# Jason Scott

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{{Short description|American historian and archivist (born 1970)}}
{{About|the archivist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2011}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Jason Scott
| image              = File:Jason Scott (2017 Portrait).jpg
| caption            = Scott in 2017
| birth_name         = Jason Scott Sadofsky
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1970|9|13}}
| birth_place        = [Hopewell Junction](/source/Hopewell_Junction%2C_New_York), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)), U.S.
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| alma_mater         = [Emerson College](/source/Emerson_College)
| occupation         = [Archivist](/source/Archivist)
| known_for          = Archivist and historian of technology, performer, internet personality
}}

'''Jason Scott Sadofsky''' (born September 13, 1970) is an American [archivist](/source/archivist), [historian](/source/historian) of technology, [filmmaker](/source/filmmaking), performer, and actor. Scott has been known by the online pseudonyms '''Sketch''', '''SketchCow''', '''Sketch The Cow''', '''The Slipped Disk''',<ref>{{Cite web|title=DEF CON 18 - Jason Scott - You're Stealing It Wrong! 30 Years of Inter-Pirate Battles|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCAL_YgYiP0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324115458/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCAL_YgYiP0 |archive-date=2023-03-24 |url-status=live|last=Scott|first=Jason| website=[YouTube](/source/YouTube) |time=35:24|date=31 July 2010|quote="A long time ago, I was The Slipped Disk."}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and '''textfiles'''. He has been called "the figurehead of the digital archiving world".<ref>{{cite web |title=Jason Scott: Past (Digital) Lives |url=https://fm4v3.orf.at/stories/1719683/index.html |website=FM4 |publisher=ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Network) |access-date=18 March 2019}}</ref>

Scott is the creator, owner and [maintainer](/source/system_administrator) of [textfiles.com](/source/textfiles.com), a web site which archives files from historic [bulletin board system](/source/bulletin_board_system)s. He is the creator of a 2005 documentary film about BBSes,
''[BBS: The Documentary](/source/BBS%3A_The_Documentary)'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/ |title=BBS: The Documentary |publisher=Bbsdocumentary.com |access-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106004705/http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/ |archive-date=January 6, 2012 }}</ref> and a 2010 documentary film about [interactive fiction](/source/interactive_fiction), ''[GET LAMP](/source/GET_LAMP)''.<ref>{{cite magazine |last = Gagne |first = Ken |title = The Grill: Jason Scott |magazine = [Computerworld](/source/Computerworld) | publisher = [IDG](/source/IDG) |date = July 26, 2010 |url = https://www.computerworld.com/article/2550656/data-center/the-grill--jason-scott.html |access-date = August 8, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171123071700/https://www.computerworld.com/article/2550656/data-center/the-grill--jason-scott.html |archive-date = November 23, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.getlamp.com/ Get Lamp]</ref>

Scott lives in New York state. He was the co-owner of the late [Twitter](/source/Twitter) celebrity cat [Sockington](/source/Sockington). He works for the [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive) and has given numerous presentations at technology related conferences on the topics of [digital history](/source/digital_history), software, and website preservation.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

== Early life ==
Jason Scott Sadofsky{{r|MIT Technology Review}} graduated from [Horace Greeley High School](/source/Horace_Greeley_High_School) in [Chappaqua](/source/Chappaqua%2C_New_York), New York, and served on the staff of the [school newspaper](/source/school_newspaper) under the title "Humor Staff". While in [high school](/source/high_school) he produced the humor magazine ''Esnesnon'' ("nonsense" backwards).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/1987-esnesnon |title=Issue #1 of Esnesnon|year=1987|access-date=January 13, 2012}}</ref> He later graduated from [Emerson College](/source/Emerson_College) in 1992 with a film degree.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bbsdocumentary.com/longpitch.html|title = BBS: A Documentary: The Pitch}}</ref> While at Emerson, he worked for the school humor magazine, school newspaper, WERS 88.9 FM radio, and served as art director on several dramatic plays.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

== Career ==
After graduating from Emerson, Scott lived in [Harvard Square](/source/Harvard_Square) in [Cambridge, Massachusetts](/source/Cambridge%2C_Massachusetts), where he was employed as a [temp worker](/source/Temporary_employment) while also drawing caricatures for pay on the streets of Cambridge.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113231228/http://www.cow.net/jason/person.htm |archive-date=November 13, 2013 |url=http://www.cow.net/jason/person.htm |title=The Life and Times of Jason Scott |publisher=Cow.net |date=September 13, 1970 |access-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1990, Scott co-created TinyTIM, a popular [MUSH](/source/MUSH) that he ran for ten years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ascii.textfiles.com/about |title=ASCII by Jason Scott / About Jason Scott |date=December 11, 2008 |publisher=ascii.textfiles.com |access-date=January 18, 2012}}</ref> In 1995, Jason joined the video game company [Psygnosis](/source/Psygnosis) as a technical support worker, before being hired by a video game startup, Focus Studios, as an art director. After Focus Studios' closure, Jason moved into UNIX administration,<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717041614/http://www.cow.net/jason/employ.htm |archive-date=July 17, 2012 |url=http://www.cow.net/jason/employ.htm |title=Jason Works for a Living |publisher=Cow.net |access-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> where he remained until 2009.

He has been a speaker at [DEF CON](/source/DEF_CON), an annual [hacker con](/source/hacker_con)ference, the first time at the 7th conference in 1999, and has spoken there almost every year since then. Scott also spoke at [PhreakNIC](/source/PhreakNIC) 6 and 9, [Rubi Con](/source/Rubi_Con)s 4 and 5, the 5th [H.O.P.E.](/source/H.O.P.E.) conference in 2004, [Notacon](/source/Notacon)s 1, 2 (as a backup), 3 and 4, [Toorcon](/source/Toorcon) 7, and [beta](/source/Development_stage) premiered his [documentary](/source/BBS_Documentary) at the 7th annual [Vintage Computer Festival](/source/Vintage_Computer_Festival). Most of his talks focus on the capturing of digital history or consist of narratives of stories relevant to his experiences online.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://audio.textfiles.com/speeches/ |title=T E X T F I L E S |publisher=Audio.textfiles.com |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref>

In 2006, Scott announced that he was starting a documentary on [video arcade](/source/video_arcade)s, titled ''ARCADE''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arcadedocumentary.com |title=Arcade: A Documentary |publisher=Arcadedocumentary.com |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref> Although he did not complete the project, all of the footage he shot for ''ARCADE'' has been made available on the [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/textfiles/the-jason-scott-documentary-three-pack/posts/2378294|title=Update 56: End. · The Jason Scott Documentary Three Pack|website=Kickstarter|language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/arcadedocumentaryfootage|title=ARCADE Documentary Footage and Interview Archives : Free Movies : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive|website=archive.org|language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref>

In 2007, he co-founded Blockparty, a North American [demoparty](/source/demoparty).<ref>[http://www.demoparty.us/ Blockparty]</ref> For their inaugural year, they paired up with [Notacon](/source/Notacon) which takes place annually in [Cleveland](/source/Cleveland), Ohio. This collaborative effort allowed the fledgling party to utilize the existing support structure of an established conference.

In January 2009, he formed "[Archive Team](/source/Archive_Team),"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiveteam.org/ |title=archiveteam.org |publisher=archiveteam.org |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/style/digital-photo-storage-purge.html|title=It's Almost 2019. Do You Know Where Your Photos Are?|last=Herrman|first=John|date=2018-11-29|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-04-26|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> a group dedicated to preserving the historical record of websites that close down.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/426434/fire-in-the-library/|title=Fire in the Library|last=Schwartz|first=Matt|website=MIT Technology Review|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> Responding<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1617 |title=ASCII by Jason Scott / Eviction, or the Coming Datapocalypse |date=December 21, 2008 |publisher=Ascii.textfiles.com |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref> to the announcement by [AOL](/source/AOL) of the closure of [AOL Hometown](/source/AOL_Hometown), the team announced<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1649 |title=ASCII by Jason Scott / Datapocalypso! |publisher=Ascii.textfiles.com |date=January 18, 2009 |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref> plans to save<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1977 |title=ASCII by Jason Scott / Geocities: Why Hello, Everybody |publisher=Ascii.textfiles.com |date=August 18, 2011 |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref> Podango and [GeoCities](/source/GeoCities).{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In October 2009, he started raising funds for a year-long sabbatical from his job as a computer systems administrator, to pursue technology history and archival projects full-time. By November 2009, he had reached his funding goals, with the support of over 300 patrons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/textfiles/the-jason-scott-sabbatical |title=The Jason Scott Sabbatical |publisher=Kickstarter |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref>

In early 2011, he was involved in [Yahoo! Video](/source/Yahoo!_Video) and [Google Video](/source/Google_Video) archive projects.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://laughingsquid.com/archive-team-trying-to-download-google-video-before-it-shuts-down/|title=Archive Team Is Trying To Download Google Video Before It Shuts Down|date=2011-04-18|website=Laughing Squid|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archiveteam.org/index.php?title=Yahoo!_Video|title=Yahoo! Video - Archiveteam|website=www.archiveteam.org|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archiveteam.org/index.php?title=Google_Video|title=Google Video - Archiveteam|website=www.archiveteam.org|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref>

Scott announced the creation of Archive Corps, a volunteer effort to preserve physical archives, in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://laughingsquid.com/archive-corps-a-volunteer-collective-to-help-quickly-save-physical-archives-before-they-are-lost/|title=Archive Corps, A Volunteer Collective To Help Quickly Save Physical Archives Before They Are Lost|date=2015-08-24|website=Laughing Squid|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archivecorps.org/|title=Welcome to Archive Corps!|website=www.archivecorps.org|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref>

Scott has been hosting his own podcast called ''Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It'' since 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/jasonscotttalks|title=Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It : Free Audio : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive|website=archive.org|language=en|access-date=2019-10-20}}</ref>

Scott is the software curator at the Internet Archive.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/software&tab=about&tab=about|title=Download & Streaming : The Internet Archive Software Collection : Internet Archive|website=archive.org|language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> In April 2019, he uploaded all of the source code for [Infocom](/source/Infocom)'s [text-based](/source/Text-based_game) adventure games and [interactive fiction](/source/interactive_fiction), including ''[Zork](/source/Zork)'' and ''[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy](/source/The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy_(video_game))'', to [GitHub](/source/GitHub).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/historicalsource|title=historicalsource - Overview|website=GitHub|language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/long-lost-zork-source-code-uploaded-to-github-but-few-people-understand-it/|title=Long Lost 'Zork' Source Code Uploaded to GitHub, But Few People Understand It|last1=Carpenter|first1=Nicole|last2=Maiberg|first2=Emanuel|date=2019-04-18|website=Motherboard|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref>

===Sockington===
{{main|Sockington}}
thumb|Scott's cat, Sockington
Sockington was a [domestic cat](/source/domestic_cat) who lived in [Waltham, Massachusetts](/source/Waltham%2C_Massachusetts). He gained large-scale fame via the social networking site [Twitter](/source/Twitter). Scott regularly posted from Sockington's Twitter account from late 2007.<ref name="TODAY">{{cite web|url=http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30868712/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/|title=Twitter followers paw over feline|work=TODAY|access-date=2009-08-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709003107/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30868712/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/|archive-date=July 9, 2009|df=mdy-all}}</ref> {{As of|January 2018}}, Sockington's account has over 1.4&nbsp;million followers, many of which are pet accounts themselves.<ref name="TODAY" /><ref name="chicagotribune">{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-sun-social-media-aug16,0,3140196.story |title=Twitter forcing a strategy switch for businesses|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=2009-08-18}}</ref> Sockington died on July 18, 2022.<ref>{{Cite tweet|number=1549175841082511361|user=textfiles|title=I'm sorry to report that @sockington had a downturn in health and is no longer with us. He was cared for every day of his dumb little life to the top standards of a celebrity cat and after 18 long years, he saw something really shiny in the clouds and decided to chase after it.|author=Jason Scott|date=July 18, 2022}}</ref> 

=== Acting ===
Scott is a frequent collaborator of [Johannes Grenzfurthner](/source/Johannes_Grenzfurthner) and appeared as an actor in ''[Soviet Unterzoegersdorf](/source/Soviet_Unterzoegersdorf): Sector 2'' (2009), ''[Glossary of Broken Dreams](/source/Glossary_of_Broken_Dreams)'' (2018), and the science fiction comedy ''[Je Suis Auto](/source/Je_Suis_Auto)'' (2019).{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

== Personal life ==

Divorced,<ref name="MIT Technology Review">{{Cite web |last1=Schwartz |first1=Matt |last2=Talmadge |first2=Eva |title=Fire in the Library |work=[MIT Technology Review](/source/MIT_Technology_Review) |date=2011-12-20 |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2011/12/20/188752/fire-in-the-library/ |language=en |access-date=2020-11-15 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Scott was engaged as of 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Koebler |first1=Jason |title=Jason Scott Is Archiving CD-ROMs and Floppy Discs From Closets Around the World |work=[Vice Motherboard](/source/Vice_Motherboard) |date=2017-05-03 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/jason-scott-is-archiving-cd-roms-and-floppy-discs-from-closets-around-the-world/ |language=en |access-date=2020-11-15 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

== Filmography ==
* ''[BBS: The Documentary](/source/BBS%3A_The_Documentary)'' (2005) (director)
* ''[GET LAMP](/source/GET_LAMP)'' (2010) (director)
* ''[Going Cardboard](/source/Going_Cardboard)'' (2012) (editor)
* ''DEFCON: The Documentary'' (2013) (director)<ref>{{cite web|last1=Chan|first1=Casey|title=DEFCON: A Documentary About the World's Largest Hacking Conference|url=https://gizmodo.com/defcon-a-documentary-about-the-worlds-largest-hacking-1073052701|website=Gizmodo|date=August 9, 2013 |access-date=12 May 2018}}</ref>
* ''[Traceroute](/source/Traceroute_(film))'' (2016) (interviewee)
* ''[Glossary of Broken Dreams](/source/Glossary_of_Broken_Dreams)'' (2018) (actor)
* ''[Class Action Park](/source/Class_Action_Park)'' (2020) (interviewee)
* ''Musings of a Mechatronic Mistress'' (2023) (interviewee) 
* ''[Hacking at Leaves](/source/Hacking_at_Leaves)'' (2024) (interviewee)

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== General references ==
{{Refbegin}}
* Jason Scott, ''The Defendant'' (July 2001). [https://web.archive.org/web/20050116075653/http://audio.textfiles.com/cons/dc08/disc_2_of_2/AUDIO/037/037.MP3 So You Got Your Lame Ass Sued: A Legal Narrative]. DEF CON speaker. Retrieved 2004-11-19.
* Jason Sadofsky, [http://www.textfiles.com/humor/jason.fun The ''Tribune'' Articles, 1987–88]
* Jason Scott, [https://web.archive.org/web/20131113231228/http://www.cow.net/jason/person.htm ''The Life and Times of Jason Scott'']
* [http://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-13/dc13-speakers.html#top DEF CON 13 (2005) speakers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050630023220/http://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-13/dc13-speakers.html#top |date=June 30, 2005 }}, including Jason Scott's "Why Tech Documentaries Are Impossible"
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131215081356/http://www.cow.net/jason/ Jason Scott] – Personal homepage (Archived)
* {{twitter|textfiles}}
* {{IMDb name|id=1926421|name=Jason Scott Sadofsky}}
* [http://archive.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/06/67689 Collector's Trove of Podcasts], an interview with Jason Scott in [Wired magazine](/source/Wired_magazine) online
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040402030207/http://www.harvardnetsucked.com/legal.html The Whole Lawsuit Thing] – ''HarvardNetSucks'' account of the lawsuit.
* https://web.archive.org/web/20170911133405/http://sadofsky.com/
* [http://leahpeah.com/blog/interviews/jason-scott/ leahpeah interview with Jason Scott]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150918212433/http://wybc.com/shows-current/fsck/2011/12/fsck-29/ fsck interview with Jason Scott]
* {{Vimeo|10741713|Jason Scott critiquing Wikipedia, 2006}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTqKCBqL0cs Jason Scott talking about acting]

{{Jason Scott}}
{{BBS|state=collapsed}}
{{MUDs|state=collapsed}}
{{Internet Archive navbox|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Jason}}
Category:Jason Scott
Category:1970 births
Category:American bloggers
Category:American documentary filmmakers
Category:Creative Commons-licensed authors
Category:American cultural historians
Category:Emerson College alumni
Category:Hacker culture
Category:Historians of technology
Category:Horace Greeley High School alumni
Category:Living people
Category:MUD developers
Category:People from Chappaqua, New York
Category:People from Hopewell Junction, New York
Category:Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts
Category:Digital archivists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jason Scott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Scott) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Scott?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.