Baptiste - wow, now that's a serious set of extrapolations! Not sure I get the "23 works as a cosmic trigger" - it was just the # of days between start and 11/11/11. Afterwards, I realized that it's the same # of pairs we have in a DNA strand. ;-)

This is an amusing piece on the significance of 11/11/11 - Lots of theories, some say bad luck omen, others say good. In general, a great example of apophenia, the brain's desire to see patterns in data and try to create meaning, even when none exists. Usually this helps, sometimes it creates confusion and superstition. Sometimes (and best) it allows for imagination and dreamy thinking, seeing faces in clouds etc. My kids are more inclined to it than most grownups. http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/meaning-date-11-11-11-2145/

Once an ARG conspiracist, always an ARG conspiracist. Where others see idiocy, you my friend, see agency, a brilliant mind at work. Sadly, there is no Brian. The cigar really is just a cigar. Then again, if there was a Brian, if that Brian was the name of our collective intelligence, if Monty Python made a movie called the Life of . . . . Ah, screw it, it was a typo. But you've given me some ideas. . .

This is so awesome Michael. Can you help by explaining this part of little more. I'm pretty sure I know what you're saying, but I like to be sure for me and for readers. (If I don't hear from you within an hour, I'll come down to Coney Island and have the folks at your local bodega explain it to me) YOU WROTE " Consider a lottery that takes half the money and pays out the other half to the winner. The nominal "expected value" of a $1.00 ticket is $.50. But a lot of people would consider being a millionaire now (from the lottery) ten times more valuable than being a millionaire at age 72 (from the compound interest on the money otherwise spent on lottery tickets)"

Jao - I agree that it would be amazing. Whether or not it's feasible I'm not sure, though with sufficient time and money, anything can be done. But you're right, all the component pieces already exist to make this work very nicely. The trick now, as it was then, would be to do it in a broadly available way. Back then, the issue was both the limits of the browser and the lack of broadband. Now, both are largely solved (NOTE, Second Life, which was started roughly the same time OneCosmos ended, did what they did by creating a custom viewer which limits the audience size). Now, you'd probably use a plugin like www.unity3d.com - still would be a large development project, but what could be more fun. Final and most important question would be how to allow users to create their own content. Some sort of system would need to exist that allowed for Google Earth/Sketchup style layering - if for no other reason that to delineate between scientifically accurate data and conjecture.

True. It interesting to ask what the odds of one company's success vs. another's. Cliches here abound, right? "Ideas are a dime a dozen - execution is everything", is one that was really popular in the Valley recently. Kinda true, but kinda bullshit. There are great ideas and dogshit ones and which you pick matters - no matter how many pivots you do. The VC's job of divination is impossible. (My last post links to an article on the misplaced arrogance of foresight by portfolio managers and investors). So few beat the market, but some clearly do. Why? Is it cause they bet on people vs. ideas? Do they "cheat" (not literally, but push advantages wrt deal access, terms etc.) Thoughts?

Jane - I agree and disagree. Without him, the work, which was amazing despite never having been released, would never have been done. His vision inspired belief from the VC's, excitement of his team and all around him. In many ways, he was a lot like the market in a bubble. The whole things is amazing and works until it people stop believing. Then it bursts. At the same time, innovation occurs that never would in the ordinary course of events. It reminds me of a story (it's a joke, but I can't remember well enough to make it funny). A scruffy guy is standing on the sidewalk, holding a cup. Someone puts change in it. He's a bum. Suddenly he starts to sing. Another person puts change in the cup. Now he's an artist. Context is everything.

OK Ann Greenberg. You just won the prestigious "COMMENT of the DAY" Award!!!!! on VTF. Today's prize is an intro to Douglas Gayeton (trust me, this may seem like a silly thing, but it's not.) I'm making the introduction in the public sphere because you both deserve recognition. Everyone, please check out Douglas' Project, "The Lexicon of Sustainability". www.lexiconofsustainability.com Words really do have the ability to change our lives and Douglas is doing something about it, something passionate, heartfelt, profound, selfless and significant. Here's a gorgeous piece he sent last night about Modern Foraging http://vimeo.com/31169974 He can be reached at douglas AT gayeton dot com - please drop emails to offer help with the Lexicon Project. Ann, I'll send email intro under separate cover, but consider yourself introduced. He's a real fellow traveler and story teller.