Yahoo cancels Mexican time capsule ceremony

SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo has cancelled plans for a "time capsule" ceremony at pyramids in Mexico, citing concerns regarding possible damage to the ancient site.

Yahoo continued collecting pictures, videos, songs, ideas, drawings or anything else they could digitize for a "first-ever electronic anthropology project" to document human life.

Submissions could be uploaded via the Internet to regionalise "Yahoo Time Capsule" websites. Yahoo said it would choose another location for a grand ceremony to celebrate the project.

The Sunnyvale, California, online search engine had planned a time capsule event at the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, about 40 kilometres from Mexico City, later this month.

Yahoo said the decision, made yesterday to cancel the ceremony came as it worked with Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to ensure that the pyramids in Teotihuacan would be "respected and not adversely affected."

"The position of INAH is that after evaluating all the technical and operational aspects, it would be very difficult to move forward with this endeavour," Yahoo said in a release.

"Therefore, we have decided to move the location of the event. For now, we are focused on collecting as many unique and interesting contributions as possible from around the globe."

Submissions will be accepted through November 8.

Yahoo said time capsule contents would be archived on data storing hardware and buried at a secret spot on its campus in Sunnyvale, California.