Long Now

I'm currently wading my way through Anathem, a book I bought over a year ago the last time I was in Japan (how crazy is it that English language paperbacks are cheaper in Osaka than Sydney) and which has been gathering dust on my shelf due to its having a glossary at the back, the fact of which makes it both interesting and maddening to read at the same time. One backdrop in the story consists of a huge clock that keeps the time over thousands of years, an idea influenced by the real Long Now organisation, which I found are trying to build a real clock for just such a purpose. There's a TED talk from one of the founders of the organisation/charity detailing the considerations in choosing a site that could last 10,000 years Now apart from the intrinsic coolness of it all (can't really explain why) the organisation is also responsible for the Rosetta project, something I had heard of before. This is a project to preserve all of the worlds languages and one aim is to produce a glass sphere which you could buy that would have a tiny piece of engraved nickel metal enscribed with a portion of text translated into all the worlds languages. How cool would that be to have on your shelf.