8 ms·
The 2012 Millennium Artifact
- unwind 4y agoSo, uh, is this irony? They design an electronic artifact that is supposed to last 1,000 years. Cool. But to check on its status, i.e. learn what it looks like, you have to go to ... Facebook?!
- ntrz 4y agoAs far as learning what it looks like, there are photos on the site too (under "The Artifact"). The incorporation of Facebook is a bit silly but it's a student project, I guess the point was really for the students to consider the sort of unusual constraints and considerations that are required for such a long-term design. Seems unlikely anyone involved really expected to be updating that Facebook page for the next thousand years.
- logifail 4y ago> the point was really for the students to consider the sort of unusual constraints and considerations that are required for such a long-term design Right ... and after considering those important aspects, they decided to send everyone to FB to check on the artefact's status? Talk about scoring an own goal.
- 404mm 4y agoSeems like Facebook has outlived the project :(
- h2odragon 4y agoLast FB update was 2013... I suspect a bad end for this item: "Possible explosive device found and neutralized at local school"
- dooglius 4y agoI think I recall getting a passive mention of it on a desk around 2014. More likely the last student who worked on it and who cared to update the page graduated.
- robertlagrant 4y ago> Price--The materials and components making up the artifact need to cost less than $1000 in total. (This does not include the value of student labor.) Oh yes it does, arf.
- soderfoo 4y agoRecently, I did a similar thought experiment: what's the best platform agnostic way to store data (photos, videos, text, etc) to ensure availability for 100 years? You really start to realize the permanence is mostly an illusion, we expect the internet or AWS to be there, but there are no guarantees.
- aliqot 4y agocrystal storage, holographic data. also dna.
- ThinkingGuy 4y agoEncode the data on a gold-plated disc, attach the disc to a space probe, and launch the probe toward the constellation Telescopium.
- carapace 4y agoI can't find it now, but I remember reading about this guy who will etch your data onto a ceramic disc and store it in a old mine in, like, Switzerland or somewhere like that. It's not a lot of data per disc, but it's effectively permanent.
- dandelany 4y ago…assuming you can find another guy in 1000 years who will be able to retrieve your disc from the mine :)
- freitzkriesler 4y agoMy family has a handwritten journal from a family member that wrote it in the 1880s. It is still in good condition. I also have 100-150 year old books on koine greek (modern versions are trash). They're in great condition. I'd say print. Paper, hardbound copy books stored in a proper place so they last. Next up is stone.
- Izkata 4y ago> stored in a proper place That'll probably get you a lot longer than 100 years. We still have my great-grandfather's emigration paper from somewhere around 1905, as well as other random papers from the 1920s-1930s, just stored in a shoebox.
- mavhc 4y agoIn the end the part that failed was anyone caring enough to update what happened
- spiritplumber 4y agoDon't forget to avoid electrolytic capacitors...