Mastodawn

Digital Preservation, old video storage mechanisms, and important parts of computing history colliding in this issue of NSA declining a FOIA request because they can’t view the results to audit/redact before sharing with outside experts for re-encoding.

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2024/jul/10/grace-hopper-lost-lecture-found-nsa/

Admiral Grace Hopper’s landmark lecture is found, but the NSA won’t release it

In a vault at the National Security Agency lies a historical treasure: two AMPEX 1-inch open reel tapes containing a landmark lecture by Admiral Grace Hopper, a giant in the field of computer science. Yet this invaluable artifact remains inaccessible, trapped in an obsolete format that the NSA will not release, stating that the agency is unable to play it back.

MuckRock

Show thread

lonely extrovert Jul 12, 2024

@philpennock @overholt i wonder if the nsa would accept a donation of one of those tape players if one were to find such a thing on ebay or whatever. here, i have the equipment, now look at this and see if you can release it. (they probably wouldn't, i suppose.)

Show thread

Michael K Johnson Aug 27, 2024

@philpennock in case you hadn't seen it yet, good news today!

https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/Press-Releases-Statements/Press-Release-View/Article/3884041/nsa-releases-copy-of-internal-lecture-delivered-by-computing-giant-rear-adm-gra/

While NSA did not possess the equipment required to access the footage from the media format in which it was preserved, NSA deemed the footage to be of significant public interest and requested assistance from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to retrieve the footage. NARA’s Special Media Department was able to retrieve the footage contained on two 1’ AMPEX tapes and transferred the footage to NSA to be reviewed for public release.

(not really 1 foot but maybe the NSA uses a different convention from everyone else?)

NSA releases copy of internal lecture delivered by computing giant Rear Adm. Grace Hopper

FORT MEADE, Md. — In one of the more unique public proactive transparency record releases for the National Security Agency (NSA) to date, NSA has released a digital copy of a lecture that then-Capt.

National Security Agency/Central Security Service

Show thread

Michael K Johnson Aug 27, 2024

OK, now I've finished watching both videos of Admiral Hopper's presentation.

Many details about computers have of course changed. But she understood people, and had a vision for moving from "a computer" to "a system of computers". Exactly how they are put together has changed, and she would have been the first to say to try new things, but this talk is absolutely worth the time to watch.

Her ending notes on the nature of leadership will be spot on as long as we are human.