unforum

[keybsnbits]

[handfulofhoneybees]

The internet backbone theory is bunk. BUNK!

I stood on the corner of Addison and Wilton last night, and let me tell you, there is NO INTERNET BACKBONE THERE. There is a crappy, run-down convenience store and 3 apartment buildings, one of which is boarded up. It is an intersection in a quiet semi-urban neighborhood that happens to be near Wrigley Field and the Addison L-stop. Unless there are some massive server racks hidden betwixt the Twinkies and Hostess Cupcakes, I say we abandon the backbone theory.

Is it surprising to people that our map resembles that of the internet backbone map? Should we expect anything less? The GPS dots point many major population centers. So does the backbone map. Coincidence, not causation. If you plotted the areas with the highest density of McDonald's restaurants, you'd get a similar map. If you plotted areas with the greatest concentration of small dogs, you'd probably get a simliar map.

Let me reiterate. These GPS coordinates are specific. 50-feet specific. I can think of no more likely scenario than these being the locations of IPs that have accessed ILB at some time.

Grout was mobbed and discounted for off-handedly suggesting that these are the first 220 IPs to visit ILB. That was a "for-instance." It is still most likely that these are IPs that have been hand-selected by the PMs for one reason or another.

Occam is on my side here. 220 locations is a lot. To gather information about shop names, landmark names, or intersection names from cities around the country - from Bumbleshoot, ND to NYC - would take a large amount of manpower. At the very least, that's a lot of Googling, Yahooing, Mapquesting, and simply thinking in general.

In contrast, it would not be difficult at all to scan through a massive list of addresses that has been conveniently provided by us - every time somebody new visits the site - and hand-pick entries that match some preordained criteria of the PMs.

I still may be wrong. But if I were assembling a massive data set such as these GPSes, I would start with another massive and readily available data set, such as IPs.

So the question stands.

Who are these IPs?!? Is it you? or YOU?

[msekolpsu]

CO's?

[Speaker]

I think the IP thing can be labeled bunk for similar reasons. Are we convinced that every one of these sites has an IP associated with its address... and again why the fascination with Sedalia, MO....

Even if it is IP and contact related, why? is there any meaning to it? what is the Axons Go Hot counting down to if these coords are pointing to IPs of those who contacted the entity(s)...

[keybsnbits]

Calm down, handfulofhoneybees. Here's a couple of reasons why you're theory is bunk. BUNK!

1) I did not know you had X-Ray vision to see underneath the pavement and look at fiber optic cable lines
2) Fiber optic cable lines do not discriminate where they pass under -- yes even "a crappy, run-down convenience store and 3 apartment buildings" can be above a fiber optic line.

I'll wait till somebody who knows what they're talking about can answer me about the location of these fiber optic lines (see: Dorkmaster's post on the second page)

[Anonymous Coward]

[keybsnbits]

[sherpa]

[Andy]

I agree that the "internet backbone" thing is probably a coincidence.


I keep coming back to the link puzzle in the last phase. In that puzzle the PMs (or Melissa, if you prefer to look at it that way) apparently inputed certain phrases into a search engine to produce a series of links. We then had to reverse the process to solve the puzzle.

I can't help but think the same thing is happening here. The PMs used some sort of input to rpoduce these coordinates. I doubt they actually sent people to these locations, or alternatively, Melissa or SPDR couldn't have gone to these places, so some sort of computer tool must have been used. If we can figure out the tool and the input, we're well on our way.

Along those lines, I can't help but think that the link from Dana's newest blog entry is part of the key.

[GunsmithCat]

I don't think Melissa has ever given indication she's aware of us as a group - only the Princess/ladybee entity has done that. There's nothing to indicate that even if this is IP related that it's Beekeeper related.

[Grout]

Yes, there may be fiber obtic cables running under anywhere one can think of, BUT if they are giving us POINTS... wouldn't that imply a hub or server or something... something they don't usually bury? I doubt you can justify Addison and Wilton as "a place where they wrapped the fiber optics around a pole and sent them off in another direction!!"

Regardless... I did start this thread for a reason. The last thread grew to 30 pages because everyone was throwing in their 2 cents of spec. This thread has a point. I want to know if ANYONE lives at these GPS points - as to prove or disprove the IP theory so we can move on - lets try to have some method to our madness people - yes at this point, if there truly is a point in the middle of a field, I doubt the IP theory is correct. BUT I also highly doubt pretty much everything else everyone is throwing out... this was an attempt to get organized.

[Grout]

[GunsmithCat]

[Malrog]

[ilovecheese]