LOUISIANA MUSIC ARCHIVES

On March 6, I got to attend a Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra performance, which was absolutely incredible. I found out that much of their music comes from the archives, and much of that has been digitized, stretching all the way back to the 1800s. Lucky for us, it’s been made publicly accessible on the Louisiana Digital Library website. You can sort the archive by date, format, and subject.

I looked into digitized sheet music, and was even able to listen to audio recordings of jazz music from as early as the 1920s. For example, you can hear Bessie Smith’s “Muddy Water” here. -Alexis

BYTE MAGAZINE COVERS

The Internet Archive has the entire backlog of Byte Magazine, a microcomputer editorial journal that ran through the ‘70s and ‘80s. These covers showcase some of my favorite aesthetics, and I think they really capture the tech-optimism of the era. Here’s a few that caught my eye: -Alexis

“Domesticated Computers”

“Graphics hardware”

“Computer games”

“Energy conservation”

“Videotex”

“Mass storage”

“Computers in the laboratory”

“Image processing”