Hello. Writing from a coffee shop in Chicago. Apologies for the slow 2nd post in the Social Securityseries; I’ve been camping in state parks and such - beautiful as they are, the wireless situation is less than ideal. So, here is public domain project proposal #2: Bootups.org.

About this time last year, I had the thought to archive audio of all the computers I could remember my family owning in the 1980s and 90s with a focus on boot-up, shut down, and idle sounds. Computing is getting quieter, which I generally feel is for the better – but much as an auto mechanic might appreciate the rumble of an old engine, I have an affinity for loud hard drives, modems, and the likes. I wasn’t much of an outdoors-type as a teen so these sounds are my slow rolling waters and whispering winds.

The archive was to start off being just my own uploads. I would put MP3, FLAC, and whatever other file formats felt needed and then open the site up to public submissions. From there, a few things could take place. First, some kind of auto-white noise generator that stings together various files or creates loops of a particular sound. It was my feeling that the sounds could help folks relax, fall asleep, or trigger feelings of nostalgia.

Second, the sounds could be used for crafting songs, either small snippets used as part of larger works or entire scores composed entirely of these samples. My own contribution would have been all files, in order chronologically as one mix. I thought perhaps WFMU, the Free Sound Archive, Ubu or other parties might be interested in teaming up but never reached out.

Some key concerns arose. How big would the files be, and how long? Would it be best for me to actually record all the computers myself with standardized gear to ensure some level of quality control? Better yet – could I have people bring their computers to a recording studio to ensure only the box itself was being archived?

Juno guru Dan Lopatin of the diy micro-label Upstairs CD-R told me he liked the idea, and would go so far as to issue a limited release, say 75-100 copies. That got me excited enough to register bootups.org but the domain has actually just expired, never having been much aside from a skeleton layout / concept in classic ASCII style.

This is an archive that I feel has historical and cultural importance, and one that a good number of people might have some interest in – but for whatever reason I didn’t turn out to be the guy to actually execute it. So I offer the general concept and name up to the public domain in hopes that someone swoops in to take charge!

Photo: Tiziano Garuti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Compaq_portable.jpg)