Yahoo!'s Digital Time Capsule

I remember the last time I contributed to a time capsule. It was when I was in the third grade and we buried it on elementary school grounds. While I don't recall exactly what was placed in the capsule, I do know it involved things from that era, probably a copy of a current newspaper, maybe school books or supplies, possibly a toy of some sort. At any rate the idea is that when future generations somehow come across the capsule, they will be able to get an glimpse of what life was like for us during the 70's.

Yahoo! has decided to put together the first ever digital time capsule. What will it include? Photos, writings, videos, audio, drawings - anything digital, all to be submitted by users. They are accepting submissions now with the deadline to submit content set at November 8. In addition to submitting your own content, you can view, read or hear the images, words and sounds contributed by users from around the world. You can also comment on the content you and others have submitted – and engage in a digital conversation that is just as revealing and important as any of the content you’ll witness. As a thanks to donating something to the capsule, you can help Yahoo! decide which eight global charitable organizations they will donate $100,000 to.

The best submissions will be projected on the side of the 216-foot tall Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, while also being webcast from October 25-27. Yahoo! will also bury the time capsule on their campus only to dig it back up in 2020 (on their 25th anniversary), donate copies to the Smithsonian and The National Institute of Anthropology & History in Mexico and beam the digitized version via "light beam" into space, just in case the aliens missed previous messages.

More information about the project as well as its creator can be found here. Hat tip to Jason Lee Miller.