This was going to be a big comprehensive post about the Eon8 thing that's rattling all sorts of meme vectors right now, but as with viral marketing of this scale, the sheer number of forum posts, references, speculation and factoids gleaned via WHOIS and hacking are making that sort of thing redundant. So instead this will be a brief overview, followed by a linkstravaganza.

So what is it? In brief, Eon8 is a website. Eon8.com, .net, .org all show the same thing (or they would, if I could access them right now). It's spooky in that minimalist, countdown-to-doom sort of way, and in fact includes a timer counting down to...what? A Digg commentor said it was launching a new brand of gum, and he's probably right.

There's also a world map with menacing red dots thrown willy-nilly all over it, much like the delicate play of acne eruptions graces the aquiline face of Florian's Lesser Wife.

More hooplah and folderol after yon jump, knave. UPDATE also after jump!

Popular theories include: viral marketing meme for a video game or something related; flat-out hoax; scientologists (spawned by references to "auditing" and "Theta9"); nuclear strike; cyberterrorism; and the end of the world, respectively.

We find out what all this means in a few hours. Or maybe we get another counter, ilovebees-style.

Until then, I attempted to make contact with an AIM address that may or may not have anything to do with the website. When people are so accursedly bored that they will actually pretend to be Jhonen Vasquez on their GreatestJournal, I am quick to dismiss anyone claiming to be anyone with any affiliation. As far as I'm concerned, you could all be brains in buckets on Alpha Centauri.

The account is Eon8Countdown, and he answered every query with spy-movie villain fluffery such as "Everything will be ready in time." I went at him as a Kotakuite and his response was that he didn't like bloggers. But I imagine he would be evasive no matter who he was talking to. Give him a shot, the account is public as of posting. E-mail anything interesting to me, or the tips line.

As usual, the response to the site is far more entertaining than the site itself, or anything it could possibly be advertising. Thanks for the tip, Ryan! ELIZA GAUGER

UPDATE!!! Reader Nick just wrote in with a chatlog in which the AIM account finally gets fed up and admits to being a fake. When asked point-blank, for the second time, whether he was or was not associated with Eon8, AIm user Eon8Countdown bails: "Not. Made this yesterday when I was teh bored."

So there you have it. Teh boredom assaults us all. Still, this dude's schtick is a little better than pretending to be Jhonen Vasquez.

Eon8Countdown then IMed me seperately: "[..] thanks to your article (I imagine) a load more people IMed me." I told him I sent my flying monkeys to make him break under the strain. He replied, "I saw. I guess you can say it worked. When I was talking to you I was carefully regulating myself. Making sure I didn't do anything stupid, but meh, now, I was sorta off it. So, instead of screwing myself over on accident, I just IMed everyone with: [20:23] Eon8Countdown: Alright. Yawn. I'm not connected to Eon8. Faretheewell!"

End of update. One mystery solved, thanks to the Kotaku Constabulary and their faithful Scouts! You had a good run, Eon8Countdown.

Here's some nice gummy linkage:

Eon8.com (it's a little shaky right now due to Digg Effect)

YTMND post linking the game Uplink to the Eon8 thing

Collected Eon8 Stuff on Digg

Edge of Nowhere thread

Unfiction Thread (Unfiction is all about this sort of alternate-reality stuff)

PHASE 8 - The Waxing Quintile (Only link to something else called Eon8 that I could find.)

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