New Feature Alert!
Brave Introduces Built-In Wayback Machine Feature to Access Archived/Dead Sites
by
W. Paul Alexander
Brave Is the Forefront of the New Internet Revolution
A Bit of Background...
[California, USA | March 5, 2020 | 02:54 am Eastern Time]
I've made it no secret of my love for the Brave Browser and it's built-in advertising-based utility token, $BAT. Everyone who publishes or tips on websites such as Publish0x, Reddit, and even Twitter has likely come into contact, at least in some way, with the potential to earn the BAT token.
Earlier this week, Brave released a new feature update that integrates a version of the Wayback Machine internet archive service into the core Brave Browser. This means a great deal to those who utilize the internet for research, as information that has been previously deleted can be accessed, at least in part, through this service.
The fact is, though, since day one, Brave has been at the forefront of browser innovation, from the release of the first version of the now-famous browser.
On 20 January 2016, Brave Software launched the first version of Brave with an ad-blocking feature, and announced plans for a privacy-respecting ad feature and a revenue sharing program
This version of Brave looked a bit different than the one we use today, because the initial version was not built upon the Chromium source code as it is today, but was rather based upon an open-source fork of Electron called "Muon." This allowed the company to develop features that it wanted to include into its eventual switch to Chromium, which occurred in 2018.
Since the switch to Chromium, Brave has reached the amazing distinction of having 10 million active monthly users, at least.
This means that Brave Browser has been the first true instance of mass adoption of blockchain technology.
Using a web browser to achieve this level of mass adoption was a plan of pure genius by the founder of Brave, Brandon Eich, who also happens to be the founder of Javascript and is the former CEO of Mozilla. The fact the Eich is the driving force behind Brave gives the project the credentials, reputation, and public trust that goes with having an established tech CEO backing a project as opposed to a couple of basement dwelling coders creating Magic Internet Money!
New Features for Better Research
The "new feature" at the core of this article is the brand-new built-in version of the Wayback Machine internet archive. For those of you who do not know what the Wayback Machine is -- it is a repository for the entire internet, archived over time.
This means that dead links suddenly become active, bringing you back to the last published version of the site you want to visit (unless you specify a different timestamp/date for which you wish to access.
Before this feature being built into Brave, you had to go to the Wayback Machine's home page and begin a search -- or you could get a third-party add-on extension for Google Chrome. The ability of Chrome -- and the underlying Chromium source upon which Brave is built -- to weave these types of services into the browser experience in a streamlined fashion undoubtedly made it easier for the Brave team to initiate this new updated.
To get an idea of what Wayback is capable of, visit their website at https://archive.org/web/web.php/
You can even enter in a popular URL to see what it looked like at a specific time. For instance, this is what the e-Bay homepage looked like in January 2001.
Crazy, Right? Looking at this from a Win10 Screen?
The Wayback Machine makes it very easy for people to access information that may have been deleted or moved. It is a great tool for researchers to use -- especially ontologists that specialize in web search techniques. It is a great research tool for investigators -- both police and private -- to use in order to uncover something that has been deleted. It's an amazing tool that gives real-world results to compare and contrast and detail how far the internet has come in a given amount of time.
That's Good and Well, but Why Bundle it with Brave?
As we are all previously aware, the Brave Browser and the BAT asset have the potential to change the way we use the internet. By utilizing amazing ad-blocking technology and replacing the random ads with Brave-approved ads allows you the chance to get paid in BAT for web browsing and viewing the approved ads. You are paid according to the attention you give to Brave-approved ads and publishers. This means that....
....with Brave, your attention is the currency.
Bringing the Wayback Machine into the mix was thus a very natural integration with Brave. Giving such a game-changing browser the ability to have this great tool built right in to the browsing experience means that you get work done faster as a writer; you get your videos edited and uploaded faster; you face less and less compatibility issues as time goes on and the product reaches maturity.
Plain and simply, the Wayback Machine has one mission goal at the core of its existence:
universal access to all knowledge.
What more of a perfect partnership is there than that between a company that wishes to proliferate all information all the time and a company that monetizes and rewards people for giving their attention while pursuing "universal access to all knowledge."
Conclusion
So, when we look at the new Wayback Machine feature being implemented as a new feature in the Brave Browser, all I see is endless promise. Brave has taken the last 2.5 years (the current bear run) to focus on the quality of the product, not the value of the token. Because of this, long-term, worthwhile steps have been taken and features have been added to ensure that Brave Browser and the BAT asset end up as the go-to browser for most of the world.
Brave continues to prove themselves with both functionality and speed. The BAT received from watching ads throughout the month is generally enough to pay for my cable bill.
Final Thought: Brave continues to innovate and will be a major player for the foreseeable future!
That's all I have for now.
Deo Volente!
