Los Angeles Times: After Katrina, a priceless musical archive was thought lost. It showed up in Torrance

Los Angeles Times: After Katrina, a priceless musical archive was thought lost. It showed up in Torrance. “Hurricane Katrina pushed into New Orleans early in the morning of Aug. 29, 2005, and within a few hours, the first floodwaters had crossed the doorway of Sea-Saint Studio. One by one, the three outfall canals bordering Lake Ponchartrain failed and water rushed into Gentilly, the quiet residential neighborhood where Allen Toussaint’s home and studio were located. Even as the storm moved out, the lake continued to pour itself into the city. The next day, Aug. 30, skies were blue and Sea-Saint was fully submerged.”

A Million Squandered: The “Million Dollar Homepage” as a Decaying Digital Artifact (John Bowers)

John Bowers at Harvard: A Million Squandered: The “Million Dollar Homepage” as a Decaying Digital Artifact. “While most of the graphical elements on the Million Dollar Homepage are promotional in nature, it seems safe to say that the buying craze was motivated by a deeper fixation on the site’s perceived importance as a digital artifact. A banner at the top of the page reads ‘Own a Piece of Internet History,’ a fair claim given the coverage that it received in the blogosphere and in the popular press….But to what extent has this history been preserved? Does the Million Dollar Homepage represent a robust digital artifact 12 years after its creation, or has it fallen prey to the ephemerality common to internet content?” If you want an exhibit A to the problems of digital impermanence and linkrot, READ THIS.