Denis Warburton

From post to production, infinity and beyond.
--
Video archaeologist for histories of Closed Captioning.
On-Set Digital Imaging Technician.
Owner of Art & Technic LLC.
--
ars sine scientia nihil est

only drama I'm here for
is the "acarsdrama"

Public Key

npub1gw6zu5t0csg4z6aj58urm7h9q529ehnav3zp3nplq8j6fhcj6lzsuhfu48

NIP-05 Address

artandtechnic@digipres-club.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsy8dpw29hugy23dwe2r7paltjs29zume7kg3qceslsredymufd03gpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsxny9rn

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1gw6zu5t0csg4z6aj58urm7h9q529ehnav3zp3nplq8j6fhcj6lzsuhfu48

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Last Notes

2026-03-21 06:08:57 UTC

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@nprofile…cwxr Go for it. Probably won’t read it tonight, but I’ll see it later.

2026-02-04 03:02:06 UTC

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@nprofile…lvzr
atproto = what the people who weren’t nazis use to shitpost politics
activitypub = where hobbyists shitpost hobbies

2025-08-26 09:29:48 UTC

I’d _highly_ recommend checking out the consequences of the U.S. executive branch’s ostensible takeover of the Fed in the financial markets.
Live coverage at The Guardian (UK):
https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2025/aug/26/trump-fire-federal-reserve-governor-dollar-falls-markets-business-live-news

2025-08-25 19:05:19 UTC

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@nprofile…y4h5 I like that they wrote “480p or 360p,” letting us all know that they have no frickin’ idea what was originally done. 😂

2025-08-25 04:51:59 UTC

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Update:
They chose to “catch a block” instead.

2025-08-25 00:31:49 UTC

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@nprofile…shs0
• The first nationwide teletext service that people actually saw… was run by the National Captioning Institute, and broadcast over the ABC television network. (I make mention of this in the upcoming ‘1980’ captioning series.) Officially launched in 1981, but unofficially began in 1980.
• KSL modified the joint CEEFAX/ORACLE system, which is what became known as WST. CEEFAX and ORACLE used the same underlying technology, beginning in 1976.

2025-08-25 00:31:17 UTC

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@nprofile…shs0
• Aside from the Zenith System 3 WST (?) decoder, which was installed within the television, the NABTS teletext units were barely modified 19” rack units. Not ready for primetime, and assuredly DOA in any married person’s home lol.

2025-08-25 00:30:35 UTC

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@nprofile…shs0
• Despite browbeating their affiliates, CBS couldn’t get more than one of them to originate their own Teletext “programming.” As it turned out, this was because the cost to that one affiliate was literally astronomical. If there’s one thing TV stations don’t like doing, it’s spending money; if there’s another thing they don’t like doing, it’s losing buckets full of money for something that isn’t making them any money lol.

2025-08-25 00:29:59 UTC

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@nprofile…shs0
• The CBS ExtraVision system lasted until the early 1990s - ending in either 1992 or 1993. (Not coincidentally, just after the Decoder Act had been passed into law, requiring Closed Captioning decoders in all TVs.)

2025-08-25 00:28:57 UTC

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@nprofile…shs0
• Teletext also happened to be antithetical to the business model of American Television: eyeballs on commercials. This wasn’t a problem with the Public Service Broadcasters in the UK who developed Teletext, because *that* wasn’t their business model. However, the idea that U.S. Networks’ Teletext services would be stealing viewers from commercials led to some core ‘what are we doing here and why are we doing this’ questions - it simply didn’t jive with their core business.

2025-08-23 20:19:24 UTC

I maintain that “Walker, Texas Ranger” is a science-fiction show.
I’ve been LMAO-ing at this “Walker” episode about people who violated the burial ground of native peoples (located in the parking lot of a Grainger shop), because the “special” effects are 💯. It also appears to have been shot without a script supervisor, because the continuity errors are equally 💯.

2025-08-23 20:17:51 UTC

I maintain that “Walker, Texas Ranger” is a science-fiction show.
I’ve been LMAO-ing at this “Walker” episode about people who violated the burial ground of native peoples (located in the parking lot of a Grainger location), because the “special” effects are 💯. It also appears to have been shot without a script supervisor, because the continuity errors are equally 💯.

2025-08-23 01:38:20 UTC

This is probably a question for the OldVTRs list, but…
Has anyone had experience diagnosing issues with the audio multiplexor on the Harris/Leitch DPS-575?
I’ve been having an intermittent issue with the audio input on this unit.

2025-08-22 21:24:22 UTC

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@nprofile…2e9y
It’s been a loooonnngggg time, but I think it’s:
Settings -> Preferences -> Public Profile -> Privacy and Reach -> Automatically accept new followers
If you uncheck that, you have to approve followers

2025-08-22 21:15:26 UTC

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I will follow you back.

2025-08-22 21:14:49 UTC

A message for the user(s) from mastodon.mit.edu :
You are one of my top sources of traffic from Mastodon. Either follow me or “catch a block” to conserve bandwidth.

2025-08-22 20:07:35 UTC

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@nprofile…el6z Take the wine, have a few glasses of it, and think it over lol

2025-08-21 21:05:32 UTC

#acarsdrama 2025-08-21@20:42:50Z: (ground to) N362NB
IS SUMMER OVER YET...

2025-08-21 20:18:02 UTC

Guardian (UK): “LA Ice protests spurred US military to identify ‘hotels to avoid’ due to ‘harassment’”
‘Exclusive: Organizers disrupted Trump’s immigration crackdown by targeting hotels where officers were staying, documents show’
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/21/la-ice-protests-hotels-to-avoid-list

2025-08-21 08:08:21 UTC

It’s always good to know which local TV stations have phonetic spellers manning the character generator.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/065/726/568/917/487/original/48ac91aff92f0ea2.jpeg

2025-08-21 08:08:10 UTC

It’s always good to know which local TV stations have phonetic spellers manning the characters generator.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/065/726/568/917/487/original/48ac91aff92f0ea2.jpeg

2025-08-18 21:51:10 UTC

That’s a new one.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/051/976/664/276/904/original/8d2b6418531f7c48.jpg

2025-08-16 23:09:05 UTC

Gently surprised to see VITC in the color bars.
Since this subchannel only shows color bars… that’s an accomplishment.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/040/958/002/029/792/original/a89f9774f0574ac8.jpg

2025-08-16 06:28:56 UTC

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Kyiv Independent (Ukraine): “That meeting was sickening. Putin loved it”
“Sickening. Shameful. And in the end, useless. … Trump didn’t get what he wanted. But Putin? He sure did. From the moment he stepped off the plane on US soil, the Russian dictator was beaming. No longer an international pariah, he was finally getting accepted – & respected — by the leader of the free world. Trump’s predecessor once called Putin a murderer; Trump offered him a king’s welcome.”
https://kyivindependent.com/editorial-that-was-sickening-was-it-necessary/
2of2

2025-08-16 06:27:30 UTC

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Kyiv Independent (Ukraine): “That meeting was sickening. Putin loved it”
“Trump didn’t get what he wanted. But Putin? He sure did. From the moment he stepped off the plane on US soil, the Russian dictator was beaming. No longer an international pariah, he was finally getting accepted – and respected — by the leader of the free world. Trump’s predecessor once called Putin a murderer; Trump offered him a king’s welcome.”
https://kyivindependent.com/editorial-that-was-sickening-was-it-necessary/
2 of 2

2025-08-16 06:26:05 UTC

Guardian (UK): “Love in a cold climate: Putin romances Trump in Alaska with talk of rigged elections and a trip to Moscow’
“For those who feared the summit on Ukraine might resemble Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler in 1938, the reality was worse”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/16/love-in-a-cold-climate-putin-romances-trump-in-alaska-with-talk-of-rigged-elections-and-a-trip-to-moscow
1 of 2

2025-08-15 23:15:11 UTC

When you don’t like to advertise who you’re working for
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/035/321/670/638/968/original/fd8a88e808288264.jpg

2025-08-15 23:11:45 UTC

Meanwhile, in the “accomplishing nothing without land giveaways” department….
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/035/297/653/743/002/original/e0862ad8c3b9bfe2.jpg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/035/306/730/342/856/original/67d2c710619fcb74.png

2025-08-15 23:09:04 UTC

Meanwhile…..
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/035/297/653/743/002/original/e0862ad8c3b9bfe2.jpg

2025-08-15 22:13:30 UTC

Well, it seems that it’s hard for everyone to discern how the Alaskan trip looks
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/035/078/073/652/184/original/eb693580a4b985cf.png

2025-08-15 08:09:11 UTC

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It’s “amazing” how the highest concentration of “worst” films are those which were created in the 21st century

2025-08-15 08:08:16 UTC

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It’s “shocking” how there’s such a high concentration of films created in the 21st century which are considered “worst.”

2025-08-15 08:06:54 UTC

Wikipedia: “List of Films Considered the Worst”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_considered_the_worst
Which I looked up for no apparent reason

2025-08-14 05:14:10 UTC

An EO you likely didn’t hear about, from earlier today….
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/025/408/795/407/398/original/4893600a72cdca84.png

2025-08-13 05:13:51 UTC

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@nprofile…9jkw Evergreen advice. 🌲

2025-08-12 04:46:56 UTC

To save the next poor bastard the trouble I went through this evening:
If you’re playing a videotape in your VHS deck, and hear two low tones in quick succession which recur every 6-7 seconds … that sound is from the laptop next to that VCR, which is trying to connect to a network via WiFi.
( If anyone remembers how cell phones back in the ‘00s used to buzz when placed near audio cables… exactly the same concept is at work here. )

2025-08-11 08:57:20 UTC

Dear WTVJ:
Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/009/298/411/881/529/original/a0b2d5cf045df1ea.jpg

2025-08-10 06:32:39 UTC

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Wow, this is actually quite good.

2025-08-10 05:20:30 UTC

Family was watching the Movies subchannel when I came back from installing a new piece of equipment, and were just a few minutes into “Down to the Sea in Ships” (1949).
As I sat down to watch it, I was deeply surprised to see Dean Stockwell** on screen with Lionel Barrymore and … Richard Widmark.
Seems to be an interesting film.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_to_the_Sea_in_Ships_(1949_film)
—
** Even as a child, he had a distinctive look. One shot of him as a boy on screen, and you know 100% for certain that’s Dean Stockwell.

2025-08-09 23:04:34 UTC

Billboard
6 December 1980
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/115/001/302/573/701/976/original/6683d0c1aa23415a.png

2025-08-08 21:19:45 UTC

COVID-19 figures for Florida have been updated.
While the shape of the graphs for the primary and secondary metro areas differ somewhat, when taken together they seem to indicate that the summer COVID-19 wave is continuing to build in strength.
Indeed, as the wastewater figures for the state make clear, community COVID-19 levels are rising significantly.
https://preview.artandtechnic.com/C19.html

2025-08-07 19:47:07 UTC

In attempting to solve the problem of “where do I put an additional piece of rack equipment in the crowded rack,” the only realistic solution seems to be, “next to the rack.” 😂😢

2025-08-07 19:19:47 UTC

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@nprofile…xgpv I’ve heard that as a practice, harvesting web pages for e-mail addresses has largely been abandoned.
FWIW, none of the e-mail addresses that I posted on my website earlier this year have gotten any spam.

2025-08-07 17:33:19 UTC

Guardian (UK): “US national parks staff in ‘survival mode’ to keep parks open amid Trump cuts”
“It’s a Potemkin village scenario where the public can’t see things falling apart behind the scenes.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/07/us-national-parks-trump-cuts

2025-08-06 22:40:34 UTC

Guardian (UK): “Amazon customer says delivery driver she found masturbating in her bedroom returned to her home”
“Spanish police have taken a suspected semen sample allegedly left by the courier as part of a continuing investigation into the incident.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/06/amazon-customer-says-delivery-driver-she-found-masturbating-in-her-bedroom-returned-to-her-home
My wife is demanding to know “HOW LONG WAS SHE IN THE BATHROOM FOR????”

2025-08-06 22:05:03 UTC

So dumb.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/984/085/093/526/906/original/f47c4595b32d9f6d.jpg

2025-08-06 06:13:22 UTC

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If you ‘bet the house’ on ‘leaning into news’ … and then don’t lean into news … that’s a bet you chose to lose.
There are a multitude of ways in which they could improve… but yeah… this is not it.
Because they’d have to spend money and put some effort into this.

2025-08-06 06:06:54 UTC

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As an independent station, WPLG can no longer air a low-effort newscast of the type that they became accustomed to when they had network programming to attract viewers for them.
WPLG has to attract both viewers and advertisers on their own merits.
And folks… I’m not seeing it.
Changes need to be made and soon, or this will end cruelly for WPLG.

2025-08-06 06:01:02 UTC

This evening I saw newly-independent WPLG’s 10pm newscast, which directly competes with the ABC+FOX affiliate’s well-established 10 p.m. newscast.
I was disappointed to discover that “Local 10 News” led the newscast with… Epstein and Washington, D.C.
The remaining 45 minutes of the newscast that I watched was ‘news in a blender’ - a random collection of items from the police blotter, things they found out about on the scanner, or were national news (from feeds).
So… they’re in big trouble.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/980/257/313/312/631/original/f3b1393f0902286f.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/980/257/407/721/206/original/eb451600f9e21324.jpeg

2025-07-23 22:42:21 UTC

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Surprisingly, what the United States’ executive feels the United States needs in terms of A.I., is “MechaHitler.”
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/904/956/002/237/189/original/498af314eba492e8.jpg

2025-07-23 22:26:57 UTC

In case you were wondering where the Tech/A.I. bros were going with grand theft autocorrect, this is where they were always going:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/jul/23/donald-trump-administration-deportations-china-unesco-trade-talks-us-politics-latest-updates-news
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/904/897/979/866/405/original/731f171652cc202b.jpg

2025-07-10 01:02:56 UTC

Good news everyone - they found an administrator for NASA with experience! 🤡
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/826/239/390/431/175/original/6c9d5987514f5515.jpg

2025-07-09 19:39:56 UTC

Guardian (UK): “US agriculture secretary says Medicaid recipients can replace deported farm workers”
‘Brooke Rollins also claimed automation can replace the immigrant labor force despite repeated evidence of failure’
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/09/trump-agriculture-medicaid-migrant-farm-workers
As the U.S. administration continues to imitate Mao’s “Great Leap Forward,” they continue to repeat its mistakes… which will again be measured in terms of bodycounts.

2025-06-11 18:48:15 UTC

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@nprofile…xgpv TO-DO: Make it look like LCARS ✅

2025-06-11 18:42:38 UTC

While looking up that final track, I discovered that the ACARS ‘parser’ I wrote - a work-in-progress, which hasn’t seen any work on it in what feels like months - apparently has a condition in which it will just hard quit.
I guess I’ll have to fix that… now-ish. lol
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/666/199/110/770/022/original/fcbe27bc3287128b.jpg

2025-04-08 00:52:40 UTC

Character… is doing the right thing the first time.
Without being prompted.

2025-04-06 04:37:19 UTC

#acarsdrama 2025-04-06@04:05:48Z: C-GHLU (to ground)
LAV NOT FLUSHING AGAIN.
PUMP RUNS BUT NO BLUE
FLUID APPEARS

2025-04-05 00:27:38 UTC

After the last few days, it’s become quite clear that the U.S. domestic tariffs on foreign trade have nothing to do with ‘balancing trade,’ or even ‘protectionism.’
Instead, it seems to be all about extortion: extracting more from others for market access, than the access to that market normally provides. To get people to kiss the ring, grovel, and pay up… as it would be a shame if anything happened to that nice economy you have in <your country name here>.

2025-03-03 03:15:02 UTC

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@nprofile…9jkw When I took classes on the motion picture business in college, I learned that most films were targeted at audiences aged 8-13.
So, if something didn’t happen in the last 5-10 years, it’s ANCIENT HISTORY as far as “the business” goes.
😂😢

2025-02-26 19:39:52 UTC

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@nprofile…el6z @nprofile…cgs9 Oh wow, I hadn’t realized they’d gotten rid of that connector. That’s a real problem.

2025-02-26 19:36:01 UTC

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@nprofile…el6z @nprofile…cgs9 FUgggghhhhh. I believe that could only be dreamed up by the sales department.

2025-02-26 19:20:57 UTC

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@nprofile…el6z @nprofile…cgs9 Almost sounds like the random connectors you’d find on the back of some old composite video switchers.

2025-02-18 17:57:43 UTC

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@nprofile…el6z Like the original closed caption encoders, they seem to have disappeared years ago.
Before 2020, it was at least possible to dig up a Norkpak “data encoder,” which might have done the job. Somewhere in my files, I have a NASA report about how they (mis)used a similar unit to perform camera control at Cape Canaveral.
The only other thing I’ve seen on the Bay of E’s, are “calibrated distortion unit”s which… yeah, that’s not going to really work.

2025-02-18 17:43:49 UTC

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@nprofile…el6z Insanely enough, NABTS is basically the third or fourth NTSC implementation. 😂

2025-02-18 17:42:26 UTC

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Then again, they did the same thing on the top page of the “literature” - a.k.a. brochure:
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/026/117/545/897/355/original/4d30517220c26b2c.jpg

2025-02-18 17:40:19 UTC

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You know it’s a great technology, when they’re only mentioning something they should have told you before you bought it, on a sticky note on the device itself.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/026/111/488/337/637/original/35477a4555123436.jpg

2025-02-18 17:38:28 UTC

To my great surprise a few days ago, I discovered that there were at least three NABTS decoders on the bay of E’s.
All but one of which was made by a single manufacturer.
Which, incidentally, is huge. Or, at least 19” rackmount size, which is basically the same thing as far as most homeowners are concerned.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/026/102/963/260/502/original/5d4c8ac8ca7d3858.jpg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/026/103/956/102/340/original/199fdcde5e4c6c29.jpg

2025-02-16 04:25:35 UTC

For an industry “in decline,” the ‘linear’ numbers - people watching on a TV via cable or antenna - looks pretty damn healthy compared to streaming (except at ABC/Disney).
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/end-of-television-streaming-shows-deals-1236133596/
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/114/011/659/434/266/276/original/3c1f5782ea64792e.png

2025-02-12 06:03:02 UTC

Eleven days later… I’ve once again filled a 1 TB SSD with new (to me) standard-definition videotape transfers.
Tomorrow, I’ll make long-term copies of that SSD onto dual 4 TB HDDs, and while that’s running, take care of some related admin tasks.
Namely, re-organization of the extractions and derivatives from these captures, which needs to be finished before I can continue with any further transfers.

2025-01-24 20:41:42 UTC

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@nprofile…jy7v Since that product is itself the product of mass theft, it’s ethically off-limits… like 100% of the rest of what that company does.

2025-01-24 14:31:34 UTC

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The only application of “A.I.” that I’ve heard that’s actually a clear benefit, comes from a caller to the show who’s blind, who now has an “app” which can tell her what her camera is pointed at, and can read the labels on her prescription bottles.

2025-01-24 14:28:07 UTC

Very interested in learning more about these “American GPUs” that Dean Ball is talking about on C-SPAN.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

2025-01-14 20:23:26 UTC

Earlier today, someone shared a piece that made two claims: 1) posting is “feminine,” and 2) that Facebook is for women.
While I think a case can easily be made that men frequently communicate in a way that is different than women, I wouldn’t go as far to say that FB is ‘for women.’
What I would say, is that the experience of using FB is strikingly different for men and women, and the reason for that difference likely has everything to do with Meta.

2023-08-23 22:21:10 UTC

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@npub1qz2…nlrg Thanks for the insight.
Good Morning America should have been accompanied with TEXT - an information service for the deaf and hard-of-hearing - transmitted via the Closed Captioning system. (It was a huge initiative of the ABC network, the National Captioning Institute, and the Federal Government.) I would be very surprised if that didn’t have caption data.
P.S. This caught my eye because GMA started to be captioned around/after the summer of ’84.

2023-08-23 22:05:13 UTC

@npub1qz2…nlrg I’ve seen you post photos like these for a while now, and wasn’t certain if these are being digitized for a private collection, or for upload to the IA. If it’s the latter, are the captions included? No pressure either way.
I ask because they could be very helpful for my historical work with Closed Captioning, if they do include the caption data.
[ re-posted to clear up some grammar errors ]