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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 8h

Scanned and uploaded to @archive.org: Part of a social studies unit on cities, this 1974 #filmstrip teaches the viewer about the importance of transportation. Part of the #SethKoehlerCollection.

archive.org/details/unco...

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 14h

Scanned and uploaded to @archive.org: Part of a 1974 social studies unit on cities, this #filmstrip teaches the viewer how a city gets food and water. Part of the #SethKoehlerCollection.

archive.org/details/unco...

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 17h

LIVE ALL DAY: Saving nearly-lost media on #filmstrip for safe keeping at @archive.org. Come watch literal saving of media and support my fight to keep saving these forgotten films.

Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/live/ms9zrp6...
Or Twitch: twitch.tv/uncommonephe...

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 1d

I propose a new test for LLMs. I don’t want to hear about math proofs or cancer cures: Can it write a simple plug-in for @nextcloud.bsky.social?

So far it’s a giant NO across the board: Grok, Grok Code Fast 1, GPT-5, GPT-5 Codex, and Sonnet 4.5 all fail. Nextcloud: harder to solve than cancer.

Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 1d

Scanned and uploaded to @archive.org: Part of a 1974 social studies unit on cities, this #filmstrip outlines the history of Chicago and some of the reasons it succeeded. Part of the #SethKoehlerCollection.

archive.org/details/unco...

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 1d

LIVE ALL DAY: Saving rare #filmstrips and their soundtracks for restoration and upload to @archive.org.

Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/live/ms9zrp6...
or Twitch: twitch.tv/uncommonephe...

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 2d

Of all the things I never thought I'd find on Is This Anything, it's a lighthearted PBS commercial with a sense of humor.

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 2d

LIVE NOW: Searching #VHS tapes for endangered and #lostmedia we can (hopefully) upload to @archive.org. IS THIS ANYTHING? is live on Twitch.

twitch.tv/uncommonephe...

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 2d

LIVE TONIGHT 7PM EDT: What's on all these #VHS tapes? Commercials? Rare stuff? Endangered or #lostmedia we should upload to @archive.org? There's only one way to find out. IS THIS ANYTHING? is live tonight on Twitch.

twitch.tv/uncommonephe...

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Reposted by Uncommon Ephemera

No Context Filmstrips @strippedcontext.bsky.social · 3d

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Reposted by Uncommon Ephemera

Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

I’ve been doing a show called IS THIS ANYTHING? for three years now, where we look through #VHS tapes from yard sales, estate sales, & generous donors. If we find something needing saving, I upload it to @archive.org. 1/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

... I need to tell you about what's going on, and have you tell me what the rules are for safeguarding these cultural artifacts.

Preservationists & #lostmedia fans, have you had similar challenges? What's your experience with @archive.org on DMCA takedowns? 15/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

So, @brewster.kahle.org, your upstanding vision powers this work. Partner with me to sustain it: Spell out the DMCA bounds and limits and my options in plain English. I'm ready to play by the rules, whatever you say they are. But I need to have the conversation with you... 14/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

This hints at an uneven playing field at @archive.org: leeway for friends, limbo for the rest of us. That's no way to run an organization as critical to cultural history as the Archive. 13/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

But a few months ago, after misunderstanding something on our Discord, he performatively cut ties, slinging #ableist slurs at me and others as he left. Now I can't get any other employee to clarify their DMCA policy. Messages to @brewster.kahle.org go unanswered. 12/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

So what's the problem? An @archive.org employee once vouched for us when I asked about this. "You don't have to worry about DMCA," he said, "because you know me. If IA disables your account, I'll make a new one and move all your items over." 11/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

Worse, my unique work saving filmstrips, being the sole keeper of a vanishing format, is at risk of disappearing if my account is disabled. I desire guidelines, not guesswork; rules I can follow to keep myself and the media safe. 10/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

This weighs heavily on me. If I can’t safely upload things, there’s no point in doing “Is This Anything?” We're not just a show; we're a lifeline, saving family memories, sustaining niche history. With the ambiguousness of DMCA policies, how could we feel safe saving media? 9/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

I have requested the Archive temporarily take down the *entire* collection, because it’s not clear what the consequences are of leaving it up. Now many terabytes of video are hogging the Archive’s disks, unavailable to their visitors. 8/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

The Archive’s policy on repeat takedowns is not clear: “[IA] disables accounts that repeatedly violate the copyrights of others.” Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to know what won’t be taken down is to let megacorps do what they want & let the other items remain. 7/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

...is troubling: a rare Cinemax-produced interview with the late, great James Stewart. The issue? It contains clips from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and was probably found by an AI bot trolling items on the Archive and not taking context into account. 6/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

Throughout it all, @archive.org was our steadfast ally, hosting it until the owner finds it. Until recently. Last month, the Archive received two DMCA takedown notices in our VHS collection. One of them, I get. The other... 5/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

Often accidentally discarded after a loved one’s death, we hope to reunite these memories with their families someday. As someone who’s lost both his parents and a number of friends, I know what it’s like when only memories remain. 4/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

We’ve rescued a lot of #lostmedia: goofy small-town ads, rare kids’ tapes, training videos, indie curiosities. We’ve even found home movies, whether from a camcorder or fragile 8mm movies transferred to VHS. 3/15

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Uncommon Ephemera @uncommonephemera.org · 4d

We don’t just upload everything. Our focus has been on not preserving things that are commercially available. We’re not pirates, we’re preservationists. We confirm things aren’t available before we upload, but sometimes that's not enough. 2/15

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