Yahoo! Time Capsule
Encyclopedia
The Yahoo! Time Capsule, a brainchild of Jonathan Harris
, is a time capsule
project by Yahoo!
Inc. where users could contribute to a digital legacy of how life was in 2006. The Time Capsule was originally intended to be beamed with a laser into space from a Mexican pyramid in an attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial life. Open to contributions from October 10, 2006 to November 8, 2006, the Time Capsule also hoped to capture the thoughts and feelings of the world in 2006 as an exercise in electronic or "digital anthropology". At the time of the closing of the capsule, the total number of submissions was 170,857. The highest number of contributions, (32,910) came from the 20-29 age group.
Although originally slated to be produced at the Pyramid of the Sun
in Teotihuacan
, Mexico
, Mexican authorities have denied Yahoo permission fearing damage to the ancient historical site. Instead the 2006 Yahoo! Time Capsule culminated in a celebrated production on the Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico
. The 18 hour live event spanned the evenings of October 25, 26, and 27th and featured the projection of giant digital images of Time Capsule submissions onto an ancient red rock cliff on the reservation. Each night opened with traditional dancing and music by the people of Jemez Pueblo, set in front of the immense projections and lighting that could be seen for miles through the desert. Recordings of international folk music provided by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings accompanied the live global webcast. The Time Capsule event was designed and produced by Environmental Media Artist, Marc Herring
, of Herring Media Group Inc. and featured the projection and display engineering services of Quince Imaging, Inc.
The Time Capsule closed on November 8, 2006, after which the digital collection of submissions was entrusted to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings based in Washington D.C., where it will remain until Yahoo!'s 25th Birthday in 2020. It is thought that the capsule represents one of the largest compilations of digital media of its kind in the world.
In addition to being able to contribute text, audio, images and videos, visitors could browse previously included entries, comment on them, or forward them. In return for submitting content to the Time Capsule, Yahoo! asked users to vote for one among a list of seven charities which received a portion of $100,000 from Yahoo! based upon the ratio of votes received by contributors. The charities were the World Wildlife Fund, the International Rescue Committee
, the Grameen Foundation
, UNICEF, One.org, Seeds of Peace
, and the International Child Art Foundation
.
Jonathan Harris (artist)
Jonathan Harris is an internet artist and designer living in Brooklyn, New York. He has won three Webby Awards and was honoured as "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum. His work has received coverage by CNN and BBC and has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the...
, is a time capsule
Time capsule
A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...
project by Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
Inc. where users could contribute to a digital legacy of how life was in 2006. The Time Capsule was originally intended to be beamed with a laser into space from a Mexican pyramid in an attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial life. Open to contributions from October 10, 2006 to November 8, 2006, the Time Capsule also hoped to capture the thoughts and feelings of the world in 2006 as an exercise in electronic or "digital anthropology". At the time of the closing of the capsule, the total number of submissions was 170,857. The highest number of contributions, (32,910) came from the 20-29 age group.
Although originally slated to be produced at the Pyramid of the Sun
Pyramid of the Sun
The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest building in Teotihuacan and one of the largest in Mesoamerica. Found along the Avenue of the Dead, in between the Pyramid of the Moon and the Ciudadela, and in the shadow of the massive mountain Cerro Gordo, the pyramid is part of a large complex in the heart...
in Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Mexican authorities have denied Yahoo permission fearing damage to the ancient historical site. Instead the 2006 Yahoo! Time Capsule culminated in a celebrated production on the Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. The 18 hour live event spanned the evenings of October 25, 26, and 27th and featured the projection of giant digital images of Time Capsule submissions onto an ancient red rock cliff on the reservation. Each night opened with traditional dancing and music by the people of Jemez Pueblo, set in front of the immense projections and lighting that could be seen for miles through the desert. Recordings of international folk music provided by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings accompanied the live global webcast. The Time Capsule event was designed and produced by Environmental Media Artist, Marc Herring
Marc Herring
Marc Herring is a Multimedia Artist and the CEO-Executive Producer of , an international communications, design and production agency. Marc's clients have included: Live Earth / Washington DC with Al Gore, Yahoo! Inc., The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, SFMOMA, The Smithsonian Institution, ILM /...
, of Herring Media Group Inc. and featured the projection and display engineering services of Quince Imaging, Inc.
The Time Capsule closed on November 8, 2006, after which the digital collection of submissions was entrusted to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings based in Washington D.C., where it will remain until Yahoo!'s 25th Birthday in 2020. It is thought that the capsule represents one of the largest compilations of digital media of its kind in the world.
In addition to being able to contribute text, audio, images and videos, visitors could browse previously included entries, comment on them, or forward them. In return for submitting content to the Time Capsule, Yahoo! asked users to vote for one among a list of seven charities which received a portion of $100,000 from Yahoo! based upon the ratio of votes received by contributors. The charities were the World Wildlife Fund, the International Rescue Committee
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee is a leading nonsectarian, nongovernmental international relief and development organization based in the United States, with operations in over 40 countries...
, the Grameen Foundation
Grameen Foundation
Grameen Foundation, founded as Grameen Foundation USA, is a global 501 non-profit organization based in Washington DC that works to replicate the Grameen Bank microfinance model around the world through a global network of partner microfinance institutions...
, UNICEF, One.org, Seeds of Peace
Seeds of Peace
Seeds of Peace is a peacebuilding youth organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1993. As its main program, the organization brings youth from areas of conflict to its international camp in Maine. It also provides regional programming to support Seeds of Peace graduates, known as...
, and the International Child Art Foundation
International Child Art Foundation
The International Child Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 with the goal of harnessing Children's creativity and empathy through art. The foundation holds the World Children's Festival on The National Mall every 4 years and is the world's largest international children's...
.
See also
- Crypt of CivilizationCrypt of CivilizationThe Crypt of Civilization is a sealed airtight chamber located at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia. The crypt consists of preserved artifacts scheduled to be opened in the year AD 8113...
- Westinghouse Time CapsulesWestinghouse Time CapsulesThe Westinghouse Time Capsules are two time capsules prepared by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company: "Time Capsule I", created for the 1939 New York World's Fair; and "Time Capsule II", created for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Both are buried 50 feet below Flushing Meadows Park,...
- International Time Capsule SocietyInternational Time Capsule SocietyThe International Time Capsule Society , based at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia, is an organization established to promote the study of time capsules...
External links
- Yahoo! Time Capsule
- Reflections on the Time Capsule - Jonathan Harris
- Herring Media Group