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March 2011, Week 3

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From:
Jeremy Butler <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:15:36 -0500
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Happy birthday to us!

Twenty years ago, BEFORE THE WORLD WIDE WEB EXISTED, Screen-L was born. Its
first test message was launched out onto BITNET (the "Because It's Time"
Network) on Friday, March 15, 1991, at 7:42 (and 11 seconds) pm, CST. It
initially lived on UA1VM, the University of Alabama's #1 virtual machine--a
mainframe computer... big iron!

1991 was the paleolithic era for networked computing. The Internet was not
yet the standard platform for email delivery. (Anyone remember the horror
that was cc:Mail?) The Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) was principally used for
services such as Gopher and file transferring via FTP). The World Wide Web
had its public debut on August 6, 1991, but Web browsers that could handle
images were still two years away.

So, in 1991, Screen-L was kinda cutting edge. I can remember leading
workshops at the Society for Cinema Studies (before it added "Media" to its
name) on how academics might use this new-fangled electronic mail thing for
scholarly purposes.

One fun thing about Screen-L is that every message in its 20-year history is
archived here:

http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html

The archive provides an interesting history of the field of media studies.
And this archive makes me wonder: 20 years from now, will be able to look
back at Facebook's and Twitter's data with the same ease? The short answer
is, obviously not. Both of those services make it quite onerous to archive
their material. And wouldn't it be interesting to have a crystal ball and
see if such services will even exist 20 years hence?

A few thanks are in order:

I must thank the University of Alabama for hosting Screen-L since day one
and thus making our longevity possible.

And thanks must also go to the hundreds of Screen-L subscribers over the
years. As Screen-L's moderator, I've been grateful for the civility that
(most) folks have shown.

On we go for another 20 years (and more?)!

Regards,

Jeremy Butler
Screen-L founder


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----------
      When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.
                              --Richard Nixon
                                Interview with David Frost (1977)
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|                                      | Bitnet   :        JBUTLER@UA1VM |
| Jeremy G. Butler - - - - - - - - - - | Internet : [log in to unmask] |
|                                      | GEnie    :           J.BUTLER27 |
|                                                                        |
| Telecommunication & Film Dept * The University of Alabama * Tuscaloosa |




-- 
Jeremy Butler

www.TVStyleBook.com
www.ScreenLex.org
www.ScreenSite.org
www.TVCrit.com
www.ShotLogger.org
www.AllThingsAcoustic.org

Professor - TCF Dept. - U Alabama

----
Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu

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