Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It

Latest Episodes:

The Amateur Episode Jun 29, 2018

Show notes

The Amateur Episode: Question Not Question, Stumbling into Librarian, Emerson College, Zero Sum Games, The Early Web, TEXTFILES.COM as Library, Your Amateur Moment. I've tried to take a (minor) sour moment and turn it into something positive. I also got to give some thoughts on some generalized criticisms that are usually subtweeted in my direction, although how much this episode moves the needle, I'll likely never know. The presentation, by the way, was a lot of fun and I got to meet some really great folks who I'd never had the chance to meet. I found out about some long-memory examples held up in in the professional spheres, and I hope to research those to have what other lessons could have learned. Also, lunch was amazing and someone handed me a stack of hard drives. Also, now you know why "Rank Amateur" is in my twitter bio!

The Doomed Infocom Dinner Episode Jun 29, 2018

Show notes

The Doomed Infocom Dinner Episode: The Eye-Opening E-mail, An Infocom Life, After Infocom Infocom, Phoning in a Text Adventure, Thaumistry, Spellcasting 101, Uncreated Games, The Miracle of Game Engines. Plus: Emergency Room. There are three podcasts being posted today. I'm keeping to 4 a month and I just got hit with a lot of commitments and project work that took me away from recording. I also recorded an episode while I was in California that had sound so terrible I just had to try again. This one's about one of my favorite letters I ever got, as well as thoughts on creating games then and now, and the benefits of each. I love creative tools so much!

The Sven Wallin / Wynn Wagner Episode Jun 16, 2018

Show notes

An episode of the life of and my experiences knowing Sven Wallin / Wynn Wagner III. Fidonet, OPUS, Fossil, YOOHOO, The Interview and Dinner, Archbishop, Goodbye, The Journey. Note: A Mention of Suicide.

The Undone Episode Jun 01, 2018

Show notes

The Undone Episode - Things I've Not Done.

This is an episode about various things people think I've done in my life and in fact I've never done them. We're going deep, folks. I rush to say that none of this serves as a template for what I think people "should" be doing - it's just how it wound up being for me.

The Floppy Format Episode May 29, 2018

Show notes

The Floppy Format Episode: .WOZ Format, What .WOZ Means, The Work of 4AM, What Next, Why Do This, Cross-Correlation, The Future End-User, Undoing My Damage.

A philosophical episode about the meaning of a new Apple II Floppy format and its place on the Archive, plus what it all means to dump this software online.

.WOZ Format Spec (There's now a 1.1):

https://archive.org/details/Woz_Reference_Specification_2018_01

4AM Collection:

https://archive.org/details/apple_ii_library_4am

The Firing Episode May 16, 2018

Show notes

The Firing Episode: That Time I Got Fired, A Sysadmin's Life, If You Lose Jason You Lose Us, A Steaming Cup of Coffee, The Unnamed Worst Customer Ever, Goodbye, Hello Internet Archive.

An episode about the only time I've been fired so far! Not bad for roughly 20 years of working life. I am pretty sure I got most of the details right, but you never know. I say this compared to most of the talking about history I do because it seems to be that when a person describes an emotionally traumatic event, they tend to get details real weird - it must be how the brain copes.

Subscribe and support this podcast at http://podcast.textfiles.com

The Living Computer Episode May 10, 2018

Show notes

The Living Computers Episode: Talking of the Present, The Living Computers Museum, A Basement Returns, Archives in a Fishbowl, Emulation, World Champion, Presentations, The Future of Disk Packs, I Can't Do Everything, Thanks Again.

This episode covers my visit to the Living Computer Museum in Seattle, WA, where I was last week. I've been there before and it's only gotten better, and I'd recommend it to everyone (and emphatically do in this episode). I also mention one of the podcast's "rules", which is I don't do by-the-moment commentary on current events; I considered this subject different because being at the Museum brings up so many great memories and inspires so much in bringing history back, I thought it was worth sharing.

Living Computer Museum is at https://livingcomputers.org

The Psygnosis Episode May 01, 2018

Show notes

The Psygnosis Episode: The First Support Call, Life as a Support Tech, The Dream, The Inside View, Playstation Gossip, Psygnosis Gossip, Mail Call, A:, Blotter, Shrinkwrap, Rest in Peace.

Thanks to everyone who contributes through the Patreon and other sources! It makes an enormous difference in my life.

I run the Psygnosis fan-site at http://www.psygnosis.org.

The Indexing Episode Apr 01, 2018

Show notes

The Indexing Episode: The Most Critical Emotional Story, Our Digital History, Any Label Will Do, The Works Before The Works, The Indexes We Build, David W. Niven, Crap From The Past, Who Is This For, A Straighter Spine. The David W. Niven Collection: https://archive.org/details/davidwnivenjazz Crap From The Past: https://archive.org/details/crapfromthepast Thanks for all your feedback and insight. I will continue to refine the subject matter!

The Handheld Electronics Episode Mar 24, 2018

Show notes

The Handheld Electronics Episode: A Little Under the Weather, Handheld History Collection, The Flood of Players, Holding the Memories in Your Hand, Playing "Football" With My Dad, The Nature of Electronic Handheld Emulation, Destroying to Live Forever, The Musical Future.

To check out the handheld history collection at the Internet Archive, simply visit https://archive.org/details/handheldhistory