8 ms·

Please Donate to the Internet Archive

293 points by cleverjake 15y ago

lincolnwebs 15y ago
I now own a vibrant community website, started in 2000, that was compromised & erased in 2003. The previous owner had no backups. Hundreds of articles, tens of thousands of forum discussions, and hundreds of thousands comments were lost. We regrouped, and rebuilt the community. Archive.org was the only record left of any of the content, and we grabbed & distributed lost member avatars to quickly make the new site feel like home. I still reference it from time to time to piece together gaps in our history. If the Internet has any institutions at all, Archive.org is first among them. Donation sent.
- bad_user 15y ago
  Also see the famous case of Jeff Atwood losing and recovering the articles from codinghorror.com and blog.stackoverflow.com ... [1] http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/12065/recovering-a-lost-website-with-no-backup http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/12065/recovering-... [2] http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/12/international-backup-awareness-day.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/12/international-backu...
cleverjake 15y ago
If there ever was a perfect example of "don't be a free user", this would be it.
jmspring 15y ago
Going to http://archive.org http://archive.org the only notification for "donate" is a text link in "announcements". It seems like they could make the link a bit less subtle, but still be tasteful. I specifically went to the page looking for how to donate (rather than going through the linked to blog post.
Groxx 15y ago
Absolutely. It's the only way to find a huge chunk of the internet, and it's been endlessly useful to me. Second only to Wikipedia, I'd say, though it's a lot less well-known.
groaner 15y ago
I had to dig through their site to find this, as it wasn't immediately noted on their donation page, but they are a 501(c)(3) non-profit and donations should be tax-deductible for US taxpayers. http://www.archive.org/about/about.php http://www.archive.org/about/about.php
- Groxx 15y ago
  FYI: it's on the front page, on the top-right container, labeled "Welcome to the Archive". But the site isn't the best layout on the internet, it's pretty easy to miss.
  - groaner 15y ago
    Wow. Haven't felt so blind in a while! Good catch.
    - Groxx 15y ago
      I doubt you're alone in that :) And it's quite possible your comment here will be seen by more people, so it serves its purpose :D
- cpeterso 15y ago
  And some employers will match charity donations, so you may be able to double your contribution!
sneak 15y ago
Fell out of the funnel when they asked me to create an account on JustGive. I don't use PayPal. Give me a form I can type my payment details in, and I'm game.
- donw 15y ago
  Same here; I've asked them if they have any other options, and failing that, I'll just use the check-by-mail feature of my bank. Sites that do this universally bounce me. If somebody wants to give you money, the worst thing you can do is get in their way.
- Angostura 15y ago
  I went through JustGive and go to the point where I had to set up an account to donate. I'm at work, I have about 2 minutes to slip a donation through. I quit, I may donate again at home tonight if I remember.
gregw100 15y ago
no
VoxPelli 15y ago
They have twenty donations waiting for them on Flattr: https://flattr.com/thing/425480 https://flattr.com/thing/425480
djenryte 15y ago
I was walking home yesterday and saw a small sign denoting the Internet Archive building on Clement and Funston St. in Inner Richmond, SF. A bit surreal seeing the Archive of the Internet(!!) housed in white pillared building. And today, here it is on the fp of hn. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=internet+archive&hl=en&ll=37.782611,-122.471733&spn=0.002989,0.005364&sll=37.780791,-122.471142&sspn=0.001503,0.002682&vpsrc=6&hnear=Archive-It,+300+Funston+Ave,+San+Francisco,+California+94118&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.782611,-122.471733&panoid=U6HnGOJT0NhzyN2PRLBdww&cbp=12,151.06,,0,-7.92 http://maps.google.com/maps?q=internet+archive&hl=en&#38...
- neilk 15y ago
  It's a former Christian Science temple.
maximusprime 15y ago
160 employees? that seems like a lot to me. So no, sorry, I'm not going to donate. I'd rather donate to charities that really need money.
- redslazer 15y ago
  You would be surprised that most charities spend excessive amounts of their donations to raise more money. An online charity that is using its money to employ people is a better charity than one that publishes glossy brochures or takes out advertisements.
  - maximusprime 15y ago
    Archiving things on the internet undoubtedly is useful/interesting. But really there's no reason they couldn't generate revenue for themselves. But it's not for example saving lives. So personally, I think there are far more deserving charities in need of donations. There's people dying out there...
    - zanny 15y ago
      It is preserving the sum of knowledge being generated on the internet, which is orders of magnitude faster than any other information and data generation system ever in history. It is extremely important to keep records of everything we do online. Saving a life now is great and all, but documenting history like the archive does is essential for history to be preserved. Also, to generate revenue they would have to privatize some of their data or start selling ads, which for the same reasons wikipedia is funded by donations, doesn't work with public services.
      - maximusprime 15y ago
        Same with wikipedia. It's ironic that the current "Please donate to wikipedia" banners actually annoy me FAR more than little relevant adverts would. Maybe scanning books in or archiving live concerts or saving some geocities pages is something you're interested in, but I'm skeptical it's really preserving history for the good of mankind.
mironathetin 15y ago
The internet archive does a really good job. Why isn't it possible to establish a payment for good work in the internet? The fact that everything has to be free lead us to the really evil use/abuse of private data by the likes of Google, Facebook etc. I think we need a good idea to assure payment also for internet services. Lets face it: nothing is free in this world. It sometimes just looks as if. Donation send for this time. But if someone has a good idea how to finance good services, please speak. (I think, Mozilla might listen too).
- MengYuanLong 15y ago
  I'm not sure I fully understood your comment but flattr is an interesting platform for paying small sums to pages you enjoy. You may enjoy it if it is new to you. http://www.flattr.com http://www.flattr.com
  - mironathetin 15y ago
    There are ways to collect money. But clients seem to be hesitating. They expect "free" services.
    - BruceZ 15y ago
      Bitcoin seems like a perfect solution for solving this problem.
av500 15y ago
when I read the headline, I thought they meant content, not money. I was ready to mail them a few harddrives with worthy "stuff"...
- cleverjake 15y ago
  you should contact Jason Scott, if thats the case. HE acepts all comers - https://twitter.com/textfiles https://twitter.com/textfiles
wootish 15y ago
It would have been nice if they did not have the "minimum $10" clause. I am sure there should be a lot of students and third world people willing to help within their means.
- LargeWu 15y ago
  There are probably processing fees and whatnot that make anything less than $10 useless or even cost them money.
- ig1 15y ago
  If you can't afford $10 then you hold probably just keep the money, you need it more than they do.
  - wootish 15y ago
    Do you realize $10 has a higher value in developing countries? If not, I am surprised you are on HN!
plusbryan 15y ago
I had the pleasure of meeting brewster through a free event I was putting on some time ago. He is a remarkably generous man, in all senses of the word. Donation sent.

293 points by cleverjake 15y ago

I now own a vibrant community website, started in 2000, that was compromised & erased in 2003. The previous owner had no backups. Hundreds of articles, tens of thousands of forum discussions, and hundreds of thousands comments were lost. We regrouped, and rebuilt the community. Archive.org was the only record left of any of the content, and we grabbed & distributed lost member avatars to quickly make the new site feel like home. I still reference it from time to time to piece together gaps in our history. If the Internet has any institutions at all, Archive.org is first among them. Donation sent.

bad_user 15y ago
Also see the famous case of Jeff Atwood losing and recovering the articles from codinghorror.com and blog.stackoverflow.com ... [1] http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/12065/recovering-a-lost-website-with-no-backup http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/12065/recovering-... [2] http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/12/international-backup-awareness-day.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/12/international-backu...

cleverjake 15y ago

If there ever was a perfect example of "don't be a free user", this would be it.

jmspring 15y ago

Going to http://archive.org http://archive.org the only notification for "donate" is a text link in "announcements". It seems like they could make the link a bit less subtle, but still be tasteful. I specifically went to the page looking for how to donate (rather than going through the linked to blog post.

Groxx 15y ago

Absolutely. It's the only way to find a huge chunk of the internet, and it's been endlessly useful to me. Second only to Wikipedia, I'd say, though it's a lot less well-known.

groaner 15y ago

I had to dig through their site to find this, as it wasn't immediately noted on their donation page, but they are a 501(c)(3) non-profit and donations should be tax-deductible for US taxpayers. http://www.archive.org/about/about.php http://www.archive.org/about/about.php

Groxx 15y ago
FYI: it's on the front page, on the top-right container, labeled "Welcome to the Archive". But the site isn't the best layout on the internet, it's pretty easy to miss.
- groaner 15y ago
  Wow. Haven't felt so blind in a while! Good catch.
  - Groxx 15y ago
    I doubt you're alone in that :) And it's quite possible your comment here will be seen by more people, so it serves its purpose :D
cpeterso 15y ago
And some employers will match charity donations, so you may be able to double your contribution!

sneak 15y ago

Fell out of the funnel when they asked me to create an account on JustGive. I don't use PayPal. Give me a form I can type my payment details in, and I'm game.

donw 15y ago
Same here; I've asked them if they have any other options, and failing that, I'll just use the check-by-mail feature of my bank. Sites that do this universally bounce me. If somebody wants to give you money, the worst thing you can do is get in their way.
Angostura 15y ago
I went through JustGive and go to the point where I had to set up an account to donate. I'm at work, I have about 2 minutes to slip a donation through. I quit, I may donate again at home tonight if I remember.

gregw100 15y ago

VoxPelli 15y ago

They have twenty donations waiting for them on Flattr: https://flattr.com/thing/425480 https://flattr.com/thing/425480

djenryte 15y ago

I was walking home yesterday and saw a small sign denoting the Internet Archive building on Clement and Funston St. in Inner Richmond, SF. A bit surreal seeing the Archive of the Internet(!!) housed in white pillared building. And today, here it is on the fp of hn. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=internet+archive&hl=en&ll=37.782611,-122.471733&spn=0.002989,0.005364&sll=37.780791,-122.471142&sspn=0.001503,0.002682&vpsrc=6&hnear=Archive-It,+300+Funston+Ave,+San+Francisco,+California+94118&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.782611,-122.471733&panoid=U6HnGOJT0NhzyN2PRLBdww&cbp=12,151.06,,0,-7.92 http://maps.google.com/maps?q=internet+archive&hl=en&#38...

neilk 15y ago
It's a former Christian Science temple.

maximusprime 15y ago

160 employees? that seems like a lot to me. So no, sorry, I'm not going to donate. I'd rather donate to charities that really need money.

redslazer 15y ago
You would be surprised that most charities spend excessive amounts of their donations to raise more money. An online charity that is using its money to employ people is a better charity than one that publishes glossy brochures or takes out advertisements.
- maximusprime 15y ago
  Archiving things on the internet undoubtedly is useful/interesting. But really there's no reason they couldn't generate revenue for themselves. But it's not for example saving lives. So personally, I think there are far more deserving charities in need of donations. There's people dying out there...
  - zanny 15y ago
    It is preserving the sum of knowledge being generated on the internet, which is orders of magnitude faster than any other information and data generation system ever in history. It is extremely important to keep records of everything we do online. Saving a life now is great and all, but documenting history like the archive does is essential for history to be preserved. Also, to generate revenue they would have to privatize some of their data or start selling ads, which for the same reasons wikipedia is funded by donations, doesn't work with public services.
    - maximusprime 15y ago
      Same with wikipedia. It's ironic that the current "Please donate to wikipedia" banners actually annoy me FAR more than little relevant adverts would. Maybe scanning books in or archiving live concerts or saving some geocities pages is something you're interested in, but I'm skeptical it's really preserving history for the good of mankind.

mironathetin 15y ago

The internet archive does a really good job. Why isn't it possible to establish a payment for good work in the internet? The fact that everything has to be free lead us to the really evil use/abuse of private data by the likes of Google, Facebook etc. I think we need a good idea to assure payment also for internet services. Lets face it: nothing is free in this world. It sometimes just looks as if. Donation send for this time. But if someone has a good idea how to finance good services, please speak. (I think, Mozilla might listen too).

MengYuanLong 15y ago
I'm not sure I fully understood your comment but flattr is an interesting platform for paying small sums to pages you enjoy. You may enjoy it if it is new to you. http://www.flattr.com http://www.flattr.com
- mironathetin 15y ago
  There are ways to collect money. But clients seem to be hesitating. They expect "free" services.
  - BruceZ 15y ago
    Bitcoin seems like a perfect solution for solving this problem.

av500 15y ago

when I read the headline, I thought they meant content, not money. I was ready to mail them a few harddrives with worthy "stuff"...

cleverjake 15y ago
you should contact Jason Scott, if thats the case. HE acepts all comers - https://twitter.com/textfiles https://twitter.com/textfiles

wootish 15y ago

It would have been nice if they did not have the "minimum $10" clause. I am sure there should be a lot of students and third world people willing to help within their means.

LargeWu 15y ago
There are probably processing fees and whatnot that make anything less than $10 useless or even cost them money.
ig1 15y ago
If you can't afford $10 then you hold probably just keep the money, you need it more than they do.
- wootish 15y ago
  Do you realize $10 has a higher value in developing countries? If not, I am surprised you are on HN!

plusbryan 15y ago

I had the pleasure of meeting brewster through a free event I was putting on some time ago. He is a remarkably generous man, in all senses of the word. Donation sent.