It is a computer program developed in the mid '90s to predict stock market fluctuations. Turns out, it also predicted other things; 9/11, Katrina, Indo Tsunami, U.S economy we are in now.
I was writing this while Voodoo already replied
The Web Bot is a system of computer “spiders” that crawl the Internet looking for patterns of behavior, trends and chatter pertaining to coming events. This tool is believed to be able to forecast the future by tapping into the collective unconscious of society.
Here is a website with an article about Web Bot predictions:>> HERE
I checked for the date the article was written but there is none. The page was cached by google on Nov. 22nd 2008. If it was writen several years ago the predictions for Oct 2008 thru 2009 would be more impressive, but if it was written in Nov 2008 as is likely, then the Web Bot is picking up what is Todays main TV and Internet News Headline and everyday topic of “chatter” and worry about the worldwide financial meltdown and recession/depression that is already happening. All of the internet chatter about 2012 picked up by the web bot is not an impressive prediction… as it is just picking up the growing chatter about the well known prediction of “the end” on Dec 21, 2012. It is logical that the internet chatter will continue to increase as 2012 draws nearer and nearer.
People and groups have been predicting then eminent “end of days” all through out history, and the predicted day comes and goes like any other day, and life goes on. There have been numerous predictions of “the last day” in my lifetime. Christians and Jews have been expecting it “any day now” for 2000+ years. For the last 20 years, scientists have been forecasting a catastrophic earthquake on the west coast “within the next 30 years”, based on known scientific data. They have not shortened the time frame to within 10 years… they are still saying within 30 years. Hippies were waiting for the west Coast to completely break off back in the 70’s… and many still are. Everyone knows it is just a matter of time until “The Big One” devestates civilization on the West Coast… and the Web Bot Project takes credit for predicting it. So when the web bot picks up internet chatter about a catastrophic California earthquake, and predicts one… or predicts 'the end of days in 2012, I am not real impressed with the prediction.
Human arrogance likes us to think of ourselves as a permanent fixture and master of the earth, even though we homo sapiens appeared on earth only about 250,000 years ago, as compared to Dinosaurs who “ruled” the earth for 165 million years and became extinct about 65 million years ago. (unless you are a creationalist - then the Earth is only @ 6000 years old and Dinosaurs are a secular myth) Like every other creature, human existance is a “passing phase” and we too shall one day become extinct… and life will go on, the earth will restore balance and heal the humans ecological damage rather quickly (in geological time)… and life will go on without us… a welcome relief for “Mother Nature” and no big deal for The Universe at large.
I am reminded of my favorite poem for the last 37 years…
When all the laughter dies in sorrow
and the tears have risen to a flood…
When all the wars have found a cause
in human wisdom
and in blood…
Do you think they’ll cry in sadness?
Do you think the eye will blink?
Do you think they’ll curse the madness?
Do you even think they’ll think?
When all the great galactic systems
sigh to a frozen halt in space…
Do you think there will be a remnant
of the beauty of the human race?
Do you think there will be a vestige…
a sniffle… or a cosmic tear?
Do you think a Greater Thinking Thing
will give a damn that man was here?
By Chicago
Chicago III - 1971
written by Kindrew Lascelles
Listen >> with Sight and Sound
Brothers and Sisters…I still Believe that the place to look toward moving to…and establishing a Tribal/Clan Group is the Tongass National Forest 17 MILLION Acres…SALMON…SALMON… SALMON…Deer… Elk…Moose…Mt Goat… Bison…Caribou up in the Copper River Valley…A Waterborne NOMADIC tribe…Moves with the Seasons…sets up Fishing Drying Camps…then Later… Hunting Meat Camp…Much Fur bearing Mammals…and Seasonal work if needed…as for Veggies and Fruit…Berries ALL OVER…Gurreilla Gardens will work…Lets try this B4 the SHTF…Uriah
Hey everyone. After a protracted break from the internet, I’m glad to see this community still going strong. I hope to get myself somewhat involved here. I think I have similar concerns as WolfatHeart’s, so this seemed a fine place to start (anyway, that’s my self-introduction).
I think I will wait quite some time before pulling the trigger and getting out of civ altogether, even at the expense of waiting too long. I recently graduated college, and it would distress a lot of people I care about if I went and joined a commune. I would also lose touch with a great many people I’ve spent my life getting to know intimately. I can’t accept that. Some place like Uriah describes is a dream for me, if I could convince enough friends and family to make the pilgrimage; however, that may never happen, and I’m okay with that. First and foremost: “dance with the one who brung ya.”
My plan is to take small steps in the right direction. I got my future roommates excited about the idea of growing a garden and perhaps raising chickens for food. I suspect our suburban 3-acre rental will look pretty survivalist come next summer, and I find humor in that. Meanwhile, I will work a job I’m not crazy about in order to save up enough money to get off the grid in a way that makes sense to the people around me.
I plan on doing my part to make suburbia more productive. I’ve got a fox living in the woods out back. I see deer exploring our yards at night. Once cars stop patrolling our streets, and we stop constantly suppressing her tendency, nature will reclaim some of this. It may not be so difficult, if we guide her hand and plant fruit-bearing trees, get some of the asphalt and abandoned homes out of her way, and use what we know to make the soil fertile and productive. While money is available to me, I plan on using it to these ends (as well as to stock up on some basic securities like freeze-dried foods, tools, items for barter, etc.).
So I plan on staying put amongst the sprawl, helping out, and retaining technologies in proportion to their durability and utility. To me, I see elegance in a future where we take this great “misallocation of resources”, let go of what we no longer want, tend to and modify what we do, and make something worthwhile out of it. I’m curious whether or not it’s possible.
That said, I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more foreclosures around here beforehand, just to thin out the pack.
Hey Keith! Welcome back.
I totally agree. I can’t leave my family, but I think as shit gets worse, they’ll listen a little more and a little more until they finally are like, “Okay. What do we do?” At least, that’s my story thus far.
I noticed you never formally introduced yourself in the introductions thread. Please do this before posting again, so we can get to know more about you! 
Wow, yeah. You’re very brave to admit that. That’s a hard thing for me to admit, for some reason. To adimit that I can’t just jump into a rewilding community and undomesticated lifestyle (however that may look), because of what I’d leave behind. I get hard on myself for “not ‘doing’ more,” but when it comes down to it, I still have so many emotional ties in civ… it is so hard to have one foot on one side of the chasm and the other foot on the other side! I keep on feeling that I have to choose one or the other before I explode or collapse or something. And I am unsure about both choices.
I sort of stopped thinking of what i am doing as preparing for collapse, and usually just see it as learning how to live. And either way i would probably take the security precautions that i do, and put the same ammount of energy into the future. My partner and i are living on a 40 acre parcel of land with a friend (3 more adults and a child will likely move here in the near future). There is an orchard of over 200 trees, almost all 4 or 5 years old. we are learning to tend the soil, planting domesticated vegetables and wild (although i must say that i personally am lazy in this field, and will only plant things that i dont really have to tend to, and give me lots of food)we harvest mad ammounts of berries. we have a shitload of salt pork from a piig we killed and butchered a few months ago, and i’m convinced thatit will be edible longer than i will. we hardly eat any food from the store. and i have many friends who are sopportive and are doing similar things themselves. i feel like if shit were to go down tommorow, i would be most worried about conflicts with the starving and the power-hungry.
In the short term I plan on developing my skills in various food procurement methods (dumpstering, wild gathering, horticulture) with a lesser focus on other practical skills. I haven’t formed a long term plan yet. If SHTF soon I hope to flee to my girlfriend’s parent’s farm.
I think planning for the future is probably one of the most exciting aspects of pondering collapse. Me and my tribe of 7 are planning an intentional community in PA to begin next spring. We have a yurt, two horses and four goats and strong backs so hopefully that plus our wild hearts will help us realize our native habitat.