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Bruce Axtens
Bruce Axtens

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99 Bottles of Beer and the Wayback Machine

99-bottles-of-beer.net is another programming language comparison site. Sadly, no one seems to care about it any more and its guestbook is full of spam. Nevertheless, hundreds of programming languages, ancient and modern, are represented. There are some gems there even if only about the '99 Bottles of Beer' song.

I originally went hunting for it on the Wayback Machine as it wasn't coming up on the first page of a Google search. For those not in the know

The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, the print disabled, and the general public. Our mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge.

We began in 1996 by archiving the Internet itself, a medium that was just beginning to grow in use. Like newspapers, the content published on the web was ephemeral - but unlike newspapers, no one was saving it. Today we have 20+ years of web history accessible through the Wayback Machine and we work with 625+ library and other partners through our Archive-It program to identify important web pages.

For historians, analysts, authors and even those hunting for now-defunct software companies and other sites of interest, The Internet Archive is invaluable.

For USA readers, how about HuffPo in 2006? or The Drudge Report in 2009? or even WaPo and FoxNews from way way waaaaay back in 1996?

Australians may be mildly interested in what Aunty ABC was reporting back then.

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