Amateur Beats Gov't at Digitizing Newspapers: Tom Tryniski's Weird, Wonderful Website
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- Опубликовано: 4 мар 2013
- One computer expert working alone has built a historic newspaper site (fultonhistory.com) that's orders of magnitude bigger and more popular than one created by a federal bureaucracy with millions of dollars to spend. Armed only with a few PCs and a cheap microfilm scanner, Tom Tryniski has played David to the Library of Congress' Goliath.
Tryniski's site, which he created in his living room in upstate New York, has grown into one of the largest historic newspaper databases in the world, with 22 million newspaper pages. By contrast, the Library of Congress' historic newspaper site, Chronicling America, has 5 million newspaper pages on its site while costing taxpayers about $3 per page. In January, visitors to Fultonhistory.com accessed just over 6 million pages while Chronicling America pulled fewer than 3 million views.
For complete text and links, go to: bit.ly/YT5KcL
Video written, produced, shot and edited by Jim Epstein, who also narrates.
Approximately 5 minutes.
Go to reason.com/reasontv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason TV's RUclips Channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes live.
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My Dear, Dear, DEAR Mr.Tom !! Through your wonderful, selfless, incredibly generous work, I have discovered HUNDREDS of facts about my family history! Nobody in my family knew anything about my Great-Gandparent's origins, until your newspaper files revealed the names, dates, and connections from over 100 years ago. You have given more families more love than you will ever know, and please know now that you are deeply loved. God bless you, as He has obviously done.
This guy is the best. But my selfish side worries what will happen when he passes away. His work cannot be lost !
I used his site hundreds of times in researching most of my 15 local (Capital District) history books. What he has done is just amazing.
i say we fire the entire department and give the balance of the budget to him
Thank you, Tom. After reading about your story, I went to the website (at 1:30 a.m., no less) and found 2 probate notices from 1861. Priceless!
I LOVE this website! I have discovered a lot of family information, history, and mysteries thanks to this site!!
I'm an amateur genealogist that has used his site for years. It's a VERY valuable resource for history research.
Thank you Tom! I love finding stories that tell me what was happening many years ago.
I have used your site so many times and am still using it for my genealogy. I couldn't believe I found a sit that had newspapers that covered Lowville, NY! And the gossip columnist lived right next to my relatives. It really is wonderful. I can't believe he did this by himself. He should get a grant!
I would really like to see this done for all newspapers across the country! This guy is doing a fantastic job!
Gov can't digitize newspapers, and people think they can be responsible for healthcare... Such a joke
I found found SO MANY useful articles on my ancestors in the North Tonawanda, New York area. So thankful!
Incredible website, found scans of my home town paper (in Wilton, CT) from the 60s that blew my mind. A wonderful and important resource.
Thanks Tom, Have found so many interesting tidbits about my family! Awesome site!
I have an emulation video game console with an SD card loaded with hundreds to thousands of games. It's protected from nuclear super EMPs by several TechProtect bags, one smaller one inside the other. Im especially unbelievably amazed at the fact that an average Joe like me can not only I can protect more and better video game history than Nintendo (especially with their heavy handed zero tolerance on ROM sharing, that I once embraced and supported not too long ago as a Nintendo fan, as well as crappy classic game services on current consoles) or the U.S. Government, I could do it all for less than $200! I now embrace video game emulation!
Thanks Tom, some times use it on a daily basis, outstanding.....
This is why the government needs to stick to the basics. Private individuals can do better than the government at most things.
Police, courts, military and a few other things that's it.
There is nothing govt does that is not done better, cheaper, or both, by interested individuals working together.
The more I learn, the more I realize that govt is a complete waste of time and money.
This is just wonderful. Simply Wonderful. Individuals doing what government's can do. But, only faster, and more efficient.
Duly noted & TY. :)
This is hugely inspiring.
microfilm can be made with inkjet printers in paper and read in diy readers magnifiers, all big library books can be stored in a small room
This guy is a hero.
Use this site daily and it is awesome!
Fascinating
I like that old guy. Spends his time trying to make others life easier.
Awesome gazebo!
good job !
This is such a great website. He is still going at and just put up 700,000 more pages just the other day!
It's pretty obvious that govt doesn't do many thing well. Govt digitizing newspapers one of thousands of things govt shouldn't do. Good job Reason.
Found it thanks.
Microfilm: now that was a terrible idea. Kudos to Tom Tryniski
He doesnt even have a heater in that gazebo the pcs keep it warm in the dead of winter
It's interesting that Reason TV hasn't done the story "Amateur beats Gov't at building bridge".
Fricking amazing
A real American hero!
As a genealogy buff I applaud this!
Although amateur, this guy's work is impressive
This man is a national treasure!
Government is not about helping people, it's about robbing them and handing out the money for favors.
Good for him.
That's pretty awesome.
I have original underground newspapers from my college days in the 60's at Ball State University. The Only Alternative was published by a group of students. A few are in the school Library archives but I need to get the originals scanned and digitized. Can you do this?
So without government we'd be......Better Off !
and how will we read about how the roads didn't get built in the future!?
without the government who will make clocks tick!?!?
They should have added the link to the webpage in this video Grrr!
Libraries, they still exist...
i think they were referring to 500 different newspapers (x, y ,z) each of them with multiple issues.
hope he has a good backup system...
No worry. He got a backup in the garage.
The freaking's server's in a GAZEBO? Way to protect your data.
Honestly, he should be a billionaire based on the work he has done and helped so many people.
There's little incentive to provide services privately for which you already pay tax to be provided publicly. (Although this video is a case of it happening anyway, with much better results.)
I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment precisely, but I'd wager that building a big bridge requires acres of federal land that are probably not available. Plus regulations related to connecting to a main highway to make it useful and profitable.
sadens me to think thiers historical newspapers out here with a wealth of historic/geneology information just sitting in dusty storage rooms and museum vaults
what a legend
amazing guy :)
I'd get so distracted reading if I did that.
Tom Tryniski!
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Citizen can do a lot when they are free. Roads got built without the gov many times.
Maybe all those things would have happened anyway without the government getting involved.
Why no link to his web site?
Ah, my bad. You know how the internet is...
What is the tune used in the background?
That broken window fallacy...
That poor guy gonna get drone the shit out of him very soon
Wthout the government who would take care of the squirrels?
It's not about the fact that he's an Amateur it's about the fact that he's a private citizen. Either way government doesn't build anything they contract private business to make bridges a government made bridge would cost twice as much and last half as long. :P
Would be nice to have a Portable Video Camera with 7G* technology that allows you to broadcast-live directly to an internet channel (youtube live).
This is literally the ugliest thing that has ever been created in the history of everything.
In case anyone wants to visit his site, you can find it by Googling fultonhistory. Sorry, RUclips doesn't allow URLs in comments.
I think you're assuming that a "public" education is the best option. It isn't. Of course, another commenter beat me to the punch. Article I Section VIII does allow Congress to establish post offices & post roads, so you weren't totally wrong.
Just added it.
Where's the link to his site?
pwnage. LOL
I hope that was sarcastic... :D
So, what's his actual website? The video just referred to it's as Toms site.
Literally the first sentence in the description...
-_-
All in the same location.
Check it out at: fultonhistory (Dot) Com
That's the website of Mr. Tryniski.
They should give the next 22 million back to the tax payers so that people will feel more financially secure to spend their time inventing or making life for the rest of us easier like this guy is doing.
Tom should be the US governments job Czar, not Jeffrey R. Immelt.
He didn't build that!!
BAU5
Yes, uncle Obama did it for him. We know, we know! What if he went to a private school and got the packages via ups? That only leaves the roads!
Re-uploading nearly 9 year old stories?
They didn't re-upload They shared it. Which is fine because I had never seen the video before!
but without government, who will scan the newspapers and build the roads?
could never have done it if AlGore hadn't invented the internet...